DEAR COVID, THANK YOU FOR THE BAGELS

Phoenix is one of the LARGEST cities in the country, and somehow … we don’t have anyone making GREAT bagels.

Well, not until Charlie Blokenfeld stepped up and did what needed to be done. 

What did he do, you ask? Well, while the country was teaching themselves how to bake bread in the middle of their pandemic quarantines, Charlie was doing “God’s work” (some might say), teaching himself how to make bagels because that is what the city needs! The city needed Bagelfeld’s.

Guess what; he ended up making a damn good bagel … bagels. His business is growing every day, and while other businesses are trying to figure out what they can do to return to pre-COVID times, Bagelfeld’s is trying to figure out how to keep up with demand. 

Ok, but what was Charlie doing before he started making bagels? 

Charlie was an owner and operator of a private catering company specializing in events and large gatherings. You know, the kind of things that are not allowed anymore. 

So naturally, Charlie pivoted! 

Right into a meal-prepping service, where he would make and deliver a week’s worth of food to his clients. He even started a “buy two meals, donate one” program. Long story short … this wasn’t the route for him. So what does someone do after that? 

Try again.

This time it was either moving out of state to pursue work or trying to make bagels and sell them. 

Charlie gave it his best shot, and he wasn’t afraid to fail. He just wanted to try. I think that is the best part of Charlie’s story (or one of the best parts).

Charlie started making and selling bagels. HE JUST STARTED! Charlie didn’t need everything to be there; he didn’t need to have every piece of equipment. He didn’t have all of the answers. He had a good product and the drive to get it out there. 

Charlie told me that the support and positive feedback from the community and his employees gave him the spark to keep going whenever he questioned himself when times got hard.

As you read this, I don’t want you to think like Charlie just willy-nilly’d this bagel project. He took some time to figure out what makes a good bagel. Day in and day out, early mornings, figuring out how to make an excellent bagel dough. Problems come and go as they do in any business, and Charlie was ready to figure it all out as he went along. 

Before Charlie knew it, Stoop Kid opened and was going to use Bagelfeld’s bagels. Then Nelson’s Meat & Fish wanted to carry the bagels in their shop as well. Add that on top of a growing farmers market presence and delivery service; business is boomin’! 

Those pieces that Charlie didn’t have when he first started making bagels started to fall into place. He was able to hire a couple of people to help roll the bagels and help deliver them. Now he and his team work every day, practicing, trying to make more bagels, better bagels. 

I guess the moral of this story is that if you want to do something, something that people WANT or NEED. JUST GO AND DO IT! Figure it out as you go along! If it doesn’t work, then try again, keep trying. 

Phoenix is the largest small city in the world. There is an opportunity here.

Make the most out of it.