A DAY IN THE LIFE AT IZOLA.... Each team member at IZOLA is charged with the daily task of taking one photo a day and it's so much fun to see what they post to Slack. Much of what the team does here is not glamourous - they help keep the streets clean in front of the bakery, perform a daily vac and mop of the entire space, wash lots and lots of dishes...but ultimately, the team shares in the same objective, to create a special experience for our guests - whether that's in how they greet you, the care with which they craft the food we serve, or how they pack your order. And the team does this with what we call the IZOLA spirit - they care and are kind to one another, they work together as a team, they are quirky and we celebrate their unique selves. Jenny and I are super proud of the what this team accomplishes each and every day. As I scroll through their photos, it just brings me so much joy to see IZOLA through their lens. And the entire team shares in the tip pool, because we believe each and every member has a direct impact on the guest experience, from the dishwasher to Dojo to front of house and beyond. Thank you for showing the IZOLA team your appreciation for their kindness and hard work. Pre-orders are open now! Or just pop on by, no pre-ordering required. Have a pre-order and in a hurry? No problem! Double park downstairs and call us at (619) 289-8358, we'll run your order down to you with a smile. We call it IZOLA DRIVE-BY.
ROUND 2 CLOSING NEXT WEEK! Round 2 of our equity raise closes next Thursday, August 31st at midnight PST. If you've been wanting to join us as we change the way America thinks about sourdough and croissants, now's the time to take this journey with us.
If you have not yet joined us for an investor conversation, we'll be hosting an online Google Meet on Tuesday, August 29th at 7p. We will share why we are asking you, the IZOLA community, to join us in our $3.5M equity raise, where you can become an owner in IZOLA with as little as a $1k investment. IZOLA is powered by our community. Your dedication to this movement is what allows IZOLA to invest in American Manufacturing, create living wage jobs and expand IZOLA's social impact across Southern California.
*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.
WOOT WOOT! Great news. IZOLA has advanced to Phase IIa for a $6,000,000 Cal Competes grant. The California Competes Grant Program is an amazing opportunity from the state that helps encourage companies to grow right here in California. If we are awarded this grant, we will be able to create over 170 new Living Wage+ jobs right here in San Diego over the next 5 years. We are definitely the underdogs in this competition...previous awardees include Netflix, Applied Materials, and Nvidia. Super stoked to just move to Phase IIa amongst companies of this caliber. And we are incredibly grateful for the local support we've received with our application. Just like with most things that we do here at IZOLA, we are new at this so we're learning along the way! If you have experience navigating this process, we'd love to hear your tips and sage words of advice! Email me!
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAY Every Saturday IZOLA hosts live music - come see how diverse and talented our San Diego community is. We post our full musical line-up every Friday night on Instagram - follow us here!
Short and sweet this week as Jenny and I are enjoying the last couple of days of fellowship time with our family out in Montana. Pre-orders are live and we look forward to having ya by the bakeshop to enjoy a hot from the oven croissant like our Blackberry Chocolate Croissant...handmade with love by our Dojo team with house-made blackberry compote and Valrohna dark chocolate.
Thank you to the absolutely amazing, hardworking team for holding down the fort, and more, to allow us this precious time away. In particular, big thank you's to IZOLA's AGM Jeff and Front of House lead Hayley, you two are the best. I'm full of gratitude for my little sis Lisa and the rest of the family, Spencer, Max and Skye, as they host us this week in Montana. They've provided us with unlimited Vitamin N (NATURE! - prescribed by Dr. Lisa herself!), connection and love. Thank you, thank you, thank you. With much love, Jeffrey and Jenny
JOIN US THIS SATURDAY Join Jenny and me this Saturday, August 19th at 3p as we host you in person at IZOLA. We'll have some hot-from-the-oven croissants and sourdough to snack on and delicious beverages to enjoy as we gather. We will share why we are asking you, the IZOLA community, to join us in our $3.5M equity raise, where you can become an owner in IZOLA with as little as a $1k investment. IZOLA is powered by our community. Your dedication to this movement is what allows IZOLA to invest in American Manufacturing, create living wage jobs and expand IZOLA's social impact across Southern California.
Join us for croissants and conversation:
If you're ready to accelerate IZOLA's future, chip in here:
*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.
SERENADE TO THE LAST SLICE This video made our day - thank you to Ann for sharing and Neika for allowing us to share your lovely serenade to IZOLA Sourdough Bread! Neika loves 1940's singer and film icon Marlene Dietrick and found her inspiring as a young woman in her 20s. Now at 70, we get to hear Neika's spontaneous take on Marlene's song from "The Blue Angel."
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAY Every Saturday IZOLA hosts live music - come see how diverse and talented our San Diego community is. We post our full musical line-up every Friday night on Instagram - follow us here!
Our menu at IZOLA is simple - we specialize in croissants and sourdough and only serve what we LOVE to eat. With each recipe, we've tested to find the best tasting ingredients (we tested 17 different butters alone!), we measure the results of various methods (think time, temp, mixing speed) to find what returns the best results, and we explore various proofing and baking methods to land on the right loft, color and texture (we cook our croissants hard and deep for a crispy texture and deeper flavor). Flavor is of course super important, but it's also about that texture and mouthfeel that create the whole experience. Picture sinking your teeth into layers of flaky goodness, feeling that shattering crunch (oh how we love how messy our croissants are to eat!), enjoying the soft and fluffy interior, and savoring the chewiness (what Jenny calls "QQ") that makes every bite oh-so-amazing. It's like a little adventure for your taste buds! So, are you ready for a seriously yummy journey? Pre-orders are open now! And a special heads up for this week - Jenny and I are headed outta town to see our son Sacha and hang with fam in the peaceful wilds of Montana. So for this week only, same day pre-orders will NOT be available, as we allow our team the time to focus their energies on providing the best experience to our guests rather than managing our online inventory every 20 minutes...So now's the time to get your pre-orders in, they will close each morning just prior to 8a.
📷 by Sourdough Lead Jesus!
ABOVE AND BEYOND When we interview candidates for positions here at IZOLA, we focus in on traits we cannot teach - are you kind, compassionate, are your reliable and hardworking? Because we can teach you the rest... Working at IZOLA is not for everyone - we hold the team to a very high standard because we truly believe they are more than capable of those exacting standards. We expect our team to be punctual, efficient, thoughtful, and communicative. We provide feedback...often...every single day, not because we are trying to criticize, but because we are constantly looking to improve ourselves and the way we approach the business. So when we recognize a team member for going ABOVE AND BEYOND, that is saying a lot because the team already performs at such a high level. A huge CONGRATULATIONS to team member Monica, for being recognized with our Above and Beyond award and bonus this past week. Monica is our newest Baker. She came to us with a drive and dedication to learn and contribute. In just under 3 months, Monica has become an instrumental and reliable member of the Bake team. Being a baker at IZOLA requires speed, focus, efficiency and attention to detail - three timers could be going off all at once, while a batch of Tahitian Vanilla Knots need to be dipped and a rack full of croissants need to be checked on to see how far along they are on their proof. All while working against the clock to feed those ovens as quickly as possible - serving food hot-from-the-oven means that the more efficient we can be with keeping our ovens fed, the more mouths we can feed! After mastering the bake, she began cross-training in our Dojo and Sourdough departments, to rave reviews from both our Dojo and Sourdough leads. When we needed help with producing our Almond Croissants last week, she stepped right in and impressed us all with her command of the task and how much she accomplished on her own in a single day. Not only that, but with a team member down, she took on additional Bake shifts. She makes it look effortless when we know it is not. Her commitment to her teammates, to the quality of her work, and to the IZOLA customers is beyond admirable. We are so fortunate and grateful that you're a part of our IZOLA family Monica!
IN PERSON NEXT WEEK! Join Jenny and me next Saturday, August 19th at 3p as we host you in person at IZOLA. We'll have some hot-from-the-oven croissants and sourdough to snack on and delicious beverages to enjoy as we gather. We will share why we are asking you, the IZOLA community, to join us in becoming an owner in IZOLA through our $3.5M equity raise, where you can become an owner with as little as a $1k investment. IZOLA is powered by our community. Your dedication to this movement is what allows IZOLA to invest in American Manufacturing, create living wage jobs and expand IZOLA across Southern California. If you're ready to join us now, chip in here:
Or join us at our in person event:
*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAY Every Saturday IZOLA hosts live music - come see how diverse and talented our San Diego community is. We post our full musical line-up every Friday night on Instagram - follow us here!