- Jeffrey Lamont Brown
- Apr 1, 2023
Pre-orders for the week are open now! Pre-orders for Easter Sunday will open at midnight tonight. We are open our normal hours this week and baking hot-from-the-oven Thursday - Sunday, 8a-1p. If you have a pre-order and can't find a parking spot, no problem! Double park downstairs and call us at (619) 289-8358, we'll run your order down to you. We call it IZOLA DRIVE-BY.
THE END OF AN ERA....AND ANOTHER BEGINS It is incredibly bittersweet for us to write this, but attention OG IZOLA customers...it is our dear friend Spencer's last week here at IZOLA. Spencer was our very first IZOLA team member, but has actually been a part of our family longer than IZOLA has been around. He was originally our photo studio manager and when COVID hit, we asked him, "Hey, you wanna work at a bakery?" and in true Spencer spirit, he said, "Let's do it!" I don't think any of us knew the wild ride that would ensue over the next 3 years. But Spencer manned the original IZOLA window basket, working that climbing rope with speed and dexterity 😂...he helped us as we pushed our first commercial refrigerator up the stairs (and we only broke 1 window!) before we wised up and purchased a forklift...he worked the East Village night market every Thursday night handing out mini croissants to passersby...and he has personally delivered orders to many IZOLA customers' homes just out of the kindness of his heart. As our Front of House lead he has been the team's cheerleader and mentor. And oftentimes he provides us with a good laugh too. His kindness and spirit is contagious and he embodies the true IZOLA spirit with his dedication, hard work, and passion for doing things well. But through all this, we knew Spencer's true passion in life was music. We asked him to share a little bit about his time here and he wrote, “When I confessed to Jeffrey that my passion was in music and not in croissants (shocking, I know!), he told me that he wouldn’t be a good boss if he didn’t try to help me build a platform to chase my dream. I don’t know if I would’ve even tried to make a career in music had it not been for that challenge from him, but here we are, and when I called him to let him know I would be leaving to begin my full-time job as a musician, he met me with a smile and congratulations. Thank you to Jeffrey, Jenny, and all of the amazing team members at Izola, past and present. You’re an integral part of my story and I’ll never forget this place or these people." We are so very proud of the hard work Spencer put in to get to this point....GO BE A ROCKSTAR!!!! If you want to wish him well (and get his autograph before he becomes too famous!), he'll be here through Saturday. And next time you see him...might be on a stage at Coachella! If you'd like to stay in touch with Spencer, you can find him at @spencerplante and @losetheband.
HELP US BUILD THIS BEAUTY ↑ We're looking for a Structural Engineer for our IZOLA Main project. Specifically, someone with commercial experience in steel structures. We are getting so close to submitting our plans to the city for IZOLA Main, our new Dough Innovation Center in City Heights, but first must find the right structural engineer. Are you that special someone? Or do you know of someone who might know someone, please forward this on! Just as we mentioned above - being a part of the IZOLA team is not easy. The project is demanding, we are pushing boundaries. But we are also creating something that's never been done before - come be a part of it! Email me at jb@izolabakery.com.
THE UNBURDENED LEADER If you're interested in learning a little bit more about our journey building IZOLA, take a listen to the latest episode of the podcast The Unburdened Leader, hosted by Rebecca Ching. Jenny and I share the challenges that we face as a couple building a business together and what we've learned along the way as we work toward being better leaders for our team.
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAY Every Saturday IZOLA hosts live music - come see how diverse and talented our San Diego community is! Here are just a few of the folks that will be by. We publish the full schedule every Friday night in our Instagram Story. Head on over there and follow us now!
- Jeffrey Lamont Brown
- Mar 28, 2023
96 LAYERS OF LACEY GOODNESS
What do you get when you laminate 96 layers of Normandy butter into our croissant dough? Yum! Yum! Yum! A lacey honeycomb filled with air and love. When we bake it, the moisture in the butter in each of those 96 layers is turned to steam, creating these delicious, airy pockets.
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Some are surprised by how large our croissants are ("so American!") and others ask us to make smaller croissants. (Psst, some smaller, much much smaller croissants are coming at IZOLA Main.) But as with most things at IZOLA, the size is very intentional. It provides the perfect ratio of shatteringly crisp outside and pillowy inside. We love it!
Baseball season is upon us with the Padres opening series happening this week. Thursday and Sunday are day games. Remember, if you have a pre-order and can't find a parking spot, no problem! Double park downstairs and call us at (619) 289-8358, we'll run your order down to you. We call it IZOLA DRIVE-BY.
BE A PART OF THE IZOLA FAMILY
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Congrats to Beau, our newest Sourdough and Bake team member! Beau joined the IZOLA team as a Front of House member but quickly became smitten with what he saw going on in the kitchen. Through his dedication, determination and A LOT of hard work, he is now an official member of our Sourdough and Bake team. And that means we now have an opening to fill his Front of House position.
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I'll be super straightforward with ya - it is not easy working at IZOLA or for us. Every single job here is hard, we will push your limits each and every day. We'll give you honest feedback and lots of training. We're looking for folks who are passionate about what we're trying to create here and are excited by the future. We prioritize hiring from within because we want to create opportunity and careers for our team, but it's also because we've crafted each position at IZOLA to be teachable. No prior experience needed.
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As a member of the Front of House team, you'll get to serve the coolest, kindest guests ever. Smiles and joy abound. But there are also those stairs - the stairs to our back of house and kitchen that you'll be going up and down at least 50 times a day. There's the dishes we hand wash to keep one-time use trash out of our landfills. There's the constant tracking of inventory as croissants and sourdough enter and leave our ovens. There are the times when you have to break the bad news that we've sold out for the day. But at the end of the day, I think we're building something pretty neat. If you do too, apply here and leave a note that you heard about the position through our newsletter!
HELP US BUILD THIS BEAUTY ↑
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While we're on the subject of hiring - we're also hiring for a Structural Engineer. Specifically, someone with commercial experience in steel structures. We are getting so close to submitting our plans to the city for IZOLA Main, our new Dough Innovation Center in City Heights, but first must find the right structural engineer. Are you that special someone? Or do you know of someone who might know someone, please forward this on!
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Just as we mentioned above - being a part of the IZOLA team is not easy. The project is demanding, we are pushing boundaries. But we are also creating something that's never been done before - come be a part of it! Email me at jb@izolabakery.com.
HAPPENING THIS SATURDAY
IZOLA Main is picking up steam. The design is locked (Great job Heleo Architecture team), we're traveling around the world testing our recipes on production equipment, Jenny and I are leading a team of Architects, Engineers, Programmers, Builders, Bakers and Dreamers. In short, building the IZOLA of the future: it's productive, efficient and just. Creating 20 careers in City Heights, removing 25,000 pounds of paper from the waste stream, increasing our croissant production 10x, and many, many other benefits to our community.
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And that my friends takes capital, lots of it, almost 7.5 million in total. In this equity offering, we endeavor to raise 3.9 million. And like any big task we do, we're going to break it up into doable sections. 4 of them to be exact. So we will "rolling close" on June 1, Sept 1, Dec 1, and March 1, 2024. With a goal of $975,000 on each rolling close date.
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If you have questions or are interested in learning more about becoming an owner in IZOLA, Jenny and I are hosting an online investor conversation this Saturday where we'll share with you our plans for the next several years. Register below to join us via Google Meet in the comfort of your own home. We're ecstatic that we've already raised over $1M to date, but it's not enough. Find out why! Register Now
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAY
Every Saturday IZOLA hosts live music - come see how diverse and talented our San Diego community is! Here are just a few of the folks that will be by. We publish the full schedule every Friday night in our Instagram Story. Head on over there and follow us now!
KAHLIL NASH
Sat 8-9a
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Emerging from the elite San Diego music scene in California, San Diego Music Award winner Kahlil Nash is a Funk/Rock and R&B recording artist/producer who is a multi-instrumentalist. Influenced by artists Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, and Prince, Kahlil Nash thrives to entertain his audience.
LEATEA
Sat 10-11a
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Leatea (San Diego native Dylann Jelden) has been a musician all her life, beginning with classical violin at age 4. She began writing songs and incorporating guitar in high school. She performs regularly in San Diego.
JADEN
Sat 11a-12p
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Jaden is an independent artist from San Diego! He loves to sing, act, write, and play guitar. Studying theatre and music at USD, Jaden has a deep passion for storytelling, allowing all genres of music to inspire himself and others. Namely Neo soul, jazz, indie, rock, hip-hop, Reggae and R&B.
DANIELLE ANGELONI
Sart 12-1p
Danielle Angeloni is a vocalist, songwriter, producer, & music therapist.
- Jeffrey Lamont Brown
- Mar 20, 2023
HOT FROM THE OVEN
Look at these beauties - hot from the oven and straight to you. Because we bake in smaller batches throughout the morning, everything we serve here at IZOLA is coming hot from our ovens so that we can provide the tastiest, most mouthwatering experience possible. If you've ever wondered about how we started baking hot-from-the-oven, or why IZOLA is located in the absolutely most difficult to find space possible, hop on over to San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour Podcast to hear our origin story. You'll learn about the big "problem" Jenny thinks I have and how I ended up in trouble with the Mexican authorities! We had so much fun chatting with host Troy Johnson, he was able to pull all the secrets out of us.
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And because you subscribe to our newsletter, you already know the secret pro tip we provide at the very end of the podcast - to place a pre-order! Pre-orders for Thursday-Saturday open every Sunday morning, and Sunday pre-orders open first thing the Monday prior.
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Pre-orders for this week are open now! Have a pre-order? Can't find a parking spot? No problem. Double park downstairs and call us at (619) 289-8358, we'll run your order down to you. We call it IZOLA DRIVE-BY.
THE COUPLE BEHIND
SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE
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When Jenny first moved from the Bay Area to San Diego, she loved reading San Diego Magazine to learn more about her new community and in search for a new favorite restaurant. And I've photographed a story or two for them way back in my photojournalist days. But to be honest, it's been a long time since either one of us picked up a copy, frankly the mag had lost touch with us. STOP THE PRESSES!!! That's all changed now because of this inspiring couple right here - Claire and Troy Johnson who recently bought the magazine and are pouring their heart and soul into it.
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It wasn't until after we taped our podcast with Troy that we learned about the evolution that the magazine is going through right now. Many people have told me how crazy I was to start a bakery in the midst of COVID, well Troy and Claire are the same kind of crazy - in 2021 they become majority owners in San Diego Magazine. To top it off, Claire was 9 months pregnant the day they signed the papers.
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There are only two reasons someone would purchase a magazine during a pandemic: they're crazy, or they're passionate. Or perhaps both. Turns out, it is their passion for community that drove Claire and Troy's decision. They are on a mission to amplify the voices of the diverse San Diego community we live in, and we're stoked for the efforts they've made and that are to come.
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We love supporting businesses that are striving for real change in our world. We've subscribed to the mag and you'll start seeing it at the bakeshop once our first issue arrives! And we ask you to do the same to help build the stronger, more vibrant, more equitable community that we all love. And we'll give away a free croissant to the first 50 people who subscribe - just forward your receipt to jenny@izolabakery.com and we'll send ya a promo code.
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LOVE IZOLA? BECOME AN OWNER!
Part 3 of our equity raise just launched! You can learn more and invest right here at our Mainvest portal.
IZOLA Main is picking up steam. The design is locked (Great job Heleo Architecture team), we're traveling around the world testing our recipes on production equipment, Jenny and I are leading a team of Architects, Engineers, Programmers, Builders, Bakers and Dreamers. In short, building the IZOLA of the future: it's productive, efficient and just. Creating 20 careers in City Heights, removing 25,000 pounds of paper from the waste stream, increasing our croissant production 10x, and many, many other benefits to our community.
Â
And that my friends takes capital, lots of it, almost 7.5 million in total. In this equity offering, we endeavor to raise 3.9 million. And like any big task we do, we're going to break it up into doable sections. 4 of them to be exact. So we will "rolling close" on June 1, Sept 1, Dec 1, and March 1, 2024. With a goal of $975,000 on each rolling close date.
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If you have questions or are interested in learning more about becoming an owner in IZOLA, Jenny and I will continue to host monthly online events where we'll share with you our plans for the next several years. Register below to join us via Google Meet in the comfort of your own home. We're ecstatic that we've already raised over $1M to date, but it's not enough. Find out why!
IZOLA MUSIC SATURDAY
Every Saturday IZOLA hosts live music - come see how diverse and talented our San Diego community is! Here are just a few of the folks that will be by. We publish the full schedule every Friday night in our Instagram Story. Head on over there and follow us now!
PET
Sat 8-9a
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Frequent collaborators, Galia Shakked & Ali Mehraban RamÃrez play stripped down versions of songs from their 4-piece band, Pet.
IAN MCNAIR
Sat 9-10a
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From classical piano and choir roots, to more recently playing folk covers at local venues and in the San Diego open mic circuit, Ian is now working on releasing his own music and collaborating with local artists on original work. His music is influenced by soulful 70s ballads, his past relationships, self-help books, and the color orange.
RANDALL HILD
11a-12p
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We are super stoked to have Randall performing this weekend! A former IZOLA team member, Randall is a talented keyboardist, singer, and songwriter residing in San Diego, CA. He most loves sharing his passion for music and art to the world, and with an eclectic range of influences there is something for everyone in his performances.