Influential Woman · Bakery Deli
Debra Henry
Bakery Deli, --
Madison, WI
Her Story
About Debra
Debra Henry is a retired owner of a bakery and deli in Madison, Wisconsin. She and her sister ran the business together for 22 years after purchasing an existing bakery near the university campus and making it their own through recipe changes and all-scratch baking. Although Debra had initially pursued studies to become a sign language interpreter at the University of Milwaukee, she returned to her hometown following a divorce and joined her sister in the venture, which became a family affair involving their mother, aunt, and even her young child who slept on flour sacks. The small 800-square-foot takeout operation served up to 700 customers daily, mostly students, thanks to its prime location and focus on providing good, affordable products that satisfied their needs. Debra values ethical and truthful baking practices in her work and emphasizes loyalty, integrity, and her faith in her personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Debra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think on one hand we were lucky. It was location definitely because we opened up a second business when we were displaced from that bakery and in Madison it for us anyway definitely location. We were crossover from students and we were near a lot of the university businesses and enrollment things so we had the luxury of just having a prime location and we figured out what the students wanted. They wanted a good product that got them full and they didn't have to pay a fortune for it.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You have to work hard. Nothing's given to you there's no guarantees on it but you know work hard and pick what you're gonna do with passion and do your homework about it. I mean you can't open a business that there's 20 other ones and if you're gonna do that then you better have a niche. You better have something that somebody really wants that 20 other people don't have.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Costs are so expensive rent is so expensive. Everybody's got a bakery everybody's got a deli you know you really you just really have to be good at what you're doing and if there's a whole bunch of other ones like that you better be the best. You better have the best product at the best price. And you better do your homework to know that you're gonna be able to do that and still survive and make a living.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In our work when my sister and I had the bakery definitely like ethical truthful baking. If we said it was this it was this. In my in our personal lives it's loyalty and integrity. I'm a faith-based woman so that's all very important to me.
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