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JONESIN’ “Open Letters”--a themeless 58-worder. by Matt Jones

Across

1 Trees lining the new Malahat Skywalk on Vancouver Island, B.C. (a spiral ramp tower with optional slide to the bottom) 10 Surname in a nursery rhyme with platter licking 15 To the point 16 “It’s ___ of passage” 17 2010 statute nickname whose real initials are hidden in the name 18 Sounds in certain specialty cafes 19 One with interior motives? 20 Realm of influence 21 Employs a hive mentality? 22 “La fee ___” (fanciful term for absinthe, based on the color) 23 Sticks it out 24 Run, as a forklift 26 Maneuvers famously pulled off by rapper Lil Uzi Vert 29 You might use one to play Breakout 33 Second, for instance 34 Word that ends many yoga classes 35 Puzzle magazine with a “Pencilwise” section 40 Grey Goose rival, familiarly 41 ___ tetrameter (poetic verse used in works like “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”, using an unstressed unstressed/stressed pattern) 45 Film critic Kenneth who stepped down from the L.A. Times in 2020 46 Notable feature of “Careless Whisper” 47 “Fame” singer/actress Cara 48 Brit who imparts vitality (though the battery brand’s spelled with a Z) 49 Observes Ramadan, in a way 50 State where the soft drink Mountain Dew was first formulated 51 What some collars ward off 52 Participants in the Singing Revolution (1987-1991)

Down

1 Like eels and flukes, biologically 2 Brazilian gymnast Andrade, gold medalist in the vault in Tokyo 3 Modified leaves on flower stems 4 Maximal 5 “Toddlers & ___” 6 Cooper title character 7 Former Pacific defense gp. 8 “The Smartest Guys in the Room” subject 9 Site that bills itself as “The world’s best music blog” 10 Hindu scripture that contains melodies and chants 11 Demonstrate deservingness in advance 12 1959 western with Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson 13 Nervously excited 14 SAT takers, e.g. (and not... body parts) 25 Legendary footballer 26 Go (through), as evidence 27 Nice private discussion? 28 Actress Dolenz 29 Note that sounds like B double flat 30 Residents of one of the Lesser Sunda Islands in Southeast Asia 31 Loser of a mythological footrace 32 Optimistic quality 33 Fluid, as a dancer’s motion 35 CNN senior political analyst David who advised four administrations 36 Saint Francis’s home 37 Peak near Olympus 38 Title name on the 1982 album “Too-Rye-Ay” 39 Sports recap feature 42 Geese on the Big Island 43 In regard to, old-style 44 Movie aired when there’s often nothing on?

Last week's solution

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Continued from Page 25

yet.

Will there be any kind of sale or event marking this big change?

Yes, we’re going to have a grand opening at our new location at 127 Cambridge St.

So you’re not stopping the brick and mortar store even though you’re shifting more to delivery?

Oh, yes. We are expanding so we can keep up with demand. We sell out non-stop because I’m the only baker for both stores and all custom orders, all the farmers’ markets, everything, and I only have one oven and very little kitchen space. So we’re expanding 1,100 square feet at Cambridge Street, we have three ovens, tons of counter space, it’s way bigger so we can keep up with all the demand.

Are you planning to hire any more bakers?

We are — but it’s been a little difficult since everybody’s short-staffed right now, but even if we can’t find more right away, three ovens will triple our production right away.

What about full-time drivers for the increased delivery?

Eventually down the road when we have delivery trucks. Right now, I use my personal SUV to do all of the deliveries to Boston and the farmers’ markets. I work 16- to 18-hour days, six days a week. So eventually I would like to get more staff, but for right now, expanding is our number one priority because that’s what’s keeping us from not selling out every day.

So this expansion will make things less stressful, I hope?

Oh, definitely, especially since Cambridge Street has free parking — we’d have our own parking lot, so wicked excited for that.

You mentioned earlier that you tried to hire your friends who had been laid off. You

Jennifer Lee is hoping to open her new space on Cambridge Street by Nov. 1.

CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

didn’t have to do any lay-offs yourself during the shutdown?

Oh we kept everybody on. I made sure to keep everyone — I worked very long days during the pandemic because I didn’t want to lay off a single person. Everyone has bills to pay, they have families to feed, I didn’t want to take that route everyone else was taking, so we stayed open the whole time. The employees are like family to me, they’re my friends, I could never just lay them off and be like "okay, good luck!"

Let’s take a step back — how did you get started with the bakery?

So I started it when I was 17. I won a business plan competition at Chelsea High School and it just snowballed from there. It was just a regular bakery at first — no special allergy items or anything. But in 2014, I got into a freak accident, I fell while coming out of a walk-in freezer. I fell, I blacked out, and I fractured my neck. But while I was recovering, I broke out in hives every day and they kept telling me it was a gluten and dairy allergy. Turned out I was allergic to opioids so the painkillers they were giving me was what I was allergic to, but it opened my eyes to food allergies. Nobody caters to them, nobody understands them — it’s hard to eat out and you don’t feel like you’re part of the group when you can’t eat with everyone else. So 2015 we went allergenfriendly, opened up in Boston in 2016 and haven’t looked back since.

What would you attribute to your major following? What sets you apart other than being allergen friendly?

I would definitely say it’s really caring about food allergies but also just my motivation. I feel like others weren’t the best at change, and with me, I’ve always been able to pivot about what works best for my customers. What do they need from me — where do they want to do farmers’ markets, more delivery, ship nationwide? I’ve always been about open communication with my customers using social media. I want feedback, I love customers coming to me saying I love this or didn’t really like this. You just need to ask your customers what they want. I think a lot of businesses either don’t like feedback or don’t do a lot of social media and actually talk to their customers. If you don’t know what they want, how do you serve them?

What would you say to other young entrepreneurs — any advice?

I definitely think you shouldn't be afraid to change and innovate with your business. Reach out to your customers but also just do what you love and don’t lose it. People start their businesses because they’re passionate about something. Stay passionate about it. You started this for a reason so always go back to that, regardless of how big you get.

Anything to add?

The new location will also do cookie decorating classes for kids, paint nights for adults, and we’re super excited to generally have more community events. We’re excited to just meet more people.