Meet Joyce Balcos Butler | Small Business Owner & Baker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joyce Balcos Butler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joyce, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Business began orgnically for Joba’s. What started out as a few loaves for friends and family to try grew into a loyal following in our community. Mostly by word of mouth, people started asking where they could find our product. Before we set up at Marigold Farmers Market in Winterville, Georgia, we met customers at coffeehouse parking lots in the area for pick-up orders. When those deliveries grew, we knew it was time to find a base where people could find us and our bread.

Location, location, location. Where should our base be located? After visiting area farmers markets, we settled on Marigold Farmers Market in Winterville. The market itself was in its infancy when we found this community. What we loved about it was the people and its welcoming vibe. Located at beautiful Pittard Park, its vendors were set up under the shade of oak trees. This became our home base and where we meet our regulars and new customers on a weekly basis.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Joba’s Artisan Bread Bakery was created as a way to bring fresh, gut-healthy sourdough bread to our local community. Our vision is to help people understand that bread is not just carbohydrates—it can actually be good for you when it’s made the right way. Through the natural process of fermentation, sourdough becomes easier to digest and more nourishing.

People often ask what makes our bread gut-healthy. It starts with high-quality, organic ingredients sourced from local farms and vendors. From there, we keep it simple—just flour, water, salt, and time. No preservatives, no shortcuts. What you see is exactly what you get, and you can feel good knowing what goes into every loaf we make.

The most important factor behind the success of my brand has been the connections I have made with my customers. Joba’s has built a loyal following by intentionally getting to know our customers, their families, and their stories.

Before Joba’s began to grow, we were a very small cottage bakery, selling our products mostly to friends, family, and colleagues at work. Word of mouth helped establish Joba’s as a small business in Athens, Georgia. Today, we owe much of our growth to the Marigold Farmers Market, where we started in 2023 with a simple table and tent. As word spread throughout the Winterville community, Joba’s grew week by week, one loaf at a time.

More recently, Firefly Farmstop began carrying our products three days a week. This partnership has been just as successful as our Saturday markets, thanks to the continued support of our regular customers and the new faces we meet each week.

Our growth has also been made possible by other local businesses that have welcomed Joba’s into their spaces and introduced us to new customers throughout the Athens and Winterville communities. We are grateful for the support of Farm441 in Bishop, Daily Groceries Co-op in Athens, Chibugan in Winterville, and the Athentic Brewing Mini Market in Athens. Each of these partnerships has helped us expand beyond our market table while staying connected to the community that helped us grow.

The support of our customers, fellow small businesses, farmers markets, and community partners has played a huge role in Joba’s continued success. What started as a small cottage bakery has grown into a local business with products available throughout the community. We are truly thankful to everyone who has supported Joba’s along the way and helped us continue to grow—one loaf at a time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Athens, Georgia, is a foodie town for those who appreciate great food. During the pandemic, we lost many of our favorite restaurants, but since then, many new additions have taken their places.

For a fun drink, a hangout, and some good nibbles, I love Hi-Lo Lounge. My go-to is the Prince Avenue Bowl—a brown rice and tofu bowl with veggies topped with nutritional yeast.

For a chill time, local brewery Athentic Brewing is a great spot for a beer flight and fun nightly events.

For great food and a margarita, Agua Linda is the place to go. The food is always delicious, the margaritas hit the spot, and the bartenders are fabulous!

For the best meat-and-three, Preacher Green’s is hands down my favorite. Featuring Southern favorites like catfish, fried chicken, and meatloaf with delicious sides, you can’t go wrong with anything you choose!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe a big thank you to my family, who have believed in me and supported me since the day I opened my business. Along the way, mentors and friends who have encouraged and guided me have also played an important role in Joba’s growth. I am especially grateful for the support of our loyal community throughout Winterville and Athens—the familiar faces who stop by every Saturday to pick up a sourdough loaf or simply to say hello. Their continued support has helped Joba’s grow into the small business it is today, and I am truly grateful to have them as part of our story.

Website: http://jobasartisanbread.com/

Instagram: @joba.bakes

Facebook: https://facebook.com/jobas.artisan.bread