Meet Lauren Bolden | Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Bolden and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
A few years ago we sat down with the leaders of our team and began asking them what words come to mind when they think of Pie Bar. We wanted to come up with a set of Core Values for our team and our business that felt true to us a group. One of the Core Values we landed on was “Community.” We recognized the impact we could have if we focused on the community relationships that are so important to us — both inside Pie Bar as well as outside of the shops. Being active members of our local communities is vital for our business, because people around us see that we are here to contribute to our neighborhoods, not just sell a product. Our team’s relationship with one another and the guests who come to our shops has empowered our team to take ownership over their roles at Pie Bar, because they are interacting with the people who are ending up with their completed product..the pie! Building relationships through our communities have also allowed us to keep our team employed during a time that has been devastating for small businesses all across the country. Without building those relationships on a daily basis, I believe Pie Bar would not be as successful as it is today.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My husband, Cody, and I started Pie Bar together. We were both working normal jobs right out of college. We enjoyed what we did, but we knew we wanted to try something new. I began baking and selling pies at local farmers markets, antique shows, and breweries..really anywhere I could get my pies in front of people! Over time, the pies began to consume our lives..so we decided to quit our jobs and open Pie Bar in Downtown Woodstock. Since then, we have expanded Pie Bar into three locations: Pie Bar Woodstock, Pie Bar Marietta, and Pie Bar Commissary. Our shops in Woodstock and Marietta serve guests slices of pie, whole pies, and my personal favorite: The Half and Half Pie (this is where you can get two pie flavors in one pan!) Pie Bar Commissary is our homebase where we bake all of our pies as well as hand-can our Pie Fillings and Pie Jams for our Made-for-You line of pie goods called Pie Provisions. Starting and growing a small business is a challenge. At the end of each year in business, I write an annual letter where I look back at my most significant challenges and how we worked to overcome them (they are all available on our Pie Bar blog). If I was to go back through them to find a common thread, I think it always comes down to people. Small business is hard for a variety of reasons, but learning how to be a leader to my team, how to serve guests really well, and how to make pies that people love to eat as well as share are challenges that exist on a regular basis..but without those challenges and opportunities for growth, Pie Bar would not exist!

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?
If my best friend was visiting I would have to take them to some of my favorite places around town. I spend the majority of my time OTP, so my favorite spots happen to be in Marietta, Woodstock, and Canton, Georgia. Starting in The Marietta Square, we would have to visit The Local Exchange to pick up locally made items. This shop is ran by a gal named Marion, and she curates locally made food, art, and gifts. If it is a Saturday, we would wander over to the Marietta Square Farmers Market to peruse the locally grown produce, fresh baked goods, and handcrafted art. Followed by a slice of pizza at Marietta Pizza Company and then a visit to Two Birds Tap House for a beer at their bar. Then we would drive up to Downtown Woodstock, where we would grab a Gyro from the Gyro Aegean Grill and catch a show on the Elm Street Green thanks to The Lantern Series. Of course we would need to go into The Wright Stuff to look through old records and round out the Woodstock portion of the trip by spending a little time at Rope Mill Park. The following day, we would spend our time in Canton. Breakfast would be a local bacon and eggs joint, Keithsburg Cafe followed by a walk around at The Mill on Etowah where we would peruse the antique in The Cotton Mill Exchange while drinking a beet from Reformation Brewery. We would then rent a tube from Nomadic Flow Outfitters and float down the Etowah River. Following our float we would grab an early dinner at Queenies followed by an ice cream cone at A Cone to Pick and rounded out with another beer from Greenline Brewery where we would enjoy the live music and small town community.

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?
Pie Bar is made up of a group of individuals who are incredibly passionate about what they do. We have team members who care a great deal about the people they work with, the guests they are serving, and the products they are creating. Our team is currently made up of a hand full of individuals who all have a passion for something and have found a way to channel that passion into Pie Bar. Vivian, Abby, April, Tony, Madison, Dalainey, Sam, Emily, Alison, Sean, Kassidy, Selena, Lien, Cody, and Eliza all contribute in more ways than one. They connect with guests when they visit our shops. They spend hours learning how to make the perfect pie crust. They create the art in our shops. They label the Pie Provisions Pie Fillings that are shipped all across The United States. They truly embody the spirit of small business and building community on a daily basis, and without these people, Pie Bar would not be able to serve the local communities we are a part of at the same level as we do now.

Website: Orderpiebar.com / PieProvisions.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pie_bar/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orderpiebar
Youtube: Pie Bar