Exploring Life & Business with Ben Cornfield of Crieve Hall Bagel Co

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Cornfield.

Hi Ben, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
After several years in sales and recruiting, I had accepted a new recruiting director role set to begin in March of 2020. However, of course, that new role disappeared as Covid restrictions set in. I took the summer off to be a stay-at-home-dad for the first time – it was an incredible experience! However, I also knew this was a unique opportunity to explore my professional options outside of my sales experience.

I had always enjoyed baking sourdough, so on a bit of a whim, I posted on the Nextdoor app and asked if anyone was interested in sourdough bagels baked in my home kitchen. It took off from Day one! In the 11 months since, Lizzy and I have simply tried as hard as possible to meet the moment, continuing to build on that initial Nextdoor post to the point where we now have a brick-and-mortar and staff and all kinds of fun stuff in the works as we continue to scale up!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The demand for good, quality bagels in the neighborhood has always been there. That, plus the positivity and support I’ve received from the community at places such as the local school park while learning how to open a bakery on the fly, have been instrumental in helping me get this far. There were so many 2 a.m. alarm clocks that I desperately wanted to sleep through. At first, I was baking practically in the dark from 2-7a.m. in my home, trying as hard as possible to keep my children asleep in their rooms while busting out as many as 280 bagels. Then I got the lease on my space, but it took almost six months before everything was up to code – there were unforeseen plumbing, electric, and grease trap issues that sucked up more time and capital than I could have anticipated on early. Finally, after all that waiting, we were finally able to open! There were some early struggles trying to scale from 400 up to 800 bagels each day but overall, it’s been a lot of fun… and I get to sleep in until 3:30 now!

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Crieve Hall Bagel Co?
We are, as far as we can tell, the only fully sourdough bagel bakery in the city. There is zero yeast in any of the bagels we handroll, boil and bake fresh each morning. I am proud of the fact that we’re able to keep about 100 quarts of starter alive and well-fed each and every day – and that’s a huge pat on the back for the team I’ve put together.

And that’s one of the things I’m most proud of. This is my first business and the first time I’ve been an employer. It was really important, from Day one, to set my intention around empowerment and individual ownership of the bagel-baking and business-building processes. I wanted to create a business that allowed others to live whatever life worked best for them. I feel that I’ve achieved that, being lucky enough to be hire some individuals for full-time roles and some for part-time roles based on their individual preferences. Everyone is provided the chance to learn every aspect of the process, and they are encouraged to criticize and work to improve every aspect of it. Everyone is paid a living wage from Day one as well. Basically, I wanted to create the best bagels and best place to work in the city, and hopefully, I’m doing that!

Any big plans?
Big changes every day! We have a huge space, about 2,300 sq ft in total. However, we’re only using a small to-go window right now. Our long term goal is to figure out the very best way to serve the community using every square inch of the space. We want to add delivery, provide catering options, and expand our menu a little bit. That’s one, but there’s so much more for us to do.

Pricing:

• $22 for a baker’s dozen
• $12 for a half dozen
• $6 for a bagel, schmear, and coffee

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: crievehallbagel.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crievehallbagelco/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/crieve-hall-bagel-nashville-2?osq=crieve+hall+bagel