"Step with care and great tact.  And remember that life's a great balancing act"  - Dr. Seuss

In the case of "opening a new doughnut shop two months ago, continuing with other careers, projects and school work and baseball season starting for 5 of our 6 children" we are going to simply say that the term "balancing" has been completely thrown out the window and in some moments we are working with "SURVIVAL".

Needless to say, the past two months have been quite a blur of glaze, boxes of cereal, maple and more. 

I know, I know, I am preaching to the parent choir.  Just another day in the life of trying to do everything we can as parents to provide for our children, teach them all they need to know, get them to here, there and everywhere, achieve our own goals set far before they were here, and not lose our mind in the process.  

FACT: these 6 faces are EXHAUSTING and having children is EXHAUSTING.

I think perhaps many of you may feel the same.

But through the exhaustion, there are incredible moments of peace, smiles, contentment and utter joy that comes along with being a parent. 

These are the moments we cherish and capture into our memory for those days when they are grown up and no longer asking us where their homework is or what is for dinner (with an eye roll of course).

One of the greatest gifts the doughnut shop has given us is seeing so many of you create these moments with your children.  We have watched the farm table fill up with high school students and their parents, all in the shop on a holiday weekend, talking and catching up on life.  We have seen little kids grab the board games and ask their dad if they can play.  We have seen moms walk in with their strollers for a morning coffee for them and a sprinkle doughnut for their toddler.  We have decorated doughnuts for 5th birthdays and 18th birthdays and so many in-between.

We are grateful for you including us in these moments and allowing us to be a part of so many simple memories and celebrations in just the few short months we have been open. 

We remember going to the doughnut shop every weekend with our parents.  At 40 years old, it is still a memory that we go back to all the time.  It is one of the reasons opening this shop was so important to us. 

It is incredible to think that we get to be a part of those memories your children will have years from now, when your exhaustion is gone but instead the thought of "that just went too fast" lingers.

We opened this shop for you and your family and the joy it could bring.  Thank you for letting us know, we are on the right track.  

Two months in with many more memories to be made.   

“Let’s buy the doughnut shop!”

The story of how a silly comment turned into 4 friends purchasing a business that they had no experience at.  

And when I say “no experience”, I literally mean, NO EXPERIENCE.

Let’s take a look at our cumulative resumes:

• 4 Undergrad degrees
  
• 2 MBAs
  
• 1 teaching credential
  
• Investment management experience
  
• Real estate experience 
  
• Teaching experience
  
• Social media and brand management experience
  
• Operations experience
  
• Interior Design experience

What about Bakery experience? NOPE!
Running a small business experience? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
“Let’s do it anyway!”

And here we are, two months in to owning a business that we only started to learn the second we took the keys.  Needless to say, it has been crazy, overwhelming, exhausting and most importantly, more rewarding than we could have imagined.

See, this was our dream.

The four of us are newbies to the valley, relocating from Orange County and Santa Barbara for the same reason; to raise our children in this wonderful world of Santa Ynez.

The Minus’ were the first individuals the Ollenburgers met when they landed here (literally the first, like in, 5 minutes after they arrived) and the instant friendship has not only created a friendship that feels like family, but our weekly firepit chats led to the creation of a brand that we felt so represented this area that we all absolutely love.

We would constantly talk about this brand, what it could be, how it could grow.  The list of ideas became longer and longer and we just couldn’t put our finger on how to bring it to the market.  

Then we heard the doughnut shop was for sale.
And we LOVE doughnuts.

Now, I know a lot of people love doughnuts but what brings someone to ACTUALLY purchase a doughnut shop?  For us, it was more than just about the doughnuts.

It was an opportunity to create a space that allowed families to sit down and spend time together.  It was a place that, if done correctly, could be a real part of this incredible community; connecting with people commuting to work, local small business owners grabbing some breakfast before they open, parents on the way to school drop off, friends gathering for some coffee, weddings and parties, sport teams celebrating a win and the list goes on and on.  

Not only that, as parents of six children between the two families, getting involved in our local community and being a part of the bigger picture has always been really important to us and something that we want them to understand and connect with.      

It just made sense.  

So, we decided to use the doughnut shop as the launching of God’s Country Provisions.

And thanks to all of you, it has been completely worth it.

The blood, sweat and tears that have gone into creating this space has been rewarded tenfold by the incredible support we have received from the community.  It has absolutely blown us away.  Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

You have made saying “let’s buy the doughnut shop” sound not so crazy after all.

Now back to that list of ideas.  One down, a million more to go.