LYNDALL and Carl Sturtevant became the proud franchisees at Bakers Delight Leongatha in December 2001 and were planning to stay for between five and seven years.
Now, nearly 23 years later the pair have finally decided to hand over the reins.
Lyndall was in Airlie Beach when the Sentinel-Times caught up with her over the phone and she said it could be a bit hotter and sunnier.
A temperature check showed the Queensland location to be 20 degrees, positively balmy, compared to Leongatha’s 12.
But never mind as Lyndall and Carl will be able to chase the sun until their hearts content with their newfound freedom.
Originally from Melbourne, the couple had a look around at a few franchises in other towns but decided Leongatha was the place they would have a crack at the bakery business.
A couple of days before moving to Leongatha to open the franchise, Lyndall found out she was pregnant.
It proved to be a busy time and there was a little bit of resistance to the business initially, as the couple were ‘outsiders’ and there was uncertainty about whether the town needed another bakery.
“I think all the other bakeries in town were doing different things to us. We didn’t do pies and cakes and sandwiches and a lot of the stuff that they did. So, I think there was a market for everyone and room for everyone. It took off fairly well and fairly quickly,” remembered Lyndall.
In the early days Lyndall worked out the front of the bakery serving customers as well as managing the administration and financial side of the business.
However, difficulty finding bakers over the last couple of years, saw Lyndall turn her hand to doing the baking, starting shifts at 3am.
“I didn’t mind the baking. I quite enjoyed it. Not so much when the alarm went off at quarter past two, that wasn’t great,” explains Lyndall.
“Then having to do all my other management stuff on top of that was a bit harder as well. I certainly wouldn’t have lasted 23 years if I was doing that.”
Twenty three years in the business has seen many locals work for the Sturtevant’s and this has been one of the highlight’s for the couple.
“We’ve had a lot of staff go through, obviously. So, it’s nice to see where they end up, and to see your 15 year old sales girls that go on to do some pretty spectacular things.”
Growing with the community, becoming a part of it and developing friendships as their kids went through childcare, kindergarten, school, and sporting clubs; watching their own as well as other people’s children mature also proved to be a rewarding aspect.
“Seeing kids that come in just after being born, coming in as toddlers and seeing where they go, what they do with their lives; it was a good time.”
But now it’s a different kind of good time the couple are seeking.
“I think it just got to that point we wanted to slow down. I didn’t want to keep working the hours I was putting in and we wanted to start to enjoy life and slow down a bit.”
There isn’t much on the Sturtevant’s agenda for the next six months and the new year will see what the next chapter will bring, but it won’t involve having to snooze an alarm at 2.15am.
“We’d like to do a lot more travelling, so I’ll probably be fairly unreliable as an employee,” laughs Lyndall.
Meanwhile the pair are confident they have left the bakery and staff in good hands with new owners Bryn and Jill; Bryn a baker for over 20 years.
“I think they’re like us in a lot of ways, they’ve got a young family, and when we started out, that’s where we were. Good luck to them and hopefully the community keeps supporting them like they did us.”