Nayyirah Shariff is on her way to an entrepreneur’s life of making signature products, employing local people, and investing in her home state of Michigan.
The young woman from Flint has her marching orders from customers who have lined up every week to buy her sweet and savory fresh-baked, organic artisan breads. Now she’s putting this test-market experience into planning her business future.
“I’m looking at putting in a commercial kitchen, and whether I want to focus on supplying restaurants or having my own storefront.”
Shariff’s soon-to-be expanding company, Revolutionary Bread, was made possible by some regulatory wiggle room that the Michigan Legislature opened up in 2010 for home-based food entrepreneurs. She says the state’s action made way for her to try out her products and ideas after a professor encouraged Shariff to pursue her business dream.