Tanya Andrews was dissatisfied working behind a desk, so she decided to take a risk by doing something she loves.

Andrews turned her hobby into a career when she opened Yellow Dog Bakery on East Franklin Street, Raleigh in September.

“On paper, I was doing everything I wanted to do,” Andrews said. “I studied marketing and communication, and I had landed a job at a promotions firm. I really thought this is where I wanted to be and this is what I wanted to be doing. The truth was that I felt very unfulfilled and all the things, basically, I thought I had wanted were there on paper, but not really in my heart.”

With her husband, Matt Andrews, feeling the same way, the two began to explore their options. Both coming from entrepreneurial families, the idea of starting a business was what Andrew’s described as genetic.

“It seemed sort of natural for us to start to head in that direction,” Andrews said. “About the same time, we started getting very homesteady. We had chickens and were baking our own bread at home and we were really doing all types of homesteady sorts of stuff.”

The Andrews’ sold their first loaf of bread four and a half years ago at the Rock & Shop Market, an event that showcases products of budding designers. Yellow Dog Bread Company is now able to, years later, sponsor the very event that helped get it started.

“It gives folks like us an outlet and a vehicle to meet with your customer and sell stuff,” Andrews said. “This year we’ve had the privilege of being able to sponsor the event. So it’s a way for us to come full circle with us selling our first loaf there to be able to come back and be able to sponsor it. We’re very excited about that part.”

Andrews and her husband began selling at the farmer’s market where Yellow Dog Bread Company really took off.

“We would consistently, week after week, sell out,” Andrews said. “It was kind of crazy. Matt was set up at one farmer’s market and I was set up at another farmer’s market. We’d call each other and say, ‘how are you doing?’ or ‘I’m out of sticky buns!’ it was kind of very fulfilling to make something that people wanted.”

According to Andrews, her attitude shifted from just wanting to sell bread to an intense desire to make lasting connections with their customers.

“It was like the joy we felt baking magnified by sharing that joy with other people and have them share that joy as well,” Andrews said. “It was one thing to do it every week on Saturdays but a completely different one to be able to connect every day of the week. Families, kids, young and old people; just being able to love on them with good food and good drink that’s where we’ve come.”

Since the opening on Sept. 9, Andrews said the opening and operation of Yellow Dog Bread Company has been all she dreamt of and more.

“We really feel like Raleigh has needed an artisan bakery for such a long time and that the reception was phenomenal,” Andrews said. “Everything here in the store is baked from scratch here onsite every day. There’s nothing that’s baked a few days in advance or anything like that. Every day we do about 10 to 15 different varieties of breads and then we do about the same number of pastries.”

Andrews said there are many different things on Yellow Dog Bread Company’s horizon. From hopes to continue experimenting with its basics, to the hope of wholesale and distribution avenues, Andrews explained that an entrepreneur’s mind is always thinking to the future.

“I definitely want to see our product line expand,” Andrews said. “I’d love to see our product line become more focused on sourcing as locally as possible with as many things as possible. We’re constantly evolving our recipe so what we can go for that ideal loaf. So you’re always chasing perfection, and it gives you something to strive for.”