When buying a loaf of bread at the Bentonville Farmers Market, I happened upon a delightful Arkansas entrepreneur story I am excited to share. How did someone who trained as a musician but worked in corporate technology become a baker? Gabriel Camargo is an entrepreneur in the wee hours of the morning and a corporate strategy and technology consultant by day. Gabe’s passion is to bake very tasty and creative breads to sell at the Bentonville Farmers Market. Growing up in Brazil with a Portuguese and Italian heritage, watching his grandmother bake breads for charity, and daily trips to traditional local bakeries, were part of his routine. However, it wasn’t until a few years ago that baking became a creative outlet – an escape from the corporate world. It started with baking for friends and family, then neighbors, then neighbor’s friends and family, leading to his current farmers market outlet.
Gabe grew up studying classical music, earning a BA degree with concentrations in Conducting and Composition (2006). After a career in performing arts management, he earned his MBA (2010), which lead to his current career. Gabe continuously pairs academia and field knowledge on both ends of his professional and hobbyist lives. More recently he received an Executive Certification in Artificial Intelligence Strategy from MIT (2018), followed by completing advanced Bread Baking and Pastry coursework at the renowned San Francisco Baking Institute (2019). To continue the pursuit of his passion, he recently took a 2-month trip to France and Portugal, where he participated in technical visits and full-time apprenticeships at traditional bakeries from Paris to Lyon to Lisbon.
Gabe has a very supportive wife and two kids in Centerton, Arkansas. He wakes up before 4:00 am and sometimes goes to sleep after 2:00, working out of his modified home kitchen to bake 100+ loaves of organic breads – which invariably sell out every week. Amateur baking might be driven by passion, but his bread business, The American Toast, has no profit margin for an amateur’s mentality. Risk management, process design, sales strategy and a strong costing analytics are some of the business acumen allowing Gabe’s bread production to be economically viable. These disciplines are no less important to the quality of his products than a thorough understanding of the chemistry and techniques necessary to convert flour, salt and water into a delicious loaf of bread. To fully understand Gabe’s passion I suggest taste testing and a visit to his Instagram profile: https://www.instagram.com/theamericantoast/.
Gabe’s career map is an example of self motivation of an entrepreneur to constantly learn. Repeatedly, as I research Arkansas entrepreneurs, I see their passion for learning. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates take vacations just to have extra time to read. I know that as educators this makes us jealous! Your students have many career possibilities that did not exist several years ago. If they love to learn and actively pursue their passions, many doors of opportunities will open to them. Perhaps exploration of the US News and World Reports Best Jobs in 2019 will help your students to discover possibilities. Jobs are ranked by fields such as technology or medicine. You can search the best paying jobs but the rankings are based on several factors including future job growth, pay, work environment, and family/work balance. Rankings are included that will match any student interest area including creative, media, science, teaching, STEM or social services. Rankings include best jobs without a college degree such as best construction and maintenance jobs. Students can drill down in the rankings to discover education or certifications necessary. They will find job descriptions and expected salaries at the national level. Even if this college and career exploration is not included in your course frameworks, I encourage you to work this discussion and exploration into your classes — for the future of Arkansas! You can explore jobs that need the content you teach. Arkansas needs students with skills and a career path. Graduating from high school without a clear plan is often a path to low wage job alternatives, job instability, or unemployment. As educators I know we want more for our students. It is imperative that students understand that they may be successful without a college diploma but that they must offer relevant skills to the marketplace. The adage learn more, earn more is generally true but the learning can come from many career paths and include degrees, certifications, or apprenticeships. The Council for Economic Education offers lessons on Investing in a College Education. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and San Francisco provide Invest in What’s Next: Life After High School mini-course for your students. The Bessie B. Moore Center for Economic Education created a Livebinder titled Decisions, Decisions – Career Choices to organize information and resources for Arkansas students. The Arkansas Chamber of Commerce offers a semi-trailer truck and curricula that can visit your school to showcase some career opportunities that don’t require a college degree. Watch the Economics Arkansas calendar for programs on Connecting Educators to Industry that explore employment needs for your area of the state. Please share with your students that the Arkansas Futures Grant makes selected associates degrees and certifications free at Arkansas community colleges for Arkansas students. The fields that are included vary by state and regional needs but there are many that can help your students develop their human capital at a minimal cost.
I invite you to share ways you engage your students in exploration of their futures. Your ideas may motivate others to do do the same.
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