Bread Local is a community favourite in Esperance

After returning to Esperance from Perth, Ms Brown realised what she missed the most about city life was the artisan sourdough bread she could buy from local markets.

"I thought, I'm gonna learn to make it, because if I want this bread, then other people do too," Ms Brown said.

It may have been a fated course of action, as she had always wanted to work in food, but had avoided hospitality because she didn't want to be a chef.

"I couldn't see an entry into food any other way," she said.

"I've always had a passion for entertaining and cooking, I grew up having massive long table dinners and lunches for every birthday."

Taking a sourdough class in Perth cemented her passion for baking and, in 2016, she made the first step to start her business Bread Local.

It has a team of between 8-10 staff running the business at Ms Brown and her partner Tom's property, a short distance from Esperance.

On the team are some of Ms Brown's closest friends and family members, including her mum Victoria.

Tom - known as Big Bear to the locals - greets customers in the driveway of their home and directs the queue of traffic into car parks.

Except for one, all of Bread Local's bakers are self-taught and joined the team with a love of baking and a willingness to learn.

Ms Brown said it's proof that any dream can be made possible.

"It's something I'm really proud of, when you see our products and yet we're not a team of fully qualified bakers or pastry chefs," she said.

"Including myself, we've got three working mums on the team, so I'm proud to support working parents."

A week's worth of preparation goes into Bread Local's one day of trade.

But it means the business can offer a better working environment for its staff.

"We don't have bakers who have to start at two o'clock in the morning every single day, which is nice for our team," she said.

However without any professional training, Ms Brown has had to figure a lot of it out on her own, with "passion and perseverance".

"The pathway for me to understand how to commercially scale my product has been so challenging," she said.

"We've certainly made poor decisions and, you know, I've had to learn how to make one loaf of bread, then 10 and then 100 loaves.

"And I am trying to do that when I don't know what equipment I need and I don't have a list of industry suppliers."

Its understandable then that Ms Brown said she sometimes finds it challenging to balance the roles of running a business and working in her bakery.

"For me they're two completely separate roles," she said.

"You're never going to get me out of the bakery into a business development HR marketing role, because there's a huge amount of joy for me to be on the pastry band working with people who are some of my closest friends."

Ms Brown said the support of her family, friends and community was one of her biggest motivators.

She said sometimes she wanted to throw in the towel, but had invested too much time, energy and money into the business.

"I built a kitchen in my garage, I had to make it work, because what else was I going to do with that?" Ms Brown said.

"The community has been so supportive and so encouraging.

"We get these little notes in our online orders and they'll be like 'thank you so much, you guys are amazing' and it's just that appreciation which means so much.

"The local community is there behind you and they want to see you succeed.

"I know it's a bakery and I know we're just selling cakes, but you are providing something for your community which is worthwhile and is loved," she said.

All of this magic happens in the couple's garage, which shares a wall with their bedroom and has been renovated into a commercial kitchen.

A second garage was built to replace the first one, however this was later transformed into a shopfront.

"We still don't have a garage, the business just takes over every piece of infrastructure that we have on the property," she said.

"There is very little separation, it's all encompassing."

The bakery set up on the property is set to again grow, thanks to a regional economic development grant from the State government.

Bread Local was awarded $129,000 to build a toilet block, upgrade the power infrastructure and buy a bigger oven.

An existing shed on the property is also being renovated to create an even bigger bakery.

"That was a hard decision to make because it is my home," Ms Brown said.

"You can't separate your life from your work when it's around you 24/7."

This trade off is all made worthwhile, as it means Ms Brown can be present for her two children, seven-year-old Ned and Tessa, 5, before and after school.

"They'll just walk into the bakery and I'm there, they might sit by the fire and get a little bit of pastry to keep them entertained," Ms Brown said.

"So even though I'm working, I'm not absent from their lives."

Ms Brown said she fondly remembers growing up on her parent's grain enterprise, with her dad always working close by.

"My dad worked horrendous hours when we were little, but I don't remember him not being a part of my childhood," she said.

"Growing up on the farm, if I wanted to see my dad, that would just mean sitting in the ute mustering a mob of sheep, but he was there.

"I'm happy to have the sacrifice of a little bit of a diminished work life balance for the fact that I'm here with my family all the time."

While it would be impossible to source wheat from her parents' farm, as the grain they grow doesn't quite meet Ms Brown's bread-making criteria, she said she creating something tangible makes her feel most connected to her farming upbringing.

When Ms Brown was 23 she moved from Esperance to Perth to study a sports science degree and a graduate diploma in health and safety.

After completing her studies she worked in a health promotion role, where success was defined by targets and KPIs.

"That's all well and good, but it's not the same as 'today I made and sold 100 loaves of bread' and that is the value of my work," Ms Brown said.

"And it's that connection to what my dad did, put a crop in the ground, take the crop off, sell it.

"I love that part of my job, it's hard work and it's a hands-on role and you're creating a product," she said.

After working in this field for a few years, Ms Brown and her partner found themselves wanting more.

"We were ready for a change and we thought we had nothing to lose, because if it didn't work out in Esperance we would just go back to Perth and get new jobs," she said.

"What keeps me here is many things, but it's just an easy life, with simplicity and community."

Ms Brown said her favourite product to make in her bakery was one where it all started - bread.

She describes no two days being the same in the world of breadmaking.

"You're always learning and always watching and paying attention," she said.

"These were all basic ingredients and then you nurture them through this process."