These Women Run One of the Most Iconic Bakeries in America

Pamela Weekes and Connie McDonald, co-founders of Levain Bakery, built one of America’s most iconic bakeries by choosing community over scale. As longtime partners and operators, they’ve spent three decades proving that patience and care can turn a neighborhood shop into a national brand.

Watch now to learn how a batch of cookies became a national brand, how community fueled their growth, and why slow expansion built something that lasts.

Sponsored by:

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Chapters:

[02:14] - The Story Behind the Book

[06:00] - Opening Day on 74th Street

[14:00] - Scrappiness and 18 Years of Seven-Day Weeks

[24:15] - The Accidental Cookie Launch

[33:00] - Slow Growth Over Scale

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RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS IS PRESENTED BY TOAST —

Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

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Episode Links:

Levain Bakery

Levain BakeryA Story of Friendship, Community, and Cookies

Levain Bakery IG

Levain Bakery Facebook

Levain Bakery Pinterest

Key Takeaways:

Community Builds the Brand: From praying someone would buy a cup of coffee to including customer letters in their book, Weekes and McDonald built Levain by creating a place people wanted to belong, not just a place to buy cookies.

Endurance Is the Advantage: Eighteen years of seven-day workweeks, twelve to fifteen hour days, climbing roofs, cleaning bathrooms, delivering bread in blizzards, and doing whatever the business required built the foundation for long-term success.

Slow Growth Creates Staying Power: Levain did not chase rapid expansion or scale for ego. By focusing on time, stability, and hiring good, nice people first, Weekes and McDonald built a brand designed to last, not just to grow fast.

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ABOUT CONNIE MCDONALD AND PAM WEEKES —

It all started with two friends, a swimming pool, and a shared love for baking. Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald are friends and accomplished bakers who baked bread for some of NYC’s favorite restaurants. Eventually, they opened a small bread shop on West 74th Street. They called it Levain Bakery, borrowing the French word for “leavened bread.” It was 1995, and the small Levain team lovingly baked every loaf, baguette and roll by hand every day. As for the cookie? That was a happy accident. Triathletes on the side, Pam & Connie whipped up a massive chocolate chip walnut cookie to keep energy levels high for training. A sample batch flew off the bakery shelves, and an icon was born.

ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS —

Restaurant Influencers is a weekly video podcast series presented by Entrepreneur Media and Cali BBQ Media. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with business leaders like Shaquille O’Neal, Rob Dyrdek, Emeril Lagasse, Mayim Bialik, Jon Taffer, Robert Irvine, Toast co-founder Aman Narang, and more, about their secrets to Smartphone Storytelling, marketing, branding, and how to show up where customers are engaging online.

Published by Entrepreneur Media

Produced by Cali BBQ Media