Anne Beiler
With just an eighth-grade education, Anne Beiler never considered a career in business beyond her traditional Amish upbringing. But a desire to help others after tragedy led her to multimillion-dollar success as founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels.
GROWING UP IN AN AMISH community in Pennsylvania, I felt very blessed. It was a very secure and simple lifestyle. There was no TV, radio or stereo. There were eight kids in the family, and we lived on a farm. I left school after eighth grade, as is traditional in Amish society, and I couldn't wait to help my parents with all the work. (I did get my GED at age 50.)
I MARRIED AT 19. My only dream was to be a wife and have four girls. In 1975, my 19-month-old daughter, Angie, was killed when a bulldozer accidentally backed over her. My life went from security and simplicity into sorrow, sadness and confusion. I'd thought God was harsh and life is good, when actually it's the other way around.
I SLID INTO A DEPRESSION because of Angie's death and the abuse of spiritual power by my pastor, who was counseling me but [then had] an affair with me. I felt so guilty and ashamed. Counseling with a psychologist helped me to recover and saved my marriage.
MY HUSBAND, Jonas, became passionate about helping other families and studied counseling so he could provide free help to other couples. We needed money to live, so I started selling pretzels at a farm stand in 1988. The pretzels were horrible at first, but Jonas helped me come up with a recipe for soft-rolled pretzels that worked.
SALES TOOK OFF by word of mouth. The day we made $2,000 was amazing. Family members asked for the recipe to sell some at another farm stand. I said they could for an upfront fee and a percentage of sales. I didn't understand at the time that this was franchising.
I BECAME OBSESSED with making money to give it away. I always felt this venture would work out because it was a calling. It was harder than I ever imagined, but I was disciplined. I worked from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Nothing scared me. We had over 850 locations and $250 million in sales when I sold the business in 2005. I felt like it was time to move on and do other things.
NOW, LIFE IS FULL OF JOY. I spend time with my family and grandchildren. I wrote a memoir (A Twist of Faith, Thomas Nelson, 2008) and I'm a conference speaker. Jonas is building a 55,000-square-foot counseling center. Auntie Anne's was the vehicle God used to grow me up – professionally, mentally and spiritually.
Reprinted from the August.September 2008 issue of PINK magazine.
"I became obsessed with making money to give it away. I always felt this venture would work out because it was a calling. It was harder than I ever imagined, but I was disciplined."
Anne Beiler, founder, Auntie Anne's Pretzels
