20. Victor & Mika's Bakery Chew on the Savory Taste of Failure

In this season 3 episode of Back of the Napkin, Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, owners of Victor & Mika’s Bakery, discuss owning and operating the first and only vegan establishment in Polk County, FL, and how sometimes finding the perfect recipe requires you to fail again and again. It took a pandemic, the resulting economic slowdown, and a new ally for Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, owners of Victor & Mika’s Bakery, to acknowledge their heavy workload was quickly becoming a detriment to their lives and business. “I became vegan to be healthy,” said Altidor. “But Victor and I were working way too many hours, which is not healthy.” Working too many hours is a tough pattern to break, but the COVID-19 downtime benefitted Altidor and Munoz. “The pandemic was a blessing in disguise because it helped us to slow down,” said Altidor, who notes how exhausting it is to own and operate a business. “I realized I felt like everything's becoming way too much, and I needed help. I needed tools to be able to manage things better and to take our bakery to the next level.” Read more ...