Baking and fighting the patriarchy with Sister Pie

By Catherine Engstrom-Hadley
Staff Writer

During a visit to campus hosted by the Bailey Library and the Entrepreneurship Center, Lisa Ludwinski, owner and founder of Sister Pie bakeshop in Detroit, discussed baking, running a community-focused business in Detroit and her cookbook, “Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit.”

Getting ready to expand into a second larger location in 2020, Ludwinski reflected on how her business began. In 2012, Ludwinski started Sister Pie in her parents’ kitchen.

“I spent a year cooking out of their kitchen and living in my childhood bedroom, developing my business plan,” said Ludwinski.

Sister Pie received a Hatch grant of $50,000 in 2013, in addition to using other non-traditional loans and fundraising tactics, including participating in a 24 hour dance-a-thon to raise donations. In 2014, she opened her bakeshop in Detroit’s West Village.

“We opened on April 24, 2014 and it’s been crazy ever since,” Ludwinski said. “Everything is a learning experience when you run a business”.       

Ludwinski discussed publishing her cookbook, and what that meant for her company and the future of Sister Pie.

According to Ludwinski, “it’s been very cool to be able to put Sister Pie out into the world in a bigger way,” because Sister Pie has no intention of leaving Detroit or shipping pies any time soon.

Ludwinski discussed her struggles with personal beliefs and running a business.

“You are told: ‘this is how you do things, this is how you treat your employees’ and in those systems, it never creates conversations, it never creates change,” said Ludwinski.

“I think a system like write-ups allows for less conversations between humans about improvement, and like restorative justice, it marks the boxes like ‘ok I can fire this person now,’” she added.   

In a recent Instagram post from Sister Pie, they addressed an unknown person continually taking down their #BlackLivesMatter sign.

“It’s a message of inclusivity,” explained Ludwinski during her talk. “It’s an important message in a city that is changing a lot, changing rapidly and gentrifying. We want to make sure that Sister Pie remains as a place that is thoughtful.”

It’s a traditional thought that you don’t mix politics with anything else and I think that’s a way we prevent good conversation from happening,” Ludwinski said. She offered a free slice of pie and an open conversation to anyone who wishes to speak more on the topic, but has not been taken up it yet.          

In the epilogue of her book, Ludwinski writes: “As a business owner I am working to resist these capitalistic norms that often define our work, our culture and our world. I am surprised at how often the one I’m up against is me”.

She elaborated on this idea during a question and answer session at the event.

“Everything that we do in business is so directly affected by the systems in our country. It’s why women make less money, why there aren’t good opportunities for people,” said Ludwinski. “In a city that has a national spotlight and is constantly being seen as on the rise and doing really great, there are still lots of people suffering and not feeling seen or heard.”       

Sister Pie’s bottom line is based on people, planet and profit. Ludwinski works hard to make sure that above all, these three things are the pillars of her business.

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