Discipline, Dough, and Doing the Work: The Madison Sourdough Story

Discipline, Dough, and Doing the Work: The Madison Sourdough Story

From ConversActions by Bill Mitchell

October 30, 2025 · 28 min · Season 1 · Episode 117

About this episode

Andrew Hutchison shares his journey in baking and leadership, emphasizing the importance of discipline and patience.

Andrew Hutchison is the president and head baker at Madison Sourdough. What starts as a story about bread becomes one about craft, resilience, and legacy. Andrew shares how a fine arts degree – and even getting fired from his first bakery shift – led him to discover the discipline and patience behind great bread and great leadership. He and Bill explore how fermentation, teamwork, and time shape not only dough but culture and business. If you believe success is built through consistency, not shortcuts, this one’s for you. In this episode, we explore:  (00:00) Passion forged through persistence (05:44) Why the French prefer milder bread (08:14) Crafting unique, fresh-milled loaves (10:36) Guiding the magic of fermentation (13:16) The patience behind perfect shaping (16:48) Building connections in the Midwest grain network (19:59) Breeding winter wheat for Wisconsin (26:23) Planning for business legacy and exit Links mentioned in this episode: Connect with Andrew Hutchison on LinkedIn Madison Sourdough

People in this episode

Host: Bill Mitchell

Guest: Andrew Hutchison

Topics covered

  • craft
  • resilience
  • leadership
  • teamwork
  • business legacy

Keywords

  • sourdough
  • baking
  • craftsmanship
  • teamwork
  • business culture
  • fermentation
  • leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Madison Sourdough

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