People often ask me how I came up with the idea for the certified gluten free, certified BumbleBar. My ADD had led me in many directions. In college, I studied everything from economics to sign language to pre-nursing. I have always loved learning.
My Mother taught me from a young age that life needed to be dedicated to making the world a better place. I started working at the Gathering, a free community meal program, back in Milwaukee when I was 8. By the time I was 16, I was responsible for feeding 100’s of people. The cooking was fun and I liked working with the other volunteers. I also volunteered in at Columbia St. Mary’s hospital shuttling patients and playing with sick kids.
When I was a young teen, my Dad took me to the Outpost, my first natural foods co-op. It was love at first sight. The natural food, left wing politics, and generally alternative nature appealed to me greatly. (It still does.)
Fast forward a few years, I am living on the Siuslaw River, out in the Coast Range mountains of Oregon off the grid, growing my own food, and splitting lots of wood for my stove. Little Jed and I love it but I feel a pull to make more of an impact. I move back to the city with the intention of going back to school to be a nurse. I enroll at the University of Washington and get a job working in the emergency room as a technician. Guess what? I find out working with sick people is way too sad for me and I should stick with something that has always made me happy- FOOD.
I rent a kitchen in the Seward Park neighborhood in Seattle in the off hours, hand roll and cut bars with the help of some friends. I carry the bars around to stores in Seattle. As the first certified energy bar on the market, I get in everywhere I try. I meet and fell in love with Mr. Sales Star, Glenn Ward. I persuaded him to leave corporate America so he could use his talents to help further my mission.
Here we are today. Making a difference in the world through our simple bars! Miraculously, Glenn and I are happily married with a couple more kids including our baby, BumbleBar.
Thanks for helping me make my dreams a reality! -Liz Ward
