Meet Andrew O’Brien | Co-Owner of O’Brien Brothers Baking

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew O’Brien and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, how do you define success?
I think success is one of those things that you don’t realize you have until much later. In my experience it has shown up rather quietly and in a drastically different package than I had originally pictured. You think that when you strike out on your own that there will be this big moment when you have “made it” and confetti explodes out of the ceiling. Or what I imagine holding a winning lottery ticket must feel like. I definitely got caught up in that thought process where I was just kind of waiting for that moment. It wasn’t until recently that I had a shift on that outlook. I took a step back and saw that, our customers seemed to be happy, I saw a lot of the same faces and a lot of new faces and, the cherry on top, we were making money. We had growth, we hired our first employee, we bought equipment and started to slowly expand. At the time it felt like we were just barely making it which we were and it still feels like we are barely making it. But we were able to pay for things that seemed outrageous when we first started out and now, we are looking to lease a building. It hasn’t been easy and it has been an incredible amount of work but it has been working and I really like doing what I do. I’ve always just wanted to be able to make and feed people good food and so far, I think I’ve accomplished that, so I would consider that a success. I don’t see it as a finish line because then I have to stop. I think success is a moving target and is the opportunity to keep doing what I am doing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My brother Peter and I own a small bake shop that currently sells out of the Denton Community Market. We make a lot of staple type breads like sourdough and english muffins. Lately we have been making little breakfast sandwiches on the english muffins and selling them fresh at the market and it’s been a really positive thing for something that we thought was a shot in the dark. We are working on getting a lease secured so we can have our own space and offer even more food. I have worked as a cook, in various restaurants, for 15 years and I have always had an intention to open my own place since I was a little kid. I think it was a mixed bag of being easy and also very hard. I tried to learn something new at every place I worked and tried to look forward to the next opportunity. I always had my goal in mind so I could fall back on that when I needed to get through a crummy day. I think the best lesson has been humility and really being able to take ownership of a failure or a misstep. It helps to ease some of the stresses of the job and it helps you critically think about how to better prepare for next time. It has a lot of other advantages than just that but those are the things that come to mind. I’d like for people to know that it’s possible to do what you like to do as long as you can be nice to people and believe in your product and skills enough to put it out there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A week is a long time to plan stuff to do each day! I’ll do my best here but normally when people come to visit me, we spend a lot of time at home and eating there. I love Shinjuku Station in Fort Worth and their sister restaurant Tokyo Cafe, absolutely incredible food and experience (RIP Canon Chinese). While in Fort Worth we would probably go to the Kimball or to the Botanical Gardens or maybe both! We would probably walk around Magnolia Street or West 7th. Honestly there are a lot of really cool record shops and bookstores around there that we would probably just be satisfied exploring (this of course depends on who I’m hosting). As for Dallas we would try and go to Petra and the Beast, I’ve never been but I have desperately wanted to go since they opened. So having the experience together would be pretty cool. We could go to Bishop Arts and grab a pie from Emporium and check out Magic Hour and We are 1976. Then To Deep Ellum for some Ramen at Ichigoh or Ten. There is Fortune House in Irving and not far from there is Bejing Brothers. Then in Carrollton there is Al Markaz, H-Mart, 99 Ranch Market, honestly that whole little area is a treasure trove. In Denton, we have Boca 31 and Komodo Loco. Rooster’s is a great spot as well. The square has Recycled Books which is full of buried treasure. Beth Marie’s for ice cream of course and Golden Boy for coffee. Paschall’s or Vinyl Lounge for a cocktail and some great music and atmosphere.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Andres Meraz, chef and owner of Boca 31, has always had our back and has been overwhelmingly helpful and encouraging. Our wives, family, friends and all the other cooks and people trying to do their own thing.

Website: www.obrienbrosbaking.com

Instagram: @obrienbrosbaking

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