The Inspiring Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels

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Fort Worth, Texas. Auntie Ann Biler is best known as the founder of Auntie Ann's, the world's largest pretzel franchise. Here to tell her story in a talk she gave at Biola University is the pretzel queen herself. Any biler. Let's take a listen.

I was born a little Amish girl in Lexter County, Pennsylvania. Five boys, three girls, one mom, one dad. You know, the old-fashioned way. Ten of us. We were raised to love God and to love each other.

My dad said to work hard. We hear the line a lot today, work smarter. My dad made me believe if I work hard I am smart. Be kind to each other. My mom said every day: little children, love each other.

do not give each other pain When one speaks to you in anger, do not answer them again. Every day we heard that. I believe that one of the greatest lessons I learned on the farm was to. Persevere. You do what you don't feel like doing.

Yeah, do it anyway. At the age of twelve, I would make sixty or seventy pies and cakes by myself. In the basement of our old farmhouse, In a big old pizza oven. And I'd walk down there, wipe the tears from my eyes because I did not want to do that. My mom and dad would come home from market that night.

and my Dad was so proud and he would tell every customer My daughter made those pies, my daughter made those cakes.

So at the age of twelve, my bakery was pretty well. It had reached a peak. Like I can sell my wares, my goods, my baked goods. And my dad was proud of me. That was there was something about all of that that really set the pace for me.

I really thought I hit the jackpot the day I married Jonas. Byler.

Now, with a name like Jonas Byler, you know that he was Amish. It's just. You don't have to wonder. Yes, he he was Amish. We were young, we were innocent, and filled with love for each other and for God.

And we were living our dream as a young Amish girl, all I ever wanted in life. was my very own family. I have to tell you though, forty-six years of being married to this man. He's not quite as tall. His last doctor Check up, he's a half inch shorter.

His hair is not so dark. But he's still really handsome. And I still believe I hit the jackpot the day I married. Jonah Spiler. God gave me more than I deserved.

The secret is Find someone that loves God More. then he loves you. That is not a guarantee, but I can tell you that's a very good start. In a relationship. In a few short years after being married, Our dreams were broken.

Our nineteen-month-old little girl, Angela. Was killed in a tragic farm accident as she was walking from our little double Y trailer to my mom and dad's house just up the lane. It was during that time that she was run over. By uh Bobcat. My sister was driving at the time and she was killed instantly.

My grief was too deep For words. And I began to withdraw into a place. of silence. My husband and I drifted apart. This took me into great depra into a great Deep depression.

And based on that, I went to our pastor. Who we thought was a good man at that time. And I walked into his office that Monday morning, about five months after our daughter was killed. And as I left his office, he seduced me, and I stayed in an abusive relationship. For six.

Long. Years. The grief that I experienced with Angela. As deep as that was The abuse took me to the abyss of hell. Of despair.

of darkness of guilt. of suicide. Being broken in spirit from nineteen seventy four to nineteen eighty-four. had me believing That God was finished with me. In 1984, My husband and I walked into a church in Austin, Texas.

Broken in spirit We were welcomed by the pastor and his wife. Tom and Brenda Wilson. Their love. And the people in that congregation Restored us back to spiritual health. I had no idea at that time.

that God had aunty Annes on his mind. Through our tragedy, Jonas and I began to put our life back together again with the help of marriage counseling. And Jonas decided This is exciting. I want to help other couples get through their struggles and their marriages. Just help people.

So he began to study. psychology and became a counselor. And did free counseling in our community for over 15 years. When he started counseling, and he was doing it as a brief service. That meant one thing for me.

I needed to go to work. And make the dough. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. The pretzel dough, that is. And you've been listening to one heck of a story told by Annie Biler.

about the tragic loss of her daughter's life, than the even more tragic abuse delivered to her by the person Well the last person who should. or pastor. But then reclaiming her faith. And reclaiming her story and her relationship with God. When we come back, The story of Auntie Ann and her pretzel empire.

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Yeah, a real prodigy. Homes.com We've done your homework. And we continue with Our American Stories and the story of Auntie Annie Biler. And she's best known as the founder of Auntie Anne's, the world's largest pretzel franchise. Let's return to the talk she gave.

at Biola University. My decision to go to work was based on our financial need and not on a smart business plan. From a housewife. to corporate America almost overnight. Ante hence started in 1988.

And we knew from The very early days of months of anti ends. Antiennies was created to give. God wanted to use anti-hands as a vehicle for missions. I can tell you that purpose with passion. It's dangerous.

Three things that I did not have when I started Auntie Ann's, and the obstacles that I had to overcome. There were many. But three things in particular: education, formal education, capital. and a business plan. I went through the eighth grade.

Because that's Amish culture. It's what you do. And when you're done, With eighth grade, you got on the farm and you help mom and dad or you go get a job. It's what we did. It's all I knew.

So I'm not a dropout. We had no capital. We had come back after living in Texas. And we had twenty-five dollars. Cash I had no plan, had no 401k.

I didn't know what a 401k was. I didn't know what C D's were. I didn't know what an IR. I knew nothing, period, about business or banking. And I Felt intimidated.

As I made My rounds in the business world And I became fearful. I began to whine. Yeah. whine and cry to my husband. Oh, I wish I would be.

Like Him like her. I wish I'd huh. He said to me one day, Stop whining And just be. Who God Made you. That sounds like simple, not too profound.

But at the time It was very important for me to hear those words. During that time, God took me to the verse in Psalm 32, verse 8. He said, I will instruct you. And I We'll teach you in the way. that you should go.

And I'll counsel you with my eye. And I took him literal. It was very clear to me there were three things that I had. I had A great purpose. I had Great.

product and I had Great. People. And when you focus on what you have. You don't have any time left. to think about What you don't Have.

And when we started Ant Hands in 1988 with a $6,000 loan from my father-in-law, we bought our first market stand. By nineteen ninety two we were opening our one hundredth store. The growth for me was fast and intense. By 1995, we were opening our first International store halfway around the world in Jakarta, Indonesia. I mean, why?

ENO People will say to me, Well, why did you go to Jakarta to Indonesia? My simple answer to the question is: I guess I thought that if we can do business halfway around the world, Anything closer would be easier. What I learned early on as the founder and CEO of a fast growing organization was that if we were going to grow as an organization then and fulfill our purpose, then I The owner, the founder, the leader, then I would have to grow. personally. You cannot grow professionally if you do not grow personally.

That meant to me to live a life of purpose, meant then that I had to get over me. I had to grow in every aspect of my life, which meant to read books. I went to seminars. I went to conferences.

So I was so sick of going to conferences, week after week, month after month, leadership, management, franchise consult You name it, I was there. because I knew I had to grow. Over time, I became comfortable in my own skin. And confident in the position that God put me in. And it became very clear to me, it's not about me.

But it was about the purpose. I became passionate about our employees. And I've always been proud passion. Passionate about the product. Today I don't own the company anymore, but the unfortunate part is that my name is still there.

And Linda, I cannot help myself. If I come to your store and the pretzels are not perfect, I just, mm. I'm passionate about the product. And the employees and their needs. And I'm here to tell you that if you care about your employees, They will be loyal to your purpose.

Guaranteed. I read a book on Lincoln on leadership. Lincoln was dubbed with an MBWA. Manage. By walking.

around. Yeah. I could relate to that. It's all I ever did. Walk around in my office and talk to people.

I knew if I talked to them and cared for them. I mean, I didn't know at that time. But I wanted to know them and care for them. I loved them. and discovered much later If you care for your people, they'll be loyal to your purpose.

When I started Antienn's, I was surprised at how business was being done because remember, I didn't know anything about business. I hadn't made my rounds out there in corporate yet. I didn't know. I mean, I grew up on an auntie's farm. It was all about integrity.

I knew that AUTNs had to be the kind of company that would honour God in all that we did. Can we do it perfectly 100% all the time? No? But I believe the model is there, and to be excellent, and to care about building a company of integrity. Who would have thought?

Not a pretzel. It's a common Pretzels date all the way back to six ten eighty. God took this little Amish girl. from Leicester County, Pennsylvania, all around the world. Sewing pretzels We sold the company 05 and Built the family centre.

to help families in need. But all during the years, I kept going back to the promise that God gave to me. I'll teach you. I'll instruct you. I'll help you.

And I can tell you. He was faithful to his promise. And he not only taught me, But he walked with me. Every step of the way. And he helped me.

Mother Teresa once said You don't have to be famous. to be effective. You just have to be. Faithful. And a terrific job on the production and editing by our own Greg Hengler.

And a special thanks to Biola University for the story you just heard. And that, of course, is Auntie Ann Byler's remarkable life story, born out of tragedy, the very worst kind. And then triumphing despite it, and putting her faith in the Lord. But also, well, what she did was she had to get over herself. and she had to grow personally.

which she did relentlessly. and over time I became comfortable in my own skin, and confident in the position God placed me. And we can only hope for that in everyone who's listening. that you can get to that place, that we can all get to that place. And as Ann Byler said in the end, God took this little Amish girl all around the world selling pretzels.

God not only taught me, but He walked with me. every step of the way. The story of Auntie Ann's pretzels Which in the end is Ann Byler's story. Here are on our American stories. Behind every successful business is a vision.

Bringing it to life takes more than effort. It takes the right financial foundation and support. That's where Chase for Business comes in. With convenient digital tools, helpful resources, and personalized guidance, we can help your business forge ahead confidently. Learn more at chase.com backslash business.

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