Laid off during pandemic, married chefs turn online bakery into New Albany brick and mortar

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- It sounds like a half-baked idea, starting a business during a pandemic. But when Kimberly and Zechariah Maxey lost their jobs at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, they began baking to help others.

Out of their efforts, Leaven Bakery was born.

You'll find its new brick-and-mortar store at 1515 E. Market St. in New Albany, Indiana.

"It’s one of those things where you dream it for so long, you finally get that one little inch and finally get that chance, and you take it," Zechariah Maxey said.

WDRB News told you about the Maxeys in June 2020. Zechariah was a sous chef at Jack Fry's. Kimberly handled pastries at The Brown Hotel. But, like millions of Americans, they found themselves on the employment sidelines, when the coronavirus slammed the economy.

"It’s a terrifying feeling," Kimberly Maxey said. "Your whole career is just basically down the drain."

Shortages at grocery stores, however, led to their phones lighting up. Relatives and friends knew the Maxeys always had a good supply of flour and sugar, so requests started coming in for bread and other baked goods. Then they got their apartment kitchen certified by the health department and created a website to help organize orders.

Word spread like wildfire, and the Maxeys personally delivered more than 1,500 orders during the pandemic. Their apartment oven couldn’t keep up.

Dishes made by Leaven Bakery

After searching all over the Louisville Metro area, the Maxeys found a building they loved a in southern Indiana. It opened Wednesday and features lunch options in addition to the breads Zechariah Maxey makes and Kimberly Maxey's specialty desserts.

Interested in stocking up on some loaves of their coveted sourdough? The Maxeys said be patient. The pandemic has delayed the delivery of a larger oven, and batches will be small until it arrives.

The Maxeys are also having trouble finding a delivery driver and don't have time any more to run orders all over Metro Louisville themselves. To solve that problem, they're entertaining the idea of opening a second bakery in Louisville.

As Kimberly Maxeys put it, "If you can get through a pandemic, you can get through anything."

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