Above all love rules

Insight from Thriving Women.

Meet Jennifer Wiese, wife and mother to four young boys. Through compassion to help her son’s battle with autism, she came across a discovery that was life-changing. And through time and commitment, developed products to share with not only her family, but to others—A platform to give back, so others wouldn’t experience the struggles that she did.

I know you will be encouraged and take away much insight from our interview together. Enjoy learning more about this inspiring woman.

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Be You and Thrive: On your website you share that Bee Free was developed from your desire to bake nutritional treats that would help with your son’s autism. And that it would let him enjoy the pleasure of being a kid. Can you share some insight on how this quest led up to beginning your business?

Jennifer Wiese: About fourteen years ago my husband and I attended an autism conference in Vancouver, which was where we first learned about gluten-free. At that time, gluten-free was pretty unknown territory for me. Although it wasn’t really available in the mainstream market yet, we came home and went to all the markets and bought everything available that was gluten-free. We got home very excited to try everything and 99% of it went into the trashcan because it was horrible. It was not filled with good quality ingredients and it tasted like cardboard.

I couldn’t with a good conscious, feed my family food that tasted this bad. My husband and I are really comfortable in the kitchen and spent most of our lives cooking next to our parents and grandparents, and we felt like we could do better. So we got busy. I enlisted my mother and we started converting family recipes. I wanted my son to have some favorite things that I grew up having as a kid, so those were the things we started to convert. He was a kid—so pizza, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip cake were the three things we developed first. (His favorites!)

BY&T: You were a determined Mama! I love that your family got involved and that you began with converting his favorite foods to be gluten-free. Through this discovery you must have seen a change in how these new eating habits helped your son?

JW: Absolutely! And that was the fuel that helped move me forward. My son August, generally had a higher level of awareness and was more engaging. He’s on the high-functioning side of autism, but he was more conversational, sleeping better and more aware of his surroundings. We saw the impact that it was having on his life. And regardless of how difficult it was to find food to feed a young and busy family gluten-free, it was worth every minute because of the benefits!

BY&T: What an amazing discovery for your family and for your son, August. So did you wake up one morning and announce to your husband that you were going to start a gluten-free business? (We share some laughter). Seriously, how did you decide to launch Bee Free?

JW: It was truly born from the desire and sincere need to feed my family delicious gluten-free foods.

But it was a multi-year process. I was a busy mom with four young children, so it was years of recipe development and trudging through daily life trying to do the best I could. Then I noticed people began paying attention to what they were eating: Athletes started choosing gluten-free because of higher performance levels, autism communities are now paying attention to the benefits and our celebrity population added to this as well.

And at that point, people that I associate with also took notice. They knew my son August, was eating gluten-free, as I would find out what they were having at parties and bring the same types of food for him. (And I always brought extra!). People started tasting and realized it was pretty good and that it was different from other gluten-free products they have had before. I began to be encouraged by friends and family.

BY&T: I find it fascinating that through the discovery of how eating gluten-free helped your son, your quest to help him, is now benefiting others. I noticed that part of your product purchase funds go to autism research. Have you been able to bring more awareness about autism through Bee Free?

JW: We support a lot of local autism events and we give a portion of our year-end earnings to autism research. The biggest thing that we do and that I’m proud of, is we employ young adults with autism at our bakery facility. There are more and more kids every year entering post high school years. It’s a challenge and concern for autism families. What will these kids do? They have skills. They are valuable workers, but there is a lack of support in the job market. That’s a part of our business that we want to expand.

BY&T: How terrific! You are truly giving back to the community. Jennifer, when we share our stories we also shed light on how we overcome our various challenges. I can only imagine the learning curve that you and your family have had as your son battles autism emotionally, physically and mentally. I am a big believer that if we allow, our setbacks and difficulties in life can actually become gifts. Can you share how you have processed through this experience as a mother and how this has affected your outlook?

JW: My husband and I often talk about what a gift all of our children are to us. But the fact that we have a child that has some special needs has given our entire family a new outlook and a new appreciation for people. For instance, not judging someone for what they look like or how they act in public. And my patience and my tolerance for differences have definitely been impacted. Our other sons have always lent that extra set of hands for August. As the boys grow older they automatically just jump in and give him what he needs without us saying. ‘Hey why don’t you go over there and lend a hand.’ I’m starting to see that transfer outside of the home as well. There are stresses and challenges having a child with special needs and it never goes away, no matter how old you are or how old your child is. But it is such a blessing. He has probably taught us a lot more than we’ve taught him.

BY&T: Thank you for sharing that. I think we each have unique gifts to share with one another and oftentimes doubt or even fear can detour us from taking action. Through mothering August and through the challenges and changes in your lifestyle, none-the-less spearheading the roles of wife, mother and businesswoman, surely there have been doubts or difficulties. Can you share your thoughts in regards to overcoming doubt and sticking with your passion to accomplish something that you know you want to do?

JW:

One of the things that we’ve taught our children from a very young age is, ‘If you never try you’ll never know.’ And so I have to remind myself of this when things are hard or when I get discouraged. You’re right, being a mom is hard enough. As is being a business owner. It doesn’t matter what your situation is—Life is hard! I constantly and consciously have to make the choice to move forward with a positive outlook. And if I choose not to do that, then what am I teaching my children? They are watching whether I am actively teaching them or not. They’re paying attention.”

BY&T: So much truth to that. And so how do you refuel when you are multitasking all these things at once?

JW: I used to start my day by waking up in bed in the morning and praying. And then I would feel like I was getting overwhelmed, as all these thoughts would rush to my head. And then I would have a really hard time getting out of bed (she giggles). So I have devised a new system for my everyday waking up routine. I get up early and I have a little prayer corner in one of the rooms of my house. I light a candle and I write in my prayer journal. I do some reading in the Bible and then I start my day. And I find that it helps me get out of bed and take care of what’s the most important business of the day—my relationship with God. I get my mind fed and straight for the day. I find that helps me. Then I get the boys up, we do our morning routine before school and then I go for a run.

BY&T: I think it’s incredible how we can control our thoughts (or not). And setting those intentions and committing to a routine can be a lifesaver. Thank you for sharing your ideas. And so as we wind down our conversation together, with the thought of ‘intention,’ if you were to choose a few words that describe your ‘words to live by,’ what would they be?

JW: Better today then yesterday. What that means to me is that I just try every day to be better than I was yesterday. And I realize that every day is a new day, for a new chance.

BY&T: Jennifer, your story is inspiring and truly heart-warming. I admire your outlook and tenacity. I’m proud of you for taking the initiative to forge through how to cook and live gluten-free on behalf of the health of your family, before it was really known.

JW: The journey was difficult to learn. What is gluten-free, how to cook gluten-free and how to navigate that whole world. Besides benefiting my family, I wanted to help other people so they wouldn’t have the struggles that I did. I really felt like this was a platform for me to give back.

BY&T: And you’ve developed that platform beautifully. We know August had a big part in this endeavor. If you could thank your son for something that he has taught you, what would that be?

JW: Pure love. He’s taught me that above all, love rules.