[breeze - duck quacks, Splashes] [Upbeat Music] - My husband and I decided to get donuts for the kids one day, so I said "Well, I'll just run in "and get them really quickly, "you stay in the car with the kids."

And so I came in, and there was a line of people waiting to get donuts, and the dining room is full.

And Deneya's running around serving people in the dining room, and this line for donuts just isn't moving.

There's no one helping us.

And a couple minutes later Damian walks through the door and immediately- - Who can I help first?

- greets everyone in the line.

How you doing folks?

And before he's even behind the counter he's addressing the person at the front of the line, what can I get for you today?

And I just remember being so shocked by that.

I mean usually people walk in, and they "Oh, there's a line."

It takes them a minute to get acclimated or whatever, and Damian just jumped right in.

And he moved through that line so quickly, and he made every single person just feel like their donuts were the most important thing.

That them getting the donuts they wanted and getting out to get on with their day was just so important.

And he was so joyful about it.

I've never seen anything like that in customer service.

He just got through that line, and made everyone feel so special.

You could tell he just loved being here, and was so happy to be at work that that's what I took back to the car.

I didn't take back frustration over having to wait, I just took back this joy that Damian had given me in addition to the donuts we wanted.

We've been coming back ever since.

Why wouldn't you wanna come to a place that just makes you feel so happy and joyful, and has really good donuts?

It's a win-win.

- There you are my dear.

- Thank you.

- [Damian] Of course.

You have a nice rest of your day.

- [Customer] You as well.

Thank you.

- [Damian] I will.

Say hey, how can I help you?

[Quiet Music] - Music's playing, coffee's hot, doughnuts are fresh.

- You gotta have a cream filled maple bar, they're famous for 'em.

- Really enjoy it.

Best doughnuts around.

♪ - Every morning that I have the day off this kid wakes me up, "Hey is the bakery open?"

"Let's go get a doughnut."

- My pillow was never dry when I went to bed, ever, 'cause I just felt so alone.

I felt so left out.

I felt like I had nothing.

- I've gone up and down those stairs since I was age six.

All right, so that's our proof box.

The doughnuts will go from frozen to life size.

- Well I met Mike... Um... We used to drink, and I met him in the Wild Horse Bar across the street from here.

- That's one thing is my ears tune into stuff.

You can hear that mixing bowl.

I can almost tell when the dough is done just by the sound that it makes inside the bowl without even going and looking or touching it.

The first time I actually met her was... We were both drinkers, and I met her at the bar that happens to be across the street.

- I started out being his bartender, and we kind of got to know each other.

And before you knew it we were dating.

- We bought the bakery March 23, 1970.

I knew nothing about a bakery even though my dad was a baker.

- You know what a doughnut is?

It's nothing more than two smiles coming together.

I was like "If you cut a doughnut in half, "have it come open you'd have two smiles.

"Put it back, then you'd have a doughnut."

So anyway... - Mike lived upstairs, and Mike and I were going to Safeways where Safeways used to be where The First Interstate Bank is now.

And his mother opened up the window on the side 'cause she had heard that I was a cook.

And she asked me if I was interested in a job, and I said "Yes."

- You want the truth?

- [Crew] Yeah.

- We, we weren't living for the Lord.

We did a lot of drugs, a lot of drinking, and everything else that comes along with that lifestyle.

Looking back it was a very selfish lifestyle.

But that's where we were then.

♪ - [Crew] Did you say you're gonna be doing some cooking this morning?

- Yeah, I'll cook for the first hour of the day, til Gina gets in here.

- I was called the miracle child because I only had maybe 10% chance of even living at all.

So I was super sick when I was born.

I was born anemic.

- I had to go to the hospital because my pancreas shut down.

So I was pretty much gonna die.

So I had stomach pump, and an IV for fluids for about three days.

And really started talking with the Lord about where I was.

After I started healing and I wasn't gonna die I remember God asking me again, He's like "Do you wanna live?"

He's like "You're alive, but do you wanna live?"

And I knew what He meant.

You can be alive and not living.

And I wanted to live.

So that was the beginning of the turning point for me.

- Later on when I was three my mom left when I was just super young, but I still remember it vividly.

So ever since then I've always felt that I was less.

I was so much lesser.

And when I turned like 12 or 13 I remember I was just so low.

- So went upstairs, basically what I did was I just heated up some simple sugar, which is half sugar and half water.

Then I add it back into the glaze to thin it down.

And here's the other thing I learned on being a third generation baker.

Probably 98% of the instruments I use are these right here.

- So it's Damian.

So it's D-a-m-i-a-n. You want me to look at the camera?

I'm looking at you.

- Okay, so am I looking at you?

- [Crew] You're looking at me.

- Okay.

- [Crew] We're just having a conversation.

- Perfect.

- [Crew] This stuff just happens to be here.

- Yes.

- But we're just having a conversation.

- That thing, cool.

- Sweet.

And my last name is Innerbichler.

That's I-n-n-e-r-b-i-c-h-l-e-r. - Kathryn Perkins.

K-a-t-h-r-y-n and then Perkins, P-e-r-k-i-n-s. - I get all confused when you do this.

Here's that.

13, 14 and 15.

Five is 20.

Hey, you have a nice rest of your day, brother.

I will.

And every time I passed by the church I just felt a tug in my heart that just said "Go in.

"Go inside."

And then I came back another Wednesday, and then I actually went and enjoyed a service.

And I remember just weeping when I heard the songs.

- That's the other big part of baking is there's a lot of feel for the product it comes out of your hands.

I've tried wearing gloves, and I can't feel anything.

I was just taught by doing it right alongside my dad.

That's how I learned to be a baker.

- When he was like in 4th grade I think it was, 5th grade, him and a friend, they were learning how to make sponges, which was just mixing, put flour in, put water in it.

They would turn on the big mixer, and the water would slosh out, it was on the floor.

And this one lady that worked for us, she quit.

She said "I ain't cleaning up after them."

- Marilyn, my mother-in-law, when I started working for her, I was still drinking and using drugs, and she asked me if I wanted to go to church with her, and I said "Yeah."

So I went to church.

And the people were so warm.

And I accepted Christ there.

- [Crew] Like that day?

- That day.

Yeah, the first time I walked into the church I accepted Christ.

- She started going to church, I was a little reluctant at first.

But the pastor that married us, he came downstairs and put his arm around me one day, and just loved on me.

He's like "Mike, you got the heart of David."

And that had a big impact on me.

And then I was probably a couple, two or three years, and I remember her saying "Really like my husband and dad to be there with me."

And that touched me.

- I see Deneya was a big impression on Mike and stuff.

And he still fought going to church.

I remember the first time when he did, and I told him he couldn't wear his hat in the church.

I said "Mike when you go to church "you don't wear a hat."

He got out of the car like he was gonna walk off, and then he took his hat off, and set it in the car.

- So I started going to church, and we started going to church together.

We raised our kid in a good church.

We did programs, we got involved.

- It wasn't until I was 14, when I got invited to a Spring Retreat, and I remember they turned on all the lights.

And I remember looking at all the walls.

There were 12 different things like you're not good enough, you're not this, you're not that.

I remember people saying "Oh yeah, "one or two really got me."

And I'm like "All 13 of those I had heard "every single day of my life."

And it was at that point I knew that I could be, I could be saved.

And that was the moment God's like "I want you.

"I really want you."

And I remember just...

I was sitting there, and God always speaks through my imagination.

And one thing was that I imagined this deep, dark chasm, and in the bottom was me.

But I wasn't big, I was scrawny and skinny and completely malnourished, in a broken cage.

Because I've always been a big kid, always been a big guy.

And that always hurt.

When I was a little kid I got made fun of every single day for my size.

And I remember Him coming down, and just picking me, picking the scrawny version of myself up and carrying me away.

And that was the day in that spring retreat that I got saved.

- Yeah, my faith's everything, yep.

My risen Lord.

It's kind of funny, when I come in in the morning, and that's my whole objective is to get the doughnuts to rise.

So it's a good reminder of what he did for all of us.

- I worked off and on for, it's almost 30 years now.

My mother-in-law was the owner at the time.

And he's been working here since he was 11.

They bought it in 1970, so he was a young boy.

So he's been working here for years.

- A few things my dad told me were the most important, especially on yeast raised stuff, is... how long... Time and temperature is what he always drilled into my head.

So the dough's gotta be a certain temperature, and then it can only sit so long.

And you gotta balance those two things out.

This'll be another doughnut dough mixed up probably four hours from now.

I'll mix it up, cut it out, freeze it and pull it out tomorrow.

- I started thinking about selling the bakery to the kids like four years before I did.

And I let them manage.

And then it just came to the point that I was just tired and ready to get out.

- She wanted to sell it one day, and she came to us.

This is all Mike's really done, so we talked about it, and we decided we'd buy it.

I love this place.

I know everybody here.

I know the customers.

If I don't know your name, I know exactly what you eat, or I'll get to know who you are.

I've watched kids grow up from your kids' age, little, two, three years old, even newborn, now they're 22.

Or I met two twin boys when I first started working here, and they were like seven, and now they're both doctors.

So it's been pretty interesting.

- We bought my mom out in 2016.

And I'm not the smartest person in the world because we signed our papers on April 1st.

- I mean I still...

I enjoyed the people, the customers and stuff, but the work part, and just the pressure of things.

I was just ready to... Yeah.

- I really struggled my first year trying to establish where my position was.

I knew I was the boss, but getting everybody else to know that I was the boss, and not just the employee, that was difficult for me.

And my husband and I clashed a lot because he wanted things done a certain way, and I wanted things done a certain way.

We had to find a place where we were in the middle.

You know, 'cause I was the cook here forever.

You know, that's where I started was in the kitchen, doing all the gravies.

I was the one who did all that stuff.

The soups, everything.

And then he was doing it.

And sometimes when you watch somebody else doing something, there's one thing that I've learned, as long as it comes out the same, it doesn't matter how somebody does something.

But I had a hard time with that.

I wanted him to do it the way I wanted it done.

So, yeah, that was my biggest hurdle that I had.

- And I know Mike's heart is very much into this place with his history, with his two grandpas being bakers and stuff.

I mean there's a lot that's involved.

And Deneya has poured her heart into this.

So yeah.

It's meant a lot to me to see them carry it on, and that it's good.

- When I leave here doing the work, and gotta go take care of the bills and the paperwork, and all of that stuff that's behind the scenes that I...

I knew my parents did it, but I just wasn't ready for all that that entails when you carry the heaviness.

And then especially this last couple years with COVID and stuff.

That first year of COVID we were supposed to have our 50th anniversary, and So that kind of got taken from us, you know...

I'm not bitter or upset about it 'cause we're all in this together, but it just hasn't been good for a small business, I'll tell you that.

- Well you don't realize a lot of stuff until you own a place.

You know... You're putting out the food, and sometimes you don't realize just 'cause something didn't come out right you throw it in the garbage, but when you start paying the bills, then you start going "Okay, we need to eliminate some of this stuff.

"We can't be throwing this stuff out.

"We gotta figure out other ways "to be able to sell it, specializes it or something "instead of tossing it away."

And cutting back on stuff too.

We've learned that the doughnuts sitting in the showcase at the end of the day, a lot of 'em, we started learning how to cut back on that so we've done very well with that.

And the stuff that's left over goes to the schools or the community center, the senior center.

And then sometimes we have people who need to borrow our building for say Bible study, and we leave them for them, and stuff like that.

- These take a little bit longer, probably about three minutes a side.

Gonna let the magic begin.

Really at this point it's one day at a time.

Hope we make it through this year.

All right.

Cook.

Three minutes, I'll flip 'em again.

My grandpa on my mom's side, his name was Bud Rose.

He started baking, I believe it was in the 30's.

He used to have to go in and start a fire, and they baked on what was called the hearth.

So I think I got it bad coming in at three in the morning, he'd have to come in at like one just to get the oven heated up.

And those guys worked under conditions.

We were talking about having air conditioning and vents and stuff, they had nothing back then.

Very few mixers, just about everything was done by hand.

I tell you that's the one thing I remember, my grandpa, he taught me how to shake hands.

Even in his 90's he could out squeeze me.

That was from using his hands so much before mixers and all that stuff came in.

All right, there's the white ring.

There's the wife's.

It's got less calories.

That's all right, they're here for the smiles, not to lose weight.

[Uplifting Orchestral Music] Good morning, how are you?

- I'm getting ready for work in the morning, and I think it's between- - 4:30 and five just to make sure she's awake.

- Just to say good morning, and ask me how I'm doing or what I'm doing.

- All right.

God bless you.

I love you, Honey.

- He does that every morning.

- Just a good way to start the day.

- I like the buttermilk bars with no glaze on it so he puts it on the sandwich thing in the morning when I come in for work, and it's sitting right there waiting for me.

Every morning he does that for me.

- Our family's had this business for 52 years.

So I think I started when I was about 10 so I've been here for probably...

Working myself for 48-50 years.

Started out greasing bread pans.

And that started because my dad bought me my first backpack to go with the Boy Scouts into the mountains.

So I was living the American dream.

I got into debt, and I had to work to pay it off, and I'm still here.

So after I got out of high school then I started doing pretty much full time with my parents.

Mostly, me and my dad were the baker part of the family.

Actually, I'm a third generation scratch baker.

And my grandpas on both sides of the family were both bakers as well.

Our son, he's a Marine.

He just made sergeant.

He's a good Marine.

His name's Noah.

Keeping America safe so I can make more doughnuts.

So these get cut so they can have filling put inside.

Yep, clean it up and do it all again tomorrow.

Just repeat.

[Freight Elevator Whirs] Sausage gravy, homemade.

- [Deneya] The best gravy in town.

- We generally try to pray together before I go back downstairs.

- Lord we just wanna thank you for this day, Lord.

Thank you for who you are in our lives.

Help us to be your mouthpiece, Lord.

And, Lord, be our hands and feet.

Lord, I ask that you hold our hands throughout the day, Lord.

We just wanna be a blessing to you.

- Usually she does the Ephesians armor, that's always included.

We put our armor on.

- So, Lord, we put on the full armor of God, our helmet of salvation, our sword of the spirit, our chest plate or righteousness, and our shield of faith.

Lord, we put on the belt of truth, and our feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel.

- Lord, we just speak life into each and every one of us into this bakery.

Help us to be good stewards.

And we just also ask you just bless this place with smiles, Lord.

- [Deneya] Yes.

- Touch each and every person that comes in here as only you can.

- Yes.

- In Jesus' name, amen.

- Amen.

- Love you, Hun.

- Love you too.

- I despise more than anything a hypocrite or a liar.

So we don't do it every day, but we do it quite often.

And throughout the day we always know the Lord's in charge, and this is His place.

- I have my coffee drinkers that come in in the morning.

They're like family.

When they come in everyday you get to know 'em so well.

- Here's, here's the judge.

- One of them, Randy, he's our city judge.

And then Terry Souhrada is another one.

He's assistant girls basketball coach.

Jim Nesladek, he used to be my art teacher.

Since his last name is so hard to pronounce we just called him Mr. N. That's kind of the beauty of all this is living here this long, and growing up, like having a teacher, now he's just a regular peer, he comes in and has coffee, and... You guys look like cardboard cutouts.

Action, action.

- This is action, Mike.

- Bring the puppy out here.

- Oh yeah, you're old.

- This is all the action we do.

- He's also such a nice guy, Jim is.

He helped paint this whole inside of this place for free.

The mural outside, he helped that artist paint that as well.

And then he likes to goose hunt, and so do I, so we have that conversation.

- I've been here for the last 50 years.

- It's quite an improvement since 50 years ago.

He used to have a little entrance in that window there.

I used to drive going to work, I'd stop there and get a cup of coffee, and then I'd head on to work.

- [Crew] What do you think of Deneya?

- She's very charming...

I better not say nothing because if I say something bad she won't serve my coffee anymore.

So I think she's a wonderful girl.

- I've been here since, I think, '94.

Been coming in here off and on over the years.

Enjoy coming in here, and having a bowl of soup.

They make some pretty fine soup.

- The biggest thing is it's consistency on our part is what brings our customers back.

One thing I believe in 100% is repeat customers.

And if you don't value and treat your customers, and have a consistent product you can have a first time customer, that might be nice for that sale, but as far as lasting 52 years, you're probably not gonna make it unless you value your customer and give them service.

- I come in the door, I joke with my boss if it's been a good day.

If it's not then we kind of talk out about it.

And then of course then I go through my normal list of what I do.

I like to start off with getting the waters ready just in case we get a little rush.

It's pretty simple once you get into the routine.

Once the routine's set, then I can kind of just mindlessly go and then work with customers, and be able to have little conversations with them.

And honestly that's one of the things... 'Cause in my heart I've always wanted to love people.

Five, here's 20.

- All right, thank you so much.

- Of course.

Have a nice rest of your day.

- You do the same.

- I will.

Yeah, even since I was a little kid, I remember my mom before she left, she always told me, she was like "Damian, you would go up to random strangers "and just hug 'em.

"And just tell 'em that you love 'em."

And I was just small, like just a child.

My parents are like "No, no, no, you can't talk to strangers."

So for me strangers are...

They're not strangers.

It's so crazy in here.

It's just like I can say hi to somebody, and I can love on somebody randomly.

And it's not weird to me.

- Damian has multiple jobs.

His main job is the counter.

He rings people up, he sells the doughnuts, he makes lattes.

- I love the machine.

I love that coffee machine, espresso machine.

Like, on the grill it's for boss.

She can dance on that grill, which means she knows the insides and outsides, when stuff gets done, and the timings and all that.

For me that's the espresso machine.

I can set it, and then I can just listen to it.

That's the best part right there.

That crema, it's so good.

That's where all the caffeine is.

- He's the best barista.

His drinks are amazing.

- And then I can go and do my milk, and then I can turn it off.

And then I can watch the whirlpool in the milk, and get that.

Being able to stretch the milk, and being able to make it into a lather for when I pour it into the coffee.

Honestly it's one of the best parts of my day besides talking to my boss, besides talking and everything, it's whenever I get to make a coffee it's just like dancing for a ballerina.

You don't even have to think about it.

- We have a lot of special customers.

I have two that come in every day, Charlie and Susie.

He always has the same thing.

It's a waffle with two pieces of bacon.

And she kind of bounces around, and has different things.

- Someone said to me one day "Let's go to lunch at the bakery."

And I couldn't believe, "Why would you go to lunch at the bakery?"

And they said "Well they have really good food."

So that was it for us.

- They're very special in our lives.

- There is Russell who is deaf, and he is a ton of fun.

He makes fun of me most of the time.

- He's actually been teaching a lot of us sign.

It's been great learning.

- Father.

Father?

Yeah.

Has that also.

Yeah.

So this is coffee.

And this is water.

And then one of our favorite is bacon.

You go like this.

- He actually left me a note today, and told me to keep up the good energy that I have, but go to the gym and workout.

He did.

So I can keep up the pace, you know?

- And then I learned some things from trying to teach my own toddler stuff, and so that has come into play here.

And like, I don't know how this worked, but one time he was ordering something, and he went like this.

I was like "Oh, that's oatmeal."

And I knew that from my toddler, but it translated over to here.

And it's funny 'cause I meet a lot of people, and they think I know more sign language than I do 'cause they see me talking to Russell.

And I'm just like "He's teaching me.

"He's a gracious teacher."

We still write a lot of notes to each other, and pass them back and forth.

But it's cool how it just starts clicking as time goes.

It's a great experience.

- If us three smile it would be one less smile.

9,997 smiles.

- Thank you.

- Mike and Deneya have done a great job giving a ton of people chances.

- Most of us are recovering drug addicts or alcoholics.

I like to give people a chance.

And I like to see them grow.

- Well I'm an addict in recovery.

I've been to prison twice for my addiction.

- That's one of the reasons why we're here is to help others come to Christ.

- The second time I got out is when I met Deneya, and through Celebrate Recovery.

She said I could set up in the front during the summers and sell my jewelry.

And I sat there and I saw how busy she was, and I started helping, and then she hired me.

That's helped me stay sober, clean and sober.

And the customers here are great.

The music really helps, it's uplifting.

It helps me with my recovery.

All the people here are intertwined with church somehow or love God.

And that helps a lot to work with people who also serve Jesus as well.

- It's been hard.

I can't say it's been easy only because I'm only 25, and I'm taking care of my dad.

And so the role had shifted where I stopped being the child, and I started being the parent.

But God has really shown me.

He's really navigated me through that.

And even though it's been so difficult, and sometimes just soul crushing, I've got to see the reward that's come out of those really hard times.

- Ever since high school is when I made that big switch of who Jesus is really is to now, and been walking with that ever since.

And it's changed my life.

Who I was early on is definitely a lot different than who I am now.

Growing up super shy.

I was the baby of three kids.

And grew up in Brooklyn, New York too, so quite different than Montana.

But the person I am today compared to back then, totally different.

I've always wanted to be a waitress, and work in a kitchen, so it's funny how that has come.

But I didn't have the confidence back when I was a kid to do something like this.

But I've always loved to serve.

I get to do it here.

So that's pretty awesome.

And then starting our own business, we wanted to do something in this community more than just through our church, so we wanted to open a late night cafe that caters to people that are sober as we have a lot of sober friends, and ourself staying away from things.

And there's not anything like that in Polson.

In the morning this is the place to be, at night we're at a loss.

So we wanted to do something, and that's why me and my husband started working here.

To help them out in the summers, but also because I wanted to learn the front of house from someone that I admire and has been doing it amazingly for years.

She is definitely a crazy woman.

She is always running, but it's been a privilege to learn from her.

- I'm excited.

They need a place in the afternoon for young adults.

I have a granddaughter who's 15, and it would be great for her and her friends to be able to have a place to go, to have the internet, do homework, to hang out 'cause there's really nothing in town for teenagers.

- Do you want just a mixture or do you wanna pick it out?

There's pictures of me running around here in a diaper when I was really, really little.

And my siblings too were in here.

When my mom was working, they'd be running around here too.

Those ones always stress me out 'cause I wanna get good stuff.

I'd help out when I was little, like nine, like really help out.

But I'd always walk around with my apron on, and clean off tables for my grandma.

But I got on the books two summers ago, when I turned 14.

I do everything.

So I can waitress, I can do the counter.

I can also cook in the back.

So when I turned 14, that's what I did.

I cooked on the grill as backup.

So I practically know how to do everything.

Honestly I love it here, but I'm really torn because I would love to take it over, but it's very stressful, and I don't know if this the path I wanna take.

So I'm kind of worried about what's gonna happen to it after my grandparents can't do it anymore.

So, It's kind of sad, but I love it here.

I've been here my whole life.

- And Kat's here today too.

She's gonna be a customer.

- It's been great.

Well, we worked here together all summer last year.

- [Crew] Oh, the two of you?

- Yeah, I worked in the kitchen actually.

So, yeah, it was really cool to work together.

I think that was the coolest part about it.

Really the coolest thing is it was our first step in learning how to work together on something rather than what I'd normally done which was just working by myself, and she was staying home.

It was our first step into that.

All throughout college I had to pay my rent somehow so I worked in a lot of restaurants in Bozeman, and it was a blast.

And I really kind of developed a love for how fast paced it is.

It can be really stressful for people.

A lot of people are turned off by it.

But for some reason it just kind of got me going.

I kind of thrived on the intensity of it.

- My husband is great friends with Mike, and they both are big talkers, so it's a ton of fun.

And Deneya and I are straight to the point persons, and Mike and Andrew are the keep going, and the stories.

It's funny how we relate in some of that as well marriage wise and then now business-wise.

- What I'd like to see from Kat and Andrew in their business is like ours, a Christian-based place.

People can come and know who God is, get to learn who God is, and see God shining through them.

Kat's strengths are she's a people person.

She is very friendly and outgoing, and I just love to watch her work.

- Usually when I walk through the door I see a lot of people that I already know.

Our usual customers.

It's funny now because when people sit down, and I recognize their face, I ask Deneya "Do they need a menu "or do they know what they want?"

They have customers that come in every single day, and we want some of that too.

We want those people that feel like our shop is a second home, just like here at the bakery is a second home to many.

That's always fun to meet those people, and to get to know them a little bit more.

When I come I hop right to it.

It's a great atmosphere.

Music's playing, coffee's hot, doughnuts are fresh.

What more could you ask for in a job.

- Thanks for your pleasantness- - [Damian] As always.

- Pleasure to see you.

- You didn't get mine, did you?

You did?

Oh, well thank you.

I appreciate it.

- [Crew] He has photographic evidence that he got it now.

- I take back everything I said about that one hair.

- I met Damian at New Life.

Some people were talking to me about him wanting a job or needing a job.

And so I asked Damian to come in and talk with us.

- I was sitting with my pastor, and I remember my boss passing by.

And she was just talking to my pastor.

And she was saying "Man, I wish I really had reliable help."

At that moment something kind of...

The Holy Spirit kind of came in and said "You should work here."

- I didn't really know Damian all that well.

I had seen him in church.

He was a very loud singer.

I remember him being up front.

He was very loud and he was very big sitting up front.

We sat in the same place, and he was four or five pews away from me.

- I came in the morning at like six o'clock, and I was just waiting in my car.

And I'm like "I think they're open now."

- And the very next day he was in the booth waiting to talk.

So we ended up hiring him right on the spot.

- And then I go in, I go talk to Mike.

And he took me on a delivery.

And it's just sitting in there.

And I said "I'll be anything you want me to be.

"I'll work in the kitchen.

"I'll work in the front.

"I'll learn how to cook.

"I'll do dishes.

"I'll be in the front.

"I can learn how to be a waiter.

"I can do that."

And so I started in the kitchen, and I was doing dishes, and then suddenly they pulled me out front, and then ever since then I've always worked in the front now.

And now it's kind of hard for me to be taken away.

Even though I'll go and help do dishes, I'll go help do stuff, they're like "Damian, we kind of want you out front now."

It's like okay.

It's like "I just wanna be able to help "wherever I can."

- When Damian first started working here, at first everything was fine, and then we were clashing, him and I.

- We were fighting when I first started.

- Yeah, he was having authority problem.

And he also had a mom that walked out on him, so there was a lot of other issues.

- He didn't wanna listen to me.

He didn't see me as a boss.

- And so with me and her I struggled and struggled and struggled.

And I wouldn't listen to her.

And I wouldn't obey what I thought I was.

- I got so frustrated.

I didn't know what to do, so all I could do was tell Mike.

Okay, I'm having problems with him, he won't listen to me.

He doesn't believe anything I'm saying to him when I'm asking him to do things, um, you gotta do something.

So... - Mike pulled me aside really gently, and he said "Damian, just love my wife."

- "Just love my wife."

- I just remember talking to him, and saying "That's my wife "and she's your authority, you need to respect her "and love her."

- And I remember just a flip.

Just a complete change.

And I knew that was the Holy Spirit in me that changed my heart completely.

- And he said "That's all it took."

- Yeah, sometimes you gotta step up, and that's probably the hardest part of being the owner.

You don't wanna have to discipline people or talk to them in that way, but it needed to be done, and he received it well.

I think both of us learned a lot from it.

- And when I came up, and I started calling her "Boss".

It cemented in me that leadership authority.

- He put me in that position, and ever since then he's always done exactly what I ask him, when I asked him.

So, my best employee.

- God, I love her.

I love her so much.

She is like an adoptive parent to me.

Since my mom had left when I was three I've had an on and off relationship with my mom, but having a relationship with her has really helped cement in me what a mother is, not what a mother isn't.

Because in my head I've always thought what a mother was, was supposed to do, but that was all wrong.

She allows us to be who we're supposed to be, not who we think we need to be, but who we're supposed to be.

So that's why I'm just... That's why I'm overjoyed every time I come here.

- Getting to know Damian here has been a very big blessing for me.

He's like one of my sons.

He's a good kid.

- Just my relationship with her everyday, even though I say first your my boss, but secondly you're like my mom.

And it's been hard for me to define those lines, but I'm glad that I can say she's my boss, but she's also like a spiritual mother to me.

- Yeah, their relationship has really blossomed.

Damian's, he's sent from God to be here.

He's really helped.

He's got such a servant's heart.

[Bell Rings Three Times] - Good stuff.

Thank you.

- You're welcome.

Thank you.

Number three.

[Bell Rings Three Times] - If you have met John, he is special needs and he works here.

And he is the most fun person to work with.

Me and him are the trouble makers, I say.

We pick on my brother-in-law a lot.

John picks on Damian quite a bit, which is really fun.

We just do a lot of laughs, and sneaking up on each other.

John's willing to share today.

- [Damian] John, is that a burrito salad?

Breakfast burrito.

Breakfast burrito.

Man, that's not what you got, you got a burrito salad.

- I always tease John trying to make him order a salad.

Never works.

- [Crew] Not much of a salad guy.

- Mm-mm.

But he's a good eater.

He finishes his whole food, whole plate.

- [Crew] Wow, must be hungry John.

- Oh yeah.

- It's cool because no other place would be hiring John.

And it's great that he has an opportunity to work here and he does work amazing.

- I like working here because very good people.

- [Crew] People are nice, aren't they?

- And Damian's nice.

Deneya's nice.

Everybody's nice.

- He stocks all the condiments and the fridges.

And he's just an awesome testimony of give someone a chance, and they will surprise you with it.

Good job, John.

Can I help you with this table?

- Try to clean this every, everyday now, now that we have enough co-workers to be able to help inside.

- I have always been known as a happy person.

I love being happy.

It's when you're walking around with a pout it doesn't make you go any faster, but when you walk around with a smile it does.

And people make me happy.

I'm a big extrovert.

I love people.

And so being surrounded by people makes me happy.

- It's all in the wrist.

- I'm just stripping it up into strips to run through the sheeter so it'll fit through there.

This here's gonna be flips and turnovers.

Try to keep two, three, four days ahead, that way if orders come in after I go home, at least I got 'em done, I can pull 'em out of the freezer.

That was a piece of equipment that came into existence when my grandpa was working in the baking industry.

But before that it all had to be done with this.

These here you just have to take, and muscle 'em out, muscle 'em out.

When I use that I get it fairly close to the thickness it should be, and then finish the last little bit with the rolling pin.

The dough is all stretched out, but if I hit it with a cutter, like say I cut it with this right now, then it would shrink up to about like that.

So before you start cutting after you roll it you shrink all the dough back up.

Triangle ones always have a berry in it.

And the square ones are always apple.

The next thing, so they don't pop open, you take what's called egg wash, it's just eggs and water, and you do the edges so they'll seal up.

My suggestion is whatever you do do it because you love it, not because it makes you a lot of money.

And whatever you do care about it.

Let it represent who you are.

That's one thing I was taught.

This gets out to the showcase, it's representing who you are.

It's what I've always know.

I'm a person who likes comfort so it's very familiar.

That's probably one of the most interesting things when the whole COVID stuff started up was... for the most part I did the same thing I did when I was 10 years old.

I drove to the same building, and walked down the same stairs.

Did this.

In some ways I found it it a very interesting perspective.

Here watching the rest of the world change.

I mix, do the doughnuts and everything the same way my dad did, and his dad did.

- I'm gonna go back here.

- What I want for Damian, I want him to find a good woman, someone who will treat him like he deserves to be treated.

- My prayer would be that God brings him a wonderful woman, and grants him a family.

- I would like to see him continue to advance here at the Lake City Bakery.

You just never know.

Mike and I are getting older, and you just never know what kind of position he can be in.

I believe that Damian can run this place someday.

He'd make a wonderful owner, yes.

We've always thought it would go to one of the kids, but you just never know.

You know.

- [Producer] If the opportunity came, would you run this place?

- That would be hard.

That would be something that I would have to be led into.

'Cause even though they've said "Oh, Damian, we would have you run it."

I wouldn't do it unless I got confirmation to do it.

It's a burden that I know they can handle right now.

And though I'm not called to it right now I just get to appreciated from underneath.

[Birds Chirp] [Rushing Water] - When we have visitors that come in the summertimes we see them one day, and then they just keep coming back the rest of the week that they're here.

And it's really great to see us.

They felt love the first day, and they keep coming back even though they are here just for a short time.

- [Crew] So tell me a little bit about this woman who's serving you.

- Well she's a sweetheart, and she's probably one of the reasons we come in.

- Aww, that's sweet.

- The other reason is because the food's very good, and the amount of doughnuts.

It is a happy place.

It just takes me back to my childhood.

It's just like it would have been 40 or 50 years ago.

- [Crew] And how about you?

Have you been coming here for a while?

- Well, probably since I was born.

- Wow.

- That's my daughter.

- [Crew] Oh, that's great.

- 1996.

The doughnuts make me feel warm and fuzzy.

- Yes.

You come into Polson for any reason, whether it's to play on the lake or sightsee, you gotta have a cream filled maple bar, they're famous for them.

They're just wonderful.

- Seventy five - Oh, just keep the change.

- Fantastic.

You have a nice rest of your day.

- [Customer] Thanks, you too.

- I love people.

I'm an ambivert, so I both love to be alone, but I also love talking to people and having conversations, and being able to share Christ with people even though it might just be through a doughnut.

It might just be through a smile with somebody.

It's just like looking at you, and being able to talk to you eye to eye.

It's something that I enjoy doing, and it brings me...

I can't explain it.

It's like- - [Crew] It fills you up.

- It fills me up, exactly.

And this is the stuff that I love doing.

Why not just take my time, at least a second just to make somebody happy?

It's like what does that cost me?

It costs me nothing to be able to make somebody smile.

Working here has really helped me um... just by my relationship with my boss has really helped me navigate through life.

And Jesus has really used her as almost, I say this as a joke, but almost like a weapon against me.

It's like when I feel comfortable than that comes in, and it breaks everything that I had built up at that point.

He's like "Damian, you're not doing what I want you to do.

He's like "Damian, you're not doing what I want you to do.

"I want you to be doing this when you're doing this."

I'm like, "Okay."

But as I said it's not been easy, but it's almost been more rewarding than where I was before.

One thing I never said was that I was a stutterer when I was a child.

The biggest thing was I couldn't talk.

I could barely say a sentence, I could barely say a word.

I would be stuck on that word.

I had to relearn the whole alphabet like three times.

I had to go through each individual letter to be able to say it.

I remember when God healed me of it.

And I realized how important the word was, the spoken word.

And how people don't actually get to hear compliments.

They don't get to actually hear when they're doing something good.

When their day is bad not a lot of people compliment.

And I've, since I used to stutter a lot I just gotta hear that.

And so now that I've been able to speak I can give those compliments.

I can let me cup runneth over because I know that words are so much more important than we think they are.

- I've never worked at a place where if I came here with a problem, and I was upset, the whole place would stop and pray with me or talk to me.

Where I worked at other places, and if I had family problems it was like you leave your family problems at the door, don't you dare bring them in here, you have to work.

And if you have to call off you get in trouble.

Deneya is so gracious with everything.

She understands life, and she's there as a support.

- I do have a life filled with gratitude, my parents taught me very well in that.

And we're hoping to pass that on to our children, and to the people that we meet too 'cause it really is the basis of so many relationships as well.

I think the reason why we're so happy here is because I feel like everyday we're serving the Lord here.

We get to listen to His music.

We get to share with people who God is.

There's times where there's prayer.

I've had people come in crying, and it doesn't matter how busy we are, if I have to say "Hey Damian, take care of this," or "Kat take care of this," Pull somebody aside and pray over them, that's what makes us happy here.

I feel like this is the Holy Spirit's battleground.

He's here.

We ask Him to be here from the top to the bottom, everywhere, to fill this whole place.

And each person that walks in the door, we ask that one way or another that seeds will be planted for them.

That's our prayer.

And I think it's because a ministry of almost every person that works here.

It's Damian's ministry too.

- I've appreciated every single day that I get to come to work.

And I say I get to love people, but I'm so...

I'm so honored to serve under a mighty woman, because she sets the standard.

I tell her I'm just a servant.

I can only go as far as my leader.

And since she's my leader.

She sets the standard of how I can be in here.

- That's why I don't wanna go into my career 'cause I don't think I could handle a real job that doesn't really care about you personally, where these guys really do.

- Our customers bring us joy, they do.

It's about them.

Without them none of us would be here.

There'd be no interview.

There'd be no bakery, no doughnuts.

It's the customers, so.

I hope that we can still be here servicing them.

I think more than ever being here 52 years, and doing things the same way, it brings people a lot of comfort to have a place they can go to that's the same, and that hasn't changed.

That's in a nutshell what I want is this place to be the same as it's always been.

I'm a third generation scratch baker.

I'm proud of that.

- And there's been hard days when I'm like "I'm ready to go.

"I'm ready to throw away the towel and just go."

But until God completely says in me "Damian, it's time to go.

"It's time..." "The doors are opening, it's an easy transition.

"They know, we all know that it's time for me to go."

Then -- or I die, I don't know.

But I'm still young.

But I enjoy it here so much that I'd rather do what God has asked me to do than just jump on the bandwagon.

- This is for me so I'm not filling it all the way.

You might not want to include that.

One thing that I like to live by is encourage the living.

I've seen a lot of people, and bless them, but when a family member or friend has passed away, they write on their social media page saying "I miss you, I love."

I like to think of do that now, before it's too late.

They're not gonna be able to read those things, but if you tell them now they will.

And it will change the trajectory of their life.

It will impact them that day, but also the rest of the week.

And then it's something for them to live by.

Oh, this person did care enough to reach out, and to show me that I am loved.

And that is what we need.

We need to love God, and we need to love others.

And let's do it on this side of heaven rather than the other side too.

- I had one gentleman that came in all the time, I knew him the whole time since we've had the bakery.

They used to call it the Little bakery chapel.

- Probably even now it's harder than the first year of the COVID with everything that's going on with inflation and gas, and the uncertainty, and Ukraine and Russia, just everything.

I mean there's such a bigger picture, but You know, we prayed.

This is God's place, this is His ministry.

And as long as He keeps the doors open we just wanna honor Him.

But it's tough.

It's probably the toughest year I've ever had.

- The most important thing in life is relationship with our Lord and Savior.

- No matter what happens in your life, I have learned if God takes you to it He'll bring you through it.

And...

Sorry.

I'm very blessed that I get to work in a place where I can share the gospel, and that I can breathe the Holy Spirit.

Most people can't do that.

So I'm very blessed.

I feel very blessed to be working with the people I work with too.

That's it.

- You know, we're still here.

And then, I truly believe a lot of it's 'cause God's got His hand on this place.