I grew up baking bread with my dad at the Firehouse Café in Hudson, NY. It was the kind of place you could smell before you stepped inside: warm, familiar, and real. My dad opened it in the early 1990s, and I spent my teenage years learning how to show up, keep my word, and treat people with respect. The café didn’t make a ton of money, but it taught me more about entrepreneurship than any textbook ever could.
One of the lessons that stuck with me most was about freedom. The freedom to decide who you’re beholden to is both a privilege and a responsibility.
My dad refused to take outside money. He was cash-only, always. He didn’t want strings. He didn’t want to owe anyone. And while I respect that stance, I also believe that refusing all outside capital can be just as limiting as relying on too much of it.
In many ways, GoodBread is my reflection on that tension. It lives in the space between individual self-reliance and shared interdependence. Between staying scrappy and building something that can scale. Between being proud of bootstrapping and embracing growth that allows us to do more for others.
Why We Started GoodBread
Small business owners are the backbone of our communities. They feed us, style us, care for us, and employ us. But when it comes to capital, many are left to fend for themselves. Especially when they need relatively small loans between $5,000 and $100,000. It is surprisingly hard to find transparent, affordable lending options in that range that are efficient to procure consistently.
Traditional banks often can’t justify the time it takes to underwrite those loans efficiently. Online lenders may be fast, but many prioritize profitability over fairness, charging high interest rates or offering confusing terms. For many owners, the borrowing experience feels like a black box, and the power imbalance can be overwhelming.
At GoodBread, we are flipping the script. We believe character should count. Financial relationships should be built on trust, not just transactions. And capital delivered at the right time, on the right terms, can change the trajectory of a business and a life.
A New Kind of Lending Partner
We are building a modern lending platform that blends behavioral science, real-time business data, and trusted relationships to deliver fast, fair, and flexible loans to small business owners. Our goal is to reach the people most often underestimated by traditional finance and to create something fundamentally better.
We begin every new borrower relationship with a $5,000 Starter Loan. It is not just a financial product. It is a starting point for a real relationship. We believe trust is mutual, and we want to earn it as much as we want to offer it.
Our underwriting combines proprietary behavioral assessments like the BOSS Index with real-time business data and context. We want to understand who the business owner is, how the business operates, and what it needs to grow. A credit score alone does not tell the full story.
We made our first loan to Community Compost Company, a woman-owned business in the Hudson Valley that has been turning organic waste into healthy soil for nearly a decade. Eileen, the founder, needed working capital to cover slower winter months. Her business was strong, but not “bank strong.” We took the time to understand her business model, cash flow patterns, and plans for growth. Then we made a loan that made sense. That is how lending should work.
Making Peace With Debt
Let’s be honest. Debt can be scary.
Borrowing money for your business can feel risky or even shameful. Many business owners have heard stories about lenders forcing decisions that ended up hurting more than helping. That fear is valid. But it is also something we can move through with the right kind of partnership.
We know that smart, timely capital can be transformative. Whether it is buying inventory before a big holiday, investing in equipment to improve productivity, or covering payroll during a gap in receivables, access to the right funds can mean the difference between surviving and thriving. Our job is to help business owners identify those key moments and make decisions they feel good about.
We are not here to extract value. We are here to build it, together.
Who GoodBread Is For
Everyone is welcome at GoodBread. White women, Black women, Black men, immigrants, trans folks, and cis white men. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnic origin, gender identity, religion, or sexuality. If you are building a business and need capital to sustain or grow it, we want to know you.
Our focus is on small businesses that are often overlooked: service providers, food entrepreneurs, retail shop owners, creatives, and caretakers. Many of our early borrowers have never had access to fair business credit before.
We are starting in Upstate New York, where I am from, and building a model we can expand nationally.
What We Are Building Next
After raising $1.2 million to build the business, hiring a mission-driven team, and making our first few loans, we are now raising GoodBread Loan Fund I. This private credit fund will finance our next 100 loans, supporting entrepreneurs across New York and proving what is possible when you lead with trust and center the borrower.
We are also developing post-loan support tools to help business owners not only repay their loans but grow stronger businesses in the process. Our model is capital and care. We aim to reduce the business failure rate by offering support for leadership, operations, community, and confidence, not just financing.
The Bigger Picture
GoodBread is more than a loan product. It is a platform to change how we think about business, money, and one another.
I am learning in real time what it means to raise and allocate capital with intention. I am learning how money can be both a tool and a teacher. I am also learning that trust is not just a value. It is a strategy.
We are not a “grow at all costs” company. But we do believe in growth that matters. Growth for our borrowers. Growth for their communities. Growth for the parts of the economy that too many people have stopped betting on.
Join Us
We are just getting started, and we would love for you to join us.
If you are a small business owner looking for capital, a partner interested in supporting our work, or an investor who wants to align your capital with your values, let’s talk.
Welcome to the table. There is a seat here for you.
