Heidi Lettrari

Eating healthy foods and living a healthy lifestyle are important to Heidi Lettrari.  So she’s thrilled to be working in a business, Kaslo Sourdough,  that produces a food product that is good for people. Lettrari touts the health benefits of sourdough fermentation while working on building the profile of her trademarked Pasta Fermentata. Her plans for this year include growing the business outside of the Kootenays and even outside of the country.

In returning to her hometown after university, Lettrari is following in the entrepreneurial footsteps of her father and loving the Kootenay lifestyle with her fiancé. It doesn’t get much better than that.  

How did you come to choose this line of work?

When deciding on a career after university, my options were to further my education to become a chartered accountant with a future in the big city or move back to Kaslo and step into the family business, Kaslo Sourdough. Having a passion for healthy foods and a healthy lifestyle made the choice much easier. I love producing a product that is good for people and that I can be proud of. Taking on a leadership role and helping build Kaslo Sourdough’s Pasta Fermentata gave me the opportunity to work together with my dad, Silvio, and learn from his experiences as a successful entrepreneur.

What is it about your work that has you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

This job offers challenge and opportunity that allow me to grow as a person, learning something new every day. I often find I get the best ideas at night and work on them when I get up the next morning, so in that sense, this job requires a lot of creativity and problem solving. For me, it’s also important to have my freedom, and part of that is being able to live in the Kootenays, doing work that I feel motivated to do.

What is your focus for 2016?

Keeping up the momentum—continuing to grow the business outside of the Kootenays and outside of the country is our focus for 2016. Part of that includes solidifying current accounts and building new ones, raising awareness of the health benefits of sourdough fermentation, and positively influencing consumers’ dietary health choices. I am also always on the lookout for opportunities for self-improvement, and attend workshops and courses that I think would be helpful for informing my business practices as I move forward.

Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur in the Kootenays?

My family and my fiancé are here. We enjoy having flexible schedules to live the Kootenay lifestyle. It is also where Kaslo Sourdough Bakery started 23 years ago, so I’m lucky that I get to love the place I live and work in. It’s paradise.