Growing Up with Macrina
Few know Macrina’s products like Amy Bui does. She’s grown up with them. Her father is Phuong Bui, our Head Baker and longest-tenured employee. “I remember her running around the café,” Leslie Mackie, Macrina’s founder, said. “She couldn’t have been more than three when she first started coming in.”
Amy remembers those days as well. She didn’t go to work with her father often but loved the experience when she did. “I loved being in the kitchen with Leslie. I’d beg her to give me a task so I could help. I’d stand on a milk crate and stir large pots she had on the burners or she would give me a lump of dough to play with on the forming table to keep me busy.”
Working at Macrina
In 2011, we hired Amy as a Customer Service Representative. She had a knack for building relationships with our customers. She kept a list of all our wholesale customers and made a point of eating at as many of the restaurants as she could. “Over my seven years here, I have eaten at 161 restaurants serving Macrina products,” Amy said, adding, “More to come!”
Soon, Amy moved into a series of management positions, proving her value at every new job. She served as our Wholesale Sales Assistant Manager before we promoted her to General Manager of Wholesale Sales in November of 2018.
“Amy is uniquely qualified for this job,” said Scott France, Macrina’s President. “She has shown tremendous commitment to our artisan bakery and is dedicated to exceptional customer service.”
“We have the best products this city has to offer,” Amy said. “Being able to stand 100 percent behind the products you’re selling makes the job easy.”
Starting as a Customer Service Representative gave Amy a ground floor view of all the moving parts that must operate fluidly so that the many hand-formed artisanal products can be baked daily and delivered early in the morning to hundreds of customers around the Seattle area.
“Fanny Alvarado, Macrina’s Wholesale Manager, has been a great mentor to me,” Amy said. “Fanny also started in an entry-level job here and worked her way up and up. She sets the bar high for expectations in customer service and job productivity and has supported me through all challenges and frustrations I’ve had.”
And how does it feel to spend your days selling so many things your dad has helped make? “It’s awesome. I love that I get to see him every day, since I wouldn’t otherwise.”