Core Value Award Winner: Hard Working

Sure, Macrina is a bakery. We bake bread. But more than that, we’re a team of people passionate about food and community. Our employees, coming from all over the world, are drawn to Seattle for its culture, people, and natural beauty. While the allure of a job might be what initially brings them here, it’s the deep-seated values at Macrina that have kept employees like Leonardo Barrios around for many years — and that make Macrina a special place to work. 

Leonardo began working at Macrina in 2003 as a delivery driver. There was the café and a burgeoning wholesale operation, all based in Belltown. Leonardo made all the deliveries in a small Astro van. He worked closely with founder Leslie Mackie and Macrina’s head baker, Phuong Bui. “It was a tight community,” Leonardo says. 

In 2008, with business expanding, we opened our Sodo café and moved our wholesale bakery into the space behind the café. Scott France, now Macrina’s president, was just getting involved. For personal reasons, Leonardo stepped away from Macrina around that time. His bond with Macrina remained strong, and in 2016, interested in returning, he paid a visit to our new bakery in Kent. “The building was so big,” says Leonardo. “I was impressed. Scott saw me and was so happy to have me back. I felt very appreciated.” 

Today, Leonardo is the primary driver on our busiest route. His day starts at midnight, meticulously organizing and double-checking orders, making sure that every coffee shop and grocery store on his list receives their delivery flawlessly. By eight in the morning, when most of the city is getting to work, Leonardo is ready to head home, having delivered bread and pastries to over 50 locations.  

Originally from a family of cheesemakers in Chiapas, Mexico, Leonardo moved to Seattle in 1997 to live with his uncle. After arriving, he worked in a restaurant and took English classes at Seattle Central Community College, where he met Maria del Carmen, a young woman from Honduras. They married and have since built a life together in Seattle with their two children, now young adults. In addition, two brothers followed Leonardo to Seattle, and they see each other regularly. Leonardo also occasionally gets back to Chiapas to visit his family in Mexico. 

“When I moved to Seattle, so far north of the Mexican border, I encountered so few other Spanish speakers,” says Leonardo. “I’d be on the bus and see another Latino and say hello, just to speak a little Spanish. Many languages are spoken at Macrina, and right away I felt like I belonged.” 

“Leonardo is one of the most hard-working people I know,” says Fanny Alvarado, Macrina’s Wholesale Manager. “When he arrives, he sets a mood and tone with his enthusiasm and positive energy.” 

Core Value Award Winner: Integrity in All We Do 

“When I look up integrity in the dictionary, I expect to find a picture of Alfredo,” says Sergio Castaneda, Macrina’s Production Manager. “We thoroughly trust him to manage all our ingredients, many of them perishable. Knowing he’s managing things is a great comfort. I can count on him to get it all right.” 

When your aim is baking the highest quality bread and pastries, so much depends on getting every detail right. Having the right ingredients, at peak freshness, and always on hand is essential. Much of that falls on Alfredo Machorro’s strong shoulders. 

Since 2011, Alfredo has worked as a steward in the receiving department. He recently earned a promotion, taking on more responsibility. He manages every delivery that comes into our bakery with a rare combination of rigor and sweetness. He orders product, greets our suppliers when they deliver, and examines the product to ensure it meets our standards. 

“Alfredo’s kindness is genuine,” says Leslie Mackie, Macrina’s founder. “But he’s no pushover. If something isn’t right about an order, he straightens out the invoice or refuses product that doesn’t meet our high standards. Alfredo has earned the respect of our suppliers and admiration from all of us at the bakery.” 

Alfredo takes satisfaction in knowing where everything is in the warehouse. “When someone needs to find a particular product, I take pride in having the answer,” says Alfredo. 

Originally from the historic city of Puebla in Central Mexico, Alfredo moved to Seattle nearly 25 years ago. Puebla’s climate includes a lot of rain and cool nights, not unlike Seattle, which made the transition easier. Fresh-faced and eager, he worked various jobs, honing a versatile skill set before joining Macrina. 

Gardening is Alfredo’s year-round passion. “Depending on the season, I grow fruit, flowers, and vegetables,” he says. In his leisure time, he often walks on local trails, jogs, and enjoys time with his three sisters and their families, all of whom live nearby.  

Kindness is contagious and Alfredo’s smile, integrity, and meticulousness make a positive impact on all those around him. “I work with excellent people, which is the best part of my job,” says Alfredo. “My motto is to be happy. I try to spread that.” 

Sam was promoted to General Manager in March 2024

Each life has its own propensity for illumination, a moment when purpose and passion converge to cast a guiding light. Sam Stout found hers at Macrina, a much larger company than she’d previously worked for. A veteran pastry chef with a resume that includes some of Seattle’s finer restaurants, Sam found her work life abruptly interrupted by the pandemic. After five months of unemployment, a friend mentioned Macrina might be looking for someone with her expertise. With her experience, Sam was hired into the retail pastry department in 2020.

Initially, Sam felt somewhat out of place working within a larger team. “When I started at Macrina, I thought it was going to be temporary until I could get back to a pastry chef position at a restaurant,” Sam says. However, as she settled into her new role, the quality and creativity of the pastries and desserts impressed her. Even more important was how comfortable she felt in the kitchen and the respect with which she was treated. She developed a special bond with Katarina Ducharme, the Retail Production Manager, and Leslie Mackie, Macrina’s founder, to be both warm and inspiring. “I was able to see a future with Macrina that promised stability and opportunities to grow.”

In March of 2024, Sam earned a well-deserved promotion to General Manager, Head Pastry Chef Retail Pastry. Katarina, celebrating Sam’s promotion, shared, “Sam’s wonderful training skills, positive attitude and want to develop the people on our team are just a few of the reasons I know she will thrive in this new position.” Sam’s dedication to mentorship and her innovative approach to retail pastry have been instrumental in her success and in the success of the department she now leads.

Macrina’s retail pastry team creates all the specialized pastries for the cafés, including the mousse cakes, pies, and cakes. Working in the space behind Macrina’s Sodo café, their creations are on display through large windows at the back of the café. “It’s especially fun when the kids watch,” Sam says. “Sometimes we sneak out and give them a cookie.”

Last year, Macrina participated in the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) Spring Spark, a whimsical fundraiser where creativity, community, and confections are celebrated. Leslie and Sam collaborated with PNB star Lucien Postlewaite to invent a new dessert, which they named Oberon’s Rose Pavlova. Comprising a rose meringue with raspberry lychee mousse, fresh berries, and gold dust, it clinched the title for best dessert in the playful competition. “That was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” says Sam. “It was the first time I’d gotten to spend a lot of time with Leslie. Creating food with her was wonderful. I’m so glad we’ve been invited to participate again this year.”

Macrina’s Core Value Awards — Hard Working, Remaining Positive, Continuously Improving, Embracing Diversity, and Integrity in All We Do — are among the company’s highest honors. During the presentation of the 2023 awards, Sam sat beside Leslie, who rose to introduce the Embracing Diversity award. As Leslie spoke, Sam was taken aback to hear praise for qualities that mirrored her own. “It took a moment for me to recognize she was talking about me,” says Sam.

Outgoing and friendly, Sam has illuminated the paths of many who work alongside her. She meets people where they are and finds ways to bring out their best. “I love to teach people to bake,” says Sam. “If you’re willing to learn and listen, make mistakes, pick yourself up, and learn from it, I can teach you.”

As Leslie proudly presented the Embracing Diversity award to Sam, it was a moment of affirmation for the values that stand at the center of Macrina. “She has brought so much creative energy to our retail pastry team,” says Leslie. “Sam and Katarina bubble up ideas and exhaust themselves perfecting the recipes. Sam has worked in restaurants for years and has distilled the best of all those experiences into creating an inclusive environment at work. The result is an inspired staff that truly feels valued. We so appreciate all that she brings to our Macrina family.”

Originally from Midland, Texas, Sam moved to Seattle in 2014 and fell in love with the city and surroundings. “Seattle is so beautiful,” she says. “There’s so much water — greens and blues everywhere. I love rain. I grew up with tumbleweeds and tarantulas. I miss my family but not the sun and heat. And I just love the ferries, the many long bridges over water, and the great food around here.”

Most Macrina GMs begin their careers behind the counter and gradually ascend to leadership positions. Alex Kaiser is the rare exception. Joining Macrina in January 2024, he brought with him more than a decade of management experience in the hospitality industry. He immediately impressed our leadership team with his people and management skills.

Previously the manager of a popular local sports bar, Alex was looking to transition into a management role in a growing, community-focused company. “I loved Macrina’s products and had heard great things about the company as a place to work,” Alex says, adding that he was also ready to embrace a lifestyle that didn’t involve working late into the evening. “I met the Macrina leadership team and felt really comfortable right away.”

For the first few weeks, Alex trained at the other Macrina cafes, learning from each of the GMs and their management styles. “There were subtle differences in how they approached things, but one thing they all had in common was a sense of happiness and positivity,” says Alex. “It felt like a theme, which made me very comfortable coming in.”

Arriving as an outsider came with its hurdles, but Alex quickly earned the trust and support of his Belltown crew. “I inherited a great team,” says Alex. “Strong people, hard workers, great personalities, and very positive. That made the transition a lot smoother.”

Before moving to Seattle in mid-2020, Alex, originally from North Dakota, spent a decade living and working in Baltimore. His leadership roles there included overseeing the bars and restaurants at a Maryland horse track and managing a prestigious members-only club frequented by professional athletes.

As the pandemic hit, Alex took a two-week hike on the Appalachian Trail. “It was a blast,” Alex says. “It was kind of my first foray into backpacking. I just kind of dove in headfirst — maybe a little too headfirst.” That trip led to a visit to the PNW for another hiking trip. He fell in love with Seattle and the natural splendor of the area, prompting his move to the city with his brother. In his spare time, he continues to explore the outdoors by trail.

Although his brother eventually returned to his hometown in North Dakota, Alex has embraced the collaborative and positive culture at Macrina and found a home in Seattle’s vibrant community.

“It’s very inspirational to see the passion for the products and to see how well everyone works together here,” says Eric Holstad, Macrina Bakery’s Reporting and Systems Manager. In his role, he deals with every facet of Macrina’s operations from the executive team and sales to production and delivery.

Eric is a natural when it comes to understanding technology and ensuring that it works for everyone else. He manages the software that powers our wholesale operation and prepares key reports that our leadership team can use to optimize our performance. Eric’s analytical skills mesh well with those of Macrina’s President, Scott France. “I really appreciate Scott’s critical thinking skills and the logical thought process behind how he does things,” Eric says.

Another reason Eric is a treasured colleague is that when you have a computer or server issue in the office, he is the magician who makes the problem vanish.

Before coming to Macrina full-time in 2019, Eric worked for Pagliacci Pizza for 17 years. He started in the stores, rising to a general manager before being recruited to the office where his computer skills and attention to detail were needed.

“I love working with Leslie,” Eric says. “Her enthusiasm brings everyone along and gets you pumped about what we’re doing and where we’re going next. And our production and delivery crew is very diverse, much more so than any job I’ve had before, and I think that’s great. It exposes me to new cultures and new kinds of people. I appreciate having that in my life.”

Outside of work, one could define Eric by three deep passions: music, computers and food. He enjoys listening to music and collecting vinyl records of his favorites. “I’m a fan of music in general,” he says. “There’s no genre I wouldn’t listen to. I’m very open when it comes to experiencing music.” When he has time, he plays the bass guitar. But time is limited these days by a relatively new addition to his life: a young daughter. “It’s such a life-changing event to have a child,” he says.