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ARCHDALE, N.C. (WGHP) — Timing, we’re often told, is everything.  So, how do you survive when your timing is about as far from ideal as you can get?

Monica Moyer has figured that out.  She left a great career she’d built over 15 years in banking to open a bakery – a passion she’s had since she was young.  But she opened it on March 1 of 2020 … less than two weeks before North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper began shutting down the state to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Twenty months later, Monica and her Archdale Bakery are still going strong and she says much of the credit goes to her staff.

“You really have to take care of your staff because they could be sitting at home, getting unemployment and things of that sort.  But, thank God, my staff has stayed with me,” Monica says.

For Monica, taking care of her staff includes putting something extra in their paychecks, when the business’ finances allow, and doing special trips like flying the staff to Dallas for a seminar in cake decorating.

And, speaking of timing, Monica started this business less than a year after she’d donated a kidney to a woman she’d never met … when she saw a posting on Facebook about the woman needing a kidney.

Shen she’s asked which was the bigger deal – donating a kidney or stepping out on faith to switch careers, she doesn’t hesitate in her answer.

“Stepping out on faith and leaving my job – that was the scariest part for me to leave my job to the unknown,” Monica says.  “Donating my kidney is something I really didn’t think about – okay, I’m just helping somebody, okay, I’ll just get back to work.”

But the bakery is doing well and Monica believes we may finally be seeing a return to pre-pandemic times.

“Hopefully, we’re getting a little bit better.  The colder months kind of scare me a bit with the flu and things of that sort and then with this new variant that has come out,” she says.

See the “secret marketing weapon” Monica has found to expand her business in this edition of our Project 2021 series.

Find our more about Archdale Bakery on Facebook.