Life & Work with Graciela Martinez of La Habra

Today we’d like to introduce you to Graciela Martinez.

Hi Graciela, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I took a cake decorating class in high school and loved it. I then took a baking course at community college. My mother bought me my first Kitchen Aid mixer. I went on to work at some hotels in the pastry department. It was fun and exciting. It was a great learning experienced. We made fresh ice creams, pastries and breads from scratch. We plated our desserts and fulfilled banquet orders. I even had the opportunity to work with Thomas Keller when he first came to Los Angeles. I got married in the early 1990s. I had a baby and decided to change course so that I can be with my children on birthdays and holidays. I changed to an office job.

I met my husband at a bakery. He has worked in high end restaurants and bakeries for about 36 years. It has been our dream to open our own bakery. I decided to take an updated baking as Pastry course at Long beach city college. It was. 2-year program and I received a certificate.. About two-three years ago we began to do pop up events in our city and the surrounding cities. We saw how well our sourdough breads and pastries were received and we decided to make a plan to open a bakery. We found a location and used our own resources to open the bakery. We named the bakery after my mom, Rachel, who passed away three years ago from a long battle with Alzheimer’s. She was not able to see our dream come true.

Its been very difficult because I was working my full time state job M-F and working on the weekends at the bakery. All our “employees” are our family members. They work at the bakery part time because they have full time jobs. We opened 1 1/2 years ago and its been extremely tough. However, our family has been helping us all these months and we are grateful. On 8-21-2026, I retired from state service after twenty nine years. I am now at the bakery full time and handling the social media and more pastry responsibilities. We have been having more traction with our sourdough bread and more postings has definitely helped. I am able to bake more items that people have been requesting. Now, I am taking special cake orders.

Honestly, to be vunerable and tell you that someone filed a lawsuit against the bakery and the property manager in July of this year for a ADA violation. It was a shock. It was such a stressful time. The violation was in the parking lot and the property manager took care of it with their lawyer. So there are many things a small business goes through. We are strong and taking one day at a time. We were able to pivot and find resources to help us through this tough time. Regarding Her organization helped us.

At this time, we are growing more than before. More and more people are finding out about our sourdough bread baked everyday. The sourdough is made with organic flour, water, salt, and starter. Its so good. We continue to get more first time customers and our established customers continue to come back. We are establishing relationships with our customers and a sense of community.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One big struggle was the lawsuit against our bakery. Our ice machine stopped working.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our sourdough sets up apart from others. The quality in ingredients and taste. My husband is the bread baker. I love seeing raw ingredients turn into a pastry or cake creation or a wonderful bread. In the area of our bakery there are no other bakeries making croissants, and a variety of hand made pastries all from scratch. We make breakfast and lunch sandwiches on our breads.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
how to pivot to find the answer to what ever the issue. I did a lot of research for the lawsuit and learned a lot. I spoke with several different attorneys

Contact Info:

• Instagram: rachel.bakehouse
• Facebook: rachel.bakehouse