Ep. 550 - Zingerman’s Bakehouse Managing Partner Amy Emberling - Love, Vision, and the Art of Creating Irresistible Company Culture
Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief with Cameron Herold
Second in Command with Cameron Herold
4.9 • 225 Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ever wonder why some companies feel magnetic while others are just…a job? If you believe company culture is fluff, this conversation will put you on your heels.
Cameron Herold sits down with Amy Emberling, Managing Partner of the legendary Zingerman’s Bakehouse—a $16M+ artisan bakery with a cult following and a blueprint for employee loyalty big brands envy. Together, they pull back the curtain on Zingerman’s famed “Community of Businesses,” why profit isn’t a dirty word, and how even a manufacturing team can become fiercely passionate.
Don't settle for endless turnover, disengaged people, or another bland org chart. Discover the real-world actions and surprising rituals that transform frontline staff into owners (and skeptics into super-fans).
Listen now because one insight could radically shift your retention, results, and reputation. This episode delivers the practical and emotional gut-punch you won't find anywhere else in operations podcasts.
Timestamped Highlights
[00:00] – Why showing vision to new hires exposes if they really want to learn (or not)
[03:01] – How an Ann Arbor Deli became a multi-business giant—without franchising
[07:07] – The origin myth: Saying "no" to chains and revolutionizing local growth
[09:33] – Why Zingerman’s refuses to franchise (and why profit wasn’t the goal)
[14:43] – The surprising role of vision statements and posters in a baking plant
[16:10] – Handshakes over contracts—trust, ownership, and radical accountability
[19:27] – Secret sauce: How weekly "appreciations" meetings melt even the toughest shells
[25:43] – Culture hacks that turn hourly hires into a vibrant, all-in team
Mentioned Resources
- Zingerman’s Community of Businesses
- Ari Weinzweig (Zingerman’s Co-Founder)
- Paul Saginaw (Zingerman’s Co-Founder)
- Zingerman’s Bakehouse (Amy's business)
- Zing Train
- Zingerman’s Bakehouse Book, Celebrate Every Day Book
- 1-800-GOT-JUNK (culture reference)
- Great Little Box Company
About the Guest
Amy Emberling is Managing Partner of Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Ann Arbor’s nationally acclaimed artisan bakery. Leading a team of 150, she helped scale Zingerman’s into a powerhouse community business known for its uncompromising quality, positive culture, and iconic brand. Amy has co-authored two influential books on baking and business and is recognized for her thought leadership in operations, training, and organizational vision.
Important Links
- Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedIn
- Explore the COO Alliance - The World’s Leading Community for Seconds in Command
- Get Cameron’s book: Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO Book
- Take his course: Invest In Your Leaders Online Course (Use promo code PODCAST10 before the end of the month for 10% off)
- Chat or video call with AI Cameron via Delphi
The Second in Command Podcast is an original production hosted by Cameron Herold. Brought to you by COO Alliance. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | At the bakery, I'd say we're not doing a great job of this. We know that, and it's often discussed, |
| 0:07.3 | and maybe some of the other businesses are doing it, that when you're hiring, you know, |
| 0:11.8 | you should show people the vision. You should show them the training plan, because if they are |
| 0:16.1 | not people who want to learn, they will see right away that this is maybe not a place for them. |
| 0:21.9 | If they read the vision, they can decide, is that something they want to buy into or not? |
| 0:31.5 | Welcome to the Second in Command podcast, produced by the C-O Alliance and brought to you by its founder, Cameron Harold. In the Second in Command podcast, produced by the C.O. Alliance and brought to you by its founder, Cameron Harold. |
| 0:40.0 | In the second in command podcast, we talked to top COOs who share the insights, strategies, |
| 0:45.8 | and tactics that made them the chief behind the chief. And now, here's your host, Cameron Herald. |
| 1:04.4 | Our guest today is Zingerman's Bakehouse, managing partner, Amy Emberling. |
| 1:09.2 | Zingerman's Bakehouse is a nationally acclaimed artisan bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She received her bachelor's degree from |
| 1:11.0 | Harvard College and Social Theory and her MBA from Columbia University. He learned a cook at the |
| 1:16.1 | Ritz Hotel in Paris and numerous Michigan restaurants. She's joined Zingerman's Bakehouse in |
| 1:21.2 | 1992 as a bread baker and in 2000 became managing partner. Zingerman's Bakehouse has annual |
| 1:26.7 | sales of over 16 million, |
| 1:28.4 | employs a staff of 150, and supplies 100 wholesale customers with artisan bread, pastries, |
| 1:35.0 | and cakes. The Bakehouse also is a retail store and a baking school for home bakers. Amy has co-authored |
| 1:40.4 | two books, Zingerman's Bakehouse, that features well-loved recipes for baking and |
| 1:44.4 | business, and celebrate every day, which features a selection of bakehouse recipes to celebrate |
| 1:49.0 | the big and small events of our lives. We just did an incredible episode. You're going to learn |
| 1:53.5 | lots about leadership, building a business that is a really, really strong cultural aspect to it, |
| 1:59.0 | and the way that she actually can take a group of people |
| 2:01.5 | and bring them into almost like a manufacturing business and create such a strong cult-like |
... |
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