During her first year studying supply chain management at Michigan State University, Alexa Ryan laid the foundation for two things that would shape her future.
“I’ve always loved solving problems and optimizing, and that’s what supply chain management is all about,” says Ryan, who founded Bakr in 2023 — a cookie brand focused on ready-to-bake options made with simple, high-quality ingredients. At MSU, she not only developed the skills she’d need to achieve her ambitions, but also a growth mindset and a curiosity for learning.
It was also in those college classrooms that she met Kyle Ryan, a fellow supply chain major who would become her partner in life and in business. “We’ve been together ever since,” she says. “We now have an 18-month-old and Kyle is the COO of our company.”
Unlocking an entrepreneurial spirit
Ryan grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where her father ran a food brokerage. He would often bring home new products, sparking her interest in the food industry.
Watching her dad’s enthusiasm for his business — and trying the new food brands he brought home — planted the seed for her own entrepreneurial goals.
When the time came to choose a college, Ryan already knew that she wanted to be a Spartan. She had a lot of friends and family who attended MSU — “amazing people who are passionate about Michigan State and supportive of one another.” And she was drawn to MSU’s supply chain management program, which had a strong track record of being the best.
Throughout her undergraduate degree, Ryan took advantage of all the opportunities the program had to offer, including an education abroad experience in Rome, Italy, to study international business as well as internships during all four undergraduate years. “I tried different companies to find what I loved the most,” she says about her experiences at Shell and Amway, to name a few. “I found that I really resonated with the consumer packaged goods industry.”
Learning to build a business
At the end of that college journey, Ryan aimed high — and landed a position as category supply manager at the multinational consumer goods corporation Proctor & Gamble, or P&G.
She stayed at P&G for a decade, holding various roles across end-to-end supply chain and working alongside “the smartest, most energetic group of people.”
Ryan gained experience in planning, manufacturing and distribution processes for brands, later moving into innovation and launching new brands into the retail landscape.
She even helped start up a Gillette manufacturing plant, where she mastered the full supply chain, from purchasing a building to designing the supply chain flow and getting product onto retailers’ shelves.
“It was an amazing opportunity,” she says. “That role really influenced understanding of how a business operates. I then carried those lessons into running Bakr.”
Even though Ryan focused on supply chain at MSU, she feels that her education prepared her for all the hats she’s had to wear as a founder and CEO — from accounting to finance to marketing. “Having those classes was extremely helpful to gain a well-rounded foundation of business knowledge. As an entrepreneur, you need to have that full range.”
Growing a brand, one batch at a time
It comes as no surprise that Ryan loves baking. And with her drive to build something of her own, it was only a matter of time before she turned that passion into a business.
“I was always trying to make the best desserts,” she says. But when she scanned the grocery aisles for ready-to-bake options, she found them lacking.
“There was a huge opportunity for a modern brand that’s made with real and simple ingredients,” she recalls thinking. Soon, the idea for Bakr began to take shape.
In 2023, Ryan and her husband started spending their weekends hand-scooping cookie dough in their kitchen and selling it at farmers markets.
“It started with one flavor of frozen, ready-to-bake cookie dough,” she says. “From there, we continued to grow our options, listened to consumer feedback and started seeing a lot of retail interest.”
Bakr expanded to direct-to-consumer shipping, and by fall 2024, its products were available on shelves in Midwest grocery stores, including Meijer, Target and Mariano’s.
All the while, the couple continued working their full-time jobs at P&G and welcomed a baby boy. Today, even as Bakr continues to innovate, Ryan still starts every recipe in her small kitchen mixer at home.
“I’m proud of how we’ve been able to scale Bakr to retail in under two years — we’re now in 2,500 stores,” Ryan says of the company’s impressive growth, achieved without outside investment and with a team of just two. “We did it all with everything else in the mix.”
For Ryan, it’s proof that a simple idea — done well — can go a long way.
