Innovator Stories
In tough times, Kripalu staff are known to rise to the challenge, with baked-in support from Kripalu leadership.
That’s what happened after the pandemic forced Kripalu to close its Berkshire campus in 2020 and Executive Chef Jeremy Rock Smith began receiving emails from patrons asking how they could procure food from Kripalu’s kitchen, which is known for its excellent meals, especially Kripalu cookies and bread.
Innovator Stories
Meet The Kripalu Team
In tough times, Kripalu staff are known to rise to the challenge, with baked-in support from Kripalu leadership.
That’s what happened after the pandemic forced Kripalu to close its Berkshire campus in 2020 and Executive Chef Jeremy Rock Smith began receiving emails from patrons asking how they could procure food from Kripalu’s kitchen, which is known for its excellent meals, especially Kripalu cookies and bread.
Smith had already been pondering how to scale Kripalu’s bread distribution, and the pandemic offered him the time to think more deeply about the idea. “The food supports the guest experience at Kripalu,” he said. “It’s something they want to take home in physical form or recreate themselves with cooking.”
Smith joined forces with Cece Bowerman, Kripalu’s foundation and corporate relations officer, and Emily Cohen, Kripalu’s director of revenue operations, to make the idea a reality. It was Robert Mulhall, who became Kripalu’s CEO in January 2021, who suggested the bread team sign up for Lever’s Berkshire Intrapreneur Challenge—which would take place right at the time Kripalu’s campus was preparing to reopen after an 18-month closure, going from 30 staff to more than 100.
In one of the first challenge workshops, Lever’s team told us ‘regardless of whether this idea works, you’re developing a muscle in an organization of innovation.’ If we can innovate in a time where we’re under so much pressure, we can innovate any time. It felt less about the bread at that moment than about the bigger picture—that Kripalu is known for innovation.”
In fact, Kripalu had already sent a team to compete in a Lever innovation challenge—in 2019, it worked on the development of the RISE program, which helps frontline professionals learn how to recognize stress and then matches them with mindfulness-based yoga tools and practices.
“I think the thought we put into bringing RISE online during the Lever challenge helped to set the stage for how we were able to get online quickly,” said Melissa Helm, Kripalu’s partnerships and engagement manager. “RISE was the first thing we brought online—we shut down in March 2020 and RISE launched in April. We had around 300 people enroll.”
Bowerman, Cohen, and Smith set to work doing customer interviews and market research, getting validation that the idea of supplying retail outlets with three flavors of Kripalu sourdough was scalable. Their pitch and its job creation element impressed the judges, and they took home $25,000 to help make the idea a reality. Smith says they’re hoping to get Kripalu’s bread in stores by late spring 2022, and he is working on bringing new staff on to help with daily operations. “Our systems are in place,” he said. “Now we’re diving into packaging and marketing, considering the storytelling angle. We’re starting small and moving forward.”
The team said they appreciated the lessons they learned from competing in the challenge. “I picked up so many things,” Smith said. “There’s no losing in it. We got sound advice and learned from the other teams. It was win-win.”
As they work toward their goal of 200 loaves a day, the team is also appreciative of Kripalu’s support for their idea—from its leadership to Kripalu’s kitchen staff, who kept things running as Smith delved into the challenge.
“They all showed a lot of trust in us,” he said. “They didn’t just accommodate. They trusted us to do it. Now we know if we have any more innovative food ideas, we can act on them. That’s something we have that we will keep forever.”
Smith had already been pondering how to scale Kripalu’s bread distribution, and the pandemic offered him the time to think more deeply about the idea. “The food supports the guest experience at Kripalu,” he said. “It’s something they want to take home in physical form or recreate themselves with cooking.”
Smith joined forces with Cece Bowerman, Kripalu’s foundation and corporate relations officer, and Emily Cohen, Kripalu’s director of revenue operations, to make the idea a reality. It was Robert Mulhall, who became Kripalu’s CEO in January 2021, who suggested the bread team sign up for Lever’s Berkshire Intrapreneur Challenge—which would take place right at the time Kripalu’s campus was preparing to reopen after an 18-month closure, going from 30 staff to more than 100.
In one of the first challenge workshops, Lever’s team told us ‘regardless of whether this idea works, you’re developing a muscle in an organization of innovation.’ If we can innovate in a time where we’re under so much pressure, we can innovate any time. It felt less about the bread at that moment than about the bigger picture—that Kripalu is known for innovation.”
In fact, Kripalu had already sent a team to compete in a Lever innovation challenge—in 2019, it worked on the development of the RISE program, which helps frontline professionals learn how to recognize stress and then matches them with mindfulness-based yoga tools and practices.
“I think the thought we put into bringing RISE online during the Lever challenge helped to set the stage for how we were able to get online quickly,” said Melissa Helm, Kripalu’s partnerships and engagement manager. “RISE was the first thing we brought online—we shut down in March 2020 and RISE launched in April. We had around 300 people enroll.”
Bowerman, Cohen, and Smith set to work doing customer interviews and market research, getting validation that the idea of supplying retail outlets with three flavors of Kripalu sourdough was scalable. Their pitch and its job creation element impressed the judges, and they took home $25,000 to help make the idea a reality. Smith says they’re hoping to get Kripalu’s bread in stores by late spring 2022, and he is working on bringing new staff on to help with daily operations. “Our systems are in place,” he said. “Now we’re diving into packaging and marketing, considering the storytelling angle. We’re starting small and moving forward.”
The team said they appreciated the lessons they learned from competing in the challenge. “I picked up so many things,” Smith said. “There’s no losing in it. We got sound advice and learned from the other teams. It was win-win.”
As they work toward their goal of 200 loaves a day, the team is also appreciative of Kripalu’s support for their idea—from its leadership to Kripalu’s kitchen staff, who kept things running as Smith delved into the challenge.
“They all showed a lot of trust in us,” he said. “They didn’t just accommodate. They trusted us to do it. Now we know if we have any more innovative food ideas, we can act on them. That’s something we have that we will keep forever.”