Community Highlights: Meet Anna Simeonides of To Your Health Bakery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Simeonides.

Hi Anna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a gluten-free, allergy-oriented bakery with vegan, keto, and paleo options. To Your Health has been a long, evolving process over the years. It all goes back to when I was 8 years old and my little brother was born. He instantly captured my heart and became my entire world. I was devastated when we discovered his many health issues along with a plethora of food allergies.

Much is beyond our control, but with ample prayer for his health, I decided to take charge of something I could manage and appointed myself his personal chef. Words cannot describe the amount of knowledge I gained from cooking and baking for a child who is allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs, meat, corn, soy, nuts, yeast, and half of all fruits and vegetables. The journey has been lengthy and arduous and there are still rough patches, but it is with grateful and full hearts that we thank God for his health today.

In college, I quickly realized that though I loved my university education (Ed Major, Music/Spanish Minor), I yearned for a greater challenge. My side business of scratch baking for friends and family began growing and after a year of school, I dropped out and took the leap to begin To Your Health. What started out as baking for friends in my certified kitchen grew to taking over every available countertop in my family home, preparing hundreds of pieces of product for weekly farmers’ markets. A couple of years later, the winter before I would have graduated college, I opened the doors of our official storefront.

That said, at TYHB we understand the importance of fueling your body with only the best, and are proud to say that we uphold the highest standards of quality, from prevention of cross-contamination to delectable products. Catering to many lifestyle diets, we source local, organic, artisan ingredients and take the utmost care to ensure that you receive exactly what you need. Nothing brings more joy than seeing a child have their first bakery experience, tears of joy in customer’s eyes as they get to pick out anything in the shop. Food has been a bonding experience since the beginning of time, making our customers family.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Owning a business is not for the faint of heart, and starting a business at 20 was the craziest but best decision I ever made. I remember being completely humbled and overwhelmed by the response when we opened… and severely understaffed. There were definitely some serious all-nighters and I marvel at how God’s grace carried me through, giving me the strength and passion to carry on and create a safe haven of health for our community.

I am incredibly grateful to our current team of women who bake, educate, and advocate for allergies. I grew my first gray hair this past year in the pandemic and we quickly adapted to the circumstances, pivoting to offer delivery, allergy-friendly meals, and more. Thankfully, we never closed our doors in this time and struggled with ingredient shortages and staff needs as they navigated their own pandemic hurdles. We are blessed with wonderful, intentional customers who supported us through this time and were even more united as a team.

Big dreams require big work. Shoot for the moon and you’ll always hit the stars, I often say.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are women-owned/operated and passionate to serve our community and walk with them in their health journeys. The majority of our product is Top 8 allergen-free, but we also bake special orders customized to individual’s allergies. Whether you are celiac, immunocompromised, on a lifestyle diet, or simply understand the value of eating clean we are here for you!

We are proud to source only the best ingredients (organic, non-GMO, local) and will never use any additives, preservatives, corn syrups, artificial dyes/flavors, or ingredients you can’t pronounce. It’s food in its purest form, the way it ought to be! We are completely gluten-free and offer vegan, keto, and paleo options. We provide excellent customer service and are dedicated to you! Food is an art and should be equally beautiful and delicious! We love being innovative with flavor compositions and design.

Our most popular items are our cakes by the slice (we offer over 50 flavors), cookie sandwiches (the oatmeal cream pie is legendary), cake donuts, pies, and cinnamon buns. Many of our recipes are award-winning and have been featured on TV in Hallmark Channel’s Christmas Cookie Matchup.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is my faith. It inspires me to live my life with love and integrity and to emulate Christ in my actions of serving others. My identity is rooted in this and I have peace knowing that my life rests in God’s hands and He wants only the best for me, my endeavors, and quite honestly, the whole world. In tandem, my family and friends are everything to me, words cannot express the joy and fulfillment they bring!! I am so blessed.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.toyourhealthbakery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toyourhealthbakery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toyourhealthbakery

Image Credits
Mickayla Gibby, Alexandra Baker, and Walt Unks