Bayou Eats | Stewart’s Sourdough

ARTICLE BY VANELIS RIVERA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY MOORE CLARK

As the adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention. And in 2022, Katy Alexander found herself needing to become her own boss after a tedious college experience forced her to consider other avenues of success. Self-motivated and with a proclivity for social media and acute research skills, she took her chances as an entrepreneur. Two businesses in and twenty-three years young, Alexander is in the process of carrying out her five-year plan which includes growing her cottage bakery, Stewart’s Sourdough, and planning a sustainable living as a future wife and mother.

A native of Shreveport, Alexander moved to Monroe with her parents when her father got promoted at work. She was always a college-bound student with the goal of becoming a teacher. During her senior year, she was driven by her “teacher mindset” and a heart for children. “This is my calling,” she thought. Enthused and ready to engage with her discipline, she applied for an internship at a preschool, but her experience revealed a lack of passion. Not having any other options at the time, she pursued a degree in education at the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM). After a year, her initial career doubts persisted. “This is what I’ve been set on literally since I was a kid,” she remembers thinking, revealing the overwhelming realization of having to change her major. Admittedly with too much haste and no research, she jumped from education to radiologic technology (Rad Tech). “It was so much structure,” says Alexander, who rapidly realized being told what to do is not her forte. She thought of having to work in the same environment every day and was becoming unmotivated at not having a natural knack for the coursework. “Human anatomy about killed me,” she laughs, remembering having thought, “Well, I may not make it here.” Banking on the validity of the idiom, the third time’s the charm, she changed to marketing, a move driven by her social media savvy and interest in becoming a social media influencer. “I touched that for two seconds and then took a break,” she says, trusting that taking time away from college would reveal a better path.

“What am I going to do now?” Alexander thought. As she pondered her options, she began to nanny while freelancing as a spray tan technician. But when her employer’s child started kindergarten, she found herself at another crossroads—go back to school or find a way to make more money in the tanning business. Not liking the idea of clocking in and out of a job for the rest of her life, she opted to become her own boss. She went full throttle into entrepreneurship by leaning into social media marketing to grow her first mobile tanning service, The Tan Taxi. “And that’s when I got so busy out of nowhere. It was unreal. I could not believe it,” she says. The fast-paced traction her business gained allowed her to expand her tanning services to a salon, adding cosmetic teeth whitening to her repertoire, as well as a unique variety of retail products. Able to support herself financially, she decided to extend her leave from college eager to discover where else she could grow.

“Then I randomly took a sourdough class one day,” Alexander says. The initial interest arrived from TikTok videos of bakers artfully scoring dough in elaborate patterns and designs. “I could never do that,” she thought, as she kept thumbing through the inspiring video reels. When she heard of a sourdough workshop being offered in Columbia, she didn’t hesitate to sign up with her mother. Though she took the class for fun, the sourdough craft did not initially come easily. The amount of upkeep and precision sourdough calls for was overwhelming and she wasn’t thrilled at the idea that it would take her a week to make one loaf of bread. When she got home that day, she shoved the ancient sourdough she had been given at the workshop into the fridge, too intimidated to open it. But each video reel of talented bakers tugged at her curiosity. She finally caved and started feeding her sourdough.

As someone who likes to be perfect right away, Alexander was relieved that her first loaf “turned out great.” Another point of pride in her first bake was being able to venture into culinary skills she always admired in her mother. “My mom loves to bake, loves to cook, loves to host, and I just always looked up to that but never tried to learn,” she informs, also mentioning her desire to “make a house a home” as a soon-to-be wife come May. A hobby soon became an obsession, and she finally got brave enough to start experimenting with sourdough discard recipes like scones and cookies. During this baking frenzy, Alexander was posting videos and pictures of her bakes on social media just to show off her skills. The online reception she received encouraged her to take some bakes to her salon where word of mouth led to sporadic order requests. “And then that got crazy,” she says. In September 2024, she officially turned another passion into a business. Named after her soon-to-be last name, Stewart’s Sourdough is a licensed cottage bakery offering weekly online menu drops for pick up in West Monroe.

Sourdough devotees will be happy to know that Alexander’s weekly drops are varied and often incorporate seasonal flavors. Last February’s bakes celebrated Valentine’s Day in the form of a heart-shaped loaf, sourdough cinnamon rolls with pink cream cheese frosting, and a golden-crusted chocolate-covered strawberry loaf. The Mardi Gras season inspired Alexander to make her first-ever king cake, which she describes as a “slice of Louisiana magic.” Customers should also expect to see, on occasion, white chocolate and raspberry scones, jalapeño cheddar loaf, and her most anticipated bake—her soft and airy, sourdough chocolate chip cookies. Made using her signature sourdough base, the tangy take on this classic sweet has quickly become her favorite, as well.

A quick scroll through the bakery’s Instagram and Facebook page reveals standout bakes, a result of a few mastered baking skills. Thus far, she has ventured into dyeing her sourdough pink using organic sweet potato powder and using flour dusting to help create a rustic and artisanal look. “I try to keep it fun and do new stuff.” Recently, she has been experimenting with sourdough cake recipes. Her first try was a couple of months ago when she tested a snickerdoodle cake recipe on her family. Of course, it was a success. So now she is toying with a lemon cake recipe, hinting at a possible drop in the near future. 

Alexander credits her Type A personality, dedication to research, and the unrelenting support of her family and fiancé for the success she has reached with both businesses. It takes a particular level of confidence to pursue a business and baking with little to no experience, but Alexander is proof that persistence can be an effective teacher. She thinks of her initial trepidations about sourdough and the potential she saw in her first loaf. “It may be super hard, but there’s nothing like eating a loaf that you made from scratch; it’s unreal,” she exclaims. Though some questioned her pursuits, she leaned on the advice of one of her contemporaries, owner of the Good Daze Hartley Waldrop Arendsen. “That’s my girl,” enthuses Alexander who was inspired by Arendsen’s story which started with a pop-up shop and ended with a brick-and-mortar in Downtown Monroe. “She gave me all the tips,” says Alexander, which included the words of wisdom, “Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot do it.”

Looking back, Alexander considers her move away from academia as the first time she made a decision for herself, a feat she does not take lightly. It was the confidence boost she needed to feel like anything was possible. And now that she has gotten a taste for business and baking, she is ready to finish her marketing degree at ULM. Though this doesn’t mean she is planning to grow Stewart’s Sourdough (for now), it is a decision made with her future in mind, one that includes children: “I’m trying to set up a sustainable living for the future with the bakery, so I can have some income coming in and be able to work from home and stay with my babies.”

A nurturer at heart, Alexander enjoys making people feel loved and at home. As a spirited gift giver, she has discovered that one of her love languages is dedicating time to creating warm baked goods that simply make people happy.