Eric & Mary Lester
Pearl’s owner and co-founder, Eric Lester, grew up in New Mexico and received
his MBA from Eastern New Mexico University, meanwhile starting a family with his
wife, Mary. The Lesters moved to Portland in the early 1980’s, where Eric worked as a CPA for several years, getting his first taste of the bakery world with clients in the restaurant and bakery industries. In 1997 he opened Pearl Bakery with two partners.
Today, Eric serves as President and Treasurer of the bakery. His contributions to Pearl are invaluable—he does everything from equipment repairs to financial statements and just about everything in between. Eric has taught accounting, business, and computer classes at Portland Community College.
Mary is a talented watercolor artist, and her works adorn the walls of the
bakery. Mary also serves as Secretary of Pearl Bakery, and runs our booth at the
Farmers Market. The three Lester kids have all been known to pitch in at Pearl in every department,
from washing dishes to fixing the office computers.
Pearl Bakery was spotlighted in Columbia
Community Bank's
Connection
summer 2007 issue.
eric@pearlbakery.com
mary@pearlbakery.com
John Woosley
John has been Pearl’s Retail Manager since 2004. His Portland restaurant career began at Wildwood, where he worked as a server. It was there that he developed a taste for artisan bread. Eventually John was drawn to Pearl Bakery’s handcrafted bread and pastries, and sunny café interior. He started with us as a barista and part-time driver, but it didn’t take long for him to move into the position of Retail Manager. John’s attention to detail and knack for great service are a great asset to the bakery.
Born and raised in Wisconsin, John moved to Chicago in his early twenties and became immersed in its food and music scenes. He worked in Chicago restaurants for eight years before moving to Portland. John is a music aficionado and avid record collector. He has a passion for stringed instruments and plays cello, ukulele and hurdy-gurdy.
john@pearlbakery.com
Daniel Griffin
Dan joined Pearl early in 2006 as a viennoiserie baker, and after six months on the job was promoted to Production Manager. A natural leader, Dan brings a great deal of cooking and baking experience to the bakery.
After working as a line cook in the Bay Area for several years, Dan discovered a love of baking and sought out a job at Sonoma’s noted Artisan Bakers, where he stayed for nearly ten years, working first as a production baker and later as a manager of nearly every department in the bakery, from viennoiserie to distribution. Mid-way through his tenure at Artisan, Dan took a four-month sabbatical to intern at the San Francisco Baking Institute under Michel Suas, Didier Rosada, and Phillipe LeCorre. Under their tutelage Dan refined his skills and renewed his enthusiasm for craft baking.
Britta Florman
Britta is the newest addition to the Pearl team. Born and raised in St. Louis, Britta earned a journalism degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Taking a break from the world of media, Britta traveled to Portland for the fresh food, cool breeze, and friendly people. She started at Pearl as a barista and server in 2005, and then worked as our retail Assistant Manager for a year. Britta now serves as our Office and Sales Manager.
Santos Llanes
Santos started working at Pearl Bakery in 2000, and has since worked in almost every department. Now as the Plant manager, Santos oversees daily operations at the Pearl. Even though he’s busy supervising our wholesale bread packing and directing the sanitation crew, Santos still finds himself helping in other departments. On any given day you can find him scooping cookies, shaping bread, or assembling sandwiches.
Santos moved to Portland after living his entire life in Chumayel, Mexico on the Yucatan pennisula. Working as a pharmacist assistant, Santos left to fulfill his dream of learning English. Now fluent in English, Santos is actually tri-lingual – he also speaks his native language, Mayan of the Yucatan.
Outside of the bakery, you can find Santos frequenting shows of his favorite bands, local musicians Pink Martini and March Fourth Marching Band.