Ever since he was young, the owner of the Lakehouse Bakery, Keegan Rodgers, knew he was going to be a baker. The act of baking, eating, and sharing his creations with friends and family sculpted his career. 

“There’s just something about baked goods, cookies especially,” Rodgers explained.  “I think it’s part of our DNA that they’re just comforting,” 

Surrounded by a baking family, some of Rodgers’ favorite memories come from making Christmas cookies every year.

“I just thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with my grandma and giving the rest of the family the cookies that we made,” he said.

Entering adulthood, Rodgers went into the food industry right away, working at three restaurants at a time in Memphis TN. Taking time to prioritize paying bills over his passion, Rodgers worked for FedEx for 10 years. After realizing his true calling was possible with hard work, Rodgers took action.

“I moved back in with my parents and graduated from Schoolcraft with honors in both the baking and pastry program,” Rodgers said. “I then got my bachelor’s degree in business and entrepreneurship; it was a couple of steps along the way to get to where I am today.”

Today, Rodgers and his partner Jilly successfully run Lakehouse Bakery in Chelsea. Rodgers credits her with “keeping him sane” and says “I could not do it without her.” The success of their business comes not only from the joy of cooking but the enjoyment from his customers.

“The light in someone’s eyes when they talk about how much they enjoy our food is what I love about my job,” Rodgers said. “That’s why I do it.”

After COVID-19 hit Chelsea, Lakehouse Bakery saw an increase in business as bread and basic baked goods saw shortages in grocery stores.  

“I’m very, very fortunate that we’ve not had to close at all,” Rodgers explained. “We’ve been able to maintain our service and still make stuff for people.” 

The effects of the coronavirus continued to be felt after the initial impact. The holiday season usually results in large orders for family gatherings, but that was not the case this year.

“Thanksgiving is the big holiday for us, and a number of orders were a smaller quantity than we normally see,” Rodgers said.

In a post-pandemic world, Rodgers would love to see an expansion of the bakery to two or three more storefronts. For the time being, the family of employees is celebrating their two year anniversary in January and is working to continue the level of excellence their customers are used to.

“I want to focus on maintaining our high quality of customer service,” Rodgers said. “I would rather slow down on the expansion and really perfect what we’re doing here.”

The ability to have such a successful business relies heavily on the surrounding community, one that quickly and graciously accepted Rodgers in. Opening the bakery in Chelsea was random, as they simply found the perfect building in the right place.

“I have the best neighbors that have been a great support, as have the rest of the city,” Rodgers said. “I’m really glad we’re here because of how awesome everybody in the city has been.”

The Lakehouse Bakery has remained offering services beyond baked goods to the community during this difficult time. Their cooking classes have been adapted to fit safety guidelines.

“We do two hands-on classes a month, plus private events, ranging in topics from fresh homemade pasta to pie dough, to savory baking artisan bread,” Rodgers explained. “We are limiting the class size and doing some additional precautions because of COVID.”

As a small business in hard times, Rodgers is thankful for all of the support and continued engagement from the community. 

“I’m a big believer that excellence is doing ordinary things exceptionally well, something we hope to continue doing”