Harrisonburg Panera Bread Management Team

General Manager Spotlight: Christie Carrier

Christie Carrier is the General Manager of the Harrisonburg Panera Bread bakery-café. She started with Panera Bread as an associate about five years ago. Since then, Christie has quickly moved up the ranks to become an assistant manager in Harrisonburg. She later became a General Manager and opened the Hollymead Panera Bread in Charlottesville, VA. Christie later became the opening General Manager of both the Valley View café in Roanoke, and the Christiansburg café. Recently, Christie has returned to Harrisonburg to lead the team to success.

When Christie is not busy at work, she enjoys spending time with her 17 year old daughter Sydney, and her crazy 4 year old Jack Russell Terrier, Gracie. She also enjoys reading, and baking.

To get to know Christie better, I asked her extremely random questions about herself. Read on below to find out more about Christie Carrier!

Apple juice or orange juice?
OJ

Are you a morning or night person?
Morning Person!

Which do you prefer, sweet or salty foods?
Both- I love white chocolate pretzels

What was your favorite childhood television program?
Droopy- Hanna Barbera

Are you a collector of anything?
Snoopy stuff

If you could be any animal, what would you be?
Her dog Gracie- she has spa days (lucky pup)!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Speed- I would be able to get things faster!! I would zip through my chores, and run around with Gracie!

What is usually your first thought when you wake up?
The Harrisonburg Café!

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
The Café- she usually calls to make sure closing has gone well!

What's your favorite color?
Evergreen & Burgundy! I love dark, bold, rich colors.

What's your favorite animal?
Sea Turtles!!!

Do you believe in ghosts?
No, but I believe there are forces in the universe that we can’t explain.

You're given 1 million dollars, what do you spend it on?
I would give some to the SPCA, pay for my daughter’s college education, and take a long vacation!!

Have any bad habits?
I buy too many toys for Gracie, and my car is a mess.

List 3 of your best personality traits:
I am extremely generous.
I am very straight forward.
I am a dedicated, hard worker.

List 3 of your worst personality traits:
I am too generous.
I may be TOO dedicated to work.
At times, I may be too straight forward.

Are you mostly a clean or messy person?
Clean- except my car.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Italy

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Japan

Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid:
I miss not having to pay bills!

Name 1 thing you love about being an adult:
I like being able to do anything I want- like eat ice cream at any point in the day.

Have any hidden talents?
I’m a great cake decorator.

What would be your dream job?
I would love to be a pastry chef.

If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be?
1- I would like to be well off financially, and not have to worry about work/paying bills.
2- I would like my daughter to live a long, happy, fulfilled life.
3- I would like to be content, happy, and fulfilled.

Name 1 thing not many people know about you:
I have a tattoo!

Our Recipe

At Panera Bread, we make our finest sourdough with only four main ingredients; starter, flour, water, and salt. Blue Ridge Bread’s infrastructure operates similarly. We have four main players that make up our franchise group’s upper management.

As you know (if you read below) our starter is Rick Postle. He is the owner and operator of Blue Ridge Bread. Our franchise group is divided into two regions; Mountain and Valley. The Mountain Region is home to 6 cafes stretching from the South end of Charlottesvilleto Blacksburg, VA. The Valley region is home to 5 cafes stretching from the Northern edge of Charlottesville, VA to Ranson, WV.

Russell Kidd is the managing partner of Blue Ridge Bread’s Mountain Region. Russell Kidd is Blue Ridge Bread’s flour. Like flour, Russell can take on many forms. Russell will jump in to take on just about any task. He leads his cafes to success by being clear and concise with his expectations. In his spare time Russell enjoys fishing, hunting, and building his future log home.

Peter Davis is the Managing Partner of Blue Ridge Bread’s Valley Region. Peter is the water in our organization. Water is needed to bake just about anything. Similarly Peter is needed to lead his cafes to success. Peter is an excellent public speaker. He is extremely successful at motivating his team to complete any task. In his spare time, Peter enjoys working out with his lovely wife, Linda. He also enjoys spending time barbecuing with his two daughters.

Adam Jackson, the Director of Finance and Development is the fourth key player in Blue Ridge Bread. He is our salt. Like salt, Adam has a subtle way of making a huge difference. He skillfully heads up the development of our new stores as well as oversees Blue Ridge Bread’s finances. Adam has also taken on a new role as Director of Operations for our sister Franchise, Delta Dough. Delta Dough owns and operates all the Panera Bread Bakery Cafés in the Greater Memphis region. In his spare time, Adam enjoys spending time with his wife, Kelly and one year old daughter, Lena.

Rick Postle, Our "Starter"

It is commonly known that in order to make great sourdough bread, a “starter” is required. By making a "starter" in which wild yeast can grow, the sourdough baker can raise bread naturally. Much like the bread starter which gives rise to the dough, Rick Postle played a similar role when starting Blue Ridge Bread.

Rick Postle started his career flipping hamburgers with Wendy’s. Because of his constant positive attitude and upbeat personality, he was spotted by upper management. He quickly moved up the ranks to become President of North America with Wendy’s. He later moved to Checkers, I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt, KFC, then in the early 1990s he became the President and CEO of the St. Louis Bread company. Rick grew the St. Louis Bread company from 25 cafes to 500! He then changed the name from “St. Louis Bread Company” to “Panera Bread.” Pan- is the Latin term for bread, era- meaning a span of time. Therefore, the word Panera can be loosely translated to “bread time” or “time for bread.”

In 2002, Rick became a joint venture partner with Panera Bread. He developed 40 cafes throughout Virginia and Pennsylvania. He 2004 he sold the cafes back to the company, and became a franchisee. That is when Blue Ridge Bread was born.

Blue Ridge Bread is the franchise group that owns and operates 11 Panera Bread bakery-cafes throughout the Blue Ridge mountain region in Virginia. Our bakery cafes include the Panera locations in Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Warrenton, Winchester and Ranson, WV.

Rick Postle also owns Delta Dough, the franchise group that will be developing Panera Bread bakery-cafes in the greater Memphis region.