Alumni Focus - Ben Neumann ('04)
Veteran, MMA fighter, martial arts teacher… pie baker. Benjamin Neumann (‘04) is a man of many, perhaps surprising, talents. He shares his story of how all these parts of his life came together.
What encouraged you to join the military? How did you go from the national guard to now being a baker?
I always looked up to my dad and both of my grandpas who served in the army and I felt an obligation to serve as well. I joined the MN Army National Guard five days after I turned 17 years old when I was a junior at SCLA. I went to basic training that summer, drilled with my unit one weekend a month senior year, then finished my advanced training senior summer.
After a year of college I was deployed to Iraq, came back to finish college at the U of M, and began teaching martial arts full time while competing as a professional MMA fighter. My fight name was Ben "The Baker" Neumann, and I would walk out to the ring wearing a chef's hat and carrying a rolling pin. As I wound down my fight career I put more time into a small bakery that I started out of my garage. Over the pandemic I stopped teaching to go full time with the bakery.
Why did you decide to open your bakery, and what led to this path?
I have enjoyed baking for fun for over 15 years, but eventually I was encouraged by a friend to try selling some pies for Thanksgiving. I made a facebook post and had over 100 orders in one day so I had to cut off the orders and spend the next few weeks getting all those ready! The next year I thought it would be fun to convert my garage to a bakery and just make pies over the holidays every year in addition to my full time teaching job. Finally in 2021 my wife and I got licensed for foster care and realized that wouldn't work well with both of us having work in the evenings, so I decided to quit my teaching job and go full time with the bakery where I can be in charge of my schedule.
What is a bakery like at Christmas time?
Thanksgiving and Christmas are like back-to-back Super Bowls for a pie bakery! I'll sell more pies in November/December than the rest of the year combined, so life gets busy the last few months of the year as I try to make over 1,000 pies for the holidays.
Does your family have any connection to baking, and do they get involved in your business?
I remember baking a little with my grandma Neumann growing up, but for the most part my family doesn't have much connection to baking so I learned my skills from reading baking books and practicing. My wife will help out a little here or there with some pie packaging if I'm behind on orders, but I try to not bother her too much!
How did you meet your wife, Hannah?
We met at the WELS campus ministry at the U of M called True North. She was going to the Art Institute of MN for Art Photography but would come to the U of M campus ministry to be around other college WELS Christians. We began dating and a few years later we got married at Camp Croix by her dad who is a WELS pastor.
Any other additional information you would like to share?
I still enjoy training in MMA and maybe when I turn 40 I'll have my 20th fight :-) I have 19 pro fights right now but haven't fought since 2018. You can see me get punched in the face at https://www.youtube.com/@BenTheBakerNeumann
If anyone out there is in need of pies for Christmas, you can place your order now at www.BenTheBaker.com to reserve your pies for pickup at my bakery in White Bear Lake or for delivery anywhere in the Twin Cities metro!