What Emilio Ferreira Made This Year

We asked Canadians, "What did you make this year?"

This is Emilio Ferreira's story.

"Creativity is a muscle. And if you let it chill, it will weaken."

Undoubtedly, a lot of people felt that way during the pandemic. But when Emilio Ferreira was faced with a career-crushing situation—he was able to find a way to pivot.

"When COVID-19 hit, the impact was huge. I had recently graduated and was looking forward to pursuing acting. But I wasn't able to do what I loved in theatre or film. So I had to keep myself creative in the meantime."

Emilio, when he was 19, co-founded Yiayia's Bread Company, a successful Montreal-based bakery specializing in traditional Greek bread using techniques passed down through generations.

How did he get from there to here, you ask?

Emilio was raised in a close-knit Greek immigrant community in Montreal's Kirkland suburb, where he fostered strong relationships with family, friends, and neighbours. Towards the end of the first year of the pandemic, Emilio was able to visit his grandmother ("yiayia" in Greek) more—whom he had a special connection with and lived just down the street.

"She's from a small town in Greece where they would always make bread at home. When I was at her house as a kid hanging out, she'd make bread for the whole family and have me make it with her sometimes."

He found himself baking with his yiayia again (who's name is Niki). Niki's bread is a delicious, original recipe—all handmade, with a very specific kneading method. This led Emilio to thinking it could reach a wider audience.

"What I had to make sure of is that I could make the bread the way she made it and replicate the recipe exactly so you couldn't tell if was mine or hers."

That wasn't an easy task. Emilio was at his grandmother's house multiple times a week—essentially baking mistake after mistake—until he got it right. Once he did, they were ready to roll, so to speak.

And just like that—what was a side-hustle turned into a main job in just 6 months. "I can honestly say that what I made this year was so much more than just bread."

You can find more secrets to Emilio and Niki's success in the full video below.

Having a background in the arts, however, he found there was more he could understanding about running a business. "Because I was never a business-oriented person and more into the arts, there were things I didn't know you had to funnel money into when starting a business. It triggered a new muscle in my mind. And I learned that I could do both."

What TurboTax was able to do for Emilio's business was assist him with his tax preparation and help ensure that he gets it right each tax season. “Knowing what to expense and understanding taxes and how they work is not easy. A big help is just finding out what I can use to my advantage as a business owner and what doesn't count.”

Emilio also learned how to better use social media to promote Yiayia's Bread Company, helping it quickly gain traction—along with an enthusiastic customer base. After 4 years, he was able to build an industrial kitchen in his garage to scale up production, selling bread across the city at markets, grocers, and restaurants.

This grandmother-grandson bread-making duo is one master collaboration!