Before you jump into my bio, I want to let you know that I'm currently taking a break from the restaurant industry to focus on a CPG business my sisters and I have been working on for years: Thumb Bread®. Thumb Bread® is a proprietary bread we created to serve in our fast-casual restaurant concept, Flatbread Grill® back in 2007. We handmade and served millions of pieces over the years in our stores and have finally found a way to bring the bread to the masses. Read on for more about who I am and how I got here...Hello. I’m Gonca. I am 1/3 of the Esendemir Sister team that conceived and developed Flatbread Grill®, a fresh casual Mediterranean restaurant concept in 2007. My sisters, Fusun, Arzu, and I were born to immigrant parents. Our father gave up a professional soccer career in Turkey to pursue the ‘American Dream’. We lived in poverty while watching our entrepreneurial father struggle to build his businesses. But we stuck together. Our father and mother worked their butts off to put food on our table.When our older sister was laid off from her job, she said to hell with it. She took control of her destiny. She asked my younger sister and I to join her on a journey that would change all of our lives. Through the success of our first store, we were able to pay off our parents’ medical bills and get our father the open heart surgery he needed.We built the brand identity, created the menu, designed the interior, and created proprietary bread recipes. We had to use no-cost marketing tactics because we had no money left over after the store’s buildout. It was just the three of us cooking, cleaning, taking orders, baking, etc. We were running a high-volume fast-casual restaurant serving 100s of customers a day OURSELVES!Within two months of being open, we earned a fantastic review in the New York Times. A few years later, we began looking for another location while Inc. Magazine profiled us for a web series.Then, I was physically attacked by our landlord at Flatbread Grill®. It changed our lives forever. We watched almost a decade’s worth of sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears get washed away. We were heartbroken, but not defeated! We opened up another store that took off just as quickly as our first store did. Now, we are opening up yet another store and launching our international franchise system. My sisters and I are living proof that anything is possible if you work hard, don't give up, and stay true to yourself.❤️ Thank you so much for reading my story.