Before the first cup of coffee is poured in White Sulphur Springs, MT (WSS), Holly Showalter is already at work, rolling dough, filling pastry cases, and preparing to feed the community she calls home.
As the owner of Wild Oats Baking, Holly has created far more than a bakery. She has built a gathering place, a team, and the kind of small-town business that becomes woven into the fabric of a community. But the path there was anything but predictable. Holly’s baking career began in Sichuan, China, continued through professional kitchens where she learned by doing, and eventually led her to take the biggest risk of her career. Just two days before an old library in WSS was set to be sold at a county auction, Holly felt a strong calling she needed to bid, even though she had very little cash, quite a bit of debt, and no guarantee that a bakery could survive in a small rural town. She scrambled to borrow the money, bought the building, and spent the next year turning it into the bakery she had dreamed of.
Today, the flour-dusted RAP work pants she wears tell part of that story: one built by hand, sustained by passion, and rooted in the belief that food has the power to nourish and connect people.
The Interview
How did you get into this line of work?
I grew up in the Mennonite community where great baking was just an ordinary part of life. My mom made all of our bread at home and I started baking by her side very young. However, it wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I found my way into a professional kitchen. I was astonished that someone would actually pay me to bake all day, so I figured I’d found a pretty good fit.
Is there anything about your work or your path that people might find surprising?
Surprisingly, I got my first introduction to professional baking in Sichuan, China, where I spent most of my twenties. After teaching English for a number of years, I decided to open a little bakery-coffee shop there and hired a baker - Tang Ling, who had recently graduated from a European-style pastry program and interned at the Sheraton in Beijing. She not only knew how to make gorgeous layered cakes and pastries, but how to adjust recipes for the local palette (usually by drastically reducing the sugar in the recipe). She showed me how a semi-frozen cheesecake cut in perfect lines and a simple pannacotta could impress customers who’d never heard of it.
People often ask if I went to pastry school. I didn’t, but I was lucky enough to land a couple of pastry jobs early on for which I was very much underqualified. I got the jobs because they were short-staffed and I was in the right place at the right time. I worked really hard in those jobs, read a lot, attempted lots of new things, failed some, but eventually grew in the craft.
How did you first hear about Red Ants Pants? Do you have a connection to the brand?
I moved to White Sulphur Springs in 2016. By then, the Red Ants Pants Store was a fixture in town and Sarah Calhoun was something of a legend. I bought a pair of the work pants that summer that saw me through two long renovations - first my fixer-upper house and later, the building that would become the bakery. It took a full year to renovate the building from a library into a full commercial kitchen, requiring help from about every person I knew, and my pants covered in paint and sheetrock mud.
In recent years, the bakery has provided food for Red Ants Pants staff or foundation events. There’s a lot of overlap in our customer base, and our businesses have a lot of shared values; I’m always really proud for the bakery to be connected to the Red Ants Pants brand.
What drew you to this kind of work, and what's kept you in it?
There’s undeniably something about working with my hands, and creating something tangible, and feeding people, that drew me to the work and sustains me. My parents and grandparents were teachers, carpenters, farmers, solid blue-collar folk; they valued hard work and humility and you measure your life at the end of the day by what you’ve contributed.
What's the most rewarding part of your job?
It’s really satisfying to watch the bakery grow beyond me and make an impact in others’ lives. I love seeing locals chat while they wait for an order or employees forming relationships. Ultimately food is always about nourishing and connecting people, and it just feels magical to see that happening in real time.
Favorite Red Ants Pants piece?
I love the new GSD pants. I’m constantly bending and squatting at the bakery, so I appreciate some give and stretch!
Why does supporting brands like Red Ants Pants matter to you?
There’s so much unseen value in keeping dollars local, in strengthening the character and livability of our little town. But even more importantly, it feels good to buy from a brand that is clear about its commitment to quality, sustainable products, and supporting women and rural communities.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
I am really proud of being able to provide good jobs within an industry that is notoriously tough for workers. I’ve tried hard to offer decent wages, steady hours, and to encourage employees to bring their whole selves to work. I’m proud of the way that long-term staff have taken ownership in the bakery - we’ve built it together.
What's one piece of advice you wish you'd received earlier?
Hire slowly and fire quickly.
How do you hope to inspire the next generation of women?
I think we as women often limit ourselves. We’re socialized to meet others’ expectations, even if they’re unwritten, and this means we sometimes hold back. I think our job and freedom as entrepreneurs is that we can create a small version of the world as we imagine it could be.
Best piece of advice for the Anthill community?
Lately I’ve been paying attention to what energizes me and what drains me. Avoiding burnout isn’t just about working fewer hours, but about ensuring your work is aligned with your values and sparks passion.
We love Holly’s story because it’s about having the courage to trust yourself before the timing is perfect, and discovering just how strong you are when you commit fully to what you believe in.
Through Wild Oats Baking, Holly has created her own small version of the world as she believes it can be: a place where people are welcomed, employees are valued, and good food brings a rural community together. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t just produce something tangible at the end of the day; it leaves the people and the place around you stronger, too.
