Meet the Hounds: Wegener’s All Business On and Off the Pitch – UIndy Athletics

Throughout Sarah Wegener’s life she was always surrounded by great food, especially desserts.

That was in big part to her dad, who was a baker himself and made sure his family and friends always had the best of the best when it came to food.

His specialty recipe was his infamous banana bread, a recipe which has stuck with Wegener all these years later, after endless hours watching and learning in the kitchen while baking with her dad.

“My dad and I are pretty close, so we spent a lot of time together,” Wegener explained. “Our relationship just grew because of helping him bake things in the kitchen when I was younger.”

Her constant want to try new things and experiment in the kitchen with new recipes is something that bonded the two of them together even more.

Wegener’s love for baking with her Dad, has grown into a passion of her’s which sparked a new interest once she arrived at UIndy, opening her own bakery.

In the fall of 2021, Wegener arrived on UIndy’s campus with the goals of pursuing a degree in physical therapy and playing for the UIndy’s women’s soccer team.

She stuck with one of those, playing for the UIndy women’s soccer team.

“As soon as I got here, I decided I wanted to completely change my degree to business,” Wegener said. “I wanted to do business because I realized I could actually make a career out of my passion for baking.”

In the three years since switching her major, she has found creative and unique ways to keep her passion for baking alive, while also playing soccer.

Wegener regularly makes desserts for her teammates and coaches like; homemade cinnamon rolls, cakes, blueberry scones and yes, her dad’s infamous banana bread.

“The banana bread and espressos are both pretty popular among the team,” Wegener said. “Baking for my teammates and coaches is something that brings me so much joy because I see it bringing other people joy.”

Her love of bringing everyone together and spreading joy through her baking is something she hopes to incorporate into her bakery one day.

“I always value and appreciate good customer service,” Wegener explains. “Implementing that, as well as kindness and respect where they (customers) feel seen, even through a daily task like getting a coffee, leaves them feeling better about their day or themselves.”

She hopes once she is able to finish her masters in business administration from UIndy, she can begin her journey of starting her own business by getting into food operations.

“I would love to get started managing some sort of food operations type place, ideally a coffee shop, that would give me experience of seeing how to run a business,” Wegener explained.

She finds herself in the same scenario she was in when she was younger baking with her dad, having to watch and learn from those around her, and finding ways to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to run her own bakery.

But this time she has the experiences and knowledge to create her own infamous specialty which she can pass on to those around her just like her dad did with her, and his banana bread recipe.

“I know it’s probably not going to be the easiest thing to start my own business, but as I go through the challenges of developing those skills I still want to hold up the aspect of valuing people,” Wegener said.