The religious roots of Auntie Anne’s pretzels
Auntie Anne’s founder Anne Beiler took a unique path to a unique career.
The entrepreneur, author and speaker grew up in an Amish-Mennonite community in Pennsylvania and attended Amish school before launching her now-famous pretzel business in 1988.
Her faith continues to guide her both personally and professionally, as she recently explained to The Christian Post.
“I love my life,” she said in the interview. “I love my Savior. I love the redemption. I love my family. I’m walking in the light.”
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When was Auntie Anne’s founded?
Beiler and her husband, Jonas, began attending an evangelical Christian church soon after they got married, according to Christian Broadcasting Network.
In her interview with The Christian Post, Beiler explained how she’s leaned on her faith as she’s navigated life’s challenges.
“It’s amazing to me how Jesus has redeemed every part of me,” she said.
She said she turned to God for support after her 19-month-old daughter, Angela, died in 1975 and then again when the pastor she went to for counseling drew her into an abusive relationship.
She said speaking with her husband and with faith leaders helped her heal.
When Jonas Beiler became aware of how much his wife was suffering, he felt called to offer financial support to others, according to Anne Beiler’s personal website. She started selling pretzels in 1988 at a farmer’s market in Downington, Pennsylvania, to bring in extra money to support this mission.
“Their soft pretzels were a hit and Auntie Anne’s was born,” Beiler’s website explains.
Auntie Anne’s and religion
As Auntie Anne’s grew from a small operation at a farmer’s market to a major company, Beiler continued to lean on her faith.
Beiler saw running the company as a mission from God and worked to wed religious teachings with business principles, as she explained in her 2021 book on leadership, which was recently excerpted by The Christian Post.
“Everything I did became an outpouring of my heart, and I began to find new ways to put my most deeply held values to work in my life and business,” she wrote.
The promise to “Honor God” ultimately became part of Auntie Anne’s statement of purpose, Beiler noted.
In 2005, Beiler sold Auntie Anne’s to a longtime employee and began focusing on her writing and speaking. By that time, there were around 850 Auntie Anne’s locations across the country and around the world, according to QSR magazine.
Who is the real Auntie Anne?
Today, Beiler is focused on her motivational speaking career, as well as her writing projects.
She has published several books about her faith, her family and her pretzels, including “Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, the Founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.”
In 2022, Beiler announced that she and her team are planning to make a movie about the woman behind Auntie Anne’s.
