We are growing our small sourdough bakery into the full blown thing!

We need your help to fulfill our dream of expanding Slate Sourdough up from a small-batch bakery into a real bakery & community sourdough school right here in the heart of Tulsa! Together, we can build a space where great pastries, breads & learning bring people together.

What?

We’re raising $35,000 to upgrade our equipment — a larger oven, a better hood system, a commercial mixer, to remodel our space so that we can increase production and create an even better environment for workshops, classes, and community events. We want Slate Sourdough to be more than a bakery: a place where people can learn, gather, and be inspired, right in the heart of Tulsa.

The stars have aligned, and we’re ready to take this next step. With your help, we can make Slate Sourdough not just a bakery, but a true home for sourdough lovers and a hub for Tulsa’s growing food community. Let’s do this together!

How we got here

Slate Sourdough began as a passion project that took root after my wife and I moved to Tulsa through the Tulsa Remote program. What started in our small kitchen — baking loaves for friends, neighbors, and colleagues — grew into something much bigger as the community embraced us. From early mornings shaping dough in a 600-square-foot house to selling out at pop-ups and farmers markets, Slate Sourdough has grown organically into what it is today: a dedicated sourdough bakery in the heart of the Tulsa Arts District.

Our mission is to stay small, intentional, and community-focused. We bake everything in small batches to ensure quality, using locally milled flour from Chisholm Trail Milling and sourcing organic ingredients wherever possible. We’re not trying to be just another bakery — sourdough is what we know best, and our goal is for people to think of Tulsa when they think of great sourdough.

We also believe that sourdough baking is an art worth sharing. We offer workshops and classes that demystify sourdough and help revive the tradition of baking bread that’s good for the gut and the soul. For us, it’s about more than bread — it’s about building connections, supporting local producers, and helping our community thrive.

Where?

Slate Sourdough has been part of the Tulsa Arts District for a year now, and what a year it has been. When we opened our doors, our goal was simple: to share the joy of real sourdough bread, baked with care and intention, with our community. What started as a small-batch operation quickly became a gathering place — where neighbors stop in for fresh bread, friends meet over pastries, and curious bakers come to learn the craft. Thanks to Tulsa’s incredible support, we’ve grown faster than we ever imagined, and now we’re ready for the next chapter.

We’re raising $35,000 to help Slate Sourdough expand and serve Tulsa even better. The funds will allow us to upgrade our equipment — adding a larger oven, a new hood system, a commercial mixer, and a laminator — all essential tools to meet growing demand without compromising the quality and integrity of our bread. We’ll also remodel our space to improve workflow, create more room for baking, and add dedicated areas for community workshops, classes, and events. This is about building a space where bread and community come together in meaningful ways.

Our mission has always been to keep things small-batch, local, and personal. All of our bread is baked on site, by hand, using flour from Chisholm Trail Milling in Enid and organic ingredients whenever possible. We don’t take shortcuts — no commercial yeast, no additives, no “sour flavoring” disguises. Just real sourdough, slowly fermented, shaped by hand, and baked fresh for you. In a world where so much bread is mass-produced, we want to preserve the tradition of bread that’s nourishing for both the body and soul.

But Slate Sourdough is about more than bread. It’s about connection. Our workshops and classes — from beginner sourdough to focaccia and cinnamon rolls — have brought people together to learn, share, and rediscover the joy of baking. We want to expand these programs, offering more opportunities for both adults and children to get their hands in the dough and carry these timeless skills forward. We also plan to continue local delivery options so that fresh bread can reach those who need it most, because supporting our community means making good food accessible to all.

This expansion isn’t about scaling up into a giant operation — it’s about deepening our roots right here in Tulsa. It’s about building a sustainable, vibrant space that supports local producers, helps revive the art of sourdough baking, and nourishes our community in every way. We’re so grateful for the support we’ve received so far, and we can’t wait to see what we can build together in this next phase. With your help, Slate Sourdough can continue to grow as a place where Tulsa comes for real bread, real community, and real connection.

HI! My Name is….

Hi, my name is Lawrence, and my love for sourdough baking started when I was a kid. In a big family of six children, my dad believed everyone should know how to cook, clean, and take care of a home. I was the house cook and baker for two years straight — turning out about 10 loaves of bread a week. What started as a chore became something I grew to love. I remember the satisfaction of shaping the dough, watching it rise, and filling the house with that incredible fresh bread aroma. That feeling stuck with me.

As I grew older, baking stayed a part of my life — a grounding, creative outlet alongside my career in cybersecurity. When my wife Breanna and I moved to Tulsa through the Tulsa Remote program, we started baking more seriously, making loaves for friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Soon we were baking 20 loaves a week out of our tiny 600-square-foot house, and it became clear this was more than just a hobby. People kept asking for more. We joined the downtown farmers market, where we sold out every time we set up. The demand — and the joy we got from it — made it clear we had to go bigger.

And so, Slate Sourdough was born. We opened our small bakery in the Tulsa Arts District, focused entirely on traditional sourdough, made with local flour from Chisholm Trail Milling, no commercial yeast, and no additives. Just real bread, slowly fermented, shaped by hand, and baked fresh every week.

We’ve now been in our space for a year, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the support and enthusiasm from the Tulsa community. What started small has grown fast — and we’re ready to expand so we can bake more, teach more, and connect more. That’s where we need your help.

Why sourdough bread?

Sourdough is more than bread — it’s culture, history, and craft all in one. It’s what I grew up with, what I fell in love with, and what I believe is simply the best bread you’ll ever taste. Sourdough has been part of human tradition for thousands of years — as far back as 10,000 BC — and for most of that time, it was the only way we knew how to leaven bread naturally, long before industrial yeast came along. At its core, sourdough is beautifully simple: just flour, water, salt, and time.

What’s always amazed me is how a small bit of starter — just flour and water left to ferment — can bring an entire loaf to life. That little bit of culture adds incredible flavor, texture, and makes the bread more nourishing and easier to digest than anything made with commercial yeast. The wild yeast and friendly bacteria in sourdough break down the harder-to-digest sugars in the flour, transforming the nutrients and creating something your body and your taste buds can truly appreciate.

Every loaf at Slate Sourdough is a reflection of this process. Each one ferments for over 24 hours, slowly developing depth and character. When you slice into a boule, you’ll see those beautiful, custardy pockets of dough — perfectly irregular, big and small — the visible proof of all that quiet fermentation magic. Every loaf is unique, every loaf is worthy of being savored.

If you’ve never experienced real sourdough before, now’s the time. There’s nothing quite like that first warm slice, fresh from the oven, slathered in good butter and left to melt into every crevice of the crumb. It’s bread as it was meant to be — honest, nourishing, and full of life.

Why crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is about bringing the community together. It keeps the investment local, builds connections, and lets the people who believe in us be part of the journey. That’s why we’re turning to you — not a big, impersonal investor — to help us take Slate Sourdough to the next level. We want this expansion to reflect what makes Tulsa special: small-batch craftsmanship, local pride, and a space that truly belongs to the community. Your support will help us raise the essential funds we need to outfit our bakery and bring this vision to life.

Why do we need your support?

Our space in the Tulsa Arts District has served us well for the past year, but now it’s time to expand — and with your help, we can transform it into a bakery that’s not only functional, but beautiful, inspiring, and built for the community.

To truly make the space work for our next chapter, we’ll need to:

• Remove walls and floor plan to fit our oven
• Upgrade plumbing and electrical systems
• Decorate and finish the walls, ceiling, and shop front
• Install essential equipment: a commercial deck oven, spiral mixer, dough sheeter, and refrigeration
• Build a custom counter and furnish the space for bread pickup, workshops, and maybe even a small coffee bar where guests can sit and enjoy fresh bread

👉 Our first goal is $35,000.
This will cover the most critical piece:

• Commercial deck oven ($25,000)
• Oven hood ($10,000)

👉 Stretch goal: $43,000.
With additional support, we can add:

• Spiral mixer ($4,000)
• Pastry oven ($4,000)

👉 Final goal: $70,000.
At this level, we can:

• Complete the essential renovations ($27,000) — reinforced flooring, plumbing, electrical, shop front upgrades
• Add a custom counter featuring the names of our backers
• Furnish the space to make it warm, welcoming, and ready for classes and community gatherings

👉 If we’re fortunate enough to go beyond $70,000…
We’ll invest in camera and streaming equipment so we can share our workshops with sourdough lovers everywhere.

This project is about more than equipment and renovations. It’s about investing in Tulsa’s local economy by working with local tradespeople and creatives, keeping our carbon footprint low, and building a bakery that truly belongs to the community. Together, we can create a space that nourishes, connects, and inspires.