Carrie Jobe had spent 15 years being an Accountant for a Fortune 100 company in corporate America when the doctors delivered the bad news: She had a brain tumor and would need a craniotomy. She left her two daughters and husband at home for the surgery and embarked on a medical journey that would land her in the hospital for more than two months, fighting for her life and unable to eat or drink, in addition to many other mental and physical impairments. But Carrie Jobe did not give up.
“I had spent 15 years as a leader in Corporate America, and all that drive and ambition didn’t disappear when my abilities changed,” said Carrie. “I just had to figure out where to redirect that energy, given my new limitations.”
Carrie came home from the hospital to a new life reshaped by pain, medications, wheelchairs, walkers, feeding tubes and breathing treatments, in addition to having two girls under the age of four. Being unable to eat or drink by mouth, she became obsessed with thoughts of food. From this obsession, came the need to create something positive out of her trauma; and Wish Flower Bakery was born.
“Baking started out as physical and occupational therapy in the early months of my recovery, when simple tasks like getting out of bed, walking, or standing for more than ten minutes felt like trying to run a marathon,” said Carrie. “I knew I needed to move more to rebuild my strength. Baking was a perfect fit because I could easily break everything down into small tasks.”
She realized that baking was therapeutic because it gave her a chance to focus on something she could do versus something she could not do. Carrie started daydreaming about new flavors and recipes that she could test, instead of focusing on her feelings of food deprivation. Following her first two-layer chocolate cake with a chocolate chip cream filling and chocolate fudge frosting on New Year’s Eve of 2019, Carrie continued baking following repeated praise for her clever creations.
“I came to realize how much we use cake to celebrate life’s joyful moments and milestones,” remarked Carrie. “To play a small part in recognizing that joy is a really special and rewarding thing.”
After months of hard work and therapy, Carrie could finally taste and swallow her own food…and also her cake creations.
“It was a life-changing moment. It was probably a bigger moment than when my neurologist told me “We found a mass in your brain”,” said Carrie. “I had already accepted that it was extremely unlikely that I would ever eat or drink again. It’s not that I had given up on the idea, but it was so unlikely that eating wasn’t even one of my recovery goals. Still, I worked really hard on my swallow therapy. When I could finally swallow again, it was so unexpected and amazing. I knew it would drastically improve my quality of life.”
A completely self-taught baker, Carrie spent months perfecting her baking skills, with the enormous support of her husband and children. From the most popular flavors, white chocolate raspberry and cookies and cream, to standard chocolate and vanilla, and unique choices like biscoff cookie and cinnamon churro, Wish Flower Bakery (formerly called Brain Damaged Bakery) offers truly innovative flavor combos with designs like Taylor Swift, Harry Potter, Lambeth-style cakes and more.
“While medicine has advanced so that more people are surviving brain tumors and brain injuries, we’re not quite as good at helping people live and find purpose after a medical trauma,” stated Carrie. “I knew if I wanted to help others, the first thing I needed to do was dive headfirst into developing my baking expertise and teaching skills.”
In addition to carrying on the work that she’s started with Wish Flower Bakery, Carrie ultimately hopes to start a non-profit organization that hires people with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs), as a way to instill a sense of purpose and pride in people like her.
“Wish Flower Bakery was formerly called Brain Damaged Bakery. I recently changed the name because I feel like I’ve developed as a baker beyond just overcoming the limitations of my brain damage. I’ll always be The Brain Damaged Baker, but it doesn’t define my life like it once did,” said Carrie.
“I chose the dandelion for Wish Flower Bakery because it’s a symbol of resilience, strength and overcoming adversity,” said Carrie. “A dandelion can grow pretty much anywhere. When my kids were little, they called dandelions “wish flowers”. Where adults see an annoying weed, kids see something fun and playful. I thought that was such a beautiful expression of how a positive perspective can make all the difference. I feel like that’s the perspective I chose during my recovery.”
Being unable to eat or drink by mouth, she became obsessed with thoughts of food. From this obsession, came the need to create something positive out of her trauma; and Wish Flower Bakery was born.
“I came to realize how much we use cake to celebrate life’s joyful moments and milestones,” remarked Carrie. “To play a small part in recognizing that joy is a really special and rewarding thing.”