At age 15, Rachel Eugley was plagued by chronic migraines and debilitating stomach pain. She had difficulty maintaining her weight and found herself in the emergency room often. She underwent a glut of tests. Doctors first thought she had a brain tumor, then an eating disorder.
It took four years for Eugley to finally receive an accurate diagnosis.
She had celiac disease.
When people with celiac disease eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, their body attacks itself.
“It destroys your intestines when you eat it,” Eugley said of the autoimmune disorder.
It was that diagnosis that helped shape the path Eugley took to open her own business at only 21 — a bakery dedicated to gluten-free baking so people like herself could have baked goods, too.
Raegamuffin’s Gluten Free Bakery opened in April 2014 at 1552 State St. in Veazie. It is a dedicated gluten-, tree nut- and peanut-free facility, where Eugley and her four employees use rice flour, tapioca and potato starches, gluten-free oat flour and sorghum flour as gluten-free alternatives in baking. Her products also are gum-free, and she offers dairy-free, soy-free and vegan options.
With a tagline “gluten free doesn’t mean disgusting anymore” on her marketing materials, Eugley packs her bakery full of sweet treats, from donuts, cupcakes and cookies to muffins, cakes and eclairs. Although she offers traditional fare, such as chocolate chip cookies and vanilla-glazed donuts, she also has ventured into unique flavor territory, offering options such as espresso muffins, butterscotch cookies and caramel macchiato cupcakes.
Eugley’s business is about to reach a milestone of two years in operation, but it didn’t come easily.
Eugley began her culinary career in high school, when she attended the United Technologies Center in Bangor. She then moved on to Montpelier, Vermont, where she attended the New England Culinary Institute and earned an associate degree in baking and pastry arts. As a student, she also took classes in business, management and how to train employees.
Originally from Greenfield, Eugley knew she wanted to return home to Maine after her schooling was complete and soon started the process of opening her own bakery, but not before gaining experience elsewhere.
“I worked at other places before I came back home,” she said. “I worked for a bakery that had really good product but had bad advertisement and customer service, and I worked for a bakery that had really good advertisement and customer service and bad product. … I wanted to open a place that offered the best of both.”
She put a call out to others to help her come up with a name. Raegamuffin’s is a combination of her nickname, “Rae,” and other suggestions that eventually were pulled together. She began by observing different areas in Greater Bangor and doing car counts to see whether certain locations had a decent amount of traffic. After choosing a location in Veazie, renovations began.
“I was dumping my paycheck into a special account,” Eugley said with a laugh. She dedicated most of what she earned to preparations for the bakery to open and had the help of family and friends along the way.
Eugley’s demeanor doesn’t betray her youth. At only 23 years old, she has a mature, poised and professional countenance but commanding respect as a young businesswoman was difficult, she said. Earning the trust of a local audience was key to the success of her business, and it took some time to build.
She has proven her mettle as she enters her third year and surrounds herself with young and eager employees.
“I’ve been getting them fresh out of school,” she said. Her bakery employs four people, all under the age of 26.
For Jessie Pike of Old Town, an employee at Raegamuffin’s for nearly two years, Eugley’s drive was something to be admired.
“I liked the fact that she was a small-town girl,” Pike said. For Pike and Eugley’s other employees, gluten-free baking was a new challenge they were happy to take on.
“She made learning fun,” Pike said of Eugley. The processes of gluten-free baking are different and usually aren’t taught in culinary programs. Pike attended culinary school at Eastern Maine Community College but learned her gluten-free baking techniques from Eugley.
For Cassandra Parent, a 20-year-old Bangor resident, and Staci Plog, a 21-year-old Orono resident, the learning experience was new as well.
“We have a bunch of different starches that we have to mix for different products,” Eugley said. “We do a lot of things differently just because it’s gluten-free.”
For each of Eugley’s employees, culinary arts are deeply important in their lives.
Parent, who originally is from Danforth, began her journey as a baker when she was very young.
“My mom was paralyzed when I was younger, so I had to learn to bake and cook at a young age,” Parent said. “I have always loved to do it.”
When the opportunity came up for a position at a bakery, Parent never thought one of her dreams would come true.
“Rachel’s mother was best friends with my favorite teacher from high school. I was 17, and my teacher kept telling me about this bakery that her friend’s daughter was opening. She wanted me to get a job there, and I was like, ‘That’s just a dream,’” Parent said.
She has been working for Eugley for a year and a half.
For Eugley, changes to the bakery have been consistent, as she tries to offer more to her customers. She has started a lunch service, which operates out of a second kitchen. Eugley has served everything from pizza slices and sandwiches, which are offered every day, to stuffed peppers and chicken alfredo as featured items. All are gluten-free. She originally had plans to use the second kitchen for products with nuts, but after concerns were voiced by several patrons she elected to keep her entire facility free of the product.
As far as business goes, Eugley said her busiest times are at 7:30 a.m. and between 3:30 and 5 p.m. weekdays. On Saturdays, the stream of people coming through her doors is nonstop.
“Business is definitely growing,” she said.
Raegamuffin’s Gluten Free Bakery is open from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sunday.
