Bodi’s crafts cakes and community

Providing employment is rewarding, owner says

By Jason Arndt
Editor

For the last 20 years, Bodi’s Bake Shop in Twin Lakes has been a mainstay of the community, but the owner’s foray into the industry started much earlier.

The owner, Jane Bodi, recalled starting in the business 35 years ago, when she crafted a wedding cake and then opened up shop inside a Richmond, Ill., restaurant.

“Wedding cakes is how I got started in the business,” said Bodi, whose husband, Jon, joined the business venture at the onset. “We were working out of Andre’s Steakhouse, which was a restaurant down over the Illinois border.”

After 13 years, the Steakhouse closed, but Bodi’s business continued inside Twin Lakes Country Club while she sought a permanent storefront.

Bodi credits Twin Lakes Country Club owner Chad Cantwell for opening his doors in her nearly two-year stay at the facility.

“I was fortunate to have Cantwell from the country club let me stay up there and use his facilities until I got this operating,” she said.

Evolving business
Since Bodi launched her shop at 306 E. Main Street, she has introduced fried doughnuts and a lunch menu consisting of a soup and sandwich, and remains committed to helping newlyweds with sweet wedding cakes.

The commitment involves putting other’s need before her own, she said.

“I do a lot of wedding cakes, so we have to be on top of that,” she said. “If you are working with people’s important moments, you have to be there for their situations.”

Crafting a wedding cake takes up to eight hours, she said, but she has found ways to keep other aspects of the business going.

“I was doing five or six weddings a weekend for several years,” she said.

As she works to make each wedding a success, she also offers area youth their first job, placing an emphasis on keeping students occupied after their classes.

Hiring local
Throughout her 20 years, Bodi has hired students from four area high schools, Westosha Central, Wilmot, Lake Geneva Badger and Richmond-Burton.

“A lot of our employees have been kids that are in high school and they come and work our counter and they learn too make cookies and have a job,” she said.

Upon graduating, students who attend college return to work for her, but they often find internships or other career opportunities following their second year of higher education.

But, some of have stayed, including one for nearly two decades.

“I have a couple of them that have stayed on with me since high school,” she said. “My oldest non-family employee has been with us for 17 years.”

Bodi believes employment gives youths needed structure.

“It keeps them occupied after school and there are plenty of things for them to do around here,” Bodi said. “My latest staff has been with me for the longest.”

As she reflects on giving students their first job, she finds it rewarding and satisfying.

“To me, I am so happy that I can make a difference to some people’s lives and to go back and see how many people I have touched just by being able to do that,” she said.