A passion for baked goods and an enterprising spirit led WVU Potomac State College alumna Jenna Folk to open her own bakery.
Operating for the past six years from her home as Rollin' with Jenny, Folk was finally able to open a storefront in November at 30 Church Street in Keyser.
Rollin’ with Jenny began when Folk started making pumpkin rolls, pepperoni rolls, and sweet rolls for extra income from her tiny second-floor apartment kitchen on C Street. In fact, the name of the business, Rollin’ with Jenny, is derived from the original intent of making rolls.
“My family persuaded me to open my own bakery,” Folk, who attended PSC in 2018, said. “I was working for the Mineral County commissioners, and baking was my side hustle. I would get home from work and bake until one or two in the morning, and then get up and go to work.”
Folk’s “side hustle” soon became her main source of income. She mentioned to two real estate friends her dream to move what then became a mobile business into something more permanent. Realtors Logan DelSignore and Eric Riggleman had just purchased the former segregated black school that had more recently been converted into a senior center. Naming it the Lincoln Event Center, DelSignore and Riggleman approached Folk about being their first tenant in the building.
“They told me to give them a year to get the building ready, and I gave them the year,” Folk said. “We were supposed to open in October of last year, but we had a family emergency, and so we held off on the opening. It worked out because during that time, the kitchen and the building were done just the way I had hoped and had all the things I had asked for.”
The end result is the conversion of what had been a dark red and black dining area into a bright pink and white interior, with a Mid-Century décor. Rollin' with Jenny is open to the public from Tuesday through Friday (and every other Saturday) from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The schedule gives Folk time to spend with her family. At 27 years old, she is the mother of two young girls and married to Potomac State College basketball coach Brady Folk. Coach Folk is no stranger to the bakery either. He frequently assists with prep work, opens the bakery, and stocks the display cases with freshly baked donuts every morning.
“I am super proud of her. This has always been her dream, and she made it happen,” he said.
“I love being able to bring in my family and bring the kids to work with me,” Jenna Folk said. “I don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to leave or to take care of my kids. And it helps my husband, too. He can coach and concentrate on the game without worrying about childcare. It gives us both peace of mind.”
In fact, Rollin’ with Jenny is quite a family affair. Jenna Folk’s grandmother, BrendaVanMeter works for the bakery as well. Folk said it has come “full circle” for her, as it was her grandmother who introduced her to the love of cooking and baking at the age of three.
“I was actually featured in the local newspaper when we lived just across the bridge in McCoole,” she said. “When I was three, my grandmother gave me my first rolling pin and sat me on the kitchen counter, and we made potato candy. In 2002, I was featured in a story about ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ and future chefs in the making. So, I guess there was something to that.”
Folk has the article and the original rolling pin framed in a shadow box inside the bakery.
“My training as a baker is probably unusual,” she said. “I took Vo-Tech courses in Mineral County, and I originally studied business in college. I have a funny story about starting out baking anything. When my husband and I were dating, I wanted to impress him, so I made macaroni and cheese and almost set the house on fire.”
Folk said her original career plans were something entirely and oddly different than what she is doing now.
“I originally wanted to be a mortician,” she said. “I actually interned at a local funeral home. I was about to enroll in mortuary school. I tell people I went from caskets to cupcakes.”
Aside from the courses she took at Potomac State College and her husband’s commitment to the College’s athletic department, Folk said she remains committed to the community and to the campus.
Last year, when learning that federal SNAP benefits would no longer allow parents to purchase sweets and baked goods, Folk realized that meant some children might go without birthday cakes simply because their families couldn’t afford one. She founded “the Birthday Project,” a program where families can get the sweet treats they need from her and other locations to give each child a cake for his or her celebration.
“We care about this community. They poured into my success, and we need to pour that back when we can. We have plans to expand one day, but I will always stay in Keyser. It feels good to give back and have this business in our community,” she said. “I take my girls to softball training at Potomac State with Chloe Greise and Skyla Compton. We really are blessed to have what we have. I don’t know if this is the life I expected, but it’s given me a lot more than I thought I needed.”
“My intention – when designing the business – was to create an inviting space that screams bakery, a space where I can work and continue to show our daughters where hard work, passion, and dedication can take you. We love it here.”