Auntie Anne’s® Pretzels was built on the power of a sample. Anne Beiler herself would chase down passersby to give them a sample, showing them the perfectly soft, salty, buttery pretzel they skipped over. We think that, like a bite of pretzel that leaves you wanting more, this taste of Anne’s unimaginably complex and beautiful story will leave you wanting to read more. (And you can do just that in her new cookbook!)

Author’s Note: This article contains stories about the loss of a child and sexual abuse.

A woman in a dark apron holds a large pretzel with both hands, smiling at the camera. Pin
Anne Beiler is an author, speaker, aunt to all, and our newest FACE of the South. Image: Tessa Dilley

Tell me a bit about your unique early life.

I grew up in the Amish Mennonite culture on a farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I didn’t have a lot of connection with the outside world. My community was my family. There were eight of us kids and my mom and dad. My dad had nine siblings, and my mom had 11. I had no idea that life could be difficult or that there was the pain and disappointment that I would later experience.

We all went to church every Sunday without fail. Nobody was too sick to skip. It was a disciplined life all around. I wanted to please God, and I really wanted to please my parents. I learned so much about life with no formal education. I learned that I could do anything with faith, family, and hard work.

Is this culture where your love of baking blossomed?

Growing up on the farm, I would bake 60 to 70 pies or cakes while my parents were at the farmers’ market every Thursday. All by my 11-year-old self. I loved baking. I began to see the difference between something good and something I baked that my dad took to market and bragged about to the customers.

Black and white photo of a smiling man in a white apron and a woman, possibly Auntie Anne, standing outdoors near a granite stone business with other men in the background. Signs behind them read “Granit Stone, Winner Supply Inc.”.Pin
Anne’s appetite to please her Amish community through baking came into play decades later when she started tweaking the pretzel recipe. Here’s Anne with her father. Image: Submitted

A few tragic events marked your early marriage. Can you walk us through the first?

My husband, Jonas, and I will be married 56 years this year. I pinch myself when I think of how we stayed together after what we experienced. I always tell him that nobody else could have lived with me. We had been married for seven years. We had two daughters, and life was full. It was all we had dreamed of.

But tragedy strikes anybody, anywhere, anytime. Nobody’s exempt from pain in life. One beautiful morning, our nineteen-month-old Angela was taking her little walk to my mom’s house. My sister was driving a Bobcat, loading and unloading sand for my dad. She drove over Angela accidentally. My daughter was killed instantly.

Our oldest daughter, who was four then, saw it happen. It changed everything. It put me in spiritual confusion and emotional pain — two things I had never experienced. I didn’t understand that it traumatized me, and I didn’t have the vocabulary to talk about it. So, I continued as if nothing happened. I withdrew. We became silent in our marriage, and we could no longer communicate about anything but the weather.

Auntie Anne stands with her arms crossed, smiling warmly in a navy blouse, against a backdrop of blooming red flowers and lush foliage.Pin
“I’m so passionate about living a transparent life because I know the extreme of keeping secrets. It kills us. The tragedy is not in dying, but it’s what dies inside of us while we live. I speak on the importance of being real, open, and honest,” Anne says. Image: Tessa Dilley

What made you finally open up about all the pain in your life?

A few months after Angie was killed, my pastor invited me to his office to talk, where he then took advantage of me. That put me in a very dark place where I stayed for almost seven years with ongoing sexual abuse of every kind. I weighed about 90 pounds and was contemplating suicide. When I was 37, I felt called to tell Jonas what was going on. Are you kidding me?, I thought. That was not in my plan. But I would not be here if I hadn’t.

Telling my husband began a long road to my healing and freedom from this secret. Over time, I began to feel his love and acceptance of me. He wanted to learn about why the abuse had happened, so he started studying psychology and became a layman’s counselor.

That is why Auntie Anne’s® Pretzels was created. He provided this free service and helped so many people, and I decided it was time for me to work.

People are ordering at an Auntie Anne’s soft pretzel stand, with a dedicated worker skillfully preparing each order. A woman in a blue dress waits patiently nearby, savoring the delicious aroma of freshly baked pretzels.Pin
Auntie Anne’s® Pretzels grew from this first concession stand in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, bought in 1988, into the largest pretzel chain in the world with a shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, come 1995. Image: Submitted

What was the beginning of the Auntie Anne’s journey like?

We sold pretzels, pizza, and ice cream at our first market stand. The pretzels were horrible, and I was going to take them off the menu. Jonas was with me that morning, and he said, Let me try something first. He went to the store, and we added some ingredients to the recipe. And voila! The Auntie Anne’s pretzel came to life.

As soon as we took them out of the oven, they looked and smelled different. We broke a pretzel apart and devoured it. From that day on, we could not make pretzels fast enough. We were still not planning on building a worldwide international company. I was so happy just to be at this little farmer’s market.

I knew I had a great product, so if someone kept walking past my stand, I would call them out and give them a whole pretzel or cut part of a pretzel. That’s how we built our company; we did it through sampling.

Was selling a bittersweet decision?

It was. I cried and cried. When I sold in 2005, we had about 900 locations. I’m not involved anymore; I sold it completely. As the founder, I couldn’t be halfway involved. I was too in love with all of my people and the product. But I was thrilled to free up time to write my memoir and begin to speak publicly about my life.

A woman in a kitchen wears an apron and smiles while rolling out dough on a counter. Various kitchen equipment is visible in the background.Pin
Consistency was more important to Anne than keeping the recipe top secret — though it was a secret. “We put a lot of time, money, and effort into training franchisees and managers,” Anne says. “They came to Pennsylvania for a two-week training. Pretzels seem like a simple product, but if you don’t pay attention to every detail, you won’t get that fresh, hot, golden brown pretzel for every customer.” Image: Tessa Dilley

What’s a common misconception people have about the “Auntie” part of Auntie Anne Beiler?

People always thought Auntie Anne’s was a fictitious name. But the name came from my more than 30 nieces and nephews. I would go to the stores, and people were surprised to see the real Auntie Anne. There were never any pictures of me in the stores. It was never about me; it was always about the product.

What fills you up these days work-wise?

I’m very healthy, and I feel strong. I enjoy going out to speak. I still feel the life of my story every single time I tell it. Don’t ask me how that works, but it’s like I’m telling it for the first time. I’ve always said that as long as I feel the passion and excitement of the story, I’ll continue to tell it.

A woman with glasses, donning a black cardigan and white blouse, stands and speaks at a podium on a stage with blue lighting.Pin
Anne connects with people of all stripes on her speaking circuit. Successful business owners, entrepreneurial hopefuls, and many women who tell her she changed their lives and gave them the courage to speak up. Image: Submitted

What can readers find in your cookbook?

There are more than a hundred recipes, most of which I made as a kid and some from my sisters and other family members. There are also stories and photos of my plain Amish Mennonite life to accompany them. The title Come to the Table is my call to literally come together to the table without distractions.

Two women in plain dresses and head coverings stand outdoors, smiling and engaged in conversation. A building with horizontal siding and a window with shutters is visible in the background.Pin
Anne’s family had breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. “It was stable and connected,” she recalls. Here’s Anne and her mother. Image: Submitted

Where can we find you on your days off?

I love being at home in our small town of Salado, Texas. Many of my extended family live a few miles away. We love to go out to eat at Johnny’s four or five times a week. It’s our local hangout. We love road trips, too.

What’s the best advice you’ve received, and from whom?

Angie was killed in 1975, and I finally went to counseling in 1995, 20 years later. Of course, getting immediate help is the best way. I went to Dr. Richard Dobbins. He told me to bring my external life — how I act, how I dress, who I am outwardly — and my internal life — the more important part — into harmony.

Besides faith, family, and friends, name three things you can’t live without.

A good night of sleep. My holistic doctor. Talking with my husband.

Thank you, Anne, for sharing some of your stories with us.

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Southern women are doing inspiring work. Meet more of them over at our FACES archives!

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Zoe Yarborough
About the Author
Zoe Yarborough

Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.