Anne F. Beiler Explained

Anne F. Beiler
Birth Place:Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Children:3
Occupation:Businesswoman, author, motivational speaker
Known For:Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels
Boards:Museum of the Bible
Awards:Entrepreneur of the Year (Inc. Magazine)[1]

Anne F. Beiler is an American businesswoman and founder of Auntie Anne's pretzels.[2]

Early life

Beiler was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, one of eight children born into an Old Order Amish family, on January 16, 1949. When she was three years old, her parents made the decision to join the Amish Mennonite church, meaning that, though the family retained many Amish practices, such as farming and using a horse and buggy, they were allowed limited use of modern amenities, such as electricity.[3] She did not graduate from high school, instead leaving her studies after completing the 8th grade, as most Amish children did in that time.[4]

Career

In 1987, Beiler started making hand-rolled pretzels at a market stand in Maryland. She then rented a stand in February 1988 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and called it Auntie Anne's Pretzels. The Beilers decided to tweak the recipe and found success. Anne had no previous business experience and only an eighth grade education, but she had eight stand alone stores and her first Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels store in a mall after a year. The only advertising the company had was the rave reviews from their customers.[5] In 1989, the first Auntie Anne's franchises opened throughout Central Pennsylvania.[6]

Written works

In 2002, Beiler wrote a story book style autobiography entitled Auntie Anne: My Story with illustrations by artist Frieman Stoltzfus.[7] In 2008, Beiler penned a memoir with her nephew, Shawn Smucker, entitled Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels published by Thomas Nelson Inc.[8] Her third book, co-authored with Emily Sutherland, entitled, The Secret Lies Within: An Inside Out Look at Overcoming Trauma and Finding Purpose in the Pain was released by Morgan James Publishing in 2018.[9] In 2021, she released Overcome & Lead, which she also co-authored with Emily Sutherland, detailing the leadership lessons learned while building the international Auntie Anne's Pretzel franchise.[10]

Speaking

Beiler delivered a speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention on September 3, 2008.[11]

Personal life

Beiler has two sisters, Fi and Becky,[12] and is married to Jonas Z. Beiler, an author and family counselor, by whom she has three children, daughters LaWonna (born 1971), Angela Joy (1974–1975), and Joy LaVale (born 1976).[13] [14] [15] [16] Her middle daughter, Angela Joy Beiler, died at 19 months old, in a farming accident involving a Bobcat tractor driven by Beiler's sister Fi on the family's property in Pennsylvania.[17] [18] Jonas and Anne married in 1968, when she was 18 years old and he was 21.[19] [20] Like Beiler, her husband was raised in an Old Order Amish family.[21] By LaWonna, she has three grandchildren, and through her seven siblings, she has more than thirty nieces and nephews.[22] [23] Dyslexia affects several members of her family.[24]

Beiler describes, in her memoir, her church's pastor having maintained secret sexual relationships with her and her sisters,[25] and that he had also molested her daughter LaWonna.[26]

Beiler holds two honorary doctorates, one from Elizabethtown College and another from the Eastern University, both schools located in Pennsylvania.[27] [28] Like most Amish children in her time, she did not complete high school but she did go on to obtain her G.E.D. at the age of 50.[29] [30]

Beiler also serves on the board of directors for the Museum of the Bible, affiliated with David Green, the founder of Hobby Lobby, which opened in 2017.[31]

In Popular Culture

Anne Beiler's autobiography "Twist Of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels" is currently being adapted into a feature film biopic, produced by Called Higher Studios and written by Mark Charran and Beth Goldberg.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Auntie Anne Beiler – Christian Speaker – Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Author, and Speaker.
  2. Ilan Mochari, In a Former Life: Anne Beiler, Inc.'s Small Business Success Newsletter, September 1, 2000
  3. Web site: 12 Facts About Auntie Anne's Pretzels. March 31, 2016. mentalfloss.com. en. September 22, 2019.
  4. Web site: 9 Things You Didn't Know About Auntie Anne's. October 24, 2014. HuffPost. September 22, 2019.
  5. Web site: Anne Beiler: A Twist of Faith. www.cbn.com. March 20, 2018.
  6. http://www.ag.org/pentecostal-evangel/conversations2001/4570_pretzels.cfm God has a plan
  7. Web site: Auntie Anne: My Story. Noble. Barnes &. Barnes & Noble. en. March 20, 2018.
  8. Book: Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. January 11, 2010. Thomas Nelson. 9781595553409. Nashville, TN. en.
  9. Web site: The Secret Lies Within Helps Trauma Sufferers Overcome Pain by Finding Their Voice. May 19, 2021. Morgan James Publishing. en-US.
  10. Web site: Log into Facebook. May 19, 2021. Facebook. en.
  11. Web site: 2008 Republican Convention Day 3, Sep 3 2008 Video C-SPAN.org. C-SPAN.org. en-US. March 20, 2018.
  12. Book: Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. January 11, 2010. Thomas Nelson. 9781595553409. Nashville, TN. 192. en.
  13. Web site: Defying Pretzel Logic: Anne Beiler. Whitaker. Mark. 2014. Two Ten Magazine.
  14. Web site: Jonas Beiler. Simon & Schuster. en. September 22, 2019.
  15. "United States Public Records, 1970–2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:29WJ-LFW : May 23, 2014), Joy Laval Beiler, Residence, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
  16. Web site: Auntie Anne Beiler. www.facebook.com. en. September 22, 2019.
  17. Web site: This Is the Deeply Moving, Almost Unbelievable Story Behind Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Time. en. March 20, 2018.
  18. Web site: Twists of fate for Auntie Anne. Writer. SUSAN JURGELSKI Staff. LancasterOnline. en. September 22, 2019.
  19. Web site: Auntie Anne's: Soft pretzels out of hard times. Fortune. en. September 22, 2019.
  20. Web site: How The Real 'Auntie Anne' Used Pretzels To Save Her Marriage. October 11, 2016. HuffPost. September 22, 2019.
  21. Web site: Jonas Beiler. Simon & Schuster. en. September 22, 2019.
  22. Web site: 9 Things You Didn't Know About Auntie Anne's. October 24, 2014. HuffPost. September 22, 2019.
  23. Web site: Auntie Anne Beiler. www.facebook.com. en. September 22, 2019.
  24. Web site: Where There's A Will, There's A Way • Auntie Anne Beiler. auntieannebeiler. July 30, 2018. Auntie Anne Beiler. en-US. September 22, 2019.
  25. Book: Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. January 11, 2010. Thomas Nelson. 9781595553409. Nashville, TN. 193. en.
  26. Book: Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. January 11, 2010. Thomas Nelson. 9781595553409. Nashville, TN. 166. en.
  27. Web site: Anne Beiler 2017 · Truth At Work. Truth at Work. en-US. September 22, 2019.
  28. Web site: Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels and named one of America's 500 Women Entrepreneurs. Accelerent. en-gb. September 22, 2019.
  29. Web site: 12 Facts About Auntie Anne's Pretzels. March 31, 2016. mentalfloss.com. en. September 22, 2019.
  30. Web site: 9 Things You Didn't Know About Auntie Anne's. October 24, 2014. HuffPost. September 22, 2019.
  31. Web site: Leadership. www.museumofthebible.org. en. March 20, 2018.