Valeria's incredible experience with the WE Lead Food Programme, entrepreneurial success with her Incredible Bakery Company and authorship, publishing her cookbook. Raising awareness for pastry products for people with health issues.
WE Lead Food is creating a network of women leaders to drive change, innovation and sustainability within the food sector. Valeria Mizuno-Turner is an enthusiastic alumna of the programme.
Valeria, can you tell us about your background?
Valeria Mizuno-Turner: ‘I have been living in the UK for 22 years but I’m originally from Brazil. I obtained a degree in information science there, so I don’t have a food-related academic background.
However, my family had a grocery store, and my mom was a baker in Brazil.
In 2013, my husband and I founded ‘Incredible Bakery Company’, motivated by our son’s health issues.
We produce bakery and pastry products that are free from gluten, dairy, eggs, soya and nuts.’
The WE Lead Food Programme sparked something unique? We heard you published a book!
‘When I had completed WE Lead Food, there was a seed planted in me to start doing more.
Years ago, I had written a book with recipes in Portuguese, but it was left unfinished.
Since February 2024, it’s available as an eBook on Amazon or as print on demand on Lulu Publishing: The Incredible Baker’s Book of Secrets: Baking Gluten Free and Vegan.
Why did you join the programme? Did it meet your expectations?
‘I participated in 2023 when I wanted to pursue leadership or management training.
For me, it was an opportunity for personal development and a chance to broaden my horizons. As an entrepreneur, you’re sometimes working in isolation from others.
WE Lead Food is uniting many different people, which is very inspiring. It did answer my expectations and even more.
The speakers in the online sessions are an international expert group of industry, academic and policy specialists, all willing to share their knowledge.
And the participants were very friendly and had different backgrounds and ages, creating a very engaging interaction.
We discussed various topics such as entrepreneurial strategy or communication skills and we exchanged our knowledge and experience.’
“The WE Lead Food programme has really made me rethink the vision and the purpose of my business.We want to find investors in order to expand our activities. But there’s more to it than just business growth - I want my company to be more relevant in our communities by providing education on healthy food, hiring talented people, and implementing sustainable practices, reducing our carbon footprint wherever possible.”
Do you consider the women-only approach as an asset of the programme?
‘Definitely! The food industry is a male dominated world, which makes it sometimes difficult to believe in yourself. In a learning or leadership environment, it is much harder to stand out as a woman because men tend to be more competitive, whereas women often don’t want or dare to grab attention but rather sit back and wait to be recognized.
A women-only group therefore gives us more opportunities to learn and uplift each other.
It makes women more confident to succeed in their careers.’
What was the impact on your career?
On a personal level, the programme helped me address my shortcomings in people management and realise which employees I should attract to complement my skills.
The WE Lead Food programme has really made me rethink the vision and the purpose of my business. We want to find investors in order to expand our activities.
But there’s more to it than just business growth – I want my company to be more relevant in our communities by providing education on healthy food, hiring talented people, and implementing sustainable practices, reducing our carbon footprint wherever possible.’