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Anne F. Beiler
BornJanuary 16, 1949 (1949-01-16) (age 75)
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)Businesswoman, author, motivational speaker
Known forFounder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels
Board member ofMuseum of the Bible
Spouse
Jonas Z. Beiler
​
(m. 1968)​
Children3
AwardsEntrepreneur of the Year (Inc. Magazine)[1]

Anne F. Beiler (born January 16, 1949) is an American businesswoman and founder of Auntie Anne's pretzels.[2]

Early life

[edit]

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

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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

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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

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

Personal life

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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]

[edit]

Anne Beiler's autobiography "Twist Of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels" [32] is currently being adapted into a feature film biopic, produced by Called Higher Studios and written by Mark Charran and Beth Goldberg.

References

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  1. ^ "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. ^ "12 Facts About Auntie Anne's Pretzels". mentalfloss.com. March 31, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "9 Things You Didn't Know About Auntie Anne's". HuffPost. October 24, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  5. ^ "Anne Beiler: A Twist of Faith". www.cbn.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  6. ^ God has a plan Archived October 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Pentecostal Evangel, December 9, 2001
  7. ^ Noble, Barnes &. "Auntie Anne: My Story". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  8. ^ Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. January 11, 2010. ISBN 9781595553409.
  9. ^ "The Secret Lies Within Helps Trauma Sufferers Overcome Pain by Finding Their Voice". Morgan James Publishing. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  10. ^ "Log into Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved May 19, 2021. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  11. ^ "2008 Republican Convention Day 3, Sep 3 2008 | Video | C-SPAN.org". C-SPAN.org. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  12. ^ Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. January 11, 2010. p. 192. ISBN 9781595553409.
  13. ^ Whitaker, Mark (2014). "Defying Pretzel Logic: Anne Beiler". Two Ten Magazine.
  14. ^ "Jonas Beiler". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 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. ^ "Auntie Anne Beiler". www.facebook.com. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  17. ^ "This Is the Deeply Moving, Almost Unbelievable Story Behind Auntie Anne's Pretzels". Time. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  18. ^ Writer, SUSAN JURGELSKI Staff. "Twists of fate for Auntie Anne". LancasterOnline. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  19. ^ "Auntie Anne's: Soft pretzels out of hard times". Fortune. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  20. ^ "How The Real 'Auntie Anne' Used Pretzels To Save Her Marriage". HuffPost. October 11, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  21. ^ "Jonas Beiler". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  22. ^ "9 Things You Didn't Know About Auntie Anne's". HuffPost. October 24, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  23. ^ "Auntie Anne Beiler". www.facebook.com. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  24. ^ auntieannebeiler (July 30, 2018). "Where There's A Will, There's A Way • Auntie Anne Beiler". Auntie Anne Beiler. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  25. ^ Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. January 11, 2010. p. 193. ISBN 9781595553409.
  26. ^ Twist of Faith: The Story of Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. January 11, 2010. p. 166. ISBN 9781595553409.
  27. ^ "Anne Beiler 2017 · Truth At Work". Truth at Work. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  28. ^ "Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels and named one of America's 500 Women Entrepreneurs". Accelerent. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  29. ^ "12 Facts About Auntie Anne's Pretzels". mentalfloss.com. March 31, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  30. ^ "9 Things You Didn't Know About Auntie Anne's". HuffPost. October 24, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  31. ^ "Leadership". www.museumofthebible.org. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  32. ^ A Twist of Faith: The Auntie Anne's Story (Biography), retrieved July 20, 2024
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