Caitlin Makary was never much of a baker. She was too busy with measuring tape and swatches to really be bothered with whisks and measuring spoons.

But she grew out of the fashion industry, where creativity is lacking, and left behind her career at Nautica. When she started rock climbing as a hobby, her creative vision changed. Makary started baking a nutritious vegan banana bread to help her fellow climbers sustain their energy. The climbers couldn’t get enough of it.

Climbing proved to be more than exercise. It not only inspired the idea for her food business, Dank Banana Bread, but gave her the confidence to conquer it by breaking it down into steps. Before that, she had been at the same job for seven years and never imagined owning her own business. “I feel like it gave me a lot of confidence to try other things, getting the comfort level of feeling scared or anxious and still being able to do something despite that,” she said.