LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Sabine Kretzschmar's childhood was anything but ordinary. Most of her youth was spent in Europe - specifically in Italy - where her home overlooked the Bay of Naples, and family vacations included two weeks in Florence and a week in Venice.

She might not have realized it then, but in many ways it prepared her for her life's journey as a museum curator and educator and - oddly enough - as owner of a bakeshop.

Those years in Italy, Kretzschmar says, were "lovely, lovely times and influential in a lot of ways." Exposure to some of the world's greatest art worked its way into her young imagination, and access to world-class food had a lasting impact.

"Good food is so important (in Italy)," she says. "It's what makes a quality life. I lived in Naples, and we had fresh bread brought to the house three times a week." Kretzschmar and her family called Italy home from the time she was 9, having lived in the Washington D.C. area until then.

The daughter of German immigrants, Kretzschmar, 53, recalls returning to the U.S. and noticing the quality of the bread, which paled in comparison to the Italian version. "American bread just wasn't very good. I grew up really loving the simple pleasures of life, including good bread."

At 16, her family returned to the U.S., and eventually she decided on a career in art history. Enamored with The Cleveland Museum of Art, she decided to move to Cleveland to earn her master's degree at the neighboring Case Western Reserve University.

She eventually became assistant curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, worked at the Akron Art Museum as an educator and was director of the Shaker Historical Museum. Two and a half years were spent, as well, at the local PBS station, Ideastream, where she worked in development.

"I've had great jobs, I really have," Kretzschmar says. "I've loved them all."

While at the Cleveland Museum of Art, she got to know the IT specialist, Ginius Macys, whom she eventually married. Like her, he also comes from a European background.

As time went on, Macys knew he was ready for a change from the corporate world. The couple decided the time was right to turn their dream into a reality.

"My husband and I always had this romantic notion of a corner bakery," Kretzschmar says, and they wanted to bring quality bread and baked goods to the area. Although neither had any experience or knowledge of how to run a bakery, they decided to make the leap.

Macys set about learning how to make bread and the ins and outs of the business. And with Kretzschmar's previous jobs providing plenty of experience in marketing, organizing and administrating, the intrepid pair set the foundation for a new phase in their lives as owners of the franchise, Breadsmith of Lakewood, an artisan bakery specializing in hand-crafted breads.

The bakeshop, at the corner of Detroit and West Clifton in Lakewood, opened on Election Day of 2003. "We told people that anyone who came in with an 'I Voted Today' sticker would get a free loaf of bread. It went viral, and this was before Twitter and Facebook."

The promotion, Kretzschmar says, was a huge success, although perhaps not from a monetary standpoint. "We ran out of bread and handed out at least a thousand coupons, and people came in for their free loaf of bread for a long time after that. We even got a coupon back six years later."

The goodwill that was generated made up for any income loss, she says. Their bakery business was finally up and running. But that does not mean starting it was, well, a piece of cake.

"The fact that you sell what you bake that day makes a bakery a hard thing to start up. There's too much bread one day and not enough the next," she says.

Also knowing that "everything you are and own is on the line" can be daunting at times, she says. "The whole point is you want a business that reflects your values. You want one that's fair and kind, one that strives for excellence and is full of integrity."

The hours can be long, and crises can also pop up at the worst possible times. A power outage the Friday night before Easter this year made for some tense moments. The busiest day of the year for the bakery is the Saturday before Easter, and the outage lasted an hour and a half after the baking process had already begun. "The staff did what they could, and slow baked what was in the oven and saved what was in the mixer. Those are the things that keep you up at night," Kretzschmar says.

Twelve years later, Breadsmith is doing well, she says, but the couple is always looking for new products to offer, and Macys continues to further his knowledge of breads, just completing a master class in rye bread making. Kretzschmar also brings bread to the North Union Farmers Market at Crocker Park on Saturdays, and she serves on the market's board of directors.

As for working with her husband, it's worked out well, she says. "We agree on all of the big things. We have very different methods of getting there, but we are respectful of each others' methods."

Now, after more than a decade in business, Kretzschmar finds her corner bakery fulfilling and satisfying, giving a tip of the hat to the 17 employees. "I totally love it," she says. "We are what we are because of our staff. They are remarkably skilled individuals."

Know of someone you'd like to see featured in "Faces of the Suns"? Contact Linda Kinsey at lkinsey@cleveland.com. Read more "Faces of the Suns" stories by visiting cleveland.com/faces-of-the-suns.