After getting laid off from her job, Val had to find another way to pay for tuition, program fees, and books. Initially, she tried selling her woven twill rugs, but there wasn’t much demand for her first venture.  

As fate would have it, she overheard an event coordinator at the Native Art Market mention that the market needed a frybread vendor. It turned out to be one of those entrepreneurial ‘a-ha moments.’ 

Growing up, Val was the frybread specialist in her family; she had been making it for as long as she could remember. Val asked the event coordinator if she could start selling frybread, and the next weekend, her stand was set up at the Native Art Market and Val’s Frybread was officially in business.

The demand for her traditional, Navajo bread exceeded her highest expectations. She was able to use the revenue for tuition and graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2020. Since then, Val’s Frybread has grown from a little, family-run stand into multiple, pop-up locations.

The Pandemic through another curveball at Val and her plans. In early 2020, she was forced to cancel an event in Colorado. After joking with her graphic designer, Justin Gilbert of Kuvua Designs, about making a frybread mix and mailing it to Colorado, she decided that might just be the way forward. To overcome the challenges of COVID-19, Val started making mixes and shipping them throughout the U.S. and Canada. What started as a joke became a big part of her revenue, and her online store is thriving in 2022.

Val’s continues to offer the tastiest, fluffiest, most perfect frybread available. Customers can enjoy it however they like with honey, powdered sugar, cinnamon, salt, or all the above.

Just as the history of frybread represents resilience, Val’s is here today because of one woman’s determination and passion for sharing a treat with others.