Michelle Pusateri
Michelle Pusateri is the founder of Nana Joe's Granola, a San Francisco-based maker of vegan, gluten-free granola. A pastry chef by background, she started the company in 2010 to bring whole-food breakfasts back to the table.
Michelle Pusateri's Bio
Michelle Pusateri is the founder of Nana Joes Granola, a certified gluten-free, organic granola company based in San Francisco. Born in the Sunset District and raised in Dogpatch, she moved from Houston to Chicago at age five—the moment she first felt how food can anchor you to a place, when she missed her grandmother's homemade bread above all else.
Before founding her company, Michelle worked in food service for over a decade. She started waiting tables and barista work in Texas, bartended in New Mexico, then attended the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena and moved to San Francisco. She worked as a pastry chef at The Fairmont Hotel, Four Seasons, and Nopa. Her own struggles with addiction and celiac led her to get sober in 2007 and brought a strict focus on ingredient purity to everything she made.
Michelle started Nana Joes Granola in 2010 from a kitchen at the San Francisco JCC, selling at farmers markets before moving into a Dogpatch manufacturing facility and reaching Whole Foods Northern California in 2014. The company distributes across multiple states with nearly $2 million in annual sales and over $18 million in lifetime revenue. Michelle earned the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center's 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year award and joined the OSC Rising Star program. She refused to pass ingredient cost spikes on to customers and pays her team well above minimum wage. A limited edition collaboration launched in 2024, and Michelle still starts mornings surfing Ocean Beach.
Career Timeline
2002 — Earned Baking and Pastry Certificate, Culinary Institute of America
Completed baking and pastry program at CIA St. Helena campus.
2002 — Pastry Chef at The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco
First pastry chef role in San Francisco following CIA graduation.
2005 — Pastry Chef at Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco
Continued pastry chef career at the Four Seasons in San Francisco.
2007 — Got sober and refocused on culinary career
Made the decision to stop drinking and doing drugs, setting the foundation for launching her own brand.
2010 — Founded Nana Joes Granola
Started Nana Joes Granola as a side hustle, first selling from a kitchen at the San Francisco JCC and local farmers markets.
2012 — Opened dedicated manufacturing facility in Dogpatch at Nana Joes Granola
Moved into a gluten-free and vegan dedicated manufacturing facility in the American Industrial Center in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood.
2014 — Launched in Whole Foods Northern California
Nana Joes Granola entered Whole Foods stores across the Northern California region, beginning a long-running retail partnership.
2023 — Named Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center Entrepreneur of the Year
Recognized as 2023 Established Entrepreneur of the Year by the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center.
