When Ryan McCallum isn't working as an electrical contractor, he is focusing on helping people out with some good bread and a health-concise diet through Rise Slow Bread Company.

McCallum, a 55-year-old Fairhope resident, started working on fixing his diet around four years ago to get through the physicality and energy his job requires. Through yoga and a clean diet, he lost 30 pounds. However, with his body still "creeping and crawling," he decided to take matters even more into his own hands.

Inspired by European bread making styles, he created his own sourdough starter and started making bread using ingredients such as organic bread flour, alkaline water and Italian sea salt. After going through 10 recipes, he finally found one he liked, saying within five days of eating only his own bread, he felt massive improvements in his wellness and movements.

After nailing down the recipe, he has since shared the bread with his family and co-workers, saying his 80-year-old mother has lost around 10 pounds eating his bread. He has gotten more production out of his electricians feeding them his bread, along with smoothies and water, in the morning.

Originally starting as Slow Rise Bread Company, he switched a couple of words around due to other businesses sharing the name, and is now Rise Slow Bread Company. He sells his bread at his storefront in Old Towne Daphne, located at 1800 Main St., right next door to Dragonfly Tavern. Operating on a cottage license, he is offering bread to the local community that McCallum says you can't find anywhere else.

"I say I'm not selling bread here, I'm really selling health and wellness through the bread," McCallum said.

He makes the bread from home through a process that takes a couple of days and includes letting the starter rise, mixing the dough and stretching it to activate the gluten process. He then lets it set and proof over a couple hours, fermenting it in the refrigerator between 48 to 72 hours.

So far, McCallum has made loafs, baguettes and hamburger buns and has started experimenting with making different flavors at the request of his customers, such as jalapeno cheddar. He said he hopes to make more people feel better through his bread making.

"I'm not a nutritionist. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a scientist at all," McCallum said. "All that stuff that I say, I'm saying it just from what I've learned and experienced, and just how I feel, and I haven't felt this great in a long time."

McCallum posts his weekly schedule on social media and the window of his storefront, but he has also launched a website at www.riseslowbreadco.com, where people can buy his bread and also subscribe to a membership service to pick up his bread at the shop on a monthly basis.