When COVID Hit, She Had to Close Her Restaurant—Now Her Products Are Flying Off the Shelves at Whole Foods
And she hasn't taken any venture capital.
You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.
Photo: Courtesy of Ayeshah Abuelhiga
Ayeshah Abuelhiga was first inspired to open her own restaurant while working at local eateries in Washington, D.C. as an undergraduate at George Washington University. “It’s where I learned the value of a hard-earned dollar, where I learned Spanish, and where I saw people like me who didn’t necessarily have rich parents with white-collar jobs who paid their tuition,” explains Abuelhiga. “I saw the opportunity for restaurants to modernize, and ultimately, I knew that one day I wanted to own a restaurant." And after 14 years of climbing the corporate ladder, she did finally open the doors to her own restaurant, Mason Dixie, an authentic Southern comfort food hotspot, in D.C.
Although she had the make the difficult decision to close her restaurant after six years of serving the D.C. community due to COVID-19, she’s stumbled upon an even more impactful way to modernize the food industry. Like so many small business owners in 2020, she pivoted, identifying an opportunity to bring the wholesome biscuits that people would line up around the block for in D.C. into frozen food aisles across the county. Today, Mason Dixie has evolved into a clean frozen food company that makes biscuits and breakfast sandwiches that are available at over 6,000 stores, including Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, Costco, and more. And Abuelhiga is just getting started.
Below, the founder tells Create & Cultivate how she’s scaled her company sustainably, why she’s opted to raise funds from private investors (rather than through venture capital), and what major mistakes she’s made and learned from along the way.
You started Mason Dixie, in part, because you believe everyone should have access to affordable, wholesome food. Take us back to the beginning—What was the lightbulb moment for Mason Dixie and what inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path?
I grew up poor. I was raised in low-income housing in Baltimore up until I was 11, but my parents did their best to instill the values of home-cooked, wholesome meals. We shopped at farmer’s markets and bought produce that was bruised, but we ate very balanced meals. I notice now looking back that the kids I still remember that I grew up with in Section 8 that ate out of vending machines are still in the system today, and those who had better access to food, are in better places. You truly are what you eat and I have always believed we deserve better.
In that same vein, my immigrant parents owned a soul-food carry-out restaurant and convenience store when I was little and I got my taste for American cuisine from it. It was also a deciding cuisine when my Middle Eastern dad and Korean mother would disagree about whose cuisine would win out for dinner that night. I craved soul food even as I was coming of age in college, but I could never find homestyle, scratch-made comfort food, only fast food equivalents.
Fast forward to college. I was the first member of my family to attend college and since my parents didn’t make a lot of money, I had to work to pay for school, so I worked in restaurants throughout my years at George Washington University. It’s where I learned the value of a hard-earned dollar, where I learned Spanish, and where I saw people like me who didn’t necessarily have rich parents with white-collar jobs who paid their tuition. I saw the opportunity for restaurants to modernize, and ultimately, I knew that one day I wanted to own a restaurant.
So after working for 14 years in male-dominated industries, like tech and auto, and quickly climbing the corporate ladder, I realized I was an upper-level manager who was unfulfilled and had another 20 years to go before I could go after the only female C-level role that I didn’t even want. I was disenchanted and uninspired. So, I decided it was time to start my dream of owning a restaurant. So in 2014, I founded Mason Dixie. I saw a huge opportunity in the lack of comfort food options available in the growing, better-for-you food space, and an even bigger opportunity making biscuits the focal point since there were no real, scratch-made biscuits on the market. I also saw an opportunity to make scratch-made comfort food affordable and accessible to the masses versus just doing better-for-you food in the fine dining realm by looking at the fast-casual scale and ultimately, grocery, as an even better avenue to do just that.
You recently raised $6.3 million in Series A funding from investors—no doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way. What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why?
1. Know the problem you are solving and how big the addressable market really is. Frequently I see founders who do not research the market space enough and show a $20M market opportunity. No investor gets excited about the opportunity to take up to 10% of a $20M market. If you make a seed oil and that segment is small, how big is the oil market in general? Sell the sizzle. It’s the opportunity size that gets early-stage investors going. But be realistic. Be able to defend the market size with real data.
2. Know your sales performance and gross margins inside and out; it is ultimately how investors judge your worth. I cannot tell you how many founders I talk to that don’t even know what goes into a gross margin calculation, or where their strongest sales are coming from. This is important stuff you should be able to spat out on command.
3. Know how you are going to use the funds. Don’t just say I need $1M. What is that $1M built from? Half to overhead/salaries, some to equipment, a third to working capital? Show in your projections how you get to that number. You will always be surprised after analyzing cash flow projections how much more you really need than you thought.
You decided to forgo venture capital and instead opted to raise funds from private investors, many of whom are women. What advice can you share for entrepreneurs, particularly WOC, on partnering with the right investors, and what do investors need to bring to the table other than just money?
I say this until my face turns blue and people still look at me like I have three heads but choosing investors is like choosing a husband. They are almost identical on legal paper. They own your assets, you share financial responsibilities with them, and ultimately your relationship will be what allows you to succeed or fail. They are not a bank or a cash lender; they are meant to be business partners.
You have to know the type of personalities you vibe with, what their values are, do you have the same humor even. It’s like dating. You have to ask yourself, “Could I be with these people forever? Are they my people? Do they really believe in me and what I am trying to achieve?” These are some of the top questions I ask of my investors when getting to know them and I highly recommend founders do the same when they go out to raise. This is why for WOC especially, it’s important to find your people. The check is secondary to shared values and work style.
You launched Mason Dixie in 2014, and now the brand is available at over 6,000 stores, including Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, Costco, and more. What has been the biggest challenge in scaling your business and what lessons have you learned along the way? What advice can you share on how to scale a business sustainably?
The hardest part about scaling a fast-paced growth business is predicting growth. There are times when you get it dead wrong and over-project, and there are times you go gangbusters and hit it out of the park. Both scenarios are challenging to plan for.
I think the way we have navigated our business growth best was by learning the hard way at first and then optimizing each year. At first, we sprinted and made some mistakes. We were lucky in that the sprint just qualified us for the next race, but we weren’t ready. We just happened to be the fastest runner in that first race. I would have preferred looking back to have trained and prepared for the second race.
So with each misstep, we corrected, learned, and analyzed our weak points and then went in more cautiously. We chose better retailers, improved our product mix, then accelerated. I would always make sure to be cautious. If I could do it again, I would win strategically big and focus on making those wins bigger before going wider. It helps mobilize the team better, focuses your assets, and then allows you to move stronger into new markets.
There are a lot of small business owners reading this interview who would love to have their products sold at major retailers like you. How can these founders follow in your footsteps? What advice can you share for getting a foot in the door with a big-name retailer?
Fair warning: the market has changed a LOT since we first got started. Anyone who started before a couple of years ago were the pioneers. You did a lot and asked for forgiveness later and people were more willing to grow/make mistakes with you.
Now, the world has changed. There is a lot more competition—a lot more products out there—and retailers are getting smarter. Before you go pitch to a big retailer, you have to really know if you are ready. Do you have the marketing and trade budget to support the account? Can you keep up with the volume? Can you afford slotting fees? Do you have a sales support team to monitor and manage the account?
Remember, these players have dealt with far more billion-dollar companies than they have thousand-dollar companies, so the rules are set for much bigger fish than you.
Get educated, get funded, then jump into those waters with caution. Surround yourself with skilled and experienced advisors who have worked in the category/product type you are developing. Ask other companies in those retailers about their experience—both their successes and their follies. Get informed before you pitch.
Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy on and why?
Being a founder/CEO means you need to know everything about your business—point-blank. There isn’t one area that is more important than the other. It’s a living system and all parts of the system need to be financially healthy in order for the business to thrive. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be the expert. Hire a great accountant or CFO early. Allow them to train your eye to see the dark spots and opportunities clearly. Focus on understanding your business over how to be a financial whiz.
What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?
People. People people people. They should always be your first biggest expense. Who is helping you to create your projections? Who is going to manage your first order, or even make it? Remember, you cannot do this on your own and the value of the people you surround yourself with will be invaluable in the long run.
What are your top three largest expenses every month?
1. COGs – All of your cost of goods should and will be your largest expense.
2. Trade expenses/marketing – In frozen, we invest a lot into trade since it’s not as easy for us to market and get trial by handing out free sample packs at a metro station or triathlon. Investing back into trade helps us grow and should be one of your largest expenses as you scale.
3. People – Your people should be the best of the best and they deserve to be financially treated as such so they are spending 100% of their time worrying about their business and not if they will get paid. Remember – this industry is tough and financially risky. This is always on the minds of your people so make sure you can pay them on time, and in full.
Photo: Courtesy of Mason Dixie
Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?
I didn’t pay myself for four years so that others might eat. I lived off of savings and credit cards for as long as I could to ensure I could snag the best people, finance the next purchase order, or invest in the next piece of equipment or manufacturer. I only started to pay myself once I knew I
couldn’t cut checks big enough anymore to fuel the business and took in our first investment, but even then I was conservative and only took what I need to pay rent and eat. As an owner, don’t forget you own the company and that is way more valuable than a salary.
At first, conserve as much cash as you can otherwise you will burn through equity instead. Taking a big salary is a cash burn that will cost you more equity when you need to raise more money before the company has earned the valuation it deserves. So be frugal about what you need in the beginning until the business can afford to pay you.
Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?
It just depends on that owner’s personal situation. If I started a business as a single mom with three kids and little savings to live off of, I probably would pay myself the bare minimum I needed to feed my family. But as a single woman with nothing to lose, I lived as bare as I could on what I had. In fact, I worked side hustles until the business could afford to pay for me. It really depends on your financial needs and situation—just be frugal is the biggest advice I can give.
How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business?
You are always ready to hire. No one is good at everything. I would have a hard look at your skills and experience, rate those against the different business functions your business needs, and then hire for anything you didn’t rate yourself strongly for. When I took in a business partner, my COO, Ross, I knew I was terrible at operations and needed help. Similarly, when I saw sales ramping up, even though I knew I was good at sales, I only had so much time so rather than spread myself too thin, I invested in the hires knowing that yes, I could still do it, but what was the opportunity cost?
Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup?
Yes. This should be one of your first hires. I rarely have ever met a founder who is an accountant/financially trained. These people are, you need them. Again, they will educate you about how to look at your business and ultimately help you finance it. They are a critical function.
What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked and what hasn’t?
Every business can start with Quickbooks or any off-the-shelf software. In fact, there is a huge market opportunity for you software engineers out there to design scalable accounting software for product companies—hint hint! It’s been fine because of its ease of use and cloud-based
access, but terrible for really using it as a business intelligence and decision support tool. At the end of the day, it’s accounting software, so decision support is still happening in Excel for us. I don’t think there are better solutions until you advance a bit more, but I am always looking.
Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why?
Yes, we are the biggest consumers in the world! We are business!! More decisions need to be made by the women who LITERALLY hold the purse strings. It can only happen with us talking out loud about it and informing the powers that be how we view money, business, services, etc. The more we show up, the louder we are, the more we will be seen, the more will change.
What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?
The funniest mistake was when I thought I was going to be Willy Wonka and open a biscuit factory in just a few months! It was actually one of the best mistakes I ever made. When we sold into Whole Foods our growth was so fast that we were getting requests for products everywhere. Naively, my business partner Ross Perkins and I decided to go after more accounts, particularly in the South because if these biscuits couldn’t sell down there, then we should just call this a good swag item and not further invest. Well, we got both Publix and Kroger to buy our biscuits and were going to go from 100 stores to 1,000 stores in just under nine months. With no idea how to do this, Ross and I leased a drive-thru restaurant with a huge parking lot in the middle of nowhere so we could make pallets of biscuits and store them in a portable trailer freezer on the lot.
We kept doing this for months and transporting the pallets, but the demand kept growing locally, so we couldn’t even keep the inventory we had reserved for the new accounts. I thought we needed to build a bakery! A frozen dough bakery! In the middle of DC! I spent a ton of money on fully engineered plans for this biscuit factory that was also going to have our restaurant attached for the full Ghirardelli experience until we were about to pull the trigger on this huge spiral freezer. Turns out the freezer requires either ammonia or freon—which in DC—are banned in the quantities we needed to fuel this machine. So, we were dead in the water, and we had to pivot to find a way to make biscuits within four months.
I say it was the best mistake I ever made because I ended up being fluent in frozen biscuit production—I knew exactly the equipment I needed, the process, the cost of things—so when I went on the hunt for the facility that would ultimately make our biscuits, I knew everything I needed to know to make the search easy. Because I failed at building a factory, I succeeded in finding the best co-manufacturer out there for our biscuits, and that is what ultimately allowed us to scale and has brought us to where we are today.
What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?
Learn about venture capital and investing before you start. It’s way more complicated, personal, and nuanced than anyone tells you. I did my best to read and research but only as I was hearing no’s during our initial raises. I even did a killer pitch where every investor in the room asked for follow-up discussions. But sometimes it’s not just about your business track record. Sometimes it’s about the color of the money on the table or how much more money is needed and it’s hard to stomach when you think everything else is A+ and you still can’t close the deal.
Anything else to add?
Whenever the going gets tough, ask yourself, what have you ever failed at that you tried your absolute hardest at?
I can’t think of a single time when I put my all into something where I didn’t succeed, so I know if I keep trying, anything can happen. I realized if I didn’t stop trying and if I continued to persevere and stop putting a period at the end of the task, I would ultimately succeed. It’s been the driving statement that through every bad turning point in the path to getting Mason Dixie where it is today, and it is 100% effective.
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Eunice Byun Started Material as a Side Hustle While Working 9-to-5 at Revlon—Here’s How She Did It
From beauty industry exec to cookware innovator.
You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.
Photo: Kirsten Francis
Eunice Byun launched her cookware company Material as a side hustle while she was working full-time as an exec at Revlon. But she knew she had to quit her day job when she kept waking up with new ideas for Material and couldn’t shake that feeling of “I’ll pinch myself later on if I don’t just do this now,” she tells Create & Cultivate. “It did help not having to worry about how I would financially make it by ironing out a lot of the vision for the business on nights and weekends, while still getting paid for my full-time job,” she adds about the decision of launching a business while working from 9-to-5.
Although the slow-and-steady approach was right for her, the entrepreneur admits it’s not for everyone. “If you’re the type of person who needs to jump in feet first and throw everything you’ve got at the business, then my approach might have been too cautious,” she says. “For me, I needed some assurance that what my co-founder and I were dreaming up was compelling enough that we could secure funding so that we could build the product and our brand right from the start.” And it’s safe to say that strategy has more than paid off. In fact, she had a number of investors who were interested in working with her before she even had a product (no big deal!).
Ahead, Byun explains what it took to launch a business while working full-time, how she secured funding before producing a single product, and why it’s important for founders to be compensated, regardless of the actual dollar amount printed on the paycheck.
Your résumé is so impressive. You started your career in finance as an analyst at Goldman Sachs and later served as vice president of global digital marketing at Revlon. Can you tell us about your professional background and what you were doing professionally before launching Material?
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a pretty diverse career to date. After graduating from Northwestern University, I went into finance at Goldman Sachs. It’s a great place to start your career because you learn a lot of transferable skills—presenting information, time management, people management—at an early age. Ultimately, I knew that I couldn’t see myself in finance long-term and wanted to move into something more consumer-focused.
From there, I spent the next chapter of my professional life in the consumer and start-up worlds, soaking up as much operational knowledge as possible. I learned about forecasting, merchandising, managing a P&L, operations, PR, and communications. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I was accumulating bits and pieces of know-how that would serve me well with my own company, Material.
Right before launching Material, I was in the beauty industry, deep in digital storytelling, community building, and influencer-focused marketing, much of which has informed our current marketing strategies.
What was the “lightbulb moment” for Material? What inspired you to start your business and pursue this path? Did you always envision yourself becoming an entrepreneur?
I was that kid growing up who never knew how to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As I got older, I eventually realized it came down to surrounding myself with talented, driven people (who I could learn from), and building something that people cared about. That rubric served me pretty well as I navigated through a few different industries.
But it wasn’t until I had my daughter that I realized there had to be something more. I wanted a place where I didn’t have to leave parts of myself at home, especially as a new mom. When my co-founder and I started piecing together the concept of Material, we envisioned the idea of our company but also the type of place and people we wanted to spend our time in and with. We felt there was a need for our company to exist (e.g. to bring more beautiful, high-performing designs to the home cook), but we also knew we wanted to build a company with values that matter and motivate us and our team.
You had a number of investors that were interested in working with you before you even had a product. What were some of the challenges you faced in raising funding pre-product and what would you change? Would you recommend your route to other entrepreneurs?
Product is central to our business, as we aren’t a one-product-shop where we focus solely on a singular item. In our case, we launched with a collection of seven items, so raising a pre-seed round was necessary in order to deliver the quality of products we envisioned. However, we made sure not to take too much money from the beginning as we didn’t want to automatically put us on the hamster wheel of raising more and more capital as quickly as possible. We also were specific on having a diverse set of initial investors, which proved to be one of our best decisions. With a mix of venture, angel investors, and houseware industry experts, we’ve received different opinions and guidance which has allowed us to chart a growth plan for Material that feels more dimensional and sustainable.
What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?
Public relations and communications. We invested right from the start in a top-notch, start-up-focused PR partner. The way we saw it was we only had one company launch moment, where we could come out and tell the world who we were and what we are about, so we wanted to make that moment count. What we’ve found is that many of those press hits quickly got our name out and generated buzz, but longer-term populated our branded search results and filled the pages with articles. These still pay off for us years later.
What are your top three largest expenses every month?
Payroll, fulfillment, and platform-related costs (e.g. processing fees and hosting). We used to spend a lot more on top-of-the-funnel marketing but have found that our lower-cost acquisition tactics are more effective and produce more loyal, long-term customers.
Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?
Yes. One of our early investors advised us from the start to pay ourselves what we needed to focus on the company, and not how we’d make ends meet. That being said, my co-founder and I believe in hiring the best talent we can so we allocate our funds to the team (meaning we make less than other team members).
Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?
Yes. It’s important to feel compensated for the work being put into the company, regardless of how much that dollar amount actually is.
Photo: Kirsten Francis
How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business?
An angel investor of ours broke this down for me once. He said there are two buckets of hires: superchargers and doers. You need both and you’ll eventually hire for both.
Superchargers are those that you bring in slightly earlier than needed—and might overpay for at the time—but they are meant to exponentially grow your business. They might have done it before elsewhere or they have some experience that will immediately add value.
Then there are the doers, where you hire them when you’re essentially past the breaking point. They help make processes move more efficiently or allow you to go faster, but you can afford to drop some balls here and there and not have it affect the business in a significant way. This ensures you aren’t building up a team too quickly and spending too much before it’s needed.
What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?
Excel. My co-founder and I look at spreadsheets daily as things are shifting quite regularly. We also have an outsourced CFO who we can tap into with more specific questions or analyses, as we’re not quite at the place where we need that skillset full-time.
Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think all business owners need one?
I have different people whose opinions I seek out on various financial matters. I like speaking with other operators and founders about budgets because while investors may have a POV, I want people who are sitting with spreadsheets and making hard decisions on where you can spend your money and where you can’t. For fundraising matters, I like speaking to a number of people—not just one—because there’s more than just one path forward on how you finance your company.
What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?
Inventory can help and hurt you. Too much, and you’re stuck. Too little, and you can’t grow fast enough. We recently invested in an inventory management system to help us work through these growing pains, as we try to be as capital efficient as possible and not have too much tied up and sitting in a warehouse.
Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?
Know your pathway to profitability. There used to be an overabundance of focus on top-line growth, no matter the costs. Nowadays, the focus has shifted towards profitability which is important because it means you have greater control over your financial future if you don’t always have to rely on bringing in funding.
Do you think women should talk about money and business more?
Yes! The number of times I’ve walked into a meeting where a potential investor focuses marketing questions to me and financial questions to my male co-founder have been absurd. The fact that my gender leads one to believe that I may not know much about my company’s financials is an antiquated perspective. ANY business owner should be well-versed in how their company will grow and what it’ll take to do so.
You’re a mom and a co-founder/CEO! How has being a mother changed your priorities and your focus in terms of your career? Do you think motherhood has made you a better business person?
It deepens my reasons for why I do what I do. Having my daughters see that they too can write their own narrative and build something of substantial value is important to me.
What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?
Get comfortable with it and don’t let someone else take the reins because they “know more about finances than you.” Your financial statements are simply a different way of telling your company’s growth story.
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5 Women in Beer Who Are Inspiring Us to Crack Open a Cold One on Instagram
Grab that bottle opener.
Photo: Kampus Production for Pexels
Welcome to 5 for 5, where we spotlight 5 women in 5 minutes or less.
It’s no secret that craft beer has a diversity problem. According to a recent survey conducted by the Brewers Association, only about 7.5% of brewers are women and a staggering 88% of brewery owners are white. Ahead, we’re spotlighting five women in beer who are inspiring us to crack open a cold one on Instagram.
1. Beny Ashburn
As the co-founder of Crowns & Hops Brewing Company, a Black-owned craft beer brand and brewery based in Inglewood, California, Beny Ashburn is out here proving that Black people love beer (which just so happens to be the name of one of the brewery’s signature beers).
2. Jessica Martínez
Shortly after winning the first-ever amateur brewers competition she entered, Jessica Martínez launched her own microbrewery, Malteza Cervecería, in Mexico City. Follow the brewer on Instagram to find out which refreshing craft brews she’s currently sipping on.
3. Hannah Gohde
The head brewer at Naked Brewing, a craft brewery located in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, Hannah Gohde is a self-proclaimed #lipstickbrewer. On Instagram, she shares a behind-the-scenes view of what it’s like to brew beer from start to (sometimes) messy finish.
4. Brienne Allan
In addition to being a production manager at Notch Brewing in Salem, Massachusetts, Brienne Allan is using her platform to call attention to what it’s like to be a woman in craft beer, bringing the #MeToo movement to the craft beer industry. Something that’s, quite frankly, long overdue.
5. Alisa Bowens-Mercado
Noticing a lack of craft lagers on the market, Alisa Bowens-Mercado founded Rhythm Brewing Co., a New Haven, Connecticut-based beer company specializing in unfiltered lagers, which is something of an homage to her grandmothers, who were both beer drinkers.
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When She Was 12, She Started a Cookie Company—Now She’s the Founder of Two Major Organic Food & Bev Businesses
Her appetite for entrepreneurship is insatiable.
You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.
Photo: Courtesy of Nicole Bernard Dawes
It’s safe to say Nicole Bernard Dawes knows a thing or two about the food industry. Raised among the aisles of her mother's natural food store in Chatham, Massachusetts, and on the factory floor of her father’s company, Cape Cod Potato Chips, she was surrounded by CPGs and P&Ls from a young age. And it didn’t take long for her parents’ passion for food and entrepreneurial drive to make an impression on her. When she was twelve, she started a cookie company with her best friend, and although the business was short-lived, lasting just one summer, her appetite for entrepreneurship was not.
In 2003, after a search for organic crackers left Dawes empty-handed, she teamed up with her father to launch Late July, a snack food company to fill the gap in the market for delicious, organic options. Known for its range of delectable crackers, popcorns, and tortilla chips, the brand has quickly grown into a multi-million dollar business with stockists ranging from CVS and Bevmo to Whole Foods. Now, Dawes is applying her business acumen and skill for bringing superior-tasting organic options to market to the beverage industry with Nixie, a certified organic, non-GMO sparkling water brand.
Ahead, the serial entrepreneur tells Create & Cultivate all about how she’s built two successful food and beverage companies, what really it takes to see a business through tough times, and why every entrepreneur should prioritize investing in their team.
How did you make your first dollar and what did that job teach you that still applies today?
When I was twelve my best friend and I started a cookie company. By some miracle, we actually convinced two delis in our small town to sell our homemade chocolate chip cookies all summer long. Twice a week from June to September, we baked our cookies, wrapped them individually, labeled them, and walked to each location dropping them off. We had a blast! In addition to the importance of pricing your product correctly and crafting a good sales pitch, I experienced the joy that comes from loving your job.
Take us back to the beginning—what was the lightbulb moment for Nixie and what inspired you to pursue this path?
With Late July, I was pregnant with my oldest son and couldn’t find an organic saltine anywhere in New York City. I realized that I had discovered an opening into the multi-billion dollar snack market. For Nixie, similarly, I desperately wanted a delicious, refreshing, and certified organic sparkling water to satisfy my family’s significant daily sparkling water habit. I was shocked that none existed that checked all those boxes.
One of the things that drives me the most with both Late July and Nixie, is proving that certified organic products can sell as well as their conventional counterparts. I also love being a business owner because we’re able to make an impact in areas that are important to me personally and also for our planet—for example, I have a goal of helping to eliminate single-use plastic beverage containers and Nixie is committed to never using them.
Entrepreneurship is all about taking calculated risks. What’s the most pivotal financial risk you’ve taken, and how did it change your path?
Deciding to launch Late July’s tortilla chips during the recession of 2009, the same year my father died and our bank used his death to put our multimillion-dollar loan in default, was the biggest risk I’ve taken as an entrepreneur. We essentially pivoted our whole company with a very expensive product launch during the most uncertain time in our company’s history. Those tortilla chips went on to become the number one tortilla chip in natural foods, and changed the whole trajectory for Late July, making us an overnight success, seven years in the making. When we made this pivot our sales were at $8M, afterwards, we quickly grew to $100M.
Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?
Definitely their team. Hiring the right people is expensive and time-consuming, but your team is everything.
What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?
For both Late July and Nixie our first big expense was our initial production run which is very often the case for consumer product companies. Most factories have pretty significant minimum order quantities, which in addition to the cost of producing the finished goods, also means significant upfront costs for raw materials, packaging, and corrugated all before you have any customers. You have to spend the money without any guarantee that you’ll ever make it back. First production runs are expensive and terrifying for a million reasons, but also exciting.
What are your top three largest expenses every month?
Outside of the cost of goods, freight, and promotional expenses, our three biggest monthly spends are on payroll, trade marketing, and sales support (brokers, merchandisers, etc.).
In the beginning, how much did you pay yourself and how did you know what to pay yourself?
I didn’t take a salary for a long time at Late July and when I did it was $60,000 per year. It wasn’t until a board member in my eighth year suggested it was time to stop underpaying myself based on the company’s success that I finally increased it to a market rate. For that, I used comps for my industry as compiled by our payroll provider. I’m not currently taking a salary at Nixie.
Photo: Courtesy of Nixie
Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?
It really depends on the source of your funding and the amount of your ownership. If you are the primary source of funds and own a significant majority of stock, then it doesn’t really make sense to pay yourself until the company is ready. If you are giving up ownership to bring in investors, then you should absolutely budget for your own salary at a market rate.
How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business?
I hired a part-time accounting person almost right away at Late July and budgeted for a full team for Nixie. So much depends on your funding and how fast you intend to grow. One piece of advice I’d suggest—especially if this is your first venture—is to be hyper-aware of what areas are your strengths and which are your weaknesses so you know what roles to hire first and what qualities to look for in any given role.
Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup?
I did have an accountant from the beginning of both companies. He helped me choose the right type of company formation (i.e., LLC vs corporation). For Nixie, we also used an outside accounting person to help our VP of finance with day-to-day accounting in lieu of bringing that function in-house.
What apps or software are you using for finances?
I highly recommend the following financial and software programs that we use at Nixie: Xero for accounting, Bill.com for bill pay, Gusto for HR, Unleashed for purchase orders, Crisp for sales forecasting, and Expensify for expense reports. We also use Office 365 and Microsoft Teams. I love our current software setup. It’s not expensive and allows for easy reporting from anywhere.
Do you think women should talk about money and business more? Why?
Absolutely! If you stop for a minute and realize that until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed in 1974, married women were denied credit cards and loans in their own name. It wasn’t much easier for single women. It takes generations of change to normalize new behavior, and encouraging open communication on the topic of money and business among women is a vital part of that. I have a network of fellow women CEOs who I frequently and openly talk to about issues affecting our businesses. I also love when business magazines, podcasts, and websites utilize women CEOs to answer everyday business questions.
Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one?
Not specifically, but I was raised in a family business and grew up around P&Ls, income statements, and balance sheets. When I started that cookie company at twelve, my father taught me how to calculate our cost of goods and properly price our products. I don’t think having a specific financial mentor was essential for me because of my background and the fact that I was an economics major so I had a high degree of comfort and familiarity with finance, but if finance and accounting are outside of your comfort zone, then yes.
What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?
Deeply understand your cost of goods, P&L, and balance sheet. Never let anyone else tell you the financial state of your company. If there’s something you don’t understand, learn it.
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"Confidence Gets Checks Signed"—Why This Founder Wants You to Have a 3-Year Plan for Your Business
Kin founder Jen Batchelor gets real about raising money, partnering with the right investors, and running a successful business.
You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering. Welcome to Money Matters where we give you an inside look at the pocketbooks of CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on office spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.
Photo: Courtesy of Jen Batchelor
Jen Batchelor knows a thing or two about pitching to investors. Since launching Kin, a beverage company that’s reinventing booze-free imbibing with potent blends of adaptogens, nootropics, and botanicals, the founder has raised over $5 million in funding from venture capital firms, such as Refactor Capital, Canaan (which has also backed startups by the likes of Bird, Cuyana, Instacart, and The RealReal), and Fifty Years. But before she started fundraising, she went the self-funded route—for two crucial reasons.
“I really didn’t want to launch this business—or waste other people’s money trying—until I knew our approach to [producing an alternative to alcohol that preserves the positive effects of having a drink] was something that, one, was a sustainable solution and, two, was something the world actually wanted,” Batchelor tells Create & Cultivate. It’s an approach that involved a longer timeline—and a bit of bootstrapping—but it’s safe to say it paid off in the end. “We gave ourselves 12 months to develop a minimum viable product and beta-taste it to over 3,500 people. It ended up taking nine months to make up our minds and then two seconds for our first investors to say, ‘Yes.’”
Ahead, we chat with Batchelor about how she took her business from a self-funded startup to a venture-capital-backed company, including the money mistakes she’s made along the way and her best advice for founders on partnering with the right investors.
Take us back to the beginning. What was the lightbulb moment for Kin? What inspired you to launch your business and pursue this path?
Well, as there usually are with honest assessments of the self, it took multiple lightbulbs to get me to wake up. In fact, it took about the tenth one to finally push me from fear to faith. Ultimately, I noticed that after college, my friends and I never really slowed down our alcohol consumption, we just bought more expensive booze—which we thought elevated or justified our drinking somehow. As wellness became a bigger part of our collective routines and we all got smarter about our careers and fertility goals, we realized even the most expensive champagne couldn’t save us from the precious time (and collagen) alcohol was robbing us of every week, no matter how much OJ was in it! When I started going through the scientific research and assessing all the things I was potentially compromising in my life even with just a few drinks a week, the most surprising of them all was my cognitive ability. My brain was my instrument and my time was a currency in the age of freelancing and entrepreneurship, so it finally got to the point where I had to admit that the costs of my social habits were too great a debt to bear while going after my dream goals.
You self-funded Kin for the first year, but you've since brought on investors such as Refactor Capital, Canaan, and Fifty Years. Why did you pursue a self-funded strategy initially, and why have you sought out investors over time? Would you recommend that route to new entrepreneurs today?
I really didn’t want to launch this business—or waste other people’s money trying—until I knew our approach to solving the problem itself was something that 1) was a sustainable solution (it worked and would continue to work in the future) and 2) was something the world actually wanted. We gave ourselves 12 months to develop a minimum viable product and beta-taste it to 3500+ people. It ended up taking nine months to make up our minds and then two seconds for our first investors to say, “Yes.” We knew they were the right folks because they were focused on the future of food and understood we were in this to truly disrupt the 10,000-year-old (read: dated) tradition of drinking ethanol for funsies. The same way they knew the meat industry was unstainable for the planet, they knew ethanol was unsustainable for the people. It was an instant match.
What advice can you share for entrepreneurs on partnering with the right investors? What do investors need to bring to the table other than just money?
This is an important question so I’ll try to do it more than lip service. You really need to know your business and what it needs to be successful in this immediate stage in order to pick great investors for a particular round of financing. It’s like putting a fantasy football team or a great outfit together. You wouldn’t pick your favorite bikini, pair it with your favorite gown and your favorite sneakers and call that date night chic. Start with the intention, know the audience you are trying to serve (a.k.a your best customer now, that may change down the line so spend time doing the research), and then go after investors that can help you reach that customer, help you land that next critical hire, help you troubleshoot potential challenges for the relevant season in your business journey, etc, etc. With all the capital available in the world right now, this is much easier to do than it sounds. Be choosy! The best investors will get the mission and be ready to pull up their sleeves to hustle right alongside you when you really need the support. Whenever possible, bring on a couple of investors that have been owner/operators in companies with growth trajectories and exits you’d like to follow or who have built cultures you admire.
Since launching Kin in 2018, you’ve raised over $5 million in funding from venture capital firms—no doubt you’ve learned a lot along the way. What are three crucial elements everyone should include in a pitch deck when raising money and why?
Your pitch deck will evolve for every season of fundraising you enter. At the onset, it’s important to remember that everyone has an idea worth funding. The question is why are you and this idea a match? What is it that makes you uniquely suited to reach a certain audience? I’ll tell you from experience, it’s not enough to just be “the first” to market. Though it can help with angel funding to be a first-mover, it won’t always get the bigger deals done. You must have a unique strength and competency and a strategy for growth. Secondly, you’ll need a three-year plan to woo the best investors—they need to see a path to profitability even if a lot of it is based on hypotheticals. Third, show any evidence of traction and do it well. Again, social proof around an MVP is going to drive the kind of confidence in you as THE person to lead this concept to success. Confidence gets checks signed. Know your shit.
Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy and why?
If I had two dollars, I would spend it on people and customers every time. $1 on my team and $1 learning what makes my guest (customer) tick.
Photo: Courtesy of Kin
What was your first big expense as a business owner and how should small business owners prepare for that now?
People was the first big expense—and still is. Get smart about your org strategy and the incentives you’re going to need to get the right people in the right seats early. Think about things like benefits and stock options before you hire your founding team. Get that squared away and you won’t need to revisit this in year two when you should be focused on scaling. Katrina Lake from StitchFix has a great blueprint for this in terms of hiring your A-team early.
What are your top three largest expenses every month?
People, shipping, and people.
Do you pay yourself, and if so, how did you know what to pay yourself?
Yes. I came into this with a co-founder so we just took the typical founder salary of one founder/CEO and divvied it up based on responsibilities. This didn’t happen till we raised some money, though—before then, the goal was to get to “ramen money”—and now I have a board so it’s evolved into a collaborative effort of incentive setting based on growth and OPEX management goals.
Would you recommend other small business owners pay themselves?
This is a highly individual question based on what gets you up in the morning and what you need to stay creative. If you’re bootstrapping to get your dream off the ground, stay as lean as possible for as long as possible. Stay hungry. Once you have investors though, you start to realize you work for them as much as you work for yourself, so get yourself paid and live in a way that supports your best sleep. No investor wants to see a founder they believe in stressed AF about how they’re going to pay their electricity bill while trying to change the world.
Did you hire an accountant? Who helped you with the financial decisions and setup?
Yes, I had an accounting service from day one and now have an accounting team supporting my head of finance.
What apps or software are you using for finances? What’s worked for you?
Brex is pretty sweet for managing expenses and empowering departments to do what they need to do.
What are some of the tools you use to stay on top of your business financials? What do you recommend for small business owners on a budget?
We run a pretty classic system at Kin. Excel, QuickBooks, and Gusto get us where we need to be on budget management, AP, and people expenses. It also forces upon us a checks-and-balances system that keeps us on our A-game. That said, as a mostly e-comm-driven company that handles the production complexities of our own manufacturing, a stellar inventory management system is also non-negotiable. We just onboarded to Cin7 which is supposed to make this process more centralized and automated but I’ll have to keep you posted on that one as it is still new for us!
How did you know you were ready to hire and what advice can you share on preparing for this stage of your business?
We only hired after we raised money. At that point, the plan was set and we knew we had to get troops in the air and on the ground building and spreading the gospel of Kin as soon as possible. Luckily, the first wave of folks were friends, smart ones, many of whom are still with me today so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to bring them on board, having all the faith and confidence that we could get to where we needed to go collectively. The bigger leap of faith was on them—why should they follow me when they could be working anywhere in the world? Eternally grateful to each of them for leading with faith and jumping in with excitement. The world would be a much boozier, less blissful place without them.
The key with hiring was securing the folks I wanted to work on Kin versus the ones I thought should be working on Kin. Such a subtle difference but the latter hiring decisions, I have found, to be subliminally based on fear. “I should bring on this expert from this big brand because that’s probably smart to do no matter how much they cost” versus “I’m dying to get this person on my team, maybe I can’t put a finger on why but I know their background, talent, core values, and gusto around the mission will yield more than their title suggests.” In short, do your diligence but follow your intuition in the end. Then lead them.
Do you think women should talk about money and business more?
Definitely. Guys talk about this stuff all the time, it’s like a sport. Because of that, they win at it, a lot. I think building your financial acumen is a great way to eliminate black box challenges and be truly fearless in steering your business.
Do you have a financial mentor? Do you think business owners need one?
I have a CEO coach and a management mentor. The latter is someone who has built (and scaled) a culture I admire. Both impact how I think about financial priorities, but I would say the most influential people in my sphere impacting Kin’s financial destiny on the regular is my head of finance and my lead investor. I rely on one to read between the line items of today—how are we trending day-to-day, week-to-week, what can we cut, where can we more efficient? And the other to help me think about structuring the business for the next level of growth.
What money mistakes have you made and learned from along the way?
Most all of my money mistakes have been people-based. This is why “hire slow, fire fast” is one of the most prolific adages of modern entrepreneurship. One dollar in the wrong pocket is not only painful for the bottom line but costly to team morale and productivity. It’s not just exposure in terms of salary, having the wrong person in the wrong seat affects the output of the entire business, especially during earlier stages.
What is your best piece of financial advice for new entrepreneurs?
I’m a big believer in raising a hair less than you think you need. Just because someone is willing to sign over a check for $10 million, if you only need $3, take $2.5 million. Trust me, it will make you a stronger, more creative leader and you’ll leave yourself less exposed to micromanaging or dilution of vision (not to mention, equity!). Otherwise, don’t waste money on consultants and expensive research firms unless the output is a direct input or prerequisite for the product you are building. Even then I would wait. You are the magic sauce, you don’t need to spend $100K for someone to tell you that you know your brand better than anyone. To whit, whatever freelancers you do end up hiring watch for the ye olde SCOPE CREEP! It can eat any small business alive, so please iron out your contracts in advance.
Anything else to add?
Don’t forget that money is purely an exchange of energy. You don’t want to fear it lest it dominate you just as you don’t want to squander it lest it rob you of opportunities. Get cozy with your relationship to money as a whole (what are your limiting beliefs around money? what are your traumas? insecurities? identify black box knowledge areas) so you can work with it in your business life in a fluid and empowering way. Protect your energy but don’t let money rule every decision. You got this.
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Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Natasha Phan
PHAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC.
PHAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC.
Whomever said “No Guts, No Glory” must have heard Natasha Phan’s story.
As the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants who owned and operated an Echo Park supermarket, Phan is no stranger to the LA food biz. After graduating from UCLA and accepting a digital advertising position with Martha Stewart, Phan seized an opportunity to pursue her true passion. During a panel discussion with culinary mogul Roy Choi, Phan went out on a limb and asked her future-boss for employment. Despite initial rejection, Choi ultimately accepted. Now the Director of Business Development for Choi’s Kogi Group, Phan is shaping the future of Korean-American food.
More from Natasha below.
Name: Natasha Phan
Instagram Handle: @natasha_phan
Business Instagram Handle: @eatatpot @kogibbq
Where do your drive and passion come from?
My parents. They came to America at the end of the Vietnam War with very little and figured things out pretty quickly. For over 30 years, they independently owned and operated an Echo Park supermarket that brought immigrant families together. My career is an extension of their story.
Your journey begins with a 'no.' You in person cold-pitched Roy Choi. And he said no. What did that moment feel like?
Total rejection and confusion. I believed there was a spiritual force that led me to meeting Roy, so I trusted my gut and put myself out there. The last thing I expected was to be told “no.” It didn’t make sense because everything felt so intentional.
And what did it feel like when he emailed you later that evening?
Pure joy and relief. My instincts were right! I was supposed to meet him and I was supposed to introduce myself! I remember feeling anxious because I knew that my life was going to change very quickly.
What did that teach you about being persistent in biz?
It taught me the importance of checking in with your gut. As business owners, we often let facts, data, and others guide our decision-making. But I’ve learned it’s crucial to take a pause, or two or three, and give time for your brain to align with your instincts.
"It’s crucial to take a pause, or two or three, and give time for your brain to align with your instincts."
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What did working with Roy teach you? And how did you take those lessons and turn them into Commissary?
Working with Roy has taught me to never get too comfortable. If you start feeling like everything’s at ease then there’s likely something wrong or something you’re not paying attention to. In the last 10 years, I’ve been trained to look deeper and deeper, corner to corner, and more often than not, I’ve found something else to make better.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
Many people don’t know that I’m heavily involved in the creative development of all our businesses. I work closely with Roy on ideation as well as vet and guide all the designers, photographers, and artists we collaborate with.
IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated with other people's work?
I stay original by engaging in a world that’s not curated by a set of algorithms. I actively seek out tastes and ideas that aren’t easily acquired or accepted by the mainstream and pop culture.
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
What makes me feel the most complete is that there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing than feeding people. It’s more than a career, it’s my life’s purpose. I know this is my calling.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
Oprah is my ultimate inspiration. She is beyond the beyond.
"Oprah is my ultimate inspiration. She is beyond the beyond."
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At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
When I left my job at Martha Stewart to work for a taco truck.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
I talk it through with my advisory council – my best friends, mentors, and therapist.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
"Dancing on My Own" by Robyn.
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Candace Nelson
THE INNOVATOR.
THE INNOVATOR.
Candace Nelson has figured out the recipe for success.
It's pizza, cupcakes, and a cupcake ATM. The founder and pastry chef of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the world's first cupcake bakery, legit started a cupcake craze in 2005. Barbra Streisand sent Sprinkles to Oprah. Jimmy Kimmel saw the cupcakes on Oprah's show, and stood in line for 45 minutes to buy $80 worth of them. In 2012, a pregnancy craving inspired the company’s first cupcake ATM in Beverly Hills. It was 24-hour access to freshly baked red velvet.
But with over 20 Sprinkles locations under her chef's apron, Candace decided to test her hand at another comfort carb: pizza. She's a woman after our own hearts.
Pizzana launched in L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood, with Daniele Uditi as chef and Candace as executive pastry chef, and once again, people lined up. People, including L.A.'s most notable food critic Jonathan Gold, who willingly waited in line for hours. In June 2017, the critic bylined the article, "Jonathan Gold willingly waits in line for hours at Pizzana, where Neapolitan pizza goes L.A." Enough written.
Her successes are many, her recipes superb. Though we have to wonder how does she find time to do it all? We really can't tell-- though it may have something to do with the fact that she doesn't have to wait in line for her own food.
More from Candace below.
Name: Candace Nelson
Instagram Handle: @candacenelson
Business Instagram Handle: @pizzana_la
In 2005 you created a cupcake craze. It's been over ten years of lines out the door now. What do you think is your secret sauce for success?
Innovation! We innovated 13 years ago by creating the world’s first cupcake bakery, and by elevating the cupcake itself. And we have continued to delight, surprise and innovate along the way with Sprinkles ice cream, the Cupcake ATM, whisper word programs and more.
And yet, Sprinkles came about after you lost your job. Where do your drive and passion come from?
Well, I’m a Taurus, so I’m very stubborn and determined. But really, I think challenges are often opportunities in disguise. I would never have quit my high paying job to attend pastry school, but when the bottom dropped out of the internet world in 2000, I was forced to consider what I really wanted to do with my life.
What does it mean to be a "cupcake expert?"
I think experience and training is the key to creating an expert in any field. Between the 13 years of founding and running Sprinkles and the 100+ episodes of judging Cupcake Wars on Food Network, I have quite a bit of both. I also have a new dessert competition show coming out on Netflix this year. Yes, more “expertise!"
Is there a specific smell from your childhood that brings up a great memory for you?
The smell of Toll House chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven!
What's something about the pastry biz that surprised you? And you think most other people would be surprised by.
When my husband and I were first starting Sprinkles, we went to a bakery convention in Las Vegas. As we were new to the industry, we figured it was a great place to learn a lot about the services and products available to us — all in one place. We were dismayed to learn that most of the companies there were focused on chemical additives to help extend the shelf life of baked goods. Everyone thought our plan of baking our cupcakes fresh from scratch every day was bound to fail.
Everyone thought our plan of baking our cupcakes fresh from scratch every day was bound to fail.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
I love problem-solvers so it irks me when someone can only see the obstacles in getting something done.
What's something you'd like people to know about your work that they probably don’t?
I am the executive pastry chef at Pizzana, a neo-neapolitan pizzeria in Brentwood. If you haven’t tried the desserts there, please do! Sometimes people fill up so much on our incredible pizza that it’s hard to save room!
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
I love the fact that I do something that my children can understand and even participate in. They are constantly offering ideas for new cupcake flavors and desserts at Pizzana. It’s a true family business!
I do something that my children can understand and even participate in.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
A contemporary art advisor. To travel the world looking at and advising on contemporary art, connecting with artists and collectors would be fascinating and exciting.
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
That is a generous assessment, however, I consider my career to be a journey with room for growth and learning every step of the way.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
My friend Reese Witherspoon says that women should embrace ambition and stop shying away from that word. She has inspired me to acknowledge my own ambition and to encourage other women in my life to do the same.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
I think self-compassion is key to any bump in the road. It’s hard to fail, but important to honor the fact that you didn’t take the easy or expected path.
"It’s hard to fail, but important to honor the fact that you didn’t take the easy or expected path."
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What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
"Free Falling" by Tom Petty.
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Yola Mezcal
THEY BOTTLED MAGIC.
THEY BOTTLED MAGIC.
Forget yolo, this year it's all about Yola.
Lykke Li, Yola Jimenez and Gina Correll makeup the co-founders of Yola Mezcal, the Oaxaca-based brand that is creating opportunity for economic independence in San Juan del Rio.
It is handcrafted, distilled on the namesake farm, bottled BY WOMEN (HELL YES!), with a recipe passed down from Yola's grandfather. In 1971, Luis Jimenez purchased a mezcal farm in San Juan del Rio, Oaxaca. At present, the trio honor his OG recipe and preserve the 300-year-old method of traditional mezcal making. They're also committed to making their process more sustainable.
They're keeping it family and they're keeping it real. However they are breaking from tradition in one major way. Yola's bottling facility in Oaxaca employs only women and they pay their workers a living wage.
We'll cheers to that.
Drink up more of Yola's goodness below.
Names: Yola Jimenez, Lykke Li, Gina Correll Aglietti
Instagram Handle: @lykkeli @ginacorrell
Business Instagram Handle: @yolamezcal
How did the three of you meet?
Lykke: I met Gina under the stars in the Hollywood Hills and Yola at a house party in Mexico City.
Yola: I met both of them in Mexico City over the past decade. We drank mezcal in both occasions and became instant friends and from those nights two of the must important and rewarding friendships of my life began.
Gina: I met Yola ten years ago when she was opening La Clandestina, her bar, in MX City. I met Lykke ten years ago when she was playing one of her first shows in Los Angeles. They met subsequently and coincidentally in Mexico City and the three of us have been friends ever since.
At what point did you know, let's launch a biz! And let's do it together?
Lykke: Gina and I lived together in Laurel Canyon and Yola would come stay with us-- we became quite excellent at throwing a party in between my DJing, Gina's cooking, and Yola's mezcal. One day thought, this is exactly it, let's bottle this, name it Yola and bring the best atmosphere possible and most importantly surround ourselves with like-minded women. We, of course, have grown out of that simple state of mind and are now mostly interested in creating opportunities for women in Oaxaca while preserving a completely artisanal mezcal.
Yola: We began by having dinners at the house that Gina and Lykke shared in LA.
I would bring mezcal from Mexico, Gina would cook and Lykke would play music. They were magical nights that we wanted never to end. We all loved mezcal and were committed to keeping the traditional methods of production intact. On one of these magical nights it hit us that we should create Yola mezcal which would encapsulate these ideas as well as the feminist ethical practices that have been lacking for so long in the alcohol business.
"Feminist ethical practices have been lacking for so long in the alcohol business."
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Gina: In the beginning of our friendship, Yola would come stay with Lykke and I in LA. The three of us would spend a lot of time together drinking Mezcal, throwing dinner parties, and sharing ideas about what it meant to be modern women. We realized there was an undeniable synergy between us, we had an amazing product at our fingertips, and a common vision and voice.
Yola, your grandfather's passion was mezcal. At what point did you realize it is also yours?
Yola: When I inherited the farm and begun to understand the amount of work, talent and sophistication it took to make and how it was a beautiful tradition we had in Mexico that needed showcasing.
Where do your (respective) drive and passion come from?
Lykke: Whatever makes me feel alive; whether it's music, food, travels-- and of course the sweet burn of Yola.
Yola: The women that work on our farm.
Gina: I grew up on a farm in Ojai, which sparked my passion for food and sustainable farming practices. My father was a music producer. So, I was constantly surrounded by great food and music... both are now the cornerstone of my career.
What are your (respective) biggest pet peeves?
Lykke: Gold!
Yola: Unkindness
Gina: Excessive use of plastic and wasted produce.
What are your biggest fears about running a business together?
Lykke: That it can take away from our friendship, but at the same time there is no one else I rather have by my side then these two badasses.
"There is no one else I rather have by my side then these two badasses."
Yola: That we could ever disappoint the women that work for us.
Gina: The biggest have been overcome.
How can we stay original when we are so saturated by other people's work?
Lykke: Don't even look to what other people are doing but simply follow your own inspiration.
Yola: By not measuring our achievements by the ones of others.
Gina: Every time it feels like we're becoming apathetic or there's too much noise, the three of us regroup and usually find sincere inspiration.
What about your careers make you feel the most complete?
Lykke: To see the community of women we've built around us, all so strong, complex and unique.
Yola: When we hire more women on the company.
Gina: A sense that the product we're putting out into the world is something I believe is bringing people joy, while maintaining integrity. As well: employing women that I find talented and complex and giving them an opportunity to explore and grow within the company.
If you (respectively) had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
Lykke: I could spend all day at flea markets bargaining.
Yola: Siri Hustvedt because she reads about everything.
Gina: I don't want to trade!
You all come from very different backgrounds. At what point in your careers did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the women you are today?
Lykke: I try to find it everyday, it's a process, you do things because you simply cannot not do them and then try to gather some strength and acceptance along the way.
Yola: I could do that early on in my life because I've had the luck to be born in a place with choices and access to education which unfortunately is rare for women in my country.
Gina: 1. I read an article when I was young where a girl I looked up to said: 'life is short, work with your friends". 2. In my early thirties I experienced a lot of personal loss, and I realized I need to do something meaningful with the time I have here.
What's the best advice you've each ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
Lykke: To be an artist is to always be dissatisfied
Yola: Don't take anything for granted and be graceful.
Gina: Lykke told me early on in our friendship - "if you don't know exactly what you want how are you gonna get it"
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
Lykke: A shaman in Mexico told me; just redesign, redesign!
Yola: A detour almost always, I was told many times that the things that I wanted would never happen, like working in the alcohol business being a women, even it has been complicated many times I was never deter.
Gina: Make sure you have a get away car.
What song do you each sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
Lykke: "Passion Fruit" by Drake
Yola: "La Maza" by Mercedes Sosa
Gina: "What's Love Got to do With It" by Tina Turner.
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Taste of Pace
TRY AND KEEP UP.
TRY AND KEEP UP.
Pace Webb is cooking with gas.
Drawing on her experiences in the L.A. food industry and world travel, Pace runs one of the most sought-after catering companies in Los Angeles.
Her motto, “Love people and cook them tasty food,” has proven to be a winning combo, with a focus on farmers' market-fresh produce and creative use of ethically sourced proteins. It doesn't hurt that she delivers a knock-out presentation. Her dishes end up as food fodder of guests.
Nothing is going to slow her down.
Find out more about the biz owner below.
Name: Pace Webb
Instagram Handle: @tasteofpace
Where do your drive and passion come from?
My parents are both artists, so I'm guessing growing up with artistic inspiration and freedom plays a huge part in that. My drive is very competitive, and we can't quite figure out where that came from. That's just as an individual separate from any other outside influence, I suppose.
You are a chef and lifestyle expert. Do you think that women who want to succeed have to have their hand in more than one cookie jar?
I have a Salted Cooking Kit in over 600 grocery stores nationwide (warm quinoa salad for two like Blue Apron but w/o the subscription or excessive packaging). I'm launching a chef-driven fast-casual concept (follow us at @daddyschickenshack), which is completely different from my current brand, Taste of Pace. And I have another mass distribution recipe deal in the works. And the most fun I have is the few times a year I get tapped to create online content for major brands!
I absolutely 1000% believe that anyone should have multiple streams of revenue so that you're always secure when one may temporarily be under-performing. The dream is free, the hustle is sold separately.
"The dream is free, the hustle is sold separately."
Why did you choose to run a catering company instead of opening a restaurant?
It's somewhat easier to start a catering company and it's not something I just woke up and decided to do one day, it just happened organically, like most good things that are meant to be. There is so much change in the economics of the restaurant industry that I would not open a new dining establishment at this point, but I would absolutely open a fast-casual concept. I could write a lengthy dissertation on this topic!
What's been the hardest learning curve to lean into as you grow?
To separate emotion from business. Since I'm an artist and so tightly tied to my craft it's been challenging to separate business performance from my value as an artist. For example, when business is going really well, I feel validated and the opposite when it's challenging.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Disorganization at work. I literally have it tattooed on my are "Mise En Place" is a French kitchen term that means "put in place". It's a concept that chefs obsess over and it applies to all areas of life as well. (I like to be more carefree in my personal life.)
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
That one day is just won't work anymore. It's a really odd fear, but I think it's not uncommon. I talk to plenty of high-level execs who have been in their respective industries forever and still feel like a fraud at times, like "they're gonna nd me out!" But most of the time I feel like we are crushing it and making awesome stuff happen.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
Cooking is made to look so glamorous and it is so far from that! The finished product is gorgeous, but the work that goes into it is not so.
IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated with other people's work?
Boy, that is a tough one for any artist who is engaged in commerce. It's easy to jump on a bandwagon of what someone else is doing that is working or a new trend that is popular, but if it isn't a truly authentic creation from the source, it won't be a lasting success. Sometimes I get inspiration from IG and other times it's too "noisy" for my creativity. The best way to stay original for me is to get back to the basics of cooking. It may be a common menu we've always done, but there can always be new innovation that comes from a tiny bit of something leftover that we want to use in a dish so as not to waste if that can become a new signature dish (this happens often) or if an ingredient isn't available you have to think fast and use something else and it evolves the creation. There is something really powerful about the action of simply doing something to help with creativity. I also really enjoy (most of the time) the wacky requests we get- my favorites have been for an "all purple" menu for Sephora and for creating shapes of the Italian furniture designer, Gufram, like cacti and lip-shaped pasta. I like to push the limits of my comfort zone so that I am rewarded by deepening my craft. It is greatly satisfying! I am also a fan of "creative cross-training". This means to engage in other creative activities that are not your main medium. For me, this is dancing, painting, photography, seeing visual art and plays. The idea is that the other art forms will inspire your medium.
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
The fact that I choose my career every day and that I'm passionate about it. Not many people can say that and I've sacrificed some things for that, but it doesn't actually feel like work most of the time.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
You know that saying, the grass is always greener? Well, I still believe that to be true and I'm pretty good about leading the life I want to lead and re-directing when it isn't going that way. But damn, @gypsea_lust (IG) sure does look good!
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
I don't think there was an actual point. I was always outspoken and bossy. A woman with a plan! (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
Productivity equals morale. When you are at your lowest and things are really hard, just keep doing something. Anything. Don't just stop and lay around no matter how much you want to. Keep people close to you who will hold you to this.
Don't just stop and lay around no matter how much you want to. Keep people close to you who will hold you to this.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
Well, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results, so when I hit a bump in a road, I go OK, what are we going to do that is different this time? And you just keep trying different things until you don't hit that bump anymore.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
Well, truth be told one of my life hacks is a salt bath every night, so I'm not a shower person. I'm a sing in the car person! It's probably something very soulful and disco like "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer. That era is my jam.
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Maryellis Bunn
The Wunderkind.
THE WUNDERKIND.
OK. It's a little tongue-in-cheek to put the 25-year-old founder of the Museum of Ice Cream Maryellis Bunn on the C&C 100 Food list, but the MOIC is a little cheeky with a cherry on top.
In the most brilliant ways. (As is everything having to do with ice cream.)
The mastermind behind the viral with a cherry on top Museum of Ice Cream, said people thought she was banana splits when she first came up with the idea. Then she launched the first MOIC space in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district with biz partner Manish Vora. 30,000 tickets, then priced between $12-$18, sold out in less than a week. Everyone was sweet on the idea.
People, including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Blue, all went wild for the second MOIC location in Downtown Los Angeles. The sprinkle pool was everywhere on IG. Inherently understanding the importance of online shareability (people crave content) and offline experience, the interactive confectionary-filled “museum” served up a saccharine escape that the public desperately wanted. NYMag called her The Millennial Walt Disney. Far cry from crazy.
So yeah, she gets Instagram, but what Maryellis also understands is supply and demand. She opened the brand’s third location in San Francisco, housed in a landmarked 1910 former bank building in the middle of Market Street. But as SF opened, the LA location announced its really, truly, no more extensions, final date as Sunday, Dec. 17.
If you shut it down, people will only want more. Kind of like when your mom told you no more cookies. If you give a millennial an ice cream museum… they’ll definitely want a cone.
Read more of Maryellis’ confectionary journey below.
Where do your drive and passion come from?
My drive and passion come from the desire to create places where people feel they have the tools to explore their own imagination and live a more fruitful life.
What has been your biggest lesson learned with Museum of Ice Cream?
Museum of Ice Cream provides daily lessons that anything is possible.
When you run into a career obstacle, what drives you forward?
I believe that every obstacle is a disguised opportunity. When I started this journey, vulnerability was the key to the process and has remained so. The more I put my work out there the better it becomes. Fear is not my friend.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Excuses. They don’t exist within our company culture. Commandment number one of Museum of Ice Cream is “Anything is possible.” When you build a company that turns “what if’s...” into realities it shifts thinking. This is why I love what we do.
Who or what are you most inspired by?
The Museum of Ice Cream community, from our contractors and visitors to #TEAMMOIC they inspire me to continue to create spaces and experiences!
When you first approached someone and told them about your idea— did they think, that’s kind of crazy, but it might work?
No, everyone thought it was nuts. They didn’t understand the mission or the concept.
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
Not having enough time to seek out my visions. I want to build a city, I spend more and more time on the frameworks that can live on.
"Everyone thought it was nuts. They didn’t understand the mission or the concept."
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If you had to build an apocalypse team of 5, who would be on it and why?
My core team is 4, they would remain as is. What we lack in experience we make up in imagination! Time and time again, we defy what is said to be impossible due to our desire and ability to get things done. The fifth would be a role I am currently looking to fill, lead experience architect/designer, if I had it my way I would hire a kid, they have the ripest of ideas and designs. If you think like a child and want to create experiences around the world check our job listings!
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
I run the business and all creative aspects of the brand. There is no corporation or investors behind Museum of Ice Cream, we are fully self-funded. For our V1 in NYC my core team and I worked the floor and managed every day. We painted the walls and cleaned all floors. On the design I direct everything from the trash can design and each installation to the items we manufacture for sale. In turn, I also create the structures and systems our business runs on. While leading our teams and oversee all operations. As we grow I am excited to share these responsibilities, one thing, however, will always remain, creative first then business. We have our own metrics to measure success, which allows us to always put the experience first.
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
#TEAMMOIC, I could have never fathomed the family that we continue to build each day.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
I’m living my dream! I have big dreams and know that this step is one of many I need to take to achieve them. The process and journey are how I evolve.
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
Still working on it.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
That the first step is vulnerability.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
I take a bath and turn the lights off!
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Emma Toshack
MAKES HER OWN RULES.
MAKES HER OWN RULES.
Emma Toshack put wine in a can.
But don't expect her to try and use a canned idea. The Aussie-entrepreneur is going her own way, which, not surprisingly is one of the songs she sings in the shower after a bad day.
But she's not one to let life get her down.
If there’s one thing that motivates law school dropout and former chef Emma Toshack, it’s that life is too short not to say yes. The Harvard MBA and Snapchat grad is the founder of free-spirited, art-based Nomadica Wines. Rooted in creativity and with a penchant for rule-breaking, Nomadica combats wine industry pretension by partnering with friends on beautiful, limited edition cans. If high-quality wine in low-brow packaging seems like an unlikely pairing, that’s exactly the intention. In the words of Nomadica’s multi-hyphenate founder, “Contradictions are what’s interesting.”
More from Emma below.
Name: Emma Toshack
Instagram Handle: @emtoshack
Business Instagram Handle: @nomadica
Where do your drive and passion come from?
The realization that life is so short. Two important people in my life died when I was 25. My girlfriend to suicide and my best guy friend in a road accident. My mom just wrapped up a four year battle with breast cancer. Life is too precious to not do something that fills you with excitement and energy every day.
The spirit of Nomadica really mirrors your career path. "It's unpretentious. It's unconstrained. It's fun." It's not afraid to leave Snapchat behind... Can you chat us through what was going through your head when it was time to launch on your own?
“It’s time.” Snapchat was a fascinating place to be at a moment of cultural zeitgeist, but it will always be Evan’s baby. I had a vision of a brand I wanted to create. I’ve always been a study in contradictions - law school, chef, MBA, dressage trainer, ripped jeans, vintage Chanel jacket. I think most people are. I wanted to create a brand that didn’t just embrace those contradictions but had them at its core. The contradictions are what’s interesting.
With an MBA from Harvard, why was wine the direction you decided to go?
Ha, that’s a great question. I joke I went to Harvard Business School and then became a parttime warehouse worker, part-time delivery driver. I knew there was an opportunity to shake up the wine industry. It’s so traditional, stuffy, sometimes pretentious. There are ‘relaxed’ wine brands, but they are mostly low quality. There are some super cool small producers doing great work and pushing the boundaries but they typically have a smaller reach and less scale. I wanted to take what’s best about small production, celebrate those winemakers, and build a brand that could take that renegade winemaking philosophy and make it global.
Do you think business is more about the numbers or going with your gut?
Both! It’s a delicate balance, especially when you’re trying to create something that breaks the rules and is fundamentally creative rather than utilitarian. In a world free of constraints, I’d release only limited edition wines, each with different art on the labels. But to work with the large retail stores and get our wines into more people’s hands, we have to have a more consistent product range. So the compromise is we might make 100 cases of the limited edition wine, but keep our four core SKUs consistent as the backbone of the business.I think of business strategy as creating an ecosystem so the numbers and gut must work in synch with each other. But that doesn’t mean they always agree, ha.
It's strange because you can really get a wine at any price point. But the wine world remains a little snobby sometimes. Was there resistance from friends, fam, other biz people to putting wine in a can?
TOTALLY! People initially had a strong knee-jerk reaction but as soon as people saw and held the cans, they got it. When they taste the wine for the first time they are surprised and delighted. Funnily enough, it was most often the established, well-respected professionals and sommeliers who thought it was an awesome idea.
Why was art an important part of the concept?
I think the world would be soooo boring without art. The brand is all about creativity and breaking the rules and going your own way, and artists embody that so it just made sense that every can would be a work of art. So we’re taking art off the walls and putting it into people’s hands.
"We’re taking art off the walls and putting it into people’s hands."
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What is your biggest pet peeve?
Honestly, not a lot annoys me. Maybe little things from when I was a chef - people salting food before they taste it. People using a cutting board without a wet towel underneath? Not big things! When you’re running a company you don’t have the time or mental capacity to have pet peeves and sweat the small stuff, you just x it out and move on.
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
Getting the timing right. So much of starting up is moving at the right speed and accelerating at the right time. But “fear” is a big word. I don’t really have any fears. I just make the best decisions I can with the information I have available and keep moving on.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
It’s chaos.
IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated with other people's work?
I say embrace the saturation. There are 6 billion people on the planet. Nothing one person does is ever truly ‘original.’ Humans creating new cool things by remixing or building on things that have gone before them. So absorb everything that’s out there, combine them in new ways, build on them, experiment, play, collaborate, break the rules, and you’ll come up with something that feels fresh and new and exciting, and that’s what people mean when they say ‘original.'
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
That I’ve lived my actual life the way I’d have lived a video game version of it! I haven’t played it safe, I’ve gone on big crazy adventures.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
I’ve had so many jobs. If I could I’d do 52 jobs - one a week - for a whole year and then write a book about it. People live such wildly different lives and we all mostly live in our little bubbles - and that’s not a bad thing, it’s largely necessity, but I’d get out of it and live in other people’s shoes for a year if I could.
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
I think it was more a point in my life than my career. When I woke up on my 30th birthday I thought “I can do whatever the F I want”. It was liberating. The second inflection point was when I went out on my own to run my company. When there’s nowhere to hide and everything is riding on you to step into it. It’s very empowering.
When I woke up on my 30th birthday I thought “I can do whatever the F I want.” It was liberating.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
Be yourself. Wear what you want. Speak your mind. Don’t try to be what you think people want you to be. Don’t try to impress people. Just be you. It’s so liberating, so much easier to just be yourself. And people like you better!.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
Just look around. There’s always a window if the door is closed. And if there isn’t, it’s ok to just sit in the room and work on what’s right there. Or bash down the wall. It depends on the situation and you have to trust your gut. Sometimes brute force is the answer, sometimes not. So if you hit a bump in the road, just keep going. If you find as much joy in the journey as the destination you’ll be much happier.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
"Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac. Or the guitar riff from "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin or "All Right Now" by Free, which is my mom’s favorite song. I have the musical tastes of a 60-year-old but I’m totally OK with that.
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Kismet
THE COSMIC CHEFS.
THE COSMIC CHEFS.
Their meeting may have been fated, but don't refer to their food as feminine.
Recently named purveyor of LA’s most essential dish, Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson’s Kismet is reimagining traditional Mediterranean flavors with its signature jeweled crispy rice served golden brown with a gooey yolk. But it wasn’t always a family affair for the co-owners of the family-style establishment. The co-workers turned competitors turned collaborators first met back in Brooklyn before moving to Los Angeles to upend its burgeoning restaurant scene. On a mission to create a dining experience that’s as sustainable as it is delicious, what the Sara(h)s have whipped up is nothing short of...fate.
More from both women below.
Names: Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson
Instagram Handles: @misssarakramer @shymanson
Business Instagram Handle: @kismetlosangeles
Where do your drive and passion come from?
Drive and passion seem like pretty inherent qualities for both us, lucky for us. But being responsible business owners motivates us on a daily basis. We always strive to create sustainable workplaces for ourselves and our employees.
Sara, you were the star of Mamma Mia at 17. After two years you realized it wasn't the road for you. What do you have to say to our audience about switching careers?
I had worked my whole young life to be a performer, and when I left the industry, I was still so young. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but something essential was missing for me. Looking back, I think that it was hard to feel as if I had control over my own career trajectory. I think if I'd stuck it out, I would have eventually felt differently, but as much as I loved performing, I'm glad that I've taken a path where I can create in multiple ways - not just menus and flavors, but also spaces and jobs for other people.
It was not love at first business sight for you both. At what point did you know you could work well as business partners?
Our initial meeting was in circumstances that didn't present partnership as an option, or even a thought. But as soon as we did start working together, at first not as partners, it became very clear that there was undeniable potential there.
What about your personalities works really well together?
We're both hard-working, to a fault, so resentment never comes into the picture. If anything, we both constantly feel as if we could always be doing more. (Jewish guilt?) Also, we tend to balance each other nicely. Sarah is more details-oriented while Sara tends to see bigger picture. This kind of complementary divide has really helped us achieve something pretty symbiotic.
What's the through-line in both of your restaurants?
They're both Middle Eastern-inspired in theme, but very much rooted in local Southern California produce. Our entire ethos rests in responsible sourcing and creating positive work environments.
What are your respective hopes when someone leaves either of your restaurants?
We hope that when a customer leaves one of our restaurants that they feel satisfied by more than just the food. We want them to feel nourished by the warmth and care of the experience, as well as by the meal itself.
What are your biggest pet peeves?
A huge pet peeve - when people refer to our food as "feminine." It feels limiting and like a superficial way to describe what we do merely because we're women.
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
Failing. Being wrongly sued. Employees getting badly injured. Running a business, particularly one of this nature, is incredibly risky.
What's something you'd like people to know about your jobs that they probably don’t?
We think that people don't fully understand the scope of what being a chef/owner entails. We are responsible for so much beyond the kitchen (as is the case for many of our peers) that cooking is just a fraction of what we do on a daily basis.
IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated by other people's work?
We are less concerned with being original than being positive members of a community. We're excited by the work of our peers and hope that we are looked at similarly.
"We are less concerned with being original than being positive members of a community."
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What about each of your careers makes you feel the most complete?
The positive feedback from our employees. We've had a number of people express how the industry was pushing them out and their experience working with us has inspired them to keep at it. We can't say how satisfying it is for us to know that.
If you each respectively had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
Sara: Some combo of Oprah and Alice Waters, because they're both incredibly inspiring, with such positive, empowering messaging. Oprah is amazing in every way, but I so love that she's incredibly supportive of other women.
At what point in your careers did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the women you are today?
Sarah: It was a period of slow growth, but becoming a business owner made me realize that what I do does have an impact on other people's lives.
Sara: I was wavering about the direction of my career when I was given the opportunity to run my own kitchen, at Glasserie in 2013. It was a defining moment in that I took the leap and didn't really allow myself the option to look back.
What's the best advice you've each ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
Sarah: My mom, when I was just out of college and stressed about leaving a job, she said to me, "Look, Sarah, you get one job and you learn from it. You get another job and you learn from it." It's stuck with me and imbued me with a sense of calm about moving forward.
Sara: Real talk, this business (and I imagine all businesses) is about relationships. Community and relationships to other people are everything. A chef once told me to chill out, in relation to keeping my working relationships healthy, and it's been something I've remembered ever since. Pick your battles.
A chef once told me to chill out, in relation to keeping my working relationships healthy, and it's been something I've remembered ever since. Pick your battles.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
It's all about perspective. We take some steps back and allow ourselves to dream big without criticizing based on our previous failures.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
Sara: Well, I've got quite a repertoire. Ha. I do love a power ballad. Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," for example.
Sarah: Chaka Khan, "Ain't Nobody."
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Lindsay Jang
THE SHARPEST SKILLZ.
THE SHARPEST SKILLZ.
Growing up in Alberta, Canada, Lindsay Jang, started bussing tables at 11 at a Chinese restaurant called Golden Captial.
Her whole family worked there. She learned the value of hard work early, but she didn't find her calling until years later. After dropping out of both art school and management school, she moved to New York, got a job at Nobu and finally felt at peace. That was 2004. She kept hustling. In 2009 her and business partner Matt Abergel, moved to Hong Kong. They kept honing their skills, both in love with prep of Japanese cooking and yakitori.
While Matt worked, Lindsay wrote the plan for Yardbird, their modern izakaya and yakitori restaurant. The created the space they wanted to go on Sundays. They created their dream. And the energy they put into Yardbird was immediately evidenced by the flocks who lined up outside to taste. Wait times were legendary. Within weeks they became one of Hong Kong's most-hyped restaurants. Hype hasn't slowed down.
At the end of last year, Yardbird spread its wings, migrating from Bridges Street to Wing Lok Street, adding lots of extra space. Yardbird is not her only venture.
Lindsay has impressively earned success across multiple verticals—the restaurant industry with Yardbird, Ronin, and Sunday’s Grocery, the media world with MISSBISH (a site for street wear media for girls/female driven platform), and fashion via the MISSBISH label.
Next up, Lindsay introduces Hong Kong favorite Yardbird to the West Coast with the opening of the Downtown L.A. restaurant, which will be named Birdyard, followed by the launch of MISSBISH’s Los Angeles office in 2019. Apparel available now at shopmissbish.com.
Woah LJ. We're so into it.
More from Lindsay below.
Name: Lindsay Jang
Instagram Handle: @lindsayjang
Business Instagram Handle: @missbish and @yardbird
You started bussing tables at 11. So where do your drive and passion come from?
My parents taught me the meaning of work ethic at a very young age and I attribute all the opportunities I've had to the simple acts of keeping my head down and working hard.
You've said that Yardbird is your dream space. That you imagined and opened the spot you'd want to go on Sundays. Now that you live in that dream, what's it like?
It's more amazing than I ever could've imagined. It has evolved into a global community of wonderful people. I get to work with the best in the business day in and out. I couldn't be more excited for what's to come.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Dishonest, ego-driven people.
You changed the HK restaurant scene. But people are always adverse to change. (i.e. someone telling you that you'd never survive with a "no reservations" policy). How do you listen to the naysayers or those that don't agree with you and stick to your guns?
I don't listen. LOL.
What do you think is more important in business: the numbers or the gut decisions?
Initially your gut and then finding the balance between how you feel and what makes sense from a business perspective.
What are your biggest fears about running a business?
Growing to a size where I don't know my core team intimately.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
It's all about your team. Nothing happens autonomously.
"It's all about your team. Nothing happens autonomously."
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IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated with other people's work?
Trust your instinct and be daring to try something different. Hire young talent and listen to them.
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
The ability I have to help other people grow.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
Oprah. She gets to inspire and nurture people every day while defining her own path and means to an end. She has conviction, talent, and a huge heart.
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
I think I've always been the person I am today, I've just been given more opportunities as I've gained more experience.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
Work with people smarter than you.
When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
I don't dwell on the mistake or failure. I just go into problem-solving or moving forward mode.
I don't dwell on the mistake or failure. I just go into problem-solving or moving forward mode.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
I have a terrible voice. Even I don't like to hear it. LOL.
We recommend singing and dancing throughout the day as a preventative measure to bad moods.
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Create & Cultivate 100: Food: Marissa Ross
PAIRS WELL WITH OTHERS.
PAIRS WELL WITH OTHERS.
Notes of brilliance, with a hint of sarcasm, finishes strong.
That's Marissa Ross as a wine. *We know nothing about wine.* But we are the exact kind of reader and drinker the wine writer has empowered. Wine, for most, is a scary subject. *Do you taste cherry? Is it peppery? Can wine be fuzzy? I feel fuzzy. Why am I swirling this glass? hits floor.*
'Cause look, shoving our nose into a glass and inhaling wine notes, makes most of us feel like imposters. Marissa has loosened up that stigma, writing about vino like as one writes about their favorite other binges. Wine and Amazon Prime, ya'll.
She's got haters, ya-- those who says she's unqualified. And she responds to them. (SHE GIVES NO DAMNS.) She does however give great IG Story, is the author of Wine. All The Time, The Casual Guide to Confident Drinking, is Man Repeller's "go-to wine expert," and looks damn good in a red lip (see above) with a red (see above) in hand.
Don't put a cork in her. She's not even close to done.
More from Marissa below.
Name: Marissa A. Ross
Instagram handle: @marissaaross
So when Mindy Kaling writes this about you, “Can I just be Marissa, please? I want to be hilarious and sexy and smart and insanely knowledgeable about wine.” Where do you go from there?
The retirement home! [laughs] You can't really top that.
Now let's back it up. When did you first realize that you could write about wine in a way that made people want to know more?
February 3rd, 2015. I'd been making videos and writing about wine since 2011, but it wasn't like a "thing." I never went viral, I didn't have insane traffic. Honestly, I'd have like fourteen hits, and half of those would be me neurotically rereading and editing my own work. Writing about wine was something I did for me because I genuinely enjoyed it, and honestly, never in a million years thought about it as a career. But February 3rd, 2015, Grub Street published an article about my wine writing and videos by Sierra Tishgart and my life changed forever. I woke up that morning to fifty-something emails from literary agents, publishers, magazines, all asking me to write about wine. It was like a cartoon anvil falling out of the sky on my head. I couldn't believe it. It's still hard for me to believe.
Why do you think wine makes people so nervous/like they have to know so much?
I think of wine and its culture on this constant pendulum, swinging between being for the people and being for status. In the 1990s, we hit a peak of wine being for status; it was used to show off money, to show off intellect, to show off "taste," just like people brag about Rolexes, Ivy League degrees or Leonard Cohen albums. People are nervous and feel like they have to know so much about wine because wine culture made sure we felt that way. Not only was "good" wine exclusive, but so was the information around it. But now that pendulum is swinging back, and people are realizing that wine is not just for them, but for everyone. It's really exciting for me to see more people enjoy wine, and be empowered by it.
"Wine is for everyone."
Best wine night memory:
It would be impossible to choose just one. Wine is so special because it is so much about set and setting. I've had the best nights in the countryside of Umbria, the wine bars of Barcelona, just in my backyard with my husband.
Worst wine might memory:
I used to do these under $10 wine review videos for Hello Giggles called Wine Time. The first time I ever shot anything, I was being very cocky and thought for some reason I could do two episodes back to back. As it turns out, if you drink nearly two bottles of $3, you will inevitably-- and mysteriously-- end up crying on your neighbor's couch for no apparent reason and then going home to spend the rest of the evening puking straight wine. Glad I got that mistake, and valuable lesson, out of the way, right away.
How deep into a glass should one actually put their nose?
As someone who has a long nose and constantly has wine on the end of it, I say as deep as you damn well want!
What is your biggest pet peeve?
It's a tossup between winesplaining, and when finished plates are left on the table for long periods of time in restaurants.
What's something you'd like people to know about your job that they probably don’t?
I don't just drink wine all day. (laughs) [ed note: laughs]
IYO-- How can we stay original when we are so saturated with other people's work?
I think it's important to immerse yourself in art that is outside of what you personally create in your career. You want to stay inspired, to be seeking fresh perspectives, to push yourself in new directions. Sometimes those directions don't work out like you'd like, but you're still moving forward, and you never know where those directions will lead you.
"It's important to immerse yourself in art that is outside of what you personally create in your career."
What about your career makes you feel the most complete?
Five star Amazon reviews. I'm kidding! The thing that really completes me, is that I get to empower others. I meet people all the time that were so afraid of wine, that are now confident and enjoying wine more than ever because I was able to give them the tools and information they needed in an accessible, fun way. I feel really fortunate every day that I have the opportunity to tell people that think they can't, that they can.
If you had to trade jobs with anyone else in the world, who would it be and why?
Bourdain, of course. Who doesn't want to travel the world eating and drinking all the delicious things? Or Amy Sedaris. Her new show, "At Home with Amy Sedaris" is a dream show to me-- hilarious comedy and commentary with a midcentury slant. Like if I could somehow trade half of Bourdain's job with half of Sedaris', that would be the ultimate for me.
At what point in your career did you find the confidence to really take charge and become the woman you are today?
It was before I had a career, back when I dropped out of school and moved to Los Angeles. I had no money, no connections, no prospects. Every day I wrote and told myself I was a writer, that I was going to be a writer, and that nothing could stop me. I know my career seemingly happened overnight, but there were many failures, dead ends, and shitty day jobs before any success. I had to have confidence in my work and in myself very early on to keep going no matter what. That relentless, blind confidence, combined with the confidence of finding success by working through failure, is what makes me the woman I am today.
Every day I just wrote and told myself I was a writer, that I was going to be a writer, and that nothing could stop me.
What's the best advice you've ever been given? Or your favorite piece of #realtalk?
Don't let "perfect" stand in the way of good.
"Don't let "perfect" stand in the way of good."
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When you hit a big bump in the road, how do you find a new road or a detour?
I take a deep breath and I look around, and I listen. There are opportunities around us every day; we're often just too busy looking and listening to everything else to notice them.
What song do you sing in the shower when you’ve had a bad day?
"Forest Green" by Mike G. or "The Spiteful Chant" by Kendrick Lamar.
Photo Credit: @davisfactor
Hair & Makeup: @SmashboxCosmetics @TheGlamApp @TheOuai
TO SEE THE FULL CREATE & CULTIVATE FOOD LIST CLICK HERE.
Find Out Why This CEO Risked All of Her Money
And how it paid off big.
Would you be willing to risk it all for you biz? That's what Aussie expat Koel Thomae, co-founder of Noosa Yoghurt did. And it's a route we hear many entrepreneurs take. As they say, without passion and risk, there is usually no reward.
Thomae, alongside co-founder Colorado dairy farmer Rob Graves, launched Noosa in January 2010, with the idea of bringing the sweet, tangy and full-fat yogurt of Australia to America.
But yoghurt is one the world's oldest man-made foods. So what made Thomae think she could do it better? Considering Noosa was profitable within one year and acquired within four, trusting her tastebuds is only part of the tale.
Hers is an inspiring success story that includes heart, risk, and yes, getting acquired. But even after acquisition, Thomae stayed on in a different role. Read more about her journey below.
As someone who bootstrapped her company, was there a part of you that wanted to see how far you could go on your own? How did you know it was the right time to take on an investor?
Koel Thomae: Absolutely. There was part of me that wanted to defy the normal path that most start-ups take with having to take outside investment. It certainly meant we were risking all of our own money but that made me even more determined to work hard to see this become successful. It also gave us the ultimate autonomy in how we grew the business and even though we certainly had our missteps we defined what success was and could take risks that others might not have had the stomach for. By the end of 2013 we knew we had created a real business with legs and that the growth curve wasn’t slowing. We were running the business incredibly lean on the executive level and knew that to protect all of the blood, sweat and tears (and money) that we had invested that it was time to think smarter and faster. The only way to do that was with real capital. The trick was to find someone absolutely aligned with our vision and we’ve been successful in doing that.
Especially as someone who didn’t have to give up a stake early on, was it a hard decision to make?
KT: When you’ve invested your life savings, endured many sleepless nights but can see that your vision has become a reality it can be hard to know when is the right time to give up some of that control. When we welcomed Advent into the Noosa family in 2014, it was a strategic decision that allowed us to grow to scale and get noosa into the hands of more people. It really is a partnership and they’ve allowed us to evolve the brand in a way that stays true to what we set out to do, which at the end of the day is to make bloody delicious yoghurt!
Why do you think it’s hard for startups to get traditional business funding?
KT: There is so much risk in startups that traditional lenders typically shy away from these types of investments. But I think that there can be paths to finding traditional financing through networking and establishing strong banking relationships early on. Noosa is fortunate to be based in Colorado where there is a strong entrepreneur culture in the food realm and both local banks and national banks with strong local branches have really started to become aware of the opportunities in food startups.
How was the initial transition? And why did you decide to stay on?
KT: The initial transition was very busy as I was still managing sales and marketing. It took time to find the right people to take over these roles and I wanted to see both Noosa and my new teammates succeed so it was a gradual and thoughtful transition. I had given everything to see Noosa become successful and I wasn’t ready to walk away from the next chapter. I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to continue learning and to have endless fun with my ‘baby’ so to speak.
What is your role in the company now?
KT: Along with my co-founder Rob Graves, I’m still very much involved in the day-to-day at noosa. In passing the baton on for sales and marketing I’ve been able to re-focus on my true passion which is product and flavor innovation. I love everything about food and it is so fun to stay on top of food and cultural trends, It’s like being a food anthropologist! I’ve created my dream job - I get to travel, eat and dream big!
Was there ever a point where you thought, I’ve made a massive mistake. And how what did you do?
KT: I think there are very few entrepreneurs who haven’t made some big mistakes. The trick is surviving the financial impact and learning in real time how to recover and make better strategic decisions. Noosa had so many inbound retailers interested in carrying us early on and we didn’t have a firm strategy on how we would grow outside of our home market. You can become giddy in the early days and say yes to every opportunity. Launching with a retailer in a region on the other side of the country where we had zero brand awareness coupled with very few resources to build this awareness and other supply chain challenges was a recipe for disaster. After 6 months and almost $100,000 in losses we pulled out. In many ways I’m thankful that this mistake came early on. It did not sink us and we were forced to stop and think very hard about what was the right strategy to grow Noosa.
"There are very few entrepreneurs who haven’t made some big mistakes."
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How did you successfully navigate a shifting role?
KT: I like to think of my time at Noosa as a working MBA. I have worn so many hats since we launched the business, some things I was good at and others I was completely in the deep end. I think the trick is to understand what your strengths are, learn to leverage others who can fill in for your weaknesses and always have a thirst to learn from your mentors and the good old internet came through in many occasions.
What would you tell young female entrepreneurs about the startup world?
KT: The best advice I’ve ever received was to surround yourself with a good group of mentors. I’d advise young entrepreneurs to do the same. Look for your own network of women who you can learn from and who can help support you.
How do you see your role at Noosa continuing to evolve?
KT: I am so fortunate to work with an amazing and smart group of people who realize the unique opportunity we have at Noosa. As I said before, I have the best job in the world. I am excited to continue to help push the boundaries on innovation all the while making sure we stay true to our core – and that’s to make bloody good yoghurt.
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
Food: Kerry Diamond & Claudia Wu
Celebrating women and food.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Food List Here.
Bombe squad up.
Check out this Cherry Bombe, the food publication from founders Claudia Wu and Kerry Diamond. Named the food magazine “for the coolest woman in your life,” the biannual has featured women like kitchen mom boss Chrissy Teigen and supermodel/cookie monster Karlie Kloss who appeared on the matte first cover.
The most recent Issue 8 features Padma Lakshmi on its cover. Culinary to its core, the magazine is predominantly female-led, an intentional decision from the founders who met while working together at Harper’s Bazaar.
Kerry has said that after opening a restaurant in Brooklyn, it became apparent to her that there were so many amazing women in food who weren’t getting equally amazing attention from the media. “It's the same in almost every field (with a few exceptions),” shares Claudia. “Men dominate—but perhaps food is a good place to start to demand equality.”
The mag began as a project for one of Kerry’s restaurants, where instead of releasing a cookbook she thought of doing an annual magazine.
Claudia, who serves as Cherry Bombe’s Creative Director, founded and self-published her own indie magazine, "Me" in 2004. She also started her own creative agency called Orphan (“RIP,” she says) in 2007. By the time the idea for Cherry Bombe was marinating, the women seemed a perfect pairing.
In the beginning the co-founders never discussed an online version; both remain enraptured by print. They do host Radio Cherry Bombe, a podcast with Heritage Radio Network, which fills the air time between publication dates.
“If you do something that gives you purpose, it's not really ‘work,' is it?”
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Kerry and Claudia are also focused on bringing conversations from the page to the stage. Last April they hosted their third annual Cherry Bombe Jubilee in New York. A gathering of hundreds professional women (plus a few great men) from all ends of the culinary and hospitality worlds, which culminated in a keynote conversation between Martha Stewart and Kerry. “It's a place to connect, to start conversations, and to inspire people to do what they love,” says Claudia.
For her, the kitchen remains a special place. “I definitely think in the culture I was brought up in, the kitchen was a magical place where good things came from, and my mother was the center of it in our house. I ate a homemade meal pretty much every night.” Her parents, both immigrants, sacrificed plenty to give their children a better life. “They work harder than anyone I know,” the creative director shares. “They built their business from nothing.” Her favorite advice also happens to come from her mother. “My mother once told me that I shouldn't work, that I should focus on learning and school, because I would have to work the rest of my life. She was right.”
But Claudia, who hopes to someday learn to sail, wants to travel more, and is no longer money motivated by projects says, “If you do something that gives you purpose, it's not really ‘work,' is it?”
Sounds like a very healthy recipe for success.
Food: Helen Johannesen
Toasting to hard work and sweet success.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Food List Here.
Toasting to hard work (with crisp notes of cherry on top).
In the back corner of popular Jon and Vinny’s in Los Angeles is a neon sign that reads, helen’s; everyone here is on a first-name basis. Which is exactly how Helen Johannesen, partner in the restaurant and founder of helen's wine shop, likes it. When she invites you in the back for a glass you wonder if you need to sit down for dinner at all. (You will, but she’s just that charismatic and knowledgeable about wine.)
Helen has been steadily working in the restaurant business since graduating from college. Eight years ago she began working with Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo at animal in Los Angeles where she had the opportunity to build the wine program. A role she says really “sparked a curiosity about food and wine pairing.” She became their Director of Operations and Beverage Director for several years until the three partnered up on Jon & Vinny’s and helen’s.
She spend most of her time at the shop helen’s on Fairfax (down the street from Melody Ehsani), but also runs the beverage programs for all six other restaurants. It’s a massive undertaking and she recalls a moment last year when she “felt more underwater than I had ever felt before.”
“I was never going to walk away,” she says, “but sometimes if you can’t pursue your real passion and are bogged down by too much bullshit, it feels defeating.”
She admits that the industry can be incredibly challenging and “can really take you down if you let it,” but ultimately believes: “I love what I do, and every day is a new day, so any frustrations can be laid to rest and I can move forward. Passion is the best motivator.”
"Passion is the best motivator.”
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She jubilates that there are “SO MANY THINGS,” on her career bucket list, but says, “I would hesitate to say them out loud.” She will however cop to wanting to open a second location for Jon & Vinny’s and helen’s this year. For now the busy wine boss feels satisfied and grateful having “prioritized my wants, needs, and dreams more than any other time in my life.”
When she needs a port in a storm (#winejoke) Helen looks to her business partners, whom she credits as being “influential and wonderful friends along this journey.” She also says she’s “always admired Carolyn Styne, who nine years ago was one of the only other female wine buyers for multiple units in this city.” While they are her day-to-day mentors, she’s likewise shouting out to “too many women across the industries to list, who speak their mind, work hard, believe they can have it all and don't second guess or apologize.”
Helen claims the most striking career difference between now and five years ago is that she come first. “I'm really betting on myself and my own business right now,” she says. Sharing that it's a move that “takes an extra amount of self-encouragement.”
Which is something she works to pass on to other women in the company. “Many of our top positions in the company are held by women and they were placed there because they are the best candidates for the job. We don't discriminate over here. I try and be a leader to those women.”
“Women,” says Helen, “have the power to be as badass as you wanna be.”
We’ll drink to that.
Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.
Food: Gaby Dalkin, What's Gaby Cooking
What isn't Gaby cooking?
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Food List Here.
What isn't Gaby cooking?
Gaby Dalkin, AKA the “Chief Lady Boss at What’s Gaby Cooking” has a lot on her plate.
But her journey to the world of culinary delights doesn’t follow a typical recipe. In college, Gaby was pre-med. Decided the world of doctoring was not for her, switched her focus to business and marketing, and “LOVED it.” But after graduating and working in LA at a job that she decidedly did not love, where she was “completely uninspired and bored,” Gaby made the decision to “pack it up and go to culinary school.”
While at school she got a job as a private chef and simultaneously started “What’s Gaby Cooking.” Since inception, the side blog passion project has grown into website with over 1300 recipes, a line of cookbooks (2nd one is due out in spring 2018), a product line and more!
Since starting “What’s Gaby Cooking,” the blogger and chef hasn’t taken a day off. That’s seven years and counting. “Balance, what’s that?” she jokes. But says, “when your work is something that you love, it never really feels like working.” And she does manage to work while on the beach in Mexico... so there's that.
Five years ago, Gaby says she waited for opportunities to come to her. Now she goes out and grabs them, which in turn has grabbed the attention of her 234k Instagram followers. And she says that, “What’s Gaby Cooking is going full steam ahead to a digitally focused empire that revolves around food.”
More from everyone's favorite foodie Gaby below.
What keeps you going?
The big picture. There is so much I want to accomplish and every day I'm working towards the larger goal.
Who are the people you consider your mentors or influences and why?
I try to surround myself with as many incredible badass business ladies as possible. My team at DBA is a constant influence to me as they've helped me get to where I am today. My friends I've met through the digital world, Heather, Catherine, Geri, Lily, Matt, Adam, the list goes on... we all support each other and help each other grow.
What is the best piece of "real talk" advice you've received?
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.
What is your favorite life advice?
Don’t be afraid to fail.
What’s next? What’s happening the Gaby world?
We're launching the first What's Gaby Cooking product line in 2017, my next cookbook comes out in 2018 and then sky's the limit! I'd love to develop a digital food series somewhere in there too!
Do you have any extracurricular activities?
Traveling. As much as humanly possible, and Netflix.
How has your relationship with yourself changed in the last five years?
I've always been pretty confident but I think I've become even more comfortable in my own skin since running a business. And I've developed a much thicker skin thanks to the joys of social media and haters.
What do you do to support other women either personally or professionally?
Answer honestly, support authentically, share resources and share other women's work.
Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.
Food: Brette Warshaw
Taking a big bite out of food news.
This article is part of our Create & Cultivate 100 List created in collaboration with KEDS, you can view the full Food List Here.
Taking a big bite out of food news.
In 2017, that nagging, draconian phrase “a woman’s place is in the kitchen” is taking on a whole new meaning, and by that we mean becoming totally meaningless. After decades of battling the boys' club for recognition — about half of culinary school grads are women but they make up only about 20 percent of chefs, does that seem very fair to you? — female chefs are finally getting accolades they deserve.
Creating a platform for this generation of female culinary-world rock stars is Lucky Peach Chief Operating Officer Brette Warshaw, who, at the age of 25, is reinventing how we devour the news of food. As inspiring as it is, Warshaw’s is no overnight success story — and luck has absolutely nothing to do with it. As a sophomore in college, she interned at foodie website Food52 and became Managing Editor upon graduating. Later, she was hired as Managing Editor at Lucky Peach, promoted to editor, and recently, all-the-way-up to COO. Attention college kids: time to apply for those internships (bonus points if they’re paid!).
If there’s one teachable moment in Warshaw’s rise in the ranks (and there are many), it’s that it pays to take the initiative. “I got my job at Food52 because I asked one of the founders, Amanda Hesser, if I could profile her for a creative writing class I was taking,” says the self-starting COO, who admits to having little business experience before accepting the role of COO. “From there, I got the internship, and got my foot in the door at a place that was poised for some really exciting growth. I would not be here today if I hadn't worked up the guts to ask her.” Learning on the job is just one of the many tricks this culinary chieftain excels at. “I’ve become a lot more sure of myself, mostly by forcing myself into unfamiliar situations and figuring them out, and emerging with new skills and perspective."
While Warshaw’s more operations, less knife skills, she’s no stranger to the double standards faced by the female chefs her team regularly reports on. “I've gotten things like ‘You must be Brette's assistant’ when I get on calls or walk into meetings—it's definitely surprising to some that a twenty-five year old woman would be at the other end of the table.” That a woman in her position, with her experience, is greeted with skepticism is hardly surprising — Glassdoor finds that female chefs make 28.3% less in base pay than their male counterparts. “At first, I would be shy or would make excuses or feel the need to justify what I was doing and where I was at. I don't do that anymore. If people don't take me seriously, that's their problem.”
"If people don't take me seriously, that's their problem.”
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Growing a cutting-edge food magazine into a “modern, sustainable, gangbuster” media business by the age of twenty-five is no small feat. Although you wouldn’t know it by her down-to-earth vibes and unpretentious appetite. She swears by a twice-weekly ritual of eating at the diner across the street from her apartment, accompanied only by her favorite magazines — “I feel like a superhuman afterwards!” For Warshaw, female empowerment means two things: “breaking glass and cashing checks.” AMEN. And by that we mean, HELL YES.
So, what’s next for this young culinary world mover-and-shaker changing the face of food media? Hopefully, she says, to be interviewed for the New York Times Corner Office section of the Sunday Business paper. Sounds more than doable.
Styling provided by Reservoir LA. Hair and makeup provided by Glamsquad. Photography courtesy of Light Lab and Woodnote Photography.
Brette is wearing Keds' Triple Solids.
It's National Ice Cream Day! Meet the Woman Who's Changing the Ice Cream Biz One Flavor at a Time
"You get really, really tough blazing the path through the forest."
Photo Credit: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
Founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Jeni Britton Bauer, says that if her business was a flavor it would be Dark Chocolate: "Complex and game-changing, hard to replicate."
With over two decades dedicated to the scoop game, Jeni knows a thing or two about packing a pint, but hitting the sweet spot didn't come easy. There were learning curves, major lessons and hard, trailblazing work.
We checked in with Jeni who shared about ups, downs, her entrepreneurial vs. business spirit (yes, there is a difference), and which pint she would choose to eat fooooreevvver.
Can you tell us a little about your background and how you got into the scoop business?
I grew up wanting to be an entrepreneur. My grandmother is an art teacher and because of her, I learned to constantly create and make things. Yet, we have two very different views on how to best craft an item. As an artist, she never wants to make the same thing twice, but I relish in it. When I hit upon something I love, I want to replicate, build a process and perfect the item until it’s flawless. And as a child, I started more businesses than I could count. So, it was inevitable that I would find something that I loved to make and run with it. I studied Art and Art History at The Ohio State University. I was also interested in pastry-making and working for a French bakery. I very seriously considered switching over to perfuming. I have always been led by my sense of smell so I wanted to go to Grasse, France and become a nose or find a way to incorporate scent into art.
One day I had the idea to use ice cream to carry scent, and that moment changed my life. It was precisely where all of my interests intersected and I knew in an instant that American ice cream could get a lot better and more interesting. So I set sail -- and the rest is a crazy ass history of ups and downs and hustle like nobody's beeswax.
Ups and downs. You were living out of your car during the first months of operating your first ice cream stand, Scream. You’ve come a long way. What’s some advice you have for a scrappy entrepreneurial spirits?
I'm an adventurer. I wasn't bothered a bit by living out of my car or hustling. I have so much energy and excitement for what's possible and very very few resources to make it happen -- I have found that my hands, feet, brain, and friends have been my greatest resource.
Every entrepreneur has a very different experience, but one thing is always true: you get a wacky idea that becomes a vision and then you start working toward that vision and never quit. No matter what. Entrepreneurship can be extraordinarily isolating; the better your idea is, the more people will be repelled by it. When I started, no one wanted spicy ice cream, or flower petal or herb ice cream. It’s about getting help from anyone you can and proving yourself over time. You are the only one who will champion your idea, and in some ways, that never ends. It's always about seeking great people to help. And to do that, you have to get really fucking good at what you do. You have to earn your teammates because they make all the difference.
"Entrepreneurship can be extraordinarily isolating; the better your idea is, the more people will be repelled."
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Interior St. Louis location. Photo Credit: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
What kind of learning curve did you experience between opening shop number 2 and shop number 10? [Ed note: there are currently 23 scoop shops.]
Suuuuuch a huge learning curve. But again, it's about my teammates. They would never take on something they can't knock out of the park - give or take a few snafus. We always push ourselves to try something new in each store and we learn from that experience.
We must get used to seeing great companies embarking on controlled growth. It's impossible to survive and truly build demand for the ingredients we want or build a safe and secure community of jobs without the resources to sustain it. The 21st century is very different from the 20th century, where we saw great little companies explode and just go downhill. It's not only possible to grow and get better, it should be expected. We look up to trailblazing companies like Patagonia for this reason. We will get better as we grow, not the other way around.
"We will get better as we grow, not the other way around."
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Is every pint still hand packed? How do you scale and business while remaining committed to local and quality?
We haven't hand packed every pint for a long time. And we determined that it’s no longer a safe way to pack pints, by our safety standards. It took us a long time to figure out how to get our ice cream to work on a pint packing machine because our ice cream is more viscous than others as it comes out of the ice cream machine.
We're building our company as a community of people and many are not local to our kitchen. We work with a 5th generation peach farm in Georgia, a vanilla farm in Uganda, and various makers and producers locally, nationally, regionally and internationally. We believe in each other and we believe that by coming together we make better ice cream. That’s how we’ve approached it from day one.
Quality is a choice every company makes every single day. And it begins with your values. There is no reason a company can't grow and maintain quality, but we also know that as we grow we can actually improve quality from the perspective of ingredients, molecular science, safety and direct partnerships. In many ways it’s the only argument for growth at all. Scale is important in ice cream unlike some other food products. You can't even begin to impact dairy quality unless you have scale to support it - which is why we love Ohio so much. But the same is true of direct trade vanilla or fair trade cocoa. We can all order ingredients from a catalog, but we want to be more than that.
"Quality is a choice every company makes every single day. And it begins with your values."
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You’ve talked about the difference between entrepreneurs and business people. Have you grown to understand and be more interested in the business side of things?
The short answer is no. I retain too much “artist” in my heart. In fact, I have less and less interest in the business stuff as I learn more about it. I like to create experiences, and to do that I need resources and a great team. That's what motivates me. The older I get the more comfortable I am in admitting that.
Exterior Westside Provisions, Atlanta. Photo Credit: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
"I have less and less interest in the business stuff as I learn more about it. I like to create experiences."
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The long answer is yes. I am inspired by my teammates who are so flipping brilliant at everything from leadership and org stuff, HR, R+D, Art and Design, and our finance team kills me—some of the most creative people I know. They find stories where I see a paper full of digits.
The truth is that I have so much belief and trust in these people and our talents work really really well together. I have the luxury of being able to purposefully remain blind to many business details. Not to say that I don't keep up, I absolutely do, I just keep my head very squarely on creating the best ice creams I can imagine and making great places to eat them in, but always with great reverence for the resources we've built and how to do the most with them.
What are some lessons you’ve learned about rapid growth?
We have 23 stores. I've been at this for 21 years (I have had two ice cream businesses). Jeni's is almost 15 years old. We've stepped out our growth. As we get more great people and knowledge and dairy we apply it. Every single day is challenging in business. That's what makes it fun.
Still, if you want to do something new it's often difficult to know how to do it. You can hire the top consultants in the world and you'll still fuck up somehow. You get really really tough blazing the path through the forest.
----And you make it a lot easier for the copycats who benefit from your blood, sweat and tears.
Scoop pros. Photo Credit: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
If you had to eat one of your pints from now until forever, which would you choose?
Lemon buttermilk frozen yogurt. It's perfect. And I say that after making it for 20+ years - with tweaks along the way. Perfect texture, body, and flavor. I think this is one of a handful of our flavors that really sets us apart from all others in terms of know-how. Plus, it's so simple: fresh lemon, cultured buttermilk, bio-dynamically raised yogurt, grass-pastured milk and a nice dose of cream. You can't ever tire of it. It would sustain you for forever, too - the right combo of protein, fat, carbs.
OK. Truth: Is the dessert business sweet? What parts are more like veggies?
The highs are really high. The lows are really low. But they balance each other to become a great adventure.
But I have a very strict policy: if I'm going to eat ice cream daily (which I do) then I have to balance that with lots of veggies (which I do).
It works the same way.
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