The Tidbit: Recent Episodes
Full Service Radio
Do you run a small business, or have dreams to start one? Each week on The Tidbit, brought to you by Cureate, we discuss tidbits of knowledge around starting and running a small business with a food and beverage lens. Show host Kim Bryden sits down with guest experts and shares trending new topics on food, business and culture to help best prepare you for your business journey.
This show records and broadcasts LIVE on Full Service Radio from the lobby of the LINE DC in Adams Morgan, Washington DC.
To mark the ending of this season of The Tidbit, the hotline is open once again and answering the most commonly asked question among aspiring entrepreneurs: I think I have a good idea for a food business, where do I start? On today’s episode, we have FIVE Cureate Facilitators, Kim Bryden, Tessa Velazquez, Julia Raymond, Walton Smith and Candy Schibli, who are sharing their expertise on how to approach this big question by taking into consideration factors like vision and mission, unique value proposition and driving brand awareness in sales. These specialized coaches are also directly involved in Cureate Courses, a free 10-week food and beverage entrepreneurship program designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the industry, grow their businesses and join a community of like minded business owners. Applications are open for the Fall 2024 Maryland cohort until July 27th. To learn more visit: https://www.cureate.co/courses-md. If you are tuning in after the Maryland deadline or are interested in a Cureate Courses program near you, fill out our evergreen application at http://cureate.co/courses.
Show notes:
Host: Kim Bryden, Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests:
Cureate Coaches and Facilitators
Walton Smith, Founder of Black Woman Owned, https://blackwomanowned.co/
Candy Schibli, Founder of Southeastern Roastery, https://southeasternroastery.com/
Julia Raymond, Mid-Atlantic Director, Cureate,
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliarraymond/
Entrepreneurs of all types deal with a myriad of concerns about legal issues, like risk mitigation, trademark law and intellectual property, to name a few. These topics are especially prominent in the competitive food and beverage industry because legal rules about label and marketing claims are strict. On today’s episode of The Tidbit, host Kim Bryden speaks with Lauren Handel, principal attorney of Handel Food Law, a law firm dedicated to food businesses. Lauren shares tidbits of knowledge for entrepreneurs who are starting and growing business and uncertain what to keep in mind when it comes to legal topics.
Show notes:
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests: Lauren Handel, Handel Food Law
https://www.handelfoodlaw.com/lauren-handel/
The Tidbit Hotline is open once again! On today’s episode, hosts Kim Bryden and Tessa Velazquez are teaming up with guest Vance Reavie of Junction AI to continue the conversation from last week’s episode about how AI can help small businesses. Small business owner Jon Henry of Jon Henry General Store in Virginia, called in wondering how to best add new specialty beverages to his existing line of traditional soft drinks. Kim, Tessa and Vance brainstorm ideas for Jon’s challenge, including predictive retail analytics and in-person data collection strategies.
Show notes:
Host: Kim Bryden, Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests: Vance Reavie, Junction.ai, hello@junction.ai
Jon Henry, Jon Henry General Store, https://jonhenrygeneralstore.com/
Artificial Intelligence or AI has been hyper prominent in the news for the last few years because it is changing the way we work. On today’s episode of The Tidbit, we are diving into all things AI, including how small business owners can use it to their advantage. Host Kim Bryden speaks with Matt Scharpnick, Associate Director at BCG X, the digital build unit of the Boston Consulting Group. He previously co-founded Elefint, a design studio aimed at advancing the storytelling capabilities of social sector organizations. He shares tidbits of knowledge about how entrepreneurs can harness the power of AI to benefit them and their business.
Show notes:
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests: Matt Scharpnick, Associate Director BCG X, the digital build unit of the Boston Consulting Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewscharpnick
The Tidbit Hotline is back! Hosts Kim Bryden and Tessa Velazquez are answering entrepreneurs' questions about everyday challenges they are facing. On today’s episode, a Northwest Arkansas chocolatier is looking for advice about how to grow her small business — especially when scaling a labor-intensive product! To help answer her question, two scratch-made bakers who successfully scaled their once small operations into iconic D.C. area businesses share their advice and insights. Tune into learn invaluable insights from Founders, Jenna Huntsberger of Whisked! By Jenna and Caroline Yi of Sunday Morning Bakehouse.
Show notes:
Host: Kim Bryden and Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests:
Jenna Huntsberger: Whisked! By Jenna
https://www.instagram.com/whiskeddc/
Caroline Yi, Sunday Morning Bakehouse
https://www.sundaymorningbakehouse.store/
https://www.instagram.com/sundaymorningbakehouse/
Stephanie Danielle Martinez, Musa Chocolatier
https://www.instagram.com/musachocolatier/
To be successful in business, entrepreneurs need to be able to adapt to change, communicate clearly, build trust, and handle any unexpected challenges that come their way. On this episode of The Tidbit, Kim speaks with Mary Lemmer about how improv can help entrepreneurs navigate difficult situations, reduce stress and teach us important life lessons along the way. Mary’s company Improve offers training for companies around the world on the techniques of improv so organizations can thrive amidst uncertainty and change.
Show notes:
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests: Mary Lemmer
https://www.marylemmer.com/
Kim on Mary’s podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/improved-podcast/episodes/Kim-Bryden-on-Food-Entrepreneurship--Growing-Teams--and-Holiday-Dance-Videos-e2c352r
The Tidbit Hotline is officially open! In this new format of The Tidbit, entrepreneurs send in challenges they are facing and hosts Kim Bryden and Tessa Velazquez brainstorm solutions and suggest actionable ideas along with special guest experts. On today’s episode, a mushroom farmer new to Northwest Arkansas is struggling to find a permanent place to grow their mushrooms. Kim, Tessa and Cory Babb, the owner of The Firelight Farm, offer creative strategies to get around having access to land.
Hosts: Kim Bryden and Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests:
Cory Babb, The Firelight Farm
https://www.thefirelightfarm.com/
Lucy and Rodrigo Menocal, Blooming Hope Mushrooms
https://www.instagram.com/bhmushrooms/
Cureate is celebrating 10 years this Fall! To honor the occasion, for the first time on The Tidbit podcast, our founder Kim Bryden is sharing her story. Tessa Velazquez, Cureate Facilitator + Coach, takes over the host mic to interview Kim about how Cureate got its start and the ups and downs of entrepreneurship! Tessa and Kim reflect on a decade of growth and what the future holds for Cureate.
Show notes:
Host: Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guest: Kim Bryden
This is the 100th EPISODE of The Tidbit —and our season finale! In this special live episode, Tessa Velazquez, Cureate Facilitator + Coach, spoke with Randy Wilburn, a communication strategist, entrepreneur, host of the“I am Northwest Arkansas” podcast, and founder of ONBoardNWA, a hyper-local jobs board. Randy shares strategies on how to stand out in a way that is authentic to your voice, tips for implementing guerilla marketing tactics, and attracting the right talent that aligns with your vision. Stay tuned until the end of the episode for two audience #tidbits! If you have a story to tell about your product or business, this episode is for you.
Host: Kim Bryden, Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guest:
Randy Wilburn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/randywilburn/
https://www.instagram.com/iamnorthwestarkansas/
The two final episodes on this season of The Tidbit are focusing on goal setting and the future of your business using your unique positioning. On today's episode, we explore how to position your business in a B2B (business-to-business) context —specifically with institutional buyers. We address sustainability in the workplace, specifically when it comes to food systems and health, and overall core values that determine the “why” behind what institutions may want to buy. Kim talks to Sara Hoverter, a senior fellow, attorney and adjunct professor at Georgetown Law specializing in health and food policy, and Kai Abelkis, sustainability manager at University of Maryland Medical Center.
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests:
Sara Hoverter: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/sara-p-hoverter/
Kai Abelkis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-abelkis/
On this episode of The Tidbit, Kim talks to Scott Shigeoka about his new book SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. Scott says curiosity is key as a small business owner, and staying curious can help cure the disconnection and dissatisfaction in the workplace that has been so commonplace since the global pandemic.
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guest:
Scott Shigeoka:
SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World
On today’s episode of The Tidbit, we don’t want to do “business as usual." With everything transpiring in the world today, between global wars, the rise of hatred and vitriol, and overall mental health crises at an all time high, we thought it important to have a discussion around complex and profound emotions like grief, sorrow and loss. Kim speaks with Colin Campbell, author of Finding The Words, Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose about his story and his work to make grief less frightening, lonely and mysterious. Colin says that an important part of processing grief is to talk about it with a community that gets it.
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guest:
Colin Campbell: https://colincampbellauthor.com/
The Tidbit is live! In this special episode, Kim hands over the host mic to Tessa Velazquez, coach and facilitator at Cureate. Tessa moderates a conversation with Teresa Velazquez, owner of iconic D.C. bakeries Baked & Wired and A Baked Joint, and Stephanie Long, owner of home-based artisan bakery The Cake Occasion. As bakers and entrepreneurs, Teresa and Stephanie have both successfully scaled their small businesses thoughtfully, even during the busy holiday season, and they share some tidbits of knowledge they’ve learned along the way.
Host: Kim Bryden, Tessa Velazquez
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests:
Teresa Velazquez: Baked & Wired and A Baked Joint
Stephanie Long: The Cake Occasion
It is no surprise that individuals in the food, farm and beverage industry are masters of their craft. Through this mastery, they are able to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and provide education to consumers about their highly specific goods or services. On this episode of The Tidbit, Kim speaks with oyster sommelier Julie Qui about why she got interested in oysters, what it took to hone her craft and how she eventually went on to co-found the Oyster Master Guild. Julie leads master oyster classes worldwide, teaching people everything they need to know about this sometimes controversial product.
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guest:
Julie Qiu: https://instagram.com/inahalfshellist
The Oyster Master Guild: https://www.oystermasterguild.com
Traversing the U.S. from Mid-Atlantic to the Heartland, you’ll pass by many farms and rural communities. The large majority of these farms are family owned and small to mid-sized operations that don’t see large profits. How might we improve economic conditions, growth opportunities and access to new market channels for these entrepreneurs? On this episode of The Tidbit, Kim speaks with Philip Powell, Assistant Director of Local Affairs and Rural Development with The Arkansas Farm Bureau. He says the future of farming is in innovation.
At the time of this recording Philip worked at ARFB, and has now stepped into a new role where he continues to serve rural communities in Arkansas.
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Arkansas Farm Bureau: https://www.arfb.com
The Tidbit is back! Last season, The Tidbit went on a cross country roadtrip to see how small businesses were innovating and adapting during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The trip was transformative for Kim, and for Cureate, which now has a second hub of operations in Northwest Arkansas. The new season of The Tidbit is going to reflect that expansion, featuring guests from both the Heartland and Mid-Atlantic discussing entrepreneurship with a food and beverage lens. On this first episode, Kim speaks with Philip Adams, Executive Director of FORGE Inc, and entrepreneurship consultant Jeannette Balleza Collins, about building inclusive ecosystems in Northwest Arkansas and how this region is reimagining community based businesses.
Host: Kim Bryden
Producer: Gabriela Saldivia
Guests:
FORGE, Inc:
http://forgefund.org
Jeannette Balleza Collins:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannetteballezacollins
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and cities had been adapting and innovating. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, Kim finishes her journey exploring how people have undergone deep change and reflection over the past year. This conversation with Zephyr Rose Anders wraps up this series exactly on that note. From his website abajorio.com, it reads: "Returning to the place I grew up was not my plan until further down the road. However, today I stand on the soil I used to make mud pies out of and find shade under the trees I used to build forts in. It is here I am bringing forth a vision I had kept on the side [...] With such sudden news I was left with questions, new beginnings, why's, what the community of Hillsboro needs/wants, creativity and dreams. At this point, I had a lot of time to reflect and was open to new possibilities. This brought me to the birthing of Rio Abajo Rio." This episode is debuting in October 2021, exactly one year after this conversation was recorded. And, my oh my, what birthing of new possibilities there has been! Tune into the magic and wisdom that is Zephyr Rose Anders.
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and cities had been adapting and innovating. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, Kim grabs a drink with Palace Coffee co-founders, Krystal & Patrick. It was incredible to hear from these life and business partners how they have managed growth opportunities and challenges, while maintaining their mission of being a place -- both for guests and employees -- of true relationship building. From their website: "Serving coffee is what we do, but creating relationships is why we do it. While we can’t claim to be perfect, we strive to be the best that we can be in our craft, all the while establishing an environment where others can also work towards perfecting their own craft. Our cafes serve as a common ground for much of Amarillo, setting the stage for new ideas and relationships. We believe that local is better and are committed to the greater community outside our doors, taking large efforts to give back as much as we can." Grab a cup of local coffee and tune in!
Caption: You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and cities had been adapting and innovating. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, Kim sits down with Angela Chase, owner/operator of Flora Bodega and co-organizer of the Paseo Farmers Market. Describing Angela's talents in the publication Edible OKC, the piece reads: "The inspired cakes, frittatas, and pastries served up by Flora Bodega combine years of skill with art, whimsy, and natural talent. Angela Chase is the woman behind the shop that sells her creative and beautiful confections alongside those from a variety of curated local vendors like Lovera’s, Della Terra Pasta, and more. [...] Chase is an essential member of the Paseo Farmers Market board and has worked together with them to bring it to its current success and soon to be new brick-and-mortar space." Angela, Kim and guest host Katie Gage (KG Coaching, Outhome Farm) talk about building business in a values-aligned way, the challenges and opportunities facing small business — particularly women and BIPOC founders, and the chance we have to rebuild new systems that serve us all.
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and cities had been faring in 2020. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, Erin Rowe blends history, food and culture as we learn about Ozark cuisine and the ways in which businesses in NW Arkansas have survived and thrived now, and for decades. As a native chef and food author in the Ozarks, Erin's passion is connecting people with chefs and restaurants that make up the best of Northwest Arkansas through her company, Ozark Culinary Tours. She is also the author of An Ozark Culinary History: Northwest Arkansas Traditions from Corn Dodgers to Squirrel Meatloaf — which celebrates everything Ozark, from chow-chow to moonshine.
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and cities had been faring in 2020. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we had the absolute pleasure of getting to know the genius of Ohun Ashe and how her power of being a thoughtful, intentional connector has spurred a citywide movement, For the Culture STL. From the fortheculturestl.com website: "We do a lot of talking about supporting black businesses, but provide a number of reasons as to why we can't: I don't know where to go, I didn't know that they were black owned, I don't know where to start. Well, no more. For the Culture STL is intended to connect black people with black owned businesses and events around the city. [...] Our intention is to put black dollars back into the black community and keep them there and build unity in the community. Support the businesses, show up to the events, get to know each other. #ForTheCultureSTL" Honestly, this is a not-to-miss conversation with Ohun —and we could not agree more, let's #shiftthedollar back into our local communities!
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we chat with the owner and founder of Steve's Hot Dogs, the famous Steve Ewing himself! Fun fact: Steve was the frontman for the band The Urge. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Steve's Hot Dogs launched a community giveback program called #FeedThePeople. Since its launch, the team at Steve's Hot Dogs has served thousands of free meals to people in need and first responders in the St. Louis area. What is so loveable about Steve, and sitting at Steve's Hot Dogs, is that you can absolutely feel the community "corner bar" feel. Everyone is genuinely happy to be there —and Steve's qualities of hospitality and generosity are the backbone of why!
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we learn about Chef Rob Connoley and his journey to opening Bulrush in St. Louis, MO. We also learn about how his wildly thoughtful approach to fine dining pivoted during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The Bulrush website reads: "Bulrush STL is a contemporary dining and craft bar experience. James Beard semi-finalist Chef Rob Connoley features contemporary foods rooted in Ozark cuisine. Our goal is to define Ozark cuisine by looking into the past – the origin story, so to speak, when the indigenous Osage people first encountered the immigrants and settlers, who also brought the enslaved into the region known as the Ozarks. This is a messy story. A story often filled with troubling histories – histories that aren’t ignored. And so we look at how each of these cultures offered ingredients, techniques and traditions to what melted together to become what we now know of as Ozark Cuisine." Come learn with us, what tidbit of knowledge are you taking with you?
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. How were they adapting and innovating? What new ways were people thinking about the economy? On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we sit down with Marika Josephson, Co-Founder and Master Brewer at Scratch Brewing Company, a farmhouse brewery located five miles from the Shawnee National Forest in Ava, Illinois. "Named one of the top four breweries for foraged beer by Outside Magazine, and one of the most beautiful places to drink beer in the world by All About Beer Magazine, Scratch Brewing Company focuses on farmhouse beers and other styles brewed with home grown and locally farmed and foraged ingredients. The brewery has an ever rotating selection of styles enhanced by the innovative addition of local ingredients, such as nettle, elderberry, ginger, dandelion, maple sap, hickory, lavender, juniper, and chanterelle mushrooms." We chat about the importance of local supply chains, staying true to your vision, and the lesser-seen and known parts of production and supply chain.
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. How were they adapting and innovating? What new ways were people thinking about the economy? On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we sit down with Kim Huston, President of the Nelson County Economic Development Agency and Author of "The Rebirth of Bourbon: Building a Tourism Economy in Small-town, USA". We learn about the economics of vice, why Bardstown is the "most beautiful small town in America" and Kim's strategy around economic development growth for the bourbon capital of the USA.
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. How were they adapting and innovating? What new ways were people thinking about the economy? On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we sit down with Kitty Dougoud, the Kentucky State Main Street Coordinator, who oversees more than 35 designated "Main Street" programs throughout the state of Kentucky. Colloquially known as "two degrees from Dougoud", Kitty is tapped into a vast network of entrepreneurs and business leaders that inform her programming and future visioning for how small business could and should grow throughout the State. We chat at a local restaurant on Georgetown KY's Main Street about collaboration over competition and fostering small business talent from within over local beers from Country Boy Brewing. Cheers!
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. How were they adapting and innovating? What new ways were people thinking about the economy? On this episode of The Tidbit Takes the Road, we sit down with Mayor James of Cynthiana Kentucky. Mayor James is not only this city’s Mayor, but he also owns and operates the local theatre and is a radio show host for WCYN! Mayor James Smith and I discuss the importance of main streets in retaining talent and overall area attraction, and moreover, how to create community — especially when you may have to build bridges across both race and party lines. Easily one of the top interviews on this journey. Thank you, Mayor James! Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
You are tuning into a special series, The Tidbit Takes the Road. In October 2020 Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate and Host of The Tidbit, decided to hit the road on a cross-country listening tour to learn more about how non-coastal small businesses and small towns had been faring in 2020. How were they adapting and innovating? What new ways were people thinking about the economy? This is the first of 13 recorded interviews from Ohio to New Mexico. On this episode, we sit down with Allie & Adam Lehman life partners and co-owners of The Wonder Jam - a family of brands that help scrappy, soulful businesses grow in Columbus, Ohio. We chat about diversifying revenue streams, reconfiguring company ownership, and how to readjust one's mindset on what “success” looks like. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
What is this duality? The duality of grief, and also seeing the silver lining. How can one hold that two-sides of the same coin feeling?It’s something I feel so deeply and wonder: is it a trait I was born with or a skill I have cultivated? Does this have anything to do with me being an entrepreneur and running my business for nearly 6 years? Perhaps I’ve built this skill set of duality, of living in and with uncertainty. We explore living with complexity on this episode featuring Jessica Carson. She is currently Georgetown University’s first Expert in Residence and the Director of Innovation at the American Psychological Association. Previously, she held positions at a startup and venture firm, and was a Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. With a background in psychology, neuroscience, startups, venture capital, and mindfulness, she has both a scientific and embodied understanding of the unique wiring of entrepreneurial spirits, and empowers them to develop their capacity for self-study. Jessica lives in Washington, D.C. with her cat, Cleopatra.
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The resiliency of a community depends on engagement with local and regional stakeholders. Tune into this minisode for our three tidbits on how we can build a new localized food system equipped to help communities overcome times of uncertainty.
IMPORTANT NOTE We’re spearheading a local supply chain audit. Whether it's the coronavirus pandemic or any other type of disaster, we want to know from the food & beverage small business community (1) what you need in order to weather the storm; (2) what inventory you have on-hand right now to support our regional food supply system — whether it be through donations or through actual sales; and 3) what your production capacity is for the near future.
Please go to http://shopsmall.biz/audit to participate in our audit and get connected with opportunities as they arise.
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In the name of efficiency and the advent of globalization, we’ve been even more removed from each piece of the supply chain funnel - which then creates a lack of transparency and a lack of control on your supply, inclusive of quality and cost. On this episode, we learn more about the business case as to why "Chipotle is putting farmers under contracts to prevent carne asada shortages" and the impact it has on young farmers. Tune in to hear from the writer of this piece, Danielle Wiener-Bronner, who chats with us about supply chain and her experience overall covering the food sector for CNN Business.
With global migration and pandemics knocking at our doorsteps, how are we thinking about our supply chains - who they are benefitting, how they are contributing to the health of our planet and not extracting from it, and how we have more direct relationships with the food we are consuming to know the true impact of how its grown in a healthy and transparent way. This is why we’re sitting down to talk with Sarela Herrada, the Founder of SIMPLi. She focuses on ethical food sourcing to create a vertically integrated supply chain from working directly with the international farming communities to the distribution of products to market. Prior to SIMPLi, Sarela spent 5 years at CAVA Group, where she led supply chain strategy and execution - which included national foodservice distribution for 350+ restaurants under two brand catalogs (CAVA + Zoe's Kitchen) - purchasing over 150MM+ spend and 300+ unique SKUs in various categories. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
What are you doing to strengthen your workforce, to create camaraderie and community amongst your staff because there are so many foodservice job opportunities on the table? We’re sitting down to talk with Ona Balkus, DC Food Policy Director, to discuss their latest report Make Food Work: A Strategy to Strengthen the DC Food Workforce. Ona’s provides a road map for improving job quality and expanding career pathways within the District’s food workforce. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
I always admire individuals who choose, over and over again, a life full of intention — especially when starting food businesses. Why? This industry can try one's patience time and time again with low margins, competitors entering and exiting constantly, and consumer dining habits ever-changing. How does one weather this fluctuation of emotion over multiple generations? I could think of no better than the dads and sons quadruple, Chef KN Vinod and Surfy Rahman, co-owners of Indique, and their respective sons, Rahul Vinod and Sahil Rahman, Founders of RASA. On this episode we talk about their respective business models, how they’re continuing to evolve, and how to set boundaries and wade through emotions of being in-business with your family and friends. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
What makes a product, a person, an initiative newsworthy? How do you stay relevant and tap into our cultural zeitgeist to get on the radar of journalists and media professionals? We sit down with Kara Elder, food and cooking writer (The Washington Post, Vox, Eaten: A Food History Magazine, and more!), to talk about her collaboration project - SMALL BATCH, People + Recipes from Around DC - with local artist Marcella Kriebel. We chat about the entrepreneurs highlighted in the cookbook, what trends we see emerging for local, small business in 2020, and how to craft a perfect media pitch.
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Building a business is a lot like dating. It’s also pretty much the same as maintaining any relationship in your life - with friends, with family, with intimate partners. How are we showing up? How are we maintaining respect and being mindful of one’s time and boundaries? What about just small touches of care and comfort? These are all important - not just in your personal life, but also professional. In fact, it could be the make or break for even staying in business! Everyone messes up. But those who approach a situation with humility, who have built that trust overtime, will fair the storm much easier. We're joined on this episode by Cureate's very own Director of Connection, Kathleen Overman. Tune in to learn more about her journey and tips on how to build more meaningful relationships. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.
Main Street Programs aim to revitalize their downtowns and commercial districts through preservation-based economic development and community revitalization. On this episode, we debunk the myth that Main Streets are dead. We’re joined in-studio by a group of incredible individuals who are in the fight to keep Main Streets alive — especially here in the District! — and how they’re adapting to the change in market forces and consumer demands. We have Kyle Todd and Jessica Mailander of Rhode Island Avenue Main Street, and Aster Abeje, Owner of 7 Days Market located on Rhode Island Avenue NE.
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As defined by Investopedia, Public-private partnerships involve collaboration between a government agency and a private-sector company that can be used to finance, build, and operate projects. We sit down to discuss inclusive innovation and breaking down barriers to entry with Joy James, Tech & Innovation Portfolio Manager for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. BONUS: a SPECIAL announcement from Team Cureate and an innovation accelerator program we are launching!
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It can seem impossible for small to midsize farmers to survive in this world because they aren’t provided the monetary runway that big machines of businesses are afforded. It has always been hard, but especially with the increase of unpredictable weather, trade wars, and monopolies along our supply chains - it’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage and make a living by being a farmer. Maybe you’ve heard this before, kind of understand it, but don’t REALLY know why it would be so challenging — from a business standpoint. We explore the federal policy and regulations that are effecting our businesses with Dan Imhoff, the author of The Farm Bill: A Citizen's Guide.
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What does it take to build a business with thoughtful sourcing practices in mind, while working on sustainable growth and financial responsibilities? We sit down with Dave Wiseman, Co-Founder of Little Sesame, to talk about working with his partners Chef Ronen Tenne and Nick Wiseman, how he left his corporate career to do so, and why they made certain key business decisions along the way. If you're interested in starting a fast casual restaurant or learning how to align your core values along your supply chain, this episode is for you.
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On our last episode we talked about food as medicine — for the body. I want to explore this idea of food as medicine... but for the planet. I'm perhaps making up this metaphor but with impending climate catastrophe we really need to take a hard look at our supply chains and how we can produce food for the health of this planet. We've gotten ourselves into this highly productive and efficient global supply chain - but at what cost? Today we discuss thoughtful agriculture practices and sustainable supply chains with Jill from Vitick's Switchel and MK from Open Book Farm. Jill's purpose in starting Vitick’s Switchel is to help support local farmers, the stewards of our land for the quality of nutrient rich food they grow and soil they tend to. MK's mission as farmers is to create the healthiest conditions for their livestock and plants, in order to produce nutrient-dense, delicious food for their community.
At Cureate, our mission is to shift purchasing dollars in institutions - like universities, hospitals, sports arenas - back into local, small business through food & beverage procurement. Every day I am researching the latest trends in food & retail and how this intersection of big and small business can work together. When I learned that Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City invested in a meal delivery service, I was fascinated. This is the future - our health system actually recognizing food as medicine. To explore this further, I invited three incredible individuals today to talk about this growing market in personalized nutrition, holistic living, and diet-friendly products coming to market. Tune in to hear from Lisa Consiglio Ryan, Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Founder of RASA Juice Shop; Dr. Erin Kinney, a Naturopathic Doctor and the Stress Reset Expert; and London Hitchman, Founder of Sommer Street Pizza.
We surround ourselves with stories of the “one who made it”. We become fascinated with the idea of the struggle and endless hours of grinding to achieve the ultimate goal. For some entrepreneurs, the path to success can take 1 year — for others it could be 5, 10, or 20. And during that journey, you will be faced with an onslaught of emotions that is almost hard to define. It's this inner critic voice, this self-doubt that keeps creeping up. On this episode, we chat with local entrepreneur, Myles Powell of 8myles, to discuss tips on combating self-doubt in entrepreneurship with acitivities and exercises you can do to stay clear on your vision and YOUR DEFINITION of success.
There has been a movement slowly building over the past decade around food and design that is now coming to the forefront of general consumers consciousness. On this episode of The Tidbit, we explore this intersection with Bria Taylor of Killa Cakes and Joe DePalma of Punch Digital Strategies. Tune in to learn more about their creative process, tools for design, and how to navigate complex client relationships. Really, this is a not-to-be-missed episode if you're looking to start a B2B business or are in a computer-heavy field looking to transition into a food business!
When creating a business, it's of the utmost importance for you to understand and define your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). On this episode, we feature two different entreprenurs in the sustainable snacking space who are creating thoughtful, intentional business models through Direct Trade relationships, supply chain transparency, education and overall local economic opportunity. Tune in to hear from Renee Dunn of Amäzi Foods and Wyatt Bryson of Jewels of The Forest on their UVP's — and moreover, how they are on the path to displace traditional, overly processed snack items on retail shelves and through direct-to-consumer sales channels.
We have discussed many different ways to access capital on this show - and have focused primarily on pitching potential investors and working with CDFIs (community development financial institutions). What are other ways in which you can raise money? On this episode we’re going to learn more about crowdfunding - especially as a product based business. The tips we share revolve around how to active your crowdfunding campaign and what you can do to maximize your success. In-studio we welcome David and Nadine of RevolSnax to share their insights. Revol Snax makes true keto-friendly snacks you can be excited about eating!
Who has the power to be at the table, so to speak? What are new ways in which we can build trust in the decision making process - particularly around investment and how our money moves? On this episode we talk with Allyson Redpath, who just launched Citrine Angels. Their mission is to support the growth and success of female-founded businesses in the Washington DC metro area and increase access to investment opportunities for women. Tune in to learn about trust building in the investment process, what is angel investing, and pros/cons on structuing your investment through a Convertible Note or SAFE Agreement.
Whether you’re a budding restauranter, café owner, or even possibly opening a craft brewery or distiller, what do you need to think about from an experience design perspective through to permitting and financing to make sure you are set up for success? We want to avoid as many financial pitfalls as we can before even opening doors! This is why I’ve asked Steven Sorrell of Sorrell Design to join us on this episode. Sorrell Design is a Washington, DC based design firm that focuses on defining spaces for corporate offices, restaurants, retail, hospitality, and specialty spaces such as breweries. And, uniquely, Steven and his team have also worked on quite a few Main Streets / Corner Store projects — just like Cureate! Intrigued? Tune in to find out more about our experiences.
One of the hardest pieces of the brand identity puzzle is putting into words the feelings you want to communicate to your end customer. On this episode, we pull examples from Chez Panisse to &pizza as to how you should be thinking about building your brand identity from vision to reality. We're joined in-studio with Alexi New, Co-Founder of Noted - a branding consultancy based in Washington DC - who shares her experiences and expert resources.
Have you ever desired a different way to navigate your life and career? Perhaps a source of guidance other than the advice or the models of 'success' or guidance around you, which may not resonate to you? What if you could create a new kind of clarity, and feel a more authentic connection with your own insight? These are the questions posed by this episode's guest, Allie Armitage. This is the importance of self-discovery, inner work, and the necessity of grounding/knowing oneself in an age where everything can seem like your "worth" is tied to an externality. Tune into this show to learn more about developing your own personal compass, navigating complexity in the face of change.
How do we design a life, design a business where external market demands are in sync with our internal desires? We're often fed a narrative that a business must "figure it out" from the beginning - their business model, their scaling strategy, etc. - before ever entering into the market. Imagine rethinking what it means to be creative, and the creative process, applying it to our own lives and business models. We chat with Torie Partridge, Founder & Creative Director of Cherry Blossom Creative, on how her business has evolved over the past 5 years from services, to product production and retail.
Knowing your numbers. This is THE MOST important part of running a business, and the bane of existence for most business owners. We sit down with Maryellen Georgiadis, Owner of Finance A La Carte, to discuss three core components you need to think about when starting and running a food and beverage business - especially as a budding restauranteur. What pieces of the finance and accouting puzzle are you looking to learn more about? Leave us a review in iTunes with the tidbit of knowledge you gleaned from this episode and send us a note with more topics you're looking to explore at hello@cureate.co.
According to one analysis, roughly 2 percent of venture capital funding in 2017 went to all-female teams, compared to 79 percent that went to all-male teams. We’re all very tribal beings. We seek out what we know, what is familiar. But this has an extremely negative effect when the money held, access to opportunity is held, by one dominant race, gender, or class. How can we have a diverse, resilient, innovative economy when we’re only propping up one point of view? We sit down with Rohini Dey, Vermilion Restaurateur and James Beard Foundation Trustee, to discuss the "gastro-ceiling" in the food industry and how to create ecosystems of empowerment for woman-led food ventures to break the $1M revenue mark.
What happens when you can really change behavior on a systems level, upending those traditional power dynamics through empowerment and mentorship? On this episode of The Tidbit we discuss entrepreneurship in challenging places, inspired by her recent SXSW talk, featuring Kalsoom Lakhani. Kalsoom is the Founder & CEO of Invest2Innovate, which aims to support and unleash the potential of young entrepreneurs in growth markets like Pakistan. She’s also a Partner at i2i Ventures, Invest2Innovate’s early stage investment fund for Pakistan, and the country’s first female-led fund.
A strategic partner is another business with whom you enter into an agreement that aims to help both of you achieve more success. But, of course, what that success is must be determined and agreed upon by both parties. On this episode, we explore the 4 key tenets of HOW to build a strategic partnerships with Erin Lenhardt and Sally Rogers, Co-Founders of Parsnip. Parsnip’s vision is to connect better-for-you brands with partnership opportunities. Tune in to learn more about growing your business reach through mutually-beneficial agreements and arrangements with likeminded brand partners.
Thomas Jefferson’s gardening efforts resulted in success and failure. He used his 1,000-ft kitchen garden as a laboratory, growing over 300 types of vegetables. His focus wasn’t profit or production, though; but rather knowledge. Jefferson exchanged seeds with people from all over the world and as a result, introduced new and unusual plants not found elsewhere. One of Monticello's emeritus scholars says that the garden became like an “Ellis Island” of introduced vegetables. On this episode, we explore Monticello's complex history with two academics-in-residence using the garden as an example to highlight the importance of lifelong curiosity, experimentation, and overcoming setbacks.
As your company grows and you can no longer fulfill demand, you have to make a decision: do you invest in a larger production facility, or do you outsource to a co-packer? We're joined on this episode by three incredible industry experts to discuss all of the reasons why co-manufacturing is a great business to get into, how you should do business with a co-packer so all parties are set-up for success, and challenges they have faced along the way. Tune in to hear from Matt Sebastionelli from Lucky Clover Packaging & CraftPack, and Marwan & Ryan from Maryland Packaging.
When I talk about the education and consulting side of our business at Cureate, I often say: you may know how to make jam, but not know how to run a jam business - that’s where we come in! A huge part in figuring out if your food business is going to succeed is understanding how to price your product, and all of the factors to consider when doing so. Grab a piece of paper and pen, because we’re about to discuss three tips on for determing your food cost (wholesale, and MSRP - manufacturer's suggested retail price).
We're joined on this episode by Rahaf Harfoush, a Digital Anthropologist and Best-Selling Author who researches the impacts of emerging technologies on our society. Tune in to hear our discussion around our belief systems of work, the historical tension between creativity and productivity, and how Rahaf became a Beyoncé-ologist while researching the principles highlighted in her latest book, Hustle & Float.
A topic that keeps surfacing these days is around self care and entrepreneurship. On The Tidbit, we're particularly interested in this discussion as it relates to the beliefs we tell ourselves, how the media exacerbates those beliefs, and how cultural collective consciousness norms keep us in race, gender, and/or socio-economic boxes. To discuss this intersection, we’re joined in-studio by Sarah Malphrus - the pastry chef at Rye Street Tavern by Andrew Carmellini in Baltimore, Maryland. Born and raised in Charleston, SC, she received a bachelor's degree in Gender & Women's Studies from Warren Wilson College before deciding to pursue a career in the hospitality industry. She's an avid collector of crystals, loves old cook books, supporting fellow pastry chefs, and smashing the patriarchy one slice of cake at a time.
If you’re an emerging CPG (consumer packed goods) business, and you’re looking to level up your game and get onto a retail shelf in a grocery store or corporate cafeteria, what do you need to do to be prepared? On this minisode we dicuss three tips for winning over a retail buyer. ★ ★ ★ Our mission includes the sharing of education and access to resources - and the best way to reach more listeners like you is to leave a review in iTunes. If you enjoyed this minisode, head over to your app and leave a little tidbit on what you’ve learned here on the show!
The 2018 Farm Bill was signed into effect in an unheard of (for this era!) bipartisan manner. Passage of the Farm Bill marks a watershed event for hemp, a crop planted centuries ago by America’s founding fathers - making it once again legal to grow and sell. Quoting Hemp is Now Legal. That's Huge for CBD Industry. a Vox piece states: "[This] Farm Bill opportunity isn’t just for farmers. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s lackadaisical approach to CBD has helped the CBD industry sell about $350 million worth of products last year, and experts believe it will easily hit $1 billion in sales by 2020.” Why do you think there’s such a craving for CBD-infused products? What benefits do you see hemp having across product lines? How does this reversal in policy affect new business strategies? On this episode we sit down with Erica Berger, award-winning journalist, speaker, and strategist to take a birds-eye view of the hemp and CBD industries to answer those questions posed.
What are the fields emerging in food & beverage broadly that we can begin to think up new ventures and new ways of approaching challenges that are encroaching upon us as a society? Our imaginations soar as we sit down with Jenn Goggin, a co-founder of Startle, an innovation studio for the food ecosystem. On this episode of The Tidbit we discuss new innovations across the food & beverage supply chain from smart packaging, to plastic-free products, to new retail models and technologies.
Many entrepreneurs struggle with creating tangible metrics around focused goals. On today’s minisode, we’re going to discuss the framework created by Google called OKRs - Objectives, and Key Results. It’s a system for tracking your desired objectives and keeping yourself accountable. To supplement this episode, we've created an OKR template digital download for food & beverage small business owners.
As the last show of the season and year, we discuss the framework - Core Desired Feelings by Danielle LaPorte - that is a healthier way of setting oneself up for success. For example, instead of saying: I want to lose weight or I want to make x-amount of dollars - what is it that you’re ACTUALLY looking to achieve by losing weight or making more money? Do you want to feel more confident? Do you want to feel liberated? Those are just means to a feeling - so what is it that you actually want? On this minisode, we share 3 tips for creating a framework for staying focused on that core desired feeling you’d like to achieve.
'Tis the season for holiday shopping! Which means, this is also the season where many food entrepreneurs make at least 40% of their sales for the year. If you’re a longtime listener of The Tidbit, you know that we advocate for shifting our purchasing dollars back into the local economy YEAR ROUND. But, we certainly can not ignore the impact this time of year has on our local economies. Tune in as we provide statistics around shopping local, and feature one incredible local food condiment company that is "spreading" the love of dates while employing refugee women. Meet Lina Zdruli, Founder of Dafero Dates, on this episode of The Tidbit.
At Cureate we get a ton of inbound emails from individuals who are looking to start a career in food. Yes, it is stated as plainly as that - I want to work in food. Now, the food system is extremely vast and there are certainly a lot of challenges - and therefore business opportunities - to tackle. Listeners, you are all at different stages in your food journey so, on this episode, we discuss the complexities of the food system with Alex Moore, Chief Development Officer at DC Central Kitchen. DC Central Kitchen develops and operates 5 different social ventures targeting the cycle of hunger and poverty. Tune in to learn more about how these programs all fit symbiotically together.
At the time of this episode's recording, we are a couple of weeks after the 2018 midterm election and it is also Thanksgiving week. Now, The Tidbit is a show about entrepreneurship lessons learned and tips on starting/running a small business... and, this may be obvious, but - let's state this plainly - a lot of small business owners go into business with their family members; and/or, especially around the holidays, a lot of shit can be brought up around the dinner table. On this episode, we sit down with Mike Malloy, Halcyon Incubator Program Manager, to discuss navigating complex personal and professional relationships and, moreover, how to have difficult conversations.
This season on The Tidbit we’ve discussed ways to increase your access to social capital, and how to create infrastructure and support for entrepreneurial ecosystems. We continue to sit down with business owners to discuss their tidbits of knowledge and lessons learned along the way — and we’ve begun showcasing Buyers and the opportunities presented around increasing demand for local, small business products and services. A CRUCIAL part to this equation is us - the consumer drive. The demand generation that we as citizens, as consumers are placing on these Buyers to force their hand in creating a sizable shift in how they view procurement. What are ways in which consumers are voting with their dollars? We sit down with Andra "AJ" Johnson to learn more the platforms she has bolstered to spread access to knowledge and new business opportunities: DMV Black Restaurant and her upcoming book White Plates, Black Faces.
How can we create ecosystems that build supportive infrastructure where small business owners feel taken care of and supported? Think of the base of Maslow’s Hierarchy - shelter, location. If you can’t rely on your business home to be a constant, how will you ever be able to grow? Naturally you’ll always be operating out of a scarcity mindset. We sit down with entrepreneurship ecosystem builder Dominic Bonaduce to discuss. Dom oversees Alley’s operations in Washington, DC and manages collaboration between Alley and their partners at Verizon to help the community build next-level ecosystems for entrepreneurs.
Have you ever been ready for growth but external factors limited your ability to reach your goals? This is the piece of the supply chain puzzle that Alice Blayne-Allard identified as a problem area as our craft spirits industry continues to boom. Freestate Cooperage is the only #madeinMaryland cooperage, creating heritage new white oak barrels for Mid-Atlantic made spirits. Fun fact: Alice is also the 2nd woman-owned cooperage owner in the entire United States. Tune into this live TED-Style talk to learn more about this fascinating part of the food business supply chain.
Three sisters out of Philadelphia — Jackie, Shelby, and Amy Zitelman — started Soom Foods. Their goal? To make tahini a staple in American pantries. But to start, they began with chefs. Who are your early adopters and how can those customers become your biggest brand advocates? How do you know when to diversify your sales channels? Tune into this episode of The Tidbit to learn the Soom story with CEO, Shelby Zitelman.
We talk a lot about access to financial capital when starting a business - who has capital, how can you pitch to get more capital, what can you do to prove you’re worth capital, etc. What we don't talk enough about is access to social capital. In today’s era, one could plainly state that it is the sum of people you surround yourself with. But… what if you weren’t born into a particular sphere of people? What if you just don’t know how to expand your circle of connection? Tune into this episode of The Tidbit to find out three tips on how-to increase your social capital.
We're live on-site at the Chesapeake Food Summit where we're learning about innovation in food systems change throughout this region. One of the biggest areas of opportunity to effectuate change is through procurement - hello, local sourcing! We sit down with Baltimore Food Policy Director, Holly Freishtat, to talk about government's role in sourcing food and how contracts can be written (and broken!) to better align with our values.
In 1986, Occasions Caterers started in a tiny apartment kitchen with just a few printed business cards and a small van. They gradually built a team of executives, chefs, captains and waiters who were also committed to the Co-Founders’ vision (fun fact: the Co-Founders are also twin brothers!). Fast forward thirty years later and Occasions has indeed grown but the focus remains the same: a boutique approach to full-service catering with a focus on custom menus, creative décor, expert planning and gracious service. We sit down with Co-Founder and Creative Director, Eric Michael, and VP of Business Development, Matt Sipala to ask the questions: from a catering/event perspective, what does the "everything local" movement mean in terms of new business opportunities for local small businesses? How can small businesses ensure they’re on the radar of companies like Occasions? ...and much more! Tune in to find out their tidbits of knowledge on running a business for over 30 years.
Food is a multi-sensory experience, but typically served in a semi-standard setting - or at least in a setting one is used to experiencing food. What if you took a part each piece of that sensory experience and created a new way of consuming, a new way of looking at food or beverage by getting hyper-focused on one of your senses? We're joined today by Kelly Bryden, Art Director for the Rosé Mansion in New York City and the upcoming Museum of Pizza. As you to listen to our conversation, think: how can I be intentional and thoughtful with the ways in which I am creating my brand’s food or beverage experience AND are there ways we can focus on an aspect of our product to create a memory beyond just taste, convenience, and price point. Holiday season is right around the corner - and it’s the time when people have disposable income to spend and are looking for experiential gifts. Turn your creativity into a profit.
Over the past two seasons of The Tidbit we’ve discussed the foundations of starting a business, tactics to grow one’s business, and we’ve featured some amazing small business owners and their entrepreneurial journeys. As we head into our third season, we are going to take those topics and add another key voice to the conversation. Who are the businesses that are putting their money where their mouth is to buy from local businesses? Who are the organizations breaking down barriers to entry for entrepreneurship? This episode of The Tidbit is a minisode, a teaser, to explore that demand generation and how, as Buyers committed to the local economy, you can save when sourcing from small business.
The Homegrown by Heroes program provides consumers a tangible way to support veterans. We're joined in-studio with Gary Matteson from the Farm Credit Council (the trade association for the nationwide Farm Credit System) and Calvin Riggleman, the owner of Big Riggs farm - an idea that was born in the sandy deserts of Iraq in 2003. Cal shares his story from military to civilian life, and finding a newfound comraderie in the Homegrown by Heroes program for his West Virginia farm and distillery operation.
Entrepreneurship meets food science on this episode of The Tidbit with Dr. Eric Schulze — VP of Product and Regulation at one of the leading cell-based meat companies, Memphis Meats. We talk manufacturing of cell-based meat and its impact on our future. Plus his tips on building a business without a predetermined roadmap, and how to make the world more creatively nerdy.
Drink Local. Live Wild. This is the motto of Wild Kombucha. Over the past 3 years, they've has seen a 200 percent increase in sales with zero dollars of outside investment. We sit down with Sid Sharma, Co-Owner of Wild Kombucha to talk about starting a food manufacturing business in the Mid-Atlantic, where that motto comes from, and their journey from starting in a garage to growing into a 4,000 sq. ft. brewery in Timonium — where they now produce 4,000 bottles a week for stores such as Whole Foods and MOM’s Organic, as well as hundreds of boutiques, bars, and cafes through the Mid-Atlantic region.
It takes a special team to take a classic food item and bring a new vibe to its creation. The nostalgia of a menu you fondly recognize and love, but with a unique spin. This is what our guest today has a special knack for crafting. On this episode, we sit down with Andrew Dana, the owner of the acclaimed Timber Pizza Company (a featured 2017 Best New Restaurant in Bon Appétit) and Call Your Mother Deli to chat product development, iterating with customer feedback in mind, and best practices for scaling up from farmers market to brick-and-mortar.
Arabbing is a long-standing, locally-specific African American tradition out of Baltimore. An Arabber is a street vendor selling fruits and vegetables from a colorful, horse-drawn cart. Once a common sight in American East Coast cities, only a handful of Arabbers still walk the streets of Baltimore. On this episode, we sit down with James Chase, President of the Arabbers Preservation Society and an Arabber himself; and Holden Warren, filmmaker and producer of John & James - a documentary short about James’ work and his relationship with the Amish.
Entrepreneur Spotlight: we welcome another incredible mission-driven entrepreneur on The Tidbit that is tackling a huge problem at the intersection of nutrition, dietetics and agriculture. Tambra Raye Stevenson is the founder and CEO of WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics, and Agriculture, an organization inspiring a new generation of women and girls to become ‘food sheroes’ in Africa and Diaspora.
Our brains process not only stories, but the human emotions behind them. In this episode, we discuss with expert storyteller Nate Mook the importance of aligning your product, your business with a compelling brand narrative. Nate has worked with Senators, CEOs, and Entrepreneurs on crafting their stories on and offline through digital media, documentary film, and public speaking forums like TED.
On The Tidbit, we talk a lot about building businesses for both profit and purpose. But how do you measure your impact? What are ways in which you can create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to tangibly see the results you're driving? This episode: we sit down with Mark Frieden of Crossbow Strategies - a firm that works with socially-conscious busineses on becoming B Corp certified and creating B Impact Assessments.
Do you run a small business, or have dreams to start one? Each episode of The Tidbit we talk through tidbits of knowledge around starting or running a small business — with a food and beverage lens! On this Minisode: what are parts of the process to consider when deciding if a "pop-up" concept is worth it for your business?
One of the biggest opportunities and struggles of entrepreneurship is the ever-present work/life blend. I'm not even going to say that there is balance! How does one navigate management, delegation of tasks, and empowering employees to step-up and take the reins? On this episode, we talk with Deborah Haust, VP of Culinary Enterprises at Humanim - a human services and workforce development nonprofit in Baltimore. Hear her lessons learned around management, job training, and the influence of growing a family and business simultaneously.
There is no denying that the world is changing at an extremely rapid pace. We are at a moment in time where there are shifts in power and — whether you're an activist, a politician, or a business owner — it's important to recognize how social movements get started and begin to grow. Visiting Scholar at Stanford University within the Global Projects Center, Jess Rimington, joins us in-studio to discuss a new way, a Recollective Way on how entrepreneurs can deploy new co-creative business models with shared power amongst all stakeholders.
Adaptability. If there's one thing farmers can teach entrepreneurs its the ability to adapt to forces you just have no control over. Caroline Howe, Project Specialist in the Sustainability Innovation & Urban Resilience department at the University of the District of Columbia, blends her worlds of farming, entrepreneurship, and improv on this episode. Listen in as she shares with us lessons on how-to be flexible in an ever-changing field (of vegetables or otherwise).
"If you can save an entrepreneur from one big mistake - that can be
the difference between success and failure." - Caroline Howe on The
Tidbit
Do you run a small business, or have dreams to start one? Here are The Tidbit, we’ve got your back. Each week we talk through tidbits of knowledge around starting or running a small business with a food and beverage lens. On this Minisode: what are parts of the process to consider when registering a LLC (Limited Liability Company) in Washington DC.
Throughout this debut season of The Tidbit we discussed the importance of building community-based businesses, and how to set-up your organization with both profit and purpose in mind. In this season finale episode, we sit down with Lisa Wise, Founder of Nest DC to discuss why she is investing in her local community — and we award one of our highlighted entrepreneurs with $1,000 to support their amazing project/product.
Food touches every sector. Food is what we consume — but it's also job creation and economic development, it's tourism and activism, it's history and it's current events. On this episode of The Tidbit, we explore the intersection of food, history, culture and art with AUBERGINE lead actor, Tony Nam, and community organizer/activist, Steph Hsu of The Chinatown Collective in Baltimore — and how you can take action in creating similar intersectionality parallels in your food endeavors.
Samuel Adams was founded in 1984. Did you know that throughout the 1970s, there were fewer than 100 breweries in the entire country! How does Sam Adams continue to stay relevant in this growing - more than 5,000 independently operated - craft brewery revival? On this episode, we have the absolute pleasure of talking with Samuel Adams Master Brewer Jennifer Glanville to learn more about how the company continues to innovate, stay creative and her best practices for emerging food and beverage entrepreneurs.
Creativity and productivity are often at odds with each other. How do we as entrepreneurs continue to foster our creative selves, while operating in a system that requires constant output? We sit down with Krystal Mack, founder of BLK SUGAR and BLK MARKET, to discuss our creative processes, our self-care rituals and pivoting for passion preservation.
This episode is supported by Compass, the future of real estate in the Metro DC Area and beyond. Discover it at compass.com.
A main thread that has run throughout this show has been the importance of defining your purpose, and how that purpose will fuel your passion in creating and sustaining business operations. We sit down with Jeff Cherry, CEO of Conscious Venture Lab and Shift Ventures - an accelerator and investment firm for purpose-driven businesses, and discuss why is it so important that this definition of WHY is brought to the forefront of an entrepreneur’s journey and pitch for capital.
When we, as a nation or global society, speak of Washington DC its common (of course) for us to think primarily about the government, our constitution, the relics of our presidential pasts. On this episode, we go further back in time to really embrace and understand the importance of our capital area prior to colonization. Did you know Anacostia (the name) comes from an Algonquin word for trading center? Learn more from clean water, land, air and outdoor advocate Lee Cain about how our capital region has been at the epicenter of trade and sustainability best practices for centuries.
Tune in to learn about the incredible work of Xavier Brown (entrepreneur, farmer, seed historian) and his company, Soilful City. Soilful City uses the principles of Kwanzaa as a guiding philosophy for creating and sustaining healthy neighborhoods. Intertwining these tenets with the wisdom of Mother Nature allows us to use agriculture as way to bring justice to communities, and to heal the sacred relationship between communities of African decent and Mother Earth.
The Vill-age is founded by team of young men from Washington, D.C. who believe that entrepreneurship, access to quality food, and strong community spaces are critical ingredients of a healthy, prosperous place. Tune in to learn more about how their mission —to be the center of empowerment, that not only satisfies the community needs, but allows them to take control of their lives— is coming to fruition with the first part of their vision underway.
Sponsored by:
We’re switching things up at The Tidbit for the next few episodes! Instead of talking about the core tenants of starting and running a business, we are featuring different food and beverage entrepreneurs in the DC and Baltimore Metro Areas, and the amazing products and projects they’re working on. This week? Mera Kitchen Collective — a co-op business from Baltimore that provides underrepresented refugee and immigrant individuals with entrepreneurial success through true ownership and community connections.
We're fascinated by the ways in which we can apply tried-and-true business models and structures, while reimagining them for today's economy. On this episode of The Tidbit, we sit down with Rodney North — formerly the “answer man” of Equal Exchange, a democratically owned and governed worker co-operative with 150+ worker-owners and approximately $60M in annual revenue. Tune in to learn the history of co-ops and best practices on how to start one.
Have you ever wondered: how is my money serving me? On this episode of The Tidbit we discuss a new technology, Blockchain, and its digital ledger framework that provides transparency behind transactions; in addition to exploring impact investing with guests Annie and Lisa Hodges. Money is often the arbiter of stress and the unknown. Tune in to have a look behind the curtain, and gain clearer insight into how you, too, can become an impact investor.
Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place." In times of uncertainty, whether on a macro or micro level, how do you develop a mindset of growth in the face of adversity — especially as an entrepreneur? We explore strategies for developing internal and macro, local economics-based resiliency with guest Raj Aggarwal, Board Chair of Think Local First.
What are your business goals for the New Year? Do you run a small business, or have dreams to start one? At The Tidbit, we’ve got your back. Each week we drop tidbits of knowledge around starting a small business in the DC/Baltimore metro areas with featured guests. On this episode, food media expert Marisa Dobson joins us to discuss local and national food trends for 2018.
Kim discusses the future of corner store owners in relation to the Fast Company article: How Two Ex-Googlers Want to Make Bodegas and Mom-and-Pop Corner Stores Obsolete; and chats with guest, Paul Ruppert, on building community-based businesses in the District. Paul is a 6th generation DC resident, and his family has run a real estate business in D.C. since 1889! Paul shares three pieces of advice for emerging small business owners on how to best build a foundation for success.