Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ann Read, founder, and owner of Maddex Mercantile, located in Mount Pleasant, SC, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Our business really started in 2015 with the launch of Harvest to Highchair, a small-batch artisanal baby and children's food company. I started Harvest to Highchair because there was a huge disparity in the quality of baby food available on the store shelves and what I made at home for our daughter. I found that my daughter's palate was far more advanced because she had the opportunity to have seasonally fresh, full-flavored fruits & veggies as her first taste.

Fast forward six years, our then 8 (now 9) year old daughter wanted to make and sell something so she could have some fun money. She found a series of jelly & jam, canned veggie, and pickle recipes in my mother's cookbooks that were handed down over six generations...and the rest is history. Not only is she embracing the process, but she recognizes the difference in taste between what we are producing and commercially produced products.

Our cocktails and brines were developed once we learned friends were using our pickle brines in cocktails like martinis and Bloody Marys for more flavor. Everything came full circle when the idea came together to infuse alcohol with seasonally fresh dehydrated fruits, herbs & cold-pressed juice-infused sugar for cleaner, fresher cocktails.

Tell us about yourself

I really started because I knew from my experience with our daughter that babies deserved better than the old-fashioned store-bought baby food. And suppose you give them the opportunity to taste and experience real, unprocessed fruits & veggies. In that case, the long-term impact is immeasurable...healthier eating, reduced obesity, better choices, etc. Our daughter has always motivated me, but that motivation has evolved. Initially, it was giving other children the opportunity for a great start with great food. Now I'm motivated by watching her excitement and interest in building a business we are building together.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

There are really too many to just pick one...especially now. Harvest to Highchair not only survived but thrived during COVID. We launched Maddex Mercantile with Sweetfully Pickled and Cane Craft Cocktails that are both growing in the middle of a pandemic. Our daughter is living the principles and processes of Harvest to Highchair so much that she wanted to build something herself.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Everything falls on you. From the biggest to the smallest, it's all on you.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I was given an amazing piece of advice when I started. You need to look at success as a big tree you are trying to cut down. You don't cut down a tree with one hit. It takes many slow and steady hits. Take every day as a new hit, and if you take one swing a day, you are on your way to success.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.maddexmercantile.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maddexmercantile

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sweetfullypickled/
https://www.instagram.com/canecraftcocktails/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.