Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jamie Poe, Co-Owner of Poe & Co. Folk Foods, located in Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Poe & Co. Folk Foods is a line of chef-created plant-based, just-add-water camping food. We reimagined what dried camping food could look and taste like, making packing easy. Our food is made for camping adventurers who don't want to sacrifice taste.
Tell us about yourself
My background is in the culinary world. I trained at the Culinary Institute of America, graduated in 2005, and cooked in NYC at Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern. I then spent over a decade as a private chef until starting a boutique catering and meal delivery business with my husband, who is also a vet of the industry. We started our catering business when I was pregnant with our first child, and we needed to figure out how two chefs could have a career and a family.
Fast forward, and we launched Folk Foods in December 2022, after four years of talking about it. We wanted to merge our love of the outdoors with our love of food, and we are excited about the new education we're getting from running a CPG business vs. a service business. I'm motivated each day by the life we've designed for ourselves. We've figured out a way to remain in the food industry with two small kids while waking up each day in the driver's seat.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The reputation we've been told we have from clients, employees, vendors, and strangers.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
There are many times that we have to do things we don't feel like doing.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Be friendly. It's a total life hack.
- Try to make things easy for others.
- Done is better than perfect.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://folk-foods.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poeandcofolkfoods/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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