My Food Job Rocks!

  Thom King is probably the best CEO I’ve ever had the chance to talk to. He’s fun, innovative, and he just loves his job and the people he works with. I had a great hour and a half talk with him on my lunch break and had to find an excuse when I got back to work. This interview is that good. Where to start from this interview… whether you’re a young professional, an old soul, or a struggling entrepreneur, Thom will give you advice on all aspects of your career. You’ll learn how to deal with conflict in the work place, the touching reasons why Thom loves his job, the amazing first stage of stevia and the growth of the brand, and at the end of the segment, the power of having a good idea and working hard so that everyone knows you’re the best. Remember: I am currently recording this at my hotel at IFT. Just saying, I’ll be there until Wednesday. If you’re available, I’d love to meet you. Just email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com If you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com   About Thom King Part CEO, part personal development wonk and part biohacker info geek, Thom is a self-confessed serial entrepreneur. While his favorite book list contains many success-oriented and personal-development classics, the classic definition of achieving success (e.g., making a lot of money) is not what inspires or motivates Thom. He follows more of a “you aren’t doing well unless you’re also doing some good” line of thinking. Thom’s company has been built around the simple principle of “do the right thing.” Knowledge Bombs - How to deal with conflict in the work place - Literally the birth of Stevia - How to get triple digit growth 3 years in a row - Some methods to understand people - Thom’s interesting hobby and how he makes them - How to validate a good idea Question Summary Elevator Pitch: A sweetner that doesn’t affect blood sugar levels that became an ingredient company Favorite thing to do as a CEO: Make my employees cry with tears of joy; Be appreciative with your employees What do you think you do in a day?: Manage personalities How many people are in your company?: 32 people How do you deal with conflict?: Clashing is a function of a breakdown in communication; I learn about the problem, and get to a common ground People who get under your skin: Imagine them as a six year old child Steps it took: Thom met Jim while doing radio, he tasted Stevia, made Stevia extract in a  garage Steviva was born in 1992 2008 – Stevia was given provisional GRAS status, moving Thom’s company to Food Ever since 2015, Steviva has experienced triple digit growth Metabolic disease: Obesity, diabetes Why did you start a food company and what keeps you going?: Getting rid of metabolic disease is my why Most important skill you can have in the industry: integrity. Constantly improve your product. Integrity is a service to makea  good product. Food trends and technologies: Probiotics and fermentation Thom makes his own probiotics and uses an 11 strain fiber What is one thing you’d like to know more about?: Hydrocolloids, thickening agents Example: thai chilli sauce, jam, etc Favorite Quote: Tony Robbins: Anything is possible and it’s up to you to make it probable Favorite Book: Right now is Tools of Titan Favorite Kitchen Item: Sous Vide Favorite Food: Spaghetti and Meatballs Any Advice for starting your own business: listen to Gary Vee’s Podcast. You grind and grind and grind and grind some more This is the best time in the world ever to start a business Low entry points for validating your idea: social media and crowd funding One thing you’d like to know about starting your business: more knowledge about Accounting What’s next for Steviva: Moving to another facility. Quadrupalling the size of our R+D lab Steviva: twitter, Instagram, etc info@steviva.com --> direct it to Thom! Other Links Steviva Nextiva brand – Stevia infused agave nectar Marrakesh Spice Provencal Anise Maple syrup Masala Chai Spice DE 42 High fructose corn syrup Jim May – Founder of Wisdom Naturals DISC test – Analyzing human needs for all employees Polyols/Erythritol FDA rulings on fiber Jerusalem Artichoke Chicory Root IMOs Custom Probiotics Glendale Los Angeles Flowbee- vaccum haircut Ketogenic diet Exogenous ketones Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am fortunate to interview Steve MacIntyre, as he brings a new perspective compared to the standard guests we interview here. He is the first Human Resource professional, and the only one I know who is really passionate about his industry. Like many of our guests, Steve’s career path involved a lot of twists, and turns, and ultimately, a lot of leaps of faiths. From the army, to health and safety, to eventually, human resources, you can really feel how Steve has kind of gone with the flow in his career. As a HR professional, Steve brings some amazing advice in this interview which will help you become a much better professional. We give you some tricks on how to take advantage of networking, make the most of taking an expert to coffee, and igniting your intellectual curiosity About Steve MacIntyre An energetic, results-focused HR professional who directly contributes to a high performance culture by creating an employee oriented climate and implementing progressive and consistent people management practices that emphasize engagement, integrity, productivity and consistency. Provides sound advice and guidance on human resources issues to leaders enabling our business to attract, retain, and engage great people who are inspired by superior results. About Vibrant Health Products Our story finds its humble beginnings in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, where Brad Brousson began using his mother’s recipe to bake sprouted grain bread for guests at a wellness resort. In 1989, Stan and Kathy Smith partnered with Brad to form Vibrant Health Products, sharing Brad’s passion for health and wellness. Over the years, the company has expanded to include three brands: Silver Hills Bakery, One Degree Organic Foods, and Little Northern Bakehouse. But the company remains family-owned and operated. And the same homemade quality that began in Brad’s kitchen is still present in each loaf of bread, bagel, and bun we bake. Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com If you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Knowledge Bombs - Why being a HR professional in the food industry is different compared to any other industry - How to be transparent and getting into the culture of transparency - How Steve used networking to excel at his job - Why Steve left his first job because of the products they made - How to get the most value out of a coffee interview - How to encourage people to demonstrate intellectual curiosity Question Summary Sentence or less: Senior level HR practitioner for the food industry Why do you like the food industry: Food is something we all share. It's more intimate What is the best thing about your job?: Hiring people, and give young professionals their first opportunity Describe the steps it took to get to where you are today: I was in the army, electrician apprenticeship, laid off, food business is hiring electricians, health and safety committee, HR director asked him to take over and he loved it Required HR: Chartered Professional in Human Resources (Canada)  or SPHR (US) What should more people do to be good at their job?: Network with people who do what you do and do what you want to do.  Be intellectually curious My Food Job rocks: I get to be part of this movement Food Trends and Technologies: Sustainability, Whole Foods One thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: Marketing. How do we influence you to buy our stuff? Advice Going Into The Food Industry: Call me! But seriously, I love talking to passionate people. How do you find good candidates?: I’m looking for energy How can we reach you?: Through linkedin Other Links Gardeen Flexitarian Give and Take Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  If you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Manuscript Looking at my calendar, I saw that this podcast actually started in June. It’s felt like a long time. A lot of things have happened while creating this podcast. I met some incredible people, collaborated with geniuses, and made my connections with my friends unbreakably strong. Other than that, a total of 15,000 people have downloaded the podcast, averaging 215 listens per episode. For me, I’m happy with this. So in this episode I just wanted to really flesh out the events that made this podcast for what it was today, and how it slowly transformed. From the independent website, graduate student series, to why I am changing some of my questions, I want to tell you just how fun it was making this thing and where we’re planning to go next. Let’s being Beginnings Have I told this story before? Maybe only to my guests, or with my friends. When I first moved to Phoenix, I became obsessed with Podcasts, almost about the same time I started hating my job, which you can listen about in episode 60, which was around the time I wanted to find a way out. I noticed that sure, listening to music was fun, but it wasn’t productive. So I started listening to audio books which I borrowed form the Phoenix library. Soon it evolved into podcasts. My first podcasts I listened to often were Smart Passive Income and Entrepreneur on Fire. I’d consider these entry-level because they are indeed inspiring stories with a little bit of tactical knowledge. This went on for about a year. In maybe January 2016, I read an article by Tim Ferriss about how he started his podcast. Through his write up, I found it was pretty easy to do. For example, the equipment was dirt cheap, and the barrier to entry is pretty good. About a month later, Nicole posted the fated article about how the food industry is hiring people at a declining rate and everything kind of clicked. The lesson here is really about this simple equation, that opportunity + preparedness = luck is something that resonates with me when I do projects. If I didn’t listen to podcasts, or read how to do them, I would never had had the opportunity to work with Nicole. There are many other factors in how this started up that made it worked as well. For example, Foodgrads was a startup, so they were flexible and willing to support me in this venture. Though they didn’t give me initial capital, the power of just getting a thumbs up is more than enough justification to get started with the podcast so I set aside $1000 dollars and went to town. I would provide the episodes, and they would provide the website that I could post on. I bought equipment recommended by Tim Ferriss including this microphone. I downloaded Audacity, and then I bought a course called Podcaster’s Paradise. This course was created by John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneur on Fire. I subscribed for about 3 months and learned a lot of technical tidbits in not only on how to use Audacity, but how to structure my podcast from getting guests to sending thank you notes. It also gave me some amazing tools such as calendly.com and libsyn. I also found the facebook group they had extremely supportive and that’s also where I met Kim from Peas On Moss, who started her podcast the same time as I did. So starting that, I now had to get guests. First up was Nicole and Juliette from Foodgrads as they were the ones hosting it on their website, so it just seemed right. Then I got Trevor Fast, Brian Chau, and Taryn Yee, while on a work trip to California. I literally scheduled time to meet and record. It was really fun! I remember doing the dumbest thing while doing Trevor’s interview. I thought the room was too noisy so I thought we could do it in the office. We ended up doing the interview in a cramped, noisy room where chocolate was being refined. Editing that was a pain. So you keep going. Episode 6 was my most valuable guest being Dr. Howard Moskowitz in more ways than one. This one was a stroke of luck I had no idea how I got him on the show. I just connected on linkeidn, he sends me a bunch of stuff and I asked him to be on the podcast. That’s so cool! I realized then, that the ability to ask someone to be on a podcast is an extremely valuable tool. For one, it gives you a very legitimate excuse on inviting, and talking to people you want to talk to, and I would say about 70% of my podcasts have guests I personally contacted, 10% are from people who sign up to be interviewed randomly and another 20% are referred to by either previous guests or friends. My biggest tips for finding great guests is pretty simple, especially for people on linkedin. For one, if they post a lot, it’s more likely they would like to be on the show. There are only a few exceptions I’ve had with this. People who are going to launch something, whether it’s a book or new product, are especially willing to talk about it as well. This is how I got Ali Bouzari on the show, for instance. Connectors, whether self-proclaimed are not have their perks too. Rochelle Boucher, for example, knew a ton of people and supported me in huge amounts getting guests that came to her Miele location. I returned the favor with my own resources. After my recent talk with Alex Oesterle from Food Marketing Nerds, I found that he has a very different way of contacting. A bit more professional, which I might want to dive in the future. He goes through PR firms or PR departments to get amazing guests from the marketing department. I’ve only had a couple of guests been blocked by denying permission, which I actually find kind of, a strange and outdated practice, but I understand. But the method I use works, I have absolutely no problem finding guests and I actually realized that I don’t need big shots on my podcasts. I actually really enjoy interviewing fresh, inspiring graduates. Some recent examples like Jon Weber and Louis Edmond, who both just got their jobs, were extremely satisfying to talk to just because of their passionate outlook in life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So this brings me to another topic about what you want your podcast to represent. This means knowing your audience, and catering to that audience. Overall, the message and structure for My Food  Job Rocks is a pretty simple one: explore different food jobs, dive in a little bit of their history, and explore their viewpoints on current events such as technology or current events. At the end, we cool down and talk about books, quotes, and favorite foods. The questions we’ve designed for our show is pretty standard, but testing certain questions has made the process a lot of fun. One of the questions I’ve changed was “what is a standard day like?” I used this question in the beginning, but all I got was “every day is different!” So I changed this question and worded it in multiple different ways. Sometimes I say “what’s the most exciting part of your job?” or “what’s the worst?” some of my personal favorites include asking the process of how to make a certain food such as with Jocelyn Ngo or Haley Richardson. By diving into a subject filled with enigma versus a standard routine, in usually generates more excitement. One of the other questions I’ve had a good time playing around with is “what do you think are the important skills you need in your job?”. My favorite answer to this question is from Tiffany Tong from Canada’s Smartest Kitchen, where she said adaptability. After she did a beautiful explanation of the word, I dug deeper. “How do you become more adaptable?” I guess the trend and evolution of the questions I ask is more about “how can I make this podcast more exciting/unique, and what type of tactical and actionable advice can I give to my audience?” Next topic is in regards to why we split off from Foodgrads initially, around episode 16: Well, I wanted more control and a certain person who was there at the time didn’t want that. Eventually, they had to approach to let me go. I’m bad at assuming things, so I’ll leave it as: I grew too big for their nest so I had to leave. With a mix of disappointment, support from my friends, and admittedly, utter rage, I decided to make my own website to host my podcast. I still had a weekly podcast so I had to make a website fast. Luckily, this wasn’t just a start-from-scratch bang my head against the wall. Ever since I started hating my job, I dabbled into website design. I made my first “successful” website called Az Asian Food Review. Where I reviewed Asian food in phoenix. I had to pay for a theme dedicated to podcasting (which in hindsight, I never used that feature) and a pretty good front page function. Building the website was actually one of the most exhilarating I’ve done for this project and I am really proud of the website I made. Using my skills from Canva, and my website experience, I made a website for maybe under $150 dollars that I could use as my playground. And looking back, I used it as a playground very well. Evolving the shownotes, making a blogging section for my own personal use, and recently, hosting another person’s content made this website a proud accomplishment. Eventually, I made a deal with Foodgrads to work with them. Yes, it was awkward at first, but both Nicole and I supported each other. I actually had a huge internal debate not to do it because of an ego issue on my end, but that was a dumb, childish reason. The main reason is really, we can’t do this alone. If we’re split now, there is no way to conquer the industry. I need Nicole to be a powerhouse distribution force in the future, and she needs my high quality content to satisfy her readers. Two lessons appear from this: don’t burn bridges, and don’t give up. I could have easily been extremely hot headed and aggressive in this scenario, and let my ego do the talking, but I had to bite my tongue. It’s paid off. Another thing is consistency. If you really want to make this not a hobby, you need to be consistent with your episodes. Too many people get burnt out or just lose motivation on doing a weekly podcast. What actually happened was I liked interviewing so much I ended up having so many episodes, I had to open the flood gates and launch 2 episodes a week. I was so hard to switch to 1 but I realized that two episodes a week really took a toll on my life. Luckily, I had Veronica Hislop save me with her willingness to provide awesome content with her blog posts. So I want to wrap this whole thing up into a lessons learned scenario. Both podcasting and website design were once small interests, that later became hobbies and then actually became revenue generating. Yes, I made my initial investment back 5 times over. Some were direct requests, others were from referrals from guests. Not only that, but certain guests have contacted me for other projects and what’s coming in the next couple of years is really something. At the end of the day, the biggest lesson I have for you is to just start doing something an hour a day. It can be researching, or reading, or just gathering information. Eventually, a seed will be planted into your mind. When the opportunity strikes, you’ll be prepared. As maybe you could tell from this episode, most of the opportunities I was given was So the best place to invest a minimal amount of skill? I’ll give you two resources where you can find a skill and then have the opportunity to dig deeper. Entreprenuer Podcasts The SPI podcast by Pat Flynn is probably the best resource to find a collection of people who are making income in unconventional ways. This was actually one of the avenues I’ve used to another area of interest which ended up being a bad investment but that’s another story. You can probably find things similar to SPI by typing in entrepreneur podcast in your favorite search engine. Other search terms you can use is Bootstrapping, and built. Recently, Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale has been one of the best things I’ve ever listened to so if you’re going for it, you gotta listen to his stuff. And Facebook sponsored webinars If you’re like me, a bunch of people are now pitching their “free webinar” facebook ad on my feed constantly. Maybe it’s because I like stuff that attracts those adds to me… Anyways, you should try it out. You’ll only invest one hour of your time. But be careful! These types of webinars will always try and sell you something. It’s just their design. Whether you buy or not, is up to you. However, as a disclaimer, I buy maybe 20% of products that I see in webinars. The point in exploring different avenues is to eventually find something where you can utilize the skill. The demand or timeline will be your bridge from interest to skill. The power of having your back against the wall, you’ll be surprised in what you could get done. Have a website to build in a week when someone lets you go? Time to get serious. This is actually what I’m kind of missing now, the stuff I’m doing is awesome, but I need a sense of urgency to kick me in the butt. Apparently, it’s just my personality. So where is this podcast heading in the future? I don’t know. My goal is 100 episodes. Judging by the rate of this, we’ll be there in January. With more than 50 interviews under my belt, I think it’s time to push a little bit on wrapping up the content in a nice little bow and send it to people who would find value in it such as professors, career consolers, or whatever. I think I can put a little more oomph in sharing the content to others who might want to take the food industry as a career path. Overall I have to tell you, I’m in this for the long run. Not just the podcast, but the connections I’ve made with every guest on the show is extremely valuable and every time I see their names or faces, I remember of the pieces of gold within their interview. Every podcast guest has taught me so much about just how passionate people are in their job. Whether it’s young professional’s eagerness to learn or the startup CEOs who hustle and works her butt off 24/7 but are fueled with endless energy, those are the guests that keep me going. The next set of episodes are absolutely amazing. And there’s a lot more variety too. More food safety guests thanks to Marian Zboraj, editor for a Food Safety magazine. She gave me some absolutely amazing people in that sector. What else, more sales reps, where I go more into what makes a good salesman, and the best CEO I’ve ever met. There’s just so much coming up, that I always look forward to trying something new. Thank you to everyone who’s been with me this past year. Thank you to all of our listeners, to all of our supporters, whether financially or emotionally. I don’t know what’s coming next, but things are building and as long as we’re in this together, we can do anything.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have Shyamoli Gramopadhye a food technologist at Dairy Concepts where she solves the technical problems of her clients in the cheese and cheese powder industry. Shyamoli is actually a very supportive writer for Foodgrads and writes articles on the site. This episode has a lot of info about India’s food scene. Not just the culinary aspect, but the industry aspect as well! Shyamoli is highly passionate in this aspect and is learning as much as she can in the United States, where she will hopefully bring it back to India some day. Other tidbits in the episode include: the power of creative freedom, curiosity, and we sprinkle in a few great book recommendations throughout the episode. About Shyamoli I'm a Food Technologist in the Innovation Department at DairiConcepts. I'm extremely passionate about all aspects of food and my latest achievement in the food world is being an Elite Squad Yelper! About DairiConcepts As a comprehensive solution specialist, DairiConcepts offers an extensive line of cheese- and dairy-based powders, seasoning blends, concentrated pastes, flavor enhancers and hard Italian cheeses. With industry-leading expertise in clean label formulation and manufacturing, our custom ingredients can accommodate your specific flavor profiles and label claims, as well as broaden dairy-flavored ingredients into new dimensions of taste and functionality. Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dietitians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com If you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Key Takeaways - Research versus business and how it works in industry - Shyamoli’s experience with her mother’s food business - Shyamoli and my discussion about farming Question Summary What do you tell people in a sentence or less?: I’m a food technologist What specifically do you do?: Food technologist for Dairy Concepts. They are a support system and test flavors Dairy Concepts: Cheese and cheese powder company Favorite thing to do at your job?: A mixture of science and business. I can see both sides and see how my research affects the money Career Path: My mom is in the food industry, undergraduate degree in biotechnology, subject that talked about food industry, went to get a masters Reason why I went to the US: To study food science and bring it back to India. There’s no food innovation in India The most important skill you need for your job?: Curiosity How should you spark your curiosity?: You definitively have to be in a field that interests you. Read more, keep your eyes open My Food Job Rocks: I can learn so much about food and use it to start something new What Business would you want to start?: A farmer space where people can come see what it takes to farm. The Future of Food: The Third Plate by Dan Garber What do you look for most in a job?: Creative Freedom Is it a cultural thing?: Yes Food Technology: Plant Based food such as lentils Biggest Challenge: How broken the food system is Who is doing a good job fixing it?: Hampton Creek, Kashi, Larabars Favorite Kitchen Item: Muffin Mold for portion control Favorite Book: The Voluntourist by Ken Budd Favorite Food: Pani Puri Food Media: Food Dive, Food Rush If you were to tell a food science class right now, what would it be?: Talk to people and don’t hesitate to talk to experts The more people talk to people, the more we can dismiss miscommunication Other Links Foodgrads.com Procurement Indian Organic Farming Chef’s Table Fair Trade Chocolate Beard Wine Chocolate by Simran Sethi Endangered Species Craft Chocolate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have quite a unique guest today. Alex Oesterle co-owns his own creative agency, Blue Bear Creative in Boulder, Colorado. His client base is food companies where he creates marketing campaigns for food companies that target the good old millennial population. What’s great about Alex is that he also hosts his own podcast. He created Food Marketing Nerds, a podcast focusing solely on food marketing professionals. So of course, we talk a lot about podcasting and how it benefitted our professional lives. We also discuss what makes a good podcast and how to get guests. If you want to get started with Alex’s podcast, I suggest checking out these three episodes. Episode 29 with Jersey Mike’s Chief Marketing Officer and Technology. Episode 37, how Sooja uses influencers to build their brand Episode 38, which features Wendy’s Chief Marketing dude Brandon Roten, is my personal favorite as he talks about his viral teweets and what it takes to manage that. I loved this interview personally. Other than that, if you are interested in marketing, or branding, this podcast brings a lot of really good strategies on the table. For example, so many different marketing strategies including snapchat, Tasty videos, and choosing your niche If you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com Key Takeaways Why Boulder, Colorado is an amazing food entrepreneur place Why mellenials don’t like “Why mellenials” articles Why Alex and I love Podcasting How snap chat is used in the food media space? Really interesting discussion about Wendy’s social media strategy Question Summary What is Blue Bear Creative?: We are a creative agency that focuses on millennials in the creative agency What is the best thing about your job?: The creative work What is the worst thing about your job?: The admin work Steps: College at CU Boulder, various job and internships at Qudoba, worked at restaurants in college, went into Finance, did Finance in startups, met cofounder and their skills aligned How do millennials like to be marketed?: They don’t like to be in a statistic. Example: Pepsi Ad Why Did you Make A Podcast?: To capture knowledge in how to make us better than our job How has podcasting benefitted you and your brand?: Personally, it’s shown me how to be successful and I get to see different marketing strategies How do you usually contact guests?: We reach out to brands that are really cool (I use linkedin) What do you think makes a great interview podcast?: Being able to spitball and roll with ideas and knowledge in the industry. Have the hosts do their research. I look for tactical information What Brands are Killing it Right Now?: Justin’s Nut Butter, all of Alex’s guests, Chick-Fil-E, Taco Bell What Food Technologies are Really Exciting you Right Now?: Messaging and tracking data Tasty Style Videos Rogue Wendy’s Account As a business, what is one thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about?: How a big food company without outside help made it Favorite Book: Malcom Gladwell’s Blink Favorite Quote: Man in the Arena It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Any advice about starting a Creative Agency: Start small. Have a specialty or expertise What’s next and where can we find you?: Continue to grow. We’re growing. Other Links Blue Bear Creative Website Denver Colorado Boulder is the Silicon Valley of Natural Products Boulder Chip brand Expo West Naturally Boulder Time Article about Millennials Fat Burning Man Podcast Throwing Shade Audible Food Marketing Nerds Denver Convention Center: Blue Bear Statue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have Jonathon Weber on the show, a young professional who works at Herbaland Naturals, a gummy company in Vancouver, Canada. Jonathon just graduated but he’s worked for so many companies! He also has chef experience, and now he’s a food technologist. This guy is really passionate on what he does. If you are currently in college. Really listen to the part about how he gets internships Other gems in this episode, is that you learn a little bit about the gummy industry, learn how to hustle in college and do internships for small companies, and Jonathon and I geek out about ethnic food which includes talking about Dominican food, Banh Mi sandwiches, monte cristo sandwiches, and my spring fling, gochujang Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com Key Takeaways - Why Jonathon changed his route in food science - How Jonathon got 3 internships while in college - Jonathon and my talk about ideation to commercialization - Our discussion on a lot of different ethnic food Question Summary Pitch Question: I’m a food technologist in the gummy industry What’s the best thing about your job?: I solve problems Did you learn about gummies in school?: No, I learned it at work Pre-gel How would you tell a freshman how to make gummies?: It’s simple: a matrix, a sugar and water. Everything else can alter it like pH or other sugars can change it When finding these internships, how did you find them?: I had to cold call them and ask to join, and asked to grow together Most Important Skill Do You Need For you Job?: Organic Chemistry and people skills What Would Be Your Dream Job title?: Culinary Cowboys What do you look for most in a  job?: Room for growth, is there support? Are they open minded? Small Companies are cool because you wear so many different hats Food Trends and Technology: Plant based everything Biggest challenge the food industry has to face?: The food we’re making is sustainable Who inspired you to get into food?: My mother Favorite meal from my mom: Braised beef and beans (recipe here) Favorite Book: The Count of Monte Cristo Favorite Quote: Keep growing, exploring, have fun, learn something new every day, and above all, be yourself Favorite Kitchen Knife: My mercer Tips for sharpening knives: practice. Use a sharpening stone Favorite Food: Banh Mi Weird stuff in Banh Mi Any advice to get into the food industry: Work hard, never give up, be active, network, try new things, taste everything If you were to tell one thing about your freshman self, what would it be?: follow your instincts, ask more questions, spend more time with professors, and you have to be having fun Other Links Soda Scientist Haley Richardson Niagara College culinary and food technology Culinary Scientists Provisions Food Company Savory Cookies and Condiments Black River Juice Co – Ontario Ideation to Commercilization Pea protein gummy Plant based burger that bleeds Plant based fried chicken Monte Cristo Knife sharpening stone Vancouver Hoisin Sauce Gochujang Siracha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am so excited to have Sapna Thottahil join me today. Sapna has an amazing background. From her early days in food waste to her fullbright scholarship Indian Organic Farming, Sapna is very passionate on the current issues in food that are just starting to get our attention. With a  good heart, she now has a job as a Supply Chain Specialist at School Food Focus where she manages the supply chain for all ingredients that goes to feed schools in California. So not only do we discuss one of the most important (yet not well talked about) careers in the food industry, but we also get into a lot of other really cool things such as whether to buy local, or fair trade, the cool things happening in the school food space, and an excellent tip on how to make your own vanilla extract. hat’s the end of the show everyone, if you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com About Sapna This excerpt was copied from her website Sapna E. Thottathil, PhD is a first generation Indian American and the author of India’s Organic Farming Revolution: What it Means for Our Global Food System. She is passionate about finding solutions to global health and environmental problems and has over 10 years of experience in international development, environmental resource management, and food and agriculture. Sapna is currently a Supply Chain Specialist at School Food Focus, where she develops opportunities with food companies interested in supplying better K-12 public school food. She has worked on environmental policy and climate change for multiple organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency and Health Care Without Harm, and has contributed to several articles on sustainable meat procurement, featured in Civil Eats and the American Journal of Public Health. She earned her BA from the University of Chicago, where she was awarded the Udall Scholarship for environmental leadership, before going on to receive an MSc from Oxford University and a PhD in Geography from the University of California at Berkeley, where she was the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship. She currently sits on the Board of Pesticide Action Network, serves as a Council Member for Oakland Food Policy Council, is on the National Advisory Council for the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, and is a Health Equity Expert with the Center for Global Policy Solutions.  In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, identifying wildflowers and birds, and relearning how to play the piano. She is also working on another book. Sapna lives in Oakland, California with her husband and son. Key Takeaways What Supply Chain does Our discussion on buying local versus buying fair trade Why cafeterias are starting to cook raw chicken Sapna’s top 3 spices Question Summary What is your definition of Supply Chain?: Logistics between production and consumption Do you buy fair trade or local?: Farmers all around need our support Steps to get to where you are today: Office of Solid Waste to Oxford University in England, UC Berkeley PhD, Fullbright Scholarship to India, published a book, School food procurement What Claims do you look for on School Food Focus: Healthy ingredients, ingredient guide is posted on school food focus What should young people be doing for their job?: Never stop learning What unusual class did you take to help you at your job?: Science and Environmental Issues My Food Job Rocks: I work for a mission focused organization with people who want to change the world Food Trends and Technology: Cafeterias are buying raw chicken and cooking it in house. Transparency in food Challenges in the Food Industry: Food Waste and ironically people are hungry. Supply Chain is full of inefficiencies Who is doing a good job fixing this?: Plant based food companies How do you get on Non-Profit Boards?: It’s like applying for a job. Networking and know the right people Who Inspired You to get into food?: Consumers and my mother Favorite Kitchen Item: Spices. Spice Cabinet Top 3 Spices: Coriander, basil, vanilla Vanilla extract tip: Cheap vodka, great vanilla beans Any advice for anyone going into the food industry: Read on the sector, Check out these really cool podcasts (MFJR), Network, What’s next?: Sapna is making a new book Sapna kerala at wordpress.com Other Links School Food Focus Raw Materials Distributors Pesticide Action Network Food Miles Fair Trade Cal Poly Chocolates Value-added goods Kerala India Southern Indian Cuisine Civil Eats Comfood   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we have Dan Follese, the owner of Follese Culinary Consulting, where he goes to clients with the latest trends and brings new innovative concepts to life. Dan’s main clients are fast food companies and we go through a lot of talk about how he views new trends and his opinion on certain fast food restaurants. For example: a debate on which is better: taco bell or Chipotle. But this is a really fun episode. Dan is a wealth of knowledge and we talk about amazing resources to make you more innovative. For example, he’s told me research programs I’ve never thought of, how to communicate better as a food science person, and just his experiences as a chef, food photographer, and consultant were really a treat to hear. Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. Just go to foodgrads.com About Dan With nearly 30 years in the business of preparing food, Chef Dan has forged his own path to create a robust background unlike any others. Chef Dan brings vision of collaboration, innovation and on trend concepts steeped in classic culinary ideology that will make your consumers crave more. An extremely motivated and detail-oriented culinary professional with diverse and progressive experience in multiple environments. Chef Dan has prepared white cloth gourmet meals for celebrities, appearances on “Best of Wine & Food” TV Food Network, collaborates alongside food scientists, converts recipes to formulas for mass production, leads nationwide food trend tours, directly supports onsite sales & has created some of today’s biggest LTO’s. Having worked directly with some of the largest food manufacturers he understands the necessities in food production. A Minnesota native Chef Dan has worked and traveled his way around the globe. Spending nearly thirty years in South Florida where he met his wife. They have settled down for the simple life of Green Bay, Wisconsin where they raise their family. Chef Dan’s passion for food and beverage will translate into your Gold Standard of success Key Takeaways - The Big 3 Fast food empires - Olive Garden used to make their own pasta - Why we need Cheese Experts - The sad story about people stealing steaks in restaurants - Dan’s opinion on taco’s à Taco Bell versus Chipotle Question Summary What do you tell them in a sentence or less: I create concepts out of food products for mass or restaurant chains. I work for all sorts of companies including start ups and kitchen manufacturers Background: Chef, Johnson and Wales, Food Styling and Photography How long did you get into full-time consulting?: Most people in the culinary field don’t know about commercialization. Culinary schools are now teaching food science How to Start Consulting: Answer good basic, culinary trade information Most food has already existed, but you have to evaluate how the customer will react to it What should young people do to be good at their job?: You have to do what you love Why are restaurant fail rates so high?: The dream and glamour can go to your head Staff steal steaks from restaurants all the time My Food Job Rocks: I get to experiment with new food ideas and implement them to large companies How to Find and implement new trends: Look at local markets See the hottest restaurants on yelp and see what they do More importantly, what appeals to me? How to train sales people on new products: Demonstrate the simplicity of the product. The top 3 items comparing why it’s different, very basic applications Most Food Scientists don’t want to be customer facing Food Trends and Technology: Health and Wellness: Gluten-Free Biggest Challenge the Food Industry has to face: Food Safety One thing in the food industry you’d like to know about?: Food Science!; Cannabis in the Food Industry Inspired to Get into Food: A Restaurant Job in high school How do you get promoted?: Be someone to show up for any task asked for them. The spirit. Favorite Book: Le Repertoire De La Cuisine Favorite Quote: If there's time to lean there’s time to clean Favorite Food: My wife says pizza but I say Chimichanga Taco Bell vs Chipotle Any advice for anyone in the food industry?: Love food What’s Next? Where can we find you?: Trade Shows Expo West IFT17 I go and represent customers Kitchen Aid stand mixer Data-Central Technomics Mintel Smoked Gouda Arby’s Smoked Gouda special Snacking Innovation Summit – Food Navigator McDonalds Burger King Wendy’s Big Mac into 3 different version Culinology Cargill American Cheese Jackfruit Sunflower Seeds and Butter Pea Protein Whey protein Naked Chicken Chalupa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was an honor interviewing Susie Wyshak, author of Good Food Great Business as she shows us so many useful tips on how to start a food business and how to write a book. I actually was able to meet Susie for a brief time during my trip to the Fancy Food Show, which we talk about during the episode. She even signed my copy of Good Food Great Business and you can see it in the show notes. If you haven’t read the book and you are looking to start a food business, I highly suggest this one. It’s so good! From personal experience, I found the resources so valuable, the format really easy to follow, and the examples are superb. Other little gems in this episode includes great tips and tribulations of writing a book, me showing off my food science knowledge, and Susie’s thoughts on robots in the future. About Susie Susie Wyshak is the author of Good Food, Great Business: How to Take Your Artisan Food Concept From Idea to Marketplace and Chocolate Chip Cookie School, for kids. She blogs about trends at FoodStarter.com and offers strategy and naming services to sustainable food entrepreneurs, local food shops and other small businesses. Key Takeaways Why Susie’s book is amazing Why she decided to make a book and some tips on doing it What Susie thinks of robots Adam talks about food science and inulin Question Summary Educational Background: MBA in Marketing Tips on writing a book How did you contact people for info?: I just asked them! But I had a strong network Do you think the industry is small?: Yes, but it’s just like any industry What is the hardest thing about writing a book?: Books are linear and writing about a non-linear process is very challenging How long did it take you to write the book?: Always had the idea, met Chronicle books the following year, then took a couple years. Having deadlines will get you to focus. It’s like doing a Marathon. Be flexible and not be frustrated.Edits were mainly about Clarifying and explaining things. Thanks to her publisher What has been the benefit of publishing the book?: I can do what I wanted and work who I wanted to work with What would you eat for a month straight?: Lebanese Grape leaves stuffed with rice and lamb Do you have any advice for writing a book: Read a book about writing books My Food Job Rocks: I can help people and I have a community Food Trends and Technology: Single serving on-the-go foods What do you feel nailed single-serve foods?: That’s It – 2 piece fruits Biggest challenge in the food industry: immigration and food waste Susie’s thought on robots: It’s complicated and conflicting. We need to think through it. What’s one thing in the food industry would you like to know more about?: food processing Who inspired you to get into food?: An appreciation to small farmers Favorite Book: Harold McGee On Food and Cooking What would you eat for a month straight?: Lebanese Grape leaves stuffed with rice and lamb Do you have any advice for writing a book: Read a book about writing books What’s Next?: A new book about a grocery store, going to the Natural Products Expo Where can we find you?: Susie@foodstarter.com What other food shows do you recommend? Fancy Food Show – Winter Summer New Hope Natural Products Expo – LA and Baltimore Candy Association Specialty Coffee Association Other Links Fancy Food Show Hummus Stir – Top food pick Portable coffee tablet – tierra nueva Good Food Great Business Foodzie – Marketplace for Artisan food Pierto’s Principle: 80 / 20 rule Foodstarter.com – Susie’s own website New Amazon Store Meal Kits Chipotle Chicory Root - Inulin Food Safety Modernization Act The Joy of Cooking Alice Medrich Baking with Julia Scissors that have two knife blades Microplane Zester Coffee Grinder Spice Grinder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a great guest today as Tiffany Tong, Strategic Initiatives lead at Canada’s Smartest Kitchen, enters the scene and brings with her an amazing story about doing what you should do, versus doing what you want to do. See, Tiffany didn’t start in food. Not for a long time. She was actually in the ever stable and lucrative oil and gas industry. Her switch to food seemed easy on paper, but as we dive deeper in the interview, you realize that the journey had its challenges. I really appreciate Tiffany for sharing her story, and along with that, we talk a lot about how to strategize your company’s target clients, how to apprentice for a celebrity chef, and some really cool food jobs we found on the internet. Like… Chief Adventure Officer About Tiffany An insatiable learner, Tiffany's background ranges from supply chain management and organizational change management in the oil and gas industry to food media. To compliment her Bachelor of Commerce in Business Process Management, Tiffany received a Culinary Arts diploma from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. As the Food Media Developer for one of Canada's best-known chefs, she managed the production of two cookbooks, including the recipe development. As the newest member of the Canada's Smartest Kitchen team, Tiffany brings a unique blend of business and culinary experience combined with creativity and energy. About Canada's Smartest Kitchen For food companies of all sizes, Canada’s Smartest Kitchen’s team of chefs and scientists develop customized solutions to create better tasting food products tested by consumers. Their proprietary SMART Advantage Process for food product development supports startups and multinationals alike with a customizable suite of services that can inject value at any stage in a product’s pathway to market.  Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students and employers with a broader mission to attract and retain people to a meaningful career in food. From Food Scientists to Farmers, Chefs to Plant Managers, QA Technicians to Dieticians, or Marketing and Sales, no matter what your passion--there's something for everyone in Food—and they will help you find it. Join FoodGrads for support, mentorship and guidance to start your career. You’ll see an amazing new website in Spring 2017. Just go to foodgrads.com That’s the end of the show everyone, if you like what you heard, like us on facebook or set a review on itunes. It helps wonders. If you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the podcast, don’t be afraid to email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com Key Takeaways How Tiffany rebranded the company and found out their 4 major client bases How volunteering landed her a gig with a celebrity chef Tiffany’s great resources for food tech and food jobs Question Summary One Sentence or less: I have a very fancy title Title: Strategic Initiatives Lead at Canada’s Smartest Kitchen How do people visit you?: Referrals, website What does a Strategic Lead do?: Big ticket items such as funding applications, rebranding, service line extensions and expansions Seafood companies Functional Foods Innovative Ingredient Suppliers Artisan Producers Career Timeline: Business Bachelors of Commerce at University of Calgary, to Supply Chain Oil and Gas, then organizational change management Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, to culinary arts, Moved to the Island to apprentice with Chef Michael Smith as a food media developer, How did you apprentice with Chef Michael Smith?: I found a post on the internet. And I volunteered at a trade show with a TV personality. Most Important Skill for your job?: Adaptability. There is something new every day How do you become more adaptable?: The ability to be ok with not knowing. Be ok with the uncomfortable and come in with a fresh set of eyes. Worst Thing You’ve Tasted In Your Job: Bugs Best Thing You’ve Tasted In Your Job: Prime Rib Dream Job Title: Not really a job title, but opportunities. What Do You Think Makes a Good Job?: Good learning opportunity and to be involved in everything Food Technologies: Food and Future Collab Biggest Challenge: Our Food System Who Inspired you to get into food?: I’ve always loved food. The people who supported me were my parents and partner Favorite Quote: Henry David Thoreau Quotes. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. What does that mean to you?: Dream big Favorite Food: Japanese food, Chinese food, Pizza, Bahn Mi Advice for anyone in your field?: Taste everything, do it with an open mind If you were to tell yourself something in the past: Trust your gut. The right thing to do versus what you love to do Other Links Bluechip – big clients Good Food Jobs Website Chief Adventure Officer Omnivore's Dilemma Mike Lee – Future Earth 3 sisters Corn, Squash, Beans Pulses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices