My Food Job Rocks!

Louis Edmond is an extremely inspiring fellow. He has loved food his whole life and decided to be a chef, until he realized that the chef isn’t the most stable job in the world. Then he dived into the world of food science in his final semester. Though he didn’t get a food science job, he worked darn hard until 6 years later, he applied for his masters, and now works as a food technologist at Advanced Pierre Foods. Louis’ strength is the ability to tell quite inspiring stories and he really loosens up in the final minutes of the interview, where he reminisces about his amazing week in culinary camp in high school. 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 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 Louis found out about Food Science and kept chasing it Our discussion on a focus on customer relationship when it comes to product development Why we love innovation A discussion on Cardemum and Star Anise Question Summary One Sentence or less: I create and develop new products for food manufacturers Where will we find the food you make?: Lots of store brands, fast fixin’s brands Favorite Thing About Your Job: I’m still learning about meat processing and I love learning Can You Describe The Steps of Your Career?: Culinary School, Had a food product development class in his final semester, looked into R+D Chef, Movie Set Catering Work. Hospital, Graduate School University of Georgia, Internship at McCormick, New Orleans What is the most important skill for your job?: Foodservice mindset: how is it going to be handled, used and consumed? Who is that person? Think of who the end-user is My goal: Is to develop the next biggest trend Dream Job: To be an executive What do you look for most in a job?: Innovation and the ability to grow and develop Examples: McCormick Food Technology: Plant based meats; Ethnic food backgrounds such as India Biggest Challenge the Food Industry has to face: How to transition from simple and clean to process Who is doing the best job advocating this?: Panera Who inspired you to get into food?: My Grandmother. A Culinary Camp in Georgia. Bombshell quote: If you can do anything, every day, all day for free, what would it be? Quote: Be the change you want to see in the world; Teach a man how to fish, he’ll learn how to fish forever Book: The Aladdin Factor. “I don’t have a problem asking because I already don’t have it”. Mindset by Carol Dweck Favorite Food: Bayona (New Orleans) – Smoked Duck and Cashew and Pepper Jelly Sandwich and Shrimp Susan Spicer If You were to tell your freshmen self something, what would it be?: Be more patient in going after your goals. Great things have developed with patience. Other Links Research Chef Advanced Pierre Foods – Meat Division Fried Chicken Nugget Process Ketogenic diet Fancy Food Show in San Francisco Cardamom Sriracha Gochujang Best Thing I Ever Ate   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have Julie Bernarski, Founder and President of the Healthy Crunch Company Julie’s company makes an amazing Kale Chip product and she was so nice she sent me a whole box of it!   In my opinion, these are the biggest, most satisfying kale chips I’ve ever eaten. The flavors are crazy innovative and the kale is a nice, dark green. Though we talk a lot about the product on the podcast, I feel the best takeaway advice for this product is specifically helpful if you are thinking of starting a product based business. Though the best giveaway is to love your product, also love your competitor’s products. And the more research you do with your competitors, the more of an advantage you have. Other than that, Julie does an amazing job talking about how to Network and she lists all of the associations she’s a part of. Most of these associations are women leadership and food related. And this is an important piece of advice: that you should specialize where you network. 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 Key Takeaways The secret ingredient to great food How you can improve an existing brand with your own vision How a great team means everything Why Julie’s team go to yoga conferences Healthy Crunch is focused on food safety Question Summary Product: Artisan Kale Chips, Free of all major allergens Tagline:Free of everything you don’t want, full of everything you do want Steps in her career: Registered Dietitican to Unilever doing Regulatory (food claims, formulations) to Culinary School at New York City, worked in different restaurants, went to Toronto and wanted to start her own food business. Julie started small, and gathered interest fast Best ways to network: Be a go getter and be confident on your product. Know your product and don’t be shy. Go to food industry events Women in food industry management Canadian women in food Home Economist Association Also: Always carry samples, live and breathe this, you give your sample to everyone and eventually it connects Why you should buy Julie’s kale chips: Big, crunchy, and school safe Marketing strategy: Marketing team, has amazing promotional material Most powerful marketing tool: Instagram and trade shows (demos). You get to talk with the customer Trade Shows in Canada: Gourmet Food and Wine Show Why Does Your Food Job Rock?: I do so many things every day. From marketing, to production, to trade shows to convincing buyers to buy my stuff Food Trends You’re Excited About: Getting rid of all major allergens. There’s a whole row in a grocery store that’s free of all major allergens What’s the biggest thing the food industry has to face?: Food costs are going up What is one thing you’d like to know more about?: How to scale up and be efficient Who inspired you to get into food?: My parents. They worked hard. Jamie Oliver too. Julie would like to work with him Favorite Book: I collect cookbooks all over the world Favorite Kitchen Tool: Plastic Cutting Boards One Meal to Eat for a Month Straight: A nice, roasted salmon Salmon Skin Advice for starting your own food company: Do your research. Know your category inside and out. Make a document of every kale chip in the world. Advice for researching: Google. Go talk to retail stores and trade shows. Talk, talk talk! What’s Next?: 2 new flavors (cucumber dill, mango jalapeno), launching into the US Spring 2017 Email: hello@healthycrunch.com healthycrunch.com Other Links Sunflower seeds (no allergen) Culinary School at New York City Natural Gourmet Institute Coconut Curry Loblaws Nitrogen Flush Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some housekeeping items before we get into this episode. We will be going back to one episode a week starting at episode 61 to focus more time on website improvements and writing. I was fortunate to have a young food science student named Veronica Hislop reach out to me. Working together, we collaborated to make a sort of flavor article series. Check out Flavor Investigator Veronica Hislop dive into the very mysterious world of flavors, which if you are in industry, this might be beneficial for you. Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students/recent graduates 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 R&D to 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 Transcript Today we are going to dive into the topic about switching jobs. We as young people are in a weird situation when the topic of changing jobs pops up. Especially when you have career job and you want to switch to another career job. This is mainly because well, the people who give advice to you about switching jobs lived in a world of pensions and loyalty. Is loyalty dead in the corporate world? I’d say yes, but that’s my opinion. I’ve helped a couple of friends walk though this transition and they talk about the questions like “people are going to see me as a job hopper” “ The best part is, I’ve done this exact same thing! I switched jobs and so have so many of our guests! Andrea Zeng, Tiffany Lau, Jocelyn Ngo, Kimber Lew to name a few. In fact, the people I mentioned had less than or around 2 years’ experience before they hopped to a different job. So in this episode, I am going to walk through my experience in switching jobs in a lot more detail than what I’ve done before. Hopefully, I’ll be able to relieve some stress if you’re deciding to jump ship. ------- My first job was at a granola bar factory. Then it made dog food, then it made fruit bars and then it didn’t. I don’t know what they do now. In hindsight, the job was really tough but it solidified my work ethic and skill set. The job paid very well and I learned a ton. With the amount of overtime I was working, I made a lot of money! But overtime comes at a cost. It usually means no social life, or you’re too tired to do anything. So why did I leave? A combination of things. For one, the job I applied to while working was my dream job. Something I wanted in college. Also, I really didn’t like waking up at 4:30 am and working 10 hour shifts. I think a big part (in hindsight) was my manager. Probably the tipping point was when I disobeyed my manager and left on a vacation I had planned. It was just a day, but things didn’t go very well. When I came back, I was taken into the office with the HR Manager and well, we had a talk. Basically, I was assigned to something called a Performance Improvement Program which is the scariest thing on earth. Basically, you have 30 days of constant monitoring to shape up or get let go. According to the internet, the chance of actually getting fired from this is high. Some even say it’s a death sentence and you’re just biding time. So I looked for new jobs. I won’t get into too much detail about this, but I was able to change my mindset about work and became more positive and listened to criticism. Overall, I completed the Pip program and got a bonus. Nice. However, this also showed a giant red flag: that loyalty is dead. During my exit interview, I deduced that the PIP was basically made to figure out what the heck I was doing at this job. No one really knew my role so I didn’t do much. Once the PIP was in place, they gave me more supervisor duties with none of the credit. And that was red flag number two. Every time I had a bad day, like managing an entire factory line by myself (even the maintenance program) or clean 100 gallons of hot syrup in a 90 degree room, I looked up jobs and just kept searching. People were also leaving (or wanted to leave) left and right. Work got increasingly frustrating because people had their heads up their butts. But now I’m just ranting. Red flag number 3 So I hustled a bit harder. I applied to more jobs even out of state and started to volunteer at a local artisan food shop to see if I can potentially start something (I actually sold spices there for a while) Eventually, I got a call from my current company. However, my first phone interview with my now-current manager went horribly wrong. So I pioneered the dog biscuit line with like, 2 people. Oh, and if someone went to the dog food line, they couldn’t go back to the granola bar line., that includes Maintenance. So when something goes wrong, maintenance was very hard to reach and convince to go there. And of course, something goes wrong. Let’s see, I came in at 4:30 am today and my phone interview was at 4pm. I thought I could make it right? Well, murphy’s law sliced through me and I had to stay for 14 hours fixing that line with minimal help. I had to reschedule the phone interview. Luckily,  my current manager had experience with factory work so he sympathized with me and that might have also been another reason why I got the job. More on that later. Either way, I wanted to cry that night. It was one of those days that you hated your job and wanted to run away forever. Luckily, I haven’t had one of those days in a long time. It took about 2 months to filter through the interview process with Isagenix due to a couple of schedule conflicts on both our ends. It felt like years. I was actually in a business trip learning how to make crackers when I got the job offer. My old company was investing heavily in me to lead a new line and sent me to trainings and factory work to become a master of crackers. So this is the dilemma: the company is investing so heavily in me that means I should stay? It’s a good rational, and a debate I had with my mentors. The two roads were both very promising when you look at it in a bird’s eye view. I am not sure what was the biggest reason I decided to accept Isagenix. I would be sacrificing a higher pay, and a specialized skill in return for a stable office job and not much traveling (so they say as I’m writing this on a plane in Montreal). Then I remembered the red flags and how I got that Performance Improvement Plan… as I said before kids, loyalty is dead. After accepting the job offer, I had to wait 2 weeks back in Phoenix to get all of the paperwork scanned so I was am legitimate person. Being at my old company was brutally slow and I’ve noticed some hostility on the R+D end and the production end building up. Well, just gave me more reason to leave. After a hostile email from the head of R+D, the HR lady wanted to talk to me on how that was inappropriate of her and then I said I was leaving. There was no counter offer, but my quality manager friend told me she was pretty upset. In fact, there were about 5 people who left in a two month span so the Phoenix plant has started to show its scars. During the exit interview (where you need to be brutally honest on why the company sucks… which I didn’t do) I really just said that I wanted to develop products and she realized that too. However, we did have a long discussion on my manager (who apparently got fired). My quality manager best friend congratulated me and so did some other people. The manager I worked under said maybe two words to me, and that was mainly business related. Most of the people who didn’t like me were like this. And so after that, I bought like, 50 boxes of delicious factory cookies and went to San Luis Obispo for some weird reason. I started my new job next week and in hindsight, I should have waited longer and enjoyed a nice vacation but I was actually excited to start my job! I worked in Leclerc for about 1 and a half years and now it’s about 1 and a half years in isagenix. I can tell you this: I have never had a bad day at work working here. If I ever did have a bad day, I think of the worst day at the factory and shrug and smile. The hours are nice, the coworkers are very friendly and the opportunity to advance is a lot easier than in my old job. I get to create great products and have freedom own hat to develop. I get to travel to conferences, factories, and trainings all over North America to learn how to be a better food scientist. I absolutely love it. This was the best decision I’ve ever made. Overall, the biggest source of advice I’ve gotten was from a combination of mentors and my dad. It’s your life, you need to realize that your whole life is NOT about the company. It’s about you. If you get a job offer to a new company, it’s hard to embrace the change but of everyone I’ve talked to about changing jobs, it’s been worth it. For me, changing jobs allowed me to have a much better work life balance. I also travel to really cool places and eat really good food while I’m there. The dense amount of experience I got form manufacturing gave me a useful perspective and I was able to use the skills from my previous job to become an awesome product developer. Will Isagenix drop me? Possibly. There have been instances where I’ve messed up but the great thing about companies like Isagenix is that they have buffer money. But company loyalty still doesn’t mean anything to me. I am very grateful Isagenix has given me the opportunity to grow as a food scientist which is why I am loyal to them but I have to prepare myself. Why do you think I have this podcast? So after this long story, I hope I can answer some questions in regards to people worrying about jumping ship on your current job. This is exactly the same ordeal I went through so in hope this helps. Leaving with less than 2 years of experience will ruin my resume Most HR ladies will say to stay at a company for at least 2 years. I think it’s ideal, but sometimes opportunity needs to be grabbed right away. Tiffany Lau had the same situation when she worked for Safeway Production. It was brutal! So brutal that she quit and it was the best thing in her life. Another thing I really want to emphasize is the importance of a tough job. Manufacturing for instance sucks. The hours are long, the people are not the brightest and you barely get free food. In exchange, you make a lot of money and become extremely valuable in the industry if you stick with it. You should congratulate yourself for sticking with manufacturing for at least 1 year and from what I’ve been seeing, 1 year might be all you need to jump from manufacturing to Research and Development because the skillset in manufacturing is just so valuable in R and D. So 2 years is nice, but you will know when enough is enough. If that is 1 year or 1 month, then just leave. But be smart about it, and don’t do it often. I work with a popular person in the industry and he will defame me We say the food industry is big, but it’s also small. People know people, yes. But that doesn’t really mean anything. There are many factors for you not to worry about this. There’s the good way, or the bad way. Overall, it’s really dumb, especially early in your career, to burn bridges. What I’m saying is that try to leave your company with modesty, take your 2 weeks notice and leave a great impression on everyone. Though leaving my current job after investing maybe $5000 dollars into making me a cracker expert might have been a big F you, I made more friends than enemies in Leclerc. I think. But when you move companies, you have to look at bigger things. If I moved from being a product developer at a whey protein company to McDonalds corporate, will people really notice who I am? You are young, at this stage, you should not niche down. Niching down, or focusing on one very specific product (like protein bars) is for consultants and professors. Even if you know someone from that niche, it’s so easy to just hop on to something similar and increase your skill set. You can also evaluate your brunt bridge on how him as a connection will ruin you or not. For example, my manger worked in a spring factory. Ok right off the bat, there is a less than 1% chance I will meet him at a corporate health and wellness company. However this has hurt me in the past as well. After I joined, I asked my old company if they wanted to make our bars. I got some cold answers… Overall, one person will not ruin your career unless they’re like Alton Brown or something. What I can say is that the best piece of advice I have is to just simply… be better than them. The company has does so much for me If you’re asking this question, then you just have to weigh the pros and cons. In most situations, you might actually have the possibility to get a huge step in salary when switching jobs. There is a huge debate about company loyalty. This is going to sound harsh, but how many years will you put in before it all crumbles down when they fire you, or lay you off, or new management doesn’t like you? Hopefully not long. Loyalty is important. If your company is sending you to places, or is training you to do something amazing, they are investing a lot in you and does hurt them when you leave. However, the same perspective can work too. If you make the company a million dollars, they can probably drop you because you cost too much. This is a huge gray area for me, but I hope these drastic scenarios give you some perspective on whether or not you think loyalty is dead. Should I wait until I don’t have a job to start looking? No. You are deemed much more valuable when you are employed and your stress level will be a lot less when you apply for jobs while working. My advice for this is to apply for jobs when you have a REALLY BAD day at work. When I had my bad 14 hour days, I just slumped down, looked at my ugly face when my computer is loading and started typing in food science jobs and went to town. In most situations, the state of not having money and trying to live will make your job search unsatisfying and potentially desperate. Your chances of ending up in another unsatisfying job is pretty high. If you get fired, or laid off, or you got so mad, you threw sharp objects at your boss and left, then you are at a different situation. I would contact your support network (husband or wife, mentor, family, etc) and let them support you emotionally and financially so you can go 100% on finding the next job If you have none of those worst case scenario? Just send me an email and I’ll see what I can do. This is a more rhetorical question: What’s better, being in one company for 30 years of 6 companies 5 years each? This depends on so many things. Accomplishments and achievements and the ability to transform your company or department will always give you more points than just slapping a year and what you do. However, I lean more on having working through a diverse array of companies. I think the best example I can give is my current Chief Science Officer. He’s been in several companies but he was able to create a lot of money for the company in the years he’s worked there. In almost 1 billion in value, there’s the reason he’s Chief. I think if you have the ability to connect the dots between the companies you’ve worked for and see a common thread of success and reproduce it, then you nailed it. It is inevitable that if you plan to climb the corporate ladder, you will be dealing or managing people. Once you realize that people are truly the same in every company (i.e. they just want to feel valued, and know that they matter), then you can make gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we feature Michael Kalanty, who is a man of many talents. And you learn why that’s the case. This interview is very well, timeline heavy. You learn step by step and the twists and turns between being an architecture student, chef, pastry chef, bread author, and lastly, consultant. You will learn the key points on how these happen and the catalysts that make Mike what he is today. What I love in this interview is the twist and turns throughout his life. I really dug in deep on his career path. Questions like Why did he switch into food, why did he decide to write a book, how hard it was to make a book…. And most of all, you’ll learn the best, most tangible advice on how to make good bread. About Michael Before Michael Kalanty served as Director of Education for the California Culinary Academy (“CCA”) in San Francisco from 1996 to 2000, he’d already built and sold a successful catering business and pastry shop in his native Philadelphia. While developing the artisan bread course for the Baking & Pastry Program at the CCA, he fell under the spell of yeast. He returned to the kitchen and has been teaching, writing, and baking bread ever since. He wrote his first book, How To Bake Bread: The Five Families of Bread®, in 2009 “because there wasn’t a detailed book for culinary students that was written in a student-friendly style.” The book went on to win the Gourmand Award for Best Bread Book in the World at the Paris Cookbook Fair the following year. It’s been adapted by hundreds of culinary schools across the country, most notably the Art Institute which has 42 campuses nationwide. It’s been translated into Brazilian Portuguese and is the standard text for professional culinary schools in Brazil. Michael’s track record in Bakery Innovation dates back to when the field was merely called product development. Many of his formulas for breads, crackers, and cookies can be found on grocery store shelves for clients like Pepperidge Farm and General Mills. He works with Clean Label initiatives to create healthy food choices that maximize flavor. Google Campus serves one of his gluten-free cookies. Michael is a certified master taster and licensed sensory panel moderator. He helps food innovation teams work effectively with consumer research to develop flavor and texture profiles that define food brands. As a teaching tool for his clients, he developed the “Aroma & Flavor Wheel for Bread”, for which he holds the copyright. He speaks often at conferences and seminars. His report on bakery trends, “What Is Up with Bread!”, is a mainstay on event programs for the International Association of Cooking Professionals and the American Culinary Federation. Michael lives in San Francisco. He’s taught baking courses across the U.S., in France, Italy, Germany, and Brazil. He teaches hands-on classes at the San Francisco Cooking School and several cooking schools in the Bay Area. How To Bake MORE Bread: Modern Breads/Wild Yeast is his second book. Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students/recent graduates 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 R&D to 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 Key Takeaways How Gothic architecture made him fall in love with bread How hard work and passion is noticeable to chefs The journey of making a book How a book can make a great business card Question Summary One Sentence: I teach people how to bake bread What’s the most interesting place you’ve taught people to bake bread?: Paris cookbook fair. Mike’s book won 2011’s award: How to Bake Bread Steps to take to where you are today: Mathematician to Architecture to Chef to Pastry Chef, to Author to Consultant Did you take any formal education?: No What age did you switch to food?: 26 or so What year did you decide to write a book?: 2000. The “end of the world” made him think about his goals in life. One of them was to write a book. Brazillian Breakfast: Espresso and Asprin Artisan bakers in the Bay Area Was it hard to make a book?: It took 10 years for me to make a book. I would never discourage anyone from writing a book because you can learn about yourself. My Food Job Rocks: I can do a lot of cool projects New Food Trends and Technologies: Clean Label Tips on making good bread: Make one recipe for a year. You learn how it behaves differently in different environments French Country Bread: Pan de Compania What’s one thing in the food industry you’d like to know more about: Working with Herloom Grains. Grinding grains fresh Favorite Kitchen Item: My hands Favorite Book: The World According to Garp Any Advice for anyone to get into the culinary field: We work hard, we sweat Where can we find you next?:  Going to Boston next. New book: How to Bake More Bread Other Links Baking bread in a Dutch Oven Grocery Store Delivery Cricket protein Powders Digital Scale Brown Rice Syrup Brown Rice Syrup Powder/Flour Bean to Bar Chocolate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This was a cool connection. A graduate student from Texas A and M, contacted Katie Lanfranki and Sherrill Cropper. They did a small little interview about the different perspectives between going to graduate school and not going to graduate school. I find this so cool! Not only did people get value from the podcast, but Katie was able to benefit from it as well! I love this! So Katie asked Sherrill to be on the show. Of course, I accepted. Sherrill holds a PhD in Grain Science in Kansas State. Working in product development, she makes enzyme cocktails that help the baking industry make bread. I loved talking about Sherrill’s diverse food industry background, such as the internships she did, and we talk a lot about bread. There is also a great amount of career advice such as communicating, critical thinking and networking tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please, sign up on our email list at myfoodjobrocks.com, like us on facebook,  rate and review on itunes, and share with your friends. If you show interest in being interviewed, know someone who would be a great interviewer, or would like to join our team of volunteers, make sure to email us 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/recent graduates 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 R&D to 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 About Sherrill Sherrill currently is the New Product Development Lab Manager for Lesaffre Yeast Corporation and RedStar Yeast where she develops ingredients for use in bakery applications. She received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Food Science from The Ohio State University where her graduate studies focused on emulsifier and stabilizer functionality in ice cream. She worked as a Food Technologist for Roskam Baking Company before returning back to school to study cereal chemistry and baking at Kansas State University where she received a PhD in Grain Science. Sherrill interned at Nestle, Heinz North America, and Cargill during her undergraduate and graduate studies. She was raised on a dairy farm in Southern Ohio and she spends most of her free time traveling. Key Takeaways How Enzymes are made industrially. And what makes an enzyme “GMO” Sherrill’s amazing knowledge in grains and emulsification Our Cargill internship experience The difference between whole wheat and white bread in terms of chemistry Question Summary What do you tell someone in a sentence or less: I develop ingredients used for industrial applications Dough conditioners and dough improvers Official job title: New Product Development Lab manager / Bakery Formulation Specialist Sherrill develops the blends Sherrill’s career path: Grew up in Dairy Farm, fell into Ohio State Food Science, Internship with Nestle, Internship with Heinz, Roskam Baking Company, Grain Science PhD at Kansas State, Internship at Cargill in shortning Why do you like Bakery Science?: Niche, Kansas state is the only place that has grain science Most Important Skill You Need for Your Job: Critical Thinking How Do you improve critical thinking?: Ask yourself the question first Why Does Your Food Job Rock: I get to feed the world Dream Job Title: Director of Global Food Research Take something out of any experience What do you look for most in a job?: I need something challenging What’s a big challenge you’ve had?: Remembering food law Most “Exciting” Food Trends: Organic, Clean Label, Non-GMO. We have to pander to the market Trending in the Bread world: Tortilla, whole wheat, on-the-go, donuts Whole wheat chemistry: uses big words and tries to use clean label ingredients Biggest Challenge: Educating consumers. Short content gives people problems Solution: Just talk to consumer. Share the info Who inspired you to get into food: My mom directed me to food science because I played with spices as a kid. I do the same with enzymes as well. She has true roots in agriculture Favorite quote: Jackie Robinson: a life is not important except in the impact it has in other’s lives What’s your favorite type of food: peanut butter sandwiches and cereal Any advice to go into your industry?: Network and explore everything. Do the internships and meet people Networking Tips: Go with a buddy, older people will talk to you because eof the generation gap What conferences is beneficial to you?: IFT Expo, American Society of Baking, IBIE, Supply Side If you were to tell your freshman self something, what would it be?: It’s going to be ok. Other Links Business to Business Non-GMO enzymes Clean Label 4H and FFA Lipids and Emulsification Cargill’s facility in Plymouth, Minnesota IFT Documentary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have Jaime Reeves, R and D Manager for Del Monte Foods. Funny story, I think I might have actually met her as an undergraduate. Jaime brings a ton of knowledge as she has developed products for huge companies and well, she has some interesting stories to tell. Jaime is a high energy, positive woman, and such a huge vat of knowledge. Her child-like enthusiasm is just so refreshing.  If you are a food scientist, I highly recommend this interview because she gives such great advice on how to flavor your products, and generally have fun in your job. We also dive deep into education, especially on the topics such as Non-GMO and Clean Label. If you enjoyed this episode, please, sign up on our email list at myfoodjobrocks.com, like us on facebook,  rate and review on itunes, and share with your friends. If you show interest in being interviewed, know someone who would be a great interviewer, or would like to join our team of volunteers, make sure to email us 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/recent graduates 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 R&D to 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 Question Summary One Sentence: I’m a food scientist, but I’m not a chef. But I like cooking! It makes food tastes good and doesn‘t kill you. What do you do now?: Del Monte Foods – R+D Manager for Broth and Tomato – Collage-in Career Path: Grew up in Kermin California (Ag area) went to Cal Poly, thought she did nutrition and accidentally ended up in Food Science. Masters in Food Chemistry at Georgia. PHD in UC Davis. Employed in Dallas, Texas, moved to California for Del Monte Notes on Product Developing: Football inspired flavors such as Nacho Cheese Doritos and Grilled Meat Flavor Collaborating with Flavor Houses Collaborate with all players to develop amazing flavors. They taste what flavors in what time and what magic Consumer Testing. Sometimes you don’t win your favorite flavor. My Food Job Rocks: I get to meet the farmer and the food and see all of the process. What makes a good processing tomato?: A really hearty tomato. No seeds or juice. Have to be super tough Dream Job Title: The Willy Wonka of Food. Director of an R+D Group What do you look for in a job?: The people. And tasty products Broth Processing: Concentrated Chicken Carcasses get sent to the Del Monte plant. Food Trends and Technology: Brussel Sprouts, pre-shaved Brussel Sprouts; Balsamic Vinegar, Blue Cheese and Fig combo Biggest Challenge the food industry needs to face: Educating consumers about sound food science. Specifically GMO Who Inspired you to go into food: My mother. Also, I used to create “magic potions”. She taught me how to be creative. Favorite Book: The old lady that swallowed a fly Favorite Food: Life Cereal, but super, super, soggy and then put in the freezer Any advice in the food industry: It’s a fun industry and it’s small, which feels like a family. Yet so much to explore. Advice from your freshman year: Join IFTSA earlier. You meet people and learn a lot Other Links Kraft Foods Re-man – Put tomato pastes in big totes. Reconstitute to make extra products Hanford California (has tomatoes) Food Evolution Movie Supply Side West Clean Label If you give a mouse a cookie   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode is with Kimber Lew, R and D Coordinator at La Terra Fina. They make quiches and dips. Kimber is a graduate from UC Davis and is pretty involved in her chapter at Northern California IFT’ section. The biggest highlight in this interview is Kimber’s experience with research chefs in her previous company. They taught her not only how to cook, but to taste which I think all product developers should know how to do. It sure has helped Kimber progress in her career. Other than that, we talk a ton about how to get a product to market, awesome food science titles and most importantly, an important discussion about Ramen Noodles. If you enjoyed this episode, please, sign up on our email list at myfoodjobrocks.com, like us on facebook,  rate and review on itunes, and share with your friends. If you show interest in being interviewed, know someone who would be a great interviewer, or would like to join our team of volunteers, make sure to email us at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com. About Kimber Lew Kimber Lew is an SF Bay Area native whose path towards the food industry began while watching Alton Brown's Good Eats show on the Food Network. She graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor's of Science in Food Science, and worked in the research lab of Dr. Charlie Bamforth (aka the Pope of Foam) studying the properties of beer. She ultimately found her passion in product development, and worked at both Valley Fine Foods and La Terra Fina, the latter of which she's been at for over two years. She aspires to make food products that are not only tasty and healthy for consumers, but for the planet as well. She's also an active member of the Northern California section of the Institute of Food Technologists -- currently she serves on the section's Scholarship Committee and writes articles for the section's newsletter, The Hornblower. Outside of work, Kimber is an avid yogi and indoor rock climber, and enjoys cooking and baking for her loved ones when not exploring other ways to procrastinate on folding her clean laundry. Sponsor This episode is sponsored by FoodGrads, an interactive platform for the Food & Beverage Industry, which focuses on closing the gap between students/recent graduates 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 R&D to 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 Key Takeaways Marketing woes when it comes to communicating with Product Developers Why Kimber moved away from the brewing industry How working with research chef made her a better food scientist A discussion on eggs in ramen Question Summary What do you tell people what you do for a living?: I’m a food scientist. I’m a product developer. How do you make products?: Sales and Marketing will give an idea, they will make it and they will internally try it and then bid for buyers Steps to get to where you are today: Food Science at UC Davis (transfer) --> Brewing interest --> New food product class --> Internship at Valley Fine Foods --> Worked with Research Chefs --> Got a call from La Terra Fina What’s one skill you think is important in your job: You don’t have to measure your success based on what gets commercialized, you have to base it on what My Food Job Rocks: I have to talk to every department to succeed Do Product Developers need to be artistic?: There is an artistic element Your dream job title: Food Science Extraordinaire, Food Master, Product Ninja Favorite Food Technology: Salt Reduction Techniques (different types of salts being used, and flavor profiles). Convenient hand held breakfast things Biggest challenge the food industry needs to face: Sustainability and food shortages. For example, Brewing companies. Bug companies and the perception of eating bugs Favorite Kitchen Item: Kitchen Aid Favorite Food: Real authentic Ramen. Sous vide technology for eggs Any advice on getting in the food industry: Get some culinary experience such as books, classes, mentorship. Try to shadow other sectors in the food industry What would you tell your freshman self?: You can shadow people for free. The food industry is very receptive. Go join a food science based club. Other Links See Kimber's Bio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I interview my friend and alumni Jocelyn Ngo to the podcast and we get to talking about dreams and ambitions, and the like. Jocelyn and I go way back. I knew her as a high energy stranger back at freshman orientation! Throughout the years, she was also very involved in Cal Poly, rising in the ranks of the food science clubs, doing product development competitions, even being on IFTSA’s board. Jocelyn's a hard worker, and a big part of this episode is about dealing with graduate school and work and your social life. If you choose to go that route, it’s not easy, but it will be rewarding.   If you enjoyed this episode, please, sign up on our email list at myfoodjobrocks.com, like us on facebook,  rate and review on itunes, and share with your friends. If you show interest in being interviewed, know someone who would be a great interviewer, or would like to join our team of volunteers, make sure to email us 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/recent graduates 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 R&D to 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 Key takeaways How Pilot Trials can be stressful How Jocelyn survives doing Graduate School (6 hours) and Working (10 hours) How external matters can ruin products Big insight on company culture Question Summary What do you tell people in a sentence or less?: I’m a food scientist: the chemistry and study of food What questions are commonly asked when it comes to food science?: GMOs, Organic, What’s this ingredient? What’s the most interesting day at your job?: Every day is interesting but you have to plan for it. Describe the Steps It Took To Get To Where You Are Today: Went to Cal Poly --> Food Science Club Activities --> Internship --> Leprino --> Job at R+D --> Chapman Graduate School Most important skill you need in your job: Perseverance. Pushing through months and months of development. My food Job Rocks: I get to make a product and see it on the shelves What would be your dream job?: Starting a non-profit. Or TV host of the show What do you feel like is the most important to jobs?: Company Culture Innovative Food Trends and Technology: Packaging and the Environment Biggest Challenges in the Food Industry we Need to Face: Opposition of uneducated consumers. Who Inspired you to Get Into Food?: Alton Brown and her family Favorite Book: The Alchemist Favorite Kitchen Item: Rubber Spatula Favorite Food: Mango: Mango Sticky Rice Any Advice for being in the Food Industry: Networking. Join IFT, working with your suppliers, it’s a small business What would you tell your freshman self?: Work hard and have fun Other Links Developing Solutions for Developing Countries Leprino Foods: Largest Mozzarella Company in the World Anthony Bourdain Alton Brown Andrew Zimmerman Chobani Flip Cup Steam Bags Encapsulated ingredients Kerry Ingredients IFTSA Southern California IFT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we ahem, dive in the world of sushi Kaz works at Breakthrough Sushi, where hosts special classes, caterings, and team building events where he teaches people how to make sushi. Kaz’ innovative sushi concept is awesome and he really takes the time to teach his guests the art of sushi, and then let them do it, and then let them eat it! I actually crashed in one of his classes at Miele, or Rochelle Boucher’s place in San Francisco! All I can say is, Kaz is very tall! This episode is all about fish! Seriously, Kaz loves his craft and you’ll learn so many cool things such as what Zen Buddhists eat, how to be a sushi chef in japan, why you should always be on time, and the importance of the blue fin tuna About Kaz Kaz Matsune is the owner and operator of the Bay Area’s (and possibly North America’s) ONLY team building sushi class experience, Breakthrough Sushi. With two books under his belt and a third in the works, he has become the go to guy in the Bay area for anyone wanting to take sushi classes either privately or as part of a corporate team. Key Takeaways Kaz’ unique platform for his sushi course How Kaz started his business as a Zen Buddhist service at first Why Bluefin Tuna is so important Question Summary How Breakthrough Sushi started: Zen Priest SF Zen Monastery Zen Monastery cooking Shojin Ryori (Zen cooking is vegan cooking) Did you train to be a sushi chef?: Yes, you don’t need a sushi chef certificate in Japan. You learn on the job Most important skill you can have in your industry: Be punctual. Show up. Time is the most valuable thing in the cooking industry Another skill: Be clean. Work clean. Have a clean work environment. Clean environment, and clean mind will give you clean food. My Food Job Rocks: I get to interact with the customer face to face What Makes Good Sushi?: How much heart you put into food What Technologies are really exciting you right now?: Freezing and thawing machine,  Farm Raised Blue-fin Tuna from Kinki University Biggest Problem the food industry has to face: We’re eating too much fish like Bluefin tuna. And Eel too One thing in the food industry you like to know more about: The Why of the Sushi. (Food Science of Sushi?) Who Inspired you to get into food?: the Galloping Gourmet. He did things out of the ordinary Favorite Quote: The depth of a relationship is measured by how many meals you’ve shared with a person Favorite Book: Prune by Gabrielle Hamilton. How she opened the restaurant. Very personal One meal to eat for a month: Steamed rice, miso soup, and three dishes (like pickles, grilled fish, paste) Advice on being in your industry: Be honest, kind, sincere What’s next?: Writing a memoir. You can find me at: Quora Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we have Rachel Chetham, the CEO of her own consulting firm, The Foodscape Group. She combines media, policy, and nutritional sciences to make an amazing food communication platform. This episode is a bit different, one.. because I messed up the audio, Apparently, I had to move my audio equipment halfway through the interview and recording on my end just stopped working! I panicked for about 5 minutes. However, Rachel’s content saved the day. Since Rachel’s answers were so good, I was able to edit in the questions I asked to her So Rachel’s interview has such amazingly good information. You’ll learn so many things about being a good food communicator. Mainly strategies. For example, what’s the best way to communicate to people about food? Or how can you absorb the right media quickly. She also gives you tips on the best ways to progress through your career. About Rachel Dr. Rachel Cheatham holds a doctorate in nutritional biochemistry from Tufts University, where she is an adjunct professor of food marketing and communications. She is Founder & CEO of Foodscape Group, a nutrition strategy consultancy designed to help businesses develop and market healthier foods based on global wellness trends and insights. She has been a commercial television producer, Director at the International Food Information Council, and Senior Vice President at Weber Shandwick, a global public relations firm. She is a Professional Member of the Institute of Food Technologists, and member of the American Society of Nutrition and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Key Takeaways (a lot of good ones this time) Rachel has TV experience and has helped her a lot in her job. Her soft skills helped her in her consulting company How Rachel doesn’t have to be the best at nutritional science, but rather be unique Americans want to be uniquely and exotically healthy How marketing and actual nutrition are like ying and yang Why it’s lame to climb up the corporate latter (join a startup!), but you shouldn’t job hop Why Point of View matters when reading science articles. Media is everywhere. From newspapers, social media, and conferences Find a way to line up and skim the sources you find interesting. Read outside of your point of view Question Summary Career Map: Marketing and PR, Fitness instructor, doctorate in nutrition science, policy in Food Information, consulting company My Food Job Rocks: I get to chart my own course How do you get your first client?: The network that you build up over time. Have some patience around the jobs that may lead to a more ideal job and the connects you make can be unexpected Other Links Tufts University International Food Information Council – Food Policy and Information Inherent Nutrition versus Boosted Nutrition Boosted Nutrition- Fortification Processes that perverse nutrients Food Scientists now need to make processed food healthy Pea Protein Ripple Acquisition Rachel's Media Diet (only some of them) Food Politics Blog with Mariom Nestle Center for Science of Public Interest American Science of Nutrition Academe of Dietetics Mind Body Green Food 52 Fast Company Business Insider Recommended Comferences IBIE (Gluten free workshop) New Products Conference for prepared foods Supply Side West Food Vision USA Food Matters Live in London Foodscapegroup.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices