My Food Job Rocks!

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

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