My Partner Part 2
At the start of each year I sketch out an editorial calendar. This month I had intended to write a post about going back to school, but my heart kept wandering back to the beginning of our spice journey and my beloved business partner, Jane.
Six years ago, we set-up our umbrella at the Lake Forest Farmers Market and brought 36 hand-crafted Moroccan Tagine tins. We nervously awaited our first customers and were delighted when we sold out.
As we counted our dollar bills over lunch at Foodstuffs Jane quickly calculated that in order for us to create a viable business we needed to sell thousands of blends. So, we are excited and humbled to share that 2 weeks ago over 60,000 spice blends started to make their way onto the shelves of 1,250 Walmart stores around the country.
With that spirit in mind and in honor of my partner who hand crafted our first 8,000 blends I wanted to share memories from of a previous post.
People often remark at the amazing partnership Jane and I have forged over the past five years. They ask us, “What’s your secret?”
It’s fairly simple.
We began our journey with a clear intention and took the time to write a plan with specific goals. We committed to creating a culture of honesty and respect, working hard, and having fun along the way!
I’ll never forget that beautiful spring afternoon when I first met Jane. She was (and still is) this darling young (ish), British mom, who had just moved to the U.S. We were both attending a social media workshop taught by one of our favorite Mom entrepreneurs, Beth Englemann.
Jane and I were both embarking on an uncertain chapter of our lives.
For me it was the zen of slow cooking. A few months earlier I had sketched out a business plan, formed an LLC and bought a domain name. But I wasn’t exactly sure what the business was going to be. Would it evolve into a cookbook? Would it feature a product? Or would it be yet another idea or unfinished dream? I knew that, given my penchant for ideation, I needed someone to help me stick to the plan.
For Jane, it was creating a new life for herself in a foreign country. She was also allowing herself to envision a future that involved her passion for cooking. With that in mind, she turned to me after the workshop and offered to test some recipes for the zen of slow cooking.
I was thrilled with her offer and even more delighted by her phone call the following day.
“Meg, I’m in Target now. Tell me what exactly should I buy.” Jane, a brilliant and accomplished home cook, didn’t own a slow cooker.
Two days later she called again and enthusiastically shared all of the ways she had used her new piece of “alien kitchen equipment.” In fact, her first experiment was today’s “on trend” bone broth.
At that moment, I knew she was the person I had been searching for. And that was that – I had found my partner.
When I met Jane, I instinctively knew she was the right person. Doing a little research for this post, I have reconfirmed my instincts. According to an article in Inc. Magazine, integrity, work ethic, vision and values are critical to creating a strong business partnership. Without any instruction, we had incorporated these guiding principles into our business model from the very beginning. When asked by budding entrepreneurs what is key to our successful partnership, Jane and I both agree that having honest dialogue between us has been essential to making it work.
We really aren’t that far apart today from where we were in 2012. With Jane’s desire to infuse a contemporary and innovative way to slow cooking and my intention to bring a little Zen to the home cook while creating employment for adult with employment barriers, we are well on our way to fulfilling our dreams.
The other truth about our partnership is that we genuinely care for each other. Our morning conversations always begin with a “How are you?” or “All ok?” For not only is Jane my business partner, but she has also become one of my most beloved and dearest friend.
Author’s Note
Jane and I have been operating across the pond for over 2 years. My day begins early with a 6:30 am call and Jane’s day ends late. It’s been challenging, but we have made it work. Today, I’m thrilled to announce a new member has joined our team Charlotte Green. Charlotte is fast becoming my second favorite British Friend. As the former Director of Marketing at Divine Chocolate we are already benefitting from her talent and expertise. Stay tuned as she helps us along side our talented designers at Retrorocket to launch our new look!
Zen Moment
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”
