Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Janelle Jordan, founder of Fusion Fit Foods™, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

At Fusion Fit Foods, our vision is to re-imagine what mainstream, healthy snacks look and taste like: our organic protein bites called Proteinelicious are fused with a hybrid of the Caribbean and Asian flavours. Elevated with superfood ingredients and immune-friendly herbs, designed not only to help functionally adapt to internal and external stressors but also to do it in the most fun, healthy, and uniquely tastiest way possible! Because you’re not only what you eat, but also what you absorb, my ultimate goal is for snackers to feel good about indulging in our fusion cuisine snack foods.

Tell us about yourself

Honestly, never did I dream of or think I would become an entrepreneur. As a nationally certified personal trainer for more than a decade, the initial motivation to start my business two years ago was (and still is) is to help my fitness and nutrition coaching clients to have and choose healthier snacking solutions they can feel good about, without feeling deprived of experiencing tasty foods! Healthy comfort snack foods can coexist! :)

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Overcoming the dreaded “imposter syndrome” as an academic scholar and corporate professional turned first-time food start-up founder who started something from nothing. Other than relying largely on my passion for helping people and prior education and professional experience as a fitness health and nutrition coach.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

While it’s true that you are responsible for the success or failure of your business, failure is ultimately inherent in your success. Making mistakes is part of the process, and for me, that was a personal hurdle I had to overcome. Acceptance of this, while also not getting held back by a fixed mindset (because we tend to convince ourselves, within in our inner mind, it’s safer to stay and play small to avoid potential failure), is a lesson I’ve learned. Still, I continue to learn to this day from time to time. Yet, “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” is the only option if you want to see success within you and your business.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Entrepreneurship or being a solopreneur can be an isolated experience at times, so surrounding yourself with a supportive family, friends, and professional associations who believe in you and your vision as you start your venture is vital for those tougher days you'll experience throughout your entrepreneurial journey.
  2. Know your key financial numbers of your business. Even if you decide to outsource or hire a professional (because you're "not a numbers person"), it's absolutely critical to have a firm grasp of your business's overall financial health. To effectively have this knowledge doubles as an effective sales tool that will give you the confidence to drive your business forward, whether to make key, milestone decisions, attract potential investors and funding partners, or to expand your business.
  3. Never give up and never give in! As the timeless, influential American author Napoleon Hill once eloquently said, "whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve!"

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Thank you for creating this initiative to inspire and re-inspire small business owners by featuring them on your platform while allowing us to pay it forward to suggest other entrepreneurs for you to feature and collectively support, especially during these times! :)

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.fusionfitfoods.com/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/fusionfitfoodsTO
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fusionfitfoods/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janellesimonejordan/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.