Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Bobby Lynch, Founder, and CEO of Plant Strength, located in Henderson, NV, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My company is Plant Strength, a vegan company whose mission is to defy the status quo and prove what's possible through a vegan lifestyle. We support sustainability for the mind, body, soul, animals, and environment through our activism, coaching, and food products. Our customers are vegan, vegetarian, and anyone interested in a plant-based life.
Tell us about yourself
Growing up, I was a multisport athlete and always considered myself an animal lover, but I never realized how my diet and lifestyle choices contradicted my love for them. I was always told that I needed meat and animal products to build muscle and be healthy, and I never questioned it because it's what I had always known. But after seeing the documentary "What The Health" in November 2017, my perspective completely changed. At that moment, I vowed never to eat meat again, and eight months later, in August 2018, I gave up all animal products entirely and went fully vegan.
This was life-changing. I finally felt fully connected with my spirituality and purpose, as I was now matching my actions with my beliefs, and the idea for Plant Strength came almost immediately after making the switch. Fast-forward a few months, I left my job as the Head Personal Trainer at Anytime Fitness in Groton, CT, at the start of 2019 and founded Plant Strength on February 8th.
At first, I was just doing online coaching through our web platform and app (coaching.plantstrength.com), but the company has grown to much more than that today to include our activism and food products, the first being our plant-based meat, Chick'n Bites (plantstrengthfoods.com).
My main motivation for Plant Strength is deeply rooted in our "why," the purpose of our company. Once I connected with what it meant to be vegan and learned the TRUTH about the animal agriculture industry, adopting a fully vegan lifestyle was a no-brainer.
The production and consumption of animal products have many adverse effects on animals, our planet, and human health. For example, it's estimated that 70 BILLION land animals and 2.4 TRILLION sea animals are killed globally yearly for food consumption when we live in a modern world where eating animal products to survive and thrive is no longer necessary.
Moreover, the World Health Organization already classifies canned, processed meats and high-cholesterol meats such as bacon, sausage, and deli meats as carcinogenic to humans, meaning they're known to cause cancer!
On top of this, animal agriculture is also responsible for the following:
- A combined total of 82% of greenhouse gasses are in the atmosphere.
- Up to 91% of the Amazon rainforest destruction.
- 20-33% of all freshwater is consumed worldwide.
- The use of 45% of Earth's total land.
My ultimate goal is to affect positive change in as many lives as possible, humans and animals alike, for our collective benefit and that of future generations to come.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My two biggest accomplishments as a business owner have been self-publishing my book, "The Winner's Manual" (winnersmanual.com), and developing and launching our plant-based meat, Chick'n Bites. Both took about two years of work, and I'm very happy and proud of how they came out.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Truth be told, running a business is hard, and there are MANY days when you'll work long hours and see no return, and it'll be like that consistently for weeks and months or longer. So one of the hardest things about being a business owner is navigating the ups and downs of the business and maintaining a strong, resilient mindset even though you'll have many times when it feels like you want to quit.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Find what you're passionate about first, and then see if that passion can make you money. Loving what you do is super important because there are many times when you won't be making money, but your love for your craft, the process, and your "WHY" is what will keep you going.
- Be adaptable. A lot of people say having a plan is the most important, and having one is necessary for sure. But things rarely go as planned, and being able to adapt to an ever-changing landscape and market is a MUST if you want your business to continue growing.
- Build the right TEAM. The most important lesson I've learned is that entrepreneurship isn't about doing it alone but rather TOGETHER. Having a core group of 4-7 people who share your same passion and mission will make the biggest difference in running your company properly and will allow you to greatly scale your growth compared to doing everything on your own.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://plantstrength.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plantstrengthofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbyphysique/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-lynch/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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