Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Emma Kula, co-founder, and CMO of Stellar Eats, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Stellar Eats makes grain-free, gluten-free, plant-based and paleo-friendly baking mixes with 8 ingredients or less. A main pillar of our mission is to change the way that health food brands speak to their consumers. Growing up, my co-founder and I felt inundated with diet culture and food brands telling us to eat a certain way or making us feel guilty for our food choices. We aim to provide delicious, easy-to-prepare treats made with real food ingredients that your body will love, and we treat our customers with respect by never using words like "guilt-free", "skinny" or "diet". We want everyone to experience healthy eating that tastes delicious (with no guilt attached) and empower people to get into the kitchen!
Tell us about yourself
After studying marketing in university, I began my career in the corporate world but always knew that I wanted to do something bigger and more in line with my interests. I'd always dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur. I was always obsessed with food and cooking/baking, so I was eager to bring my creative side into my work. I quit my corporate job with no plan and ended up helping my friend from high school and university, Stella, with her meal delivery service. She ended up becoming my business partner once we came up with the idea for healthy baking mixes and decided to pivot her business and go in on the new venture together (along with our third partner, Michelle, who is also Stella's cousin!) It took us about two years to build the business up to where it is today. During those years, I took on a variety of different ventures, such as freelance recipe development and photography, food journalism, working at a restaurant, and working in food production kitchens. Although my path was undefined at first, I finally felt like I was going in the direction I needed to go. I'm so glad that I took the risk in quitting my job and pursuing my passion because it brought me to our incredible company and getting to do what I love every day truly (along with its fair share of challenges, of course!) I'm inspired every day by getting to help people cook for themselves and feel confident in the kitchen while showing them that healthy eating can be incredibly delicious.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
This is a hard one! When you run a business, so many small feats feel like big accomplishments because everything is so new, and you're truly learning as you go every day. I would say an accomplishment that stands out to me is getting a request for our products at my favourite healthy grocery store out in California, Erewhon Market, which in turn allowed us to begin our launch into the United States quicker than we had planned. This opened up so much opportunity for us and really allowed us to prove our concept outside of Canada, which felt like a huge accomplishment. We also became the top 3 sellers in our category there!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
If I'm being honest, so many! It's so rewarding, but there are a lot of hard times as well. I'd say that one of the hardest things is having the ability to push through all of the obstacles and keep going. When running a business, there are situations that happen on a weekly (and sometimes daily!) basis that really feel like they're throwing things off or causing some unfixable problem. The hardest thing is being able to keep your end goal in mind while pushing through the difficult or frustrating times and not giving up on yourself or your business when it feels like everything is in your way. Remembering that you'll always get through it and that there is always a solution really helps!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- If you have an idea that you TRULY believe in, just start! The hardest part is starting, but I think it's important to stay focused and remember that taking action is the key to getting anywhere.
- Don't give up when it feels like there are obstacles in your way.
- Choose the right partners and make sure you have open, honest communication and strong relationships with them.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Running a business is by far the most rewarding job I've ever had, and I'd encourage anyone who has an amazing idea to run with it! Growing a business that you've created is the most incredible feeling. Seeing your products in stores and watching people enjoy them is the best experience. Oh, that's the other thing - your customers make you who you are, so appreciate them, treat them with the utmost kindness and remember how critical they are to your success!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://stellareats.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stellareats.ca/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/stellar.eats/
https://www.instagram.com/kulas_kitchen/
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.
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