Food Business Success® with Sari Kimbell

Ep #252 Cooking Up a New Chapter with Authenticity & Intentionality with Susie Veech (guest host)

• Sari Kimbell • Episode 252

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Last November Susie was a guest on the podcast sharing her decision to close the main part of her meal delivery business. It was a challenging time that had a huge roller coaster of emotions from grief, failure, awe and gratitude. Susie and I continued our 1:1 coaching sessions as she moved through the reinvention process. 

She has been working on a new part of her business and as we set a launch date, I challenged her to create a solo podcast episode sharing her journey to restart and how she is doing it differently. As always, I appreciate Susie's candor and humor as she shares her latest adventure as an entrepreneur. 

As of airing this episode, she is 54% of the way to her goal and you can support her at http://wellroundedmeals.net anytime with a cookbook purchase. The pre-sale is through August 4, 2025.

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Brand new training just dropped 🧨 and it's FREE! Get the three-part video series: 3 Ways to Sell → click here ←

Pick up your copy of "Key Ingredients" on Amazon here.

Check out my YouTube channel at www.foodbiz.tube for how to videos to start and grow a packaged food business.

When you are ready to make the leap, get the support and accountability you need to create a beautiful business!

Sari  0:00  
I am so excited for you guys to listen to this podcast. I invited Susie Veech of Well Rounded Meals to come on and be a guest host for the podcast while I am taking a break. And she sent me over the episode, and it was so so good. And I just want to acknowledge her bravery, both of doing video and audio form. It is not easy, and she did an incredible job. I really, I was, like, filled with pride and some tears of like, oh, like, Mama Bear, tears of how far she's come, and hearing her story, and she's going to share with you how she went from closing her business that you could listen to in Episode 221, back from last year in November to now relaunching, reinventing herself and cooking up something amazing that she's doing with intentionality and with so much more authenticity and really staying connected to her true self and her why. So it's a really powerful episode. Thank you, Susie, for doing this and for sharing with us your latest project. I do want to encourage you guys to support her, if you feel moved to do so. And as she is launching, pre sale her cookbook, I'm really excited to let you know that since the recording of this and she has launched, that she's already a third of the way to her goal. And it's not easy to put something out into the world that's kind of been your baby, and you just don't know. Are people going to buy this? Are people going to receive this? Are they really going to want to support me? And it's just been such a testament to her and to her community, and to everybody, all the entrepreneurs who love supporting other entrepreneurs. It's just an incredible experience when you are willing to be vulnerable and to put something out there in the world. So all the details, if you'd like to pre order or purchase, depending on when you're listening to this, are going to be in the show notes so you can go grab her cookbook. And I'm really excited for you to listen to this episode, so stay tuned. 

Sari  2:14  
Welcome to your Food Business Success. This podcast is for early stage entrepreneurs in the packaged food industry ready to finally turn that delicious idea into reality. I'm your host, Sari Kimbell. I have guided hundreds of food brand founders to success as an industry expert and business coach, and it's got to be fun. In this podcast, I share with you mindset tools to become a true entrepreneur and run your business like a boss, interviews with industry experts to help you understand the business you are actually in, and food founder journey so you can learn what worked and didn't work and not feel so alone in your own journey. Now let's jump in!

Susie  3:01  
Welcome back to the Food Business Success podcast. I'm your guest host, Susie Veech, the sarcastic brain behind Well Rounded Meals, and today, your temporary tour guide while Sari is off gallivanting through France, living her best croissant filled life. I've been on my podcast a few times before, for those of you who have maybe missed, the last episode I was on, it was about ending your business like a CEO. So I shut down a good part of Well Rounded Meals. I talked about scaling that business that I accidentally started navigating a market downturn and then eventually shutting down the biggest part of the business with more tears than I'm probably pressed to admit. But honestly, I really loved that send off and that opportunity to talk about that here. But this time I'm here to talk about my new project. I took all the recipes that I created with Well Rounded Meals, and just yesterday, launched the pre sale of my brand new cookbook, Well Rounded and Slightly Panicked, Real Parents Guide to Dinner That Doesn't Suck, that contains all the recipes I created with Well Rounded Meals and then a spice blend to go along with it, to be completely real, because that's my thing. Recording this podcast episodes like the only reason I have got my life together to get the launch done. When I had my last coaching call with Sari, we kind of figured out that I'm someone that needs a deadline to get anything done. And she got that little twinkle in her eye and was like, hey, maybe you should record a guest podcast, put a deadline on yourself, and I almost threw up a little bit. I still want to throw up a little bit now, and I'm not really a nervous person. And if I've learned anything from this podcast and Sari, it's that if you want to throw up, you're probably moving in the right direction. So anyway, today I want to talk about the journey from closing one chapter to another, and I'm going to kind of hit on three major things, redefining success, which was kind of a little bit of a theme of the last one, but what that means to me now, six months later, creativity, and how I'm letting it sort of run wild with this project, and then alignment and doing things a little differently, and how this time, I'm doing things even more my way and on purpose. So to quote Sari, let's jump in! 

Susie  5:29  
So I said earlier, when I was last on the podcast, I started about, talked about accidentally starting a business like truly, I was just trying to feed some people during the pandemic in my community, and the next thing I knew, I was running a full blown business selling 15,000 freezer meals to homes across Baltimore and outwardly, it was pretty dang successful to scale a business from zero to six figures in two and a half years. It's pretty good for most people, but I really feel like that version, specifically talking about figures, is very metrics focused success, and there's a lot of chaotic energy behind it, honestly, especially towards the end, when I hit that consumer wall, and, you know, the pandemic urgency around the meals faded. I kind of realized I was running myself into the ground just to keep up with those metrics, the way that I was supposed to grow, and how what the business was supposed to do and behave like. So here we are, a little older, a little wiser, slightly more unhinged, if you will, and genuinely still figuring out what success means this time around with this new launch. But you know, I've got, speaking of older and wiser, publishing a book was always on my list of I want to do this before I turn 40, and that's next November. Yesterday, an exciting milestone is to push launch on the pre sale. It feels a little weird to be doing something like this on purpose, given how Well Rounded started like the last time I truly built this in the air, and here I am pre selling a book with a fully fleshed out marketing plan, a sales promo and a market like a three week long marketing plan, and the energy is a lot less chaotic, rather than my first time in business. What is consistent between this time and last time is my why. Before I was feeding a population just like me during a really scary time for a lot of us, and I just wanted to take something off their plate, and it felt really good to do that. It felt really awesome during 2021 and or all of 2020, and 2021, I wanted to keep that good feeling moving into this space as well. I'm not writing this to be like a New York Times bestseller or land a deal with a publisher for any future books. I'm truly writing it because it felt like the next right thing for me. I'm writing it for all the people that love my meals who needed easy, allergen free dinner ideas that didn't taste like garbage. I'm writing it for the burnt out and slightly panicked to call back to the title and over scheduled humans of the world that are like, ah, I forgot to prep dinner again, or I don't have this ingredient again, but I'm writing it for me too, not necessarily to prove anything, but to build and do something that feels right, that takes the lessons from last time and creates this next time a little easier and something that really doesn't sacrifice myself in the process, because last time, towards the end, I definitely felt like I was losing parts of myself and my family and what I got into it for. So it's still pretty early, but I'm going to really try to stay grounded in this feeling of being authentic and letting my freak flag fly and not being so obsessed with the metrics. I'm not going to pretend to be anything I'm not, and that, in and of itself, feels pretty successful, even just for the beginning of this second chapter. So harkening back a little bit, I guess you can say that we've kind of graduated a little from building the plan in the air. I didn't just launch this spice blend in this pre sale for this book, cookbook with nothing written. I have a plan behind it. I'm a little more spicy with it being a little bit more myself. I was kind of myself before, but this time is real special, and hopefully this time there are a few less panic attacks, tears crying over the bank account, and now it's time to move into the next chapter. Literally, it's a cookbook, a spice line and a whole lot of what if we just had fun? This is where we're going to talk a little bit about the creativity. And how that's really special. So let's start with the cookbook. It isn't your average cookbook. There's no pastel, pretty Pinterest photos of me gracefully zesting a lemon, as you'll see on the cover photo, I'm hiding behind smoked ribs. There's no love letter to kale in the intro or the beauty of like all the different colors of the rainbow and vegetables. But what it does have is my voice, which is sarcastic and irreverent and silly recipes that are actually doable on a Tuesday at 5:30pm when your kids are melting down and screaming about how they don't want the dinner that you spent two hours on, and tips from someone who made 1000s of meals for actual people with actual dietary needs. These are all allergen free. They made them when they were top eight. I know it's top nine now most of them are still top nine, free, full protein and really good for you. These are recipes that worked and sold over and over again, the ones that got people to text me things like, I didn't cry at dinner this week, or my kid didn't gag. So that's a win. Thanks. The same meals that held up after being frozen, thawed and thrown into a crock pot and still tasted really good, and yeah, I built a six figure business on those recipes. So you know, they are tried, tested and true. It's going to taste good. But here's the thing, I didn't just want to toss a bunch of meals into a PDF either and call it a day. Could have easily done that, since I've already done the work behind them, but I really wanted to make people feel like I was there in the kitchen with them, gently guiding you, cracking a joke and like just lightening up dinner, because food, to me, has a lot of like, emotions and stress relief and beautiful things like that that go along with it. So yeah, it's a cookbook, but it's also like a little pep talk for you, a reminder that dinner doesn't have to be gourmet to be great. Sometimes it's just fuel, and it's okay to laugh about it, because it's just dinner. So this did just start out as wanting to put out a cookbook, but as I started putting them together, I realized that it wasn't just like the recipes and the freezer friendliness, but like the spice blends and the spices that I used in these recipes really kind of make the impact. They don't carry any calories, they don't carry any dense nutrients, which is why I've always said that healthy food doesn't need to suck, because spices don't cost you anything. So here's where I started really having some fun with it and building some things that that feel a lot like me, even down to the little cartoon chef with the black aviators on, that's kind of been my thing. I've always got sunglasses on for those of you on the podcast I just flipped them down for YouTube, and I started, like, kind of coming up with really funny taglines and ridiculous sayings, and just kind of really having fun, like a lot of fun, and being creative with my fun, silly brain. And not like just I had fun writing this, but like you're having a few high noons, cracking up with your friends and saying, that's what she said every 10 minutes. Sort of fun. 

Susie  13:20  
A couple of the ones that I'm working with, my first signature one is my barbecue rub on those ribs on the cover photo. It's on a steal your grill, like I'm a steal your girl. For those that don't get the reference and the tagline is sweet, smoky and a little shady. My other kind of favorite one is basic behavior. It's the one that went with my maple pumpkin chili. So it'll be a fall inspired blend, but it says bold flavor, basic intentions. The cartoon chef is literally wearing like the chunkiest fall sweater and holding a pumpkin spice latte. So those are the kind of the themes that I'm going with here. And honestly, the whole thing has felt a little more like a creative playground than a business, like I'm sitting with my sketch pad just enjoying myself. It hasn't been stressful. It's been energizing. I look forward to when I get, you know, the moments to carve out to do it, kind of liberating to not have anything riding on it, and to really focus on the creative side of it. It's been kind of fun in a way I didn't know I needed, because when you close one thing, sometimes there's like a good morning period and you don't know if you're going to jump back into it again. I wasn't sure about that for a while, but then slowly, over time, and chatting with Sari, the work started kind of calling me back to it. And it's just been really fun. Yeah, it's a business and and there are things that we have to do for a business. But what's really cool is this time, I have so many lessons for the last time to inform me in this one. This project isn't really coming from a hustle place. It's coming from a joy place. There's a website. There's inventory, there's culinary math, but it's all really rooted in creativity and joy. Now, just because I'm having fun doesn't mean I'm just flying by the seat of my chef pants this time around. Like I said, this still is a business, and I have dreams and goals for it, but as I've mentioned, I learned a lot from the last round, and I'm building this one purposefully, joyfully and authentically, and trying to be in alignment with that authentic is kind of my jam. So rather than building the plane in the air, I'm thinking about things like pricing my products for sustainability from the get go, not pricing emotionally, to release inventory, or tossing a sale together, or hoping I can fix something later down the line with the pricing, building a system that works with my life and not against it, including beyond just this first couple of months, like setting benchmarks for when do I move from making these in my house to looking for a co packer, because I'm not really feeling like running a commercial kitchen again as part of the last line, and I'm not really, and part of me for this using desperate please buy my shit energy either, this is me having fun. Take it or leave it if you like it, great. If you don't, that's fine. And I've got, like, a couple of things to start out with that I didn't have last time. I have a real website that works. I have a fantastic coach that I've landed with that really helps me move through these steps and not just past them, but through them. I have a fully fleshed out product that is priced for profit, and a product that is easy for me to wax poetic about, because it's built over my whole personality, and I really feel like that's what alignment is. And I have to give a quick shout out to Sari here, because all the lessons that I've learned from this podcast, from Master your Business, from like, our one on one coaching sessions, have really been pushing me towards this moment of like, being aligned for my next launch, and I'm just really, really grateful to her for it. So this time around, if, if things don't feel aligned, ethically, energetically, logistically, I'm just not going to do it. And that's fine. It's already showing up in this prep work. I've chosen only suppliers that still held on to their dei values. I know we don't really get political on here, but I am part of the LGBTQ community, so I tried to only use businesses that were still using pronouns and celebrating pride. I have not used Amazon for sourcing whatsoever, which in today's world is basically impossible. I think that's the only time I was running around with chaotic energy, looking for vendors. And when I can, I've prioritized other small businesses, women owned businesses, LGBTQ owned businesses that you know, so I can feel like I'm supporting others or supporting me, nice, symbiotic relationship. Even down to the silly things like the design of my labels or the vibe of my chef character, are kind of coming from that place of alignment. It reflects me, my values, my personality, my sense of humor. Nothing really performative here, just real. It's only honestly wild what happens when you let go of what you're supposed to do and instead ask what feels good? And that's the biggest difference between well rounded meals one, Dotto and two, Dotto. This new version of things is built with more intention, more joy, and way less hustle. The success matrix are a little different now I'm chasing sustainability in a business. I'm chasing creativity and impact and not volume and sales numbers and perfection and production. I'm kind of back to the original passion project that I started as well around the meals. It's kind of fun to come back to the very yes, it's a huge metamorphosis, if you will. But I'm still coming back to that feeling of like feeling good, wanting to feed people, and feeling so much better moving forward with that. Alright, so if you made it this far, congratulations. This is my first solo recorded podcast, and I probably rambled a little bit, but now I know you were completely emotionally invested in a woman who built a cookbook out of a freezer meal business that quote, unquote failed and named a spice blend basic behavior because she could. Welcome to The Club. And now it's time for my shameless plug. About my book and the spice blends I've I've brought to you the pre sew. Harking back to the beginning pre sale in my book, well, well rounded meals and slightly panicked, a real parents guide to dinner that doesn't suck is officially live as of yesterday, July 14 through August 4. If you pre order a book during that window, you will get a free spice blend from my new line, Chef's Choice. But don't worry, they all are kind of awesome. A limited edition recipe card that can hold you over until the book comes it will contain one of the recipes from the book, and, of course, the warm, fuzzy glow of supporting a small business owner who's finally doing her shit on purpose. You can grab a copy of that at well roundedmeals.net and of course, you can follow along on Facebook and Instagram at well rounded meals, where I'll be over, sharing details about the book launch, introducing more delightful spice blends than I outlined here, and dropping ridiculous photos and stories of my journey along the way. I genuinely hope this episode made you laugh, that you can you can't see my sweat stains because I've been nervous, but maybe I gave you permission or made you feel seen, that just because one thing doesn't work out doesn't mean you can't pivot it into another beautiful thing. So thank you for letting me hang out with you today, and thank you to Sari for trusting me with the mic while she lives her best stinky cheese filled life in France. And until next time, happy eating, my spicy little entrepreneurs,

Sari  21:36  
The smartest thing you can do as an entrepreneur is to invest in a who to help you with the how to speed up your journey and help you skip the line. When you are ready for more support and accountability to finally get this thing done, you can work with me in two ways. Get me all to yourself with one on one business coaching, or join Food Business Success, which includes membership inside fuel our community of food business founders, that includes monthly live group coaching calls and so much more. It's one of my favorite places to hang out, and I would love to see you there. Go to foodbizsuccess.com to start your journey towards your own food business success.