Building a Business on Passion and Heritage with Alak Vasa
Meet Alak Vasa
Once upon time, Alak Vasa was a Wall Street trader. Everything was going well, but there was one problem, she was missing a sense of purpose . So without much of a plan, Alak gave in to her inner voice, quit her job, and eventually launched Elements Truffles, a food business rooted in her authentic Indian heritage and passion for fine chocolate.
Episode Highlights
During our first episode of The Food Means Business Podcast, we discuss:
How Alak started selling at farmers markets and grew the business to 2,000 stores nationwide, including four regions of Whole Foods
Why customer feedback is so important especially in the beginning
What she misses about Corporate America and
Why she's celebrating her own personal growth
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00;00;00;03 - 00;00;06;02
Alak Vasa
Welcome to the Food Means Business podcast. It is so nice to to see you and hear you again.
00;00;07;00 - 00;00;07;24
Alak Vasa
Thank you.
00;00;09;12 - 00;00;16;00
Djenaba
Everyone, I'm speaking with Alak Vasa of Elements Trouffles. Alak, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your business?
00;00;17;02 - 00;00;33;03
Alak Vasa
Sure. I am Alak and I am the co-founder of Elements Truffles. We make our ready inspired chocolates. Our chocolates are made with Fairtrade cacao and very clean ingredients. And we started this business in 2016.
00;00;33;16 - 00;00;53;16
Djenaba
Awesome. So I was thinking back to when we met, and I think I met your husband first. He called me when I was planning Hudson Kitchen. I think I was thinking about that. And because we you know, you've participated in a lot of our events, which I truly appreciate. And this is like kind of reminiscing on everything that we've kind of experienced together.
00;00;53;17 - 00;01;20;06
Djenaba
So thank you so much for being here. I do appreciate it. I mentioned to you before you first got started that this is the very first episode of the podcast. So I'm very excited and a little bit nervous to survey know. So this podcast is all about people that take the leap from corporate America to starting a food business.
00;01;20;06 - 00;01;23;21
Djenaba
I'd love to hear about your journey and kind of how you got started.
00;01;24;24 - 00;01;51;23
Alak Vasa
Sure. So in my prior life, as I like to say, I was a Wall Street trader. And while I truly enjoyed working on Wall Street, the pace, you know, it gave me some kind of energy to keep going. But one thing I kept noticing was that after work, I did not want to talk about work. You know, it wasn't something that I looked at as a part of me.
00;01;51;23 - 00;02;20;06
Alak Vasa
It was more like, I go there, I get my work going and I come back. In my heart, I always had this special spot for food and especially desserts. I would always tell growing up why, you know, dessert the first cause. Like, why does my stomach have to be so full? And then I have to kind of not really my dessert, right, for dessert.
00;02;20;06 - 00;02;49;24
Alak Vasa
And also, chocolates have been a very integral part of my life, generally from, you know, my father traveling to UK. I grew up in India. And so we would travel to your and he would act with a bag full of chocolates. And those memories are so preciously etched, you know, to all the happiness in life. And to top that, I married a person who loves chocolate any time I ask him, you know what dessert I want to make for you, it was always chocolate.
00;02;50;13 - 00;03;10;04
Alak Vasa
So somewhere there was this deep connection with chocolate. However, I was like, I want to do something in food, but is this really what I want to do as a business? Right? Like a lot of people said, it's great when you cook for your loved ones in your family, but it's a very different thing to run food as a business.
00;03;10;23 - 00;03;29;26
Alak Vasa
And so I was like, okay, I have to try it out. And that's when while I was working at Goldman, I there was a sign that there was a patisserie financier right across the street from where I was in downtown Manhattan. And so I went to the chef there and I said, Chef, you know, I want to go to culinary school.
00;03;29;27 - 00;03;53;26
Alak Vasa
What school should I go to? And he was like, Come work for me. And I was like, Really? And he's nice Saturday and then I'll see you. And I don't think he expected me to show up. But after a really long week getting home on Friday at 8 p.m., I was excited like a little kid to go and work there.
00;03;54;03 - 00;04;08;20
Alak Vasa
The joy was just at another level. There was this enthusiasm, that joy. And so I went there and for the next six months I would go there. Every Saturday from six to noon and work in an actual commercial kitchen.
00;04;08;22 - 00;04;11;13
Djenaba
Wow. That's that's pretty amazing.
00;04;12;10 - 00;04;14;19
Alak Vasa
So when I go.
00;04;14;19 - 00;04;14;25
Djenaba
Ahead.
00;04;16;12 - 00;04;37;08
Alak Vasa
And that's when I really realized that this was beyond just cooking for family, because it was hard being 6 hours on your feet. It was the exact opposite of what I did in my weekday job. Right. Which was sitting on the chair working on the computer. Here I was on I didn't know how hard it was to be on your feed for 6 hours at a go.
00;04;37;08 - 00;05;05;26
Alak Vasa
You know, you never realize that. But I still wanted to keep going back to it. There was something about it that just I could not pinpoint it, but I really enjoyed it. And that gave me that first stroke of validation that, you know, I should listen to what my inner voice is asking me to do. This is not just midlife crisis or me getting bored of doing what I was doing.
00;05;06;26 - 00;05;25;06
Alak Vasa
So, yes, that's kind of what pushed me to say, give me the courage. I think also my inner was was so loud and strong that it gave me that strength and courage to say, okay, I am going to take this leap of faith, because if I don't, I might live my life with regret that I could have done this.
00;05;25;06 - 00;05;26;01
Alak Vasa
And I did not.
00;05;27;20 - 00;05;34;12
Djenaba
So did you did you learn how to make chocolate at that job when you weren't working for six months? How that how did that.
00;05;34;12 - 00;06;01;26
Alak Vasa
No chocolate. I did not learn how to make chocolate. I learned how to break eggs properly. I learned how to clean certain things. I learned a lot of other skills of, you know, working in a commercial kitchen when it came to making chocolates. That also I felt like it was probably accidental or something that was meant to be because after I quit my job, I really had no idea what I was going to do next.
00;06;02;18 - 00;06;38;29
Alak Vasa
I used to make ice creams while I was working on Wall Street in summer months and would raise money for a charity in India and people would love the ice cream. And so my first thought was, okay, why don't I just kind of turn that into a business? But very soon there were a lot of elements that did not connect with me and my husband, and I wanted to create something in the space of I read that, which was, you know, part of our heritage and we wanted to create something sweet and somehow the whole idea of ice cream did not move forward.
00;06;38;29 - 00;07;00;04
Alak Vasa
And so we were like, okay, let's go back to the drawing board and see what we can do. And I started making all these desserts with no refined sugars. I was using honey and apricots and dates and all these different things. And I was in my happy zone, right in my kids creating recipes, doing what I love doing.
00;07;00;13 - 00;07;25;18
Alak Vasa
And my husband was the taste tester giving me feedback, honest feedback, which was also a challenge. Yes, he gets so well, but he was very, very honest with this feedback. And one day he comes and tells me, I think you're ready. We need to go and take this product to a local farmer's market and I cannot tell you how scared I was.
00;07;25;21 - 00;07;57;16
Alak Vasa
I was angry at him to even suggest something like that, because from here I was add the product was not at all ready, but he paid $160 or something at that time. Felt like so much. Oh, my goodness. Yes. You know, we love you. The sale price, it's it's such a small amount. But, you know, when you're taking that baby step, it's such a big thing in your mind because it's not about the dollar value, but it was the inherent validation of was I on the right track?
00;07;57;16 - 00;08;26;00
Alak Vasa
And to face that was completely different than what I would have ever imagined. And so here we were at the farmer's market. I had all these different things, and one of them was with chocolate and honey. And at the end of the market, of course, the start of the market had all its different challenges where my desserts were melting and I did not want to invest in, you know, a little cover up umbrella.
00;08;26;08 - 00;08;47;08
Alak Vasa
So we moved spots, all that given by the end of the day, the dessert that had the chocolate in it was sold out. And that's when my husband was like, you know, why don't we do chocolates and why don't you take this recipe and create different flavors in that? So that was the next step that led me to the artisan flea market in Williamsburg.
00;08;47;24 - 00;08;56;00
Alak Vasa
And me being me, I it was a two day event and I made just enough chocolate to break even because I was so confident in.
00;08;56;00 - 00;08;56;04
Djenaba
The.
00;08;57;21 - 00;09;24;16
Alak Vasa
Product. And I still remember it was the day when my husband was running his first half marathon. He ran that and then came to the market to support me. Standing all day on his feet because for some reason I could not sell the product that I made. Right? It was some kind of hesitation or that that lack of confidence are always noticing the imperfection in it.
00;09;24;19 - 00;09;31;10
Alak Vasa
And but he came there, and I know that all this stock I had made for two days was sold in one day.
00;09;31;23 - 00;09;33;09
Djenaba
Wow, That's amazing.
00;09;33;09 - 00;09;38;09
Alak Vasa
To go back to Whole Foods. That was my ingredient source at that point.
00;09;38;09 - 00;09;40;10
Djenaba
Of course.
00;09;40;10 - 00;09;52;12
Alak Vasa
And there I think that the ingredients. I woke up at four in the morning, me and my husband, we made another fresh batch. You brought it to the market and we were sold out by 3 p.m. on the market, closed at seven.
00;09;52;20 - 00;10;07;28
Djenaba
Amazing. That's so amazing. I do want to take a step back for just a second. You mentioned that you quit your job and you were trying to figure out what to do. What led up to quitting your job? And then like, did you prepare for it or did you just. Was it something you did on a whim?
00;10;08;21 - 00;10;33;09
Alak Vasa
I would say I don't think I was very well prepared for it. It was just something inside of me that said that I had to quit now and invest all my energy in this micro thought that was brewing inside of me to make it a reality. If I kept it as something on the side, like, okay, let me do this while I'm working my Wall Street job, I don't think that would have been possible.
00;10;33;09 - 00;11;02;23
Alak Vasa
And I did make such mistake in my life before when I was doing my Ph.D. and then I decided to join Wall Street and I thought, you know, I will do part time and work at Wall Street and do both. And eventually I dropped my my Ph.D. because it was just too much for me to manage. So somewhere I knew that if I wasn't fully invested in this idea, my job would always take priority over what my heart wanted to do.
00;11;02;28 - 00;11;24;11
Alak Vasa
And unless there was that pinch, that element of taking a risk and really giving my everything to that, this idea is not going to go anywhere. So I was very lucky that my husband was extremely supportive. He was like, What do you have to lose? He was actually, you know, the advocate for just take a chance on yourself.
00;11;24;11 - 00;11;45;04
Alak Vasa
You know, there's nothing you can lose. You only gain a lot out of it. And I'm so, so grateful that I of course, I studied my financial stability and, you know, we knew that we had some source of income coming in. So it was not a rash decision, but at the same time, it was not like a fully planned five year plan.
00;11;45;21 - 00;12;02;27
Alak Vasa
This was like I said, when I quit, I didn't even know I was going to do chocolate. I didn't even know that walls and walls of chocolates existed before I went with this. It was more, This is what I was born to do. This is the gift I was given and I wanted to bring it to the world in whatever form I could.
00;12;03;29 - 00;12;22;01
Djenaba
That's so great. Like, I do. I'm a big believer in planning, but at the same time, you kind of just have to start doing something so that you can move forward because you just kind of get like analysis paralysis and you'll just be like constantly in this like planning mode and you never do anything. So I commend you for it, like taking that, taking that step, it's really great.
00;12;22;16 - 00;12;31;27
Djenaba
So you said we were talking about Williamsburg, so you sold out in Williamsburg. What what what happened after that? Did you do more markets or tell me what the next steps were in the business?
00;12;32;17 - 00;12;52;01
Alak Vasa
Yeah. So I mean, that was the point for me when I started believing in the business because I saw real customers, not friends who were buying products from me. There are people who are willing to pay the money to buy it as a gift for their loved ones. And that is when I was like, okay, you know, we are on to something great.
00;12;52;13 - 00;13;21;25
Alak Vasa
But at the same time we did not want to rush into kind of a hyper growth strategy. We wanted to really understand who was our target audience, What is it that people were liking? What is it that you know, were challenges that were coming up? And so for the first year, all we were markets because I felt like that's the best way to connect with your customers directly, to be able to share your passion and story directly with your customers and see where it's headed.
00;13;21;25 - 00;13;29;25
Alak Vasa
And that's I feel that's the only place where you actually get to authentically share your story directly with the consumer.
00;13;29;27 - 00;13;50;12
Djenaba
I completely agree. I think people kind of rush to grow something big, but that was like a really integral time for your business because you don't get that, I'm sure now, like the one on one with the client, but with the customer telling them exactly like why you created this wonderful chocolate and what kind of what it means to you and having them taste it and getting their immediate feedback.
00;13;50;12 - 00;14;00;08
Djenaba
You know, it doesn't happen as your business grows. So that's that's amazing. It's not really scalable, but at the same time, it's so needed at the beginning of your journey.
00;14;00;24 - 00;14;24;13
Alak Vasa
Exactly. I think it's such an integral part of the foundation because the community form at that point. The feedback that you received at that point really stays with you. You know, I sometimes there are such hard days with the business, but when I think of a day when a person came and said how this chocolate changed their life or how they felt so happy eating that chocolate, that makes me think, okay, it doesn't matter.
00;14;24;13 - 00;14;32;14
Alak Vasa
This business has impacted and will continue to impact. Maybe I'm not getting the feedback as often as I would like it to, but it's happening.
00;14;33;14 - 00;14;42;04
Djenaba
Yeah, that's really great. So after that year at markets like what? What what, what, what are the next steps that you took after that?
00;14;42;04 - 00;15;05;29
Alak Vasa
I think that was when also there was a time when we started looking for a commercial space because until then we were working out of a deli. So we had a friend who was running a deli and he he wasn't using his kitchen from four in the morning till, say 9 a.m. So he was like, You can use the space during that time and come and make your chocolates.
00;15;06;11 - 00;15;28;12
Alak Vasa
So while, you know, we were very grateful for the space, it was not something we could scale as a business because to get there at four in the morning and, you know, taking things with you, it was it was a hard life, of course, very, very satisfying thing. But we knew that now that we had that confidence in the customer validation, we were ready to hit the stores.
00;15;28;20 - 00;15;51;16
Alak Vasa
And for that we knew we needed a more kind of stable of space for manufacturing. And that was again, one thing that we were very clear about was that we wanted to keep manufacturing close to us because that was our secret sauce, you know, was of course, the ingredients and the recipe. But there was also a lot of energy that went into that.
00;15;51;16 - 00;16;13;22
Alak Vasa
The space that we worked in had to have some kind of that energy that gets suddenly infused into into everything that we created. And so I remember my husband was making the call to me because he found Hudson Kitchen was coming up at that point of time. But yeah, the next step was pretty much to go to local stores.
00;16;13;22 - 00;16;43;14
Alak Vasa
You know, we wanted to next talk to buyers directly, understand what it is like, what is it buyer ask for? What is a minimum quantity, what is shelf life, what is a display case? What are all these things that you kind of need to be ready for when your product goes on to the shelves of the stores? So I felt like one going to local stores helped because the local stores are very supportive of local businesses.
00;16;43;21 - 00;17;07;14
Alak Vasa
They are willing to work with you if you make mistakes and they also are not expecting something from you very quickly, like if you believe the owner by a few days, they completely understand and they're willing to kind of help you grow to to the next level. And so the next step was we kind of onboarded about four or five stores locally.
00;17;07;14 - 00;17;25;23
Alak Vasa
One was a cafe, one was a grocery store, one was in Chelsea Market Basket in in the Chelsea market in New York. But kind of, you know, creating a small network of stores to understand how the wholesale business worked. There were so many elements, right. How do you price your product for wholesale? Right? What are the margins? Where where can I see?
00;17;25;23 - 00;17;56;04
Alak Vasa
Of course, this was the time when you had to start looking at our sourcing. Okay. About how we when you're sourcing small, you kind of going to a Whole Foods are, you know, a similar place. But then we started looking at, okay, can we how can we go directly to the farmers or how can we go to the local honey sources and kind of bring in the ingredients that were clean, ethical, fair trade And at the same time we could kind of adjust the affordability of the product.
00;17;56;04 - 00;18;07;27
Alak Vasa
When we bought this product in bulk. So that was kind of the stage to off kind of almost leveling up the business to get ready to to get into the stores.
00;18;07;27 - 00;18;19;02
Djenaba
That's really great. So did you did you hire an A consultant to help you or take a course or did you guys kind of start just figuring out on your own? What was the process like there?
00;18;20;01 - 00;18;42;19
Alak Vasa
For us, it was a lot of figuring out on our own and then the community stepping up like rent. Like I said, when I went to the farmer's market, somebody would come and tell us that, Oh, why don't you talk to this person in food? You know, they they are really great. And, you know, one thing I love about the food community overall is everybody is so willing to help each other.
00;18;42;19 - 00;19;21;11
Alak Vasa
You know, you you message them like you yourself. I feel you have helped us tremendously in this whole journey and made yourself available. Right. You have nothing to to gain by helping a small business like ours. And I feel you have helped so many small businesses to come together to present their product to different audiences. And I felt like just by relying on the set of mentors, the community, the openness, where nobody's really secretive about, Oh, I won't open my unless list of store owners with you or buyers with you.
00;19;21;11 - 00;19;34;20
Alak Vasa
Everybody is so open and willing. I felt that was what we relied on as as we started to grow and learn in terms of what it takes to bring a shelf stable product to market.
00;19;35;08 - 00;19;47;26
Djenaba
I have to agree with you about the food community. Like I, I came from a corporate background. I didn't have have any experience in food whatsoever, but I felt like I was welcomed with open arms like immediately. And it was just so amazing.
00;19;48;21 - 00;20;00;28
Alak Vasa
Exactly. That there's a no judgment zone. Yes. It's it's it's amazing. Yeah. People want to see you succeed. And that's very different from what you see in the corporate world. And it was such a pleasant change.
00;20;02;00 - 00;20;09;19
Djenaba
And so. Okay, so so now you're into a couple of a couple of stores. What was it what were your next steps and kind of where are you now?
00;20;10;09 - 00;20;38;25
Alak Vasa
Yes. But then the next step was we started doing shows. So somebody recommended us to do the New York Now Show, which is the gifting show. So we'd be signed up not knowing what then We'd never walk to New York Now show we signed up and we go to Javits Center and we see all these fancy big boots of all these, you know, well-established names in the industry.
00;20;39;04 - 00;21;00;02
Alak Vasa
And the first thought in my mind was like, Oh my God, like I just shrunk. You know? I felt like, oh, I'm so small in this this world of so many boots, so well made. Like people have spent thousands and thousands of dollars setting up just a booth that's going to be there for three or four days. And here we were.
00;21;00;02 - 00;21;20;17
Alak Vasa
I was buying furniture from IKEA to set up the shelves when, you know, handwriting the logo like it was just such a such a contrast to what I was seeing there. But again, it was like me and my husband and my husband like, let's just go there. Let's have fun. You know, let's put our best foot forward and let's see how it goes.
00;21;21;07 - 00;21;44;16
Alak Vasa
And this was one of the very successful stores for us, shows for us, because it was an order writing show and we got so such good feedback. We got orders on the spot, which is like you know, the best validation, like you have conversations, but when it doesn't convert to sales as a small business, you're like, okay, maybe they just said it because they like, they want to be nice to us.
00;21;44;16 - 00;21;53;17
Alak Vasa
But over the three days we met such great people, we opened around 50 or 60 new accounts. Wow. Small timeframe.
00;21;53;17 - 00;21;55;00
Djenaba
Wow, That's amazing.
00;21;55;15 - 00;22;25;01
Alak Vasa
Yeah. And that was a huge win at that point of time from where we were at. And after that, of course, we started doing food shows, the fancy food show. We've done the Expo West. We did one on the East Coast, the West Coast, the fancy food show and now we are at 40 of Whole Foods, which is northeast north, Northern California, mid-Atlantic and Pacific Northwest.
00;22;25;18 - 00;22;53;17
Alak Vasa
We are also in over 2000 stores nationwide and we were able to grow our online business significantly during the pandemic because that was, again, a very challenging time in a lot of our stores, very single stores, specialty stores, you know, mom and pop stores, stores that were struggling themselves. And so suddenly our business kind of really went down on the wholesale side.
00;22;53;29 - 00;23;07;08
Alak Vasa
But we're fortunate enough that we had we were working on an online strategy that we could roll out immediately and tap into that change in buying behavior that happened over the pandemic for food.
00;23;07;19 - 00;23;24;03
Djenaba
Wow. That that's really great that you were able to pivot in that way. A lot of the businesses that worked out of Hudson Kitchen were the same. We were we actually had converted our event space into a packing room so that people could to packages their stuff and get it out the door. So that's that's amazing that e-commerce worked for you.
00;23;24;06 - 00;23;35;15
Djenaba
Congratulations on that. That's great. So you you mentioned at the beginning that you wanted to keep the production close to you so you will have your own facility, is that correct?
00;23;35;19 - 00;23;45;06
Alak Vasa
Yes. We have our own commercial kitchen space now in Union City, New Jersey, the Yardley Building.
00;23;46;09 - 00;24;13;27
Djenaba
That that's really great. I remember it because we used to be in the same in the same place. So I at Kearny Point here, and I'm in Kearny, New Jersey, and I remember going to your to your your your space, your facility and thinking, where's the rest of it? Yes. Just because I was so surprised at the level of the amount of product that you can get out the door was such a small space that that's that was amazing.
00;24;13;27 - 00;24;37;20
Alak Vasa
Yes. Now we have a much bigger and bigger space. And I think, again, with spaces and, you know, investing in equipment and all of those, I felt like now we are in a much better space and we're still bringing in more equipment as we grow. But at that point, we were very, very focused on mostly handmade, artisanal, you know, and our recipe was very, very simple.
00;24;37;20 - 00;24;57;25
Alak Vasa
So it did not require much of a huge set up. And so we tried to keep it as minimal, at least as we got started with the business so that we could grow comfortably without stressing out about, you know, the bigger investments that we made. I think that was one thing for me. I really wanted to enjoy this, right?
00;24;57;26 - 00;25;35;02
Alak Vasa
You know, working on Wall Street was extremely stressful. And, you know, the pay outs are also high, but the risks are also high here. This was something where I just wanted to enjoy the journey and see how it grew and how I grew. Personally. Those things mattered being more than a hypergrowth strategy. And so that's why some of the decisions that we made were more in building the foundation, building the core of the company so strong that when we are ready for that growth, you know, we have the foundation in place and don't have to worry about, okay, how will we manage things underneath?
00;25;35;08 - 00;25;54;18
Djenaba
So did you find it hard to make the transition from the corporate mindset to kind of the more entrepreneurial mindset? Because I'm I'll be honest, I'm still struggling and I'm out like seven years or eight, almost eight years now and I'm still still struggling with the fact that, okay, this is my business and I can do it my way versus in it.
00;25;54;21 - 00;26;08;10
Djenaba
We're not saving babies or curing cancer, so there's no rush to do anything. So it's still a struggle for me. So like the fact that you are were so intentional from the very beginning was that it was not a struggle for you at first.
00;26;08;10 - 00;26;32;28
Alak Vasa
A big struggle. And that's why I feel like that thought that intention had to be held there, like as we started the company because and the feverish ness could easily creep in, the disappointments could really kind of take you down. The food business is not like, you know, a tech startup that can just, I don't know, grow overnight.
00;26;32;28 - 00;27;06;07
Alak Vasa
Like you have to be so patient with it, especially, you know, with chocolates where they're so, so many brands out there. How are you differentiating yourself Like getting a product into a store, an actual physical product is a completely different ballgame than, you know, other hypergrowth startups. And to stop yourself from preventing yourself from how others are growing or how like that the whole corporate mindset of comparison growth, intensity getting somewhere was it's so ingrained in our DNA, we don't realize it.
00;27;06;07 - 00;27;25;27
Alak Vasa
And then you rush behind is like, okay, why? Why am I really putting myself through this? What's the need for it? And the minute you kind of step back and ask the why, you are able to at least settle and say, okay, this is my strategy and I'm sticking to it. So, yes, it it's definitely I think it's still a work in progress.
00;27;27;11 - 00;27;45;23
Djenaba
I hear you. I hear you. So is there what do you miss about corporate America? Is there anything that you miss? I'll tell you what I miss and then this will maybe give you an idea. So it sounds ridiculous, but I miss having because I worked in marketing and sales and marketing, so I miss having an art department at my at my beck and call.
00;27;46;03 - 00;27;54;00
Djenaba
And I miss things like a color laser printer. It's so weird. Is there anything that you miss about this?
00;27;54;00 - 00;28;21;05
Alak Vasa
About I was just I was just going to say that I feel like you miss the resources, right? I think when you run your own company, you have to make a decision on everything that you have to spend. And a lot of times what ends up happening is like, I need like, you know, a marketing department or I would love or somebody kind of just takes videos of me and edits the videos and I don't have to do all those things.
00;28;21;14 - 00;28;50;24
Alak Vasa
But then as a business owner, you're like, But where should I? You are. You're constantly thinking of where is my money better spent here or here? And that constant decision between should I invest in this resource and that or that resource. And somehow the always treat ourselves as the free resource out there that can do everything right and feeling that that stretched feeling stretched across you know so many different areas of running a business.
00;28;50;24 - 00;29;10;21
Alak Vasa
So yes, I miss like the luxury of being able to kind of just have a team that can help and do some of those things. And yeah, I think exactly what you said. Yeah, I mean, a printer is is such a big luxury, which all of you are working in corporate. Don't take it down.
00;29;11;09 - 00;29;30;27
Djenaba
It's huge. It's huge. So at Hudson Kitchen in our lobby, I installed a bell. A bell? I call it the money bell. And we ring the bell when we want to celebrate something like, you know, you got like opened the new and new stores or you just, you know, people are bringing it when they get their paycheck or whatever, even people's employees.
00;29;31;05 - 00;29;34;15
Djenaba
So wondering like, what do you have to celebrate right now?
00;29;36;12 - 00;30;02;16
Alak Vasa
I think I want to celebrate foremost. If I look at it, I want to celebrate my own personal growth. I feel when I started, I was not so confident. Therefore, the first two or three years, I always thought that what if what if this thing will I be able to go back to my previous world? Will anybody hire me?
00;30;02;16 - 00;30;34;18
Alak Vasa
Because I have been out of that job for a long time. And so for the first year and a half, two years, I would keep my resume out there. If somebody called me, I would talk to them, though deep down I knew I did not want to go back, but I did not want to be, I don't know rash about things and make sure I at least was staying in touch with some of the things and now coming, you know, six years into my business or even after the third year, I'm a completely different person.
00;30;34;18 - 00;31;04;07
Alak Vasa
I feel I am and not in a in an arrogant pumping my chest way, but in a very in the most humble way. I feel I am amazing. I'm a great resource for anybody that would want to have me. I can get things done no matter what. I have so many abilities, so many talents, and I will have the world open for me to receive me with, you know, open arms when I am ready to do the next thing.
00;31;04;07 - 00;31;34;24
Alak Vasa
I want to do. And just having that courage, having knowing that I have that inside of me has has really, I don't know. It's the biggest celebration. It's a celebration of my my self. Right. And as far as the company goes, I feel now we are ready for something completely different. You're going through a complete rebranding of our product, the messaging of our product.
00;31;35;20 - 00;32;08;10
Alak Vasa
We are planning to kind of really get into, you know, mainstream stores because and I feel now we are ready. We also feel that the world is ready for our product to to bring it to to every person and kind of enjoy that part of the journey and the growth right now. And right now we are in that middle stage where it's actually very uncomfortable because I'm making the transition from my comfort zone to the next level where there's a lot of discomfort, a lot of unknowns.
00;32;08;10 - 00;32;37;20
Alak Vasa
Again, how do I grow, What will happen, how do I work with distributors? You know, all these nuances around scaling and growing is something that I'm learning about affiliate marketing and, you know, all of these different things. CEO blogs, like things that I was always hidden in the in the kitchen all this time. And now I'm like, okay, I'm ready to to explore this this world outside and time again at that point where I'm in that process of stretching my comfort zone.
00;32;37;20 - 00;32;54;22
Alak Vasa
And I think that is the best part for anybody to celebrate is that discomfort. Because when you are feeling that discomfort, that is indicative of you are growing as a person. And I think there's nothing better than to live this life growing, exploring and knowing more.
00;32;55;14 - 00;33;03;27
Djenaba
I completely agree. That was very, very well said. Alak, thank you so much for being our first podcast guest.
00;33;04;23 - 00;33;28;07
Alak Vasa
It's an honor. It's truly like you are such an inspiration for us working down with Hudson Kitchen and how you can instantly just doing so much to support small businesses grow, to create the space, the resources that you provide, like they are fantastic steak. I wish I had access to those kind of resources as I started my startup.
00;33;28;07 - 00;33;56;17
Alak Vasa
I should have just waited a few years well, and aligned my my launch with yours. And I think it would have been a completely different story. But, you know, all the businesses that or anybody who is planning to start their own food business, definitely, you know, they should collaborate with you and work with you because you're just not an I'm not just an amazing human being, but just a great support and such wide experience in the food industry.
00;33;56;17 - 00;33;58;16
Alak Vasa
So thank you so much for having me.
00;33;58;27 - 00;34;00;08
Djenaba
Thank you. Thank you.
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