We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Hudson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I believe that to be truly successful you must learn to work through your failures with a healthy, positive attitude. Isn’t life a series of valleys with sporadic mountain tops of joy and reprieve? As a wife, mom of four, and a small business owner, I’ve come to understand that success is found within many different opportunities which often lead to unexpected blessings. I like to remind myself often that to dream big and start small is a path to long term success. I absolutely give all credit and honor to God and my Savior Jesus Christ in Whom I obtain wisdom, strength, and truth. I love being a Christ centered business because not only do I benefit but I am able to be a blessing to those I serve.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am simply a creative person by design. Truly, aren’t we all designed with uniqueness and worth. It is our task to align ourselves with our Creator in order to obtain the best of ourselves within the time we are given here. The opportunities to succeed have been many, though I have definitely not fulfilled all with triumph; nevertheless, we all can achieve a higher call when we acknowledge from Who it all comes from. With 25 plus years of marriage and 4 sons later, I began to see that the next stage in life would look different for me. God’s timing is always perfect and He gifted a new desire within my heart to grow and prayer has lead me to pioneer a new role as a small business owner. As there really is nothing “new under-the-sun”, I decided to take a couple of things that I do well and create: West Coast Granola.
The company provides a variety of gluten-free, honey sweetened, no preservatives added granola, protein bites, nut & seed bars, and cookies, not to mention, beautiful aprons too. I decided to go gluten-free with my products, not because I am gluten-free, but for the simply reason that our Western food intake has become severely detrimental to our health for decades now. So, why add to the demise of our health if I can offer high quality products that may cost a bit more but are nutritious and taste great! There is no compromising when it comes to making a superior product. We source our oats from a quality controlled, third-party tested facility. Our honey comes from local Michigan farmers, and the other ingredients are either non-GMO or organic.
I am all about feed-back and input from our customers as I want total customer satisfaction.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I really thought that I would be much further along in business after 3 years, however; gratitude for a slower pace and time spent gaining business knowledge has made me a better business woman, hands-down. Being a “one-woman-show”, I have had to apply the momentum brakes a lot along the journey so far. I have come to realize that business is an ever changing, strength building experience. You can either allow the time, effort, and momentary set-backs to get the better of you or you can extend grace to yourself in the areas where knowledge is yet to be mastered and just keep moving forward. The best advice I have to give at this point is: be flexible but never compromise . I apply this personally and in business. I am willing to hear another person’s story but truth is truth no matter what spin “fits” their ideals. It is the same with business. I can make a much cheaper product but at what cost? I create products that support the foundation of my business which are integrity and truth. Do I want people to be zealous for my products…definitely but, what I really want is for customers to keep coming back because the end product is exactly what I promote it as; no hidden anything, it’s simply wholesome, tasty, and nutritious.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

There was only one of two ways that I could start out, I could either take out a loan with little hope of receiving the amount I needed or ask a family member to help with seed funding. If you can muster the courage to inquire from family, why not? What harm is there in asking? This option allows for more grace upon return payments with no incurred interest. Family should be our first line of defense so, take the time to figure up initial supply costs, overhead expenses, and rental costs and put it all together in an attractive format that you can present to your potential loaner. Put your short-term and long-term goals on paper, along with, a business plan. It not only helps to sell your idea but it helps you work through and see the projected path your business will take.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.westcostgranola.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westcoastgranola

Image Credits
Amber Modena w/AmberMoCreative.com Mariana Hoeksema