We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charlene Bates. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charlene below.

Charlene, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

I was raised by a single mother of 5 young kids. My mom worked harder than any human I ever met to keep our childhood home and to support all of us kids. My mom always had multiple jobs as a kid. Watching my mother work so hard for her family showed me how to be a strong, independent, hard working woman.. I believe the struggles my mother went through showed me and my brothers how to have a strong work ethic. Having a good work ethic is crucial to be successful in the world!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was a paralegal for 14 plus years and was laid off during covid. At the time I had two young children that had to be home schooled because all of the schools shut down. New Jersey was completely shut down at this time. I found myself stuck in my house, home schooling my kindergarten and first grader with zero income. I couldn’t go look for a new job because I had to be home for my kids and no one was hiring because everything was shut down. I was taking health supplements for myself at the time. I started using my personal products and selling protein shakes and energizing teas from my house for pickup at my curb. After some time I decided to open a store front. I opened my healthy cafe in the middle of covid while homeschooling my kids in the kitchen.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We opened during Covid so social media was hands down the best marketing strategy. We asked customers to tag us on their social media and it brought in a bunch more customers. Referrals from a customer are the best.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As a small business owner I think having to pivot is just part of the job. Opening the cafe during Covid had us pivoting daily. We had to change our supplies to whatever was available each time we went to place orders. At a certain time FedEx wasn’t delivering so we had to drive 3hours away to get our products. Being able to pivot is what makes a good business owner successful.

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