We were lucky to catch up with Chris Simpkins recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
My first client/customer was my Uncle Mark. In many cases when you offer a product or service and start out, friends and family are the first to be exposed to it. It can be somewhat difficult to price your service because you haven’t really yet discovered your value and haven’t established what your time and talents are worth; at least I hadn’t.
I had hosted a family get-together every Thursday for the past 15 years or more, so my cooking skills and ability to serve many people had been common knowledge amongst the crowd. I have more than 40 Aunts and Uncles, 100+ first cousins, and numerous family friends, so serving large numbers came naturally.
My Uncle Mark was the Commodore at his boat club and they needed a caterer to provide “finger foods” for their yearly get together; so he had asked if I’d be interested – which I was. I was also quite nervous since I hadn’t yet served this size of crowd nor had the experience to know how to prepare for it.
Luckily it had went off without a hitch and a year later when I was in the Drs office for a routine check-up, the nurse that entered the room was the very same woman who had told me my meatballs were the best she’s ever tasted, the year prior at the boat club event. It had given me the confidence to move forward with catering, which later had turned into promoting food products, companies, and more on social media.
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 had originally started with catering events for family and friends, but once COVID hit, most all events were put on pause until further notice. I not only had no events to cater, but I was also DREAFULLY BORED and TikTok had made it’s way to the forefront of everyone’s phones since we were all trying to re-ignite the feeling of connecting with others.
I created a TikTok account and started filming myself grilling, focusing heavily on entertaining commentary to make people laugh and smile. It took off and now I have amassed over 250,000 followers on social media.
Eventually I started to be approached by other small and large businesses looking for a way to promote their food products. It has steadily grown from there and the account continues to gain traction.
I’m most proud of sticking true to myself by valuing honesty and integrity. I have never promoted a brand or product that I wouldn’t personally use. I value the trust my followers put into me, so if the product isn’t for me, I will not promote it. I also tend to give out free promotions to small family owned businesses, as someone who comes from that, I know how hard it is to be seen in such saturated markets.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
As I had mentioned earlier in this interview, I started my social media accounts during the height of the pandemic. It was at first a creative outlet to me that became so much more. However, as my account started to gain traction, I ended up with COVID. I was in the hospital for 2 months and I was told I would not survive. I had pneumonia in both lungs, I was on the highest amount of oxygen the machine could provide, and it was still not enough.
The Dr’s tried to put me onto a ventilator, and considering my condition, I understood why. However, at the time I knew that most who went on the ventilator never made it back off. I pleaded with my Dr to let me work at breathing and I would prove to him I would beat the illness. Reluctantly, he accepted.
I was able to come home after 2 long months of seclusion from my friends, family, and most painfully…my wife and children. I was on oxygen at home for several more months, but I had worked with many therapists and put in the work to get my health back.
I was still recording videos and promoting products while connected to an oxygen machine because I refused to give up.
I’m happy to say my health is good now and the only direction I accept to move is forward.
How did you build your audience on social media?
There are a couple of key factors:
You must be relatable and you must be genuine.
The vast majority of people can pick up on phony behaviors within seconds.
Be excited about what you do, be excited to share your passion with others, and be true to who you are. Don’t sell yourself short by worrying about money. Money will come with hard work and being driven by passion.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.crittersimpfood.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crittersimpfood/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crittersimpfood/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@crittersimpfood?_t=ZT-8wDKwSYfaus&_r=1
