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

Samantha , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Well, starting your own business is definitely a risk, and a big one at that! Ever since taking the leap of faith to start Healthy On You®, I don’t think anything could feel as risky as putting yourself out there like starting a business requires. Getting started though and taking that risk is what separates the dreamers from the entrepreneurs.

Starting my own business has altered how I perceive risks. I think many times risks are seen as negatives, but I see risks as opportunities for growth. For example, I decided to go all in and rebrand our company by injecting the current musical naming theme. Though it felt authentic to me, it was a huge risk. I didn’t know if the consumer would get the puns in the song names or would buy into the Edible Playlist concept. Each decision we make or risk we take alters our path in some way and if we didn’t take risks, I’d imagine that would make for a pretty boring life! I try to inspire people every day to take the risk and become an entrepreneur. It has become one of the most rewarding things in my life and every day I am grateful I trusted my gut and didn’t let the riskiness deter me.

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?

Growing up in the Bronx, I would watch my mother make her own spice blends from scratch, an important piece of our Indo-Jamaican heritage. She was always in the kitchen making her own curries and Jerk spices. Meanwhile, my dad would sit nearby with his favorite collections playing over our record player. The music from my father’s music and the smells from my mother’s spice blends enveloped the house.

My mother cooked every day for our family of five, while still holding a full-time job. She taught me the importance of preparing a healthy home-cooked meal and the sense of family it inspires. She also showed me how rewarding passion and hard work can be. My father instilled in me my love of music and inspired my brand.

I founded Healthy On You® in 2015 when I first became a certified health coach and began teaching cooking classes in my home. I took traditional recipes and made healthier versions and used my own hand-blended spice and salt mixes to amplify the flavor. I would always play my favorite music in the background. After a couple years of hosting my in-home cooking classes and making my own spice and salt blends, my students began asking for spice blends to take home. After many of these requests, I expanded Healthy On You® to include organic gourmet spice and salt blends. I secured my first in-store placement in a popular, high-end organic grocery store in 2018. From there I began landing larger chain stores in Southern California. Today, we distribute to over 50 retail stores from San Diego to San Louis Obispo.

Our line of 20 unique hand-blended, organic spices fills a void on retail shelves. There are organic single spices and non-organic spice blends, but very limited selections for fresh, healthy organic spice blends. Even more, the larger brands are stodgy, while our brand injects fun and ease in the kitchen. Instead of reaching for five different bottles of generic spices, you can have one Healthy On You® bottle with five or more spices blended especially for the meal you are preparing. We play upon multiple senses: from the complexities of flavors you can taste, to the smell of our blends, to the musicality we incorporate in the names of our products.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There have been many times where I have had to muster up some resilience, but I would say again that is part of being an entrepreneur / small business owner. Some days I just have to laugh at whatever new hiccup I’m encountering and just roll with the punches. If I had to choose one though, I’d take us back to 2020 when Healthy On You® experienced some pretty extreme growth. Not only did our online sales skyrocket, but we also entered into a partnership with our first distributor to service retail clients. Very quickly I found myself juggling fulfilling online orders and looking at an invoice for hundreds of boxes of product from the new distributor. The best part, it all needed to be filled in a matter of days! It truly felt like we quickly grew from a handful of stores, to over 50 overnight. Over the course of less than a week, I rallied some of my closest friends and family to assist with labeling and packaging products.

I had to keep reminding myself this is what comes with success and growth. We want to always think it will be gradual, but most times it comes out of nowhere and requires a lot of effort in a short period of time. As a small business owner, I’m truly grateful for the support system I have. I would not have been able to do it without my family and friends who quickly stepped in to assist and continue to support me in various ways as Healthy On You® keeps experiencing growth.

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

Like many businesses, the pandemic resulted in unavoidable disruption and change. As I mentioned at the beginning, Healthy On You® started out as in-person cooking classes that I hosted in my kitchen. You can probably guess, but it was a pretty intimate setting with no real ability to be six feet apart. Of course when we went into lockdown, these classes came to an abrupt halt. I was devastated. These classes were my favorite way to connect with the local Healthy On You® community and educate my customers on ways to incorporate the spice and salt blends into their cooking.

At first, I was very hesitant to move the classes online. Soon though, I realized my classes could be an escape for everyone from the constant anxiety and stress we were living under. Even more, everyone was being essentially forced to cook at home. I took my cooking classes online, offering them for free, and they were a huge success. The positive feedback I would receive from participants after the classes was incredible. I felt like I was truly helping ease some of the stress, while bringing together a community that shared a passion for cooking healthy and flavorful food. In hosting the classes online, I was also able to broaden my reach and gain a following across the country. Today, I still run my cooking classes virtually. They’re held every few months and we have transitioned to donation-based, with all proceeds going to a new charity each class. It’s been a great way to continue fostering the Healthy On You® community across the country and connect with my customers, while supporting so many great causes. Many times, pivots positively impact your business in one way or another!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.healthyonyou.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthyonyou/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healthyonyouspices/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-binkley-7b2b11120

Image Credits
Anna Clevenger, Samantha Binkley