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

Jen, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success doesn’t happen by mere coincidence or luck. I always hear people say he or she is so lucky to get that opportunity or they got lucky to be able to buy that house or that car, but people are seeing it all wrong. There is a reason why they say ‘luck is simply preparation meets opportunity’. From my experience and crossing paths with numerous successful people, I can say that it takes a combination of a few obvious factors like sacrifice and sweat equity, but the true essence of success lies in two indispensable traits: resourcefulness and relentlessness. If you possess these two traits, you are going to do more with less and going to get to where you’re going no matter what it takes. That’s what it takes to be successful in anything. As an entrepreneur you are someone cutting your own path where there is no road map, you’re going to face challenges, obstacles and roadblocks along the way. But the successful ones, don’t let these constant inconveniences stop them. They figure out a way, not only because they believe that every problem has a solution and you have to push through the tough times, but, they also believe in themselves even when no one else does. Most importantly, a Plan B does not exist for them. It takes shutting out all doubters and naysayers, even if they are your closest people like family and friends, to build a successful business from concept to reality. Building out my first business helped me shape this mindset. I remember trying to source packaging for my plant-based beauty brand, Spoil Me Beautiful, that I designed for health-conscious women and I had formulated in my kitchen at the time. Every cosmetics packaging company I attempted to contact wouldn’t return my emails or calls – they didn’t want to work with an unknown brand or a startup. I mean looking back I don’t blame them as they probably figured I wouldn’t be able to meet their minimum order amounts and it would be a waste of their time. But I couldn’t let my vision die from non-responsive emails. I knew that if I was just able to speak to a company rep face-to-face and share my passion and excitement for my project, they would not be able to turn me away. I researched packaging trade shows all over North America and the closest one to me came up in New York called Luxe Pack. I booked a plane ticket from Toronto to New York, leaving first thing in the morning and coming back late that night because I couldn’t afford to get a hotel in the city. The trade show consisted of over 250 global packaging suppliers and was located in Pier 92. As I walked my way through the exhibition floor, amazed at how many cosmetics packaging suppliers existed, I realized quickly that it was an entirely different ball game being right in front of these companies. The reps were receptive to my vision! I was finally getting answers, quotes and they were getting into design discussions with me. In the end, there was one rep from a company in particular that truly understood and believed in me and not necessarily just my vision. It took a face-to-face talk with someone in the industry to believe to such a degree that she was able to offer a lower minimum order than their usual just to help make my dream a reality. This was the first taste I had of what it actually takes to have a small win. This small success taught me that things will likely never be easy but you just need to create some momentum for things to have a chance at falling into place. It’s a relentless mindset and resourceful strategizing that gets you the win.

Jen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been described as a self-made impact-driven entrepreneur! I began my career in environmental impact and sustainability management at a global multidisciplinary development consultancy, optimizing projects for corporate clients by developing sustainability initiatives and positive community partnerships, ranging from start-up to billions in annual spend. Following a decade of helping some of the world’s largest companies shift their practices to follow a more sustainable and socially responsible path, I was inspired to bring my own ideas to life by co-founding a few impact-driven companies in plant-based food tech and clean beauty (Future of Cheese Inc. & Spoil Me Beautiful Inc.). Late 2020, I co-founded a sustainable plant-based food innovation company, Future of Cheese, where I currently serve as CEO/President. The company was acquired by publicly traded Oragin Foods (OG.V) in 2021 in a transaction valued over $5 million. I have since joined boards as a corporate advisor for various other companies in the industry. I am passionate about taking healthy and sustainable plant-based innovations from concept to reality; consequently contributing to positive global environmental change. I like to think that I have broken some barriers and would like to continue to do so by advocating, mentoring and supporting female entrepreneurs. In 2023, I was named Canada’s top 100 Game Changer female leaders by Natural Products Canada and TD Bank.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have realized the timing of events in life really do happen when they are meant to happen. As most people, I had to pivot during the pandemic. I was going full force growing my plant-based cosmetics business, after moving on from my sustainability and community relations consulting role in the corporate world, when the pandemic hit. Everything was shut down and no one was wearing lip gloss (which was my number one selling product) under their masks. All my new stockists had put a hold on their orders and many eventually had closed their doors for good as a result of the times. I continued to push online sales the best I could but my creativity had started exploring this new pandemic landscape with new ideas. The pandemic brought with it a new focus on health and wellness and this is when I realized that there was still a huge gap to be filled in the dairy alternative space. I noticed that many of the vegan dairy products on shelves had chemicals, fillers and additives throughout their ingredient lists. Not only that, they were branded in a very ‘granola’ way. There was no bold or cool factor about them. Additionally, sustainability is at the core of everything I do and plant-based products are the answer to a more sustainable lifestyle. So I pivoted from plant-based beauty to plant-based food in a time that the world was especially looking for it. This is what sparked the founding story of Future of Cheese. My co-founders and I assembled an incredible team that created a global award-winning plant-based cheese and had led the company to an acquisition of $5.8 million to a publicly traded grocery chain. I didn’t give up on my first company, I simply saw an opportunity and took it. Sometimes events take place in life that create new opportunities and it’s worth exploring them no matter what path you are on. I am currently building both companies and have taken a corporate advisor role on a new existing project.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

This one is a bit of a personal lesson but I feel it’s important to share because I think some women have felt this at some point in their lives. Having grown up in a chauvinistic household, I was exposed to the falsehood of male superiority in every aspect, particularly around business. Not only was I never championed by this parental figure in my earlier years, I went on to work 8 years in a male-driven corporate job, constantly having to prove my worth to even earn subordinate compensation and title. I harnessed the struggle of feeling never ‘good enough’ and channeled it to change my path. I found strength in my story instead of feeling like a victim and exited the road I’d been on to launch my first company. That transition in itself came with many challenges as I dove head first into building my first business and felt like I was building a plane while it was falling. This was the moment that I finally began finding confidence. It was in the little wins of bringing my idea into reality and bootstrapping all aspects of the start-up experience which came with learning new skills. All these new experiences allowed me to hone the instincts that had been suppressed by a lifetime of “you can’t do this” and I learned I can do anything, and I believe so can anyone else if they have an intense desire to do so.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.futureofcheese.com and www.spoilmebeautiful.ca
• Instagram: @theplantbasedceo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenwojtaszek/

Image Credits
Max Jamali