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

Yasmine , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Thank you for having me.  The idea for The Seed came during a pivotal time in my life when I was closing many chapters and embarking on writing a whole new book. After mostly playing it safe all my life, I wanted to do something that would even surprise myself. Although I always wanted to start my own business, I didn’t know where to begin and what the business would be, but I was certain that whatever it would end up being, it would have to fill me up with joy. I’ve always had a love for hosting and entertaining, so I started to dabble in a food blog during Covid to sharpen my cooking and baking skills. It was an incredible feeling to see my recipes and dishes on people’s dinner tables and it sparked something in me. It set me on a path to follow that joy and see where it would lead me. After Covid, I noticed that the way people were entertaining had changed. No one really ate full meals at parties anymore, it was all about the appetizers and light nibbles. That’s when the light bulb went off! I wanted to take my love of food, entertaining and hosting and turn it into a business to help others who love to host but don’t know where to start or how to best create a beautiful spread. I wanted to take the stress and hassle out of catering a get-together and make it a simple and seamless process from ordering to delivery. Let’s be honest, everyone has a busy schedule these days and we just want to help our customers tick one thing off their list. Our goal is to not only deliver high-quality, delicious and beautiful appetizer and dessert spreads but also help our customers elevate the entertaining experience for their guests without lifting a finger.  Looking back now, after almost two years in business, I wouldn’t say it was a risk but rather the next right step in my career path.

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?

At The Seed, we specialize in making gourmet and locally sourced appetizer and dessert boards for order and curate custom grazing tables for all types of events. We are based in Van Nuys, California and our menu offers everything from cheese & charcuterie, farm-fresh crudités, seasonal fruit boards, an epic bagel board, sandwiches, and so much more that can be served for a brunch, corporate event, shower, wedding etc. Our various dessert options include chocolate-covered strawberries, cookie boards ranging from chocolate chunk cookies with sea salt to rose tea and linzer cookies which we bake fresh in-house. We are currently working on a special holiday cookie board which will be great and in time for holiday gifting and parties.

Our company mission is simple — it’s to bring people together and we take pride that most of the produce on our boards are hand-picked weekly and at the peak of its season from the local farmer’s market and we bring our customers the finest ingredients made in small batches from various small businesses. Furthermore, we are doing our little part in saving the planet by using eco-friendly, re-usable, and recyclable packaging. We are proud to live this mission every day with every order.

In addition to bringing people together we also love supporting our fellow small businesses within our local community. In 2023, we started to expand our business by partnering with local coffee shops, tastings rooms and floral shops throughout LA looking to add to their menu with our goods (sandwiches, picnic boxes, boards, etc.). We help bring value by offering them something they need, and we co-market one another by bringing exposure to each other’s businesses. We are excited to share that more partnerships are currently in the works!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

While I was still at my corporate job, I started to put together the blueprint for my business. I was fortunate enough to be able to pay for the starting costs (i.e. website, branding, packaging, inventory etc.) out of pocket so I didn’t have to get a loan. I tested the marketing by launching during the holidays to see how it would do. Meanwhile, I saved as much as I could and made a lot of sacrifices prior to deciding to leave my 14+ year corporate career in marketing and events. Having a decent amount of savings was important for me to feel stable financially so I could pursue this dream and jump in with both feet. I made sure I had enough to cover me for a year or two understanding that I would not take any money out of the business for myself and put everything I made back in to fuel it so it could grow and expand. I took on a lot of those overhead costs and did everything myself from deliveries to social media to prepping, sourcing groceries etc. until I made enough to start hiring a delivery service and an employee to help with prep, events and more. Thankfully, I’ve always relied on myself from a young age which taught me a lot about managing money and how to be disciplined in many areas. It sticks with you when it isn’t something that was taught but rather an essential part of your life. Applying these disciplines to my business now has come easily and I’m grateful for the lessons from my younger years.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I am proud to say that we’ve grown most of our clientele through word of mouth. We haven’t spent much money through advertising and to be honest, we’ve been very strategic in how we spend money on ads. Word-of-mouth marketing has probably been the most effective for our business simply because people rely more on their friends or family’s recommendation over an ad placed on social media or other platforms. We value each customer and tend to their every need in order to make sure their event is a success. Whether it is special accommodations for dietary restrictions, responding quickly to their concerns and ensuring they feel like they are our number one priority is how we’ve grown and continue to do so daily. At the end of the day, we are in the hospitality business, and it is because of our customers that we can continue to do what we love, and we don’t take that for granted.

We’ve also grown through our various partnerships with local businesses such as Little Lunch Coffee & Snacks in Venice, Bliss Beach, Viola Floral and Juneshine Tasting Room in Santa Monica. These local small businesses have really supported our business and help us expand our brand awareness by offering our goods to their customers.

Looking back, I am so grateful for embarking on this journey and forever grateful for the connections we’ve made and number of customers and small business we’ve helped throughout the last year and a half.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theseedca.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theseedca/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSeedCa
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/yasmine-wahab
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@theseedca