Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Huang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amanda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

The craziest experience I had was how COVID-19 rocked my business! Like any other business, we had to adapt to this new normal and got creative with how we ran our businesses. I started my business 3 months before the world shut down…and to be honest, this new normal actually worked out to my favor.

I launched my business, Earth Made Kitchen, in December 2019. Part of my plan was to offer online cooking classes. I was doing research on this as early as 2018, and had planned to launch the online cooking classes in mid-2020. Then surprise – COVID hit and everything shut down in March 2020, which pushed me to launch my online cooking classes quicker than anticipated. Since then, I’ve hosted these classes to people across the nation and around the world.

Prior to this, I was going through a phase where I just wanted to “give up” on my business. I found it very difficult to “find my community”, and figure out my target market. When the online world exploded during the pandemic, I began to meet many people and several communities I felt like I belonged to. Ultimately, my business really kicked off during the pandemic!

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’ve been involved in the food industry for several years – from working at a recreational cooking school, to restaurants, and also volunteering in food non-profits. I’ve always had a passion for food and cooking, and wanted to share my recipes and my cooking with others.

I am the chef and owner of Earth Made Kitchen, a small food business. We teach cooking classes and provide food services, such as private chef services and small-scale catering. Our mission is to introduce and educate people to wholesome, healthy, diverse and delicious food, whether it’s through a cooking class or enjoying one of our dishes.

One of the things we are most proud of is the impact we’ve had on others through our food. When we see our participants smile and engaged during our cooking classes, or when people devour our food with delight, it brings us joy and makes us continue to do more.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve made several pivots with my business. Before starting Earth Made Kitchen, I actually had another business called “Amanda’s Market”, where I provided meal deliveries. Things didn’t work out, so I ended that and started Earth Made Kitchen, where I primarily teach cooking classes. I had a couple in-person classes and quickly pivoted online when the pandemic happened. I am now pivoting again, and bringing back food services to my business, while continuing to teach my cooking classes. I didn’t expect myself to pivot so much, but that’s just how business works!

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

Currently, I use Eventbrite and Stripe to sell my services. I’ve used Squarespace (E-Commerce) in the past, and hope to go back to using the platform again in the near future.

Eventbrite:
Pros: Eventbrite helps you promote and market your event. When you search for events on Eventbrite, your event will pop up. I’ve had many people find my classes on Eventbrite. Eventbrite also sends out emails to your target market, further promoting your event.

Cons: I’ve noticed that the Eventbrite marketing can be random. Sometimes, they may send promotional emails with your event, sometimes they don’t. Also, your event may or may not pop up in the first page. If you want more targeted marketing on Eventbrite, they recently introduced Eventbrite Boost, a paid ads service that may help increase visibility.

Stripe:
Pros: I find that Stripe is a very easy to use platform with a clear and organized dashboard. I am able to issue invoices seamlessly and quickly.

Cons: Stripe charges a fee for the transactions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://earthmadekitchen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthmadekitchen/