We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anna Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

From the get-go I believe it takes passion. A passion for what you do and to be better. In my case, I had always worked for someone else. I had always been very loyal to any job I had, some times to a fault. I was so scared to go out on my own and trust my business. Once I finally decided to take the leap, I had to go all in. If it wasn’t for an underlying passion to create things, I wouldn’t have lasted this long. Over the past four years I have kept that passion to get better in my craft.

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?

My name is Anna Johnson, I live in Idalou, Texas. I have 2 boys ages 11 and 6 and a super supportive husband named Trevor. I graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Journalism,
I started West Texas Charcuterie (WTC) in 2020 during the height of Covid. I was asked to make a charcuterie board for a family members baby shower. I hadn’t heard of the word “charcuterie” at that point, but knew it was essentially a glorified meat and cheese tray. For those that don’t know me, I don’t do anything mediocre. I decided to say yes to the challenge and made the most lavish food display for this shower. Everyone who attended thought it was great! It wasn’t until my husband suggested that I make a few boards a month for “pedicure money”. That night I built a Facebook page and by the end of the week I had over 500 followers. I haven’t slowed down since! After a lot of prayers and discussions I decided to quit my full time job and run my charcuterie business full time. I believe what sets WTC apart from any other charcuterie business is my customer service and quality. I treat every customer with importance, I believe that going above and beyond for my customers has made my business last. Fitting in last minute orders, and helping any way that I can has proven to be successful for me. I also purchase the highest quality products for my customers. The cost of my creations are typically higher than others, but I will not sacrifice quality for price. When you order with WTC, you are paying for an experience. All of my boards and tables are prepared the day of in a health inspected and insured commercial kitchen. We know the importance of safety and go the extra mile to ensure our customers always the best product. I am so proud of what I have built for WTC, I have gotten to provide beautiful and yummy snacks for Texas Tech Men’s and Women’s athletics, local public officials and more!

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

West Texas Charcuterie started as a hobby business, at the time I had a goal to use my income from WTC to help save for a new home. At the time I was working as a Food Buyer for a local food manufacturing company, I was in charge of purchasing all of the fruits and vegetables that we needed for the facility. At this job I learned how to analyze inventory, contract pricing, as well as source the best ingredients. It was here that I got a good understanding of how the food “business” worked. This has helped my tremendously when buying for my own business. A typical day for me would start at getting up around 4 a.m. to make my charcuterie boards for the day, I then would head to my 8-5 job and deliver my boards during my lunchbreak, this went on for almost a year. I soon realized I had a real business and decided the quit my corporate job to work for myself! This came with a big learning curve and I quickly realized that a food business like charcuterie did not fall under the “cottage law” requirements in Texas. This meant I had to have multiple certifications for food safety as well as operate in a licensed commercial kitchen. I am so thankful that a family member gave me permission to use his restaurant and operate with his commercial kitchen, if you need some of the best BBQ in West Texas definitely try Eddies BBQ in Lubbock! After 4 years of serving the Lubbock and surrounding areas with charcuterie I can happily say “I’ve got this!”. WTC has grown and has been successful in part to my supportive friends and family that help in any way they can.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media has played such a vital role in WTC’s success. I started my business during Covid and the charcuterie craze was just starting. My boards and tables were art and not something that many people had seen before with food. I used this to my advantage on social media. I decided to start a Facebook and Instagram page, I started posting photos and videos of my food art and people absolutely loved them. I would also tag any product that I was using, from Mezzetta olives to Breton crackers. Soon those brands started re-posting and sharing my work. I even made a “Taco Bell” inspired board that got the attention of Taco Bell that they re-shared. I also used this platform as inspiration, I follow so many charcuterie accounts across the world. Making friends with those entrepreneurs and sharing their work too, they would share my creations and I would theirs. At this point people from all over the country could see my work! I also believe being organic and real has helped in regards to social media. My followers see that I am a real person, I interact with them and that makes the growth and engagement so much better!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.westtexascharcuterie.com
• Instagram: westx_charcuterie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westxcharcuterie

Image Credits

Headshot Photo- Cristy Cross Photography

All others-Owned by Anna Johnson West Texas Charcuterie