We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Damion Byrd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Damion, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Only 3 Snacks Crisps was born/created out of necessity by the President and majority owner Damion Byrd. I became a vegan in May of 2017. One of my biggest challenges was finding great-tasting, healthy snacks that I could enjoy on-the-go, in-between meals, etc. I soon discovered there was nothing on the market that existed to meet my nutritional requirements so I created it to snack for myself in the early part of 2018.
Almost immediately I knew I had a product that could benefit others and thrive on the market. Unfortunately, I sat on the idea for a couple of years but never wavering from the thought that my recipe could be a commercial success. Then the unthinkable happened…COVID-19 and like most of the world I had lots and lots of time on my hands. During the Spring of 2020 I lead some financial mentoring sessions with family members via zoom. That group ultimately led us to form Only 3 Snack Crisps LLC based in the Las Vegas, NV area.
Our flagship version of chips (Original and Sea Salt) are based with easy to pronounce ingredients such as spelt flour, sea salt, spring water and cooked in Grapeseed Oil. From there we’ve added three more flavors to include Italian Herb, Pinch of Lime, and Cinnamon Blast. Currently we sell online primarily and will start working trade shows and farmer’s market to market our product more. Our website is www.only3snacks.com
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 am a retired Air Force Officer professionally but at my core I consider myself to be a solutions expert and servant of people. Leadership and servitude has managed to find me my entire adult life from my time in the Air Force, coaching and training many levels and age groups of basketball players, to all of my entrepreneurial ventures.
The healthy snacks industry found me out of pure necessity. As an alkaline vegan there was literally no “healthy” product on the market for me so I created my recipe to help me bridge the gap between meals and cooking. My product solves many problems for a diverse group of people. For the alkaline vegan community, we now have a product that complies with our approved ingredient list, for all others including traditional vegans, athletes, busy families, travelers, and many, many others our healthy snack tastes great but is made up of ingredients we all know of and can trust which makes all the difference when leading a wellness lifestyle.
Unfortunately, we are too often to trust big companies or merchants when they categorize their products as healthy and good for you when in actuality, their ingredients have devastating impacts to our bodies.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Funding our business like many startups in our primary challenge. We are a family-owned business of five with varying levels of ownership percentage. Only 3 Snack Crisps is bootstrapping the funding requirements to operate as we grow. However, we welcome affordable funding solutions as the arise while we learn and grow.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
We sell our Only 3 Snack Crisps primarily on our website https://www.only3snacks.com/ However, we will add tradeshows and farmer’s markets in 2023 to boost sales and awareness. In addition, other ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Etsy and others will be added as we increase our production capability and work on the affordability of such decisions.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.only3snacks.com/
- Instagram: only3snacks
- Facebook: Only 3 Snack Crisps