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

DeAnna, appreciate you joining us today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me was to believe in me and my vision. Well, they didn’t believe right off lol. It took a little convincing because when I initially presented my vision to them; I got a big fat “No, that’ll never work”. I couldn’t believe they said “No”. I was crushed and walked away heartbroken, but not giving up. I truly believed that I had the ability to change their mind. I just had to approach them from a different perspective. I knew if they truly understood what I was trying to do that they’d definitely want to be a part of it. So I began doing more research and put together some key factors and the demographics of where we were and what we’d be offering our community. I worked my butt off. After gathering everything I needed, I presented it again. At the end of my presentation, I got the investor to say “Yes”. That day changed my life forever and I am forever grateful. I cried alot that day and days after. I was more than humble and most of all, I was about to walk in my purpose. A walk that I needed to walk. A walk that I envisioned for such a long time. This walk, my walk, my voyage….

DeAnna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello everyone. I’m DeAnna Butler, owner of Simply Produce LLC a.k.a SimPro Mobile. I’m a 49yr old Mom of six. I’ve been an employee to a lot of different jobs over the years, but I always felt like there was something greater out there for me. Like I was destined for something else. So I began to change my mindset and the way I spoke about the things I wanted. I always envisioned working for myself-that’s just it. I only envisioned it. I often imagined me being the boss at my job so I always became a supervisor or a floor manager to make myself feel like a boss, but once I began to speak life over the things I believed I could accomplish that’s where things began to change. If you don’t believe in you-How will you convince others too? In all honesty I started my company because I love seeing people smile. I love their reaction when they bite into something good. I always have. I also started my company because I knew that even in a time of recession, grief, and everyday life that there are certain things that people were going to need to live. These are things that they would continue to do regardless. Two industries in particular that always seem to thrive no matter what the economy is going through is what I had to choose from. Those two companies are companies that feed you, such as grocery stores, fast food, etc… And salons/shops that groom men and women. I didn’t have the patience to do anyone’s hair so I chose to help provide fresh non-gmo and organic seeded fruits and vegetables to the people in our community and beyond. I knew there was a need in most communities. So I decided that’s what I’d provide and what an amazing journey it has been. Never easy, but well worth it and the last six years have been amazing. Not only do we offer fresh fruits and vegetables, we also offer fresh fruit/salad bowls, we have a tasty juice line, cater events and do pop up shops. We’re the median between your diets and your workouts. We can definitely help keep you healthy because health is wealth.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Well we started our business in September 2016 really rough and rocky, but we did it. Four years later, January 2020, the peak of Coronavirus. We were forced to close our brick and mortar. At this point I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I was embarrassed and ashamed. I felt like a loser, but my customer base would not allow me to feel that way for long. Though my doors had closed, my customers were not letting my business close! They began calling, texting, sending words of encouragement and most of all they were ORDERING 💜. I had no time to think about what to do next because they were showing me so much love that closing seemed like the best thing I’d done since opening. I heard about this grant opportunity and I applied. I was turned down twice. I still didn’t give up. I applied for the third round of that exact same grant and I got it. I had never been so happy. In June 2020, I took more then 75% of that grant funding and bought our mobile unit. Our bus. I give thanks to every one of our customers for not letting me let myself down and for continuing to support us even when I had given up. So here we are six years later and we’re still thriving. So the Moral of this story is Never give up on you….

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

I think the most pivotal moment for me as a business owner was having to close my brick and mortar. It was at that point I had no idea what to do next. I was a total wreck. I cried alot. But through the Grace of God and some loyal customers we made it and we’re still going. Literally six months after closing our brick and mortar that we couldn’t even afford to pay the rent on -we were buying the bus. Look at God…. Talk about going to the next level.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.simplyproducemarket.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simply_produce.llc/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartHealingFood/