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

Hi Glynis , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I had no plans to become a part of the culinary industry outside of a hobby. My plans were to become a neurosurgeon.

I was accepted to UCLA on full scholarship and wanted to be the first doctor in my family. Who would have known that God had a different plan.

Throughout my undergraduate years, I was tired a lot. I had a very active lifestyle which consisted of going to musical concerts, pledging a sorority and hanging out with my sisters, community service, church and helping my parents as much as I could. I also had a part-time job.

Little did I know, the reason for my fatigue was due to a rare blood disease brewing inside of me.. After being diagnosed with leukemia, it changed my entire life and lifestyle.. The blessing in all of this was the science background that I had. It worked to my advantage.

I decided to use al of that knowledge to create a food line that would not only help me in healing but also help others. Most times when you are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, the first thing that is changed is your diet. Most of the things that you really enjoy eating is placed on the “rarely eat this” list or they’re taken out of your diet altogether. In other words, those delicious desserts — cakes, cookies, and pies.

This is when I came up with the idea of using desserts for goodness. How about creating a dessert line that takes all of those fruits and veggies that you don’t like, add in the right herbs and spices and you’ve got something wonderful?!

Just Sweet Enough (R) was my first gourmet dessert line which turned into a successful business back in 1997. I went from eating because I was hungry to eating to live a healthier life. I used the nutrients from the foods needed to help with healing leukemia to form delicious treats that helped me and others who were suffering too.

That wasn’t enough. I decided to expand my dessert line to help others who were dealing with various health challenges like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and other forms of cancer, to name a few.

Today, I have five different gourmet food lines with my latest being Glynis’ Products. Who would have ever thought that I’d be the creator of various comfort food lines? I mean, I’ve always enjoyed cooking and baking but to do it for a living — no way!!

It has really made me feel good to know that although my products are considered as comfort foods, I still stay within certain health guidelines — no artificial sweeteners, no additives or preservatives, and no food dyes. Why would anyone use red artificial food coloring when you have cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice? Or yellow artificial food coloring when there’s turmeric!! When using wholesome ingredients, you’re getting the taste, the smell, the texture and the healing characteristics of those herbs and spices!!

It hasn’t been an easy journey for me but certainly a rewarding one. There’s not one part of my education that I haven’t used. All of those Biology, Psychology, Epidemiology, Chemistry, Calculus and Economics courses have paid off.

Sometimes you may have a certain goal but God will place you according to His plan. There is a need for what I do. I have been a business owner in the culinary field for over 25 years. I’ve endured, with grace, every part of it — the ups and the downs.

I started this journey into the culinary field during my two-year bout with cancer and it allowed me the empathy to know firsthand the needs of others who are being challenged.. My mission was and is to give as many people as I could what their bodies need while at the same time provide delicious goodness and comfort. Of course the added ingredient is love. .

Glynis , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Glynis Albright CEO, Glynis’ Products

I am known globally as The Waffle Queen because of my waffle mix which comes from a recipe that I created during my sophomore year at UCLA.

My latest gourmet comfort food line consists of Glynis’ Waffle Mix, Glynis’ Gluten Free Waffle Mix, Glynis’ All Purpose Coating Mix, Glynis’ Scratch Mix, Glynis’ Secret Sauce Mix, Glynis’ Butter Biscuit Mix and Glynis’ Caramel Spice Syrup.

My testimony is being a leukemia survivor who has taken fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices for use as the core elements of all of my comfort food lines.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I have a quarterly newsletter.

I interact with my clients on social media.

I periodically have trivia questions about my business and myself so that my audience will get to know me better. Of course, there are prizes involved. They love it!!

I periodically run sales and send out free products randomly.

It makes me feel good to see social media posts from people who have received a surprise blessing in the mail. They in turn order more product for their families and friends. The let end know that not only am I kind and generous but my business has great customer service.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I started on social media to promote my businesses. It became so overwhelming to handle it. I hired a content editor to assist me.

She handles 90% of my posts. It was so hard to be creative, run my business and log onto Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Now that I have a content editor, I have more time to be creative. I still log onto social media and I still post but I feel more relaxed knowing that someone else who is much better at creating ads and posts have my back.

I would suggest getting a content editor if you can afford one. It eases up your schedule and relaxes your day.

Contact Info:

• Website: GlynisKitchen.com
• Instagram: @InsideGlynisKitchen
• Facebook: Glynis’ Kitchen
• Twitter: AlbrightCuisine
• Youtube: Glynis’ Kitchen
• Other: TikTok: @WaffleQueenGlynis

Image Credits
Jimmy Dozer