We recently connected with Jennifer Kopp and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

I ended up a private cook for those with a 2nd home up in the Adirondacks by accident. My husband was asked if he knew someone in the area that was a private chef. We never realized it was something that was needed in this area before he was asked. My husband suggested me. He said my wife cooks but we don’t have people that cook for others as a living.
That week I went to their camp chatted with the family and went over menu ideas as well as made a sample meal for just the five main family members. They turned into my first clients. For the next two weeks I made the entire family 12-14 people dinner as well as a few baked goods to munch on for breakfast.
I recall being so nervous getting out of my truck that day. I was no professional cook. Yes I took some cooking classes while I was back in high school but that was two and a half decades ago. I cook at home and my family loves my cooking but that doesn’t qualify me to cook for others.
Things went great better than great. I went from one family to another and another by the end of the season which is a mere three months long I had four different families I was cooking for and more to come. It was a case of opportunity falling into my lap.

But even before the private cooking there were the artisan fairs and farmers markets. That I still do when I’m able to. My first artisan/vendor event was suggested by my mother in law. Sally Kopp; she suggested one Easter that I think about selling my food. I honestly thought she was crazy. Who would pay money to buy my food? I definitely judged myself short. Told her I couldn’t do that. Well Sally wouldn’t listen and set me up on my first event. Made all the arrangements. Told me to go home and bake 20 loaves of bread and show up. My first event was at the Moose in Tupper Lake. Ironically it was also the woman who later becomes one of the main event planners in the area as well first event. Lisa Reed. I showed up that day with the 20 loaves of bread, a table and chair and nothing else. Put a sign up $5 a loaf. Sold every single loaf of bread except 3. I was flabbergasted, could not believe it. Sally was right. That week I procured my Cottage Law paperwork to legally sell baked goods in New York State and started signing up for an artisan event every weekend. That was 10 yrs ago.

Jennifer, 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?

Let’s see. Who am I and how did I get here. I have always cooked from scratch but five years ago I was diagnosed with Autoimmune Thyroid Disease also known as Hashimoto. After diving down the rabbit hole I learned that processed food and some ways of preserving food by big food can harm your body. This caused me to overhaul our entire way we ate. More farm grown, more fresh rather than store canned foods. I took the time to learn to preserve the food myself so I could know what was in the food.

Prior to that I also was a single mom of three trying to stretch our food dollar. Cooking from scratch, learning to cut your own steaks, pork chops or even cooking a whole roast beef or turkey to make lunch meat was much more cost effective and healthy for you then buying them from the store.

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

I’ll be honest I have pivoted a few times and I am not sure I’m done pivoting. I started out by setting up on the side of the road, in the summer that is all fine and dandy but once it gets cold and tourist season starts to dwindle you need to find a new outlet. Other bread makers start to show up too. You have to keep your items eye catching. I alresdy made granola at home for our own household why not offer it to my clients. Or I started my business page to advertise breads, pies, granola and more. This year I’m pivoting away from the stands and working more on the private cooking and looking into dinner parties in a farm to table type plan. Still mid pivot on the farm to table. Learning to be resilient is the only way to keep a small business prosperous in a tourist area which is something many small businesses learn along the way.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn the I can’t do that. I am pretty sure I am still unlearning it. When it was first suggested making breads and pastries for the road side stands or vendor events my response was I can’t do that. When I was asked if I could cook for others in their camps my response was also I can’t do that. Well actually it was I don’t think I can do that. Recently I was asked to lead up a canning/ preserving class. And yes I responded with I can’t teach a class on canning I taught myself. I am beating that one with a Master canner course that will teach me so that I can teach others even though I have been canning for 10 yrs now. The lesson I learned was to have more faith in myself and what I am able to do.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kw_farms_and_kitchen?igsh=bjh1YjczdGxpM2c3&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16CwWeE86q/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

All photos except the one of me was taken by myself. The one that has me in a restaurant was taken by my best friend last week