We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kimberly Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kimberly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
This idea came about as a result of some health issues I was having. I broke out into hive and couldn’t figure out what was causing it. My doctor wanted me to start taking a closer look at the ingredients in the foods I was consuming. She suggested that I eat as clean as possible and make everything myself. I started reading the ingredients on everything, including my seasonings. I am not a fan of bland food, so it was killing me that I couldn’t properly season my food, due to the chemicals I read on the bottles at the store. I started blending my own spices & herbs. One day I shared some with a co-worker. The next thing I know people were asking me to make them some. It went from selling to friends to selling to everyone. I became very passionate about providing an all natural way to flavor your food. Therefore, the business was born.
Kimberly , 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?
I’m not hard to figure out. I love what I do. I have always been the type of person that loved to feed others and show love. This is my way of loving people. No one should have to eat food with no flavor. We provide seasoning and spices that are chemical free, no artificial ingredients and made with love. I like to think, I help people be just a little bit healthier but not sacrifice taste. We don’t just offer great seasonings, hot sauces, cooking oils etc. We also offer you an experience. When you buy from us, you’re shopping with family. I’m the crazy Aunt with the purple hair.
I enjoy what I do and I enjoy meeting all the wonderful people that come to see us. I see every customer like family. We want to make sure that we are giving you quality products and quality service. People see the purple hair, the purple logo, purple flags, tent etc. and they are intrigued. But once you’re there you see why everyone loves it so much.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
That’s easy. My Partner is my husband. We aren’t just partners in business we are partners in life. My husband and I met almost 13 years ago. At that time neither of us had a desire to start our own business, but life pushed us in a direction where it just made since.
When I went to my husband and told him what I had in mind, to my surprise he was all in. The funny thing was I made a presentation showing research, profit possibilities and all. I was so shocked when he said, yeah, I think you can do it.
He handles the parts that keep me free to continue to create. We make an awesome team.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
There was a time that the business hit a nose dive. I had to go back to working a full time job, because financially the business was not growing. I strongly considered giving up.
A young woman said to me, “Why would you give your all to help someone else build their dream, but give nothing to your own”
That was the kick in the pants I needed. I kept doing open air markets and working full time, I started getting familiar with social media, (outside of my comfort zone) and researching marketing tools. I rebranded the labels and everything. I kept pushing, and eventually I couldn’t work a regular job and run the business. The business was doing great and now I’ve been in business full time for four years. You just have to keep going, even when it seems like nothing is going right. Only when you stop do you fail
Contact Info:
- Website: stellaruthseasoning.com
- Instagram: stellaruth2930
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StellaRuth2930/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@stellaruth4755