We were lucky to catch up with Laide Olambiwonnu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Laide thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

Pickytarian has baked giving back into the company’s DNA from Day 1. We donate 5% of our sales (Not Profits) quarterly to charity organizations alleviating food and shelter insecurity in our communities. Hunger and Homelessness are causes that are near and dear to our hearts as we believe that no one should have to live without food and shelter.

Thus far, we’ve donated to:
Grass Roots Neighbours, a volunteer-run community organization that meets the immediate needs of communities experiencing food and housing insecurity.

In addition to donating money to this incredible organization, as the founder of Pickytarian, I also volunteer my time to ensure that we are looking after those who are not as fortunate.

Laide, 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?

I’ve been a picky eater all my life; hence the name, Pickytarian! 🙃

Being a picky eater is one thing but being picky about how we spend our time, money, and resources is something everyone can strive for.

For far too long, the disposable tableware industry has been riddled with single-use plastic, toxic styrofoam, flimsy paper, and have lacked innovation design-wise. Styrofoam and Plastics are landfilled at a rate of 80% and are ultimately harmful to humans, wildlife, and the environment.

Pickytarian stemmed from a desire to elevate a dining experience that is often riddled with single-use plastics, outdated designs, and subpar offerings. While we encourage everyone to re-use and minimize waste as much as possible, we understand that there will be occasions where that isn’t possible. In those instances, we encourage you to be picky and more selective about your choices. Pickytarian is a more elegant alternative to paper and single-use plastic tableware.

Our dinnerware products are beautifully-designed, elegant, sturdy, and compostable. Pickytarian’s tableware products include appetizer plates, dinner plates, forks, spoons, knives. Our tableware products are made from renewable resources such as bamboo and sugarcane pulp.

Pickytarian is used an loved by everyone from caterers and event planners to the friend who loves hosting intimate gatherings.

We are a family-owned small business and we do whatever it takes to ensure that our customers have an amazing experience with our products. In addition, we donate 5% of sales to organizations working to alleviate food & shelter in our various communities.

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

I’m proud that I was able to go from concept to launch as a bootstrapped founder. With limited resources, I have had to be scrappy and pretty much had my hand in every aspect of the business from designing the product, securing a design patent, developing the website to managing logistics, marketing, and business operations. I’m proud of my ability to adapt and learn whatever was necessary to move forward towards my business goals.

The first year in business is always the toughest and our first year so far hasn’t been without its challenges. There are have been lots of setbacks – from having delivery of goods delayed to almost being defrauded by some vendors amongst others. As a business owner, I’ve just continued to learn from setbacks and make the necessary adjustments to ensure we are set up for success going forward.

What has kept me going is knowing that our dinnerware products truly delight our customers and knowing we’ve made an incredibly product motivates me to not give up.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Two books I recommend for any entrepreneur are: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (Founder of Nike) and Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke.

There’s a tendency to glamorize entrepreneurship but the truth is much of it is a painful slog and grind. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight captures a realistic experience that most entrepreneurs of physical goods experience. Granted things are a bit easier now than when he first started Nike; nonetheless, I believe every entrepreneur should read the book.

Thinking in Bets is a great book for everyone to read, entrepreneur or not. It states clearly an understated fact of life – Most decisions we make in our lives involve luck, uncertainty, and risk. Every decision we make is a bet on some future outcome based on our current beliefs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pickytarian.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pickytarianinc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pickytarian
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pickytarian
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pickytarian
• Other: https://pickytarian.com/product/tableware-set/