We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Megan Vaughan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Megan below.
Megan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?
The hardest thing about being a business owner is keeping your mind open to reimagining what your business looks like in order to keep it viable and current. In March 2020, Vaughan Cheese exclusively offered in-person events and sold wholesale to restaurants. It was projected to be our business’s biggest month yet. In a single day, every one of our accounts closed and every event canceled. We found ourselves with tens of thousands of perishable goods and no revenue streams. In one week, we rebranded the business and embraced online retail and virtual cheese classes. The process of pivoting and reimagining was stressful, but it was incredibly important, and we’re stronger for it. Finding ways to take ourselves virtual was incredibly useful and we now find ourselves with a more diverse revenue stream.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Vaughan Cheese Counter & Bar is a full-service restaurant and cheese counter specializing in American artisan cheeses. We offer a full menu showcasing cheese & charcuterie boards, sandwiches, salads, grain bowls, and shareable dishes along with a robust selection of wines by the glass and bottle, beers, specialty cocktails, and nonalcoholic drinks. Our customers are awesome people who love delicious food and drinks and love to support small family farmers. Before coming to Maryland, I was working In Manhattan at some of New York City’s best restaurants, and being surrounded by incredible products, I fell in love with American artisan cheese and knew I ultimately wanted to foster that in an area that didn’t yet seem to have access to these small, American dairies. We relocated to coastal Maryland, and we love getting to work directly with the amazing, talented, passionate farmers and cheesemakers who are so awesome and work so hard to make incredible products. It’s easy to get inspired by that.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
We’ve worked hard to seek out an incredible team for the restaurant to work with us, and we are so proud the Vaughan Cheese family we’ve built. We don’t hire for experience. Instead, we find people who care. I can teach someone how to carry a tray or cook fish or talk about a cheese, but I can’t teach someone to care. So we hire people who are genuine and who care, and we happily teach them everything else. Filling the restaurant with like minded people who care maintains team morale and ensures that you’re never watering down your brand.
How’d you meet your business partner?
Tyler and I met at The Culinary Institute of America moving into rooms right next to each other. There we fell in love with the hospitality industry, service, and each other. I discovered my passion for artisan cheese which I carried into my ten-year career at Eleven Madison Park in New York City. Tyler travelled the world to study wine and cocktails and found his love for working with passionate people at Union Square Hospitality Group, Blue Hill, and Oceana. In the city, we began curating focused cheese tastings for enthusiastic diners to spread the word about American artisan cheeses and the good people who make them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vaughancheese.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vaughan_cheese/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VaughanCheese/