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

Hi Qiana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

I’ve had two customers inform me that their bowel habits have improved since eating my walnut meat regularly. I was surprised by their candor, but happy for them! I remember the occasional struggle with constipation and irregular bowel movements prior to going plant-based. It can be frustrating, scary, and painful. I assured them that they were on the right track to improving their bowel and overall health by consuming walnut meat and more plant-based foods. Fiber, adequate water, fruit, and vegetable intake keeps things moving! Good health starts in your gut and walnut meat can definitely help you maintain a healthy gut!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I wanted a healthy plant-based ground meat alternative for my tacos and there wasn’t anything on the market like that. All of the ground meat alternatives were either soy based, contained gluten, and or preservatives and various filler and flavor enhancers. My intention was to experiment with creating a meat substitute for tacos and burritos. It turned out really well so I shared the meals with my family. They really loved it so I decided to put in on the market.

I decided to produce two flavors of my walnut meat, Italian and Spicy Tex-Mex because of their great flavor, versatility and they’ve become staples in American cuisine. Dishes like spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, tacos, burritos, chili, are not common place at the American dinner table. They’re quick and delicious and can also be made in a way that is healthy!

I got into the industry through a business accelerator here in DC. I had no business acumen at all. I was a creative, a cook and health enthusiast, who enjoyed make meals for family and friends. Now, I’m an entrepreneur as well!

The Walnut Tree makes it easy to eat healthy. My walnut meat cooks up in 1-2 minutes and is ready to be added to a myriad of dishes from tacos to Bolognese. It contains no cholesterol which is a plus for those who are trying to eat healthier. Not to mention walnuts are a brain food and there are many studies and lots of information that you can find online about the benefits of consumer more walnuts. Walnut meat makes it easier to meet your daily intake of 2 oz. of nuts a day!

What sets my brand apart is that I care about my customers and their health. I took a big risk creating a product with no flavor enhancers, high quality ingredients. But my commitment to health, my integrity, and the integrity of my products is what matters most.

We have to start prioritizing our health over convenience and profit.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

This entire experience has culminated into a story of resilience. dI’m an introvert so I have been thrusted into a very extroverted experience and completely out of my comfort zone quite regularly from the very beginning. Having an idea and putting it out there, joining a business accelerator, demos, events, pitching – it was like my worse nightmare come true! I got used to being perpetually afraid and uncomfortable.

I came up with my business idea during the pandemic after loosing my full time job. It was Summer 202o and I was working part-time, struggling to make ends meat and suffering through a humid summer with no air conditioning. Over the next three years, I would go through multiple job losses, working two jobs to pay my bills and fund my business, covid and a myriad of very stressful life events. There were at least two times where I decided to stop manufacturing (I’d written my official letters to the commercial kitchen that I rent and everything) because I couldn’t afford to do it anymore, but at the very last minute, a small miracle would take place. I’ve had to believe that I could do this when all signs were pointing to the contrary. It’s still a struggle. It’s definitely the most stressful thing I’ve ever had to do and I’m pretty much doing it alone. My relationship with God is an intimate and trusting one, so that’s what has sustained me the last three years. I trust him completely no matter which way this goes. I will do my best and trust that he will guide me to where I need to be.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Yes, I manufacture my products and I knew absolutely nothing about manufacturing anything! As a matter of fact, commercial kitchen scared me. It took me months to actually get in there and start testing. It was overwhelming. The huge ovens, sinks, all of the people moving around in a frenzy. It was trial an error. The entire process was trial and error. I was reach out vendors to sample or buy sample of their walnuts, not knowing how varied in taste and quality walnuts are! It was much harder than I thought and expensive! I found the right seasonings after making several small batches of my walnut meat in different recipes and settled on two walnut vendors and one brand of seasonings. They are indeed superior in quality, expensive, but top of the line!

I learned that profit is very important if you want to stay in business and it’s harder than I thought to create a high quality organic product and make a profit. I’ve figured that this is probably why most businesses choose to focus on taste and convenience over health and quality, but I will find that balance!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewalnuttreenutmeat.com/
• Instagram: @thewalnuttreenutmeat
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewalnuttreenutmeat1

Image Credits
These are all my images.