We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Reggie Kelly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Reggie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
KYVAN Foods is a combination of my two kids names, KYla and kaVAN. Just like any great parent my desire is to leave a great legacy behind to my kids.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
KYVAN Foods is a line of specialty products created by Former NFL Player Reggie Kelly. We have products that can cater to your breakfast, lunch and dinner needs. Products such as Honey Apple Salsa, Honey Apple Butter, Various Wing Sauces, Salad Dressing and Seasonings. Our products are unique, full of flavor and made with LOVE. “One taste and you will appreciate the Goodness!”
Reggie ‘took to heart’ his family’s advice, especially when He and his wife Sheila held football camps in their hometown of Aberdeen, MS. The football camps were designed to reward the kids who have excelled academically in the classroom. He also invited fellow NFL stars & coaches to volunteer and make the events special for the kids. True to form, after the camps, Reggie’s family cooked for the volunteers and they raved about the flavor and goodness of the meals. “Their responses were overwhelming and brought a smile to my face when they expressed their enjoyment of the meals and the difficulty of finding flavorful meals like these anywhere else,” said Reggie. Those compliments started the ‘wheels to churn’ in my mind and a light bulb flashed, prompting my wife and, I to ‘come up’ with a great idea… a Soul Food Line!” KYVAN is a combination of my two kids’ names.
“It’s my goal to pass down to my kids (Kyla & Kavan) and to everyone, the gift passed down to me. An Appreciation Of Good Food.”
How did you build your audience on social media?
We built our brand via social media through hard grass root marketing. We would simply go up and ask people to follow us, if we made appearances at our demos we would ask people to follow us and of course word of mouth is crucial. Don’t be afraid to ask. Remember your answer will always be no until you ask.
How’d you meet your business partner?
My business partner is my wife. We are high school sweethearts. Our dream was to always go into business together.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.kyvan82.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/kyvan82
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KYVANFoods
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kyvan82