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

Sam, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Midwest Sad started as a project that was for me to heal from a life that I never thought I would want to continue to live, I wanted to make food that took me back to a time where things weren’t are intense and depressing so I decided to make that my life’s mission and share it with everyone around me!

Even with it starting as a passion project I started to realize more and more people connected with my brand and it’s goals than I thought possible so I decided to take a leap of faith and open my small shop with nothing but luck and credit card debt. But here I’am months later knowing I made the right call and have beaten my target goal of raising $25,000 worth of funds to really build up this brand and start my community kitchen!

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.

Growing up in Milwaukee while being surrounded by alcoholics, cream puffs, brats, summerfest, negative temperatures, and beautiful lakes made for an emotionally intense childhood. So when I heard my first emo band it finally sunk in that I’m not just sad, I’m MIDWEST SAD.

I have been in the service industry since I was 14 at my first job which included putting in orders, taking people to their table, and crying in the in when the owner/alcoholic screamed at me for forgetting someones rye bread on their fish fry platter. Since then I have worked in festivals, hotels, bars, bakeries, restaurants and food halls knowing that this industry needs to change from it’s core. I believe that being in the service industry makes you a more patient, understanding, and caring person so I made that my main mission in my kitchen, by giving my team a livable wage, paid mental health days, and in the future a profit sharing system and full paid benefits.

We’re also human and we also can fudge up sometimes or have an off day, so I encourage my team to be their neurodivergent selves and be proud of who they’re without fear of being judged. I love my team and the joy they bring our customers and Milwaukee as a city!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Unlearning behavior is almost impossible so it’s a constant and hard process. After years of making myself small to fit in, it made me feel worse and worse so I decided that’s over and I will be a soft and kind human, no matter what. At a previous business that I was a small part of I was barely able to voice any ideas or thoughts since they were immediately shut down so I learned to say nothing, that has since changed, obvs.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Being your genuine self and opening up to strangers across the world is very very very difficult so in my head I’m someone else, almost a Hannah Montana Moment! I decided to still have bits and pieces of myself and channel others to create a silly, honest, and bright instagram.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://midwestsadmke.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwestsadmke/