We recently connected with Tierra Thorne and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tierra , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I came up with the idea for Blanket and Board sitting on my porch. I’m pretty sure it was a rainy and dreary day. After being quarantined for the previous month, I spent a lot of time working from home. Before the pandemic, I was working at an elementary school conducting trauma therapy with children and families who had experienced significant trauma. It was hard to keep the families engaged, and being housed in the school eliminated one of the many barriers to accessing therapy services. Not long after, we all experienced the horrific murder of George Floyd. I was attempting to process the anger I felt. I started getting on social media and reading people’s comments and responses to it, and I gathered that we were all just talking at each other instead of talking to each other. As we know, social media can be a cruel place.. I wanted to create a safe and socially distant way for my friends and family to process the collective trauma and grief we were all experiencing. I hosted my 1st self-care Sunday picnic to give friends and family a safe space to process. I have always loved charcuterie and making charcuterie boards on my travels, so I thought it would be cool to make a few charcuterie boards for the picnic. Here we are 2.5 years later, still going strong and providing people with safe spaces to engage in self-care.

Tierra , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am License Social Worker (LSW) who focuses on workforce wellness and implementing trauma-informed practices at an organizational level. I’ve been in social work for about 12 years; I’ve created a niche in curating opportunities that bring people together. I don’t know how, but I am still a full-time social worker and managing Blanket and Board. I am the Clinical & Wellness Manager at The Department of Health & Human Services (DHS) Youth Support Partner Unit. In my role at DHS, I develop innovative and structured wellness programs to meet the needs of DHS employees. I create a culture of wellness and trauma-informed care for staff by implementing wellness programming to decrease burnout, secondary trauma & compassion fatigue.

I’m doing something similar with Blanket & Board through food and the outdoors. From longer work hours to increased demands at home, isolation, and social disconnect, from the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a mass introduction of new stressors to nearly every domain of life. Knowing this, I noticed a great need to create smaller-scale special events for corporate, non-profit, and family gatherings emphasizing connection and self-care.
We provide charcuterie boxes (fresh & shelf-stable), pop-up self-care luxury picnics, grazing tables, and private events in Pittsburgh. Blanket & Board creates a beautiful, relaxed atmosphere where all people can come together, share food, and celebrate with one another. In addition, we use our platform to encourage self-care and relationship-building.
Our mission is to create a safe space utilizing food and nature for intentional dialogue and civil discourse. Our gatherings aim to uplift at-risk populations in the community by highlighting local non-profits and donating a portion of our proceeds or services to programs that support young girls, women, and people of color.

My favorite thing about starting Blanket and Board is that it aligns with my passion and values as a social worker. I didn’t have to give up one to pursue the other. Blanket and Board utilizes a Fee-for-Service/donation business model. Our customers pay us for our services, and then we either donate a monetary donation or provide a no-cost self-care event for people or organizations supporting women, young girls, or people of color. We have given self-care picnics to mothers who have lost children to gun violence, women in recovery, and young girls in trauma treatment.

The work of Blanket and Board is important and timely in such a tumultuous and changing world.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

For the first few months, the business was self-funded through my social work salary until we began generating revenue. I thrifted, and goodwill was my best friend. At thrift stores, I found almost all of our picnic inventory (blankets, cutting boards, pillows). I bought some wooden pallets from the Facebook marketplace to use as tables. For the first two years, we were running strictly off revenue. In April 2022, we won a 25,000 grant from the Pittsburgh Penguins and later that year, received a 50,000 investment from the URA to grow Blanket and Board.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think two years ago charcuterie was not a thing like it is now. You have charcuterie tik-toc and all that jazz but we came to the party early. Blanket and Board’s clear differentiator from our competitors is our social mission, quality of products, and background in wellness to address health and well-being. Over the past few years, we have built reputable sources that people can rely on for their charcuterie and self-care needs. Some companies primarily focus on charcuterie or focus on wellness, and it is unique that we are the first and only company in our region to do both with a qualified background. We have maintained unique and relevant brand positioning in our area. In addition, our customers have shared values in advancing social justice and know when they purchase with us, it is not for a capitalistic gain but an investment into a social enterprise with core values.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://blanketandboard.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blanketandboard
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blanketandboard
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blanket-board/

Image Credits
Ray Carrington Photography Sandra Chile Photogrphy JVisonary Photography