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

Vanita, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission the drives your brand?

We moved from Michigan to Texas in 2019. After we were here for a few weeks, my husband and mother in law wanted a good corned beef sandwich-just like they were at home in Michigan. They tried several delis/restaurants however, it was just not the same as what we were accustom too. We ended up finding a store that sold raw corned beef and cooked ourselves. A few people tasted the corned beef and said, “You all need to sell this corned beef! It’s the best sandwich I ever had.” Since a lot of Texans are not to familiar with corned beef, we decided to do a soft launch at our home to see the response. Needless to say, we sold out at the soft launch! At that point, we said, “Let’s do this! Let’s introduce a midwest cuisine to the south!” We have met so many people from Michigan until its unbelievable! People from Michigan thank us regularly for bringing real corned beef brisket to Texas!

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

We came to Texas three years ago, the mecca of cattle country, and were surprised there were no corned beef places. We’re in a couple of Facebook groups such as ‘Detroiters to Dallas, and in that group inparticularly, one of the questions people always ask is “Where can we get a good corned beef sandwich. We decided to open up a restaurant and be the go to place for a good ole’ corned beef sandwich. Our menu consists of corned beef sandwiches on onion or rye bread (toasted) with swiss cheese. We also have turkey sandwiches, pastrami sandwiches and roast beef sandwiches. Some of our specialty sandwiches come topped with either sauerkraut or coleslaw, dripping with american or swiss cheese and russian dressing. We also have corned beef egg rolls and turkey egg rolls. We carry potato chips and some soft drinks that are made and sold exclusively in Michigan.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

We built our audience by joining groups on Facebook where a lot of people from our home state, now live here in Texas. In the groups, there were a lot of people asking. “Does anybody know where I can get a good corned beef sandwich that they sold back in Michigan?” Some people mentioned that they’ve lived in Texas for many years and still have not had a good corned beef sandwich. We figured we would be the ones to provide the good corned beef sandwich people from the midwest were asking about. Social media has been our best advertisement. We have many people come to our counter saying, “We saw your post on facebook and said we had to try it.” For a business just starting out, I would suggest making post about your product daily. Take good quality pictures that makes people want to buy from you. Create a facebook business page and invite friends and family and ask them to share your post. Find out the trending hashtags and include them in your caption. Make lots of Tik Tok videos and Instagram post. Tell people about any sales, promotions or events you may have coming up or something you may be a part of like a vendor show,

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I keep in touch with my clients by sending out emails, telling customers about upcoming sales or to introduce a new product launch that we are adding to the menu. Posting on social media, passing out flyers to local businesses and residents and networking with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.allthingscornedbeef.net
• Instagram: All Things Corned Beef
• Facebook: All Things Corned Beef
• Yelp: All Things Corned Beef
• Other: Google: All Things Corned Beef

Image Credits
Thomas Brinkley, Nancy Davis, Maurice Jelks, Anthony Tyms, Ja’Quita Ebron, Elizabeth Dodson, Music City Mall.