Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to William Cabaniss. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi William, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

One issue that I am very passionate about is hunger and food insecurity. I am the founder and CEO of, 501(c)3 certified, Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow. I make and sell homemade vanilla extract and donate every penny to help East Tennesseans who struggle to feed themselves. I grew up in an area where I saw the effects of hunger in some of my close friends early on. This has led me to do what I can to stop this problem that, unfortunately, still exists today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Everything started for me when I was in kindergarten. Some of my classmates would come to school hungry every day, which bothered me. Because I had the luxury of having food at home, it upset me that some of my friends depended on school lunches, breakfasts, and backpack programs to get through the day. So as a kid, I started donating my favorite fruit, bananas, and monetary donations to a local food pantry. Then, I would begin volunteering my time at a soup kitchen run by my grandma’s church. These small things set the groundwork for what would come later in life. When COVID started ravaging our world, the systems in place to help feed the hungry were utterly overwhelmed and unable to assist the sheer volume of people at first. As I watched people, who were perfectly capable of feeding themselves a month ago, drive into mile-long lines to get the food necessary to live, I knew I had to do something. My answer was to make and sell my own homemade, pure vanilla extract. I chose this because I have always liked how good vanilla extract can drastically improve the quality of a baked good; also, I knew that the pandemic would allow there to be a market for my product. Then, I set about founding my own 501(c)3 nonprofit, Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow, to sell my vanilla extract. I did this because I wanted to ensure that the maximum amount of funds went to helping those in need. Still, to this day, I have not taken a penny. Everything goes to helping feed the hungry in my community. As a result, two years later, from the kindness and support from everyone around the nation who bought vanilla, made meal donations, and shared the product with their friends, we have been able to donate over half a million meals to those in need in East Tennessee.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

When I started, I knew very little about how to make vanilla extract, where to get the materials, or how I could make my product on a large enough scale. Faced with this problem, I ended up turning to Google to do my research. This learning period taught me a lot about the industry and what other people would recommend in my situation. It not only taught me how to make my product, but I learned I could make it in my own home. After a few batches to nail the recipe, I needed to find someone to consistently supply me with quality Madagascar vanilla beans, the main ingredient in my product. It took time, but after a while, I did find someone. I learned through the early stages of development for my business that the internet can be one of your greatest tools if you take the time to harness it.

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

Today, a great social media presence is essential to any business. When I started, I knew I did not understand Facebook enough to create the necessary impact, so I reached out to my grandma, who was delighted to run my Facebook account because I knew she had experience. This left me time to run an Instagram and Twitter account. I would recommend a starting business to find which platform is the most beneficial for them because different groups of people are on different platforms. In my situation, Facebook has produced the most orders and interest in my brand while also allowing me to inform supporters of our various updates, donations, and product releases.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vanillafeedstomorrow.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanillafeedstomorrow/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanillafeedstomorrow
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/feedsvanilla

Image Credits
Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow