My Food Job Rocks!

New articles every Friday at http://myfoodjobrocks.com New episodes every Wednesday

It is an honor to interview the man who introduced one of the first popular culinary science books and probably has inspired thousands of food science professionals, Harold McGee. Harold McGee’s writing style is unique because he really deep dives into a very specific topic. Food Science and culinary friends might recognize him from the book, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, but now he has a new, stellar book about smells! Nose Dive, A Field Guide to the World of Smells is a fascinating book that dives into not just food smells, but also dives into other interesting smells such as flowers, the human body, and the stars! If you are a food scientist, having a grasp of smells, might be useful in your career. What is probably the best lesson from the famed author Harold McGee, is that he reinvented himself multiple times. His intent was actually being an astronomy but he pivoted multiple times form literature, and then food and what you discovered is that Harold McGee’s success comes from

Today we have Arvind Gupta, Co-Founder of IndieBio and Po Bronson, Managing Director of IndieBio. They both wrote a book together called Decoding the World, A Roadmap for the Questioner. A, I would say an anthology of all of the wonderful technologies Po and Arvind have incubated through their journey in IndieBio. For those that don’t know, IndieBio is this amazing biotechnology incubator in San Francisco. I’ve spoken there a few times myself. Basically, imagine this incubator that takes these fantastic ideas but also has the equipment to create a viable product for future funding. A lot of companies like Memphis Meats, Clara Foods, Prime Roots, Geltor, Perfect Day, NotCo, Endless West, New Age Meats, Finless Foods. Why am I naming so many of them? Because not only are these companies hot, up and coming superstars in the food industry, but I personally have friends in all of these food companies! It’s been an honor to have the opportunity to interview the team in charge of sparking the flame and I ask how the

This amazing episode is with Ryan Bethencourt, Founder and CEO of Wild Earth, but this guy invests, mentors and influences and has had such an impact in the alt-meat and biotech community. If you’re in the plant-based community and don’t know Ryan, get to know him, follow him on LinkedIn, he is one of the lynchpins in this innovative field and shares a ton of amazing content. So what has Ryan done so far?  Well, started a company? Several. Invested in innovative technology? Scientist? Yep. Been on Shark Tank? Got an investment on Shark Tank! This guy has done everything! A big takeaway from this episode is that Ryan was told no all the time. Why? Because he had dyslexia as a kid but after reading some science fiction and then busting his butt working really hard, he kept on breaking expectations and is now a literal limitless human being and has leveraged his weakness into his greatest strength. I know Ryan personally, and I never knew this story! You’ll learn a bit more about his personal life such as why h

We kick off this interview with some product development tips. Lindsey Wisener works with all sorts of clients big and small and so we talk about the best way to say, communicate feedback. Lindsey owns WiseBev, a consultancy with a built-out lab in Indiana It’s important to note that Lindsay built a consultancy with a functional lab from scratch but it took her a while to do so but by leveraging her experience and doing it right, she now thrives with a  small team, making innovative products. We break down step by step how she did it. From what she studied in University to the value of keeping your connections close when you’re ready to try something new. Show Notes Peas on Moss with Lindsay Wisner Robert Kay from Isagenix What do you say in a sentence eor less?: I help people bring their beverage to life I own and operate WiseBev and specifically do beverage I have a small team of scientists. I live in a rural part of Indiana Is it hard to get clients when you’re rural?: Sort of, so I made my own business H

Today, I interview Toni Okamoto, founder of Plant-based on a Budget and Michele Cehn, founder of World of Vegan to talk about their new book and their journey in building their business. Combined, they have over 1.5 million Instagram followers and numbers in the six figures on various platforms such as youtube, email lists, and everything else. Toni and Michelle built their following from scratch and turned what they did from hobby to business. In this episode, you will learn the journey that Toni and Michelle took to get there as long as some really insightful tips on running an influencer company. But most importantly, they’re a dynamic duo and an amazing case study of how collaboration amplifies everyone. The funny story is that I’ve met them personally and have even playtested their recipe. Why Funny you should ask. Toni’s husband is Paul Shapiro, author of Clean Meat, and a popular interview in episode 102. When I moved to Sacramento to start Better Meat Co, Toni was one of the first people I met in Sacr

Michelle Klieger is an agricultural economist and founder of Strategerm Consulting. Michelle and I have been LinkedIn connections for a while and I like her content, which is always insightful and interesting. Mainly because her field dives deeply on the economics of the farmer. We as food scientists aren’t that familiar with not only how food is grown, but how does it move throughout the world or how does your dollar, affect the farmer? You’re in for an eye-opening discussion about the farmer end of the equation. For example, we’ve probably heard of a lot of produce and animals that have gone to waste. Why can’t we all donate all? Other questions like the crazy ways in how food travels for efficiency sakes. Is shipping millions of pounds of food from another country more efficient and sustainable than local? The answer is, that it’s complicated! You’re going to hear us say a lot about this in this episode. If this episode makes you think and you want to understand another important segment of the food indust

Before we get started, just wanted to let you know that this episode is sponsored by Food Edge, an online virtual summit taking place this week and I’ll be interviewing the founder of this digital summit today, but first, let’s hear a little bit more about this event from Lauren. Use promo code "MFJRVIP" to receive 20% off tickets to the Food Edge digital summit taking place October 21-23rd, where you can choose to attend 1,2 or all 3 days! So one of the PR people I worked with introduced me to Lauren Abda, Founder of Food Edge, Branch Food, and Co-Founder of the Branch Venture Group so I can help her talk about Food Edge on the podcast. Then the pandemic hit, that was delayed, and now they have a brand new online conference filled with great speakers and great resources. So we circled back to talking about it and they offered to talk to Lauren. I always research my guests and I didn’t realize that Lauren was this super connector who knew like, every food company in new England. From my experience, knowing su

We talk a lot about Sustainability on the podcast. Generally, it’s either through technology, or packaging, or advocacy, but how do you convince someone to care? Manuel Gorrin has done this his whole career, from plants to corporate. In this episode, Manuel talks all about sustainability. From tools used to discuss to the common worker, to new techniques such as Regenerative Organic Certification, which is a new practice and is different than Regenerative Agriculture. Confused? We get into it in a lot of detail. Learn about the journey in how Manuel met Greta Thunberg, and how he collaborated with her to amplify the voices of kids who want to discuss Sustainability. What’s probably the most enlightening thing about Manuel is his kind heart and compassion to animals, life, and the planet. From childhood to his job now, his focus was always making the world a bit better and it’s quite amazing. Show Notes Blaze PR How do you describe yourself?: I am trying to save the world. But you’re a chemical engineer: yes,

Sensory science isn’t just tasting, it’s so much more. After all, you have five senses. What about the feel of toilet paper? Or the smell of kitty litter, or the sound of paper crackling. Not only that, but the metrics you use and how you train your panelists all matter when it comes to getting valuable data for your product. Though Sensory Spectrum is a service, I ask Ivy Koelliker, on some tools and tips that either you, the budding food entrepreneur or the food technologist on the bench can use to optimize your prototypes. From cat urine to plant-based meat, this episode has it all. How do these relate? You’ll find out. Special thanks to Kristin Bernardi for not only being a fan of My Food Job Rocks but also reaching out to interview one of many extremely talented colleagues. Why did I choose Ivy? Mainly because her blurb had to do with plant-based meat. Yes, the big secret, I interview people to help me do my job better! About Sensory Spectrum Founded in 1986 by Gail Vance Civille, Sensory Spectrum provid

You are listening to episode 236 with Lisa Donovan, Writer, Baker and author of Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger. She’s a James Beard Award recipient for her writing in Food & Wine. Her publisher, Penguin Random House asked me to interview her so that means this podcast, has made it! Anyways, something to note is that we as professionals love to script our lives. Especially early on. By this age, I want to be vice president of this thing, or that thing, you know who you are. But what if you couldn’t? What if you had to fight to just survive? Or what if opportunities come as they show up? Not fall into your lap, but rather finding opportunities and then working relentlessly to get them? That’s Lisa Donovan’s life. A ballet dancer, art reviewer, baker, and now, writer. As I go through my professional journey, if I decided to stay the course, I don’t think I would have been where I am today. I wouldn’t have a  podcast, have started my own company, or have moved to all of these amazing cities. Something to chew o

The Institute for the Future? What does that even mean? It’s a non-profit organization that thinks differently and uses specific tactics to think about the future. Max Elder does a better job explaining it than I do so I brought him on to talk about how we as people in the food industry can be more insightful in our future decisions. I’ve always wanted Max on the show ever since he gave a presentation at the Cultured Meat Symposium a year ago. By the way, it’s digital this year. His presentation about relics seared into my mind. What are the relics we are showing now? Especially new concepts, and how will they be perceived in the future? We dive into nascent concepts like edible beer packaging and more developed concepts like plant-based burgers. Pay attention on how Max thinks about these innovations. One of the most far-out and futuristic topics is of course, cultured meat/clean meat/ meat grown without animals. This technology is not yet commercialized and is a very foreign concept even for me and probably

We’re back baby, and I’m currently in smokey California but this week, I’ll be in Boston for the foreseeable future. What a trip! Today we have Chris Robb to talk about one of the blind spots I have in the food industry, stocking shelves or merchandising. I’m probably not doing the description justice, but it’s the workhorses that not only coordinate putting items on the store shelves but also how to strategize the best way to promote your product and these guys don’t just wing it, they give you data to make smarter decisions. But it doesn’t stop there. Chris is an entrepreneur, specifically in the CPG industry and his story is fascinating. Mainly because even as a baby, he’s been surrounded by food businesses and has gone through the evolution of the food industry in such a hands-on way. A lot of sage advice for aspiring and current food entrepreneurs. We also talk about the fact that sometimes, it’s ok for an entrepreneur to join a corporate job and your skills might be more suited because you think just

Blended Sense is a media technology company that matches the right creator to the right local projects to distribute and produce digital assets quickly such as video, audio, anything digital. Albert Baez is a wonderful communicator who does an amazing job of breaking down strategies and concepts. During the pandemic, I was impressed on one of his webinars and invited him to do a webinar for WeWork Food Labs. (On the show notes, I linked the top-secret recording of the webinar that I’m not supposed to give out, but who cares? -->note, can't find it) Albert’s Austin-based company is rapidly growing and adapting quickly to the ongoing chaotic nature of the pandemic. We get into many topics ranging from social media platforms to selling solutions to help companies in crisis. Not only are you going to get some really smart digital marketing tips, but also a lot of talk about strategy. Not only useful advice and actionable tips for your company but through Albert’s own journey building Blended Sense. About Blended

We have an amazing episode all about recruiting. This is a bit different from previous recruiting interviews. George McGehrin’s agency is focused on finding top brass, executive-level people, and putting these into companies. The shocker is that the salaries these top executives are offered, hit the seven-figure mark. So this interview gives you some tips on interviewing whether on a  podcast or on a Zoom call. They’re more similar than you think. If you’re an introvert, don’t worry. We have tips on that too. You’ll also learn that the interview process differs between hiring for a 50k paycheck versus a million-dollar paycheck. We get super crunchy in the hiring process and it kind of works as a bit of an evaluation for me. This is probably the most technical recruiting advice I’ve ever gotten so if that tickles your scientific fancy, then this will be very useful if you are deciding your next move. We also talk a little bit about mentoring and coaching. It’s an interesting topic that a lot of executives use

We showcase the After Animals Podcast, a podcast that focuses on the future of food, and in this case, a world without having to use animals to feed people. This podcast is created by Ulara Nakagawa and Sharanya Krishna Prasad and every month, they share a high-quality interview with a change-maker in the alternative meat/other product space. Though I’ve met both, I have had some personal discussions with Ulara. She was first introduced to me by Alex Shirazi from the Cultured Meat Symposium and I gave her some advice for her podcast while I was in San Francisco. She uses my podcast equipment gear while at a conference to interview Japanese Clean Meat Scientist and founder, Yuki Hanyu, CEO of Integriculture who did this fascinating presentation on how to grow meat in your apartment using various devices such as a mini fan, a warm towel rack, and an egg. I guess that’s cheating a bit, but still, gotta start somewhere. Yuki has a fascinating imagination that he got from anime and manga and being somewhat of a c

This episode was recorded when I was still living in the Bay Area! This was planned to be another podcast but things fall through. I always had this episode in the back of my mind one, because Nona Lim is just a really cool person, but also her story showcases the tenacity and perseverance of an entrepreneur. We do this outside in Marin County I would say around August 2019, wow, such a different time where you can go outside, and talk to people with a cough, which Nona Lim has in this interview. I remember it was such a beautiful day by the sea. Nona was around the area after speaking with a mutual friend so I brought my gear, planted it in the middle of the plaza, and recorded. So a disclaimer, this has some background noise. This is a short episode because we’ll be having a Podcast Showcase later in the week. Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be the After Animals podcast hosted by Ulara Nakagawa and Sharyna Krishna Prasad. I let Ulara borrow my equipment during the Cultured Meat Symposium to talk to an eccen

  I’m really excited about this episode. Today, we have a jam-packed episode full of startup advice, inspiring challenges, and an accelerator breakdown all in one with founder, Andrew Ive. One of my favorite parts of this interview is the talk about startup ecosystems. Not only on how we think they are formed, but how they can be transferred. Other questions such as investing is also brought up. Why do people invest in companies? And has COVID changed the way we think of investing? Last, I don’t think we’ve talked too much about the structure of accelerators on this podcast. Andrew delivers a breakdown of the flaws of a typical accelerator and what Big Ideas does differently to help accelerate their cohorts to the next level. Though Big Idea Ventures only focuses on alternative meat innovation, don’t let that discourage you! There are plenty of problems in today’s world so the lessons here are transferrable and I hope that within this interview, you can find your big idea and try it out on the world. Show Not

We have returning guest Dr. Maya Warren, who is now a co-founder of Ice Cream for Change, a soon-to-be non profit that’s a platform of ice cream lovers and makers advocating for social change and civic action. Maya joins me as we talk about life as a food scientist in quarantine, such as how traveling has given us the opportunity to try new things, but also the different ways we optimize our homes into our R+D kitchen. A great takeaway from this episode is that you get a delicious recipe for No-Churn Ice Cream. Maya has been perfecting and sharing this recipe on her Instagram and it has exploded in popularity. I also personally ask Maya what we do as individuals to make the world a better place? Especially at a time where all of this socialite unrest is happening. Her perspective here is profound and important. If you want to hear about Maya’s fascinating life and her job at Coldstone Ice Cream, check out episode 181 for an inspiring interview with this ice cream rockstar. Enjoy the episode. About Ice Cream

Ashish Jogi connected with me through Siddharth Bhide. You might remember him when we interviewed him at JUST but now he’s at the Good Food Institute in India, an organization that we also have interviews with. The plant-based scene in India is growing and Ashish is one of the people helping companies over there launch products. We talk a variety of topics ranging from Intellectual Property, product development, food trends, and of course, current issues such as the pandemic. How do they look at things differently than we do at the United States? Though we are the forefront of alternative meat here, do Indians, whoa r emostly vegetarian strive for the same protein experience we do? I really liked the answer in this interview. Disclaimer, I did this interview really early so if I sound like a mess, I was tired! We do this call with me in Texas and Ashish in Mumbai. Enjoy! Show Notes I used to be an IP lawyer and used to work for Novartus. A pharma giant company How did you start the company?: My wife actually