My Food Job Rocks!

Many of you know the story between Kim and I. We started our podcasts at the same time. I was able to reach out to her when I saw her posting on a super secret podcast facebook group. I reached out, because My Food Job Rocks was also in its infancy. We decided to do a podcast swap. I would interview Kim, and she would interview me. I launched episode 12 starring Kim, and now we’re here, on episode 156. Time flies, doesn’t it? But still, we persisted. Kim and my guests overlap a bit. We’ve had interviews with people such as Phil Saneski, Jessica Goldstein, Alan Reed, Rachel Zemser, and plenty more probably. However, Peas on Moss does a much better job on the culinary end of the equation. Since Kim lives the Research Chef life, she does a very good job interviewing high profile culinary geniuses in the industry. Kim was one of the people who helped me in a dark time early on in the podcast realm, I think it was in episode 20’s range, I was dropped from my host provider and was debating on dropping My Food Job R

Welcome to the first in our Podcast Showcase Series with Paul Shapiro and Toni Okamoto interviewing John Mackey. He started this little company, grew it, and then sold it to Amazon. You might know it as Whole Foods Market. Though Paul and Toni can tell you all about their guest, I can tell you a little bit about Paul and Toni. This super star duo is hosted by none other than Paul Shapiro, animal activist, author and now CEO of the Better Meat Co, and Toni Okamoto, who is a cookbook author, and the creator of Plant-based on a Budget, which encourages people that eating plant-based doesn’t have to be expensive. Toni was featured on What The Health and has a pretty viral youtube video where she and her business partner Michelle Cehn compare the Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger.   As many know, Paul and I met on the My Food Job Rocks podcast and through chance, I got the opportunity to found Better Meat Co with him. Paul chose Sacramento to be the HQ of Better Meat Co, not because of strategy but because

When you go on a journey to improve a skill, there are likeminded people who will support you, and there are people who will do the same as you. You either choose to treat them as competition, or treat them as cohorts. Over the past two years, I’ve communicated and even worked with people who have their own interview podcasts. These podcasts follow the same vein as My Food Job Rocks. Interview food experts and chronicle their life, advice and predictions. However, each podcast I’ll be sharing is focused on a  specific type of the food industry. From Research Chefs, to Clean Meat Scientists. Some of these podcasts I am proud to say, credit My Food Job Rocks as a source of inspiration. Others, I’ve had the pleasure to help improve their podcasting craft. I do this because I can’t tell everyone’s story, and everyone’s story needs to be told. By having a support network which motivates people to share the stories in the food industry is very important to me. And hopefully, by the end of this series, you might als

I’ve been following Elaine Watson ever since I started working on the food industry. Every time I wanted to know a new trend or something happening in my industry, I read her articles. I’ve even commented in a few of her articles but most recently, I had the honor of being interviewed by Elaine when we debuted our article for Better Meat Co. Paul and I planned to get Elaine to debut Better Meat Co, we had this master plan to do a tasting with Elaine with our blended products only to learn she was vegetarian! So we just went with a phone interview. Over time, I’ve bumped into Elaine in conferences such as the Good Food Conference and so I decided that she would be an amazing guest for the podcast! In this episode, you’ll be introduced to what an editor for, what Elaine quotes, a technical magazine does for a living, how she organizes and prepares writing articles, and we have a great discussion on food trends and technologies. If you are in the food industry and do know Elaine from her articles, this interview

The Nourish Food Co is a meal delivery company that has a beautiful menu of healthy southern comfort food that can be delivered straight to your door. Located in Birmingham Alabama, they distribute to 38 different states and have a wide array of dishes to choose from. Mary and Tiffany have humble origins. Met at a test kitchen, started a catering business, pivoted to meal delivery and scaled to the moon, but the details that made their journey successful is captured in this interview such as how to hire people or the steps to scale, or how to build a support network for tough times. We did into these details as we find the twists and turns that make working in the food industry so exciting. If you're interested in the concept of bootstrapping, and the meal delivery industry, this episode is for you. Sponsor - FoodLabelPro.com Is your product packaging compliant with the new FDA rules?  The compliance deadline is January 1st, 2020. At FoodLabelPro.com we will upgrade your current panels for only $50. FoodLabe

I met Ana Maria Quiros during the IGNITE Session at IFT 2018 where she did an inspiring talk about the food industry in Costa Rica and the young professionals that are driving it. Now she not only helps small businesses in Costa Rica grow their businesses, but she also has had a chance to talk to Congress about food science. The Costa Rica Food industry has some interesting twists on how they educate their workforce on food science and you’ll learn a lot about how they train professionals and the way they support businesses over there. Yet the issues in the Costa Rica food industry are the same issues Americans when it comes to small businesses, and science communication, in which I feel like the issues everyone faces in the food industry isn’t a national issue, but a global opportunity. Sponsor - FoodLabelPro.com Is your product packaging compliant with the new FDA rules?  The compliance deadline is January 1st, 2020. At FoodLabelPro.com we will upgrade your current panels for only $50. FoodLabelPro.com als

This podcast was not scripted, so there are no shownotes.   Since this is a short episode, it's a freebie.    You can check out all of our articles and podcasts at myfoodjobrocks.com   If you’re a fan of My Food Job Rocks we’ve just released our annual survey. Though it’s shorter than last years, we know what to ask for now. If you’re a fan and want to help improve the platform for next year, I’d be greatful if you could fill out our survey. Of course, those who complete the survey will get a chance to win a $50 dollar Amazon Gift Card! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DRZP7XR

Darius has been a long time fan of My Food Job Rocks, who emailed me when we were in the episode 50 range. This year, I was able to meet Darius at IFT where we talked, and I loved how he talked about his job and his love of chocolate. Wow, I had to get him on the show! He has the coolest job in the world, playing his part making candy! Darius is in the procurement field, we talk a lot about this, as I find that it’s one of the most lesser known fields in the food industry. Procurement is super important in the food industry and you’ll learn a ton about how to get into this field. It’s not a well taught academic field, but it can be learned while doing your job. Procurement people can come from anywhere. Finance, supply chain, or even R and D all make amazing procurement people. And if you’re interested in negotiating and learning about the impact of ingredients, then maybe procurement is for you. Also, best thing about meeting people from Mars is that they will give you a shoe box size full of your favorite M

A lot happened this year. I started a company with two amazing people, I moved to Sacramento, I reconnected with old friends and I made new ones. So some updates for My Food Job Rocks. Lots of fun things happened this year. I was able to talk to some really amazing guests that made its mark in the food science community. I would say the past 100 episodes focused much more on innovative technologies, and startups, as well as having even better technical people on the show, in all sorts of disciplines from blockchain to clean meat. This was also the year where half of my guests weren’t people I had to hunt down and beg to be on the show. A big chunk of this years’ guests were actually from PR firms! And there were some really cool people. Susie Fogelson from the Food Network, Alan Reed from the City of Chicago, Claudia Sidoti from Hello Fresh, and so many more awesome people were pitched to me and I learned so much from them. However, this podcast has gotten a bit tough to manage. On the article, a Better Bet,

Cultivating an ecosystem is extremely important in any industry. The most common example of this is Silicon Valley in the Bay Area. When everyone thrives in one place, and they all work together to build some amazing things I’m always curious how great ecosystems can be built, living in Phoenix and Sacramento, where the ecosystem is at its infancy, I was curious on how to grow these types of functions. As I found out interviewing Alan, it does indeed take a village, or perhaps a city, but it also takes a mediator. Alan is in charge of bridging food companies, big and small, in Chicago and heads the non-profit, the Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network. This non-profit hosts events and discussions to get the already thriving food industry in Chicago together with a  common theme that helps these different food companies understand each other. For example, a big company can learn innovation from a small company,and a small company can learn corporate structure, from a big company. Alan’s history is also pretty

SAFE+FAIR is a food company that believes everyone should have safe and allergen-friendly food at affordable prices.  As many know, sometimes these types of products are quite pricey but for Will, he makes it his mission for these products to be affordable. He does this with a nimble and passionate team, a strict allergen program, and years of experience in the food industry. Pay attention to how Will talks about his staff. I found his gratitude for his staff extremely inspiring. Will knows everything about his staff, and his team feels like one big family. Not only that, but Will talks about his amazing kids and fiancé throughout the episode and you can tell just how much he loves the people he surrounds himself with. Will has probably some of the best advice in terms of building company culture. He knows the mission he’s in, the company he wants to run, and the impact he wants to bring to the world, and you can definitively tell in this episode, he walks the walk, and talks the talk. About SAFE+FAIR Over lu

It’s been 2 years since Phil reached out to me when I was just starting My Food Job Rocks. After an interview, of course, we kept in touch. Through his period as the President of the RCA student association, to his job search, where he ended up in the famed upcycling startup, ReGrained. Who just got funded $2.5 million dollars last month. Moving back to California for my own startup, I kept on running into Phil because of the work we do at Kitchentown, a sort of shared production space for many startups. Seeing him zoom back and forth with his ReGrained swag, I wanted to interview him again, since so much as changed. I have this interview across the street at their warehouse, where ReGrained stores all of their products. Phil and I discuss the startup life and the challenges and rewards that come from it. One huge discussion that comes up is on how to use your mentors and resources to fill in what you don't know. After all, your friends have decades of experience and know what they're doing, unlike us. This i

Foodgrads recently partnered with Taste Your Future and you might have seen Nicole Gallace do more video shoots and social media collaborations. Chelsey is the woman behind the scenes. Chelsey Walker wasn’t intending to join the food industry, in fact, she never thought she would do marketing and communications,  but through her friend in the dessage business, this changed. Chelsey helps me with some social media pet peeves like posting on a schedule and working with hashtags. In exchange, I inspire her to peruse her side hustle.   Sponsor - FoodLabelPro.com Is your product packaging compliant with the new FDA rules?  The compliance deadline is January 1st, 2020. At FoodLabelPro.com we will upgrade your current panels for only $50. FoodLabelPro.com also provides package and claim reviews, laboratory analysis, shelf life testing, printer/graphics services, and menu analysis.   We are your one-stop shop for food packaging: FoodLabelpro.com. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia –

Supply Chain is one of the most complicated things in the food industry and managing 100s of ingredients that might need to be gluten-free, non-GMO, sourced in another country, whatever it is, you need documentation and database to help sort and store it. Many companies who are at this level rely on supply chain management software to manage all of their documentation. This is where FoodLogiQ comes in, a rapidly growing startup to help manage your mess of a supply chain. CMO Katy Jones and I have a great discussion on just why managing the food supply chain can be overwhelming, but also why it’s extremely important for people to manage it well. We also get into a good discussion of the ever-topical topic, blockchain and why blockchain might be the future of supply chain management, and talk about the rising trend of being authentic in the food industry, and how it relates to good marketing. As we all know, it’s getting more important. About Katy Since joining FoodLogiQ in 2015, Katy Jones has served as a thou

I met Dan through Brian Chau, you might recognize him in episode 3. In the past couple of years, Dan has been slowly building this incredible, much-needed space within the Bay Area. Dan thought of Tinker Kitchen when he was in college. One of his class had a “Learn-by-Doing” workshop that he loved. Combined with his fascination with cooking, this dream was decades in the making. Having the chance to explore the space, you have food service equipment, so much table space, and any machine you can think of. From freeze dryers to centrifuges. We go into great detail on building this space, such as the challenges in construction, and the rewarding feeling of completing a dream. Tinker Kitchen is now open for business and the price you pay to play there is phenomenal. Check out their website at Tinkerkitchen.org and I hope to see you at Tinker Kitchen some day. Sponsor - FoodLabelPro.com Is your product packaging compliant with the new FDA rules?  The compliance deadline is January 1st, 2020. At FoodLabelPro.com w

Soom Foods started 5 years ago, with one of the Zitelman sister’s boyfriend, introducing them to their family’s Tahini in Israel. One taste of this Tahini, convinced the sisters that it had to go to the United States, no matter what. 5 years later, chefs and influencers alike love the stuff, and it’s now popping up in East Coast whole foods stores. I personally got a ton of value from Shelby’s interview because as I started Better Meat Co, we are running into a lot of the same situations Soom Foods ran into. The questions I ask are quite timely, and hopefully, they’ll help you understand the complexities of a food business. I appreciate Shelby’s honesty in the interview and we go into things such as the risk of marketing campaigns, the complex sales channels of the food industry, and a lot of talk about the health perspectives of this seed based butter. About Shelby Shelby is the CEO & Co-Founder of Soom Foods, and is the oldest of the three Soom sisters. Inspired by her entrepreneurial family, Shelby gra

I met Bryson Bolton at the IGNITE sessions, a session where 5 new professionals were asked to present their path through food science. Bryson and I got to talking and I loved his enthusiasm so I asked him to be on the show. We have a pretty timely interview, as many listeners might have heard, La Croix is getting sued on their natural flavors. Bryson gives great insight into the world of sensory and consumer sciences that might allow you to understand how working with flavor houses work. Bryson is also heavily involved in IFT along with many other sensory organizations. You’ll not only get some great resources in the field of sensory science but also learn how Bryson rose up the ranks to become a well-connected, successful professional. About Bryson Bryson C. Bolton is the Manager of Sensory and Sample Collections at Synergy Flavors. He leads a team that strategically partners with RD&I, Quality, and the Commercial Team to integrate sensory understanding into the flavor and application design process. In

After a stint of being a comedian, Sara Polon started to spiral downhill and it wasn’t until she decided to do a triathlon, that she started to move her life around. But how did she decide to feed herself? With her mother’s soups of course. And that’s kind of how Soupergirl started. With constantly changing innovative flavors such as Split Pea Mint and Mexican Black Bean Sweet Potato and speedy delivery service, Soupergirl is growing fast. Soupergirl has been featured in the press multiple times and has critical acclaims of the taste and health benefits of the Polon’s family soup. Rumor has it, they’ll be appearing on Shark Tank very very soon. Check the show notes for more details. Anyways, super insightful interview with Sara Polon. I learned a ton about passion, motivation, and high pressure processing. A quick note, we talk about Alexa during this interview and while editing, Alexa added 5 apples to my shopping cart… NEW Sponsor - FoodLabelPro.com Is your product packaging compliant with the new FDA rul

Carrie Arndt is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to seeing the hidden reasons on why you buy things. And not just color, or a name, but it’s so much more than that. I first heard of Carrie when I saw her post aesthetically pleasing infographics that compare brands. These infographics show the importance of not just color, but font aesthetics, and shape. It’s amazing! I really want these pictures to be achieved and not lost in space so I asked Carrie if I could put them on My Food Job Rocks. So Carrie’s LinkedIn posts will be achieved on My Food Job Rocks in a special article subsection called, Carrie’s Corner. We’ll be introducing them on the My Food Job Rocks’ website just like we did Flavor Investigator and Why does this…. Series Overall, great, lighthearted interview. Had a lot of fun with Carrie. Though this was the first time I met her, I feel like because we know each other by our content, it feels like I’ve known her for a while. NEW Sponsor - FoodLabelPro.com Is your product packaging compliant w

Due to some unexpected delays, we’ll be switching our currently scheduled episode with this current one, a Q and A session that dates back all the way to IFT 2018. So, Mandy Jian, now president of the McGill University Food Science club, interviewed me live in IFT. She did a great job hosting, as she not only asked great questions but compiled a list of questions from other students. We talk a lot about how IFT can really help you, not only in college but when you start your career. Other questions like graduate school, and how to get a raise also pop up. If you’re a student, I highly suggest listening to this episode. You’ll learn about what we realized is important in college, and it’s not grades. Overall, I teared up a bit when editing this episode. Sometimes when you’re stuck in the weeds, you don’t really have time to look up and see who’s listening. So again, if you’re a long time follower of My Food Job Rocks, thank you. Sponsor - BAKERpedia This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-st