Today we’d like to introduce you to ADYRE MASON.
Hi ADYRE, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Around the age of 30, I found myself having a lot of health issues- way more than I felt I should at that age. I was experiencing adult acne, horrible joint pain, high cholesterol, and severe stomach pains and bloating after eating certain foods. I was taking multiple medicines to try to combat all of these issues. After seeing a gastrointestinal specialist for some time, he encouraged me to change my diet to at least help with my stomach problems. I begrudgingly did this but saw gradual improvements over my two year transition from eating meat to pescatarianism to becoming vegetarian, and then finally vegan. I saw all of my health issues disappear and was able to stop taking so much medicine. I felt better than I had in years and I wanted to tell everyone! Most importantly, I wanted to share my lifestyle change with my mother who had a host of health issues of her own. Unfortunately, I was unable to help my mother make significant changes before she passed away in early 2017. As an only child, this gutted me and with my own mortality now staring me in the face- I decided I wanted to spend my time pursuing something I was passionate about. I left my job as a Weapon Systems Engineer later that year, finished my business plan and invested in what I needed to get started, and officially launched The Veggie at the top of 2018. The Veggie began as a home-based meal prep business. My goal was to provide local plant-based consumers with as much variety as possible; at the time the Huntsville vegan scene was very lacking and there were not many places I could go out to eat anymore and get the type of food I really wanted. Additionally, I was a regular vendor at almost every farmer’s market in the Huntsville/Madison area and this is how I connected with so many customers directly. I wanted to ensure that my food was good beyond just my local city though, and so I started traveling to small competitions, food festivals, and events in the region- primarily Nashville and Atlanta where there so many vegan businesses I admired and saw as standards of excellence. Things were going well and then- COVID hit. The farmer’s markets and regional events I depended on for half of my income were now gone. But in creating a no contact meal prep delivery service a couple years prior, I realized that The Veggie’s primary service was “COVID proof,” and so I leaned more heavily into the marketing of my meal prep service. This increased marketing and word of mouth from my existing clients allowed ,me to still maintain my sales and increase demand for my product. My business outgrew my home and a small commercial commissary space I’d since obtained. I decided that it was time to take another leap and take my business to the next level. In 2o21 I opened The Veggie as a restaurant and expanded my product offerings to an everyday menu for people to enjoy.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been anything but smooth! When your business grows, so do your expenses, experiences, and problems. One of the largest issues has been staffing. COVID drastically impacted the food service industry in that so many people had to leave to find other jobs- leaving the industry with a huge gap in experience. When restaurants reopened, they saw a flood of inexperienced workers come in who just needed jobs and who also didn’t share the same passion for food and service as their predecessors. In addition to that, Huntsville as experienced a restaurant boom which increases the competition for quality food service workers. While larger businesses may be setup for people to come and go whenever, the investment you have to make in training and in people as a small business owner, just for them to be short timers, can cause continuous ripples in your business. Funding is also a challenge. As someone who bootstrapped their business, I am used to making things work and carefully spending the dollars you make. Earlier in my food career, grants and small business competitions were way more prevalent. Societal impacts, government funding for small food businesses, and grants for minority or woman owned businesses have all shrunk significantly in the last few years. Add to this increased food and rent costs, impacts on food quality in the last year, and the economic strain on many people currently that impacts how much they eat out, the struggles and challenges of being in the food industry are numerous! I haven’t been immune to any of these and have learned that pivoting and keeping a close eye on costs is essential to maintaining during this challenging time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am fully vegan chef- in practice personally I have been vegan for 11 years and I have been a vegan chef for a little over 8 years. I specialize in recreating everyday fare that is familiar to consumers into plant-based eats with a special emphasis on Southern comfort style cooking. I am most proud of making it onto Food Network in 2022 on the first ever vegan episode of Beat Bobby Flay. What sets me apart is my work ethic. I am willing to sacrifice my body, time, my comfort in order to achieve the goal. I was taught to only compete with the best version of yourself and so that mindset of being my own competition allows me to focus singularly on achieving my own goals, not competing with others. Because of that I always want to beat the last best thing, make dishes and touches even better, and push myself to create and try things more and more.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
We live in a world of shortcuts, short form video, and massive amounts of information flooding us everyday. It can make it hard to focus or to value the things that you simply can’t skip. While some people get lucky and have a big break, most of us have to work hard for years, fail, and try again in order to achieve our goals. So first, do not try to take a shortcut. Every experience- whether successful or not- is a notch in your belt. You need these things to help shape you, refine what you offer, and focus on your target audience. Second, appreciate the process. After doing this for so many years I look back now and wonder if I really appreciated certain moments as much as I should have or, if I focused too much on the moments that I was down to my detriment. The longer you work your business you learn that everything is a process, and we have to appreciate each experience’s place in that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eattheveggie.com
- Instagram: theveggiehsv
- Facebook: The Veggie
