Tasya Kelen @ Isadore Nut Company focuses on organic and premium nuts, roasted by hand, in small batches
I created Isadore Nut Co because I saw a need for healthy snacks that tasted amazing and not like cardboard. Because nuts are so good for us - high protein, healthy fats, crunchy and delicious, I wanted to combine super spices and a small amount of a healthy sweetener to make the perfect snack. I think we have perfected something that our customers find addictive, in a good way with our variety of mind blowing nut mixes. After six years, we have decided to pivot our mission and become a social enterprise. We’ve found that by partnering w/J-HAP, an organization that supports us to be an inclusive employer that customizes jobs to highlight an individual’s skills and interest while benefiting the production of Isadore Nuts. To be an inclusion company and create healthy food is a win-win I could never have dreamed of but it’s the motivator to get us to dream big and shoot for the stars.
What did you want to do/be when you were a child? Did anything changed since then? Why? Why not?
I wanted to be an actress when I was little, but decided I wasn’t ready to starve on the streets of NYC trying to get roles. So I decided I would be a broadcast journalist because they seemed to be a similar. I later because a news producer and learned this was a much more important way to help individuals share their stories and missions.
What are your favorite business tools and/or resources and why?
The tools of networking peer to peer is invaluable. I truly appreciate the work of Grow North, Midwest Pantry, and Women in Entrepreneurship through the Minnesota Cup: https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/mn-cup/womens-initiative, as a resource for connecting with other women-owned businesses and women run funding groups. I love to attend their spring conference to hear from powerful women entrepreneurs and reconnect with women in my industry who share their updates and accomplishments.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle for female founders? How can we overcome it?
I constantly feel challenged to charge enough for my products. I always ask myself how much would I want to pay for something. I’ve learned the hard way that is not the ideal way to set prices. I’ve learned that we have to look at the market and what it will bear. I think we also undervalue ourselves pretty easily and take on too many tasks because they exist in our business, instead of playing to our talents and hiring people who have those strengths.
How do you generate new ideas to stay relevant on the market? Is it important to innovate in your space?
What are your short/long term goals? Short term goals - We definitely plan to change our packaging in the next six months to printed bags which will be easier and more affordable to package our products and allow us to showcase our new mission of becoming an inclusion company. In the next five years, I would like to see our delicious nut mixes have a national presence and become easier to purchase at the same time as we increase our work of hiring individuals with different abilities, continue our mission to support fair trade and small farmers whose ingredients drive the quality of our products.