0:05

Hi and welcome to

0:05

Ready Set glow, a podcast where

0:09

I interview entrepreneurs,

0:09

brands and idealist, people and

0:14

the stories behind it all.

0:14

Discover what it took to get

0:17

started, lessons learned along

0:17

the way, and the advice they

0:20

have for you starting on your

0:20

own journey. So join me and my

0:25

guests as we talk about all

0:25

things business, beauty and

0:28

brands. I'm your host, Mary

0:28

Harcourt of Cosmo glow, as we

0:32

discover the stories behind the

0:32

names. My guest today started a

0:40

zero waste food delivery service

0:40

in the Austin, Texas area, the

0:44

company is called prep to your

0:44

door, we talk about how she got

0:47

started in that field of

0:47

interest, what we can all do to

0:50

support our farmers and food

0:50

workers while also adding

0:54

nutrients to our body. And we

0:54

dive into some lessons learned

0:57

along the way on the road to

0:57

entrepreneurship. Let's dive in.

1:05

Heather, thank you so much for

1:05

being a guest tonight, you have

1:08

such a cool and amazing

1:08

business. I can't wait to talk

1:12

about it tonight. Tell us who

1:12

you are and all about your

1:15

business.

1:16

Thank you for

1:16

having me. It's so lovely to be

1:18

here as well. My name is Heather

1:18

and I founded a company called

1:22

prep to your door. And we do

1:22

organic plant based meals

1:25

delivered right to people's

1:25

doors, which I always say is not

1:29

that interesting in itself. But

1:29

the most special thing about our

1:34

business, I think is that we are

1:34

zero waste the way I like to

1:38

kind of give the overview there

1:38

is think about sustainability,

1:42

not just for the planet, but

1:42

also for our bodies. So we

1:45

really are a wellness brand out

1:45

our heartbeat. We prepare food

1:50

with a lot of intention,

1:50

different herbs, a lot of

1:53

different purposes, a lot of

1:53

super foods to really give

1:57

vibrant lives to people in the

1:57

planet.

1:59

I love that I'm

1:59

sold. I mean, how did you get

2:03

started in this?

2:04

Well, it was an

2:04

accident, like utmost good

2:07

things. I think that's kind of

2:07

how that happens. But my me

2:11

personally, the business started

2:11

six years ago, right? And the

2:15

business started because I was

2:15

making these meals for myself.

2:18

And when I met my husband, who

2:18

was just an acquaintance at that

2:22

time, he was like, wow, you're

2:22

great. People would pay for

2:26

these. And he's he's such an

2:26

entrepreneur, he's like, we

2:29

should do this. And I'm like, I

2:29

know I want it. I've been

2:32

wanting to do this. I just I'm

2:32

I'm like totally I don't know

2:36

how to do this. Like, I mean,

2:36

just the thought of starting my

2:39

own business was like, Oh, I

2:39

just It gave me so much anxiety,

2:43

pitter patter heartbeat, like

2:43

just thinking about it, because

2:46

I just felt so knowledgeable

2:46

about it. That's kind of how it

2:49

started the the to go back in

2:49

time, like rewind even more, you

2:53

know, that was a much longer

2:53

journey. So in 2004, I was

2:58

released from prison, I would

2:58

spend 12 months in a federal

3:01

facility for a drug conviction.

3:01

And I was like so broken, tried

3:07

to like, do what I could in

3:07

terms of jobs. waitressing

3:10

bartending is really bad

3:10

waitress, by the way, and just

3:14

so happens that Whole Foods was

3:14

having this hiring fair in the

3:19

now what we know is the flagship

3:19

store in downtown Austin, where

3:23

the headquarters are and it was

3:23

the most beautiful start ever

3:26

been in it looks a lot different

3:26

now. This is, you know, pre

3:30

Amazon days. But anyways, they

3:30

had a hiring fair to open that

3:33

store. And so what happened was

3:33

they ended up hiring a lot of

3:36

people with zero experience like

3:36

myself in the food industry,

3:40

because they needed to, like

3:40

have bodies in the store. And so

3:43

I got hired at the smoothie bar.

3:43

And so I worked at the smoothie

3:47

bar. Well, at that time. The

3:47

smoothie bar was at the front of

3:51

the store and right next to the

3:51

smoothie bar connected was the

3:55

raw vegan food bar. And I never

3:55

heard of raw vegan. I had never

4:01

met a vegan until I worked at

4:01

Whole Foods. Like that's how

4:04

little I knew about food. And so

4:04

again, think of me in this

4:08

broken place on a bag of

4:08

medication from anxiety, sleep

4:13

meds, you know, antidepressants,

4:13

anti viral medicines, like my

4:17

immune system was shot, my

4:17

mental health was in the dumps,

4:20

like I was just in a really bad

4:20

place. And I also ate like,

4:23

really, really bad food and I

4:23

was pretty miserable. And this

4:28

raw vegan who was working at the

4:28

raw vegan bar was like, go

4:32

vegetarian, like it's gonna

4:32

change your life. And he wasn't

4:35

saying that because he don't

4:35

think he was saying that because

4:37

I needed it. It was more like I

4:37

just kept asking him so many

4:41

questions about raw veganism. I

4:41

just thought what is this? Like?

4:45

It's you're not cooking any

4:45

food, like you don't eat any

4:48

cooked food like really? And he

4:48

told me all about it. And I was

4:52

like, okay, he's like, just go

4:52

vegetarian. You're gonna see

4:54

some benefits just from doing

4:54

that. And he was right. I got

4:58

off all my medications. I lost a

4:58

bunch of weight. And I was like,

5:01

holy crap between that and

5:01

hearing everybody's

5:04

conversations in the store about

5:04

sustainability packaging,

5:09

exploitation of farmworkers,

5:09

composting, I just realized food

5:14

can change the entire world,

5:14

whether it's what you eat, or

5:18

what you buy, how much you pay

5:18

for that item, because of how

5:22

the workers are treated. I mean,

5:22

it just everything's connected.

5:25

Everyone touches food, and we

5:25

can change the world. I mean,

5:28

one of the things that I heard

5:28

at that time was, if you really

5:31

want to end world hunger go

5:31

vegetarian, because over half

5:36

the world's vegetables, grains,

5:36

go to feed livestock. So if we

5:40

rerouted that to hungry people

5:40

in the world, we would literally

5:44

end world hunger. So I was just

5:44

super inspired. And obviously a

5:49

believer in plant based

5:49

lifestyle at that time, and it

5:54

just never left me. And so when

5:54

Fast forward again, six years

5:58

ago, when I met my husband, and

5:58

I was making these meals, it was

6:01

because they were in, they were

6:01

in glass, like I will not let

6:04

plastic touch my food. It's

6:04

going to be organic. I don't

6:07

want pesticides in my food, like

6:07

all of the things, no gluten, no

6:10

dairy, because we want it to be

6:10

anti inflammatory. So that is

6:14

kind of how I accidentally got

6:14

into food, and by accidentally

6:19

have a business about food now.

6:21

I mean, but it

6:21

makes so much sense. I agree

6:23

with that. I'm gluten free,

6:23

myself and my husband's lactose

6:26

intolerant. So we are always

6:26

looking for many menus and

6:30

recipes that are like dairy

6:30

free, gluten free. I think it's

6:35

becoming almost a sad state of

6:35

how they processed food these

6:39

days. I always say I don't know

6:39

if I'm actually allergic to

6:41

gluten. I think I'm allergic to

6:41

what Monsanto sprays on the

6:44

fields. And that's my reaction.

6:44

And so it makes so much sense.

6:49

Maybe you didn't know where to

6:49

plug in at first. But being

6:51

around that environment, a Whole

6:51

Foods, which was the leader and

6:54

still is in many ways of

6:54

understanding how to bring the

6:59

most nutritious, fresh, healthy

6:59

food to you. And you were able

7:05

to capitalize on the opportunity

7:05

that was presented to you and

7:08

put it in a nice little

7:08

business. I think it's great. I

7:11

lived in Los Angeles for a long

7:11

time, and I was a vegetarian for

7:14

10 years. I never really miss

7:14

meat. I never missed it. It was

7:17

never like, Oh, I could really

7:17

go for some I could cheat on my

7:20

diet tonight. Like it was never

7:20

like that I never miss food. And

7:25

I love vegetables, and I love

7:25

greens. And then we moved to

7:28

Texas. And that story gets

7:28

complicated because there's such

7:34

a different variety of greens

7:34

here that I wish you guys

7:39

delivered to my area because

7:39

we're I'm like craving green

7:43

crunchy salads that are healthy,

7:43

nutritious. Everything I get is

7:47

loaded with bacon cheese, ranch

7:47

dressing, and croutons and wilty

7:51

lettuce. And it's so hard. So I

7:51

could see how this is such a

7:55

really big need. And in this

7:55

area, you're in the local Austin

7:59

area, then you also outreach to

7:59

Houston I believe.

8:01

Definitely this

8:01

is where people come and visit

8:05

and eat barbecue for a reason.

8:05

We're a big cattle state for a

8:10

reason. You know, people love

8:10

their meat here. And the thing

8:13

about that is that I actually am

8:13

very proud that most of our

8:18

customers, our total meat

8:18

eaters, like they order our

8:22

service because they just don't

8:22

know what to do with vegetables.

8:25

Actually, I always say like, the

8:25

least impact you're going to

8:29

have is just feeding a bunch of

8:29

vegans. No offense to the vegans

8:33

I love vegans I was a vegan for

8:33

a while I'm not any more. I love

8:37

vegans, they fight for what they

8:37

believe in, they live by what

8:40

they believe in. But also the

8:40

real change comes with small

8:45

incremental shifts in the way

8:45

the relationship that you have

8:48

with your food, regardless of

8:48

what you identify as your main

8:53

diet. So what brings me a lot of

8:53

joy is getting those text

8:58

messages from customers where

8:58

their little kids will start

9:02

eating the vegetables out of the

9:02

jar because that's what Mommy

9:04

and Daddy were doing. And that's

9:04

generational.

9:07

So let's back up

9:07

a little bit what exactly how

9:10

does prep to your door work

9:12

pretty standard

9:12

go online and order with all of

9:15

our mission and values you can

9:15

read more about the story and

9:18

and why we do what we do. I

9:18

think what makes us a little

9:21

different than most services is

9:21

you know we don't have any

9:24

commitment. So you go online

9:24

you'd pick you know we want a

9:27

one time order you want to

9:27

subscribe it's your choice. You

9:31

want one meal do you want 31

9:31

meals your choice. Regardless of

9:35

what you do what you order,

9:35

we're going to be instant

9:39

communication with you and

9:39

trying to be your your support.

9:43

Along the way. We love feedback.

9:43

We love to hear how you're using

9:46

the meals or if you don't care

9:46

for a meal. We want to hear that

9:49

too. We deliver in zero waste

9:49

packaging and you just leave

9:52

that out on your porch and we'll

9:52

swap it out. So think of like

9:55

the milkman, nothing goes in

9:55

your trash, nothing even the

9:58

paper materials that including

9:58

your delivery, just put that

10:01

back in your bag on your porch.

10:01

And we will make sure that it is

10:05

responsibly composted. So, no

10:05

more wish cycling, no more

10:10

trash, like we take that burden

10:10

off of you. That's so cool.

10:14

The fact that

10:14

you're not a subscription is, I

10:18

think, really, really, really

10:18

cool because it gives people a

10:21

chance to try you especially I'm

10:21

not the best cook, newsflash.

10:26

And if I had company coming in

10:26

town, I would make sure I had

10:29

meals that were delivered so

10:29

that it looked like I cooked or

10:33

we had delicious food. But also,

10:33

when I don't have company in

10:37

town, I'm fine to cook provide

10:37

for myself. So I think it's

10:41

great that you offer both

10:41

subscription and non

10:43

subscription. I think that even

10:43

like capitalizes the entire

10:46

market. So it isn't any

10:46

pressure, as much as it's a

10:50

great opportunity that when

10:50

you're looking for something

10:53

nice and fresh, it is delivered

10:53

to your door. So what is your

10:57

take on plastic, since you

10:57

mentioned that nothing, no food

11:01

will touch plastic that you eat.

11:03

While we don't serve food and plastic. Sometimes, even from the farms,

11:05

there will be some plastic. So I

11:09

can't really say that the food

11:09

we serve doesn't touch plastic,

11:12

but we really try to eliminate

11:12

that. And the reason why is

11:16

because every single week, the

11:16

average American is consuming

11:20

about a credit cards worth of

11:20

plastic. They're finding it in

11:24

our tissues. They're finding it

11:24

in our placentas when the when

11:28

the babies, you know when babies

11:28

are born. And okay, so what's

11:31

the big deal? Right? So what?

11:31

Well, the microplastics, because

11:35

they're so small, and they're

11:35

not always visible to the naked

11:38

eye. That's how they get in our

11:38

cells. That's how they disrupt

11:43

our hormones. That's why we have

11:43

like rampant autoimmune things

11:47

going on. Like in addition to

11:47

our poor diets, there's

11:50

microplastics. So I don't know

11:50

about you, but I know a lot of

11:53

people I know a lot of women who

11:53

are so healthy, they work out,

11:58

they do, you know, regular

11:58

cleanses, they eat really clean,

12:02

and they still have autoimmune

12:02

disease. And it's more than

12:06

likely, I would say, because of

12:06

environmental pollutants, and

12:10

microplastics. Right. So all of

12:10

these are hormone disruptors,

12:14

all of these are basically

12:14

toxins in our body. So our

12:18

promise is that when you get our

12:18

food, you're not going to get

12:22

any of that single use plastic,

12:22

that is just not our thing.

12:25

Everything we have, we want to

12:25

be

12:28

reusable. I love

12:28

that. So are you do you do

12:32

meats? Or is it all vegetables?

12:34

At this time,

12:34

it's all vegetables. You know,

12:38

and the reason why is is both my

12:38

personal story of being plant

12:42

based, and also the

12:42

environmental aspect. You know,

12:45

if you look at the carbon

12:45

footprint of a vegan diet versus

12:49

traditional, the standard

12:49

American diet, I mean, it's off

12:52

the charts different in terms of

12:52

your carbon footprint. So our

12:56

plant based promise is for

12:56

health for us and the planet.

13:01

However, two things number one,

13:01

eating meat I do not think is

13:06

going to go away. And I think

13:06

that's like something that that

13:11

a lot of people don't want to

13:11

hear a lot of people who are

13:15

like really, really passionate

13:15

about veganism, they don't want

13:17

to hear. And I totally relate

13:17

like, it's really sad. Like,

13:21

it's really sad, like animal

13:21

agriculture, I really want to

13:25

acknowledge that with like all

13:25

my heart and soul. If Paul

13:28

McCartney has the famous quote,

13:28

If slaughterhouses had glass

13:31

walls, we would all be

13:31

vegetarian. And I think it's

13:35

true, I think our hearts would

13:35

break. So I want to acknowledge

13:37

that. And I still don't think

13:37

that is gonna go away from

13:43

hunters to just like, you know,

13:43

think about like, globally, how

13:48

a perfect example is like

13:48

Siberia, like people in Siberia

13:52

eat bear, because there's

13:52

nothing else growing in the nine

13:56

months of winter that they have,

13:56

right? Like they have to like

13:59

Harvest meat, dry it and eat

13:59

this way. So like think about

14:02

sustainability, think about what

14:02

we would do hundreds of years

14:06

ago, like what was the most

14:06

sustainable, natural way that in

14:09

which we ate, when you look at

14:09

it from that way I don't think

14:12

needs going away. The other side

14:12

of that is the way in which we

14:17

do animal agriculture today is

14:17

really horrid in so many ways,

14:22

not only for the animals, but

14:22

for the environment. And there's

14:24

a lot of data coming out right

14:24

now showing that if you have

14:28

regenerative farming, ranching

14:28

in particular, you can actually

14:33

so when you look at carbon

14:33

footprint, and you see like, oh,

14:36

veganism has like barely any

14:36

carbon footprint, and eating

14:40

meat has this much carbon

14:40

footprint. It's huge. The graph

14:42

is like so exponentially

14:42

different. That's because it's

14:45

taking into account the animal

14:45

agriculture industry as we know

14:49

it today. What it's not doing is

14:49

taking into account regenerative

14:53

agriculture. And the reason I

14:53

say that is because regenerative

14:56

agriculture actually does the

14:56

opposite. It actually sequesters

15:01

carbon. And the reason why it

15:01

has to do with the soil the way

15:05

that we if you rebuild the soil,

15:05

improves our water, it sequester

15:09

more carbon. Like it's crazy,

15:09

like we can reverse climate

15:14

change using animals as a way to

15:14

do that. So there's research

15:18

showing this.

15:19

I'm not familiar

15:19

with the term what is

15:22

regenerative farming

15:23

right now you

15:23

see, mono crops want mono crops

15:27

are like when you go and you you

15:27

drive down Texas and you see

15:30

like rows and rows and rows and

15:30

rows of corn, that's a mono

15:33

crop. And most of the time,

15:33

they're growing soy, wheat or

15:37

corn because those are

15:37

subsidized from the government.

15:40

In a natural, healthy ecosystem,

15:40

everything grows together. And

15:45

this plant is giving the

15:45

minerals that this back into the

15:49

soil that this plant needs to

15:49

really, you know, grow. And so

15:52

anyways, after years and decades

15:52

of mono cropping, the soil is

15:56

completely dead. And you'll see

15:56

it on. I mean, not just like,

16:00

nothing will grow there anymore,

16:00

but the water won't go into the

16:04

ground, the water just like runs

16:04

off. It's crazy. It's like the

16:10

earth can't do its job. So

16:10

regenerative agriculture can

16:14

look a lot of different ways.

16:14

I'm not an expert on it, but it

16:17

has to do with basically like

16:17

growing, stagnating different

16:21

crops, making sure you're always

16:21

giving back to the soil and

16:24

using animals and, and their,

16:24

their poop, right? Like they're,

16:28

they're part of the system of

16:28

like, think of full circle to

16:31

rebuild the soil. So everything

16:31

starts in the soil. This all has

16:35

to do with soil from water

16:35

runoff to nutrients in our soil

16:39

that then gives back to the the

16:39

foods that we eat the vegetables

16:43

that we eat, it's all you know,

16:43

in this beautiful circle of

16:46

life. So that's regenerative

16:46

agriculture, and like a really,

16:49

really layman's terms. And

16:49

anybody out there who's an

16:53

expert on it, I apologize if I

16:53

messed this up. I haven't

16:55

really, I'm not really well

16:55

spoken on it. But I know for a

16:59

fact that there's research that

16:59

shows that it's essentially more

17:02

effective than being vegan in

17:02

terms of environmental impact.

17:05

All of that to say that right

17:05

now, while we are plant based,

17:09

for sustainable reasons, the

17:09

more research that comes out to

17:12

show that this was actually a

17:12

way to have a greater impact on

17:16

climate change. But using

17:16

basically eating meat and using

17:19

meat, we would add that to our

17:19

menu, because what's good for

17:24

you is good for the planet,

17:24

what's good for the planet is

17:27

good for you. Everything is

17:27

connected to one another. And I

17:31

think that's kind of what we

17:31

want to do with people is help

17:35

them rediscover their

17:35

relationship with their food. I

17:38

love

17:39

that. And your

17:39

mission is to change food by

17:42

strengthening a food system. So

17:42

does this play into it all of

17:46

just strengthening the food

17:46

system zero waste, making

17:50

yourself a little more healthy

17:50

with eliminating the things that

17:54

can be toxic to your digestive

17:54

system?

17:57

It goes a lot

17:57

further like you've Yes,

18:00

starting with the human because

18:00

again, why did I go vegetarian,

18:04

it was not for animal rights. It

18:04

was not for sustainability. It

18:07

was because I was very sick. And

18:07

I heard the message from this

18:10

human that like my life could be

18:10

different. And I went for that.

18:13

So you always start with the

18:13

human. Once the health

18:17

transforms within us, we're able

18:17

to think clearly we're able to

18:20

be more connected, we're able to

18:20

be more vibrant. Start with

18:24

humans, and think about the

18:24

whole picture in that same

18:29

sentence or same thought think

18:29

about how everything is

18:34

connected and impacted. So how

18:34

do we strengthen food systems,

18:38

we first and foremost, we have

18:38

got to pay livable wages to the

18:43

people that serve us. So right

18:43

now, if you look at any

18:47

restaurant, their servers in

18:47

Texas make $2 an hour, they

18:51

solely rely on tips, they pass

18:51

that completely under the

18:55

customer. And that means that

18:55

sometimes servers will go home

18:59

with like $10 on a five hour

18:59

shift. So you start there, you

19:04

take into consideration all the

19:04

farmers that are doing the hard

19:07

labor. Right now the average age

19:07

of the farmer is almost 60 years

19:11

old. And that's because it's a

19:11

dying industry, because nobody

19:14

wants to be a farmer because you

19:14

are completely reliant on the

19:18

weather. You don't have

19:18

insurance that the insurance

19:22

does not cover there's no

19:22

government help or insurance

19:26

that covers any type of weather

19:26

related like crop annihilation.

19:31

So you're basically living below

19:31

the poverty line and high rates

19:35

of suicide and alcoholism run in

19:35

that industry. So how do we love

19:39

our farmers? How do we

19:39

appreciate the people that are

19:44

the reason that we're alive

19:44

today? And they're keep going

19:47

away because their kids keep

19:47

selling because their kids

19:49

inherit the land and they're

19:49

like, screw this. I don't want

19:52

to be a farmer like I just saw

19:52

my parents like slave their

19:55

whole life away. I don't want to

19:55

do that I can sell this piece of

19:58

land for a few million blacks

19:58

and like go do something else.

20:01

And what happens is back to

20:01

Monsanto, those are the big

20:05

agriculture companies that are

20:05

feeding us. And they have full

20:08

control over our health over our

20:08

future and over our children's

20:13

future. And this keeps

20:13

happening, small farms just keep

20:16

going away. So we start with the

20:16

humans, we respect the farmers,

20:21

we respect the animals, we

20:21

respect the environment. And if

20:25

all of that is in sync,

20:25

everybody wins. And that's my

20:29

goal is to really create a

20:29

company that prioritizes every

20:34

part of the food system, not

20:34

just the price, because that's

20:39

how our current food structure

20:39

industry is set up. It's just

20:43

like, what's the cheapest thing?

20:43

How can we get this the cheapest

20:46

and the longest shelf life?

20:46

Well, that means poisons in our

20:48

food. Bottom line?

20:50

Absolutely. And I

20:50

think it may have started not so

20:54

scandalous. But as we tried to

20:54

get it lower and lower and

20:58

cheaper and cheaper, more of

20:58

these chemicals started

21:01

funneling in. And now we're left

21:01

with this stuff that I mean

21:05

bodies rejected, it leads to

21:05

illnesses, I totally am on board

21:09

with it. I've watched way too

21:09

many food documentaries to not

21:12

be aware of what's happening. So

21:12

I love that you have that as

21:17

your mission and understand it.

21:17

And that is like the cornerstone

21:21

of what you base all of your

21:21

decisions on. That's so great.

21:24

Yeah, I'm

21:24

actually really glad that you

21:27

mentioned that it wasn't so

21:27

cynical, because I'm not trying

21:30

to talk about a conspiracy

21:30

theory or anything of the sort

21:33

over here. I do think that when

21:33

people introduced pesticides

21:37

into farming, it was a really

21:37

positive thing. It was a way for

21:41

farmers to improve their

21:41

revenue, because they were so

21:45

desperate to like have a

21:45

successful crop. And I think it

21:48

was also thought they thought it

21:48

was a win win, because it's

21:51

like, look, we can feed more

21:51

people, right. So that is a

21:54

narrative that you'll hear a lot

21:54

of times now. Now, you will

21:58

still hear that narrative from

21:58

people who use pesticides,

22:01

because they'll say we need this

22:01

much food to feed people. And

22:05

I'm here to tell you that is a

22:05

false narrative. Because half of

22:09

the food that's produced goes in

22:09

the trash, we do not have a food

22:13

production issue. We have a food

22:13

distribution issue. We can work

22:17

with farms support organic

22:17

farming and get that food into

22:20

everybody's bodies, we'd be

22:20

fine. Does that make sense?

22:24

Yeah, so

22:24

talk a little bit

22:24

more about that. Because you do

22:27

hear both sides, you say you

22:27

talk to one person, they say we

22:30

have enough food in our country

22:30

alone to feed the entire world.

22:33

And then you talk to another

22:33

person. And by 2028, we're gonna

22:37

run out of food completely, and

22:37

everyone's gonna starve and die.

22:39

How do we fix and change what's

22:39

going on right now when you say

22:42

that there's so much food waste,

22:42

what's the fix for that,

22:46

basically, in

22:46

the next 30 years, for sure, at

22:50

the rate we're going our souls

22:50

will no longer produce food. And

22:53

that is not any false narrative

22:53

that is scientifically proven,

22:59

because soil is dead, and it

22:59

can't grow anything. Right now,

23:02

if you go and eat an orange,

23:02

just just buy an orange and eat

23:05

it, you have to eat eight

23:05

oranges to get the same

23:09

nutrients that you would have

23:09

got in an orange six years ago,

23:12

because our soils are so

23:12

depleted. It's serious. And

23:15

that's why people alike will

23:15

have to take vitamins like you

23:17

kind of have to because it's

23:17

just not in our food anymore,

23:20

because it's not in our soils

23:20

anymore, because we're screwing

23:22

up our soils. It's also true

23:22

that we have enough food right

23:25

now to feed. I don't know if we

23:25

have enough to feed the world. I

23:28

cannot say that I know

23:28

worldwide, we have enough to

23:31

feed the world. It's not getting

23:31

to the right places. But I know

23:35

that half of the food worldwide

23:35

is thrown away. I think in

23:39

America, it is 40% of food. So

23:39

in fact, a lot of food waste

23:44

happens overseas, not here,

23:44

because that's why ours is a

23:47

little lower. And the solution

23:47

there. There's some really,

23:50

really cool companies coming out

23:50

that are diverting food waste.

23:54

So an example of that there's a

23:54

company called copia, they're

23:58

based out of San Francisco. And

23:58

what they do is they'll pick up

24:02

your food every single week, and

24:02

they'll distribute it to

24:06

nonprofits and food, food banks.

24:06

They're trying to go nationwide,

24:10

I they might be already but here

24:10

in Austin, we actually have two

24:14

companies that I recommend. One

24:14

is Keep Austin fed. And that's a

24:18

nonprofit that does exactly what

24:18

cobia does, but they just do it

24:21

for free. We worked with them

24:21

for many years. And the other

24:25

one is called to good to go. And

24:25

everybody needs to download this

24:29

app. It is a place that you can

24:29

go on and buy last minute food

24:34

or food that's about to expire

24:34

or go to waste for like, I don't

24:38

know, 30 cents on the dollar. So

24:38

like I played around with it and

24:43

like there's some really cool

24:43

places, y'all there's like some

24:46

cold pressed juice spots and you

24:46

can go in and get their juices

24:49

that are amazing. They're just

24:49

like they can't have them on

24:51

their shelf anymore. We do it at

24:51

prep to your door and some of

24:55

our customers they're like yeah,

24:55

use your service and then I saw

24:58

you into too good to go. So I

24:58

got a few More at a discounted

25:00

rate, like it's, it's really

25:00

cool and it keeps food out of

25:03

the trash, right? Like, it's

25:03

just a way to like sell it last

25:06

minute. So those are two ways.

25:06

But back to the farmers, the

25:10

farmers, I mean, one time I

25:10

ordered a bunch of it was either

25:15

pecans or peaches from

25:15

Fredericksburg, and I got a

25:19

invoice on the back of like some

25:19

grocery receipt that he had in

25:24

his wallet. And he was like,

25:24

here you go, here's $80 Pay me

25:28

send me a check in the mail. And

25:28

I'm like, we had to go and pick

25:31

it up. Because he didn't, he

25:31

didn't deliver. And that was his

25:33

accounting process. And I'm

25:33

like, Oh, no small farms, they

25:36

just don't have the ways to set

25:36

up like an accounting department

25:41

and like a QuickBooks and have

25:41

like a full time delivery driver

25:46

and work the relationships and

25:46

tell them about this brand new

25:49

cilantro, they just got in like

25:49

they just don't have that. And

25:52

half the time, you can hardly

25:52

order from them. Because what

25:55

was available last week is not

25:55

available this week. And so

25:58

there's just there's real issues

25:58

with getting the food from the

26:03

small farm to people's plates.

26:03

And that's why a lot of times

26:06

crops will go bad. So it's

26:06

something you can do as a

26:10

consumer a way to be a part of

26:10

the changes support businesses

26:13

that use farm to table like us.

26:13

And there's plenty of

26:16

restaurants in Austin you can

26:16

support doesn't just have to be

26:19

us use local CSA boxes. A lot of

26:19

times, you'll have CSA programs

26:24

that aren't just from one farm.

26:24

They'll pull it from multiple

26:26

farms. So they'll get those that

26:26

cilantro from that one farm and

26:29

they'll get the limes and lemons

26:29

from somewhere else. And best

26:33

thing you could do is just meet

26:33

your local farmer, just find out

26:36

who's growing in your area, go

26:36

introduce yourself and tell them

26:40

you appreciate them because we can't have them go away.

26:42

Oh, absolutely. I

26:42

love how you broke that down.

26:45

That makes so much sense because

26:45

it is so true. Sometimes as

26:49

someone that works in an office

26:49

setting, you can't quite grasp

26:52

why if they're growing food,

26:52

they can't sell it. But I also

26:55

know how much it takes to run a

26:55

business. And there it's so

26:58

multifaceted. And you do need

26:58

people for certain departments.

27:01

And that makes total sense where

27:01

it doesn't pay to have someone

27:05

sit in the front office and type

27:05

of invoices. But on the same

27:08

hand, if you don't have someone

27:08

that's typing up those invoices,

27:12

you're writing that on a receipt

27:12

saying send me a check. So that

27:15

really makes sense. How do you

27:15

guys find do you work with

27:19

specific farmers? Do you work

27:19

with a lot of farmers? How do

27:23

you find all of your vegetables

27:23

and fruits that you work with?

27:26

We work with 14

27:26

farms across the state and that

27:29

number is growing because right

27:29

now we work with exclusively

27:33

organic farms, but we actually

27:33

want to go a step further and

27:37

prioritize regenerative farms. A

27:37

lot of regenerative farms are

27:40

more ranchers and animal

27:40

agriculture. But there are a few

27:44

really cool, mostly vegetable

27:44

farms that are doing things like

27:48

permaculture and I don't even

27:48

know all what that means. So

27:51

please forgive me. But But look

27:51

at permaculture, I have looked

27:55

it up before it it's really

27:55

cool. It's like very, very

27:58

intentional growing. So right,

27:58

that's our list. And then there

28:02

is there are a couple of

28:02

distributors based out of Austin

28:06

that just work with small farms.

28:06

And it's so cool. So we work

28:10

with them to for farms that

28:10

don't have a way to get their

28:13

stuff to us. There is a small

28:13

company that like, rounds it all

28:18

up and delivers it to

28:18

restaurants and businesses in

28:22

Austin. So we work with them,

28:22

all of our farmers that we work

28:25

with, we like to know as much as

28:25

possible, we had a woman that

28:30

used to work for us who in her

28:30

previous role, she was a buyer

28:36

for one of these distributors.

28:36

And so she knew like every farm

28:40

in the state, and we kind of

28:40

adopted those relationships

28:44

because she was a part of our

28:44

company for a while. And so I'm

28:48

really proud to say that we like

28:48

to know our farmers. We like to

28:53

know, you know who they are, why

28:53

they do what they do. And I

28:58

can't say that everyone has so

28:58

so much of a different story.

29:01

They're usually just like, salt

29:01

of the earth really good people.

29:05

All right,

29:05

completely agree. So you have

29:09

this business you started six

29:09

years ago, and you're doing

29:12

amazing things. I am excited to

29:12

try your food. I totally would

29:16

use you if you were in Meijer

29:16

area of service. What is the

29:19

most fulfilling part for you?

29:21

Um, well, it

29:21

depends on the day. Every day is

29:25

different when I'm sure people

29:25

out there who work in startups

29:29

like you, Mary, you probably

29:29

know what I mean. Like, it's

29:32

just you have to wear every

29:32

single hat that's needed for the

29:35

business to move forward. So,

29:35

you know, I can tell you what

29:38

that looks like right now. Every

29:38

single week we are launching a

29:42

new recipe every single week. We

29:42

are creating these amazing new

29:47

recipes in our kitchen two days

29:47

a week, like two days a week.

29:51

It's solid recipe development

29:51

days, and it's bringing me so

29:56

much joy and the flip side of

29:56

that is you can't just quit Eat

30:00

something really great and not

30:00

talk to your customers about it

30:02

right. So like working on that

30:02

communication and storytelling

30:06

and like trying to tell them why

30:06

this is so great, just to have

30:09

like a little full circle moment

30:09

here. And I was telling you

30:12

about that raw vegan bar, which

30:12

next to in Whole Foods we just

30:15

actually launched, and we're

30:15

calling it the radiant raw bar

30:19

menu. And people can order raw

30:19

vegan food delivered to their

30:24

door now through our service.

30:24

And we're making all those

30:26

recipes. And all those recipes

30:26

are like close to 20 years old,

30:31

like I used to watch them make

30:31

this stuff. And, you know, I

30:34

don't know the exact recipe, I'm

30:34

just doing my own version of it.

30:37

But it's really, really cool to

30:37

see and watch those numbers

30:41

climb. We launched it like three

30:41

weeks ago. And every single week

30:45

those order numbers have doubled

30:45

for those items. So I know that

30:49

it's something people want. And

30:49

like, I don't know that people

30:52

really know that it's raw vegan,

30:52

per se. They're just like, This

30:55

is great food and I want great

30:55

food.

30:58

Well, yeah, it's

30:58

obviously people are reordering

31:00

it going whatever we had, make

31:00

sure you get that one again, if

31:03

and if the orders are going up

31:03

every week. So that's great. How

31:07

do you guys pick your recipes?

31:07

Are these recipes you're doing

31:10

like a seasonal thing? Do you

31:10

add them to your website you add

31:14

them to that's the food that

31:14

you've been service? How does

31:16

that all work with recipes,

31:18

the way that the service is set up is the menu does change every single

31:20

week, like our our rotate, we

31:23

have a rotating meal section.

31:23

And so that's because we want to

31:27

number one, keep it exciting for

31:27

you. Because anytime you make a

31:31

lifestyle change, you don't want

31:31

to get bored. That's like the

31:34

worst thing you could do, and

31:34

especially with your food, so

31:36

it's exciting for the customer.

31:36

But equally, this is where I'm

31:39

talking about your health and

31:39

sustainability totally connect,

31:43

because what that allows us to

31:43

do is to prioritize what's in

31:46

season, which allows us to

31:46

prioritize higher nutrients

31:50

because it hasn't been in

31:50

transit for three weeks before

31:53

it gets to us. It's like fresh

31:53

out of the ground. So there's a

31:56

state sustainability link. And

31:56

then from there, what does that

32:00

do for our local farmers? Well,

32:00

that supports our local farmers

32:03

because what they had this week

32:03

isn't the same as last week.

32:07

Well, that's okay. Because

32:07

what's on our menu isn't this

32:09

isn't the same as last week,

32:09

right? So like, this is what I

32:12

mean by changing the food system

32:12

like changing the way we look at

32:16

our meals. Sorry, you don't need

32:16

your mango mango pina colada

32:19

fruit bowl in the dead of winter

32:19

in Texas, like that came from

32:23

Thailand. No, or wherever it

32:23

came from. Right? Like it's not,

32:28

it's not from here. So like, how

32:28

can we prioritize like what's in

32:32

our local community what's in

32:32

season, because that's actually

32:34

best for your body, it triggers

32:34

your body to know like, oh, I

32:38

need to cool off because this is

32:38

a cooling food or oh, I need to

32:41

warm up. This is a warm food. So

32:41

one more link to your body? And

32:46

how can your body knows how to

32:46

respond? So yeah, our menu does

32:50

change every single week, and it

32:50

all like domino effects to a

32:54

positive outcome.

32:56

I love it. What a

32:56

great explanation. So you're a

32:59

speaker, what are the topics you

32:59

speak about? When you go to

33:03

these events,

33:04

I get asked to

33:04

speak a lot for either a women's

33:08

convention, a school in service

33:08

day, like I've had a few

33:12

different scenarios and I try to

33:12

tailor them to the audience. It

33:16

always ties back to my personal

33:16

story which I shared with you

33:20

that I was incarcerated and like

33:20

all the lessons that have come

33:24

with that. And the other thread

33:24

that it comes into that is

33:28

entrepreneurship. So I guess you

33:28

could say it's it's, you know,

33:31

overall umbrella. It's an

33:31

inspirational talk, I really

33:35

want people to know that one

33:35

decision you make can change the

33:38

rest of your life. It's

33:38

transformational for your life

33:41

and your future sometimes. And

33:41

so, never give up. Your thoughts

33:46

are not real, your thoughts are

33:46

can be your worst enemy. And we

33:50

can rewire our brains. I

33:50

certainly have to I have to do

33:54

that today. I'm pretty sure

33:54

every single day, there's a

33:57

thought that's like, what are

33:57

you doing? Heather? Why do you

34:00

think you can own a company?

34:00

There's just this evil voice I

34:03

think that we all have. And so

34:03

when I speak to people, my hope

34:08

is that like I think give these

34:08

really, really dark and

34:12

resilient examples of how life

34:12

can be when you tune in. And

34:18

when you believe in a lot of

34:18

different ways. Every speech is

34:21

different. I basically want

34:21

everyone to walk away with

34:23

knowing we're really not that

34:23

different. We really are very,

34:27

very similar all of us.

34:29

Absolutely. Well,

34:29

it's I feel like a part of being

34:32

an entrepreneur. And I think you

34:32

learn this along the way is that

34:36

no one has any clue what's the

34:36

next step is nobody has a set

34:41

plan on a through z. It's all

34:41

like, Hey, here's where we are.

34:46

Here's where we'd like to be.

34:46

Now let's go figure out how to

34:49

make that happen. And I think

34:49

once you can kind of digest the

34:53

fact that everyone around you is

34:53

going through the exact same

34:58

thing. You can settle Knowing

34:58

like, oh, it's not that none of

35:03

us have a clue or doing. We just

35:03

don't know what's around the

35:06

corner. But we're all getting

35:06

ready for whatever that is. And

35:09

we will tackle it and win and be

35:09

successful and make it through

35:14

that time in the period. But

35:14

yeah, I don't think any

35:17

entrepreneur is like, oh, yeah,

35:17

I know exactly the path I'm on.

35:21

Because if that's their thought

35:21

process, they're probably either

35:25

missing out and cutting

35:25

themselves self short of what

35:27

they're capable of, or they're

35:27

gonna miss this amazing

35:30

opportunity of something they

35:30

hadn't even thought about.

35:32

The secret to

35:32

entrepreneurship is literally

35:34

just like tackling your demons,

35:34

I think when they ask you a

35:37

question of like, how did you do

35:37

this thing? Like, your answer is

35:40

somehow, the end all be all,

35:40

it's like, so different for you

35:44

like, it doesn't mean that it's

35:44

applicable to anybody else's

35:47

scenario. It's literally just

35:47

your story. And so the power in

35:51

that is just believing in

35:51

yourself, and just not giving

35:54

up.

35:54

Absolutely. And

35:54

it's all learning less than

35:57

everything that you learned, I

35:57

love what you said earlier, of

36:00

just, you're kind of just

36:00

talking about your past and who

36:03

you are, like, you didn't know

36:03

where you're gonna end up. And

36:05

here you are. But it's so true.

36:05

The point I wanted to bring up

36:09

was like, You are not your past,

36:09

but you do have control of who

36:13

you want to be in the future.

36:13

And if you harp more and pay

36:18

more attention on building

36:18

yourself into whatever version

36:21

you want to be in the future,

36:21

it's so much stronger than

36:25

focusing on what you were in the

36:25

past. And I feel like that's

36:28

something that you've done well

36:28

to overcome is an I'm sure it

36:32

took a lot of time and effort

36:32

and work to work through that.

36:36

But you focused on hey, I can be

36:36

this amazing business owner, and

36:41

you're not going to have it all

36:41

figured out. None of us do. But

36:43

I'm gonna give it everything I

36:43

have, and never quit, and line

36:47

up all the challenges and knock

36:47

them down one at a time have a

36:50

zero waste food company that

36:50

delivers healthy, nutritious

36:55

food to our customers so that

36:55

they can have an enjoyable meal

36:58

that hopefully they go on and

36:58

reorder again, versus Hey, I

37:02

came from this background and

37:02

shoot, there goes my life.

37:06

Oh my gosh,

37:06

that is such a great point like

37:09

that. That is what one of my

37:09

topics was like, if you do

37:13

nothing else in your life,

37:13

please tell your own story.

37:18

Don't let anybody else tell you

37:18

who you are. Because for me,

37:21

that would mean like you're a

37:21

high school dropout. You're a

37:24

convict. You're this you're that

37:24

you're you know, and it's like,

37:28

I reject all of those labels.

37:28

And there's a different way to

37:32

tell that story. Right? Like,

37:32

yeah, I'm a high school dropout.

37:35

But like, once in a really tough

37:35

situation, right? Like, what

37:38

about that story? And yeah, a

37:38

convict. But like, Oh, if you

37:42

knew that story is, you know,

37:42

it's like there's tell your own

37:45

story. And don't accept any

37:45

label that does not lift you up,

37:49

light you up and tell your

37:49

future in a different way.

37:52

Absolutely. That

37:53

brings me back to

37:53

like salon days, I sold my salon

37:55

a year ago, when my girls had a

37:55

stressful day. And you know, and

37:59

I was lawn is a fast paced

37:59

environment, we don't always eat

38:02

on time. And that can make us

38:02

come in cranky. And then you

38:04

never know if your appointment

38:04

runs over and you had dinner

38:07

plans. And now you're in this

38:07

really just tight schedule. It's

38:10

stressful, but you can work

38:10

through it. And I would always

38:13

help them through. When people

38:13

come in. It's like, how are you

38:16

doing today? Oh, my God, I'm so

38:16

tired, I'm overwhelmed. And I'm

38:18

super stressed out, and I just I

38:18

got a lot going on. And then

38:22

they go into their appointment,

38:22

because you just gave that

38:25

person, all they know about you

38:25

is that you're overwhelmed. You

38:29

don't have it all together,

38:29

you're stressed out. And their

38:32

perception of you is wow, this

38:32

girl is gonna give me a service

38:35

and I'm paying X amount of

38:35

dollars, wow, I should have

38:38

gotten somewhere else where you

38:38

could have those same issues and

38:41

have a stressful day, like every

38:41

day, a little has a little bit

38:44

of stress and at some way more

38:44

than others. But the tone

38:47

changes when they come in and

38:47

go, how are you? I'm doing

38:50

great. I'm making it through the

38:50

day. And I'm very thankful that

38:53

you're here and I'm here and

38:53

let's give you the best service

38:56

ever. Two completely different

38:56

narratives, the same story, same

39:01

person living that same day. But

39:01

that person and they can react

39:05

and go, you know, I think she

39:05

was having a pretty stressful

39:07

day. But she did a great job on

39:07

my service. And I'm going to

39:10

book with her again, because I

39:10

know that she had a lot more

39:13

going on that she didn't tell me

39:13

about but she also gave me every

39:16

minute of my appointment. And I

39:16

respect her for that. And I used

39:19

to always tell my girls like

39:19

make sure that the ammo you give

39:22

the people is good ammo, because

39:22

they're going to remember those

39:27

five things you say about

39:27

yourself. So it's either five

39:29

negative things, and they have a

39:29

terrible experience or five

39:32

positive things and they're gonna have a wonderful experience. But all of that was

39:34

the tools, the words and the

39:38

sentences you gave them. So make

39:38

some good ones. What has been

39:43

your proudest accomplishment in

39:43

your business so far?

39:46

My first

39:46

proudest accomplishment was

39:49

winning the fav sustainable

39:49

business in 2019. And then in

39:54

2020, it was hitting seven

39:54

figures of revenue. And then in

39:58

2021, I would say Like the

39:58

height of my like, oh my god was

40:05

being listed as Forbes next 1000

40:05

Up and Coming entrepreneurs that

40:10

was like, what I'm on Forbes

40:10

what like this was a business we

40:16

started out of our studio

40:16

apartment like, didn't know what

40:19

we were doing. And then the what

40:19

the most recent one was, I was

40:24

named a senator 40 culinary arts

40:24

and events category which like

40:29

to win in that category in this

40:29

city like this is a Food City.

40:33

And so every year, it just keeps

40:33

getting better and better. I do

40:38

not know how we're going to top

40:38

that. But I'm excited about the

40:42

future and just super, super

40:42

honored, super blessed. I don't

40:47

know I had this moment.

40:47

Recently, I was on my parent's

40:50

land. And there was this flock I

40:50

don't know if it's called a

40:53

flock, but it was a flock of

40:53

turkeys. They were just walking

40:56

around, and it was in the dead

40:56

of heat. This like 100 and

40:59

something degrees. And like,

40:59

they were just eating the grass,

41:02

eating the bugs out of the

41:02

grass, eating the grasses. And

41:05

they've stayed really close

41:05

together. And I looked at that

41:07

flock of turkeys and I was like,

41:07

Holy crap. Like, that is all

41:12

they need to survive. They need

41:12

each other and they need the

41:15

land, they need that they need

41:15

food. And I was just like, okay,

41:19

like, all the stresses of my

41:19

business, all of the oh my god,

41:22

you know, the overachiever? Me I

41:22

have to do this, I have to do

41:25

that. Like none of that shit

41:25

matters. I need my family, my

41:29

community and love and I need

41:29

food. And I have both of those

41:33

things. So like 10 out of 10 My

41:33

life is a 10 out of 10.

41:35

I love that.

41:35

That's so good. And what a great

41:38

reminder, I always think of it

41:38

too, which first off, those are

41:40

some amazing accomplishments. So

41:40

congrats. That's you're doing

41:44

that you're doing big things.

41:44

I'm glad that people are

41:46

acknowledging you for that. I

41:46

think it's super cool that I

41:49

know you have a book coming out. I don't know if you want to talk about that. The book

41:52

was set to

41:52

release this year. Now. It may

41:55

be next year, it may be in five

41:55

years. I don't know all the

41:59

writers out there. I know you

41:59

feel my pain. So that's where

42:02

that's at. But I am very excited

42:02

about it. It is a really

42:05

powerful story. It's a memoir of

42:05

my life. Right now. The title is

42:09

breaker prison. My story of

42:09

incarceration and turning trauma

42:13

into triumph. That whole title

42:13

and tagline might be, but you

42:18

can follow me on social media.

42:18

It's at the heather Emerson and

42:22

the company is called prep to

42:22

your door. That's the handle on

42:25

Instagram at prep to your door

42:25

little teaser. We are doing a

42:31

rebrand and that whole company

42:31

name might change. So stay

42:34

tuned. But follow us now and

42:34

you'll see all of that and yeah,

42:38

shoot me an email. If you ever

42:38

want to collab. I love to

42:41

support nonprofits. I love to

42:41

support sustainability causes.

42:45

It's Heather at prep tutor.com.

42:47

That wraps up

42:47

today's episode. For more

42:50

information on our guests. You

42:50

can find them at Mary

42:52

harcourt.com under the episodes

42:52

tab. You can always find me on

42:56

Instagram at Mary Harcourt

42:56

underscore and at the Cosmo

42:59

glowlight I hope you enjoyed

42:59

today's episode and many more to

43:02

come