#99 A Lot of Small Steps - Jaime Landsverk, Sidekick Provisions by Meaningful Marketplace Podcast published on 2021-11-24T18:11:25Z The pandemic lockdown changed career paths for many people when the industries in which they were employed simply stopped. Besides restaurants, movie theaters and sports, conventions and meetings were closed down. And with it, the jobs that entailed putting on those events. And so it was with Jaime Landsverk whose event management career suddenly disappeared. Not to despair, however. Originally from Minnesota, Jaime loved all the Midwest cheese but her lactose intolerance made it difficult to enjoy dairy based dips and sauces. She needed to solve that problem of enjoying that taste but without the dairy. Her nutritional education in grad school at the University of Natural Medicine, Portland, Oregon helped solve that problem and gave her the inspiration to go more culinary than clinical with her degree. During school, she interned at a small food company and got to learn some of the basics about the food business. Jaime had considered being a consulting chef while she continued to work her event manager job through school when the COVID lockdown laid her off. She had always spent time in the kitchen making her proprietary snacks, but now she had more time and began to leverage her treasures trading with friends to cope with the layoff. One of the trades was with a friend who was sewing hard-to-get facemasks. The friend encouraged Jaime to sell her snacks as they were both novel and delicious, not to mention healthy. Then next steps were very familiar to other food entrepreneurs. Jaime sold some to friends who told other friends and her snacks became known. Then she offered her snack to sell for some fund raising activities and she became known by those in the food business circle. Soon they were telling her how to take her snacks from her kitchen table to the store and helping her take those many small steps. Farmers’ markets have helped boost the awareness for her company, Sidekick Provisions. The big selling point of Jaime’s snack foods is the ingredient selection, fueled by her nutrition degree. If you look at her website, you will see that all ingredients are organic and selected because of their medicinal qualities. They help balance cholesterol levels, detox the kidneys, liver and brain, aid in the absorption of iron and many more ways to make bodies healthier. Sold online and in select stores, Jaime also uses her event experience to showcase her dips and sauces at select events throughout the Pacific Northwest. Jaime also takes time to remind herself to appreciate the success of the small steps it takes to get a project off the ground. That helps her through the rough spots, which every entrepreneur experiences. Healthy body, healthy mind. "Masoni and Marshall the meaningful Marketplace" with your hosts Sarah Masoni and Sarah Marshall We record the "the Meaningful Marketplace" inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland. Audio engineer, mixer and podcast editor is Allon Beausoleil Show logo was designed by Anton Kimball of Kimball Design Website was designed by Cameron Grimes Production assistant is Chelsea Lancaster 10% of gross revenue at Startup Radio Network goes to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries thru kiva.org/lender/markgrimes Genre Business