sheJamz take on Earth Day

This is Taz.
He loves the earth

Today, April 22, is Earth Day! A day celebrated in many countries to raise the awareness of environmental issues happening around our planet.  The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970.  SheJAmz, O, and Taz

 were not even thoughts in the brains of their parents; and it is still commemorated 43 (?!?!) years later!  Therefore, our blog post this Monday will be focused on how we, at Soom Foods, are giving back to the planet.

In the early planning stages, when Soom Foods was still a mere idea thrown around at the dinner table, we knew that if (read: when) Soom Foods would become an actual company we were going to give back philanthropically from the start. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The three of us (SheJAmz) were raised by two dedicated and philanthropic parents that showed us, by example, that giving back to the community was something that must be done.

At Soom Foods, we believe that protecting the environment is important and we decided that the first organization we will donate to will be the nonprofit, 1% for the Planet. Their mission is simple, straightforward, and spoke to us as business owners. 

"1% of the Planet exists to build and support an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet."

1% for the Planet was co-founded by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, the owner of Blue Ribbon Flies. In addition to being business owners, they are environmentalists.  They understand that protecting the natural resources that keep their companies in business is a smart business move.  I, Jackie, as well as Shelby and Amy, agree with Mr. Chouinard and Mr. Mathews. We understand that the environment in which we live and conduct our business in is not simply here for our benefit. After all, what business would we have if our planet can no longer supply our product?

Please help us help the planet!  We’re making it easy for you.  Every purchase of a Soom Foods product will give something back.

A (wo)Man's Field

It wasn't until I came across a post on HARO, an amazing site that "connects reporters to qualified sources," that I really began to consider the ratio of men to women in my experiences representing Soom Foods.  The question was, what advice do you have for young female entrepreneurs.

I read it as, what advice would I give myself.

Last month I was standing at an eCommerce Meet Up in Philadelphia, next to two (of maybe five total) women among 40 people.  Another woman and I laughed at the lack of female attendance, and I quickly realized that commenting with this woman about the lack of women was not the reason I went to the Meet Up,  networking was; so I politely excused myself to grab a drink.  I sparked up conversation with a group of men around the fridge.

Fast forward to the end of last week, and the same ratios of men to woman (yes, singular; me) began to emerge.  Omri and I finally began our sales process, meeting with several grocery, market, catering, and restaurant owners and managers in the Maryland/ DC area.  I was the only female in attendance at five of the seven meetings.

http://aaguina2.blogspot.com/

I'm lucky to say I am not uncomfortable around men.  In fact, I think I would be less comfortable in a group of women.  I grew up loving sports, particularly basketball, which gave me more to do and talk about with the boys in my grade than the girls.  That comfort and ability to relate has continued through today, where a large percentage of my close friends are the XY mix, and I'd rather kick back to watch (any) sports game, than do (almost) anything else.

Just because I relate better to men does not mean they relate better to me, and I find myself in the thick of a boy's game grown up.  Just like in elementary school, when my close friend and neighbor had a boys only birthday party which I was not allowed to attend, I find myself an obvious outsider as I've worked to put Soom Foods on the shelves and into dishes.
In our entire supply chain, from manufacturer to warehouse, I am one of very few (majority of the time, the only) double-X.

How do I get myself into the game?  Well, I run it; by asking questions when necessary, giving answers when asked, and making the decisions for what's best for my sisters and my company.  With the help of two amazing men, I might add.  Brian Shube, a member of the supply chain boys club, helped me in organizing the supply chain; and Omri, the best brother a girl could ask for, is my voice abroad and ally in our initial meetings.

So what was my advice to young female entrepreneurs?
Get in on the conversations. 
For more, check out the 10th of the 13 suggestions from seasoned business owners.
The other 12 are great, too.

I felt like they were speaking to me.

Social Media: The Consoomer Experience

Soom Foods has chosen four social media outlets:  Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram...

...to streamline the consoomer experience

...and answer the question: How do (will/did) you soom™?

http://www.facebook.com/SoomFoods
Facebook has become Soom Foods' hub.  Like (almost?) everything, whatever we do, you will see on our Facebook wall.

Please "like" Soom Foods on Facebook; we post things like this blog, recipes, pictures (lots of pictures!), soom updates, and more.  We repost articles and videos about health, nutrition, family, entrepreneurship, and whatever else speaks to us and hopefully to you!

https://twitter.com/SoomFoods
We're tweeting and listening to others' tweets.

Follow Soom Foods on Twitter; stay updated on health (and beauty!) trends that tehina consistently fit, see pictures straight from Instagram, read our blog posts... all in 140 characters or less!

 http://pinterest.com/soomfoods/
Admitted addicts.

Follow Soom Foods on Pinterest; and check out our boards

"a #soomful of tehina for..." which showcases delicious recipes that can be upgraded, trading tehina for ingredients in it.  

"soom recipes" where we'll pin consoomer recipes

and more

http://instagram.com/soomfoods
Follow Soom Foods on Instagram to see where we are, what we're making, and most importantly- what consoomers are making.

Follow these easy directions:
1. make soomthing delicious
2. put it on instagram; tag a soomful (#soomful) in the description.  You can even give us a shoutout (@soomfoods)

We may have four outlets, but you just need to know about one.

Check out www.soomfoods.com (in a few weeks, we're currently updating!)

There, you'll be able to connect to our facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram accounts.

More importantly, you'll be able to upload your #soomful pictures and share your recipes in a click.

It's all about the consoomer experience.

J and O are in the States!

...and our product should be soon (or should we say, soom), too!

Here's a question we've been pondering, that maybe you can help us out with: how much is too much with our soom puns?
Have you seen the newest Smurf movie?  Because it's a slippery slope to using soom for just about anything... We're going with it for now.  We're just too excited not to!

O (our now official VP of Development and Product Expert) finalized everything for us with our manufacturer;  signed off on our labels, worked out shipping samples quickly, and our container should be on a boat by the last days of this month!

Upon arriving, we decided to introduce J and O to our competition (or should I say, soompetition?  No. I think I'm drawing a line.) ...not to be named.  Shelby and I have tried them all, always commenting on their bitterness and troublesome consistency.  But, we are no experts compared to the authentic palate of O and our Israeli sister.

O hated all of them, surprised by how terrible each one tasted; but forced J to try the last one.  Think he knew she wouldn't like it?

We're excited to let you, our consoomers (keeping this one!) taste and compare for yourselves!

Please note: Strawberry Shortcake cake
not made with tehina.

But allow me, for a bit, to focus on what's really important right now.  J and O are in the states; the family is together for the first time since their wedding; Shelby just had a birthday; and it's a wonderful holiday (Passover)!
Soom Foods statement:  Tehina is considered a kitniyot.

As important and consooming (can't stop me) as Soom Foods is, family will always come first.

It's been hard having J and O all the way in Israel, the 6-7 hour time difference makes working together challenging; but more so, we miss them!


Chag Sameach; Happy Passover!  Happy Easter, too!



Much love,

Left to Right: O, J, S, and A

SheJAmz and O

Back to School with Brian Shube

When starting Soom Foods, Shelby, Jackie and I were very excited because we felt our individual knowledge, expertise, and interests blended perfectly to start an exemplary business.

We think our designer, Br&ish, nailed the logo

Shelby has the business degree; Jackie studied ways to make the world better; and I (Amy) like talking to people.

Add that to sincerely loving the product and having Omri's experience - you get a pretty solid foundation to start a company.



As I embarked on the journey of getting Soom Foods ready to launch, I quickly realized much more goes into a business than our three strengths.  One of the most important things we had no experience in was understanding and implementing a supply chain.
How exactly would we get sesame seeds from Ethiopia to be manufactured (for now) in Israel, to be bottled, labeled, stored somewhere; to ultimately be sold?

Enter, Brian Shube.  Brian called me out at the Philadelphia World Trade Center networking event (my first networking experience, ever!), commenting on how I looked lost and generally inexperienced.

I guess it was pretty obvious.

Lucky for me, Brian is a Supply Chain consultant; and the rest is history.  He's been tremendously significant in helping us accomplish what we have to date... our order placed, waiting (not so) patiently for it to be put on a boat to reach our warehouse and be sold!

In the meantime, I decided to take advantage of Brian's expertise, and sit in on a Supply Chain Management class he teaches for Master students at Stony Brook University.

I chose last Tuesday, March 12, because he had Mrs. Elizabeth Girardi Schoen, the self proclaimed Green Queen, as a guest lecturer to speak about Supply Chain Sustainability.

Liz highlighted the practices and importance of supply chain sustainability.

Please disregard my doodles.
I've been doodling while learning for
as long as I can remember.
My first documented "allele" doodle
was World History in 10th grade
(c. 2004)
Been practicing my signature since
middle school.

Sustainability 1. Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; 2. Creating a better quality of life;  3. Giving back to the planet more than what's taken away.

Why should businesses care? Being sustainable...
...protects the right to operate and innovate, allowing for globalization and creating a compliance for existing.
...allows for businesses to successfully seek new markets while maintaining and growing existing markets.
...assures businesses that their suppliers are reliable, cost effective, and overall good actors in our world.  ...attracts and retains quality talent, increasing productivity and efficiency, while maintaining health and safety standards.
...builds communities.
...promotes positive innovation.

Let it be noted that the presentation Liz gave was a completely non-altruistic understanding of the benefits of a sustainable supply chain.

Soom Foods is committed to being as sustainable as possible.  We want to leave this world better than we found it - environmentally, nutritionally, and socially.

For now we can assure our consoomers (;-)) that our manufacturer complies with GMP (good manufacturing practices) standards, our plastic is recyclable, and we are limiting our use of paper and waste in general.

As we grow and develop, we will continue to implement a sustainable supply chain.

Commitment and Consistency

I have been thinking a lot about my obsession with taking pictures (on instagram) of the food I’ve been making.  I’m far from a master chef, but I’ve found myself (on this Whole30 diet I recently started) thinking of creative ways to eat delicious food so I can actually enjoy the “cleanse” (on which I’ve craved pizza from day 3.  I’m on day 6.)

It got me thinking about something I learned in a communication and persuasion class I took.  In it, we learned about the principle of commitment and consistency.  This principle states that people are more likely act in a way that is consistent with their verbal and, more so, written commitments. 
You can read about my thoughts on all six principles in another piece of writing on 2f4ced.

Did you know the Chinese had American POWs “rewrite their self image” resulting in automatic and unenforced compliance?

I whole-heartedly believe in the power of writing something down. 

I’ve applied this principle to my life many times; from writing to-do lists, to diet and exercise intentions.  When I write something down, I want to honor it, ultimately establishing that the idea or goal is harmonious with my self-image.

I verbally (and wrote in several text messages) agreed to the Whole 30 diet; my next step was to figure out how I could successfully honor my new self-image.

Pictures.

I have found that I am more likely to uphold the diet when I know that I will be taking a picture and sharing (on instagram) the food that I’ve made.  It’s my own, fun way to maintain consistency on what I’ve committed myself to.

This principle authentically transpires into our goals for Soom Foods.  We want to help people be healthier without compromising taste, time, or the difficulty of preparing what they eat.

This is where our consumer-interactive recipe database comes in to play.

Our intention is to encourage people to be proud of what they are creating with Soom Foods’ product(s).  From ingredients to presentation, it’s not for nothing.  Take a picture of your beautiful and delicious creation, share the recipe for others to benefit, too, and improve your diet in the meantime.   On instagram? Tag soomful (#soomful) when you upload so others can admire what you’ve done.

Now, I am going to write something down so I will feel compelled to do everything in my power to make it consistent with Soom Foods’ image.

-Our website will have an interactive recipe database.  Where Soom Foods’ consoomers (ooooooh. Thought of that on the spot, just now, and I like it) can share recipes with pictures.  Maybe have like buttons? Upvotes- so the most liked recipes can be at the top? (Idea from Betterific. An awesome website.) 

Woah. Not going to lie, I actually just got very excited.  The possibilities are flowing.  It’s been stated- now’s the time for me to take the steps to be consistent with my commitment!

What we're up to

Hello everyone!

Amy here.

Sorry to have not blogged in a while.  The positive: I've been busy!  The negative: you haven't gotten to hear about what we're up to!

My sisters and I have been working on our retail label.  SPOILER ALERT.  It reads something like this:

"Soom Foods was founded by three sisters- Shelby, Jackie, and Amy Z. (SheJAmZ for short)
Shelby had a business degree.  Jackie married a Tehina expert.  And Amy needed a job.

At Soom Foods, sesame is our passion.  And Tehina is all sesame"...  I can't give it all away!

It's true, though.  I did need a job.  And boy did I get one.

Besides finalizing our retail label, there is SO MUCH to do!  And so much that has been done!

Right now my checklist looks like this, with things added to it multiple times a day:

_ Register as a food business with the FDA
         Can't do this until we know where we're storing! So...
_ Find a warehouse
         This involves calling many warehouses, and comparing quotes
_ Register the warehouse with the FDA
          Can't do this until we choose a storage facility!
_ Contract a freighter/forwarder
        This involves calling many freighters/forwarders, and comparing quotes
_ Contract a customs broker
        This involves calling many customs brokers, and comparing quotes
_ Choose an insurance provider
        This involves learning what kind of insurance we need
_ Finalize labels
        With Elliot of Br&ish
_ Keep posting Sales and Marketing internship positions
_ Hire, and manage, an intern (or two!)
_ Find and hire a web developer
_ Finalize the website
         Build in an eCommerce component
_ Keep at my sales list
_ Network! Network! Network!
_ Blog! ---> check!

Shelby is doing an amazing job guiding me, and Jackie and Omri are doing an awesome job communicating with our manufacturer and helping with some marketing endeavors we have up our sleeve.  And I wouldn't have been able to even put together this Supply Chain to-do list without the help of Brian, of Brian Shube Consulting Inc. 

Ultimately, bare with me!  We're quickly approaching finalizing our first import.

Look out for pre-order sheets, and feel free to reach out with any questions or comments; suggestions of specialty shops you like, contacts, ideas for marketing or cross promotions, etc.  Really, I'm open to anything!

I hope my next blog will read: SOOM FOODS TEHINA IS ON THE WAY!

Until then, I'll be busy doing my job.

 

Jackie's First Post!

This past Thursday (December 27th) Omri and I went to a seminar entitled, "Spotlight on Business." It was a seminar about starting a business in Jerusalem. When I received the flyer in my e-mail, I was immediately drawn to the fact that the founder of Aroma Espresso Bar, my favorite cafe chain in Israel, was going to be one of the speakers. Unfortunately, he was not there, but three other impressive entrepreneurs from Jerusalem were there to share their insights on starting their businesses. 

The first one to speak was the founder and owner of the Abraham Hostel. He shared with the audience what it was like to start this business- the ups and downs. For the first five years he, his wife, and his three children lived off of his wife's salary since he did not bring anything home. He gave his advice about starting small; if you need investors, go to family or friends, but do not go to the banks since they take too much money (I guess he had a bad experience with borrowing money from the bank). 

The next speaker was Eli Basher from the Basher cheese store in the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem. (Our Mom’s personal favorite).  In the first year he lost 1,500,000 shekels because he had to throw away so many cheeses. But he did not give up!  Well not his dream.  Just his wife’s house...  Which he sold in order to buy more cheeses. Slowly but surely business picked up. When asked how business picked up he replied by saying, “when you step into my shop you will taste 4-5 different cheeses even when you do not want to.” He attributes his success to providing samples. Today, Basher has three other branches and has opened a wine and cheese restaurant. And just in case you are wondering (because I was), he has bought his wife an even better house! 

The final speaker was Rami Levy, from the Rami Levy grocery store chain.  He started his business after he finished the army in 1976.  His mom asked him to get vegetables for her at the store, and he realized that the prices were significantly higher than those at the shuk (the market), which was rather far away and inconvenient to get to.  So, he started his business in his father's warehouse; buying vegetables from the shuk and selling them for the same price in order to build up his clientele. Once he had a steady clientele he went to the vegetable suppliers that the sellers at the shuk bought from, and was able to buy in bulk to begin earning profit. Today Rami Levy prides himself on his cheap prices and customer service. He has branches in over 20 cities and employs over 4,000 individuals. 

As one of the founders of Soom Foods it was comforting to hear the success stories of these three entrepreneurs. All three stressed that it is not an easy road and that there will be MANY bumps ahead. But all three also stressed that if you believe in your product and what it stands for then there is no other option but success.

Soom Foods is always looking to learn from other entrepreneurs.  What did I take away?

1. Start Small.  -check. 
2. Lots of Samples     -will do.
3. Fair prices and exemplary customer service     -we promise. 

We believe.