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BDC Small Business Week: The Story Behind FoodZen · Behind the Business

• 0:00
  Ian McLean: Welcome to another episode of Behind the Business, presented by Gore Mutual.
• 0:04
  Ian McLean: Today's episode is also sponsored by BDC as we celebrate BDC Small Business Week.
• 0:10
  Ian McLean: I'm your host, Ian McLean, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterdoo Chamber of Commerce.
• 0:14
  Ian McLean: This podcast is recorded on the traditional territory of the neutral Anishinabe and Hodenishone peoples.
• 0:21
  Ian McLean: Each episode, I sit down for candid conversations where we go beyond the boardroom and behind the business to uncover the real stories within Waterdoo Region's business community.
• 0:31
  Ian McLean: Today's episode is sponsored by BDC, the Bank for Canadian Entrepreneurs, as we celebrate BDC Small Business Week from October 19th to 25th.
• 0:51
  Ian McLean: Each day we're spotlighting a different small business owner from our community, the people who power our local economy, create jobs, and bring innovation to life.
• 0:59
  Ian McLean: We're also excited to have this year's theme focus on the economic revolution and getting your business ready.
• 1:04
  Ian McLean: Today we're sitting down with Destiny Moser, founder and executive chef of FoodZen.
• 1:09
  Ian McLean: After nearly two decades in corporate tech, Destiny followed her passion for food blending, blending her indigenous heritage with a commitment to local and sustainable ingredients.
• 1:18
  Ian McLean: Through FoodZen, she's redefining Indigenous cuisine and using food to reconnect, educate, and heal.
• 1:24
  Ian McLean: We'll explore her journey, what drives her success, and the lessons she's learned along the way.
• 1:29
  Ian McLean: Join me as we go behind the business with Destiny Moser.
• 1:32
  Ian McLean: Well, we're excited to have you here today, and we are joined by Destiny Moser, the founder of a very impressive Indigenous and women founded and owned business, Food Zen.
• 1:46
  Ian McLean: So, you know, you've been a you've been a very active chamber member over the last number of years, and the growth of your business uh has been impressive to say the least.
• 1:56
  Ian McLean: And so I know as you come through Truth and Reconciliation Month and all the celebrations and and recognition of that important uh aspect of Canadian life, I'm thankful for you for taking time.
• 2:09
  Ian McLean: I know how busy you've been.
• 2:10
  Ian McLean: Um and so it we really appreciate you taking time to join us today.
• 2:14
  Destiny Moser: Thank you for having me.
• 2:16
  Ian McLean: So let's get started.
• 2:17
  Ian McLean: And for those that don't know your story, it's it's fascinating, it's impressive, and uh and we here at the chamber have uh have enjoyed getting to know uh your story, like like many entrepreneurs.
• 2:30
  Ian McLean: But let's start at the beginning.
• 2:31
  Ian McLean: Tell me a little bit about yourself, your business, and and how you kind of came to uh to Food Zen.
• 2:39
  Destiny Moser: Yeah, so I actually spent 17 years in the corporate world, a lot of mergers and acquisition, tech business system processes, so completely different background than what I am doing now.
• 2:50
  Destiny Moser: Food was always my love language, it was my passion.
• 2:53
  Destiny Moser: I always had this dream of being a chef, but didn't like the idea of chef hours, evenings, weekends.
• 3:00
  Destiny Moser: And so um I kind of went down that path.
• 3:02
  Destiny Moser: I'm dyslexic, so I didn't have an easy time in school.
• 3:07
  Destiny Moser: Going to university, I really struggled with read these 15 chapters by tomorrow and then never discuss them.
• 3:14
  Destiny Moser: So it was really hard for me to read the words and absorb what I was reading.
• 3:18
  Destiny Moser: Uh so I ended up really lucky.
• 3:20
  Destiny Moser: I was born of that age where technology and emailing and kind of that being the new wave of things be the main thing.
• 3:29
  Destiny Moser: And so when I entered the corporate world, everybody was learning.
• 3:32
  Destiny Moser: And I was very lucky, I'm very hands-on visual learner.
• 3:36
  Destiny Moser: So I quickly moved up the corporate ladder.
• 3:38
  Destiny Moser: Um, and I loved every minute of it.
• 3:41
  Destiny Moser: And when I decided to leave, I thought a lot about like what it is that I wanted, and if I'm going to leave, what better time than to really follow my passion?
• 3:50
  Destiny Moser: So I looked into some local schools, and I found at the time it was called Liaison College, it's now called Top Tukes.
• 3:57
  Destiny Moser: And they were offering a program where you could get your culinary degree.
• 4:01
  Destiny Moser: While I was there, I learned about personal chefing, and I right away was like, I need this.
• 4:05
  Destiny Moser: And I couldn't believe it was something that was affordable.
• 4:09
  Destiny Moser: I thought it was something for the rich and famous.
• 4:11
  Destiny Moser: So I went home, talked to my husband, said, I think I'm gonna quit corporate world, I'm gonna start this personal chef business.
• 4:17
  Destiny Moser: And he's great.
• 4:18
  Destiny Moser: He was super supportive, on board with it.
• 4:21
  Destiny Moser: And the the plan was I was gonna have maybe, you know, four clients a week, and um, this would be my more semi-retirement work-life balance kind of era of my life.
• 4:35
  Destiny Moser: And soon after I made that decision, um, my mom passed away from um mental health issues.
• 4:40
  Destiny Moser: She struggled with the abuse and torture she went through during the 60s scoop.
• 4:46
  Destiny Moser: And soon after that, they started finding unmarked graves.
• 4:49
  Destiny Moser: So all of a sudden I realized that there was a bigger purpose to this, and it wasn't just about finding that like work-life balance, you know, that semi-retirement dream, but it was about rediscovering my indigenous heritage and what better way than through food.
• 5:05
  Destiny Moser: So I didn't really know what that meant at the time.
• 5:08
  Destiny Moser: When I started FoodZen, I just knew that I wanted it to be following indigenous philosophies of hyper-local, ultra-seasonal, trying to eliminate as much processed food as possible.
• 5:19
  Destiny Moser: And from there, the research just kind of kept growing and growing.
• 5:23
  Destiny Moser: And um, after five years, we've switched from personal chefing to pre-made meal delivery service.
• 5:30
  Destiny Moser: We partner with schools to do kids' meal programs, and we just opened our first brick and mortar in May of this year.
• 5:37
  Destiny Moser: So definitely took me on a path I wasn't necessarily anticipating or expecting, but um the path to healing, not just for me, but for my mom and for my ancestors, has been a huge part of the growth, but also of the business, but also for me.
• 5:57
  Destiny Moser: And so it's been um amazing.
• 5:59
  Ian McLean: It it it sounds like, and even from the outside, because I can only imagine what it's like from the inside.
• 6:04
  Ian McLean: It's it feels like it's been a whirlwind, like watching from when we first got to know each other and you got involved with the chamber, and we we've we've done some indigenous training and and and you've you've cooked for us for for our staff, but also events.
• 6:19
  Ian McLean: It just feels like it's just been and it it just sort of uh uh whirlwind is a probably a good description.
• 6:25
  Destiny Moser: Whirlwind even feels like it's that's watered down, yeah.
• 6:29
  Destiny Moser: Right.
• 6:29
  Ian McLean: I honestly feel like I'm on a high speed train and I'm holding on to the side, just like we so you know it it strikes me every entrepreneur has that, you know, when they when I talk to them and they said, here's how I started my business, there's that moment of here's what I really want to do, and there's the excitement of saying, I'm gonna do it, and then there's the fear factor is when you're doing it and going through, oh my God, did I actually really know what I was getting into?
• 6:54
  Ian McLean: So when you think back on those early days of getting started, right?
• 6:58
  Ian McLean: And you've kind of laid out where you started, where you are now, and it's it's it's different.
• 7:03
  Ian McLean: It's it's in the it's in the area code, but it's a it's a lot different than what you started with.
• 7:08
  Ian McLean: What was the biggest learning curve or surprise about owning your own business?
• 7:12
  Ian McLean: Because you've been in the corporate world, but it is different to be the leader and be responsible for all of those those things, paying the bills, you know, uh, you know, eight, you know, being responsible for staff.
• 7:23
  Ian McLean: What was the biggest learning curve and surprise of running your own business?
• 7:27
  Destiny Moser: Um, I think for me, one of the good things is that I did start small.
• 7:32
  Destiny Moser: Like I was, I didn't need a brick and mortar, I didn't need a lot of stuff to be an in-home personal chef.
• 7:38
  Destiny Moser: And so there wasn't a lot of overhead cost.
• 7:41
  Destiny Moser: I think to start the business was like $800, right?
• 7:44
  Destiny Moser: So very little overhead.
• 7:45
  Destiny Moser: It was that slow start.
• 7:47
  Destiny Moser: I didn't know at the time where I was gonna take it.
• 7:51
  Destiny Moser: Like I said, it was kind of just going to be the semi-retirement thing, but very quickly I learned that no, people want this, they need this.
• 8:00
  Destiny Moser: The boxed meals aren't working, the pop-it-in-the-ven meals aren't working.
• 8:03
  Destiny Moser: They're so heavy in processed foods.
• 8:06
  Destiny Moser: And so it switched my reality of what people really were looking for and what people wanted.
• 8:13
  Destiny Moser: Um, I think for me, the growth has been so quick that my biggest learning curve has been it's it's how do you delegate to people?
• 8:25
  Destiny Moser: Because I can't be everyone and everywhere all at once.
• 8:30
  Destiny Moser: And it's hard, especially depending on your concept.
• 8:34
  Destiny Moser: But for personal chefing, your employees are the ones generating revenue, and so I'm still trying to learn how to manage the back-end stuff because we're not quite at that point where we can hire a non-revenue generating employee.
• 8:48
  Destiny Moser: Um, so it's balancing between like your revenue generating employees versus your non-revenue generating employees, and how to like also balance your time.
• 8:58
  Destiny Moser: Like, where is it easy for me to hire a chef to help with kind of that stuff so that I can step back and you know be the marketing team, be the finance team, be the HR team until we get to that growth level.
• 9:12
  Ian McLean: Well, that's a good, good segue.
• 9:13
  Ian McLean: Uh small business owners always wear, you know, it doesn't matter, you're leading a small group, you're you're wearing a lot of hats because you're doing you have to do a lot of different different things.
• 9:23
  Ian McLean: Um and it and it's you know, I I've always said when you're a small business, everyone you hire really has to be a leader.
• 9:32
  Ian McLean: Meaning, whether it's rev rev uh uh revenue generation or being able to take initiative because you can't do everything yourself as a leader, but as you think back on on all those things from starting on yourself as a personal chef to where you are now, what have you learned yours about yourself as a leader uh or entrepreneur?
• 9:52
  Ian McLean: So I mean you you've you've got that it's baked in now.
• 9:54
  Ian McLean: You can see it every time we talk, you know, like you're thinking about the next thing and got that entrepreneurial, real um spark to it.
• 10:01
  Ian McLean: But what have you learned yourself about yourself as a leader through that journey?
• 10:06
  Destiny Moser: Um, first of all, I've been in leadership roles through the corporate world for I was probably about 12 years of being in some sort of a leadership role.
• 10:17
  Destiny Moser: So that side of it, I definitely felt like I had that growth.
• 10:22
  Destiny Moser: I went from being a new leader to a more seasoned one.
• 10:26
  Destiny Moser: So I brought a lot of that with me to the culinary world, which is completely different.
• 10:33
  Destiny Moser: And I'm even being told from other leaders in the culinary world that the way, or even just employees who have been in it much longer than I have, that I do lead differently, which is a compliment for me because that is what I grew from my corporate world job and the the training that you get at that level being in a large company.
• 10:54
  Destiny Moser: I would say the entrepreneurial side is where I really have to hold back because I come from a world where there was potentially 10,000 employees, you have, you know, multi-million dollar revenue, and you have the ability to be like, I'm going to do this for my business and this for my team.
• 11:14
  Destiny Moser: And it's really now this balance of when can I provide my team like benefits?
• 11:21
  Destiny Moser: When can I, you know, provide my team with like good work, like balance and deciding what is important to you.
• 11:28
  Destiny Moser: So for us as a business, I knew I really wanted to have, you know, a living wage, I wanted my employees to have, you know, three-day work weekends or or weekends off.
• 11:39
  Destiny Moser: And so that was kind of where I started.
• 11:42
  Destiny Moser: Um, and so it's just trying to make the right decisions from the business perspective so that your employees are happy.
• 11:50
  Destiny Moser: And if I'm trying to do this because I left corporate world to have a better work-life balance, it's not fair to me to then make my employees do that hard work that I had to do for so long to get to where I am.
• 12:04
  Destiny Moser: It's so it's more about making the right decisions for your business and not necessarily growing too fast either, because if you do, then everybody just feels burnt out and tired and overwhelmed.
• 12:17
  Ian McLean: You know, it you can you can spend a lot of time trying to squeeze the next few hours from from your employees or from from your colleagues.
• 12:27
  Ian McLean: Um, but you can all then also spend a lot of time filling job roles because people will come and go.
• 12:32
  Ian McLean: Because work-life balance and and that striking that balance early on is important because uh, especially for a small business, replacing one person is uh it doesn't sound like a lot, but that that that they're a if they're a leader and they're part of a small group, that's so disruptive to the business that making those value judgments of what you want from someone feels fulfilled, that they feel supported, um, uh is really wise because um, you know, you hear it all the time.
• 12:59
  Ian McLean: The churn of employees is is one of the things that drags down a lot of businesses.
• 13:04
  Destiny Moser: Well, even as you said earlier about, you know, having um, you know, hiring people and and and finding that when I am ready to hire somebody, like you had said, they need to be kind of like self-motivated, self-starting.
• 13:20
  Destiny Moser: You know what you're looking for.
• 13:21
  Destiny Moser: It takes me, it's it usually takes me about a year to even hire one person because like they are kind of their own individual small business owners because they have their own set of clients.
• 13:34
  Destiny Moser: And so it is it is important to make sure that when you do find the right person, you keep them.
• 13:40
  Ian McLean: So it it's small business week and small business month.
• 13:43
  Ian McLean: Um, and and our you know, our friends at BDC, I mean we've got lots of partners inside um that support small business.
• 13:51
  Ian McLean: So there's the banks and there's credit unions and there's your accountants and lawyers.
• 13:56
  Ian McLean: Um, and BDC is a big part, especially for entrepreneurs, uh, because they they complement what you get from your traditional banking.
• 14:04
  Ian McLean: And so they've been great partners of ours, and we at the chamber understand how important BDC can be in the growth when a lot of times it's more the promise of what your business can be, and they have a bit higher risk profile to be able to help support whether it's bricks and mortar, whether it's you know, um new hiring, uh BDC is is really important to to the to the small business community in particular.
• 14:31
  Ian McLean: Talk about how your relationship with them started, because I I mean I I think one of the things we've been trying to do, and we partner with them on a lot of things, is get the message out that BDC is a great partner to have uh as part of your stable of of um of tools as you're as you're growing your business.
• 14:48
  Ian McLean: Uh talk about how that got started with you and and then how they supported you through the various iterations, even in the short time, relatively short time.
• 14:57
  Ian McLean: They've been there along the way.
• 14:59
  Destiny Moser: Yeah, actually, my relationship with BDC is actually quite new.
• 15:03
  Destiny Moser: So I obviously started this business at a time when the world and finances and all of that was changing.
• 15:11
  Destiny Moser: And so I often say to people who have a business idea, well, how how can you start small first?
• 15:17
  Destiny Moser: So maybe you want to be like a restaurant owner.
• 15:20
  Destiny Moser: I personally don't, but don't go and you know get the loans and get everything to own this restaurant that you're not 100% sure will work.
• 15:29
  Destiny Moser: First build your portfolio.
• 15:31
  Destiny Moser: So by starting as an in-home personal chef, you first learn kind of like what your niches are, what how you work, what you're looking for.
• 15:40
  Destiny Moser: Um so you kind of build your brand first before you throw in the big dollars and have to go seek loans.
• 15:47
  Destiny Moser: We are in a in a strange time in history where you know putting in a lot, a big investment isn't always necessarily the right thing for a small business owner.
• 15:57
  Destiny Moser: So it wasn't until I decided that we needed our own space, our own brick and mortar, that I had to go wait, I actually need to think about finances.
• 16:06
  Destiny Moser: It's not like I just have this in my back pocket.
• 16:08
  Destiny Moser: And working with BDC was great because, as I said, the the times aren't always easy right now financially.
• 16:18
  Destiny Moser: And to think about going into debt, and even for a lot of business owners, some people for us, it's our second career.
• 16:26
  Destiny Moser: So we're at an age where maybe we shouldn't be thinking about going into debt, but continuing to save.
• 16:32
  Destiny Moser: And so they were so great at being a cheerleader.
• 16:35
  Destiny Moser: The other thing is, is that as a women, as a woman owner, as an Indigenous owner, and as a business owner, I really wanted to go in there knowing that I could do this with the money that my business had made up to this point.
• 16:50
  Destiny Moser: And I really wanted to, not that my husband isn't awesome, but I wanted to be like, no, I'm doing this on my own.
• 16:56
  Destiny Moser: I don't need you to be a co-signer.
• 16:58
  Destiny Moser: And so they were really great about like working with me to help me put together like how has my business been doing up to this point?
• 17:06
  Destiny Moser: And like, how do we make sure that you're on the right traject trajectory?
• 17:11
  Destiny Moser: And to be my cheerleader, to be like, you can do this, and we have faith in you.
• 17:17
  Destiny Moser: And yes, it can be scary.
• 17:19
  Destiny Moser: So let's talk about, you know, is this something you can pay off quickly?
• 17:23
  Destiny Moser: Is it something that you know takes a longer time?
• 17:26
  Destiny Moser: So again, it's that thinking that five, 10 years down the road, you don't want to sit in debt for 20 years, right?
• 17:33
  Destiny Moser: So, you know, is it time to even move into your own space?
• 17:37
  Ian McLean: So they really personalized what your needs and and and philosophy was with and I think that's one of the things they do is they're they're very, they're uh in a way, they're less cookie-cutter than what you'd get from from you know other financial sources.
• 17:52
  Destiny Moser: And especially too, because when I take out a loan and that that financial institution, no matter what it is, I want to know that whatever money they're making off of my investment to is going to sources that I believe are true to me.
• 18:09
  Destiny Moser: And so BDC was so good about saying, like, what charities are important to you, what businesses, organizations are important to you that we invest in as well.
• 18:20
  Destiny Moser: Um, so that's another thing.
• 18:22
  Destiny Moser: Like, I always want to know that I'm working with a bank that supports indigenous businesses, indigenous like entrepreneurs, um, indigenous charities, because it's important for me, and that's important, just the hyper-local, ultra-seasonal goes beyond food.
• 18:39
  Ian McLean: So, and uh this is this come through in the conversation.
• 18:43
  Ian McLean: Uh entrepreneurs and small business owners, you know, you can't succeed alone.
• 18:47
  Ian McLean: You need, you need, uh, you need collaboration and you need partnerships, uh, either formal or informal.
• 18:54
  Ian McLean: Uh, you need mentors.
• 18:55
  Ian McLean: Um, and so I guess the the question I have is how have the partnerships and mentors mentors or mentors that have helped you along the way uh helped you get where you are today?
• 19:08
  Ian McLean: Because I mean there's the financial part, which you just talked about, not BDC plays a role in that, but beyond that, there's the you know, testing some of your ideas on those that are going to tell you the truth, even when you may not want to know the truth.
• 19:21
  Ian McLean: So mentors play a role.
• 19:22
  Ian McLean: The partnerships that you develop to say, I can't do it on my own, but what if I partnered?
• 19:26
  Ian McLean: How has that played a role and and how have you kind of incorporated that into your business?
• 19:31
  Destiny Moser: Yeah, so I was really lucky that because even when I was in corporate world, I really kept with the food scene.
• 19:39
  Destiny Moser: I volunteered a lot at the kitchen or market.
• 19:42
  Destiny Moser: Many chefs come through there to always continue to learn about other cultures, other foods, you know, for my own personal again.
• 19:49
  Destiny Moser: A lot of us are just good home cooks.
• 19:51
  Destiny Moser: Yeah.
• 19:52
  Destiny Moser: And that's what I really loved about it.
• 19:53
  Destiny Moser: So when I decided to become a chef, I remember going to friends I had in the industry, like Terry Salmon and Steph Suells, and saying, I think I'm gonna do this, and I think I want to do this.
• 20:05
  Destiny Moser: And they were like, you'd be good at it.
• 20:07
  Destiny Moser: And, you know, I work very closely with a lot of the female founders in our industry.
• 20:14
  Destiny Moser: Um, it's amazing to be cheerleaders for each other.
• 20:19
  Destiny Moser: It's amazing that even if you are in the same line of business, that it's not a competition.
• 20:26
  Destiny Moser: It's about here's what works for me or here's what hasn't worked for me.
• 20:30
  Destiny Moser: It doesn't mean it won't work for you, but it's nice to hear kind of lessons learned.
• 20:34
  Destiny Moser: Um, I never want to be a caterer, for example.
• 20:38
  Destiny Moser: Um, I do some catering, but the big weddings, all that.
• 20:42
  Destiny Moser: So it's great to say, oh no, I have a friend in the industry.
• 20:45
  Destiny Moser: Here's who I would use, and here's who I would suggest, and and vice versa, that comes back.
• 20:50
  Destiny Moser: So having established a really strong network, kind of in the field before I even decided that this is something I wanted to do was probably my biggest motivator, my biggest like kind of cheerleaders.
• 21:06
  Destiny Moser: Um, and it's great working with them all still.
• 21:08
  Ian McLean: Well, and and folks like you mentioned Steph Sulan, she's of course on the chamber board.
• 21:12
  Ian McLean: She's it's just actually her second stint on the chamber board.
• 21:15
  Ian McLean: I mean, you can tell the folks that are truly um um champions and and mentors, particularly in her case for the the industry itself.
• 21:25
  Ian McLean: But she certainly and and I think this is this is what what you're getting at, like she's she is giving back to the community, but that's an example of a mentor that that you see all over the chamber world in every sector, is people saying, you know what, there's there's more there's room for more than one one uh uh you know home chef or or you know, whatever your line of business is or uh area of businesses, there's there's always uh there's always room for one more.
• 21:51
  Ian McLean: And and it's uh it it is so important.
• 21:53
  Ian McLean: And and I I think it's one of the takeaways, doesn't matter what industry you're at, is it you better have some folks that are gonna help you test your own theories before you put before you put money behind it.
• 22:03
  Destiny Moser: For sure.
• 22:04
  Destiny Moser: And as we grow to the million dollar or million people population, everyone needs to eat.
• 22:10
  Destiny Moser: Yeah.
• 22:10
  Destiny Moser: And it's impossible for any one of us to feed a million people.
• 22:15
  Ian McLean: So the theme of BDC's uh Small Business Week this year is the economic revolution is here.
• 22:22
  Ian McLean: Get your business ready.
• 22:23
  Ian McLean: I think it's very timely because I've just come back from Australia, New Zealand from the World Chamber Congress, um, you know, the Canadian Chamber annual meeting.
• 22:33
  Ian McLean: The theme everywhere in the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere is the changes here and the disruption that that the U.S.
• 22:41
  Ian McLean: and Donald Trump and tariffs is right across the globe, certainly here in Waterloo region, and it's not going away.
• 22:49
  Ian McLean: So the revolution is here.
• 22:51
  Ian McLean: Uh are you ready is a great is a great uh theme for this year.
• 22:55
  Ian McLean: Um what's the have you made a change or what's the one change you've already made or are planning to make uh in your business to adapt to these that what amount to structural shifts?
• 23:06
  Ian McLean: Like, I mean, locally, provincially, nationally, internationally, there's there's change coming.
• 23:11
  Ian McLean: Uh what's the one thing that you've done to kind of start to get ready for that?
• 23:16
  Destiny Moser: For us, we're very lucky so far because being a hyper-local, ultra-seasonal company, we haven't really been impacted by tariffs.
• 23:25
  Destiny Moser: We were already shopping locally.
• 23:28
  Destiny Moser: We were already working with farmers in our area to provide us the ingredients we need.
• 23:34
  Destiny Moser: Yes, we do use some international ingredients, and some of those have gone up, but I would say that's kind of the eight, like 80% is hyper-local, ultra-seasonal.
• 23:43
  Destiny Moser: I haven't found a difference really in our costs at all this last year, even though I know costs are going up.
• 23:50
  Destiny Moser: For us personally, I haven't seen it.
• 23:53
  Destiny Moser: Um, but what I am worried about, and what we're really trying to figure out how do we manage it, is once everybody starts buying hyperlocal ultra-seasonal, now I'm going to be low on product.
• 24:04
  Destiny Moser: Where do I go to find it?
• 24:06
  Destiny Moser: And I I love that problem.
• 24:08
  Destiny Moser: That's a great problem to have.
• 24:09
  Destiny Moser: So what we've been doing in is buying things in season when it's local, getting it prepped and put in the freezer for the winter.
• 24:19
  Destiny Moser: Um, but also I did that even when I wasn't in the food industry.
• 24:23
  Destiny Moser: That's how I saved my family money.
• 24:26
  Destiny Moser: You shop in season, go to the market at the end of the day, you get the best deals and preparing for winter.
• 24:33
  Destiny Moser: And so I've always kind of been in that mode of how can I prep for, you know, the times when it's dark and cold and the things aren't necessarily available.
• 24:45
  Destiny Moser: Um, in the time when I, you know, it's sunny and warm and everything feels good.
• 24:50
  Destiny Moser: So I think that mindset is something that a lot of us, you know, if we adopt it and get prepared, not only does it help you with lowering costs on the food side, because I have I I'm tired of hearing people tell me that buying fresh food is more expensive, because it actually isn't if you have the tips and tricks to do it right.
• 25:10
  Destiny Moser: Plus, when you're eating whole fresh food and not packaged food, you're going to feel full faster and stay full longer.
• 25:18
  Destiny Moser: So the philosophies for me have been there, and now it's just figuring out okay, well, if everyone's now doing it, how do we manage?
• 25:32
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• 26:19
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• 26:30
  Ian McLean: Building on that, I mean, uh a lot of the businesses that that that I talk to that are in in our chamber of events, AI is in the tip of everyone's tongue, right?
• 26:41
  Ian McLean: And and it always amazes me because we're struggling to say, what is it that we can do to make sure our businesses are prepared?
• 26:47
  Ian McLean: So, yes, you're in the food business, but AI is everywhere.
• 26:51
  Ian McLean: And I think has technology, have you have you tried, I mean, maybe even in sourcing, right?
• 26:57
  Ian McLean: Like the leveraging technology and AI and trying to understand, has has that is that something that you're you're keeping top of mind of how you leverage technology even in the in the foods, food space?
• 27:10
  Destiny Moser: 100%.
• 27:10
  Destiny Moser: I come from technology.
• 27:12
  Destiny Moser: And for me, it was always how do I automate this to make life easier for humans?
• 27:17
  Destiny Moser: You can't get rid of the human aspect, but even in corporate world, it was like there are these laws and requirements and restrictions we have to follow.
• 27:25
  Destiny Moser: How do I make the system just figure that out for the human so that they don't miss it?
• 27:31
  Destiny Moser: In the food industry, it's it's similar.
• 27:34
  Destiny Moser: There's a lot of things I can ask, like, okay, let me just throw my data in there to show you all the subscriptions we've had the last year, what's trending, what postal codes are like seeing the most revenue.
• 27:48
  Destiny Moser: So I am able to throw a lot of that data in there and for it to come back at me, it's not always right.
• 27:54
  Destiny Moser: And also, it's always very um trying to tell you positive things all the time.
• 28:00
  Destiny Moser: And that's the other thing I don't like because you never get that, well, this is actually not a good idea.
• 28:04
  Destiny Moser: So you still have to be careful because it will always be agreeable.
• 28:08
  Destiny Moser: Um, but it is good to be able to throw things in there, or even if I have a campaign in my head, I really want to talk about, say, launching our kids' meal programs.
• 28:18
  Destiny Moser: What's the best avenue to go about this?
• 28:21
  Destiny Moser: And I love a lot of the ideas that it gives me as far as how to use social media to my advantage, how to use newsletters, things like that to my advantage.
• 28:31
  Destiny Moser: So I've definitely always been strong on the tech side, just coming from the tech world.
• 28:36
  Destiny Moser: Um, and I think for my uh the people in this industry, the food industry I'm in, that's my gift back to them.
• 28:44
  Destiny Moser: Like, how can I help you?
• 28:46
  Destiny Moser: Because you guys have helped me so much from the food perspective.
• 28:50
  Destiny Moser: How can I help you from the other side coming with that knowledge?
• 28:54
  Ian McLean: So, I mean, we talked a little bit about who you have as mentors and and and you get advice from.
• 29:01
  Ian McLean: Uh, but there's I, you know, there's many businesses that are listening to this podcast or will see this podcast.
• 29:06
  Ian McLean: What advice would you give to them?
• 29:09
  Ian McLean: Um, to other entrepreneurs that are either looking to start or scale their business in in the community.
• 29:16
  Ian McLean: What's the best advice that you would give them as they start on their uh food gen like journey?
• 29:23
  Destiny Moser: Um so every some people will have a big goal, like opening a restaurant as an example.
• 29:29
  Destiny Moser: I would say, how do you scale that down and take baby steps to that?
• 29:34
  Destiny Moser: Um other people will have a small goal, like I call it a small goal now because of where I am, hindsight's 2020.
• 29:42
  Destiny Moser: I had a smaller goal, and it's obviously led to something big.
• 29:45
  Destiny Moser: Um but also thinking, yeah, this is what I want to do, but jotting down other things you potentially could do so that when you get to different points in that um growth stage, you can say, Oh, this might be the next avenue I'm gonna go.
• 29:59
  Destiny Moser: And maybe it isn't your big goal, but I would always say those small goals are so super important because one, you're not left disappointed when you don't reach it.
• 30:10
  Destiny Moser: And two, it's like that extra motivator every time you reach that next small step or that small goal to be like, okay, I did it.
• 30:18
  Destiny Moser: Right.
• 30:19
  Destiny Moser: And so I think that's the best advice I can give to people.
• 30:23
  Destiny Moser: Um, when people ask me, like, where I see myself in five years, that's the hardest question for me because I've literally always had jobs that no one had before me.
• 30:34
  Destiny Moser: It was, oh, Destiny knows how to do that already, and we need this new role.
• 30:39
  Destiny Moser: So let's just put her in this new role.
• 30:41
  Destiny Moser: And I've always had that in my life and in my career, and even with this business, it has gone in a trajectory that I never possibly imagined.
• 30:52
  Destiny Moser: But once it started, now I have all these other small little goals.
• 30:56
  Destiny Moser: Like, okay, well, my goal right now, my main big goal is to change the way people see by and eat food.
• 31:04
  Destiny Moser: How do I get the baby steps to reach everybody?
• 31:09
  Destiny Moser: So that by the time I die, I can, you know, take words like exotic off food and I can put the real meaning to whole food and organic food back in the market because it's all watered down right now.
• 31:22
  Ian McLean: So well, I have no doubt that uh you'll achieve that goal uh uh uh with with the way that you've uh started your business and the way that you uh uh communicate uh uh those philosophies uh in in in in and through your business.
• 31:37
  Ian McLean: Listen, um I I'm interested, I mean, you've talked a little bit about the trajectory.
• 31:43
  Ian McLean: Well, what's next for the business?
• 31:44
  Ian McLean: Like, you know, at some point, sometimes you gotta you got the goals, you get, and then you gotta kinda get to a point where you're saying, I gotta achieve that one, but you're always looking, looking forward um while you're achieving the goal that's right in front of you.
• 31:58
  Ian McLean: What's what's next for your business and what does the horizon look like?
• 32:02
  Ian McLean: So I won't ask the five-year question because you can say you won't answer that.
• 32:06
  Ian McLean: But there's there's still a horizon of like what's what's the next year hold for food zen?
• 32:11
  Destiny Moser: So starting the business, again, it was just being a personal chef and hiring more chefs to be personal chefs.
• 32:17
  Destiny Moser: That changed what people wanted changed.
• 32:20
  Destiny Moser: So there was a lot of people like, you know, I love what you're doing, I love your food philosophies.
• 32:25
  Destiny Moser: This is exactly what my family needs, but we don't want you in our home, and that's why we switched to the personal chefing.
• 32:31
  Destiny Moser: And then we now have a group of people, or then we had a group of people who are like, oh, I love what you're doing for my family, but like I really just need help with my kids' lunches.
• 32:40
  Destiny Moser: So then we move to the kids' lunches.
• 32:42
  Destiny Moser: And now what we're really hearing is I love what you're doing, we love your food philosophies, but it's not necessarily something I can afford.
• 32:51
  Destiny Moser: Is there any way I can just buy your sauces and spices so that I can just make my own food at home with real whole foods?
• 32:58
  Destiny Moser: Like I can just buy the vegetable, I can just buy the meat, but then use your spices to give the flavors I want.
• 33:04
  Destiny Moser: Um, so now if we we're I just got through the semifinals of this thing called powwow pitch.
• 33:12
  Destiny Moser: It's uh it's indigenous entrepreneurs across all of North America.
• 33:16
  Destiny Moser: Um, the grand prize is $25,000, but even for the second and third prizes, it's pretty significant that I feel like that will be the seed money we need to launch the seasonings and the sauces.
• 33:29
  Destiny Moser: So I think that's kind of our next big goal.
• 33:31
  Destiny Moser: And we really need a proper fridge in our kitchen.
• 33:34
  Destiny Moser: So right now, all the money we've been kind of making, we're like, okay, we're one step closer to getting a proper fridge.
• 33:40
  Destiny Moser: Yeah.
• 33:41
  Destiny Moser: But again, that small goal of we need a fridge to the big goal of how do we get sauces and spices into homes.
• 33:50
  Ian McLean: Well, and that's I mean, that's part of any business is usually as you're if you're growing, is you have to have more than one thing to sell, like one more product line, so food or spices and sauces and you know uh kids' lunches and and all of the in-home is is all part of of the value that that people in in the bigger context.
• 34:11
  Ian McLean: Um and this this podcast is, I mean, it's always a little bit about the story, because the stories are fascinating.
• 34:17
  Ian McLean: And I think anyone who's a business owner kind of watching someone who's been successful or is on the on the on the journey and you're watching and saying, wow, how did they do that?
• 34:26
  Ian McLean: So it's it's about hearing those stories, but it's also about leadership.
• 34:29
  Ian McLean: And because I don't think you can ever separate a successful business person without without understanding their their leadership philosophy and how they how they lead.
• 34:39
  Ian McLean: And so I always ask this same set of questions to everyone that dares to come on business or uh the behind the business podcast.
• 34:47
  Ian McLean: Um if and so I just kind of rapid questions to to finish off.
• 34:53
  Ian McLean: If you could go back and what would you tell your younger self?
• 34:57
  Ian McLean: Um, at you know, really at any point, but what would you tell your younger self as you reflect back on your career?
• 35:03
  Destiny Moser: Um I think being a child who's indigenous, having dyslexia, constantly being told many times throughout my life that you're not smart enough, turns out I am.
• 35:16
  Destiny Moser: Um I think I would definitely tell my younger self just cancel out the noise, follow your heart, be true to who you are, don't let other people's um opinions distract you from like the way you want to do things, right?
• 35:35
  Destiny Moser: And who you are, and obviously believing in yourself is number one, but um sometimes other people's opinions or fears may hold you back.
• 35:47
  Ian McLean: That's good advice.
• 35:48
  Ian McLean: Um, who or what inspires you most?
• 35:53
  Destiny Moser: I think right now my biggest inspiration, and it's kind of a dark one, is really just being an advocate for every ancestor before me who couldn't do this.
• 36:08
  Destiny Moser: Um we have had up until the late 90s so many laws and legislations and rules, and they some of them still exist today, telling us we can't.
• 36:20
  Destiny Moser: You know, um we can't have indigenous food, we can't have indigenous philosophies.
• 36:26
  Destiny Moser: Um I really strongly suggest a great book called Indigenomics.
• 36:30
  Destiny Moser: If it does you don't have to be indigenous, but the way indigenous people's philosophies and business and economics is completely different, and it feels to me like the right thing to do.
• 36:41
  Destiny Moser: So I think for me, my biggest inspiration is it's almost a responsibility to continue this path that my ancestors couldn't.
• 36:52
  Ian McLean: This is gonna be a strange question, but I always ask it's because I and so I'll be interested in how you answer this because you're right in the middle of it.
• 36:58
  Ian McLean: If you weren't in your current career, because you this you're this is really your second career.
• 37:02
  Ian McLean: Yes, corporate, and now you're doing you're you're an entrepreneur.
• 37:05
  Ian McLean: But if you weren't doing this, what would you what do you think you'd be doing instead?
• 37:10
  Destiny Moser: Um so when I left corporate world, one of the hardest things that I had thought about, I thought I wrote a list of everything I would miss about my job and how I could translate that into what I do today.
• 37:22
  Destiny Moser: And the one thing on that list that I didn't think I could translate because I was just gonna be a personal chef working on my own, not really having anybody to chat to, was the training and mentorship side.
• 37:32
  Destiny Moser: And um, it turns out that's now become the m most biggest part of my business, my role in the business is that training and mentorship side.
• 37:41
  Destiny Moser: I think that I would love, I would probably love to just be out there and like supporting people and rising people up and helping them like build their businesses or their ideas.
• 37:53
  Ian McLean: The training, coaching, helping people develop their own leadership skills.
• 37:56
  Destiny Moser: Exactly.
• 37:57
  Destiny Moser: Because I get the most passion out of people who even succeed me.
• 38:02
  Destiny Moser: I think it's just amazing to watch.
• 38:05
  Ian McLean: I like that.
• 38:05
  Ian McLean: That's great.
• 38:06
  Ian McLean: I mean, that that is that is a leadership of giving of yourself to make other people better is uh is a good one.
• 38:13
  Ian McLean: And you would be good at that too.
• 38:14
  Ian McLean: But we want we want to end to keep successful.
• 38:17
  Ian McLean: Um what book are you reading or a podcast other than Behind the Business, uh, that obviously you you watch?
• 38:24
  Ian McLean: What what podcast or book are you reading right now?
• 38:27
  Destiny Moser: Um podcast, I'm listening to Armchair Expert because it's just laid back but still has some good advice.
• 38:34
  Destiny Moser: Um books, I'm actually reading two, because you I always say that you have to be reading something for fun and something serious.
• 38:40
  Destiny Moser: So I'm reading the new Hunger Games book, and um I'm also reading You Are the Medicine.
• 38:47
  Destiny Moser: And so one of them kind of gives me life lessons about you know generational trauma and how like I can be my own healer in a world that doesn't necessarily heal me.
• 38:57
  Destiny Moser: But then I mean Hunger Games is so great.
• 38:59
  Destiny Moser: I need to read it before the next movie comes out.
• 39:02
  Ian McLean: Yeah.
• 39:03
  Ian McLean: Um so just thinking locally, it's uh um it you you are a local business, but what's one of your favorite local businesses um in in Waterloo Region?
• 39:15
  Destiny Moser: Um I definitely love working with Fennings Farm.
• 39:19
  Destiny Moser: Their philosophies of food is right down my alley.
• 39:25
  Destiny Moser: They're not indigenous, but they put so many indigenous ideas and concepts into the way that they're growing their food.
• 39:34
  Destiny Moser: Um, I love then going to restaurants like Trio and there's been a lot of great things coming out of gas like district where they're actually using indigenous ingredients too.
• 39:46
  Destiny Moser: So I'm always amazed and happy to work with people, whether they're allies or they're indigenous, those businesses um that's that are still kind of following those philosophies.
• 39:58
  Ian McLean: I think Jen, we had her on maybe one of International Women's Days.
• 40:02
  Ian McLean: Anyways, we're she's great.
• 40:04
  Ian McLean: She's great.
• 40:04
  Ian McLean: Okay, and and just as we wrap up, um for anyone that's watching or listening uh and they want to connect with FoodZen, understand more of what your offerings are, uh and or or just connect with you, um, how would they learn more about you Destiny and FoodZen?
• 40:23
  Destiny Moser: You can find us on social streams and our website, foodzen.ca.
• 40:28
  Ian McLean: That's perfect.
• 40:29
  Ian McLean: Listen, uh, one of the most valuable things that entrepreneurs and small business owners have is their time.
• 40:36
  Ian McLean: And we know how valuable that is.
• 40:38
  Ian McLean: I know how valuable it is, and I know how busy you've been uh this this last you know year, but but certainly this last month in September is a busy month for you.
• 40:48
  Ian McLean: So thank you for sharing some of your valuable time with us today.
• 40:51
  Destiny Moser: Thank you, Chi Mingwich.
• 40:54
  Ian McLean: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Behind the Business, proudly presented by Gore Mutual.
• 40:59
  Ian McLean: Thanks again to BDC for this special Small Business Week episode.
• 41:04
  Ian McLean: We're celebrating all week and dropping a new episode each day.
• 41:07
  Ian McLean: You can also visit greater kwchamber.com to catch up on past episodes anytime.
• 41:13
  Ian McLean: We'll see you next time as we continue to go behind the business.