The Changeup

This week's guest is dual threat, Taylor Cocalis Suarez. Tay co-founded Good Food Jobs, a website and newsletter with over 80,000 subscribers helping satisfy the hunger for meaningful work in the food industry. She's also co-founder of one of my all-time favorite breweries, Suarez Family Brewery, which is based near Hudson, New York. We talked to Tay about running both businesses, the aversion for scale at scales sake, and how meaningful work is the backbone of what she does.

We are back for season six of The Changeup. What started as a project while I was bored at home during the throes of COVID is now over 100 episodes with smart founders sharing their journey along the way.

This season, we're continuing down the path of food and beverage with a focus on New York owned and operated companies. There's something about tangible items in the digital age that gets me excited and I hope the same is true for you. We kick off with one of the OG craft purveyors, Ommegang.

We sat down with their head brewer, Justin Lottridge, and brand manager, Jordan Egbert. We talked about the early mission of Ommegang, growth in the industry that gave way to consolidation, and how being acquired by Duvel Moortgat has given them a new spark in the industry.

This week's guest is the co-founder of Sound, Tommy Kelly. Sound was born from its co-founder's desire for a better-tasting, more exciting unsweetened beverage. We talk about the company's founding happening while Tommy was an engineer looking for a drink to keep him going during long days and partnering with his then co-worker and now co-partner, Salim.
Tommy embraces the ebbs and flows of the hard-to-navigate CPG business. He speaks honestly about the hurdles and brings incredible insight to the field. We also talk about his role in growing Brooklyn pizza empire Roberta's and the up-and-coming Ever Hop hop water.

Sound
Ever Hop
Roberta's

This week's guests are the co-founders of Saucy Confections, Alexander and Mary Rose Zaranski.
Saucy Confections makes an alcoholic gummy called Winosaurs, which is, you might've guessed, filled with wine. We talk about how they took a fun idea for their wedding party favors and turned it into a business that keeps growing. We learn how they built their own machinery before buying and what's next on the rise in the gummy game.


Saucy Confections

This week's guest is the founder of Dirty Water, Dominic Minogue. Dirty Water is a hard seltzer brand born in New York City, aiming to be the accessible, easy-drinking dive bar hard seltzer. We talked to Dominic about the David versus Goliath battle in the hard beverage industry, the door-to-door grind of getting his product into bars and bodegas, and how his background and design and fashion helps influence Dirty Water's look and feel.



Dirty Water Hard Seltzer

This week's guest is Nathaniel Harrington, the founder of Nat's Nuts. Nat's Nuts is a gourmet roasted nut company in upstate New York that ships across the United States and is in over 2000 stores. 
We talk about how he turned a school fundraising project to Guatemala into a full blown business, how he's built the business from his apartment to a large scale operation, and how faith plays a major role in every aspect of his life.

This week we welcome Tom Vaughan and Nakiska Vaughan of Westmeadow Farm and Dairy. Westmeadow Farm and Dairy is a family-owned and operated farm and creamery making fresh milk, cheese, and ice cream. 
We talk about Tom's original path to farming, moving from Ireland to Connecticut and then eventually landing in upstate New York. We also learned how Nakiska's plan to swim with dolphins was thwarted by COVID, but that ultimately led to her running the farm and being an integral part of the family business.

This week's guest is the co-founder of Bjorn Qorn, Bjorn Quenemoen.
Bjorn Qorn is a non-GMO popcorn with all-natural gluten-free and vegan ingredients. They use nutritional yeast instead of butter and cheese, and it's probably the best popcorn I've ever had from a bag.
We talk about how a college party concept with a friend turned into a thriving business, the science behind popping using mirrored reflectors to collect the sun's rays, and how a popcorn business got into the roller skating business.

Bjorn Qorn

This week's guest is the co-founder of Barrel + Brine, RJ Marvin.
Barrel + Brine is a food and beverage company located in Buffalo, New York, specializing in pickled foods, kimchi, and kombucha.  We talk about leaving the restaurant business to get into the pickling business and returning to the restaurant business to help complement the store.
RJ shares his thoughts on packaging design, packaging his own food, and how he intends to grow the business thoughtfully. And the Bills- of course we talked about the Buffalo Bills.


Barrel + Brine

In this week's episode, I'm talking with the co-founders of Loisa, Scott Hattis, and Kenny Luna. Loisa is a Latin-owned food company focusing on bringing organic versions of the most famous Latin seasoning to the market. They started with Sazon and Adobo and are growing exponentially, with their most recent partnership with Whole Foods opening doors across the country.
We talk about starting in their kitchen, learning the family recipes, the importance of breaking out of the artificial ingredients for Latin family health, and how they are continuing to expand.

https://loisa.com/