Hi Chante, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The Vegan Stuff™ started because I can no longer enjoy dairy Ice Cream and also because I didn't want to commute anymore. I am not fully vegan and I think my honesty about not being vegan along side my ability to still compare The Vegan Stuff™ to dairy ice cream are two of the most important factors towards the success of my plant-based ice cream. People don't just want to be "sold" a product anymore. They also want to know who is behind a brand and what sort of integrity a brand can provide to them.
Alright, so let's move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My career could not have started further away from anything culinary than where it did. My first real job was as a studio manager for a photographer, then I went on to work for House & Garden Magazine as an art associate on the masthead, followed by many years of freelance photography work and finally into a lead graphic artist/art director position for a fashion house in Manhattan. Along the way I learned to adapt in an ever changing landscape of photo and layout editing software whilst developing my own style of art direction. I actually lied to land my job at the magazine and taught myself photoshop by running back and forth to a bookstore to write down notes because I couldn't afford the books. YouTube as we know its today did not exist back then. I also learned that you need to enjoy what you do and present it honestly to be successful these days. this is why The Vegan Stuff™ is a combination of there things I love: horror movies, the 80's and ice cream. I didn't know that the movie The Stuff from 1985 was filmed in the Hudson Valley when I decided on the brand name, this was told to me later by a customer. I created the trading for The Vegan Stuff™ base on the horror movie because the dairy industry doesn't want plant based ice cream to use the words "ice cream" and because I love 80's movies.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary - say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my friend was visiting me in the Hudson Valley of New York I would take them to my favorite Italian restaurant in Fishkill NY, Il Figlio Enoteca. We would do a lot of hiking. Some of the best hiking trails are around Beacon, NY. The DIA modern art museum is a must see and then we could go roller skating in Hyde Park at Roller Magic like I used to do as a kid in the 80's. I swear they haven't touched a thing about this roller rink since 1982.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First off I would like to give a huge shout out to my husband who has supported me on this roller coaster ride of starting my own business.Without his encouragement I may have given up during the covid shut-down. Secondly I would like to give a big shout-out to all of my loyal and dedicated followers on social media and locally in the Hudson Valley of New York without whom I wouldn't even have a business. The people of the Hudson Valley have always shown great support for The Vegan Stuff™ and in return I will continue to offer the best vegan ice cream! Lastly, I would like to thank my mentor Sasha who I met from The James Heard Foundation. Sasha is a successful restauranteur from New Mexico who has helped guide me from a business aspect. Creating delicious recipes for The Vegan Stuff™ has been relatively "easy" for me because I am a creative person but the "business stuff" has been a bit more daunting to attack.
We strive to make a vegan "ice cream" that is creamy and doesn't all taste like coconuts.
The Stuff movie is from 1985, go watch it!
