This Mom's Story
When we started our company about eight years ago, I was pregnant with my first child and had absolutely no energy to cook. I saw something on Pinterest about prepping meals for the week all in one day and then just throwing them into the slow cooker throughout the week. Every Sunday, I would drag my husband into the kitchen and we would chop, brown, and prep dinners for the coming week. This worked perfectly for our family!
After our son was born, our friends and family started to catch on to what we were doing and asked us to make extra meals for them. Within a few months, we had to start buying food in bulk and purchase extra deep freezers to store the meals we were making for others. It was around this time that my husband became convinced that this was a business — I thought he was crazy since I had never run a business before and I didn't know the first thing about starting one. Still, he was persistent because he had faith in me and in the concept.
We started small by renting a local kitchen and advertising on social media. It was a very scary process, and there were countless times that I thought this was all just too much to handle. Still, we pushed on as a family as our little idea started to grow into a real business. It didn't take long for us to outgrow the kitchen we were renting. We knew that in order to give this business a shot, we needed to find a building with both a kitchen and retail space, and since we had no experience with financing, this seemed impossible!
After a few loans, using all of our life savings, and a bit of help from our family, we had raised just about what we would need to start. We purchased our building in March 2014, and the build-out process was a huge challenge. We had months of delays due to building permits, issues with contractors, and supplies not showing up. We also ran into major financial issues, as almost everything cost thousands of dollars more than anticipated. There were countless times we thought there was no way we were going to make it to our grand opening, but somehow we did it. When we opened our doors in September 2014, we barely had enough money left to purchase the ingredients for our first batch of meals.
That was just over eight years ago, and at this point, it seems like a lifetime ago. Since then, we have had so many ups and downs. Our second baby Isabella was born. We made it through a few very tough summers (who would have thought people don't crock in the summer), and in the past couple of years, we’ve opened four additional locations, two in Booths Corner Farmers Market, one in Brookhaven, and our most recent in the Quakertown Farmers Market. That’s not to mention the launch of our online store, where our meals are available to ship across the entire continental United States! Needless to say, we have been busy.
Today, I am a proud mom. It is crazy to think that our little idea to make home-cooked dinners easier, which started in our home kitchen, has grown into a business with five retail locations and the ability to ship its product from coast to coast! We have worked so hard for this — it wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t, but we are stronger because we decided to take this leap. I feel good about offering a product that helps families. I feel good about the hours we put in and better about the hours we miss with our children because I know we are doing something that will make our family's future brighter.
If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. Believe in yourself and follow your dreams; maybe you can make the world a better place in the process.
Brieanna West
Owner, What a Crock Meals
We're no large corporation. If it’s with our company or any other small business, the fact is when you shop small your money goes to families instead of investors and to children’s activities instead of hedge funds. So, on behalf of Justin & Izzy, we thank you for making their childhood great and their future bright.
When we started our company about eight years ago, I was pregnant with my first child and had absolutely no energy to cook. I saw something on Pinterest about prepping meals for the week all in one day and then just throwing them into the slow cooker throughout the week. Every Sunday, I would drag my husband into the kitchen and we would chop, brown, and prep dinners for the coming week. This worked perfectly for our family!
After our son was born, our friends and family started to catch on to what we were doing and asked us to make extra meals for them. Within a few months, we had to start buying food in bulk and purchase extra deep freezers to store the meals we were making for others. It was around this time that my husband became convinced that this was a business — I thought he was crazy since I had never run a business before and I didn't know the first thing about starting one. Still, he was persistent because he had faith in me and in the concept.
We started small by renting a local kitchen and advertising on social media. It was a very scary process, and there were countless times that I thought this was all just too much to handle. Still, we pushed on as a family as our little idea started to grow into a real business. It didn't take long for us to outgrow the kitchen we were renting. We knew that in order to give this business a shot, we needed to find a building with both a kitchen and retail space, and since we had no experience with financing, this seemed impossible!
After a few loans, using all of our life savings, and a bit of help from our family, we had raised just about what we would need to start. We purchased our building in March 2014, and the build-out process was a huge challenge. We had months of delays due to building permits, issues with contractors, and supplies not showing up. We also ran into major financial issues, as almost everything cost thousands of dollars more than anticipated. There were countless times we thought there was no way we were going to make it to our grand opening, but somehow we did it. When we opened our doors in September 2014, we barely had enough money left to purchase the ingredients for our first batch of meals.
That was just over eight years ago, and at this point, it seems like a lifetime ago. Since then, we have had so many ups and downs. Our second baby Isabella was born. We made it through a few very tough summers (who would have thought people don't crock in the summer), and in the past couple of years, we’ve opened four additional locations, two in Booths Corner Farmers Market, one in Brookhaven, and our most recent in the Quakertown Farmers Market. That’s not to mention the launch of our online store, where our meals are available to ship across the entire continental United States! Needless to say, we have been busy.
Today, I am a proud mom. It is crazy to think that our little idea to make home-cooked dinners easier, which started in our home kitchen, has grown into a business with five retail locations and the ability to ship its product from coast to coast! We have worked so hard for this — it wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t, but we are stronger because we decided to take this leap. I feel good about offering a product that helps families. I feel good about the hours we put in and better about the hours we miss with our children because I know we are doing something that will make our family's future brighter.
If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. Believe in yourself and follow your dreams; maybe you can make the world a better place in the process.
Brieanna West
Owner, What a Crock Meals
We're no large corporation. If it’s with our company or any other small business, the fact is when you shop small your money goes to families instead of investors and to children’s activities instead of hedge funds. So, on behalf of Justin & Izzy, we thank you for making their childhood great and their future bright.