The food industry is a wild ride. It's filled with ups and downs and requires a ton of capital and a ton of work. But it's also one of the most rewarding and fulfilling industries to be in. Today, I'm chatting with Alex Messina of Just Soup and Just Sauce. Alex was born into the food business. His father Carmelo, who immigrated to Canada from Sicily, founded Mema Foods in 1989. Alex learned the business from the ground up and, today, operates the company with his brother Gabriel.  Alex came up with the idea for Just Soup and Just Sauce, a new line of ready-to-heat soups and sauces made with simple, premium ingredients and sold in recyclable glass jars.  Today, we get a real, raw, and honest look into what it's like to build a food brand in the grocery space. Here's what we talk about: - Why you need to have capital or get access to capital to scale a CPG brand - Figuring it out and doing whatever it takes - Why you need to pay a premium to get your products on store shelves - Why you should consider private labelling your products - Using social media to build a community behind your brand - How to bounce back after hearing no - The importance of having patience in building your business - Why Alex actually forgot his birthday this year - Why having a mentor can significantly improve your mental health as an entrepreneur Connect with Alex: https://www.instagram.com/justsoupjustsauce/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-messina-9ba49b56/ https://www.mema.ca/ Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney https://www.linkedin.com/in/msnicolehaney/

Are you thinking about your goals for the new year? As the year starts to wind down and come to a close, I can't help but think: Where will I be a year from now? It's so incredibly exciting to imagine all of our big goals coming true, which is why as entrepreneurs we all LOVE to set goals. But are you setting the *right* ones? A few years ago, I realized I was driving my life in the completely wrong direction. I had been working SO hard. 18 hour days, solving insanely difficult problems, losing (lots of) sleep, all in service of the goals I had laid out for myself. But eventually I realized: All the things I was working so hard at were only serving to drive the car in the *wrong direction* The goals I had were never going to help me achieve the life I had been dreaming of. Which is why today I wanted to talk to you about how to choose the *right* goals to work on for 2024. Here's what we talk about: - How I ended up driving in the wrong direction with my goals - Why it's so easy to get off track with your goals - What do you want your life to look like in 10 years? - Why you need to be able to reach out and touch your visualization of the future - Asking yourself how you can achieve each of the aspects of your visualization - Continue asking "how" until you have an actionable thing to work on - Setting your goals based on your dream of your future Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney https://www.linkedin.com/in/msnicolehaney/

Do you believe that anyone can be an entrepreneur? I do. But I also believe that to be successful, it's critical that you develop a certain set of skills Because being an entrepreneur is exceptionally hard work. It requires you to constantly operate outside of your comfort zone. It will push you to your limits and then some. As an entrepreneur, you are climbing a mountain. It's really hard work and is going to require more from you than you could have imagined. There will be times when you just want to sit down on the side of the mountain and not ever take another step. But you CAN get there. To get to the top of that mountain you will need certain skills. And that's what we're talking about today. Here's what we talk about on today's episode: - Why being resourceful is FAR more important than getting the exact answer to your questions - Why I think you WILL take things personally (but it's ok) - Learning how to stand back up after you fall - Having grit and being determined to reach your goals - Being willing to fail publicly and embarrass yourself - Building a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/msnicolehaney/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney

It's a question I'm asked over and over again: How am I supposed to make money at this?! It's certainly not quick or easy to make money in business and it's usually not as simple as just increasing your price. You have to consider a ton of factors, including your overhead costs, volume of sales, cost of goods, sales channels, positioning.....the list goes on and on. Which is why the blanket advice of "increase your price" doesn't work - it doesn't take literally anything else into consideration, including whether or not you'll remain competitive at a higher price point. Here's the reality: It takes most businesses 3-5 years to turn a profit. It requires taking a lot of factors into consideration. It takes a TON of hard work and determination. But if you put in the time and work, you CAN get there. And today, I'm going to tell you how. Here's what we talk about on today's episode: - Why you should stop listening to the IG gurus telling you that you can make a lot of money overnight - We have to determine why you aren't making the profit you want before we determine the solution - Double down on what's working and put systems in place to support these things - Opening up new sales channels for the same product - Selling a different product to the same customer to increase your cart value or customer spend - How, why, and when to increase your price (and when it doesn't make any sense to) - Decreasing your costs to obtain more profit Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney

The conference is over and I'm WIPED so today's podcast episode is verrrry laid back. Today I'm sharing with you: - How thrilled I am that I brought together over 130 people at my very first business conference! - Why I said no to a great opportunity recently - Re-establishing goals for myself and my business - Going from great to exceptional - The (sometimes painful) process of getting feedback - and why it's so important - Why you don't have to implement *everyone's* feedback - Where we're at in our home buying process - We are going on two vacations! Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney

Do you have a big dream for your business? Me too. I wanted to host a business conference that not only educated people but also motivated and inspired them to reach their own goals. Except - I had no idea where to start. I'd never organized an event of this size before and I had no idea what I was doing. But I figured it out. And so can you. And in today's episode, I'm going to show you how. Here's what we're talking about today: - I can't believe I'm hosting a business conference! - How I overcame each challenge in creating this conference - The key thing that differentiates people who succeed from people who quit - Why you need to let yourself fail first - How I changed my strategies for planning the event, getting sponsors, and getting registrations (and now have over 100 people signed up!) Register for the conference here: https://www.nicolehaney.com/conference Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney/

Are you looking at your competition? Dealing with competition can be SO difficult. You keep hearing people say nice things like "there's enough to go around" But you can't help but think - is there *really* though?! I mean, *they* are crushing it. So is there really any room for me? Will anyone buy from me? Will they put me out of business? It's really easy to get sucked into their highlight reel on IG and forget that you are a force to be reckoned with. So what do you do when you start to feel the weight of competition? That's what we're talking about today: - I've never been traditionally competitive - The two ways I've dealt with competition in the past - What I did when I thought a competitor was copying me - How to let competition fuel you to reach your goals - ...or tuning out the competition and focusing on your own business - Why you shouldn't be watching people who aren't striving towards similar goals Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney/

Do you ever feel like you're just not making any traction? I feel this way all. the. time. As entrepreneurs, we all dream BIG. Which is amazing and inspiring but can also be suuuuuper demotivating when you start to feel wonder: Why aren't we there yet? Is this working?? How will I ever get there? Is it even possible?! But the reality is: It IS working. It's just taking longer to get there than you expected. Which makes sense. You're building a freaking empire. You're climbing a mountain. You're trying to bring your dream to life by continuing to put one foot in front of the other over and over and over again. And that? That takes TIME. Today I'm sharing with you how I realized that my dream - that I've been working on for 8 years - IS possible for me. It's just going to take a bit more time. Here's what we talk about: - Why it feels like it's not working - The tyranny of how - BIG dreams don't happen overnight - The things you do every day are what's going to get you there - Why you can accomplish more than you think in the next 10 years - Keep swinging at the pinata Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney/

It's been a year since I started podcasting! Which is WILD. I never thought I'd start a podcast and definitely didn't think I'd still be doing it a year in. It turns out, only 1% of all podcast make it past episode 21. And since we are now on episode 48, I feel like I'm on the right track. But I still can't believe it's been a year since I started this show. I've learned so much along the way and today I'm going to share with you the top 5 things I've learned over the last year. But the coolest thing about today's episode is that these things don't just apply to podcasting - they apply to anything you are doing in your business. I'm also sharing with you more details about the conference!! I'm starting this episode out with telling you more about the business conference I'm running and offering a special gift to you for listening in. Sign up for the conference here: https://www.nicolehaney.com/conference Ready? Let's go! Here's what we're talking about this week: - It's been a YEAR! - Why the advice "just start" is so widely used - but is also hugely accurate - Learning how to show up authentically vs. trying to be perfect - It's never going to happen the way you think it's going to happen - The importance of showing up consistently - The things that feel hard today will feel easy in a year Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney/

I used to be quiet and shy I know, I know. Hard to believe, right? So then how did I go from being a wallflower to being extroverted and social? I started acting as if I already was. And eventually, over time, I actually became more extroverted. Cool, right?! Acting as if is such a powerful tool that you can use in your business and life to become the person you want to be. Today I'm sharing with you how I've done this over and over again in my life and how I continue to use this tool to improve myself and take on the traits that I admire in other people. Here's what we talk about: - The interaction I had last week that make me remember this tool - How I became more extroverted and social - Why using this tool might feel awkward at first - Why you don't have to wait to own your identity - How I've reinvented myself as over and over again and how you can too - Why "acting as if" leads to actually becoming the person you want to be Connect with me: https://www.nicolehaney.com/ https://www.instagram.com/itsnicolehaney/