Entrepreneur of Impact: Katherine Harvey
We're delighted to introduce you to Entrepreneur of Impact Award winner Katherine Harvey of Bare Bones. She is one of the amazing, everyday entrepreneur heroes doing good things for the world & her community during the COVID pandemic. We hope you're just as inspired by her story as we are!
Tell us a bit about your business & how it came to be.
Bare Bones offers a growing line of protein-rich bone broths and collagen products for people to consume on their own or in their daily rituals of cooking and eating. Our mission is to create access to simple, complete nutrition by infusing your day with the essential nutrients you need to thrive, without compromise. My husband started Bare Bones when he was working as a chef in fine dining. He has always had a passion for fitness and nutrition, and found that the restaurant lifestyle wasn't conducive to pursuing those interests. He eventually started drinking stock from the restaurant stove to keep himself nourished during service, and wondered why regular people didn't have access to a high-quality stock like that. So he started making and shipping one nationwide. I was working as a business journalist for the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time, and was helping him out on the side. Soon we got a book deal with HarperCollins and outgrew our San Diego kitchen, forcing me to quit my job so we could both write "The Bare Bones Broth Cookbook" and continue to grow our operations.
How was your business affected by the COVID pandemic? What shifts did you have to make in order to continue operating?
It has been a strange time for us. Because we're in packaged food, we have largely been on the upside of the economic shifts, but that hasn't come without some intense growing pains. We received such a wave of orders in March that we and our manufacturing partners couldn't keep up with them all, so we lost a lot of opportunities in brick-and-mortar retail and online. We made some costly mistakes in the scramble to keep up with the surge in demand. Because retailers are still reeling and figuring out their plans for the future – in many cases putting new product launches on hold – we have had to pivot our sales strategy for the year, to place more emphasis on online and alternative sales channels, and to grow same-store sales with the retailers already carrying our products.
You were recognized by the community as an Entrepreneur of Impact! Tell us about your efforts to create a positive impact during the COVID crisis.
My husband and I both spent many years working in restaurants at different times in our lives. When California shut down restaurants and other businesses at the beginning of this pandemic, our hearts ached for those working in foodservice. It's already such a thankless job that doesn't come with a lot of financial security, and yet we all benefit greatly from their labor during non-pandemic times. We wanted to do something to support the restaurant workers who had been laid off with no warning or pay, so we took all profits from our website sales for two weeks and donated them to Restaurants Care, an organization dedicated to serving and relieving the foodservice community here in California. We were blessed to be able to donate $11,000.
What quote or motto you live by?
"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." -Nelson Mandela
What does the world need more of?
Compassion, empathy, and hope.
In 3 words, what does it take to be successful as a business owner?
Endless resilience.
If you were to impart one tidbit of wisdom to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Surround yourself with mentors in your industry, keep in close touch with them, and never hesitate to ask for help. A simple "help" when you're stuck on a problem can save you incalculable time, money and mental anguish.
We help women entrepreneurs build powerful, purposeful, and profitable businesses. Through actionable education and meaningful opportunities to connect, we cultivate growth-minded entrepreneurs to achieve personal success, while positively impacting their local community, economy, and causes they care about. We believe entrepreneurship is a force for greater good and our mission is to help YOU succeed. Join us inside the Hatch Tribe Collective!