Episode 18 Transcript

Hey everyone. It is me, Lisa, and welcome back to the podcast. We have one of my friends that I have known for quite a while now. And I’m just going to turn it over to you, Penny. I’m just going to ask you to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do and all that stuff. Well, hello, everybody.

I’m a mom of two adult daughters. I married a Canadian sailor almost 36 years ago now. We raised our daughters while partly in the military and then he retired. And then I, once we settled into our place that we’ve been into now for 25 years, I worked in a middle school as a canteen coordinator, coordinating the menus and figuring out the prices and coordinating parent volunteers. And I was there for 17 years I’ve been doing Epicure for 15 years. So I started, I was doing both of them at the same time. Yeah, that’s about it. I like hiking. I love walking my dog. I love the freedom of time that I now have to walk my dog every morning instead of getting up and going to work. So, yeah. And by the sounds of it, you love dealing with food. And I know you are a foodie because I watch you all the time with your sourdough starters and all this stuff. That stuff, I mean, I’ve made bread, but I go to the extent of looking for the bread that you don’t actually have to need, let alone feed every day. I come by that very honestly. I had a mother who never, we never had processed food. We always had baked homemade cookies. I was like, couldn’t I just have a bought cookie or sliced bread. She always made her own bread and not knowing, you know, how good we had it. She just never like as far as down to making 21 loaves of bread at a time, she greased every single one of those pans. She didn’t use spray pan like cooking spray or anything. So I do come by it very honestly. Yeah, that’s great. Now I see your your videos and I’m like, there goes Penny again. I have yogurt making right now. Oh dear. Are you using your Instapod or how are you doing it? Yeah, no, I use the Instapod. I just seen a TikTok this morning about making homemade mozzarella and I’m like, hmm, should I try it? And then I’m like, no, it’s probably too much work. Remember, though, like years ago, Epicure did come out with a fresh cheese maker and it was just like fresh mozzarella too. I haven’t done that for a while. I’ve tried that a couple times, but yeah, I like my quick and easy meals. So anything that takes a little bit more than a few steps, it’s like you sort of lose my interest. But that’s the main reason why I love Epicure, right? It’s because you can put easy meals on the table. So it’s awesome. So you and I are both in Epicure.

Now you said you’ve been here for 15 years. I’ll be 14 years in the fall. And What brought you to Epicure? Like how did you get introduced? Like what made you join? I remember the first party I went to and I mean 15 years ago we were more all about dips and that kind of things, maybe spice blends and stuff but not like our quick meal solutions now. But even then I was, I thought to myself, wow I could make ethnic meals restaurant quality at home. Like I didn’t you know, like just this, I thought, oh, this, this is fun. It’ll like liven up my kitchen menus. And, and, uh, so I was always a host. So I hosted many, many parties and then people kept asking me, when are you going to have another party? I’m out of three onion or, and so then I went, you know what? I think I’ll, I’ll become an ambassador because I’m doing hosting anyway so I might as well. So I just started doing it for friends and family like I had no goals or desires to take it any further at that point.

Yeah so I know that you’re a team leader right now so you have a team. I’m not sure where they are but I know they’re probably all over BC and beyond maybe. You started off as an ambassador and then how many years after that did you finally realize it’s like, Oh, here’s my passion of helping my team as well as my customers. So actually, um, in 2014, this is actually one of my proudest moments of Epicure too. Okay, cool. So I, um, because my upline isn’t local to me, I didn’t go to team meetings or product launches or anything like that, because I didn’t really look into it any further and didn’t realize I could go to another team leader’s events until I did. And then I started to go to other team meetings and product launches. And I started to see other ambassadors moving up and promoting. And I was like, what are they doing that I’m not doing then? Because I love Epicure as much as everybody else and then I just started focusing more on the business side of it. And then in 2014 and well, end of 2013, my eldest daughter moved to Australia. And January, I said to myself, I never being somebody who traveled overseas ever. Like I was always one of those things that it was like for other people, people with more money than I had. I set the uh, the trip to Australia, pay for the ticket with my commission from Epicure. So I started working a little harder and that was in January in 2014. And I had my ticket paid for by May. Wow. And I also became a leader in May too. And that was just, um, the goal was so important to me to make it to Australia. I get all kind of emotional still thinking it’s silly. Well, and like 10 years ago. Yeah, and a ticket to Australia for you and your husband is not going to be very cheap, right? Yeah, it was not cheap. And it was like we still had a younger daughter at home too. So it was, you know, it’s all that when you got kids at home, there’s money to be spent other places and stuff. So I just made it a goal. I’m going to pay for this ticket with my commission. I’m just going to say, so I had it all paid for by that May, but as a spin off of that, that’s when I became a leader because I think I just focused so much on doing the business that everything else just sort of fell into place. No, I love that because it’s like, if you do the things, what you want will follow, right? Yeah.

I know how you love to run your business. I know, and I giggle about this because you have…. the digital techie side girl sitting here with me and then I know, yeah, I’ll give me in person. We’ll share with the listeners, like how you thrive, like what, what do you do to run your business? Well, I currently do a mixture of in-person events, either in people’s homes or at markets. And that is where I thrive. I am a social person. I am, I love people. I love hearing people’s stories. I love interacting with people. I love teaching people that they can have food on the table easily. They don’t have to spend all their money on takeout or sacrifice their health on eating fast foods. We can eat healthy and do it quickly without spending the afternoon in the kitchen cooking dinner. You don’t have to do that. So I love doing my business from a place of service with in-person events. I do virtual demos on my Facebook group, my Facebook page. You know, technically, it’s not my passion. But you do it. You’re there consistently, right? You do it. So do it because I understand that that’s the way it is. And I just especially, especially in the height of COVID. And that was you know, when I first did my first demo live on Facebook, my heart was just about jumping out of my throat and I was by myself in my kitchen, you know? This is crazy. But now it’s like, it’s fine. Like I just get on there and, you know, just share whatever I happen to be doing then, you know, cook my dinner for other people. So yeah, so definitely in person is where I thrive but markets as well. I just love talking to people. And I know, so I want the listeners to know that when you’re talking about people, you don’t just being like adult people, you have a passion for teaching kids how to cook. Yeah. So share a little bit about your kids cooking classes that you offer. So on Facebook, I noticed in my community groups that there was quite a need for, people were looking for cooking classes for kids and I spent 17 years in a middle school talking to 10 to 13 year old kids. And as much as a lot of people say, oh, that middle school age is so, uh, it’s a trial, like it’s testing, you know, the limits all the time they are. But it’s, they’re, it’s wonderful because they’re, they’re self-sufficient. They can do a lot for themselves. And anyway, so I decided that I would offer cooking classes with Epicure as a foundation. So I offer bundles, like we’ve done Mother’s Day brunches. And so I have them come in and we put together, like we did poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce, tropical smoothie and morning glory muffins. And they went home with an Epicure, the products to recreate the same meal for their mom when they went home. When we’ve done…Italian, we’ve done Greek. Yeah, so it’s just a matter of, I’ve had a group of friends, actually 14 year old girls over and they all were friends and we did enchiladas. And so, yeah, just showing them that they can do it and they can do it. Like meal solutions are like paint by numbers. Like it’s, here you go. Just, it’s super easy to do that stuff. So, and it’s so important nowadays more than ever to teach kids that their dinner does not have to come from the fast food restaurant on the corner, or they don’t have to get that skip app going on their phone and get their food delivered to their house. They can just get off their butts and go into the kitchen and make real food for themselves in like minutes. It’s like crazy. So in less time than it takes to do skip. And I, oh yeah don’t even get me started. I just have a hard time, that amount of money it costs to get your food delivered when you can make it super easily. You can. And also with that age group, I think is pivotal because I think you have to teach them that it’s okay to make mistakes or it’s okay to try something and then, oh, well, maybe it doesn’t taste that good, but that’s okay. We know that for next time. And that’s okay. We’ll do it differently next time, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure or failure as a cook. It’s just trial and error, right? And it’s okay. So, yeah, I really enjoy those. I really enjoy my kids cooking classes. And I’m sure the parents thank you every minute too. So yeah, yeah, they like it.

So where’d you just come from? Like I know you just came back from somewhere. You wanna share a little bit about that? Oh, sure. I’d love to. I just came back from our President’s Club incentive trip to the Bahamas, a cruise to the Bahamas. And it was all that. You didn’t go just by yourself either. You earned a trip for yourself and- My husband too. So it was our first cruise. It was a stretch goal, like a stretch goal. And even up until like a month before we had, before the earning period ended, I didn’t know that I was gonna get him on the ship. And then he said to me, I really wanna go. And I’m like, great, I’m really gonna have to work hard this month to make it happen. And I did, and we made it happen. And we…within an hour of being on the cruise ship, he said to me, I don’t think this is going to be our last cruise. He really liked it. And it was we Yeah, we had a very good time. It was lovely. Yeah, I seen some pictures. It looked like he had a smile on his face all the time. So that’s great.

Yeah. So I’m a strong believer that everybody has a superpower in their business. They they’re really, really good at one specific thing. What is your superpower in your business? I’m not entirely sure, but I have a lot of loyal, long time customers and customers over the time who’ve become friends. So I’d like to think it’s customer service and making friends out of customers like that I’m honoured to have as friends too. And then as far as doing my business, we had this conversation one time before with our sales manager that was also a life coach. And she pulled these questions out of us and she said, she asked people at the table what their superpower was. And then they asked, she asked us what our superpower was as well. And it was, and it is business related. And at that point, I said, my superpower was I can take anything out of the fridge or make a meal out of anything that’s in my fridge and so that’s another, it sort of goes hand in hand with Epicure too. It’s like I can mix and match ingredients on a recipe, no problem. So that’s sort of two folds of those superpowers, looking at it from a business point of view with my customers and also looking at working my business or the product too. Does that make sense? It does make sense. And I know for a fact that you were going to say customer service because being in your customer community on Facebook, you could tell that you like really pour into your customers. So I mean, it pays off, like it pays off. It’s got you to places, you know, trips and, and this wasn’t the first trip you had. So I mean, you set that goal for, for the trips and you’re making them because you’re providing great customer service.

Do you have, do you do anything specific like with customer service? Like do you have, because I think you have a pantry club or something along that line. Yeah, I have a pantry club. So they order monthly and then there’s a different host every month. So that’s been running for years. And there’s a few people on there that have been with me for years on that pantry club. And it’s just It’s a simple way for them to restock their pantry without having to spend a ton every month. The minimum is $25. So that’s nothing to buy your, you know, a couple sets of meal solutions or some salad dressing or broth or whatever you need. And then once in that session of pantry club, they get to be the host and they can either do an in-person event to add to their hostess benefits or not. So they never have to do a thing except order $25 a month and they get the benefits once every 10 months of all the hostess benefits. So that’s a foundation of my, I love that because it’s a win-win situation. Make sure that I have a qualifying party for sure every month and they win from it because they don’t have to do a party if they don’t want to. But if they want to, benefits are huge. Well, and you’re also allowing them to make sure that they have their epicure groceries in their pantry every month, right? Because people go to the grocery store at least four times a month. What makes you think that like, I mean, epicure is groceries. Why wouldn’t you be purchasing your, like you said, your broth or your salad dressing, or even your taco seasoning every month, right? We all eat and we all eat those foods on repeat. So it’s just, like you said, a win-win for everybody. That’s awesome. and you also, when you said that, made me think of something that’s, that is really important to me, and that’s not holding on to order. So if people directly order from our website, from my website, and get it directly shipped, that’s fine. But quite often my pantry club is a group order. I, you know, have the orders all delivered here. I don’t, it’s imperative for me to get it to them as soon as I get it in my hands. So just like, I didn’t want to wait for their groceries. I don’t want them to wait for their Epicure groceries either. Like, so that’s another, it’s a customer service thing. But it is. And so true. Yeah. Yeah. Because I know if I, if coming from a customer standpoint, if I’m ordering something, I don’t want to receive it in six weeks. I want to get it as soon as possible.

So, yeah. Now I, I prepped you for this question because I know it always throws people off. But I want to know if you have a quote, a favourite quote, or some words of advice that you give or that you’ve heard over your years that you think other people would benefit from hearing. Yeah, that was an easy one actually for me because it’s one that I quote that I think of all the time. And it’s the secret to success is the consistency of purpose. And it can be always, it’s been in many other so in my Life before Epicure, I worked at Weight Watchers and that’s actually where that came from. I was a leader for Weight Watchers for 10 years. So that came up there, which kind of is fitting. Secret to success is the consistency of purpose, whether it’s good health or weight loss or whatever. But now it’s kind of for that business sense of your purpose can change depending on what you’re talking about, right? And you’re…Success can change depending on what you’re talking about. So yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s just a pretty well-rounded quote, the secret to success, what do you want? And well, then you’ve just got to consistently make it intentional to work at it then. And what’s your purpose? What’s your purpose? My purpose right now is like, I value a home cooked meal and I don’t wanna spend the day cooking it and I wanna show people that they can as well get a home cooked meal on the table in no time as well. So that’s my purpose and my purpose is to have the flexible business that I have. So I have to do all the things that keep it there. Is Epicure your first direct sales business that you’ve got into? It is. My first and only. I am, I used to cringe at the thought of being called a sales person or be in sales or I’m not somebody that could just sell anything. I have to sell something that I am passionate about. And so the passion for Epicure came before the business, being in sales. And that’s just who I am. Now I understand a little bit more of sales is just sharing, sharing something that you believe in. So yeah, it makes it easy. Mm hmm. And now I’m not, I’m not embarrassed to say I’m in sales or I’m in direct sales and understanding how direct sales works. And, and it’s not that big, ugly thing that some people make it cringy, but it’s not cringy. It’s, we work hard. Especially when you come from a place of service like you do, right? It’s you’re providing your customers what they they truly need and want. So you’re not you’re definitely not that cringy salesperson, right? And so- I wanna work as hard myself as I would for a supervisor or somebody else. Like, you know, that’s, and I’ve always had good work ethics and so, yeah, so now I’m reaping the benefit of that. I love that.

All right, so I need you to tell people, where can they find you? Like where, if they wanna connect with you on social, how could they find you? Well, my business page is Penny’s Epic Food Fast. And Instagram is at Penny Stonehewer. And of course, Penny I’ll make sure I link those pages and those those websites in the show notes. But Penny, I thank you so much for joining us. I really loved hearing about your story and, and having you here to share it with the listeners. And I just want to thank everyone for joining us on this episode of The Other 99%. And we will see you on the next episode, everyone. Take care.