Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Read.
Hi Ann, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Food has really been a tradition in my family for many generations. Growing up n West Virginia, I learned to cook with my grandmother and my mother using old family recipes and ingredients from our own garden. It was how we bonded as a family and how I learned really good, fresh ingredients make the best foods and are best for our nutrition.
Fast forward many years to 2015, I had been working in fundraising for 20+ years but was starting to feel very unfulfilled. My mother had just passed away and I was raising my daughter with the same principles of eating I had learned growing up. I recognized that when we started introducing solids, I had fed her clean, freshly made foods, and one at a time her palate was very robust. At the time, there were really no other options on the market for baby food other than the big brands which has very little flavor, were over-processed, and pre-mixed, I decided to launch Harvest to Highchair to give other mothers an option for delicious, freshly made baby food delivered to their home.
Now six years later, my daughter has watched us build Harvest to Highchair into a wonderful business that supports families all over the country to provide the same options she had when she started solids and now loves food. So when she approached me at the end of 2020 to start her own business, we looked back into the recipes books that were handed down from my great, great grandmother to me and found some classic pickling and canning recipes. In early 2021, we launch Sweetfully Pickled starting with a 6th generation bread and butter pickle recipe that has added, sweet & spicy, dill pickles, pickled beets, onions, and okra, and now spicy tomato jam and hot pepper jelly.
Together we are building successful businesses, but also building a company that is based on the classic, food traditions handed down throughout many generations that will, hopefully, help our customers return to eat more unprocessed, clean foods.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being an entrepreneur is never a smooth road!
On a personal level, I’ve had to learn where to set boundaries between the business and my personal life, and when to ‘turn off’ to be present in life. On a business level, as an owner the bus stop with you. There are so many aspects of the business that you have to juggle – specialized training for the food business, building a following from scratch, the social media bubble, capital funding, and investors, changing a mindset, customer relations.
But, when I first started, a friend gave me some of the best advice – look at success like a tree you are trying to cut down with an ax. You don’t cut it down with one swing but multiple, regular hits. So, if you take one swing a day and do not look at the big picture, you’ll find little successes along the way that will grow into larger successes.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Harvest to Highchair is a small, batch artisanal baby and children’s food company. We specialize in palate training and clean, unprocessed foods to help your baby (and family) connect with real food and build a lifelong love affair with food. We are known for impeccably made, single flavor baby food, unique recipes and foods for children made with unprocessed real ingredients, and great customer service.
Sweetfully Pickled is a small batch pickle and canning company made with generations-old recipes. We are known for our classic bread and butter pickles because there is nothing else like them on the market.
I am most proud of being a role model for my daughter, so much that she wanted to start something of her own with the same principles I started Harvest to Highchair. I am proud that we have thrived through a pandemic and continue to build two nationally recognized brands.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the Charleston area because it is full of people who truly support entrepreneurs and there is always someone who is willing to give advice, insight, and collaboration. I love that rather than compete, other local, small businesses and brands look for ways to support and help other local, small businesses and brands to be successful.
What I like least about the area is probably what most like least is the overgrowth that has happened over the past decade. However, on some levels, I don’t think what I like best would be possible without the growth of the city and new people coming to the area.
Contact Info:
- Email: ann@harvesttohighchair.com
- Website: www.harvesttohighchair.com and www.sweetfullypickled.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/harvesttohighchair and www.instagram.com/sweetfulypickled
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/harvesttohighchair and www.facebook.com/sweetfulypickled
Image Credits
Brianna Stello Ann, Louise Read, Katie Timbers, and Ann Read
