I invite Rebecca Fralick, a current member of my first cohort of One Year From Now: The Residency and well-rounded food entrepreneur, to talk with me about her experience so far in the program, her journey into entrepreneurship, the inspiration she received from her family, and how she unites her entrepreneurship and food skills to give back to her community.
In this episode, Rebecca and I cover:
- Fearing failure in order to protect hope
- Audacity as a necessity when doing deeply impactful work
- Food-based entrepreneurship being business on “Hard Mode”
- How Rebecca uses entrepreneurship to provide beautiful, dignifying food service
- Rebecca’s first few weeks as a OYFN Resident
Taking the chance in the restaurant business
From a young age, Rebecca had dreams of owning a restaurant, but the facts and economics of the restaurant business and food industry created a sense of uncertainty and fear. While research is a part of risk-taking, it’s important to acknowledge that risk-taking is also a part of all successful entrepreneurial journeys. When Rebecca’s husband Kyle finally convinced her to take a chance on herself, Rebecca realized that many risks come with real rewards.
“For me, it’s like failure is not an option, like nope, I’m not doing that to myself. And [my husband and I] went back and forth for quite a while and finally, I was like, ‘Whatever, I will do this so I can prove to him that it was a stupid idea.’ But it turns out…he was right.”
Coming to terms with failure
A barrier to Rebecca’s belief in her business’ success was the many failures she would hear about from every corner of the restaurant world. For many of us, failure is the thing we want to avoid most in the world, and Rebecca is no different. It wasn’t until Rebecca encountered other entrepreneurs willing to be vulnerable that she realized she wasn’t alone in this feeling. Her success is important to her, but failure now is as well because it offers a chance to learn.
“And I don’t want to get to the end of my life and know that I just played it safe, so that I never failed at anything. I would rather have a huge goal and get halfway there than just live this mediocre life.”
Using entrepreneurship for positive community impact
One of the reasons I wanted Rebecca in my Residency program was her unique perspective on community and her desire to build her business in multiple ways to benefit not only herself, but the world around her. From providing a living wage to her employees to using only fair trade ingredients to planning an aspect of her business around helping victims of domestic violence, Rebecca uses her experiences and talents to give beautiful experiences to others.
“So, that’s something that is core to my business…I think that same care should always go in, I don’t think that money should be the thing that determines how you’re treated, and whether or not you deserve a beautiful experience.”
Experiencing The Residency
Considering The Residency is still new to my business, I wanted to hear Rebecca’s thoughts on the investment she’s made in the program and the experience she’s had so far. With feedback from fellow entrepreneurs and from me as her coach, she feels like she’s gathered so many tools needed to achieve goals she previously only imagined possible and has become so much more comfortable with being vulnerable about her business.
“It’s good, you know, everybody there wants you to succeed and vice versa. But also, nobody’s just gonna tell you what you want to hear. Like, they’ll tell you and it may be hard to hear, but they’re absolutely doing it because they care, because they want you to succeed.”
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Keep in touch with Rebecca on her Instagram (@matenaercatering, @sweetswithintegrity) and her website.
The Residency is a 12-month, cohort-based program specifically built to help first-generation entrepreneurs gain the business acuity and mental-emotional maturity to build their next high-impact, high-profit asset…and whatever else they want for the rest of their lives. Join the email list HERE to get application details for the next cohort.
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