Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Edmonds and Crystal Hendry.
Shawn and Crystal, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Shawn and I have been partners in life for ten years. We started Bloombox four years ago as a way for Shawn, who is a trained chef, to get out of restaurant kitchens and bring his unique dressings to the masses. I have an administrative background and could bring the nuts and bolts of running a small business properly to the partnership. We started doing one or two farmers’ markets a week three years ago to doing six markets a week now. We’ve also gotten our products into Whole Foods, King Soopers and Lucky’s Markets in Colorado. We have retailers across the US that carry our dressings. Bloombox isn’t stopping at dressings – we have much more ready to get out there!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Oh, man. It’s definitely not been a smooth road for us. In addition to launching Bloombox, we have a corporate catering company that is a full-time job. While this has allowed us so far to run Bloombox without having to look for outside investors, it’s been really difficult to find a balance in our lives. We are working 12-15 hours a day, often seven days a week. We make every bottle without using a co-packing company. It’s always a challenge to make sure we are able to source products – ingredients, bottles, labels, etc. – as we need them and as the cash flow allows;).
It’s also a challenge to find reliable staff to help us run the multiple markets we do from April through November and to do grocery store demos. I will say, though, that we have found some really incredible people that have become so valuable and integral to our success so far. We are really grateful for them. Shawn and I work very closely at times and while it’s great to work with the person you love, it’s definitely not easy. We have different working styles and ways of communicating, so when you’re stressed and tired, these things can be amplified.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We make a line of lettuce-specific dressings. Greens have their own unique textures and flavors and our dressings complement those, not cover them up. We are super proud of putting a salad dressing on the shelves that isn’t a bottle filled with water, sugar, and a lot of weird things no one can pronounce. We use simple ingredients that we try to source locally as much as possible. We can’t tell you how many people tell us that they usually make their own dressing because store-bought dressings are full of things they don’t want, but since they’ve found us, they feel good about what they are putting on their greens. And no one is doing lettuce-specific. We take the guessing out of what to put on kale!
What were you like growing up?
Shawn grew up in the wilds of Michigan, playing outside with friends – building forts, riding bikes and motorcycles, skateboarding, and racing frogs (that’s a real thing!). He also wrestled throughout his school years. He has one older brother. He started working at a young age, and coming from a dad that worked nights at Kellogg’s and a mom that worked days doing a variety of different things, he developed a serious Midwest work ethic. Unless he’s bleeding uncontrollably, he goes to work. His focus was more on things like music and art rather than math and science. He started a punk band with some friends which are a legend in some parts 😉 He’s always been a creative rainmaker.
Crystal grew up in a relatively small town in South Dakota. She is the oldest of three kids. She was a school nerd and an avid reader (still is to this day). She was a gymnast and a volleyball player until she quit sports to work at a local A&W. Similarly to Shawn, hard work was modeled by her parents and she is the same. She bought her first car, an AMC Gremlin, at age 15, so she could get to work.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1386 US Hwy 287 Broomfield, CO 80020
- Website: http://www.bloomboxfoods.com
- Phone: 720-663-9524
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @bloomboxfoods
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