She Started a Dating Site for Foodies. Killing It Was the Best Decision She Made.

Michelle Mazzara's first business was an online dating site for foodies. She was first to market. Six months in, she shut it down. Twelve years later, Luvafoodie is a clean-eating spice brand sold through regional grocery — and about to make the jump to national. In this episode of the Command Your Brand Show, Jeremy Ryan Slate talks with Michelle about what it actually takes to kill a good idea fast, build a consumer brand from nothing, and get a product onto a grocery shelf and keep it there. In this conversation: - Why she walked away from a first-to-market idea after six months- How selling caramels in local Minnesota stores became the test that proved the brand- Why short shelf life killed the chocolate line — and led to spices- A heart disease misdiagnosis, and the salt-free product line that came out of it- The spice blend she developed for her dog Lucy, who lived to 17 and a half- Why packaging aesthetics are "the communication that happens before communication"- The scary move she's making right now: spice tins to shaker jars, and a new co-packer- Be a big fish in a small pond first — the local-to-regional-to-national path- Exactly how she got from single stores into a grocery chain's distribution center- What she won't co-brand with, and why- Being a solo woman founder: total freedom, and nobody to check you If you're building a physical product, or you're sitting on a first idea you suspect isn't working, this one is worth your time. 👇 COMMENT BELOW: What's the thing you should have quit six months sooner? CHAPTERS:00:00 Intro00:25 Where the brand came from00:39 It started as a dating site for foodies01:32 How do you know it's the right pivot?02:00 Testing the brand with caramels in local stores03:01 Why chocolate didn't work — and spices did03:36 A heart disease misdiagnosis and the salt-free line04:30 Why she couldn't compete with Match.com05:51 Was the pivot hard mentally?06:41 25 years in consumer packaged goods — Target and Walmart08:02 The salt-free niche nobody was serving08:52 Food dyes and the clean-eating shift10:07 Spices for dogs and cats10:57 Lucy: seizures, a wrong diagnosis, and 17 and a half years12:20 The science of the retail display13:00 Why aesthetics sell food13:49 The scary move: spice tins to shaker jars15:59 "The communication that happens before communication"18:02 How she got the message out for 12 years19:35 Be a big fish in a small pond first19:57 From single stores to a distribution center21:08 What's in the line now23:01 What she won't co-brand with23:52 Solo founder: freedom and its cost24:51 How do you command your brand?25:50 Where to find Michelle26:59 The Puglia culinary tour CONNECT WITH MICHELLE MAZZARA:Luvafoodie: https://luvafoodie.com The Making of a Luvafoodie Brand (memoir/cookbook): https://www.amazon.com/Making-Luvafoodie%C2%AE-Brand-Clean-Eating-Revolution-ebook/dp/B0DLH84YB8 Luvafoodie Spice Blends Cookbook: https://www.amazon.com/Luvafoodie-Blends-Cookbook-Michelle-Mazzara/dp/1708273026 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-mazzara-83853b7/