The Changeup

This week's guest is the founder and CEO of Ithaca Hummus, Chris Kirby.Ithaca Hummus makes amazing hummus with minimal ingredients and maximum taste.

We talk about his journey from selling at farm stands in upstate New York to being in over 9,000 doors (with the final boss coming in October), the diversification of flavors, the importance of steady growth versus exponential growth, and a little lesson on Beanie Baby s...

This week's guest is the founder, owner, and cheese maker at McGrath Cheese Company, Colin McGrath. McGrath Cheese Company is an artisan producer based in New York's Hudson Valley.

They make some of the most incredible cheese, sourced from local dairies. We discussed Colin's remarkable path into the cheese business from the CIA (that's the Culinary Institute of America) to apprenticing, to making his ow...

This week's guests are the founders of Moonrise Bagels, Jeremy and Ali Rhodes. Moonrise Bagels are award-winning stuffed bagels that are ridiculously good and are taking over upstate New York.

We talk about how a party invention and Jeremy's obsession with finding the perfect way to stuff a bagel turned into a full-scale business with three locations, how Ali is able to leverage her sharp PR skills to grow awaren...

This week's guest is the founder of Driftaway Coffee, Anu Menon. Driftaway Coffee is an immigrant-owned, women-led company that prioritizes women and minority producers, and making accessible coffee for all consumers.

We discussed her leap from the marketing world to brewing coffee, how her brand helps people find their next favorite blend in a unique way and how the business went from a passion project to a full-scal...

This week's guest is the CEO and co-founder of Seed + Mill, Rachel Simons. Seed + Mill is a women-owned artisan food brand focusing on food products derived from sesame seed, like tahini and halva.
We talk about Rachel's evolution from corporate lawyer to food entrepreneur, the nuances of running an online business that also has a physical location in Chelsea Market, and her upcoming book launch, and why it means so m...

This week's guests are the co-founders of Overlook Bakery, Rosie and Mike DeVito. Overlook Bakery is my local bakery here in Woodstock, which makes some of the best cookies, cakes, and desserts in the world.

We talk about starting their business during COVID by making cakes in their home, leaving the corporate confines of the accounting world to build out a physical location, and how their direct, honest messaging led...

This week's guest is the founder and CEO of Eat2Explore, Rowena Scherer. 

Eat2Explore makes it easy for kids and families to explore world cuisines and cultures with their award-winning experience-in-a-box cooking kits. We talk about how she went from private equity to the French Culinary Institute, the spark for the idea, and the importance of inspiring kids to appreciate and explore all cultures of the world through delicious...

This week's guest is dual threat, Taylor Cocalis Suarez. Tay co-founded Good Food Jobs, a website and newsletter with over 80,000 subscribers helping satisfy the hunger for meaningful work in the food industry. She's also co-founder of one of my all-time favorite breweries, Suarez Family Brewery, which is based near Hudson, New York. We talked to Tay about running both businesses, the aversion for scale at scales sake, an...

We are back for season six of The Changeup. What started as a project while I was bored at home during the throes of COVID is now over 100 episodes with smart founders sharing their journey along the way.

This season, we're continuing down the path of food and beverage with a focus on New York owned and operated companies. There's something about tangible items in the digital age that gets me excited and I hope t...

This week's guest is the co-founder of Sound, Tommy Kelly. Sound was born from its co-founder's desire for a better-tasting, more exciting unsweetened beverage. We talk about the company's founding happening while Tommy was an engineer looking for a drink to keep him going during long days and partnering with his then co-worker and now co-partner, Salim.
Tommy embraces the ebbs and flows of the hard-to-navigate C...

This week's guests are the co-founders of Saucy Confections, Alexander and Mary Rose Zaranski.
Saucy Confections makes an alcoholic gummy called Winosaurs, which is, you might've guessed, filled with wine. We talk about how they took a fun idea for their wedding party favors and turned it into a business that keeps growing. We learn how they built their own machinery before buying and what's next on the rise in ...

This week's guest is the founder of Dirty Water, Dominic Minogue. Dirty Water is a hard seltzer brand born in New York City, aiming to be the accessible, easy-drinking dive bar hard seltzer. We talked to Dominic about the David versus Goliath battle in the hard beverage industry, the door-to-door grind of getting his product into bars and bodegas, and how his background and design and fashion helps influence Dirty Water's...

This week's guest is Nathaniel Harrington, the founder of Nat's Nuts. Nat's Nuts is a gourmet roasted nut company in upstate New York that ships across the United States and is in over 2000 stores. 
We talk about how he turned a school fundraising project to Guatemala into a full blown business, how he's built the business from his apartment to a large scale operation, and how faith plays a major role in eve...

This week we welcome Tom Vaughan and Nakiska Vaughan of Westmeadow Farm and Dairy. Westmeadow Farm and Dairy is a family-owned and operated farm and creamery making fresh milk, cheese, and ice cream. 
We talk about Tom's original path to farming, moving from Ireland to Connecticut and then eventually landing in upstate New York. We also learned how Nakiska's plan to swim with dolphins was thwarted by COVID, but that u...

This week's guest is the co-founder of Bjorn Qorn, Bjorn Quenemoen.
Bjorn Qorn is a non-GMO popcorn with all-natural gluten-free and vegan ingredients. They use nutritional yeast instead of butter and cheese, and it's probably the best popcorn I've ever had from a bag.
We talk about how a college party concept with a friend turned into a thriving business, the science behind popping using mirrored reflector...

This week's guest is the co-founder of Barrel + Brine, RJ Marvin.
Barrel + Brine is a food and beverage company located in Buffalo, New York, specializing in pickled foods, kimchi, and kombucha.  We talk about leaving the restaurant business to get into the pickling business and returning to the restaurant business to help complement the store.
RJ shares his thoughts on packaging design, packaging his own food, and h...

In this week's episode, I'm talking with the co-founders of Loisa, Scott Hattis, and Kenny Luna. Loisa is a Latin-owned food company focusing on bringing organic versions of the most famous Latin seasoning to the market. They started with Sazon and Adobo and are growing exponentially, with their most recent partnership with Whole Foods opening doors across the country.
We talk about starting in their kitchen, learning...

This week we welcome Brian and Dahlia Graham, the co-founders of Fruition Chocolate Works. Fruition is an ethically sourced chocolate company using traditional and modern techniques to make their award-winning chocolate in Catskills.
This episode is a bit of a departure as we met in real life to do the interview. You might hear the sounds of the shop and a change in our voice as we move around, but it led to an intimate and li...