Today we’d like to introduce you to Avni Tilvawala.
Hi Avni, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Born into an Indian household, tradition meant all women at a young age had to start learning to cook. I hated it. I did everything to sabotage my mother’s efforts by over-seasoning, not paying attention or outright protesting. Years later while I was living alone and missing my mother’s cooking, I reluctantly made the phone call to ask her for recipes and method. It was enough to spark my interest and newfound love of cooking. When I moved to the United States I joined a culinary arts program at Valencia community college. I learnt about foods of the world and techniques I could only imagine. Formally trained I worked at some prestigious restaurants enjoying every bit of it while soaking it all up like a sponge. After several years of cooking dinners and menus designed by the chefs I wanted to follow my passion of food with my own creations. Coming full circle, I find myself leaning on the one thing I ran away from, which is my culture and heritage. My love for spices grows as I learn about their uses, benefits and combinations. It is a window into worlds, cultures and exotic dishes that excite and question.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle was starting. I could say licenses, permits and fees etc. but honestly the most difficult part to starting was my own self-doubt and inner critic. Would I be good enough? Who would buy little old me’s products? What if people think my product isn’t worth it? I thought of a million and one things that could go wrong.
Now onto the external hurdles, I’d say researching what licenses are required, what I can and cannot do within that license. Permits, accounting and finding the right packaging/supplier. Packaging was a difficult one for me as I wanted to use eco-friendly bags. Not many companies make them and when they do, the cost is high. It took a lot of phone calls, googling with hours in front of the computer. Several samples later, I decided on the best fit for my business and what I wanted it to stand for.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about One Good Knife?
As opposed to the name, we do not sell knives! The name is an ode to my culinary journey. I’ve often told myself and others that a good knife is all we need to own to make some delicious delights. Throw away all those gadgets, specialty tools and just pay for a decent good knife. My new slogan is “one good spice” because I also believe you don’t need a pantry full of individual spices which sit there until cleaning day then they get tossed out because they are out of date OR to make room for the new one since the old one is so far back in the pantry you forgot about it. Another one that we all are guilty of is making this amazing dish and loving it so much but totally forgot the proportions of the individual spices we put in it. Sound familiar?
One Good Knife does worldly spice blends with more in the works. We want people to celebrate cultures and what better way than through food. What we pride ourselves in is we make all our spice blends small-batch so no sitting around in a warehouse to be shipped to a store where it further sits until purchase. We do not use anti-caking agents, preservatives or salts in any of our blends.
What we are most proud of is our eco-friendly packaging. Our bags are compostable and biodegradable; while this isn’t necessarily the best option in most critic’s point of view (very few compost), it has opened up conversations and curiosity towards composting. That is a fair start for us. Conversations need to happen as we continue to advocate for our planet. Finally, as cliché as it may come off we want all our customers to enjoy our blends, their meals and the togetherness food brings. That is what each bag represents; a pack of flavor and love. And to help those too afraid to try a blend we offer recipes on our blog to learn more them. I mean, what is life without spice?
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Oh yes, the old R-I-S-K that every entrepreneur dreads. Being a pragmatic person, I tend to weigh a lot of my options by turning stones, questioning and sometimes to sleep on it. I’d like to believe I take calculated risks to which I can afford to pay the price if things don’t pan out. Going forward, I am willing to take bigger risks as I gain confidence in my business through loyal customers and increased sales.
So far, the biggest risk I took was opening a business in the middle of a global pandemic as we were all hunkered down in quarantine. I decided to put myself out there (not physically with quarantine and all) but just start and have the opportunity to adjust with my newfound time. Since shopping online had significantly increased, I launched my online store. A lot of sites were holding free webinars on how to pivot your business to online, which was incredibly helpful and gave me courage to begin.
Pricing:
- All blends are $7.50
Contact Info:
- Email: info@onegoodknifespices.com
- Website: www.onegoodknifespices.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onegoodknife/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onegoodknife/
