March is Women’s History Month, and Yumbini is a woman-owned business. Maybe we haven’t made history yet, but we are working on it! Here is a bit of women’s history about how we got started.
I come from a long line of women who can’t sit still and always have a project or two in the works. That is probably why, when my husband retired and my youngest kids were about to graduate from college, I had no plans to retire myself. I was just getting started! It was finally my chance to do whatever I wanted!
I was inspired by my grandmother Elizabeth who, in 1961 at age 53, picked up everything and moved from a small town in Iowa, to Oregon. There she established her own retail store – a hat shop at first (they had those in the early 60’s), and later a boutique for children’s and maternity clothes.
My grandmother had been a wife, mother and school teacher for many years, so she certainly was not young or naïve. But she had never owned her own business before, let alone a retail store. I don’t know how she got the idea or even knew where to begin. Her father had his own business, so maybe she learned some from him. But knowing my grandmother, probably not. She just forged ahead!
And she figured it out! She worked in that store, 6 days a week, with only a few part time employees, until she was well into her 80’s. My grandfather helped pay the bills and such. (As a child, I found it funny because his name was Bill and he paid the bills). But my grandmother was very much in charge.
When she finally sold the store about 30 years later, she was so bored she had to go volunteer at a school.
So, it was my grandmother Elizabeth I thought of when I started Yumbini. I had been a food scientist doing new product development for over 40 years. I had long dreamed of solving world hunger or developing special foods to alleviate certain diseases. After many experiments and aborted development projects, it became clear that nothing all that special is required. Folks just need great-tasting, shelf stable, nutritious food that can be ready in a hurry. And it needs to be able to be eaten by everyone. So that is how Yumbini quick beans and rice was born! (You can read more about our story here and here.)
Yumbini may be a woman-owned business but, like my grandmother, not without the help and support of an understanding husband. My husband Aki was an early Yumbini taster and encouraged me that “this one might really sell” – unlike the innumerable attempts that preceded it! He also saved me (and the business) a few months after launch when I realized I had a great product but didn’t know anything about selling it. (Fortunately, he did.)
Thinking back over the brief history of Yumbini so far, I realize how lucky I am to have a supportive husband and the example of my grandmother, with her woman-owned business, as inspiration. To all the women and men reading this: don’t underestimate the value of your example. You will never know who will draw inspiration from what you may consider humble efforts. It is the way we build a better world, one dream at a time.
