Social Media Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Seema Sanghavi of Cooks Who Feed Is Helping To Change Our World
Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Running your own business means you’re learning a lot. In the beginning, you are involved in most, if not all, parts of your business. You’re learning as you go and the uncertainty is definitely uncomfortable. You need to learn to be ok with being uncomfortable. In fact, being comfortable for too long will hurt your business growth.
As a part of our series about leaders who are using their social media platform to make a significant social impact, we had the pleasure of interviewing Seema Sanghavi.
Seema Sanghavi is the founder of Cooks Who Feed, a social enterprise on a mission to unite food lovers to end hunger. Cooks Who Feed ethically produces kitchen textiles with a give-back model, providing meals to alleviate hunger. Their flagship product, handcrafted canvas aprons, provides 100 meals for every apron sold.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I love to cook. In fact, many of my fondest memories revolve around sharing a good meal. But as much as food gives me joy, I’ve always been bothered by the number of people who go hungry and do not get to experience food the way that I do. I struggle to live in this world of feast or famine.
In 2016, I visited an NGO in India that provided paid training and fair, safe work to marginalized women. After meeting them and seeing them work so hard, I felt compelled to help in some way so that more women could have the same opportunity. At that point in time, I was not sure how I could be of service but I knew I could not go back home and forget what I had seen.
Later, in 2018, I came across an article about food waste. I learned that about 1/3 of the food produced gets thrown out. This fact struck a chord with me so I started doing a bit of research. How could so many go hungry when so much food is just being thrown out?
This was when I started connecting the dots and the idea for Cooks Who Feed was born. What better way to fight hunger than with an apron; the uniform of a cook. And now, I work directly with that NGO I visited to produce our aprons.
I never set out to create a company. I set out to create a movement that would empower foodies everywhere to fight hunger in the most socially responsible way possible.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?
We launched Cooks Who Feed at the end of 2019. It seemed logical to us to reach out to businesses in hospitality to see if we could be their apron vendor of choice. We spent months reaching out to restaurant groups, hotels, and culinary colleges. Well, we all know what happened in March 2020.
I will never forget that sinking feeling as I received email after email from potential businesses that started with something along the lines of, “Although we value the work you are doing to fight hunger, we regret to inform you that we cannot move forward at this time.” I began to think that leaving the corporate world to fulfill my life’s passion was the stupidest decision I had ever made.
After a few months of trying to make sense of what was happening and realizing it would be a while before the world opened back up, I knew we needed to find a creative solution if we wanted to survive the pandemic.
Then, in June, I received an email that would change everything. I got an email from a real estate agent that wanted to purchase 50 custom-branded aprons. When I reached back out the agent told me they wanted to include them in their housewarming gifts to their homebuyers. I quickly began making a list of the top real estate agents in the area and dropped off an apron to each of their offices with a note explaining what we do. Since then, we’ve created aprons for a number of real estate agencies and home builders. In fact, creating custom aprons for housewarming gifts has become one of our biggest sales channels.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I’ve made plenty of mistakes, however, can’t say any of them have been funny. Maybe that’s the learning here, maybe I need to have more of a sense of humor and not take things too seriously 🙂
I think my biggest mistake was spending too much on production in the beginning. Shortly after launching our website we quickly added 9 aprons to our adult apron line. So much of our cash was tied into inventory. It’s better to start small and grow your product offering slowly. That way, you have more cash on hand to spend on other areas of the business.
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
It’s normal to be afraid of failure so don’t let that stop you. Regret is far worse than fear.
Ok super. Let’s now jump to the core focus of our interview. Can you describe to our readers how you are using your platform to make a significant social impact?
We’re creating impact not only from selling our products but from our whole process. From the moment the fabric hits the sewing machine to the time it ends up in your kitchen, our apron has employed poor women, fed their families, reduced food waste and provided 100 nutritious meals to the hungry. That’s a lot for one apron.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by this cause?
I can tell you about 72 individuals who have been greatly affected by our work. We currently have a team of 72 women who make our products. We work with an organization that trains and hires marginalized women in India and provides them with safe, fair trade work. Having this opportunity has changed their lives. They no longer live in poverty and it has changed their perspective on life. They have become strong, independent women.
Was there a tipping point that made you decide to focus on this particular area? Can you share a story about that?
The tipping point for me was learning how much food is actually being wasted. When I started to research the topic, one headline that I came across stood out amongst the rest. It stated that the amount of food we waste could feed the entire world’s hungry four times over. This shocked me so much and I knew I had to do something to change this.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
First, people can volunteer at and donate to their local food banks. More people than you would think rely on food banks and with the current food prices, these organizations need all the help they can get.
Secondly, society as a whole needs to make ending hunger a priority. When families suffer from food insecurity, they get trapped in a cycle of poverty. When families have enough nutritious food, they are better equipped to pull themselves out of the cycle of poverty. They can focus on getting educated, finding better employment, and contributing back to the community.
Lastly, the government can also play a role in ending hunger. One way is changing the laws around food waste. So much food is thrown away because food serving establishments are legally not allowed to donate unused food. Some governments have changed these laws, however, most have not. The rules around expiration dates also need to change. Much of the food that is “expired” is still good to eat.
Why do you think social media in particular has the power to create social change and create a positive impact on humanity?
Because so many of us use social media, it has the power to create real change. Ideas should be shared so more visibility can be given to the problems we have. It’s also a great tool to help us keep our leaders accountable for their actions.
What specific strategies have you been using to promote and advance this cause? Can you recommend any good tips for people who want to follow your lead and use their social platform for a social good?
The most effective way to promote our cause has been by working with well-known chefs. We brought on chef ambassadors who have designed many of our textiles and they have been promoting our work to their fan base. Working with others who share your values and believe in your work will help get your message out there. It also adds credibility to your business.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
- You will feel every other entrepreneur is doing better than you. Every entrepreneur likes to share their success stories, however, few want to discuss their failures. When you keep hearing about all the great things other business owners are doing and how their businesses are taking off, it can definitely make you feel like you’re doing something wrong.
- Anxiety is normal, learn to cope with it. As an entrepreneur, your business is everything to you. Even when you’re not working, you are. And unfortunately, there are usually more failures than wins, this can lead to feelings of anxiety. You’re frequently wondering if you’ve made the right decisions. You need to find ways to manage your anxiety. For me, exercise has been the best way.
- Take the time to celebrate your victories. Because you have more failures than wins, it’s important to really celebrate your successes. You worked hard, so take the time to recognize that and give yourself a pat on the back. Celebrating your successes will help you get through the tough times.
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Running your own business means you’re learning a lot. In the beginning, you are involved in most, if not all, parts of your business. You’re learning as you go and the uncertainty is definitely uncomfortable. You need to learn to be ok with being uncomfortable. In fact, being comfortable for too long will hurt your business growth.
- It’s going to take several years before you feel like you’ve had success. Although it seems like so many businesses succeed overnight, it is years of hard work. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Most entrepreneurs fail not because they didn’t have a good idea, it’s because they gave up too early.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I could, I would make it mandatory for companies to be transparent. Consumers should be able to know how companies are running their businesses so they can make informed decisions on where to spend their money. If companies had to share how they run their business, they would make more socially responsible decisions and create greater good. Think about if you found out your favourite brand was using child labor, would you still support them? Companies do a lot of things that are not ethical or good for the planet because their focus is purely on profit.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a power lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Oh, it would have to be Gordon Ramsay. He has so much influence. If we were to create a Gordon Ramsay apron, it would sell like crazy. We could provide so many meals!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Linkedin. Our handle is @CooksWhoFeed
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
Social Media Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Seema Sanghavi of Cooks Who Feed Is Helping To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.