New Chapter: Independence, confidence, and new adventures with Shredder Cheddar

Weekly mileage at 55 miles and holding Shredder Cheddar status

May is my birthday month, and I felt the love from the world around me.  This year has given me the biggest gifts: independence, confidence, and new adventures.  The experience of being an ultra runner has brought confidence from the first trail run 11 years ago, and now at 45 I feel so confident I can do anything! I am still running long distances and for my birthday this year I ran on Pensacola's gorgeous beach next to its emerald water for 30 miles!! I felt my fitness level peak, then I took two weeks to slow down to recaliberate and find balance again.  My parents came out for their first visit, and we had a wonderful time together.  I felt a sense of calmness after my birthday. I moved into a new home in Pensacola which I decorated exactly how I wanted it.  My friends helped me with this move, and I am so absolutely grateful for the people in my life that really support me through and through.  It is wild to think for the past seven years I had basically been living out of my suitcase.  Now, I am in my home with my furniture, and in an area that makes me very happy.  I finally feel settled, and I am finally sleeping through the night which is a huge change.  I am grateful for the opportunities that are being presenting as I embrace this next chapter. 

My wonderful parents visited for my birthday and Mother's Day. I have a sense of calmness now. I know I can do anything, but their support means the world to me.

It was late April, I synced up with a co-packer in Colorado that just fell into my lap.  I had been searching over a year for a co-packer who could manufacture Shredder Cheddar, which had not been an easy task.  I am very excited to announce Fuel & Iron in Pueblo, Colorado and Hull-some Foods are partnering to bring Shredder Cheddar to the hands of all!

Early on, I realized how important efficiency was in having a product. The most efficient way of producing Shredder Cheddar is having a co-packer.  Fuel & Iron is the chosen co-packer partner who will take us to the next level.  With the help of an advisor here in Pensacola I negotiated, then contracted Fuel & Iron for the production of Shredder Cheddar.  We originally were talking about a test run then manufacturing a huge batch soon after.  This 100 gallon run would cost upwards of the price of a new car.  I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around how I was going to raise 30K by June to pay for this humongous batch.  Instead, I asked what is the smallest batch we can do?  They responded that we can split that batch over a year. The negotiations were in and we figured out a plan.  Like ultra running, owning a business is all about troubleshooting, solving problems, and doing it for the least amount of time and money.  

The dates are set for early June to do the test batch run, and now the logistics are in play.  I luckily had the suppliers ready to go with the help of OSU FIC’s team(the commercialization match-funded grant from 2024).  I have been communicating with them for the past 9 months letting them know I was still in business and would need to set up accounts this year.  Now was the time to open accounts with them. The ingredient samples are ordered and being delivered to Fuel & Iron.  I was told some of the ingredients had a 10 day lead time to arrive at my co-packer, which was manageable.  Unfortunately, some of those ingredients actually could take longer, and not arrive in time for the test run.  I asked myself, “How can I make this work, so I don’t have to push the dates out?” I went for a run, and I came up with a solution.  I realized I had enough of the ingredients for a much smaller test batch. Ultimately, if this was ok with my co-packer then we could still follow through with our anticipated test run.  Fuel & Iron agreed to work with me on this and our dates and batch size are set.  I purchased my flights, hotel, rental car, ingredients, and packaging to prepare for this test batch run.  This was a huge step for me, as a woman owned business, because this is real and I am going for it! 

I started crowd-funding with my family and set up a GoFundMe https://gofund.me/3c1dd17d  where friends and my Shredder Cheddar crew are continuing to show their support through funding manufacturing for Shredder Cheddar.  I am so grateful for their generosity and support!  We are all working together to make this dream a reality, and we are just a week out from seeing these results.  Wahoo, Shredder Cheddar!!!!!

I had been so excited to attend the Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC with OSU FIC, but I politely declined after partnering with Fuel & Iron.   An expo like this is great for networking: finding buyers, co-packers, packaging, and getting exposure.  Although, timing is everything and as a business owner I have to make decision based on this. There are two Fancy Food Shows each year, and this winter there is one in San Diego that I plan to attend.  The timing will be better for Hull-some Foods in January, and I will want more exposure by then.

A friend and mentor from Pensacola has generously offered to help with Shredder Cheddar’s package design.  A graphic design student, Emily Taylor, has been designing Shredder Cheddar’s packaging.  Emily has dedicated her free time creating the packaging with our shared vision for Shredder Cheddar.  She is very talented and I am over the moon excited to see the final design.  This packaging has evolved over the past two years, and I cannot wait for these to be displayed on shelves.  

I have a handful of stores in the Southeast and Northwest US that are committed to putting Shredder Cheddar on their shelves.  I will spread Shredder Cheddar from coast to coast in 2025.  

I received a letter in May that my trademarks are registered with the USPTO.  Yep, that mouse aka Shredder Cheddar and the brand name itself are official.  Let me remind y'all that Shredder Cheddar is all about pushing the limits. I have waited patiently over a year to see this play out. I protected my IP early on, because I knew I had something so unique and first of its kind. Shredder Cheddar is ready for its debut! Heck Yeah!

Pensacola has a smaller but meaningful community of entrepreneur groups that I can choose from:  Co-lab, Million Cups, and Studer Community Institute, just to name a few. I applied to be in the Studer Community Institute VMS program( Venture Mentor Services), and have been asked back for an interview this week.  I will give a brief overview of Hull-some Foods, then I will be asked a few questions regarding my business plan.  I would really like to be in this program to feel rooted into my new town, and be surrounded by a community of entrepreneurs.  This program sets you up with 3-5 mentors to grow your business through your exit plan.  I can only imagine how insightful and beneficial it would be to have a team of mentors throughout the life of Hull-some Foods.  Wish me luck!  

I am still running two businesses simultaneously and it has been difficult, but it can be done.  Kudos to those that run multiple businesses. Wow, it takes tremendous dedication! When I am not knee deep in cheese thoughts, I am still massaging clients, and this goes round and round in my weekly routine.  I have been a massage therapist for 25 years, and have loved every day of it.  It has been a very rewarding career choice, and I am grateful for my loyal clients I had throughout the years. I hold licenses in Oregon and Florida, and have clients(www.makaimassageandspa.com) in both states.  I know that I will always be a massage therapist at heart and I will continue to see my clients for as long as I can while I build Hull-some Foods. 

My niece(8 yrs old) finished in 25:59 in her first 5k. She is a huge fan of Shredder Cheddar. We are so proud of our #1 who was a part of Girls on the Run in Portland, Oregon in May 2025

My intuition is guiding me, and I feel so passionate about Shredder Cheddar.  I get butterflies and goosebumps when I talk about my trials and accomplishments with others.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and I am doing what I am intended to do in my lifetime. 

As an athlete I created a product that I saw a need for; we need more savory snacks to eat on the go.  We need more natural products that are healthy.  We ultimately need more patent-pending Shredder Cheddar, because we all love cheese.  Shredder Cheddar was an idea that I ran with, and here I am bringing it to you. We are so close!

Power your potential,

Meg

Founder & CEO

www.hullsomefoods.com