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| Story Title: |
Pickle Lady's Pickle Passion |
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| Client Profile: |
Pickle Lady's Pickle Passion is owned and operated by Leonora "Pickle Lady" Ching, a local entrepreneur with a passion for pickling. The retired occupational therapist calls Kaneohe, Hawaii home. |
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| Situation: |
For the past 20 years, Leonora Ching has been testing family recipes and writing them down in notebooks. People love her pickled products and wanted to order them, but she was fearful of starting her own business having no prior experience in this area. A FastTrac graduate, Leonora Ching originally took the course so she could help her daughter start a baby clothing line. After several weeks, Ms. Ching met with Mary Ann Lee, Hawaii MEP's (Hawaii HTDC- MEP) a NIST MEP network affiliate formerly known as Innovative Solutions, Project Manager and FastTrac Facilitator to discuss her future plans and goals. When asked what her passion was, Ms. Ching's eyes lit up and said, "cooking and pickling." |
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| Solution |
With Mary Ann's encouragement and guidance, Ms. Ching started researching local cookbooks on pickling. She soon found that there were no cookbooks of this type in the local bookstores. With her FastTrac education and the aid of Hawaii HTDC- MEP, Ms. Ching worked on her business plan and started the process of getting her recipes printed and sold.
Ms. Ching published her first cookbook, "The Pickle Passion Cookbook," which features pickling recipes for eggs, fruits, and vegetables. She also teaches cooking classes, appeared as a guest on several radio talk shows, and was featured in the local newspapers.
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| Results: |
* Sold 3,000 copies of first cookbook.
* Appeared on several radio talk shows, cooking shows, and featured in local newspapers.
* Started manufacturing pickled products.
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| Testimonial: |
"I am grateful to HTDC-MEP for teaching me the basics about starting and running a business and thanks to Mary Ann who challenged me to put my ideas in writing."
Leonora Ching, Owner |
HTDC-MEP
- Success Story