In 2017, she bought a food truck, moved her side hustle to the Port Rexton Brewing Co beer garden and the rest, you could say, is history.<\/p>\n
It was a strategic decision to move her business from St. John\u2019s to Port Rexton. The brewery is about three hours away from where she lives, but it\u2019s a popular destination for tourists and locals alike. And what goes better with a pint of beer than a hot, gooey, grilled cheese sandwich?<\/p>\n
Plus, Port Rexton\u2019s craft beer works well with Oh My Cheese\u2019s unique approach to the classic sandwich.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to source local ingredients, such as blueberries, partridgeberries and chanterelles, pair them with a quality cheese and grill it on homemade sourdough bread,\u201d says Lisa.<\/p>\n
Some of their more popular offerings include a blueberry balsamic jam, cracked pepper and old cheddar sandwich and a pickled beets, goat cheese, prosciutto sandwich drizzled with a balsamic reduction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to find inspiration from what I can access locally, but also from recipes handed down through my family,\u201d explains Lisa. For example, Oh My Cheeses recently added a moose donair to the menu as Lisa used to hunt with her family growing up and developed an appreciation for game meat. They\u2019ve also expanded their menu to include fancy fries.<\/p>\n
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While the business has grown immensely in just a few short years, Lisa has also faced her fair share of challenges. For example, her decision to move her business so far from her home means the long travel times can be wearisome. However, she\u2019s recently hired more staff, which she hopes will ease her commute.<\/p>\n
Additionally, thanks to Futurpreneur\u2019s Start-Up Program, she has had the support of business mentor to guide her through the first few years of owning a business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a great mentor that allowed me to bounce ideas off of them, and gain insight due to their experience,\u201d says Lisa.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s been fortunate to have the support of her local community as well, which has seen a boon of new business open in just a few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bonavista Peninsula is a mecca for young entrepreneurs, having seen over 30 businesses open in the past five years, most by young entrepreneurs, many of whom are female,\u201d says Lisa. \u201cMy first year, I was given advice I didn\u2019t even know I needed. It kept me going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, what has inspired her the most to keep growing her business are her many satisfied customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that people love our food,\u201d says Lisa. \u201cPeople often look at the menu and are shocked that a grilled cheese could be so adventurous.\u00a0 Sometimes, they are a little hesitant to step out of their comfort zone, but it is always rewarding to see them come back just to say how much they enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re thinking of starting a business like Lisa, she has these final words of advice:<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk for help and be prepared. That sounds cheesy \u2013 see what I did there \u2013 but it\u2019s true. I spent three years making grilled cheeses at local markets before I made the decision to expand. It wasn\u2019t something that was done on a whim, but it was something that I fell in love with and wanted to continue on a larger scale. I try not to keep the menu stagnant, so I never get bored, nor do the customers! If you have a great idea [for a product-based business], testing it out at Farmers\u2019 Markets or local fairs is a great way to find out if other people think it\u2019s a great idea too!\u201d<\/p>\n
Written by: Jasmine Williams, Social Media and Content Specialist, Futurpreneur Canada<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With her passion for science, Lisa LeShane of St. Johns, Newfoundland has always liked experimenting. But it wasn\u2019t until she started working in restaurants in university that her interests shifted from the lab to the kitchen. She began working in the food industry during her undergrad as a bartender and server. Eventually, she moved into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-futurpreneurs-and-partners"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}