I am pretty picky about my pickles and absolutely do not believe that "pickles are like pizza, even bad ones are good". No. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm always pretty sure when I've had a mediocre pickle, but I always know when I've had a bad or boring pickle.
I will chase someone down for a really good, garlic-soaked, briny, cold, crunchy dill. I would also corner someone for a pickle with both garlic and spicy heat.
Enter: Hattie's Hotties & Vampire Slayers: two of the most popular flavors in Hattie Donley's arsenal of handcrafted pickled delicacies available for delicious consumption and purchase at Pickled By Hattie.
Hattie was kind enough to grant me a FaceTime interview recently and had some great insight into the world of owning and operating a small business and somewhat falling into becoming an entrepreneur.
FWL: What was the biggest surprise to you about starting your own pickle business?
Hattie: What I loved was that I could make my own hours, but what was super surprising was not really knowing how much I'd have to make initially, or how many hours exactly went into all of it. The time spent starting and supporting and running your own business is honestly an endless venture. Make sure you love it if you're going to do it.
FWL: Why pickles?
Hattie: Honestly, pickles are really a labor of love for me, I don't expect to get wealthy from my pickle business, all I really want to do is make enough to survive and thrive. I am getting there.
FWL: How so?
Hattie: Well for example I quadrupled my sales from 2014 to 2015 and went from making $10K gross to $40K gross in that time period.
FWL: Whoa! That's a huge jump, what do you attribute to that?
Hattie: Doing many more farmers markets and really just talking about my business more. I'm also being more selective about which markets I choose to set up shop in.
FWL: What are some of the farmers markets that you frequent?
Hattie: Unique L.A. Spring & Fall, Renegade is also another one that I do very well at. My other staple farmers markets are Hollywood Farmers Market, Playa Vista Farmers Market, and Hermosa Beach Farmers Market.
FWL: How many farmers markets do you set up at per week and is there a location list for people to track where you are from weekend to weekend?
Hattie: Yes! You can go to my website www.pickledbyhattie.com to see where we'll be from week to week. We tend to do 2-3 per week.
FWL: But you also have some commercial clients both retail & restaurant in and around the Los Angeles area isn't that right?
HATTIE: I do! It started with a bar/restaurant here called Rock & Riley's; and currently El Cid offers my pickles with their Sunday Funday bloody marys. Also, Little Door in West Hollywood and Santa Monica use my pickles as well. As far as where you can buy my pickles through a retail outlet, Angelo: Home, Sunset Beer Company, and Strey Cellars are just a few, but you can check my website for a full list of every retail location that sells all of the Pickled By Hattie product line.
FWL: Speaking of a product line, I noticed that you're now offering pickled serrano peppers, relish and pickled garlic! That's what us marketer and advertisers call a line extension!
HATTIE: It IS a line extension! At first I was experimenting with the serranos and a few other things, but ultimately decided to pair it down to the serranos, the relish and the pickled garlic. All really popular.
FWL: Didn't I read a funny post on Facebook about someone coming into your booth recently at a farmer's market that had no idea what a serrano pepper was?
HATTIE: You would be so incredibly surprised how many times I answer the question "so what's all this?" "Well sir, these here...see these are pickles. Oh these? These, as you can see on the label, are serrano peppers."
FWL: That would wear on me, answering supremely dumb questions every day, I'd have to actually try to not answer them sarcastically.
HATTIE: Oh it can be exhausting, but after you've worked a handful of farmers markets, in Los Angeles no less, you end up having to develop a certain type of special customer service skill.
FWL: So we've got Vampire Slayers your garlic dills, Hattie's Hotties the spicy pickles, then we've got BB's the bread & butter pickles, and lastly there's the Bloody Buddies which are your "pickled cocktail veggies" for savory cocktails like bloody marys right?
HATTIE: Right. Or as I like to say "Bloody Buddies, elevating your Sunday Funday".
FWL: So you get all types in L.A. obviously. Have any celebrities ever purchased or taste tested your pickles?
HATTIE: Leonardo DiCaprio has!! He was there with a friend of his, and his friend stopped by my booth and tried some samples and then called Leo over who, had I not actually been up close and speaking to the guy, I would have had no clue it was him. He was kind of disheveled looking, huge long beard, (probably cuz at the time he was filming The Revenant), sunglasses and a baseball cap. He taste tested some of the Vampire Slayers, and it was then that I got a really good look at him, and heard his voice say "these are good", that I realized it was him. I got white-out nervous, I started sweating, he gave me his credit card, I could barely function. It was pretty funny...totally cool, I was a mess but it was super cool.
FWL: Anyone else?
HATTIE: Let's see, here's my list so far: Joe Jonas, JJ Abrams tried my Vampire Slayers, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and then Kevin Bacon not only stopped by and bought some of my Hatties Hotties but he tweeted about it too. He posted a picture of the jar and said "couldn't wait to get home to have them with my lunch". HUGE win for Pickled By Hattie!
FWL: That's awesome! Talk a little bit about what a week in the life of making pickles looks like for you.
HATTIE: It's extremely labor intensive. I have a lot of friends that will say "oh I come help make pickles with you", and then realize that it literally takes an entire day to make the amount that I make. To balance the actual making of the pickles, then balancing filling orders and sourcing ingredients, it can be literally and entire day.
FWL: How long would you say?
HATTIE: Anywhere from 12-14 hours a day. It's a lot.
FWL: That's intense. Plus, I would imagine that sourcing all of your ingredients take a bit of time too. Talk about that.
HATTIE: At first I was only sourcing my ingredients at local farmers markets, but then as the company started to grow, I wasn't able to get the quantity I needed there, so I have some regular customers from Melissa's World Variety & Produce that I get all of my produce from. I owe an awful lot to them. They've been super helpful and generous.
FWL: Tell us all of the places online that people can find you.
HATTIE: On Facebook, Twitter & on Instagram I'm pickledbyhattie, and then people can go to my website to order online as well at www.pickledbyhattie.com
FWL: I want some Vampire Slayers now, the jars I had are long gone!
HATTIE: I'll send you some more.
FWL: Thanks for chatting with me today Hattie. I'm so happy for your success, I can only see it growing in the near future!
HATTIE: Of course. Thank you for the opportunity. Can't wait to read it.
Mmmm...look at those whole cloves of garlic in there you guys!
