Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Bryden. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Kim Bryden, CEO of Cureate, is an accomplished strategic business development professional with expertise in marketing, merchandising, and supply chain coordination focusing on the food & beverage industry. Kim has consulted 300+ small businesses on growth strategy, building out diversified revenue streams, and identifying new market opportunities. In addition to her commitment to small business growth at-large, Kim’s expertise has led her to develop multi-sector, public-private partnerships across industries such as governmental agencies, food tech start-ups, and Top Fortune 500 retailers and food service operators. Now she leads the growth of Cureate throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Heartland regions, as the business continues to grow nationwide.
Prior to founding Cureate, Kim’s food & beverage career began at the DC Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, meeting with neighborhood revitalization change agents (small businesses and restaurant owners) by issuing liquor licenses. With a passion for small business and learning the ins-and-outs of food business operations, Kim then worked for Whole Foods Market leading two different Marketing and Community Relations teams in Washington, DC, and Virginia. Kim was chosen from the regional team to spearhead the launch of a brand new Whole Foods Market in downtown Washington, DC. She was put through Whole Foods Market’s internal EMERGE program (financial modeling and managerial coaching) and scored in the top 15% of her class.
Transitioning from Fortune 500 food retail management to a food-tech startup, Kim led national partnerships and events at Brooklyn-based startup Kitchensurfing, an online marketplace to hire local chefs to cook in your home. At Kitchensurfing, she worked directly on customer acquisition and growth for the New York City, Chicago, Austin, and Seattle markets. Kim’s unique expertise across sectors in food and beverage has all led to her knowledge in starting and running Cureate for the past 8 years.
Kim is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, a member of the Sandbox Network, a Board Director for Land Betterment Corporation, and an advisor to Fair Farms Maryland. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Digital Media Management and Analytics from Georgetown University and a BA in Public Communication & Spanish from American University.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the most important parts of entrepreneurship is resilience, and being able to navigate the changes in our economy while finding and maintaining product-market fit. COVID-19 was certainly one of those times for many. A lot of people asked me to pivot Cureate’s business model to become a direct-to-consumer marketplace, and I said no because I knew Cureate was positioned for a new economic order – one where big business recognizes the importance of buying from local, small businesses. It is no longer a nice-to-have, but imperative for every institution and local economy’s resilience plan.
We are in a season of change, where we continue to shed the systems that no longer serve us, and I knew that Cureate was (and continues to be) positioned for the rebirth. We are built for a new, interconnected and economically-vibrant system —which is what we are all desiring, especially in a post-COVID world. It was not easy to stay true to that vision/mission, especially when cash is tight and the world wants you to do otherwise.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Cureate exists to shift the dollar back into our local communities by building an empowered food & beverage supply to meet changing consumer demand. We accomplish this mission through access to knowledge and new market opportunities.
Through our proprietary educational curricula, local procurement platform, and strategic counsel, Cureate has become a tested model of supply & demand match-making — connecting big & small business value chains that have been fragmented for too long. It takes a multi-stakeholder approach to truly effectuate change, and Cureate has been up to the challenge since 2014.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I definitely view myself as a risk-taker, AND I also often think…what is the risk of NOT taking a “risk?” Sometimes the inertia or status quo is/feels riskier to me than taking a leap and trying a new way. Curiosity is a core value of mine and of Cureate’s. Personally, I view curiosity as living boldly and deeply into life’s questions.
For the business, we deeply question the status quo by shaking things up, asking new questions, and working toward innovative solutions that will be most beneficial to the stakeholders in our community. When we see a roadblock to implementing a plan, asking ourselves “How might we approach this differently? Why has this been the system for so long, and is there an opportunity to change?”
Contact Info:
- Website: http://cureate.co
- Instagram: @cureateco
- Facebook: facebook.com/cureateco
- Twitter: @kimbryden
