Owner To Owner Podcast

Karen Lebsanft, CEO and cofounder of Kurrajong Kitchen on making the brand the 'vegemite of the biscuit isle'

Episode Summary

Karen Lebsanft is the CEO and cofounder of Kurrajong Kitchen, bakers of traditional lavosh flatbread. She knows how vital small businesses are to families and communities and builds this understanding into her ongoing mission to being the 'vegemite of the biscuit isle'.

Episode Notes

@KarenLebsanft is the #CEO and #cofounder of @KurrajongKitchen bakers of traditional #lavosh #flatbread

Karen is a proud #burraburra woman of the #gundungurranation

Based in the #lowerbluemountains in #NSW @KurrajongKitchen is #Australianow ned and #Australianmade, and has proudly supported #AustralianWheatFarmers since 1993. Karen runs her business successfully but the model is more family & community focussed. She's on a mission to make the brand the 'vegemite of the biscuit isle'!

We have an indepth discussion on how it all got started, her people orientated approach to business (this was formed from deep personal experience), where she wants to take the brand and her own next steps. Karen covers;

being brought up in #inner-city housing commission by #mum and #grandma
after her dad passed how her mother had to go out to get work to feed three kids under three
how her mum and the family, depended so much upon those businesses in the community that employed her
understanding deeply that those businesses who employed/engaged my mum and impacted my life will never truly understand the true impact
being driven to build a successful business that's also community focused
starting off in the back of a little restaurant
Purpose of the product - to support an entertaining and snacking experience
What is Lavosh - a little square cracker enjoyed with cheese and dips
being a wholesale manufacturer and brand with a team of around 35 people.
being proudly #Australianmade with #localingredients and #supportinglocalfarmers
wanting to maintain #lpcoalmanufacturing here, and also support local suppliers
being driven to stay, Australian made / Australian owned despite ever present opportunities to go offshore and someone always saying there are better opportunities to save money
her desire to keep everything Australian, because of the flowon effect that it can have in rural communities
her desire to be more community focused, I think that's what COVID actually taught us.
why for her being in business isn’t entirely about saving or making money
being able to offer people, families, far more extension than just a wage
the many ups and downs in our business over 28 years and the one thing that we drew on very strongly - #buildingthecommunity within a community, the #kurrajongkitchenfamily
blending family and business and how many businesses don't necessarily know how to blend those
her language in the business - we're not a team, where not staff or employees, we're a family
how that language leads onto "it's everybody's responsibility as a family to hold the space, to all play a role and responsibility authorities and accountabilities"
where #smallbusiness misses opportunities
the #roi in her approach - intangibles that bring community building
why there's always challenges when people are involved but knowing that happens in real families as well
her greatest learnings over 28 years of making a lot of mistakes;

giving people a voice, and treating them like humans,
giving them a seat at the table
giving them a voice to have a say without objection.

using a different language at work to empower the person in the skill set that they're doing. And once we empower them, they will learn to own their role. And her first question is " how can I support you in your role?"
her most important role, even though she is the #CEO and #co-founder is just is to make them the hero
playing to the strengths of the team member (we all have strengths and weaknesses and we've all got learning opportunity) but if you play to people's strengths they’ll deliver back and they will shine
geting sick of running a business by fear
how to do the right thing so everybody will stay and do the right thing, and if not the team weeds those that aren’t doing the right thing
nearly losing the business in 2012 - due to external environmental factors that we hadn't accounted for, a little bit like COVID external environmental factors
accepting that we "don't know what we don't know" and chasing new knowledge
understanding that rather than saying I can’t afford the time, think about it as I can’t afford the risk of not knowing
why there is no such thing as a dumb question in business
and if you don’t understand the answer, ask them to go back to basics, and ask it again if you don't get it because it's your business it's your life it's your family that's going to be affected.
my vision is to empower leaders and leaders, connect communities and create life changing opportunities across remote regional cities across the nation
her emerging role as a mentor to business owners primarily when they get into this chaos stage - when they could be quite a big business and they just don't know they can't see the wood for the trees and they just need somebody to sit and talk to them, mentor, and have a sense of give them, accountability, and confidence in their decision making process to take those next steps.
the next stage for the brand of 28 years
making it into an Australian iconic brand - the vegemite of the biscuit isle
why culture eats strategy
and finally why small business is and was really important to her mother, her family and communities