EPISODE 11 – KRISTIN MATTHEWS – ON LIVING LIFE BACKWARDS, TAKING TIME TO RECHARGE AND FINDING YOUR WAY WITH SOMETHING THAT MATTERS

Kristin Matthews is the President and Co-Founder of Tom & Sawyer, which is a new twist on meals for your best furry friends. Tom & Sawyer creates fresh pet meals that are prepared with the same strict regulations as human food providers to meet the proper nutritional requirements for dogs and cats.

Prior to launching Tom & Sawyer, Kristin spent over 15 years working full time as an investigative and forensic account, while at the same time studying to achieve all the letters needed behind her name to become a partner at an accounting firm. This was her main goal and she achieved it only to realize it was not what she really wanted.

Kristin walked away from a perfectly good career and allowed herself the time to be free and be open to opportunities that came her way. She opted to get a furry fur legged friend, named him Sawyer and her new journey began. Sawyer would not eat regular pet food much to Kristin’s dismay, but he loved his mama’s home cooked meals. After taking a peek into this industry Kristin saw a gap and decided to take it on. Little did she know the challenges she would encounter launching and growing this business.

Kristin is a go getter, a self proclaimed (but recovering) perfectionist and one super smart lady.

In this episode, Kristin and I discuss the following:

• Her journey from corporate world to entrepreneurship and everything in between
• The freedom of growing up in a small town and being raised in an entrepreneurial family
• Effects of challenging your parents, pushing boundaries and figuring life out as you go along
• Being grateful for opportunities and choices that are presented along the way
• Living life backwards and stumbling upon your love and natural talent
• How letters behind your name can help give you another level of confidence
• Asking for what you want in order to get want you want
• Overcoming various obstacles to become a partner at an accounting firm
• Reaching your goal, not feeling they way you should and knowing when to say no
• Taking time off, searching for your soul and figuring out your next steps
• Finding a great name for your dog and business
• Solving food issues for your pets and the wild west “regulations” of the pet food industry
• Going above and beyond to get your pet to eat by cooking with real food
• Being an expert at everything you try to do
• Importance of building a business and being 100% transparent
• Value of meeting the right people and having a great network to call on
• Difficulty of competing against the big dogs and trying to stand out in the noise
• Challenges of starting and running a small business
• Differences between managing people vs hiring people and judging their output vs your business cash flow
• Figuring out how to motivate people, showing empathy and making sure people are happy
• Choosing to go into business with your husband/wife/partner
• Recognizing the value that different people bring to implementing a business
• Taking time to recharge your battery
• How perfection and worrying about what other people think can inhibit you for moving forward faster
• Importance of knowing what you are good at staying in your lane and not getting stuck in the details
• Value of recognizing what success looks and feels like
• Taking time to realize what you have built, including how much time, energy, and effort it is to start and build a business
• Challenges of finding your perfect customer, getting their attention and getting them to make a change
• How consumers have changed their behaviour on social media and knowing whether you should invest in advertising
• How the dogs of Instagram capture your attention, become insta famous and bring joy
• Importance of being silly and comfortable in your skin

I loved this conversation with Kristin and I hope you do too!

If you would like more information on Kristin you can visit:

https://www.tomandsawyer.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TomandSawyer/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tomandsawyer/
Or stop by for a visit 1247 Queen Street East, Toronto

Plus, if you think Sawyer is super cute you can also follow him on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sawyer_speaks/