Dancing Deer Baking Co
Dancing Deer's CEO Trish Karter talks about Social Responsibility and Good Cookies
Whether you’re a foodie, a straight-up business analyst, an advocate for social justice or an entrepreneurial leader, you’ll find something to admire in Trish Karter and Dancing Deer Baking Co.
Dancing Deer began with three founders: a talented baker, Suzanne Lombardi, who originated many of Dancing Deer's recipes; a theoretical physicist/business strategist, Ayis Antoniou, who loves to cook; and Trish Karter a business woman and artist. After splitting from both partners, Karter became CEO of the business she initially thought she would help out with for a few months.
Inc. Magazine, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week and others have noted the business success achieved year after year, and applaud the considerable attention and funds Dancing Deer gives to philanthropic ventures.
Saveur, Good Housekeeping, Gourmet and Family Circle have sung the praises of her products . The National Association of Specialty Food Trade have awarded Dancing Deer eleven of the food industry’s equivalent to the Oscar.
One insight into this amazing woman can be found in her response to my opening comment. I congratulated her on the well-earned awards and recognition. She said she was "a little chagrined that the bar is so low.”
Catching up with this woman is no small feat, but it was worth it. Between school sports events, homework help, road trips, board meetings and stolen moment for a yoga class, we pieced together some time.
I gleaned a few rules to live by from my chats with her. I think any of us would do well to follow her lead. Pull up a cookie and a glass of milk.
Don’t be afraid to defy convention.
In speaking with Trish Karter, you are completely aware of how inseparable her personal values are from her devotion to business success. Whereas others see this as an “either-or” equation, Trish rejects this notion. She firmly believes other companies could do what Dancing Deer does.
Growing up in Connecticut she says her parents never used terms like “philanthropy” or “social change” but it’s clear that they lived authentic lives and conveyed clear values to their daughter. Her father was a pioneer of recycling before that became a household word. She learned about vision and focus from him. She also learned the importance of business skills, which he lacked, but overcame through determination and hard work (and some help from his savvy daughter). She wasn't raised to think her choices were either painting (her first love) or business.
She has always been willing to question convention as evidenced by her high school track participation. In the years before Title IX mandated that schools support girls’ and boys’ sports equally, Karter approached her high school track coach and stubbornly refused to be put off. He acquiesced, putting her in the only spot that would not require him to sit out a boy.
Ask questions that make sense to you.
She’s always asked questions that were natural to her. As a painter, she always asks: Why can’t things, including food, be more aesthetically pleasing?
As a family the Karters asked: Why should we eat bread that doesn’t taste good? Her mother, who has a knack for turning anything into a leftover casserole, did have a “magical” way with baking and pies. Trish found a warm reception to her innate sense that food should be good, look good, taste good. The family baked bread together when the mass media was selling the rest of us on those icky white sandwich loaves. Remember the freakish commercials that promised to help us grow in twelve ways?
Cultivate a sense of “optimism beyond all reason.”
Her father’s belief in recycling was a prime example of this maxim. The optimism sustained her in her unconventional “cart wheeling” through various education and career paths, through the dissolution of her marriage and the reorganization of her business. It enables her to see the “why not” and the “what if” in any situation, unburdened by the “other people don’t do it that way” thinking, or the enormity of a given challenge.
Don’t be afraid to say no.
No move to the suburbs. Trish keeps her business in the city because it’s good for her employees, many of whom live nearby. Others would follow cheaper rents to the ‘burbs. Keeping the business in the city is good for the city, as well as the employees who’ve helped her build the successful venture.
No preservatives. An early lesson in saying "no" came when Dancing Deer was asked to add preservatives to their all-natural product for Williams-Sonoma.. The offer was sweet (doubling sales overnight, hello?), but it would have required a compromise they were unwilling to make. Sticking to their all-natural promise, they turned the opportunity down. Perhaps surprisingly, Williams-Sonoma came back to ask if they might provide a mix that they could carry that didn’t require preservatives. Done deal.
Dancing Deer is now certified Kosher and they try to use environmentally sound practices and packaging.
Sales are expected to reach $10 million this year. All employees have an ownership stake and they work hard at building a culture in which no one is afraid to ask a question.
Cooking up the next gen business model
Trish finds herself challenged daily.
I asked her about how they come up with new recipes, and she said “that’s the easy part!” Keeping employees engaged and comfortable with a high degree of responsibility in a growing company - that’s a challenge. Keeping everyone happy in a growing venture that’s always on the razor’s edge between systems and processes they’ve outgrown and the newer, more expensive systems and processes they can’t yet invest in – now that’s a challenge.
Keeping a focus on philanthropy AND a focus on the bottom line. That's a challenge.
I don’t think Trish Karter would have it any other way.
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