On the page about the company, you can read a little more about how it comes about that I am so passionate about food. Today however I will tell a little more about me, my history and how I have come to this point in life.
I grew up on the country side a few miles outside of Gothenburg where my father had a market garden when I grew up and my mother worked in the elderly care. When you grow up in the country in a family business, you learn to help. From that experience, I realized that I absolutely not want to have a business of my own. But after moving away from home as a 16-year-old and training as a goldsmith, I still chose at the age of 24 to start my first business. I started my own jewelry brand "42 of Sweden", with grand visions, but without a real plan. It was a struggle and after two seasons I made a new venture, changed the name to 42ann and made it more personal ... But it did not work now either. So in the fall of 2008, I took a job in a grocery store and began to see jewelry making more as a hobby. It was allowed to remain as an individual company for a few years. But in the end, I sold off and finished everything after I left Falköping in 2012 and said that I would never run a business again.
I landed my dream job as a food-service-manager in 2014, only to realize that it was not my dream at all. I'm not suited to work only administratively in the public sector, but I'm grateful for the experience. I switched to a private restaurant and started working seasons, first as a restaurant manager, then a season as a chef and finally I got a job as a waitress.
This may sound a bit backwards ... but I always want to do a good job in what I do and I realized when I started as a restaurant manager that I had a hard time gaining the trust of the serving staff. Since I had not done my time on the floor in the restaurant myself. In order to become a good manager, I chose to apply for a job as a waitress. Which I was pretty bad at then, instead they put me in the kitchen where I had more experience instead. But in the end I also got to work as a waitress. After a few years on the floor mixed with Bible studies, I started to rise again and before Covid-19 struck, I was the administrative restaurant manager at a medium-sized hotel and loved my job.
The thing with bible studies is my big hobby in addition to "fika" and exercise, which at the same time is in a way on the same level as my passion for food and flavors. I have a living faith in Jesus and when I have moved around, the church has always been my safe place. After having a restaurant job with a lot of Sunday work, I have become very eager to demand free Sundays, to be able to go to church and have a regular day of rest. If you agree to work every Saturday, that is usually not a problem.
Otherwise, it is my love of "fika" and chocolate that usually stands out, and that I love cats.The two cats I have now are my great joy in life and I will soon get a third home.Since I only want outdoor cats, it helps me to be able to demand housing that I enjoy. Which is with my own garden and since I live alone with the cats, I do not like it too big.If you have a lot of space, you just collect more than you need.
But how did I ever become a business owner again?
I was fired due to Covid-19 and got an opportunity to stop and think about what I wanted to do with my life. I talked to Jasmine and Vinga Folkhögskola who I had collaborations with before and began to see an idea that would be based on me getting to work with my own passions and knowledge. However, I never thought it would work out, but did not want to dismiss it without counting on it. When I did the calculations, it looked like it could work. When I then also got some extra support to get started, it was just to go.
Now I stand here a year after starting and not only love my job, but my whole life! It turned out to be the best thing that happened to me to be put in a situation where I had to rethink and see new ways. It has challenged me to dare to take steps I never thought I would embark on and I am so happy that I dared to follow my dream.
But this is just the beginning ... I hope you would like to join me on this journey ahead.
And remember: Only eat what you enjoy and enjoy all you eat!
/Ann