Noemie Rodrigue’s business beat the odds during the pandemic.
“The funny thing with that, when I started it, I always wanted to start something,” says Rodrigue. “The house we bought had a kitchen downstairs, and I was talking to my partner about it, just start, just go!”
While the idea of starting a business during the pandemic may seem daunting, she says that the pieces came together almost on their own, and a push from her partner sent her down this path.
“He gave me that push,” she said about her partner. “I had my logo done, my business plan was started and he said, you just have to start, and you’ll figure it out through it.”
Her partner makes the board she uses for her charcuterie boards.
“One Sunday, we posted the logo,” she says. “And then people were commenting and putting in their orders when I hadn’t even shown what it was all going to look like.”
Sweet and Salty Charcuterie was not exactly the life Rodrigue had in mind while growing up in Timmins, but she says it made sense once she started thinking about it.
“My parents, as a kid, we’d do cheese and crackers and we’d eat in the living room,” she says. “So I thought, oh, does that maybe relate? I’ve always been very creative, and now I get to do it with food.“
The francophone community has been a huge part of Rodrigue’s life, and her parents were always involved when she was growing up.
“From the beginning, I was thrown into the francophone community and it was so amazing,” she says. “It really opened so many doors for me, to grow up that way.”
She is now passing on that involvement to her own children.
“Walking into the school with them is just like, oh, I used to sit there, or I used to do this,” she says. “And the opportunity to have them speaking French, it just opened so many doors for me.”
“I did not think it was going to be that much traction so quickly,” she said. “That’s all the community.”
Now, two years in, she’s building relationships and friendships with the people who are supporting the business.
“I love it, I love meeting people, and now there are regular clients and there’s friendships being built too,” she says. “It’s so great!”
She says it's the connection to people in the workshops she’s putting together, and the fun they have,
“It’s so fun when you get together with your friends, and you can build your boards and have fun, and you’re eating after,” she says. “It’s a great positive atmosphere.”
Going forward, she says she wants to have more space for workshops, and events, and expanding the board shop, but she has huge plans in the long run too.
“I’m seeing having a bigger space where I can host these big events at my own locations, so more workshops, or baby showers, stuff like that,” she says. “I’m also thinking about franchising as well, but that’s an ultimate goal.”
