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ProfileIssue: Taurus 08

Katy Lesser Grew her Natural Foods Market from a Tiny Sprout

katyl_120Twenty-two years ago, Katy Lesser was about to go back to graduate school, but she felt that it would be more responsible to work and make money to support her family. She had grown up in a Jewish family where food was a big part of daily life. As a member of the local food coop, she never went to any other natural foods stores, but one day she couldn't find an ingredient there and heard about a tiny store called Healthy Living. She found out that it was for sale, and she bought it. Now a 30,000 square-foot, grocery-store-size market with 150 employees, Healthy Living is literally feeding the Burlington, Vermont area community.

"When I first discovered Healthy Living, it was the strangest little place," says Katy, "natural foods, cuckoo clocks, Chinese bicycles, esoteric European cookware....an odd mix of products but kind of fascinating. I had no experience in business. It was a really crazy move!" 

For the first three years Katy's then-husband, Peter Goldsmith, ran the store with her. "Peter had a business degree and really got things off the ground. I had no clue."  Katy had heard that after three years a business that's going to "make it" will know. "But after three years, things were very iffy. Peter was ready to do something different and I realized I would have grow up, learn the business, and do the hard stuff if we were to survive. It was a turning point for me."  Katy will be the first to tell you that it wasn't until after more than ten years that she finally knew Healthy Living was viable.  "I really had some hard times on every front with my business. It was not an easy road, but I'm tenacious, and you absolutely have to be that way to make it."

Now a mix of health and gourmet foods, local products, and a large selection of beer and wine, natural body care, and vitamins, the new Healthy Living is perhaps the most eclectic food store in the area. "We moved from 7000 square feet to 30,000. We moved from 600 square feet of office space to 5000.

Healthy Living had grown in tandem with the natural/gourmet foods industry and by the end of 2006, Katy was completely out of space. "Customers could barely get their carts around. We didn't have half the products available to us. Our staff was working without the most basic of tools and space. It was time!"

by Ann Janda

Profile Archives (total entries: 24)

Leo 08

Victoria Rowell Writes About the Amazing Women who Raised Her

vickygreen_150As a ward of the state in Maine, Victoria Rowell was raised in foster care for 18 years. At the age of eight, she received the Ford Foundation scholarship to the Cambridge School of Ballet. After dancing professionally with various companies, she later became a two-time Emmy Award-nominated actress and received 11 NAACP Image Awards. In 1990, she founded the Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan, which enriches foster children through artistic and athletic expression. Now Victoria Rowell pays tribute to the many women in her life in her new, best-selling book, “The Women Who Raised Me.”

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Lauren Gammon, The Nomadic Chef, Brings Global Fare to Vermont

stixasm_150Lauren Gammon began The Nomadic Chef in 2003 as a small catering company to outfit multi-course meals for 15-25 guests. Five years later she still loves to do the dinner parties, but she also tries to fit in 6-8 events for 100-200 guests as well as cooking classes during the off season. Lauren says the food itself her motivation. New ingredients, a trip to an ethnic market in the city, and heirloom varieties at the farmers market all make her dance with joy.  

Taurus 08

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Becomes a Champion of Free Speech and Women’s Rights

ayaanhirsiali_160Born in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1969, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was raised as a traditional Muslim in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. In 1992, Ayaan was married off by her father to a distant cousin in Canada. To escape this marriage, she fled to the Netherlands where she was given asylum and eventually citizenship. After earning her M.A. in political science, Ayann served as an elected member of the Dutch parliament from 2003 to 2006. While in parliament, she focused on immigrant integration and the rights of women in Dutch Muslim society. Now an American citizen, Ayaan tells of her profound journey from submission to triumph over adversity in her book, “Infidel.”