Savoring Sustainability: Kelli Hanley Potts on Leading with Heart and Intention
01:01
Carrie Aguilar
Welcome back to In Her Land, the podcast where we celebrate women who are leading with intention, impact, and heart. I'm Carrie Aguilar.
01:11
Mara Kamat
And I'm Mara Kamat. Each week we sit down with women who are building bold paths in their careers and communities. Today, we're thrilled to welcome Kelli Hanley Potts, the visionary community builder behind Cleveland Field Kitchen, a catering and event production company centered here in Northeast Ohio that brings people together through sharing dining experiences anchored in connection, sustainability, and local farm fresh ingredients.
01:39
Carrie Aguilar
Yay.
01:39
Kelli Hanley Potts
Welcome. Thank you.
01:41
Carrie Aguilar
Kelli is not only a community builder, but true powerhouse entrepreneur that strives to give back to the community around her through exceptional hospitality with Cleveland Field Kitchen and in meaningful ways through her 501C3 field kitchen feeds, a nonprofit dedicated to providing food insecure children during the summer months when school meals are not readily available. Kelli, welcome to In Her Land.
02:05
Kelli Hanley Potts
Thank you. I'm happy to be here.
02:07
Mara Kamat
Kelli and I met a few years ago where I had the opportunity to taste her amazing culinary food. Not only is it delicious, it's also beautiful. And the thing I appreciate about Kelli and her company is that they bring together an experience for those that are dining. And so, Kelli, we really want to start by getting to know more about you and your journey. And so, you know, talk to us a little bit about what brought you to this overarching purpose that you have around creating connection over food.
02:42
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, I guess how it began for me was just I'm the oldest of five kids, and my youngest brother and I are about 15 years apart.
02:50
Carrie Aguilar
That's really interesting. Five kids. Three. That's a lot.
02:53
Kelli Hanley Potts
So Irish Catholic. And my two younger brothers were. We call them Irish twins.
02:57
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
02:58
Kelli Hanley Potts
And So I was 15 when my youngest brother was born. Yes, it was an insane time, but what that ended up doing was it was kind of my chore to cook for the family. So that's how I got into cooking, and I, you know, I tell this story often that I was in the eighth grade, and I remember when my mom brought home the Martha Stewart Entertainment Entertaining Cookbook. And I just thought it was like the coolest thing pouring over all the pages. I, particularly in the eighth grade, thought the page where the she does, like, bottles of vodka in ice with roses in the ice. And I just thought that was so cool. Which also. Why would I think that was cool in the eighth grade?
03:37
Mara Kamat
Yeah, but now I want to go home and try it.
03:40
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. Yeah, it's beautiful. But so it was just something that was really influential. And so cooking really was just like, how. It was one of my jobs as a kid, but then it became like this expression of love to my family. And then as I got older, moving into college and moving into New Mexico, food was my way to build connection with people. So always working in restaurants. I had my first restaurant job, and I was 17, but maybe earlier, if you count working at the movie theater in the concession stand.
04:09
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
04:10
Kelli Hanley Potts
And so connection around food was just one of those things that became kind of secondary to me. Like, you know, you meet somebody new, you become friends. When are we going to dinner? Let's go get drinks. Come to my house. However, that was, you know, played out. So I think it's just a natural part of my journey is that the food is the connector. And then as I've gotten older, you see it happen over and over again in all different kinds of translations of what that means. So I took that into my business because I didn't want to just be a catering company that cooked for people. It was like, look, anybody can cook food, but to stand out, let's create an experience. So have really high hospitality. Let's pay attention to all the little details, like, how does it sound in the room?
04:58
Kelli Hanley Potts
How does it feel? Is it too hot? Is it too cold? You know, everything. Because all those are part of the experience. And that's what you'll remember if you were dying of heat, no matter how good the food was. That's what you'll remember. So that's, you know, what we've taken forward to Feel kitchen today.
05:14
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, wow.
05:15
Mara Kamat
So talk to us a little bit about your journey. You mentioned New Mexico. How did you get from Cleveland to New Mexico?
05:21
Kelli Hanley Potts
So a friend was moving out there, and so I was like, well, let me drive out with you. And I was just going to go out for a couple weeks and, you know, help her get set up.
05:31
Carrie Aguilar
How old were you?
05:31
Kelli Hanley Potts
It's like just 21.
05:33
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, wow. So you would graduate or you had.
05:36
Kelli Hanley Potts
I mean, never finished college.
05:39
Carrie Aguilar
You were at like a stopping point of whatever you were doing.
05:42
Kelli Hanley Potts
I had been working in restaurants and I had gone to Heidelberg for a couple years. I had gone to Kent for a couple years. So I was in this place of I don't know what I want to do.
05:51
Carrie Aguilar
Understood.
05:52
Kelli Hanley Potts
So I was like, well, go out.
05:53
Carrie Aguilar
As most, like 21, 22 year olds.
05:55
Kelli Hanley Potts
Are, especially undiagnosed ADHD kids.
05:58
Carrie Aguilar
Got it.
05:58
Kelli Hanley Potts
That was me. I didn't recognize those things. So went out west, thought I was going on a road trip. And then I got out there and I was like, this place is kind of cool. I think I'm gonna stay. So I called my mom and said, hey, mom, I'm gonna come home in October. This was like July. And she was like, what? I was like, yeah, I'm just gonna figure it out. I think I'm gonna get a job and I'll get an apartment and I think I'm gonna stay. I think it's really cool out here.
06:22
Carrie Aguilar
And you were the oldest of five, so 15, 21. So you had like, young. I mean, she was probably like, all right.
06:29
Kelli Hanley Potts
I mean, that's exactly it. She was like, are you safe? Are you okay? And I'm like, I'm good. She's like, all right, I gotta go. I'm to soccer. You know, it's a reality. Yeah. So, yeah, that's how I ended up out in New Mexico. And then when I was there, I ended up going back to school for sculpture and fine art and worked in restaurants.
06:47
Carrie Aguilar
Super fascinating.
06:48
Kelli Hanley Potts
So I was working at restaurants. Probably most influential was this restaurant called Restaurant Jennifer James and Gray's. And she was, you know, on the James Beard nominated list. I don't know if she. I can't recall because it was a while ago, but she was really talented. French trained chef. So were doing small plates before anybody else was doing small plates. And she had farmers that were coming to the back door and bringing her produce. There's one woman in particular that I really remember. She had little young kids, but she was bringing all this beautiful heirloom eggplant. Eggplant I had never seen. And so that really started my connection of where your food comes from, what is its seasonality. I got involved in the slow food movement when I was there. So that's all about your heritage, seeds and slowing food down.
07:36
Kelli Hanley Potts
I think the big thing that the gentleman that started that organization is famous for is, you know, not having like a McDonald's at the foot of the Vatican. You know, like, instead of fast food, it's slow food. So kind of adhering and really agreeing with that ethos of slow and what food can mean as a connector and as a bridge builder. But so that was my experience in New Mexico.
07:58
Carrie Aguilar
Wow. And how long were you there?
08:00
Kelli Hanley Potts
Six years.
08:01
Carrie Aguilar
Six years. So October turned to 60 years.
08:05
Kelli Hanley Potts
And the joke is, New Mexico is like, the land of enchantment. And so many people be like, oh, yeah, it's the land of entrapment. No one planned to stay as long as they do. You know, like, they all.
08:17
Carrie Aguilar
They go. And then they just.
08:17
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, they go there and they're like, oh, I'm here. I didn't think I was gonna stay. And I was at a place in my life where I was like, if I stay too much longer, I'll never.
08:27
Carrie Aguilar
Leave, because this is who I am now.
08:28
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. And I knew I wanted to be with my family eventually. You know, I just needed that. Those big open skies for a little while.
08:36
Mara Kamat
You talked a little bit about this whole idea of, like, the slow eating movement as well as, like, farm fresh food. How have you integrated those things into your own culinary experiences that you provide?
08:50
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, I mean, there's two ways that we do it. So when we are doing just catering, right? So you call us for a catered event, we have seasonal menus. So I create. Every January, we create our seasonal menu. So you can have whatever you like. We do custom menus all the time, but by cooking in the season, that's how we really bring those local farms and what's happening, right? So the spring was very difficult here because it was so wet and so humid, so many things didn't do well. So, like, some of my farmers, for example, one of my farmers was just saying that while he normally has, like, 10,000 pounds of garlic, that's an exaggeration, but you get my idea. He has, like, four. Wow. Like, just so much of it rotted in the ground.
09:35
Kelli Hanley Potts
So by having that seasonality and creating those menus and when I have to make substitutions, I try to convey that to the client of, like, well, so here's what's happening in our season right now. And while I made this menu with the hopes that we'd have a great spring, we haven't. So here's the edits I'm gonna be able to make. So just talking to them and giving that education around what's happening in the environment and how that affects your plate and why you're eating seasonally, and what's available at the time. So that's one of the ways we bring that experience. I always try to talk to my farmers and then talk to my client about who they are, give them a face, you know.
10:10
Mara Kamat
I really appreciate, though, that you're working with local farmers and you're bringing fresh food to the table. And that's certainly something I'm personally passionate about. And if it makes you feel any better, our garlic crop totally failed this year, which was really sad for my daughter Ariana. But we're planting for next season already, so we'll see how the next season goes. Right. But I appreciate that you are incorporating farm fresh foods and things that are coming out of the ground. You don't just say like, well, I'll go to another supplier, I'll buy from somewhere else. You're really mindful and thoughtful around where your food comes from and how you're supporting local farmers, but also getting fresh, organic, healthy products to use in our food.
10:53
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, I mean, and the other way is we put a lot up in our freezer and in our pantry. So, you know, in the middle of winter this year we might. Well, we will have like a golden yellow summer tomato sauce because we're processing them now and putting them in our freezer. So, you know, winter, that's amazing. You know, here, winter can be pretty potatoes and cabbage, which I love. You know, give me all the buckwheat and all those delicious flavors. But sometimes you want to brighten it up. So that's one of the ways that we try to do that, is through our freezer and then pickling and fermenting things as much as we can. So then when we're designing the menu, we know we have those things in house. And I often will give my client the option.
11:37
Kelli Hanley Potts
So if they say they asked for asparagus and it was a bad season, I'd be like, well, I can substitute something local, like say, let's say snap peas or something. We're doing well, so we can either do that or I can find some regional or something closer. But I like to give them the option because some people will still say, nope, I want asparagus. But at least I have those resources, so I can offer them that option.
12:00
Carrie Aguilar
I think it's also, it speaks to your, you know, story, not storytelling, but, like, ability. Especially as someone who I don't always think about what I eat. But I guess what I'm trying to say is I think sometimes, especially when you live in an urban or suburban area, like Most people in northeastern Ohio, you don't always make the connection to farm fresh ingredients and what actually, what crops are fresh right now or like, in terms of, like, seasonal. Just because we're so used to going to Heinen's or Phil and the Giant Eagle, and you just pick up what's there. And there's always going to be tomatoes regardless of the season. There's always going to be probably asparagus. There's always going to be cucumbers.
12:51
Carrie Aguilar
And you're like, making that connection for people to be like, hey, wait, let's talk to you about really, what's going to taste amazing right now because.
12:59
Kelli Hanley Potts
It'S actually grown right here, and the difference between the flavor.
13:04
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
13:05
Kelli Hanley Potts
So you might be like, I don't like tomatoes. And then I put a tomato that was just picked in front of you, which happened to my daughter this summer. She was like, oh, maybe I do like them. And you're like, right. Like, you're just. You're thinking of like McDonald's, whatever. Or, you know, you're thinking of what they have at your lunchroom or, you know, unfortunately, you're not thinking of, like, what I try to make you eat.
13:27
Mara Kamat
Yeah, it was really funny. This summer, we visited my kids at camp and we grow. We grow a ton in our garden. But I had fresh cucumbers and they weren't. When they were home, we didn't have cucumbers yet. So I brought like two cucumbers. And my kids were fighting over the cucumbers. And a parent was like, can you bring my kids cucumbers? And can my kids fight over the cucumbers? At camp instead of like, whatever candy and garbage, I just brought them. They were like, this is amazing. And I'm like, I know because they were part of planting it. They were part of the experience of it. And the taste is amazing, for sure.
14:04
Kelli Hanley Potts
I mean, I can count times on my hand where I've had kids help me in the garden that never ate vegetables. To fast forward, they're eating raw lettuce. I mean, it's always raw, but, like, right out of the garden.
14:17
Mara Kamat
Exactly.
14:18
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, and you're like, wait, that kid wouldn't even touch a vegetable. And now all he wants is lettuce from the garden, you know, so there are those connections.
14:27
Mara Kamat
I get my kids to eat so many vegetables via growing them in our garden. Like, we can barely get any green beans into our house no matter how many I plant. Because Ari is our harvester and she, like, eats all of them on her way Back in. Which is just a beautiful way to, like, engage your kids and your family in something that's, like, healthy, nutritious, and good for their bodies and their minds and gets them out of the house, into the. Into the outdoors, literally into the earth.
14:53
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. And their hands. I mean, there's, like. They say there's, like, scientific proof around. Like, putting your hands in the dirt is, like, good for your bodies and your. And your minds. So I think there's some strong cases to be made that it does have a good, positive effect. Totally agree.
15:10
Mara Kamat
So one thing that you're known for, Cleveland Field Kitchen, is known for are your unique nomad dinners. Can you talk to us a little bit about, like, what is a nomad dinner? What is this experience, and what inspired this idea for you?
15:23
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, sure. Well, so it was right when I was getting started. I had a little baby at home. I started the business when I was pregnant with my daughter, and I wanted to build in some notoriety. I thought maybe if I did something like this, people might get to know my company. But also, it was, like, passion project, like, really fun. And so I had a friend that I was like, hey, can I host a dinner on your property? There's, I'm sure many people have heard of outstanding in the fields. And it was going at the time, it was still newer, but I just thought the idea of that one long table was really cool. And so we did it, and it sold really well. And so what it is it's around 50 guests, and it's one long table.
16:06
Kelli Hanley Potts
I do five courses with a wine or drink pairing, and then I cook a lot of the food on Open Fire. So that's just part of it, because you're out in the environment doing it. And there are different settings every time. So I partner with different designers, or I've done them, you know, different. So the table looks different every time.
16:27
Carrie Aguilar
So it's like an event that's curated, that has, like, a theme, or at least anchored, even if, like, a colored theme. Right.
16:34
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, sometimes it's just color.
16:36
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
16:36
Kelli Hanley Potts
But it's fun for me because I'm trying new things, you know, how does this work? Do people like it? Is it something we can execute? Is it. There's too many touches from a kitchen standpoint. Yeah. And it's just a fun way. Like, that's, like, where I get to cook and do the things that are, like, fun and creative.
16:51
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. I'm sure it's, like, such a nice flex because, I mean, at some point, you run a Company that is anchored in catering and like serving other people that have might have very specific, like, oh, well, I want this.
17:03
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yes.
17:04
Carrie Aguilar
And so a Nomad dinner is like your perfect way to flex on a table.
17:07
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. So you get to have an expression, you know.
17:10
Mara Kamat
And what's super cool as well is like I might show up and have dinner with people I've never met before. Right. So you're like at this table with a community of people that maybe I go with another couple because that's what's comfortable for me. Or maybe just Aaron and I go. And it's super cool because you get to know everybody around that table.
17:28
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, it's definitely in that vein of the Jose Andres. His like, you know how he says build longer tables, not higher walls. And that's like how I do. I reiterate that because I think it's so incredibly beautiful that it's like, look, in our world today, there are so many things that can divide us. Like, let's find this way where a table can be this thing that like unites us, where we can find commonality. And you have strangers all around you that are in the community with you that you can share. And like all of a sudden you're in this beautiful environment, you're experiencing this five course meal. And I just, I want it to be something that builds those connections. So that's really how I started it. And now, you know, depending on how busy.
18:09
Carrie Aguilar
So it's 10 years old. I'm. Yeah, I'm just hearing you mentioned you have a 10 year old at home. So.
18:14
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. So the business in May, we celebrated 10 years in business. So we've been doing them for right around maybe it was nine years that we've been doing the Nomad dinners.
18:24
Carrie Aguilar
And how frequently do you do them?
18:26
Kelli Hanley Potts
We normally do.
18:26
Carrie Aguilar
You just did one to anchor last weekend, right?
18:29
Kelli Hanley Potts
I did one, yeah.
18:30
Carrie Aguilar
On Sunday. Yeah.
18:31
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
18:31
Carrie Aguilar
So how did it go?
18:32
Kelli Hanley Potts
It was great. I mean, it was funny. We were all set up and it wasn't supposed to rain until 9 o'. Clock. Oh, yeah. And that was torrential downpour for about 10 minutes. We all got absolutely downpoured on. But you know what the environment is that it's the adventure that you're kind of looking at. And so we just apologized and said we're gonna dry the tables. Cause it was right before everybody arrived, so we had to like dry the chairs and kind of dry the settings and stuff. Everybody was just so grateful to be there. And it turned to be a beautiful evening. And you have this Beautiful garden.
19:05
Kelli Hanley Potts
So it was at Top Knoll Farm, which is a very dear friend of mine's family farm, and there's just flowers everywhere, and she's passionately talking about her passion, and they're walking through the garden with a little amaro spritz. And, you know, I have some little amuse bouche for them while they're, like, getting adjusted. I like to give about an hour of a window for people to arrive and have some drinks, and then we sit to eat, and I welcome everybody, and I try to give a little bit of, like, context as to where we are, why we're there, what was inspiration for the meal. And then it's just, you know, at this year, at this time, it was a lot of celebrations. I think we had one anniversary and, like, four birthdays.
19:45
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, wow.
19:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
So it's definitely a special occasion thing too. So the whole table, you know, we bring candles out to everybody that's their birthday, and the whole table sang happy Birthday. It's. It is really. It's a moment of joy.
20:00
Carrie Aguilar
What an incredible way to build community.
20:02
Kelli Hanley Potts
I mean, and that's where food is, that connector. Right. And so we try to put who you are with, like, who your party is near you, but then you're gonna be inevitably by people you don't know. And everybody that goes to those dinners have come to me and said, I want to go again. And that's. We had another one in July, and we had some people there, and they came again. So it happens a lot.
20:24
Carrie Aguilar
So I know in the intro, we mentioned that you also have a nonprofit. Can you talk a little bit about how the Nomad dinners are connected to nonprofit and what that sounds like?
20:38
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, sure. So the nonprofit, it's feel kitchen feeds, and it was born out of the COVID Okay. You know, we wanted to find a way to give back for people who are struggling. And so I actually partnered with different chefs and farmers, and we did this, like, big soup campaign where we gave everybody different ingredients from the different farmers, and the different chefs made different soups, and we quartered them and froze them, and we did, like, a drive through pickup. Wow. And everybody was like, this is really awesome. Thank you so much. And then, you know, I had created the 501, and I really want to find a way to continuously give back, because as a chef, I don't think anybody should be hungry. Like, it's just something that I'm really passionate about.
21:18
Kelli Hanley Potts
And so we, you know, there's a lot of times we have overage in our kitchen, and so it's not something we can sell again, but we can definitely repurpose it. So we. We accumulate and put in the freezer. And what kind of has come from that is now to help bridge the gap of food insecurity in the summer. We're still very young, non profit. It's still, you know, as a full time operating business having a non profit also. Right. We understand thing. But I'm hoping that we can keep generating enough money in our till that we can really try to pull someone in more of a part time basis so that we can really find ways to meet the needs where they are in Geauga county and mostly Geauga county, because that's just where we are. And it's like my roots are there.
22:07
Kelli Hanley Potts
So I'm hopeful that we can just keep.
22:09
Carrie Aguilar
Cause you're out in Chesterland. Am I making this up? No.
22:11
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, we're not in Chesterland. We're actually. Our kitchen is based. It's right on the border of South Russell and Bainbridge.
22:18
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, okay.
22:18
Kelli Hanley Potts
We're on 306, the address of Chagrin Falls. But it's not, it's like understood that, you know.
22:23
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, Chagrin Falls has a wide red. Yeah. Yeah.
22:25
Kelli Hanley Potts
We're not in Chagrin.
22:27
Carrie Aguilar
I grew up, I used to live in Auburn. Okay. And we had a Chagrin Falls address. But I was like, no, but were like, see?
22:33
Kelli Hanley Potts
And I grew up in Newbury. So it's like when people are like, oh, I live in Chagrin, I'll wear. And they say I live in Auburn. I'm like, so you live in Auburn?
22:40
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
22:41
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, it's just that funny.
22:43
Carrie Aguilar
Have the 44022 or whatever.
22:44
Kelli Hanley Potts
Two, three. I think.
22:45
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, but.
22:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
But it's nuanced. It doesn't matter. But. So that's the nonprofit. So we had our first big fundraiser last year.
22:53
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, very cool.
22:53
Kelli Hanley Potts
And I think we're going to do it annually. Hopefully we can build it into something that's, you know, this first year we had a lot of lessons learned and you know, we had some profit, but not. Because the one thing that I do is all my team works that event and I don't make them volunteer their time. I want to make sure they're all paid for their time because that's important too. But we did Fish Fry and it was awesome. We had my husband's band, now he's in a band. It was a Grateful Dead cover band. So they play and they played and we did Fish Fry and you know, we make everything from scratch. So it's not like your normal church basement fish fry.
23:31
Carrie Aguilar
It's like, I have no problem with that. I really like.
23:33
Kelli Hanley Potts
Me either. I mean, truth. But my brother is an avid fisher and fisherman and hunter. And so we make walleye nuggets, and that's very specific to what we do. So we do, like, these, like, cornmeal crusted walleye nuggets, and then, you know, three sauces and a slaw and, like, homemade fries. Like, if we're gonna do a fish fry, it's gonna be that.
23:53
Carrie Aguilar
And I love the call out on the sauces.
23:56
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
23:56
Carrie Aguilar
For someone who enjoys it.
23:58
Kelli Hanley Potts
I'm a dipper.
23:58
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
23:59
Kelli Hanley Potts
I want. I want all the dips. Yeah.
24:01
Carrie Aguilar
You know, chicken tenders is just a vehicle for sauce. For sauce.
24:05
Kelli Hanley Potts
And I mean, I'm not gonna brag, but I. I really do think we have some of the best buttermilk herb ranch you've ever had. Like, I could drink it. Not gonna lie. Sometimes we joke in the kitchen, like, should we do a ranch shot? Should we maybe. Or like, tequila with a ranch back.
24:21
Carrie Aguilar
Right. Maybe.
24:25
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. So that's the nonprofit. And I'm. Like I said, it's still in its infancy. But my goal really is to help bridge those gaps, and as. As we keep moving forward, finding where there are other gaps. What I've learned since is that there's a big elderly population in Geauga county that also has to have. It would benefit from some needs there, both, I think, in nourishment and connection. Yeah. You know, so that's something that we're thinking about as we go into 20, 26 and how we can work through that.
24:54
Carrie Aguilar
That's very interesting.
24:56
Mara Kamat
Making a choice to build a business is a big, kind of scary moment. How did you decide that this was the right moment for you to start your business?
25:05
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, I don't know if I had a very good plan that I was gonna do it when my daughter was pregnant. When I was pregnant with my daughter. That's.
25:12
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
25:12
Mara Kamat
Tell us your story, how you decided to do that.
25:14
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, my dad was an entrepreneur, so I was raised with what that looks like. So I was familiar with hard work. I was familiar with working for yourself and the opportunities that can give you and also the stress that can give you. And I guess after so much in my experience working in the industry, I was like, I think I can do better. I think I can create a business that meets the needs of people like me as an almost new mom who want to keep in the hospitality industry. But, you know, maybe don't want to work till 4 in the morning anymore. Want to have a connection to where their food comes from. Want to still be able to do hospitality. And so the original idea was In. I decided to sign up for or apply to this program called Bad Girl Ventures.
26:03
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
26:03
Kelli Hanley Potts
And you had to have your like, pitch.
26:06
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
26:07
Kelli Hanley Potts
And so I had to do my pitch.
26:08
Carrie Aguilar
And were you looking for funding as Bad Girl?
26:10
Kelli Hanley Potts
Okay.
26:11
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
26:11
Kelli Hanley Potts
So it was like a nine week entrepreneurial program. And so they helped you walk through all the different steps. And at the end you did a presentation and you would be selected for one of their no interest loans.
26:23
Carrie Aguilar
Got it.
26:24
Kelli Hanley Potts
And so I just really decided to make that my job for those 10 weeks. Do the program. I got accepted in and I was one of the finalists. So I was like competing with 10 other women or something here. Yeah, it was in Cleveland.
26:36
Mara Kamat
Okay.
26:36
Kelli Hanley Potts
It then turned to another name. Like the woman that started it. It then was sold and turned. Had a different name. So I don't think it's still in existence. But I'm almost positive that Annie or Ann from Harness Cycle, I think she was also. But I think it was a second. It was her first reiteration. I'm pretty sure it was. That's where she was too. But anyway, so I was one of the finalists. And the whole idea was going to be a mobile cooking school where were going to be going out to farms, doing cooking classes on the farm where you could like learn where your food came from, how to process it and how to take it with you, which was a great concept.
27:17
Kelli Hanley Potts
But I remember going through the program and one of my mentors who was in marketing was like, your biggest challenge is going to be to get people to give you their time. And. And he proved right that it was really hard, but everybody kept asking me to cook for them. And so that was where I was like, well, looks like we're gonna change the business model a little bit.
27:38
Carrie Aguilar
Looks like this is the business we're doing.
27:40
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, it looks like I said I never wanna do catering. And here I am.
27:44
Carrie Aguilar
And here's what it looks like.
27:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
I decided that if I was gonna do it, I'm just gonna do it my way. And so right around that time, we also. I was going to the Cleveland Flea and definitely was like the first food vendor that Stephanie had.
27:58
Carrie Aguilar
Very cool.
27:59
Kelli Hanley Potts
And you know, I first I had set up this little booth with like, I thought it was a cafe. I had like 10 different things, you know, crazy town. I don't know what I was thinking.
28:07
Carrie Aguilar
Right. All These different options.
28:08
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
28:09
Carrie Aguilar
When in reality, you go with, like.
28:11
Kelli Hanley Potts
Three now, and you're like, ding.
28:13
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
28:13
Mara Kamat
But you learn.
28:14
Kelli Hanley Potts
You learn. Yeah. Well, and then I learned, like, I had. I would, like, what if I didn't sell all the salad? I'd have all these greens. So then it evolved into I would do seasonal gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches because I could still make homemade jam and I could still do pickles and all the fun stuff. So then that is what is on our food truck.
28:31
Carrie Aguilar
Right. I was gonna say, isn't the grilled cheese now your food truck?
28:34
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. So it was really just born out of how do I have ingredients that if I don't use, I can use again that could still be fresh and speak to my brand and my ethos? But still, people want to eat it. I mean, most people absolutely love a grilled cheese.
28:50
Carrie Aguilar
Yes, for sure.
28:51
Mara Kamat
And they're like, unique grilled cheeses. They're very delicious. In the spirit of building things, you had to build a team to support this business. Talk to us about what that process has looked like for you, what you've learned through that process, what your challenges have been, and what your celebration moments are on that journey.
29:09
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, I mean, so after pre Covid, it was me, my sister, some friends that would help me. It was small, so I was very manageable on my own. You know, had the few servers that I could go call on when I needed servers. But after Covid, I really refocused where were going to be marketing directly to. You know, I kind of initially was just like Cleveland, broad stroke. Very much learned in marketing that's not how you do it. So after Covid, we really focused on the sugar and valley, you know, into the areas that are closer to us. And we built some really great connections with people in our community. And so by growing, I also had to grow a team. My challenges are definitely learning how to let go a little and, like, trusting your staff, finding staff that isn't transient.
30:02
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, hospitality is as such that people are in and out.
30:06
Carrie Aguilar
Right. They, like, have a position for the. Because they're, you know, here for a certain amount of time or because, like, this is my stop gap between what I'm going to do next or, like.
30:16
Kelli Hanley Potts
I'm going to school. And so this is what I'm going to do, or I'm a mom, and this is a few, like, extra money. This is extra money. But then my kids, now, they need me full time, or, you know, I'm an artist.
30:26
Carrie Aguilar
Stolen blank. Yeah.
30:27
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, Fill in the blank.
30:28
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
30:29
Kelli Hanley Potts
So finding staff has been a challenge. But I will say that last year I had kind of a low point learning like how to hire staff and who to keep around and how to just how to manage people. It was probably coupled with the fact that I'd lost my father. And so it was like, sorry, oh, it's Kelli.
30:49
Carrie Aguilar
That's awful.
30:49
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, it's part of life.
30:50
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
30:51
Kelli Hanley Potts
But it was just there was like so much going on and then were busy and growing. So like, how do you mourn, run a team and do those things? So I kind of had a restart. And what I really focus on is like where my role is and like what my role is. So I hired a chef and he was full time in the kitchen. I now have a full time warehouse manager and a front of house manager and then myself. So I think having the right people in the right positions has really made a huge difference. So that I'm not doing all of it, but I could manage and oversee for a long time. I could. But then we've just gotten big enough that it's.
31:27
Carrie Aguilar
And what a gift that is. But still it's like, how do you.
31:30
Kelli Hanley Potts
How do you do all that? And so, you know, and then we hired Rachel, who's been just absolutely amazing having a full time salesperson. So I think putting the right people in the right place has definitely made the difference. And now I'm just learning systems. How do we build the right systems to make sure that people can have accountability and take ownership? So that's taken time. So things that I know how to do in my head or I just innately do, like how to take that out and clean and put a process.
32:02
Carrie Aguilar
In place that actually looks like something.
32:04
Kelli Hanley Potts
That looks like something that people can follow, you know, and that there are standards that they can adhere to. But it's starting to really happen. So after a little bit of a reset last year and kind of starting, I want to say over, because I definitely have staff that have stayed with me. But just having that reset moment really put me into my, like, into place of like, what is my role in this company anymore? Like, I'm not just a founder. I now have to be like, I have to steer the ship more than have all that responsibility. And I'm still learning, you know, I'm.
32:36
Carrie Aguilar
Trying to find you now work on the business as opposed to in the business as much. And it's such a hard.
32:42
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, I mean, I'm still on site. I still don't want to give up Being the chef, I still like directing, like, what the menus are, and maybe eventually I'll walk away from that. But, like.
32:55
Mara Kamat
But you can also choose now because you have a team in place. What are the things that I love that I want to do with my time? And then what are the things that, like, I know I have to do as a business owner? And so having your team enables you to play those roles in different, meaningful ways. I mean, my husband and I talk about it all the time. I say to him, where is your core? What are you great at, and what do you love? And how do we align your team to support all that other stuff? And so as an entrepreneur, as an owner, those are all really great lessons and insights. And for our listeners, it's also really interesting to hear that you kind of had to, like, take a pause and, like, reset. Right.
33:40
Mara Kamat
I think all of us kind of need those moments because we're on those hamster wheels with a combination of work and life.
33:47
Kelli Hanley Potts
Right.
33:48
Mara Kamat
Losing your dad and raising kids and all of the things that. That kind of reset enabled you to build this great team over the course of that year. So that's also a really great insight for people to pause and reflect on and take away.
34:04
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, I thought that it was a reflection of. And I think really what I realized was by taking that pause and saying, okay, you can be more selective about what your team does for you and how they look. I guess in my leadership style, you know, I'm a very cooperative person. You know, being an oldest of five, you. You have to learn how to be cooperative. You have to learn how to work as a team. And I think sometimes people don't want me to. They need me to be the person to tell them what to do. And sometimes I'm comfortable with that. Sometimes I'm not. And I'm starting to get more comfortable with, this is what I want. This is not what I want. And not. Well, what do you think?
34:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
Because I think it took a certain amount of confidence for me to realize I actually know what I'm doing.
34:52
Carrie Aguilar
Well, and they're looking, frankly, they're looking to you for that. That's your job as the founder, as the owner, as the person with the head on the sign or the face on the. They're expecting that of you, and I.
35:07
Kelli Hanley Potts
Think I needed to figure that out.
35:09
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
35:09
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, I didn't realize that I was like. But I want everyone to, like, have a voice, and I want everyone to, like, feel like they're what they. It matters. And I think as Much as that is still part of our team. You know, like, I do want to hear from everybody. I want everybody to have their input. Right. Collaboration is big, especially in hospitality. You can't get anything done if the front and the back of the house aren't working together. You know, like, it's really imperative. But I think what I've learned is that I need to take more of that leadership role. And so I've been doing that, and it's been successful. Of course, I'm still tripping here and there, but I'm learning.
35:46
Mara Kamat
We're all human.
35:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
Right?
35:47
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
35:47
Mara Kamat
We're never gonna be perfect.
35:49
Kelli Hanley Potts
Never. But that's the thing is my team, I think, recognizes that now. I think we all, like, we all recognize that we're all working for each other and for the. For the greater good of the business. So it's really. It's. It's relieving compared to where I was, to where we are. It's like, okay, we're finding a stride.
36:07
Carrie Aguilar
We're heading in the right direction.
36:09
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, Yeah. I feel, you know, I'll always be learning and trying to glean as much knowledge from people who know more than me, because I didn't go to business school, like I said, I went to art school. Yeah. But, you know, now it's like, okay, I can do these things, you know. So, yeah, finding team is a challenge, but it's really just building that trust, having appreciation, paying them well, you know, that is something I really try to do. And hospitality, a lot of people don't want to pay a lot of, you know, a living wage. We really try to pay people so they feel like they're respected and, you know, not taken advantage of and just making an environment where people want to be there.
36:51
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
36:52
Kelli Hanley Potts
So I think that's. That's a big part of it. When you spend that much time of your life at work, it should be an environment that's supportive and thoughtful and maybe joyful.
37:03
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
37:03
Kelli Hanley Potts
And it should be. Yeah, I mean, I think it should be.
37:06
Mara Kamat
It would be nice if everywhere were like that, if everyone. Every organization was like that.
37:11
Kelli Hanley Potts
Right?
37:12
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
37:12
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, that's. I mean, and that's where I just. I want to keep that positivity because it is so important to me because I have worked for people that I just didn't feel appreciated. I didn't feel like it mattered. It was just a lot of. Never forget that feeling of like, you.
37:29
Carrie Aguilar
Don'T want to create a business that does that.
37:30
Kelli Hanley Potts
No, I want a place where people, like, want to recommend their family to come work there. You know, where their friends they recommend to come work there. And that's what's happening.
37:40
Carrie Aguilar
That's amazing.
37:40
Kelli Hanley Potts
So that's.
37:42
Carrie Aguilar
So you know you're doing the right thing.
37:43
Kelli Hanley Potts
I think so. I think so. Like I said, I'm never 100% positive. I'm sometimes just like, my guts are telling me to do this, so I'm going that way.
37:51
Mara Kamat
But that's an important lesson too. Right. Listen to your gut, like, do what you think is right, and hopefully it all works out. And if not, you learn.
38:00
Carrie Aguilar
You pivot.
38:01
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
38:01
Carrie Aguilar
We are headed into the holidays now, so what I'd love you. You talked a little bit about being the oldest of five kids and. And one of your chores was cooking. Can you maybe share a holiday, like, memory that you have or one of your favorites?
38:19
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yes. It's one of my first food memories also. So as a growing up in our immediate family, which at this time was just five, because my little brothers weren't with us yet.
38:31
Carrie Aguilar
Irish twins. It was the core and not yet.
38:33
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, it was the ogs. We like to call it the ogs.
38:36
Carrie Aguilar
I hope that your younger brothers listen to this now.
38:39
Mara Kamat
I know, right? You are not part of the OGs.
38:43
Kelli Hanley Potts
You are the second family.
38:44
Carrie Aguilar
You are the second family. You had separate parents, even though they were the same.
38:48
Kelli Hanley Potts
Totally. I mean, it was a lot of differences. They had them when they were 40.
38:52
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
38:52
Kelli Hanley Potts
Me when they were 25.
38:54
Carrie Aguilar
Right. Totally different.
38:55
Kelli Hanley Potts
Like, totally different people. But my dad had this thing that he wanted to do where we would. We always had a big family, like extended family holiday. But during Christmas time, we always would just our family go to dinner. And I must have been 12, I would say. And went to. I think it was called Sansiss. Does that sound right?
39:16
Mara Kamat
Yeah, it was. Yeah, yeah.
39:18
Kelli Hanley Potts
It was right on the square, a French restaurant. And went there and I remember us all being dressed up. Now, my. At this time, my dad was still a logger. So he was a guy who wore overalls and had dust, you know, sawdust in his hair everywhere.
39:33
Carrie Aguilar
Your dad was a logger?
39:34
Kelli Hanley Potts
He was.
39:34
Carrie Aguilar
That's really fascinating. Sorry. Okay, we don't need to go down that.
39:38
Kelli Hanley Potts
He was a logger until I was about 13, 14, and then he changed careers and went into sales, machine sales. So he sold, like, lasers and for manufacturing and was one of the best in the country.
39:53
Mara Kamat
Wow.
39:54
Kelli Hanley Potts
So he was. He had an unbelievable ability to sell anything. So that was. I learned a lot from him in that way.
40:00
Carrie Aguilar
Love that.
40:00
Kelli Hanley Potts
But here we are. It's Christmas time. We're all dressed up. It's the 80s. You know, I probably have some sort of floral something going on. My little sister is. She was very petite and, you know, very little. And went there for dinner and were. I remember being in a corner booth and again, floral, like, material corner. And dad had. We got shrimp cocktail and then we had the tableside beef tenderloin. But in between we got sorbet and we. And my sister was a total sweet tooth kid. So she was like ice cream before dinner.
40:37
Carrie Aguilar
Your sister and I are basically the.
40:38
Kelli Hanley Potts
Same person and we're six years apart, you know, size 12. So she's six.
40:42
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
40:42
Kelli Hanley Potts
And then my brother's nine. That sounds about right. And I just remember the server, like slicing the beef tenderloin. And my dad, like, just like oohs and ahs with the like, steak. But I just, I remember that experience so innately. But it was always around Christmas time. So to this day we take just the adults and our partners and my mom and we do a really nice dinner with just us without the kids. Because kids, Christmas is amazing. Right. But it's a different experience.
41:12
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, absolutely.
41:13
Kelli Hanley Potts
So we always go to dinner. Last year went to Kiln and had a really beautiful dinner there. I often get to pick the restaurant.
41:20
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
41:21
Kelli Hanley Potts
It's kind of fancy. Yeah. Yeah.
41:22
Carrie Aguilar
Occupational hazards. Yeah.
41:23
Kelli Hanley Potts
It's like not the worst thing, you know.
41:25
Carrie Aguilar
Love that.
41:26
Kelli Hanley Potts
Otherwise I'm like, are we going to steakhouse?
41:28
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
41:28
Kelli Hanley Potts
Because my dad was like a huge steakhouse guy. Yeah. But it was a really fun tradition. So that's like a. That was a big food and family tradition that we had. Yeah.
41:38
Mara Kamat
As we're moving into Thanksgiving and the holidays, do you have any favorite recipe that you would like to share?
41:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
Heirloom recipe or like one of mine?
41:49
Mara Kamat
One of yours?
41:50
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. Let's talk yours.
41:52
Kelli Hanley Potts
Well, I mean, probably the one that's most popular with our clients that's just like always on our menu, like, I'm not allowed to take it off, is our smoked trout pate, which is basically a variation of from New Mexico, the restaurant I worked at in New Mexico. And it's because everybody loves dips and spreads. They're easy. But it's, you know, smoked trout with fresh dill and pecans and red onions, little cream cheese and.
42:24
Carrie Aguilar
Amazing.
42:24
Kelli Hanley Potts
And then you can sit cold or warm. I, particularly in the winter, love it warm. But we serve it cold all the time. But that's probably one that's like everybody. Like my Brother's like, can I have three quarts of that?
42:39
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, I might have to. My daughter's obsessed with trout dip. She's, like, known at one of the clubs that we go to as, like, the nine year old that eats the trout dip. They're like, oh, Penelope, we have your trout dip.
42:53
Kelli Hanley Potts
Oh, my God.
42:53
Carrie Aguilar
That's, like, waiting. So I might. Yeah, yeah.
42:55
Kelli Hanley Potts
No, I'm happy to share.
42:56
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
42:57
Kelli Hanley Potts
But there's so many. I mean, I just think, like, with the holidays, it's often over, complicated, you know, and I tend to veer. And maybe because I do this professionally, I'm like, you know, let's keep it simple. Let's keep it simple and, like, make it not stressful, because you can do that and have really good quality food without it being like mushy mashed potatoes or overtly sweet potatoes. You know, like, there's ways to do it. So it can be.
43:23
Carrie Aguilar
You mean you don't put Red Hots in your sweet potatoes? You do.
43:26
Kelli Hanley Potts
Do not.
43:27
Carrie Aguilar
That's like a thing, really.
43:30
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah, it's definitely a thing.
43:31
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, yeah.
43:32
Kelli Hanley Potts
With sweet potatoes. Red Hots.
43:34
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
43:35
Kelli Hanley Potts
It's like cinnamon sweet.
43:37
Carrie Aguilar
So weird. Okay, so we end every episode with a couple favorite questions. The first one is, what's one thing you wish you could tell your younger self?
43:50
Kelli Hanley Potts
My joke would be, go get diagnosed for adhd, because I didn't find out till about three years ago.
43:56
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, wow.
43:57
Kelli Hanley Potts
Had I known that earlier, probably could have had a much different trajectory.
44:01
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. That's interesting.
44:02
Kelli Hanley Potts
But the real thing I would tell myself is, like, it's going to be okay, you know, like, you're gonna be fine. I think that's the thing when you're in your 20s that you just don't know.
44:12
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. Everything's like, catastrophic.
44:15
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. And just, like, confusing. And I didn't know what I wanted to be. I felt like I had to, like, make this choice. Yeah. You know, today I will do something. I'm gonna do what I want to do tomorrow. I always admire people that were like, I'm going to be a doctor. I would be like, how do you know? Like, your whole life that's what you want to do.
44:33
Carrie Aguilar
And then you keep you going, keep going to school for, like, seven years.
44:37
Kelli Hanley Potts
For that sake, and then you are still going to school. Although I went to school for a very long time too.
44:41
Carrie Aguilar
That's true.
44:42
Kelli Hanley Potts
But, you know, I was working and going to school. It's different.
44:45
Mara Kamat
I love school.
44:46
Kelli Hanley Potts
I would go to school for a long time. To be honest, if I could, if I Had all the money in the world, I would just audit classes.
44:54
Mara Kamat
I love school.
44:55
Carrie Aguilar
I'm with you.
44:56
Kelli Hanley Potts
That would be so fun.
44:57
Carrie Aguilar
You guys are a rare breed.
44:58
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yep.
45:00
Mara Kamat
And finally, one of my favorite questions. What is bringing you joy right now? Whether it be in your work or in your life?
45:08
Kelli Hanley Potts
I think probably our puppy.
45:11
Mara Kamat
Oh, fun.
45:13
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. It's been a really. I think, having her.
45:15
Carrie Aguilar
How young is the puppy?
45:17
Kelli Hanley Potts
So we brought her home in the beginning of June.
45:19
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, wow. So legit puppy.
45:21
Kelli Hanley Potts
She's a puppy.
45:22
Carrie Aguilar
Okay.
45:23
Kelli Hanley Potts
But I think it's, like, bringing me joy in that. Something we have to work together as a family on. She's always there to, like, give you a little smile when you need it.
45:33
Carrie Aguilar
Right.
45:33
Kelli Hanley Potts
Watching my husband and my daughter with the puppy, too, you know? Yeah. I think that would be one thing that's definitely bringing me joy right now.
45:41
Mara Kamat
Who's training the puppy?
45:42
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, that was. I was like, bring you joy.
45:45
Kelli Hanley Potts
I mean, now that I don't have to wake up with her all night long. I think we're all working on it, you know, making sure she doesn't, like, jump all over the couch, which she.
45:53
Carrie Aguilar
Still does, or how can you tell? A scale, maybe breed or. Yeah, yeah.
45:58
Kelli Hanley Potts
So she's an American black lab.
46:00
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, okay. So she's. Yeah, so she's beautiful.
46:03
Kelli Hanley Potts
She's not particularly hyper. She just, like, wakes up in the morning with energy, but then she chills. Okay, that's wonderful. She's very smart, you know, as labs are. I mean, she's stubborn. So you'll be like, come here. And she'll look at you and then be like, but there's birds over there.
46:16
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. Rather do that.
46:19
Mara Kamat
How much does she.
46:20
Kelli Hanley Potts
How much does she say?
46:21
Carrie Aguilar
Does she, like, eat shoes and furniture?
46:24
Kelli Hanley Potts
She does eat shoes. No furniture yet, but she has. But, you know, just, like, a few Target shoes.
46:30
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. Okay.
46:32
Kelli Hanley Potts
The good ones. I'm like, keep your shoes up if you don't want them eating, you know, but if it's, like, shoes by the door, I can't guarantee that's not a great thing.
46:40
Carrie Aguilar
No, no. But I mean, if there's a choice.
46:43
Kelli Hanley Potts
That'S probably the better way to go. But she has been bringing us a lot of joy. And my brother. It's my brother's dog that had the litter, so he has one of her siblings, and our friends have one of their siblings. So it's like a fun little, like, connector. You can be like, hey, you know, how's Boone? How's, you know, how's everybody doing? So it's fun. That's, like, just a little thing that's, like. Doesn't really take too much mental capacity, you know? Yeah. I mean, and even when she. She's insane, you know, I was gonna say, I.
47:14
Carrie Aguilar
When we got our dog in the middle of COVID it like, took over our life.
47:18
Kelli Hanley Potts
I mean, for a minute.
47:19
Carrie Aguilar
We still call him a puppy, and he's five, and he has now started to eat hardback books, so.
47:24
Kelli Hanley Potts
Oh, what a weird dog. What kind of dog?
47:27
Carrie Aguilar
Goldendoodle.
47:30
Kelli Hanley Potts
Doodly.
47:31
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, for sure.
47:32
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. They're beautiful.
47:33
Carrie Aguilar
Oh, they are.
47:34
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
47:34
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah. That's why we got them. Yeah. Some days it's just not. Not really that worth it.
47:39
Kelli Hanley Potts
She's been worth it. I would sense she's been worth it. She's. I mean, we have. Our daughter is a single child, so.
47:45
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
47:45
Kelli Hanley Potts
You know, having. Having a puppy, she just. She loves and, like, she'll hear the bus at the top of the road, and the dog. Yeah, the dog will hear the. Our puppy, Olive. She'll hear the bus and she'll go to the door and just, like, start wagging her tail and be so excited. And Lydia opens the door, and she's just, like, you know, overjoyed.
48:07
Mara Kamat
Yeah.
48:07
Kelli Hanley Potts
So I, like. I love that. And there'll be plenty of times where they're just, like, hanging out on the couch together, you know? I just love that for her, too. 10's a good age for that.
48:16
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah, it is.
48:17
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
48:17
Mara Kamat
And she can learn some responsibility with adults and all the things, and I think she is.
48:22
Carrie Aguilar
Yeah.
48:22
Kelli Hanley Potts
I think she's taken some ownership, but I would say that's probably a good thing that's brought us some joy.
48:27
Mara Kamat
Well, thank you so much, Kelli, for spending this time with us. Thank you for telling us more about Cleveland Field Kitchen. We'll make sure as we close out the episode when we post it. We post all of your information for Cleveland Field Kitchen in case anybody wants to get in touch with you to hire you.
48:43
Carrie Aguilar
Get that trout dip.
48:44
Mara Kamat
Get the trout dip. Kelli's done a number of dinners at my house that are so beautiful and thoughtful and created such community around the table, and I'm really grateful for that. So thank you for spending time with us today.
48:56
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah. Thank you so much. It's been really fun to be here. Nice meeting you, too.
48:59
Carrie Aguilar
It's been so nice.
49:00
Kelli Hanley Potts
Yeah.
49:00
Carrie Aguilar
Thank you, thank you. And we'll see you next time with another woman navigating her land with intention and grace on in Her Land.
