We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Patter Gersuk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Patter, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I had phenomenal role models in my mother and grandmother. I am one of eight children and my father died when he was 43 of a heart attack when I was 16 and the youngest was 8. My grandmother came to live with us and both she and my mother worked so hard and kept on going– demonstrating that you never know what life will give you, but you just have to pick up the pieces and adjust. Resilience is key.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am originally from Michigan and went to undergraduate at Boston College and received my Masters degree from Columbia University in Public Administration.
But, I have always loved cooking and feeding people and when I had children, I made their baby food. I went to culinary school at the Cordon Bleu in London and I love good food! I am a purist and believe that real food tastes best. When my children were older, it was hard to find healthy, convenient snacks so I made my own energy bars. In 2017 my son-in-law, Connor, who was a D-1 college athlete, was eating a bar in my kitchen and said I should sell them because there was nothing like them on the market. I was skeptical because there are so many energy bars, but he said most bars taste terrible, have junk ingredients and actually don’t fill him up. I started to look at other bars and saw that Connor was right: so many bars but none with real food ingredients.
I launched Patterbar in 2018 with Connor and a couple of his good friends. We started in Denver coffee shops and the South Pearl Farmer’s Market. It’s been a fantastic journey and the Denver community has been incredibly supportive! At this point we are now in about 175 retail outlets including Natural Grocers as our biggest chain store.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Be clear about what you want to accomplish and what your value proposition is.
2. Don’t take no for an answer. Research and find a way to do it YOUR way. Ask as many people as you can if you need help. If someone can’t answer your question, ask if they can think of someone who might be able to help.
3. Be flexible, open and willing to try new things. As your business grows you will learn as you go and the more open and willing you are, the more you will learn.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Absolutely! I love collaborating/partnering with like-minded people and brands. My mission is to provide 100% real food in a convenient way and people/brands that are authentic, want to spread good and support others who do, are the kind of partners I want. If anyone is interested, please contact me at: [email protected].
Contact Info:
- Website: www.patterbar.com
- Instagram: @patterbar
- Facebook: patterbardenver
- Youtube: @patterbar
- Other: TikTok: patterbar
Image Credits
Hayley Porcaro
