Meet Jonathon Addington

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jonathon Addington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonathon, really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?

So, I was working with a native plant landscaping company for a couple of years, and as they were transitioning to using more herbicides and doing more jobs involving sod placing instead of purely native plant installations, I was slowly dropping my availability to focus on Seitanic Jax more. When I got down to two days a week, I received a call from the boss the day before work and he told me that they had to lay me off because of my lack of full time availability. I took that as an opportunity to go full on to Seitanic Jax and do that as my full time gig. It’s been a few months, and I’ve really enjoyed not having to endure the summer heat for the jobs that I was doing, often 10 hours a day with short breaks allowed. With the knowledge I had acquired with them though, I was able to help out several folks with irrigation fixes, garden maintenance, and even had the opportunity to design and install a nice native garden for a friend!

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’ve been organizing a vegan party called Jax Veg Fest since 2017, before that, was involved in volunteering for a Veg Fest here as well as an advocacy group, so have been involved in the vegan scene in Jax for a bit. Back in late 2022, my partner Onya had suggested that we start a food business late one evening. When we arrived home, I poured myself a glass of wine, grabbed my kitchen composition book, and mocked up a menu. Later, I googled “how to start a LLC” and got to work on that with licensing, insurance and all the fun behind the scenes things that happen.

It’s been an exciting time and a lot of lessons learned, but through it all, we’ve met so much of the community which we’ve had the pleasure of having as regular guests and evolving to friends & family here. What started as four sandwiches and a couple of sides on our menu at the beginning has expanded to so many more menu options, breakfast, and even a small value menu! We are even participating in the upcoming Vegan Chef Challenge in August, where chefs create a few new vegan menu items to compete with other places and guests get to vote for their favorites all month long.

Last, we are in the licensing process for a food trailer for many of our pop ups, which is super exciting and our next step forward. It’s been an amazing journey and I can’t begin to thank everyone who has brought us to this moment enough(well, I suppose a beginning is a resounding THANK YOU to everyone–you’re the reason we’re here and it’s beautiful to see folks enjoying a meal with us, giving a hug or high five, and thank y’all from all of our heart).

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I’ve been in the food business my whole life and have been lucky enough to learn from a lot of it. My years in corporate restaurant management taught me some numbers and systems, my years in service have taught me to always try to be kind, and my years in the kitchen have taught me to pivot and move with intention. That is an incredibly abbreviated description for decades in the proverbial frying pan, but the experiences and the people who I’ve met and learned from in the field are why I’m here. At the end of the day, know that it’s people why we are here, it’s the memorable experiences we hope to craft, and never, ever, ever forget to laugh a lot, because that is a great part of life’s dance in my mind. Above all, know that you can do what you Love–it’s a lot of work, but if you listen or learn from others, it is so much so worth it at the end of the day. There is going to be what could feel like a lot of uphill movement, but you can do it!

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I think that I’d do exactly what I’m doing now–trying to help others through my work, hang out with my Jonya Pack on our Homestead tending veggies or all kinds of plants, have a fun weekly D&D campaign night, sip on some whiskey or wine, create art, and smile at storm clouds, marveling at Mother Nature in her fantastic design.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

self, Onya Addington

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