Meet Kimi Ceridon

We recently connected with Kimi Ceridon and have shared our conversation below.

Kimi, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I haven’t.

Perhaps I don’t totally understand imposter syndrome, but to me, if I believe I’ve deserved and earned all my success, it would make me entitled.

I am grateful for all the wins in my life. I know I worked hard to achieve many of them. But I also know there are so many people out there working just as hard and even harder but not experiencing the same success as I’ve had.

Instead of overcoming my imposter syndrome, I embrace it. I challenged myself to do something outside my comfort zone. I succeeded. Others have done the same and experienced different outcomes. But it’s not a zero sum game. I feel like part of my success is to make room for others to succeed alongside me and part of that is recognizing I’m not the only one who worked hard.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I started out my career as a Mechanical Engineer. I cam from an abusive home and pursuing a stable career was part of my flight-or-flight response. I fought to the top of my class, went to MIT and landed that stable career. But it wasn’t a fit. I love the engineering and technology, I hate the misogyny of of the tech industry. It made my fight-or-flight behavior go absolutely haywire.

So, as I sat in yet another organization meeting watching my work get undermined, I decided to go to culinary school. I went to Boston University, got a culinary certificate, an artisan cheese certificate and a Masters in Gastronomy.

And now, I am the owner of Life Love Cheese, a neighborhood cheese shop located in Wakefield, MA. Life Love Cheese’s mission is simple. We believe small business is the backbone of the American Economy and we bring a fun, flavorful and impactful experience to our customers with local products made by American cheesemakers and artisans. Our customers aren’t just buying good food, They are voting with their dollars to support American Agriculture.

We’ve opened our first storefront on December 18, 2024. With our first year under our belt, we are looking to expanding in the future. We want to grow our brand into the North Shore with additional storefronts and wine and cheese bars. Our goal is to spread the local economy for all to enjoy.

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?

There are so many skills needed to start a small biz that it’s hard to pinpoint three.

I guess that means being a “Jane of trades” is a quality necessary. It’s hard to be a specialist as an entrepreneur because there are always a million different things that need to be done and each of them seems to draw on a different skill. So, I’ve become good at doing lots of things imperfectly.

Of course, that means flexibility is another quality high on the list. I’ve had to wotk hard to not get too stuck on how things are “supposed” to go or expecting specific outcomes. I’ve had to change direction often and sometimes even change back. But being able to respond to current conditions and new information quickly without getting stubbornly stuck on something that was not working was critical for me to keep.moving forward.

I think having boundaries is an absolute necessity. Running a small business is overwhelming and I’ve often felt like I have to give up every minute of every day to make it work. So many problems can scream with urgency that it’s easy to think I need to martyr myself for them. I try to have boundaries. I can’t say that I haven’t been terrible about trouncing on my boundaries, but I’ve had conversations with myself when I realize I’m overreaching. Rather than just boldly sacrificing myself, I’m at least pausing to think about the decision. But there are a few things I don’t compromise on. I set up some self care appointments – massages, myofacial therapy, dinners out, buying tickets to events, having breakfast with a friend. I make reservations, put things in my schedule and pay for tickets ahead to allow myself to have that time for myself.

One last thing that I always keep in mind is to not let the pursuit of perfection be the enemy of done. I learned this in grad school at MIT while I was one a third rewrite of my thesis. My advisor said “Well, I can tell you to revise it yet again, but is it really going to be any more perfect?’ I’ve kept that lesson rom one of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever met in my heart ever since.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

One of my biggest challenges is balancing profitability with my mission to provide a equitable workplace that welcoming to our community of customers while supporting small businesses, local makers and American Artisans.

I don’t think it is an either/or question but the reality is we exist in a capitalist framework and despite my high-minded mission, I’ve chosen to open a store that must makes profits in order to fulfill that mission.

It’s a matter of figuring out the right formula to make that happen and it is not a simple thing to do. Everyday I’m thinking about how to strike that balance.

Do I nudge prices up? Should I cut hours? Can I support this community initiative? Is this product right for our shelves? I want to support this small biz and this other entrepreneur’s journey, but I’m not sure this product is a fit? I need this piece of equipment immediately to fix a problem, can I afford to not buy it from that big box place that will get it to me overnight? How can I reduce our plastic consumption when plastics help make our product more appealing? My margins are already so thin, how can I add this product to our shelves when it’s so expensive even though I know it’s expensive because it’s hand crafted by a small, local biz?

There are so many dimensions to being mission driven that it’s hard to know how to maintain a singular message and stay on mission while trying to keep the doors open.

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