Nadine Kelly
OWNER

“SIMPLE SCALES, FANCY FAILS”

To scale effectively, a strategic and practical approach is best.

MY BUSINESS JOURNEY

My journey into business started in 2012 when I got hired into my first marketing and sales role for a painting local company, which lead to working for several large companies such as Pepsi, Nespresso, and Sears (to name a few). These companies helped me learn and understand how to effectively communicate a product or service’s value proposition to potential customers, how to negotiate and close deals, the psychology in understanding customer needs and desires, how to identify target markets, segment audiences, and develop effective messaging that resonates with customers.

In early 2015, after university, I moved to Thunder Bay to help my mom through a difficult time and to start my first Sole Proprietorship, a personal training business. I knew less than 5 people in a city of 100,000 people, and I knew next to nothing about starting, running, or growing my own business… But that didn’t stop me.

I loved business so much that in 2016 with just $350 I started Breakfast Lunch & Deener, which, over the next 6+ years, my team and I grew into the largest healthy and fresh meal manufacturing company in Northwestern Ontario.

My business knowledge and skills grew exponentially by starting, growing, and evolving my own operation, including learning how to make data-driven decisions in order to optimize our operations and improve our bottom line, how to be creative, think outside the box, and develop new and innovative ways to reach customers. I learned how to be financially-lean, re-invest profits, make quick and practical decisions, as well as how to adapt to changing market conditions and come up with new strategies to remain competitive… especially through a pandemic.

Breakfast Lunch & Deener Inc. was built almost entirely with ORGANIC (aka not paid) social media, with a small (but mighty!) 5000 followers (FB + IG combined) translating into 6-figure+ yearly revenue.

THE EVOLUTION of SPRINGSS

Starting, growing, and evolving businesses, solving problems, teaching, creating valuable content, editing videos, connecting with like-minded individuals…

THAT is what I am passionate about, and what I wanted my work to be.

By creating SPRINGSS, I created THE EXACT service that I wish I had throughout my business journey.

The unique skills I have acquired over the last 10+ years are allowing me to help my clients skip the overwhelm and guesswork that would otherwise be inevitable when starting, growing, or evolving a business. 

If you’d like to learn more about how I can help you or your organization, please reach out. I’d love to chat!

About Breakfast Lunch & Deener Inc.

FROM THE BEGINNING

Nadine Kelly founded Breakfast Lunch & Deener as a Sole Proprietorship in May 2016 with just $350 and a vision to make healthy foods more easily accessible within our region.

For the first 3 years, Breakfast Lunch & Deener rented the commercial kitchen at the Thunder Bay Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) every Sunday. Without a production facility of our own, we really had to focus on becoming highly efficient at producing hundreds of meals, completely from scratch, in a very short amount of time.  We quickly reached our capacity for what we could produce just 1-day per week.

At the end of 2018, we realized we had to make a choice: Sustain this specific output forever, or create our own production facility. In March 2019 we began renovations, and by August we officially had our own commercial kitchen!

Summer 2020

Spadoni Used Car & Truck sponsored a utility van for us so we could meet the rapid increase in demand we experienced due to the pandemic.

HOW WE HANDLED COVID-19

When the pandemic started in March 2020, Breakfast Lunch & Deener was positioned well to be able to continue business as usual: All orders were placed online from the comfort of your personal “bubble”, and all payments were handled online, which meant there was no cash exchange or need for human-contact at any time. We put programs in place to make our meals even more easily accessible so we could directly support essential and front-line workers through the difficult times.

Realizing we had an established online platform and strong distribution model, we also opened up our online platform to other local businesses to list their products, so more people could support local. Our goal was to assist the local business community as much as possible during these uncertain times.

THE PANDEMIC AFTERMATH

While 2020 was a record year for us, 2021 was a struggle. Every food business in Thunder Bay had to implement some form of take-out in order to survive. Our local food scene is so fantastic, and we’re genuinely really happy for all those businesses who were able to overcome the challenges brought on by the pandemic. But with an increase in competition, as well as food-delivery companies becoming extremely mainstream, AND not to mention the very steep rising cost of food and containers (and just business expenses in general)… our business, as it was, definitely felt the effects.

As any successful business would, we focused our efforts towards finding a solution.
We chose to evolve.

“Our goal was not to fix what wasn’t working, but rather, to replace what’s not working with something new altogether. Our big pivot is innovate in both the food industry as well as for Tradespeople and Trades Companies. This is a win-win; a true game-changer.”

THE BIG PIVOT: FUELLING THE TRADES

Throughout our years in business we have crossed paths, spoken with, and fed many Tradespeople. We have come to realize the variety of struggles they are faced with when it comes to food, especially when on the road and working in remote regions. The consensus was this: There was no reliable option for high quality hearty meals that were both convenient and cost effective… That is, until now!

As of May 4 2022, Breakfast Lunch & Deener repositioned themselves in the market to focus entirely on “fuelling the trades”, supplying hearty and convenient meals to Tradespeople working in remote regions. The company is committed to providing a much-needed meal solution guaranteed to satisfy hungry Tradespeople and cost-conscious companies.

 

CLOSING THE Breakfast Lunch & Deener CHAPTER

In August 2022 I decided it was time to move on from Breakfast Lunch & Deener… and from Thunder Bay.

While it seemed like a quick and drastic decision to some, it took me more than a year of struggle and soul-searching to come to that conclusion. I realized I did not want to operate a food business anymore. 

So why am I sharing this with you?

While Breakfast Lunch & Deener and Thunder Bay were not the right path for me anymore. I was 21 when I moved there and 22 when I started BLD… so obviously A LOT has changed since then!

RECOGNITION & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

January 2021 – 2023: Nadine sits on the Lakehead University Ingenuity Advisory Board.

November 2020 – 2022: Nadine held a position on the Board of Directors on the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce.

October 2019: Nadine Kelly was nominated for a NOVA Award in the category of Business and Professional Achievement. The Business and Professional Achievement award is presented to the most significant movers and shakers in their fields. These young professionals excel in business and/or their careers. Their work is impactful – creating jobs, improving quality of life, driving innovation, and propelling advancement.

September 2019: Nadine Kelly was nominated for “Rising Star Award” with PARO, which recognizes a young woman’s emerging talent. A Rising Star is a current leader or an aspiring future leader who is starting out in business, managing her own business, and quickly rising through the ranks. This award is open to young women under 40 who are ‘women to watch’ in terms of future contribution and community leadership.

April 2019: Nadine Kelly won the first ever Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

December 2018: Nadine Kelly was nominated for “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” with the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. The ceremony will be hosted in April 2019, where the winner will be announced.

April 2018: Breakfast Lunch & Deener was nominated in 2 categories for the Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards: Game Changer (awarded to a business who introduces new offerings, breakthrough solutions or a revolutionary approach to enhance our lives and challenge the status quo) and Quality of Life (awarded to a business who goes beyond its day-to-day activities to make an outstanding contribution to the Quality of Life of another person, group or organization in Thunder Bay).