Deborah Wasserman, our Mompreneur from the granola company Local Eden, quipped the perfect answer when I asked her why she became a chef – “Who doesn’t like food?!” With a degree in exercise physiology, Deborah found that she actually spent most of her first career in personal fitness as a psychotherapist, albeit without a psychologist’s salary. While she enjoyed her profession, a time came when she felt prompted to reconsider her career path. And so, after leaving her job at UCSF as a personal trainer, she traveled throughout Europe for 3.5 months before returning to San Francisco and undertaking culinary training.
While she cooked in San Francisco restaurants, Deborah also worked for Full Belly Farm at the Marin’s farmers market. This experience instilled in her a strong appreciation for eating an organic and sustainable diet, a philosophy that became integral to her lifestyle and something she hopes to pass on to her children.
Deborah actually began Local Eden in 2007 as a catering company and food stand at the Marin County farmer’s market, utilizing the market’s offerings to create various dishes. Having her daughter Amira, however, forced Deborah to reflect on how she wanted to spend her time as both a mom and entrepreneur. Although she loved her catering business, the amount of compensation she felt comfortable receiving for leaving her daughter with a sitter continued to climb. Catering offered a certain kind of time flexibility, but it was also unpredictable by nature and required bursts of planning and production as well. As a result, Deborah turned her attention to creating delicious granola, and she has spent the last four years doing just that.
Why granola?
“Well,” she recounted, “it was actually an addiction that turned into a passion!” After being inspired by some very tasty granola she and her husband enjoyed at a restaurant, Deborah went into her own kitchen to birth and nurture a granola recipe to mouthwatering perfection, one that is not only delicious but natural, nutritious, and balanced. What is balanced? She explained to me that most granola products are made of lots of oats along with pieces of nuts and fruit. Local Eden’s granola, however, has a much more even fruit-seed-nut-oat ratio. And to top it off, the oats are gluten-free. Delicious as a snack on its own or paired with other food, Deborah’s favorite indulgence is sprinkling warm granola over vanilla ice cream. Yum!
Deborah is not native to the Bay Area but grew up in the Midwest where Lean Cuisine and processed foods were staples in everyone’s refrigerators. But her move to San Francisco opened up a whole new vista of food for her both in terms of sophistication and health. Here in Northern California she found the food culture bending toward organic, locally grown produce, something much healthier than what she was accustomed to in the Midwest. And through friends who were chefs at high-end restaurants, she learned how food could be both healthy and incredibly delicious. Deborah is proud of the quality of her products and has created them for others who also enjoy both delicious and nutritious food.
Local Eden is a business that also allows the all-important time for Deborah to have some autonomy from her children. She savors this personal time when she can simply listen to a podcast while she cooks the granola, something she says she can now do in her sleep because the process of production is so methodical and manageable.
Besides Amira, who is 5, Deborah also has a son, Shai, who is almost 1. Shai likes to start his day at 5:45 am, so the whole family has grudgingly become ‘morning people.’ Once Amira goes off to her full-time Montessori school, Deborah can have some alone time with Shai among her running of errands, working out, working on her business, or all the other innumerable large and small tasks that must be done at home.
Even so, she can’t do it without help. With no family nearby, Deborah’s favorite ‘luxury-necessity’ resource has been childcare assistance. Having a babysitter somehow still feels like a luxury to her, yet at the same time is necessary if she is to simultaneously run both a home and a business.
And she admits that trying to do both is hard. Staunchly prioritizing her family above everything else has forced her to look for ways to increase efficiency in her business and never stop striving toward that seemingly elusive goal called ‘organization.’ This quest has fueled her decisions to learn QuickBooks and to take courses teaching how to become more efficient in production, decisions which are now beginning to pay off.
When she is not working, Deborah loves to spend time with her husband and children simply cuddling and reading books, however they have instituted a family rule that when the weather is nice they always spend the day outdoors. And her assistant in enforcing this domestic legislation is none other than Gus, their gentle giant Goldendoodle.
Speaking of her husband, Deborah also shared her appreciation of an amazing and supportive partner who has encouraged her along her entrepreneurial journey, and who frequently but wisely reminds her to take time for herself.
Her words of wisdom: ‘Happy wife, happy life’ is a great reminder that when we care for ourselves, everyone else around us benefits. Whether we need a massage, a walk, some time with friends, a retreat from everyone by sitting in a room by ourselves, or whatever it is that we need at that moment. Something special at least once a week is the minimum in order to maintain sanity and stability.
___________________________________
Local Eden offers two flavors of granola that are made with love and locally sourced ingredients:
Cashew Almond Apricot (100% organic)
Peanut Butter Maple (97.3% organic)
Find Local Eden Granola at:
http://www.localeden.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Local-Eden-124331647602494/
https://www.instagram.com/localedengranola/
Also available locally at:
Oxbow Market, 610 & 644 1st St, Napa, CA 94559
Oakville Market, 7856 St Helena Hwy, Oakville, CA 94562
The Market Hall, 1101 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94158
What a wonderful article about a wonderful women. You were perfectly captured Deborah in both verse and photos.
Miss you,
Dotty