Last week I had the chance to sit on a panel at the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre and Kitchener Public Library's Women in Business event. One of the ideas I kept coming back to was this: think in abundance, not scarcity, as much as you possibly can. It's also the thinking behind our newest collab at Sapling Kitchen + Events in Kitchener: a vegan Japanese Curry Petite Patty made with The Dessert Artist, launching alongside our brand-new Paneer patty.
It's an idea that has stuck with me all week. It sounds simple. It is not always simple. Especially when you open your phone.
The highlight reel problem
Social media is everyone's highlight reel. The sold-out launch. The beautiful plated dish. The big new partnership. It's so easy to scroll past all of it and measure it against wherever you happen to be standing today.
But you're comparing someone else's best moment to your present moment, and those were never meant to be compared.
I try to share a lot of the layers that bring our business to life. The reality, though? Rejection emails and mistakes feel a lot less fun to post online. They're still there, they're just not on the grid.
Practicing what I panel
So the morning after the panel, I tried to practice what I panelled and shared a little behind-the-scenes on my Instagram story.
The highlight that day: waking up before the sun to come into the kitchen and clean stoves, ovens and sinks. Not glamorous. Not a dish anyone would photograph. But it set the stage for a busy 24 hours of happy food entrepreneurs cooking, baking and building their businesses in our space.
That's a highlight too. It's just one you don't usually get to see, and I wanted to stretch that story into something a little longer here.
Abundance looks like collaboration: our Petite Patty pop up in Kitchener
Here's the part of abundance thinking I love most: someone else's success doesn't shrink yours. There isn't a limited supply of good ideas, happy customers or great things to bring to life.
Scarcity tells you to guard your corner. Abundance asks who you could build something with.
That's exactly the spirit behind our upcoming Petite Patty pop up with The Dessert Artist. She cooks out of Sapling Kitchen + Events, our shared commercial kitchen in Kitchener, and together we created a brand-new collab flavour: a vegan Japanese Curry patty filled with potatoes, carrots, onions, squash and black-eyed peas. It launches alongside a pre-order pop up featuring all of her Petite Patty flavours, and we're using the same launch to debut our new Paneer patty flavour.
Neither of us could have made that exact thing alone. Her customers discover our kitchen. Our community discovers her patties. Everyone gets lifted a little higher, and that's the whole point of a shared kitchen.
How to order the vegan Japanese Curry patty
What: The Sapling x The Dessert Artist vegan Japanese Curry patty, our new Paneer patty, plus every Petite Patty flavour
Pre-order by: November 10
Pickup: November 12–13 at Sapling Kitchen + Events, 50 Ottawa St S, Unit 109, Kitchener
How: pre-order and pickup only, no walk-ins. https://thedessertartist.ca/shop/
Happy scrolling
So the next time you're scrolling and that little voice says everyone's further ahead than me, try swapping the question. Not "why isn't that me?" but "what could I bring to life, and who could I do it with?"
Other folks doing great things doesn't mean you can't bring great things to life too. There's room at the table. (And if you need a table, we have a few.)
Happy scrolling, and happy thinking with an abundance mindset.
P.S. Petite Patty pre-orders close November 10. Grab a vegan Japanese Curry patty and try our new Paneer patty while you can.
