Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendall and John Antonelli.
Kendall and John, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
John and I met in college at Georgetown University in Washington DC. After a season or two of flirting – and then neither of us being available simultaneously – I finally found my moment in our senior year when I kissed him at a winter school dance. (I’ve always been a gal who goes for what she wants!) Although he’s from New York, he lovingly supported me in my move back to my native Texas, on the heels of my father’s death and my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. We settled on Austin so I could be closer to family, while I also attended UT for my graduate program. Neither John nor I grew up in cheese, nor the specialty food industry. John is a Certified Public Accountant by trade, and I started working at local nonprofit American Gateways, assisting immigrant victims of crimes with their immigration cases. (It’s a great nonprofit; check them out and support them!)
In October 2007, on our honeymoon to Grenada, a small Caribbean island known for fish and nutmeg, it happened. We sat on the small white sand beach, listening to the waves crash, drinking frozen purple drinks with pink umbrellas, and feeling the sweat beads on our skin. I looked up from the romance I was reading (go easy on me folks; it was our honeymoon!) and turned to my left, staring at John and feeling gratitude. At that moment, John looked up from his apocalyptic, sci-fi teen novel, turned to me and said, “I want to quit my job when I get home.”
It wasn’t a shock; I’d known that his job was just that – a job – and that he’d been daydreaming of times when we jumped out of bed in the morning to go tackle a project. He was antsy and looking for that excitement and purpose again. I turned to him: “Okay. What do you want to do?”
“Something in cheese.”
Something in cheese. Neither of us had any idea what that meant. Since then, media regularly question us, “Why cheese?” And while we can’t recall a specific answer, I do remember John saying, “No one likes me as ‘the auditor.’ But everyone loves cheese. I just want to make people happy.”
By the end of the honeymoon, John had made a promise: “I’ll put in notice now but finish out the busy accounting season. Then I’ll give myself two years, the equivalent of an MBA program. Instead of putting us further into debt with more school, I think I can write a business plan and put that money straight into the business. If I haven’t opened or started something within two years of my quit date, I’ll go back to auditing.” (Apparently, the world always needs more auditors.) And with that, the honeymoon phase of “I’m quitting my job to start my own business; isn’t it exciting?!” began, as the world seemed open to any and all possibilities.
Two years and five days after he quit his job, we opened the door to Austin’s first cut-to-order cheese and cured meats shop, where complimentary tastings are encouraged. A small retail shop (ie no seating, carry-out only), we sell everything to take on a perfect picnic: artisanal cheese, cured meats, sustainably-made wines and craft beers, baguettes, preserves, pickled goods, honeys, and even chocolates. (Yes, we enjoy chocolate and cheese together – and even offer a pairing class on it!) We also host in-person and virtual tasting events, everything from Cheese 101 to Perfect Pairings: Cheese & Honey (or Charcuterie, or Chocolate, or Preserves, or… you get the idea!) We offer huge cheese trays and spreads, a monthly cheese club (with nationwide shipping), and an e-commerce ordering and gifting platform. Lastly, we’re thrilled to partner with grocers and restaurants around the state of Texas, sourcing and distributing artisanal foods. For us, that means we know the artisans, they’re making their craft by hand, in traditional methods (albeit innovative too!), and we’ve often personally laid eyes on their operations, seeing how they treat their lands, animals, and teams. Today, what started as a honeymoon decision and a team of two now includes three physical locations (a retail shop, an events Cheese House, and a warehouse), as well as around forty full-time and part-time team members.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Haha. I’d bet my house and dogs that there is not an entrepreneur, nor a small business owner, who says it’s been a smooth road (and I’m not a betting woman!). The challenges and “opportunities for character building,” shall we say, have been ample. One example that comes to mind occurred in 2018. That January, we opened a spinoff concept in Austin’s first food hall downtown; in addition to serving as a small cut-to-order cheese and meat retail shop, we also launched a cheese kitchen. For numerous reasons, some within our control and some not, we could not get out of the red into financial, sustainable success (or see a path to it), despite regular tweaks. That fall, we feared financial ruin – for our entire business, not just the one shop. John and I came up with a new cheese concept and proposed it to our team; we thought we were going to be heroes, saving the day. Instead, it was quiet; team member Nicholas looked at us and said, “I’m not afraid if we fail.
What if we win? Is that what we really want to do? Are we really passionate about it? What’s the purpose or greater good?” And it all clicked into place. We made the tough decision to close that shop, including laying off team members, one of the worst experiences of our lives. We felt that we had failed them. However, two years later when the pandemic hit, we were able to recall that feeling in the pit of our stomachs and use it to fuel us forward. With a grounding foundation of, “We will not let a single team member go due to the pandemic,” we set about making rapid-fire decisions. We changed ten years of business within ten days. And, despite the challenges, tears, and exhaustion that came with it (for all of us!), we came out ahead, kept every team member employed, and even hired back some that had previously been laid off. On top of that, we hosted over 15,000 people in our virtual cheese tasting experiences and launched on-demand cheese tasting kits we ship across the country, which later earned us a couple of awards.
Some of these hard times felt impassable. We knew tomorrow would come, one way or the other, but it just felt so heavy. Now, looking back at a dozen years in business, we can see cycles of smooth sailing, pushing ourselves to improve, hitting obstacles, struggling through them, reacting and iterating, and coming through the storm again to clear skies. The key is making sure we keep perspective during those hard times. In the early days, it helped that we were always a team of at least the two of us. Nowadays, we’ve got great leaders to help us problem-solve, support company culture goals, and keep that greater perspective. It helps that we use our Do Good. Eat Good. mission and core principles to guide us during decision-making:
1. Passion with Purpose.
2. Be a Juggernaut of Awesome.
3. Be True. To Ourselves. To Others.
4. Family First. Then Business.
5. Improve Every Day.
Part of experiencing those hardships allows us to lean into the opportunity to improve and get better. That’s what growth is all about.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Antonelli’s Cheese started as Austin’s first cut-to-order cheese shop in Hyde Park representing smaller, artisanal producers. It has since grown to include a robust wholesale program sourcing handmade foods for 150+ Central Texas chefs and restaurant partners, an events program hosting over 200 yearly public classes and private events educating on good food, a catering program offering cheese trays, and an eCommerce site shipping our cheese club and gifts nationwide. We have increased revenue each year *Best Cheese Shops in America – Travel + Leisure Magazine 2015 *The Best U.S. Cheese Shops – The Gourmet Retailer 2016 *Best Artisan Food Company – Austin Chronicle readers’ poll 2013, 2017 *Local Hero Food Shop – Edible Austin readers’ poll 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 *Best Austin Local Eats – Austin Monthly 2013, 2017 *Inc 5000 Growing Companies 2018, Austin under 40 – Kendall 2019, John 2020.
What does success mean to you?
We’re successful if we get to operate the business we want on our terms. There have been times when we challenged ourselves, wondering if the move we were making would be sustainable or if there would be negative repercussions. Then we fell back on one of our mantras, “If we can’t be in business the way we want to, it’s not worth being in business.” That’s helped us make a lot of decisions, like continually increasing wages or giving back to community fundraisers, even when the numbers don’t add up all the way. And don’t get me wrong! We’ve got further to go. And more goals to achieve. But as long as we’re always moving in that direction – or see a future where that is possible – then we’ll keep at it.
Success also means to us that we’re constantly reminding ourselves why we’re in business and that we’re running the business (not the other way around). Don’t get me wrong. We say the business is our first baby – and it’s kept us up more nights than our two human children. This is just to say that, we try to keep it in perspective. People go to work to make money to put a roof over their heads, food in their bellies and take care of their health needs – for them and those they love. Our goal is to remember that and keep life in perspective – who we are as people and what we do outside of work is the most important. Our work should support that personhood.
And while I’m on the topic of “work,” I love what a friend and mentor recently said to me: She doesn’t “go to work.” Instead, she “goes to play.” That’s a success. When we get to keep loving what we’re doing. Playing with cheese is a pretty awesome way to spend the day.
Of course, it all depends on an amazing customer base of loyal folks who make us part of their weekly destination, as well as new folks who give us a shot. As long as they keep coming to our shop, joining our monthly cheese club, or booking cheese tasting events, they’re affording us the opportunity to be a better business.
Contact Info:
- Website: Antonellischeese.com
- Instagram: @antonellischeese
- Facebook: @antonellischeese
- Twitter: @AntonellisCHZ
Image Credits
Andrew Bennett
