"Together Talks" #83: Myles Comfort Foods

Some Background on Myles Comfort Foods

For today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the chance to speak with Myles Comfort Foods and Founder, Myles Powell. Myles Comfort Foods, formally known as 8 Myles, was founded by food entrepreneur & aspiring chef, Myles Powell in 2015.

Myles developed a line of fruit based BBQ sauces reminiscent of his traditional family recipes.? While the sauces were delicious, the true magic was in their pairings. Using only highest quality protein and whole food ingredients their Buffalo Mac & Cheese quickly became a fan favorite. The people had spoken! And their convenient, easy to prepare line of comfort foods was born.??

Call them the mac & cheese with moxie. Myles’ authentic soul food recipes savor the nostalgia of childhood flavors with the wholesome ingredients your grandparents would approve of. Myles Comfort Foods is a clean, premium comfort food brand elevating the?landscape of frozen foods through the marriage of quality and clean convenience?that the modern day consumer is seeking in grocery.

Unhappy path

Myles path to the kitchen started in the environment of his family. Growing up whether a large or small family meal, his day was centered around those meals. Quickly he grew up surrounded by food and it became a passion to not only consume, but also prepare and cook. He went on to school for engineering but disclosed he wasn't very good at it, nor did he enjoy it. Not liking it and not being good at it is the worst combo you can have, he shared.

In the back of his mind he knew where his mind kept wandering back to, the kitchen. That was where his passion truly resided. After graduation with his engineering degree, he leaned into the food space in his spare time starting a food blog. He realized he needed an escape from his 9-5 job. "My brain was misfiring working in that setting", Myles explained. Fortunately for him his devotion to his blog garnered attention from the Food Network in 2013. He was given the opportunity to compete on the "America's Best Cook" series.

Myles came home from that experience with two understandings. One - the kitchen was his happy place. Two - He knew that food and entrepreneurship would be his path forward.

Calling

Competing on the show was the push Myles needed to make a career pivot. From there he left engineering to chase and pursue his dream that was spearheaded by passion, food. He started creating BBQ sauces similar to what he grew up consuming with those cherished family meals. The first step was introducing the product to consumers.

Myles began showcasing his products at Farmer's Markets. He went a step ahead though and provided the entire experience for customers. Rather than just trying the sauces on their own, he would prepare foods to try them with. This all encompassing meal began to gain some real traction. But interestingly enough Myles was listening to the feedback of the customers. He continued you receive the reactions until he came to a conclusion. After years on the circuit, he understood what the driving factor of the pairing was the food.

After three years of producing the BBQ sauces, Myles pivoted his company to focus on Mac n cheese solely in 2018. He knew a huge challenge was ahead of him, but he was prepared to make an immediate impact. Myles believed that the frozen food space, lacked the combo he was about to unleash, convenience + good for your ingredients.

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Shake up

Entering the frozen food space was no easy task for Myles and his company. But he told us why he felt not only there was an opportunity, but need for change. "The players in the space are sort of legacy brands that have been around for such a long time. Their main selling point is the convenience factor, 100%. While our product also meets that need (ready in 4 minutes in the microwave), we bring a completely new take with quality due to cleanliness of the ingredients.", Myles shared.

Myles Comfort Foods is a home cooked meal that just happens to be frozen. The ability to make it taste like a home cooked meal but only require a few minutes in the microwave makes the brand unique. He mentioned they also have some overlapping with shelf stable mac n cheese brands as well. "These products were a solution born during the Great Depression. It was a mealtime solution that could be made for very cheap. While it served that need it has not evolved much. Consumers are more conscious about what they put in their bodies and recognizing those 'ingredients' aren't real.", Myles mentioned.

The company is showcasing that consumers deserve real food. Nothing harmful is required to produce quality food with clean ingredients for their products. As Myles summarized, "that should be the norm, but unfortunately it is the opposite of what customers are receiving."

Myles shared with us that one of the first huge achievements for their brand was getting into Target. It was something he always envisioned, but ultimately it was just a smaller piece to the overall plan. Integration into chains (Whole Foods, Target, etc.) has been part of their story, but something that Myles make sures his group appreciates the hard work. The next phase of the company is nourishing the existing relationships by increasing velocity with each partner.

Mission

Beginning this journey was accompanied by being naive Myles explained. He told us he considers himself an optimistic person and had the outlook that he would figure it out. Operating that solo fight he realized he didn't have a ton of resources at his disposal initially. But because he had his passion to fall back on, he truly believed that any challenge and adversity he would experience, he could overcome it. That didn't mean it was all smooth sailing however, "I took my bumps and bruises. I was knocked down many times and dealt with a lot of rejection. But that provided valuable lessons that I was able to learn from. In the end, those experiences made me a better Founder and a better man.", Myles shared.

He credits his strong vision for the product, the space, and the revolution occurring in the frozen category. He alluded to building a sense of armor with hearing the word "no" so many times. But developing counters to plans not transpiring has allowed Myles and his brand to become even stronger moving forward. He mentioned that while focusing on growing the company it can be difficult to reflect on the journey. "One thing I noticed is talking to other founders in this space is understanding point of views and remembering where we started. They are amazed at what we have accomplished and where we are, it brings me back to when we were at that stage. Now we are trying to enter even higher levels in the space, so understanding that everyone is chasing potential at their own pace I think is really valuable.", Myles described.

Black-Owned, Women-Led

The first seven years in business Myles was running it by himself. He then made a change and brought on Zhanna Godkin. Prior to the addition to Myles Comfort Foods, he explained how lonely it can be running everything on your own. Implementing a partnership became a breath of fresh air Myles mentioned. "It was like a million pounds were removed from my shoulders instantly. Knowing I had a shared vision with someone who believed in our company was incredible. Able to couple that with the fact that her strengths could overtake my weaknesses and it was clear to bring Zhanna on board.", Myles shared.

We discussed the challenges of being an entrepreneur and finding time to stop and celebrate the wins. Myles mentioned that it is always hard to step back and look at things with that perspective because it is always on to the next thing. But with the addition of his new Co-Founder, he found it so easy to breathe as he mentioned knowing that now the machine won't stop. Everything doesn't rely solely on him anymore. Now Myles can direct his focus on his strengths to further grow the brand of Myles Comfort Foods.

The end goal is to build this brand into a billion dollar category leader in comfort food. Myles said while achieving that would be an incredible feat it is more about being known as a pioneer for reshaping and shifting the goals of the frozen space. Bringing sustainable, ethical, and positive changes for the consumer is their biggest goal. He hopes that Myles Comfort Foods can be leading that charge for years to come. Conversely, he believes that will be a huge part of the legacy they are aiming to achieve.

Piece of Advice

The conversation with Myles ended with him sharing his piece of advice.

"I think the biggest thing is knowing the difference between a good idea and what you love doing. No matter what your brand looks like or what product you have it is going to get beat up. The advice is to have some resilience built in and be prepared to hear no. Those that can take a punch and keep running and actually be open to change are the ones who survive. It is absolutely necessary to have confidence and a sense of stubbornness, but not let it overshadow your entire decision making process. Know your why as well I think is imperative to enduring those challenging times."

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In Closing

KLS wants to thank Myles Powell, Founder, of Myles Comfort Foods?for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for the Myles Comofrt Foods' journey with their social handles below!

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