Emily Rudnick is a 14-year-old businessperson. She has her own food-seasoning blend.
Emily remembers vividly the first batch she and her dad made. The pair had picked up 15 ingredients— including five different chilies. “We mixed them up in our Kitchenaid,” she recalls. “It did not go well. We had to leave the house for the day and leave all the doors open.”
Sinus-stinging setbacks aside, Emily kept at it. Over the past few years, she’s made several batches of what she calls Rudspice. She gives it as holiday gifts. In many cases, recipients ask for more of the mix that Emily describes as having “big flavor and slow kick.”
Now the Colorado eighth-grader is taking Rudspice to a new place: retail shelves. Two Savory Spice Shops in Denver are carrying the orange-shaded seasoning for a limited time.
“In eighth grade, you’re assigned to write a business plan,” Emily says. “I took it two steps further by actually creating a product and starting a business.”
Emily’s father, David Rudnick, put up the money to help her get Rudspice off the ground. A family friend helped her incorporate her business and trademark Rudspice. She started a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of her first large batches.
Savory Spice Shop has been an important partner. After her mixer mishap, shop founders Mike and Janet Johnston let Emily and her dad mix the spices at their warehouse facility. The Johnstons encouraged Emily to tinker with her recipe to get just the right blend. Emily willingly complied. The Johnstons held tasting events and cooking demos in their stores.
Emily will pitch her product to her schoolteachers in a presentation set in the style of the TV show “Shark Tank.” Nicole Kruse, the entrepreneurial institute coach at the private school, said in an email, “I am not surprised by Emily’s success. She is a motivated, dedicated, inspiring young woman. When she puts her mind to something, nothing can stop her.”
Emily’s Kickstarter campaign raised more than $2,700. Her first priority is to repay her investor—her dad. Then she’ll bottle more spice. Her sisters and friends will help with distribution. They plan to sell Rudspice at farmers’ markets and events around the state. The helpers will receive commissions for their sales.
“My end goal is to have it replace salt and pepper because it is a healthier way to season your food,” Emily says.
Though the low-sodium blend may never completely replace salt, it’s a savory—and marketable—option. After all, they say variety is the spice of life!
