Meet Cindy Frigard | Designer with a CPG Side Hustle

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cindy Frigard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cindy, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I have never been afraid to make a change when I thought it would better my life. Some people might think of the choices I’ve made as risky, but they’ve always led to something better. For example, my husband and I quit our highly paid corporate jobs and sold our house in California so we could take a year off to travel when we were in our mid-30’s. When we got back, we took corporate jobs in Michigan and ended up quitting those four years later to move to Colorado to start our own company with one non-paying client. But 15 years later, we have a thriving business that we’ve built entirely on referrals from the work we did for that one non-paying client. And now, we’ve started a new company, with the hopes that one day we can spend our days traveling, developing new products, and helping people to experience the world and all it has to offer through food. Risky? Maybe. But it feels worth it.

I think risk is a little like luck. Luck happens to people who have put in the effort to be in the position to grab it by the horns when it presents itself. Same with risk. Taking them isn’t that risky when you do the work to make it pay off.

I do not like not being in control, but over the years, I have learned to give it up to the universe, to God…to have faith that the right things will come if we treat people with respect, nurture our relationships, run our business with integrity, work hard. Having faith isn’t the same thing as not having a plan or goals. But every time we’ve set goals and kept the faith, we’ve achieved them.

Also, not taking risks feels like living life from a place of fear, which is something I never want to do.

What should our readers know about your business?
My husband, Eric, and I bailed out on our corporate careers to start our design business, Similar Blue, a little over 15 years ago. Having expertise in design, branding, and marketing (and running our own company) has been a huge help in running Masi Masa.

We decided to start Masi Masa because we love creating and wanted to bring a product of our own into the world.

The name of our company is Gujarati for aunt (masi) and uncle (masa). We don’t have kids, so our nieces and nephews are really important to us. It’s been really fun to have them be a part of our business. One nephew is a budding chef and is a tester for our new products. Our niece who lives here in Denver helps out at farmers markets and her sister and brothers have all come out to lend a hand.

Running two businesses has been a challenge, but it has also helped us learn to rely on others (ahem, delegate…not easy for me) and to stay out of the weeds and focus on what matters.

While I am the majority owner of both businesses, my husband and I started and run them together. People always ask us how we do it, and I suppose the answer is that we are committed to our relationship first, then the businesses. Plus, if we didn’t do this together, we’d never see each other!

Masi Masa is all about making it easy/removing the friction for people who love to eat good food, but don’t always have the time to cook or are intimidated by the idea of making a new dish at home—hence our tagline, “Spice Without Borders®”.

We purposely make our spice blends “clean” (vegan and free of gluten, sugar, dairy, nuts, soy and preservatives), so nearly everyone can cook with them. And while we provide a shopping list and super simple recipe on each pack of spice blend (and offer a new recipe on our website every couple of weeks) we encourage people to play with them. We like to say, “you might overcook it, but you can’t screw up the flavor”. It’s so cool to be out at the farmers markets and have a customer come up to us and share what they made.

We also want to help people save money and reduce waste. For example, it would cost more than $75 to purchase all the spices needed to make our Ras El Hanout Spice Blend and most of them would be used once then sit unused in the cupboard and eventually end up in the trash. To help keep our packaging out of the landfill, we just received a grant from Colorado Proud and will be using the funds to—fingers crossed—transition to compostable packaging. (Our products are shelf stable for at least 18 months, so finding compostable packaging materials that will last that long has been a challenge.)

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Morning

—An oat milk latte and apricot scone at Safta at the Source (chased with a pain au chocolat or a slice of babka from Reunion Bakery). Be sure to take home some fresh pita bread from Safta and granola from Reunion!

—A walk around LoDo (Cherry Creek path to REI, up Platte, across bridge at 19th, down Little Raven, over the bridge on 16th) followed by a macchiato and a miso apple muffin at Little Owl on Blake. Little Owl has super yummy baked goods and they serve their coffee in gorgeous pottery)

—A hike on Sanitas followed by a Ruby’s Red scone at Spruce Confections (you can also find these amazing scones at Amante Coffee on 17th by Union Station if you want to skip the hike)

—On the weekends from May through October/November, hit one of the farmers markets: City Park on Saturday’s, Highlands, Central Park, or South Pearl on Sunday’s. Be sure to look for:

——Masi Masa: Spice Without Borders® (of course!)

——Sweet chili relish from Kristi of Sweet Viking

——Restorative ghee from Farnosh of Ayurveda Mama

——Coffee with benefits from Danny of Peak State Coffee (I like his decaf)

——Insanely good cold brew from Daniel and Brandon of Sati Coffee

——Super creamy oat milk in glass bottles from Krista of Oatis

——A double stuffed potato from The Easy Vegan

Afternoon

—A visit to the MCA topped off with a cocktail at their rooftop bar

—A visit to DAM followed by a glass of rose and accoutrement (I suggest the whipped feta, olive tapenade and marinated piquillo peppers) at Levan. Be sure to take home a tahini brownie and a snickerdoodle for later (both big enough to serve two, if not four, people)!

—A walk and shop on Tennyson Street with lunch on the patio at Vital Root (their Cobb and Mediterranean salads are to die for)

—A walk and shop on 32nd (Highlands Square) with a snack at Zuri’s Cafe (I love the walnut cake that the owner’s wife makes) and a stop to pick up wine at Mondo Vino and cheese, bread, salad fixings, and Carmello’s tortillas at St. Killian’s Cheese Shop

Evening

—A picnic dinner at the Ninth Street Historic Park on the Auraria Campus

—Pizza from Blue Pan Pizza (get their house salad—it’s always super fresh and delish)

—Lobster rolls at the Maine Shack

—Frites and champagne in the courtyard at Bistro Vendome

—A walk around Sloane’s Lake followed by dinner at Konjo Ethiopian on the rooftop at Edgewater Market

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to dedicate our shoutout to Patrice Ingham of Ebb and Grow Media in Denver. She is our social media maven and cheerleader who works tirelessly to keep us focused and get the word out about Masi Masa.

Website: masimasa.com

Instagram: /masimasatrading

Facebook: /masimasatrading

Image Credits
For the (4) food photos, please credit: Kelsey Miguel, Not Umami’s Cooking