Meet Lesley Mortimer | Pickle Mastermind – Know Your Roots by Healthy by Design

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

Hi Lesley, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Being consistent, organized and reliable and surrounding yourself with people with the same habits is the most crucial to success. So many people believe being able to set your own schedule and take days off whenever you want is part of running a small business, but it takes time to get to that point. There are a ton of sacrifices and commitments required to get your business off the ground and running. This involves setting up SOP’s for your staff and making sure you have loyal, dedicated team members who can keep things running while you are away.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are a small woman owned and family operated food manufacturing company. We make mostly Vinegar brined and lacto-fermented pickled products and a few jams. We have been in business for 7+ years. We started out by selling vegetables at the farmers markets and quickly discovered that there was a lot of waste at the end of each market. We wanted to find a way to preserve the vegetables and started to make lacto-fermented vegetable creations. We would sell out of these each market so we started to focus more and more on the pickled products more than selling fresh vegetables. Eventually we started to create pasteurized pickled products that had a year or more shelf life. Over the years we have grown from selling at 2 markets a week to now 11 in one weekend all of the Front Range and the Resort Mountain towns every summer. We even spent a winter selling at the markets in Phoenix, AZ. We know have our products in 20+ retail locations and continue to add more each month.

Our success hasn’t come without struggle. I retained my full time job throughout the first 6 years we were in business. My husband has also continued to run his small sprinkler business in the summer. The pandemic era was difficult for many reasons. We had a hard time with supply chain issues. There were weeks when we couldn’t find jars and other weeks when vinegar was scarce. The prices of everything doubled in a few months during the summer of 2020. However, despite the difficulties we have managed to double our revenue each year for the past 3 years. Originally, we only wanted to be a small side hustle type of business to make extra money to pay for our children’s education and extracurricular activities. However, it is difficult for me to do anything half way so we have been growing ever since. We went from operating out of our own home kitchen under the Colorado Cottage Food act to know being a Registered Manufacturing Facility with over $150K in annual revenue. We recently won the Good Food Award for our Kimchi Pickles and were able to travel to Portland, OR for the ceremonies in April of 2023. We went through a rebranding and are creating a whole new brand package currently that will be launched in September 2023. We have 11 seasonal employees and plan on expanding even more in the coming years.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would start out the first day (Thursday) by taking a drive up to Dillon Reservoir. We would stop along the way at Idaho Springs and eat lunch at Beau jo’s Pizza and head over to Tommy Knockers for an after-lunch Peach Dream Sour beer and then walk around main street while our beers where off. After our stop in Idaho Springs we would head up to the Ptarmigan Lodge right on the South side of the reservoir via Hwy 6 that heads up over Loveland pass. It is the long way into the Town of Dillon but so worth the drive because the scenery is breathtaking. After we check into our hotel we would drive up to Breckenridge and take the very short hike up to the Breckenridge Troll and then walk around town looking at the small shops on Mainstreet. For Dinner we would head over to Aurum Food and Wine Breckenridge for Dinner and some amazing wine. Next we would head back to Dillon and listen to a free concert at the Dillon Ampitheater before heading back to the hotel for a soak in their huge indoor tub and then relax in the sauna. To end a busy Thursday evening we would get to bed fairly early so we could start early the next morning by visiting the Dillon Farmers Market at 9am on Buffalo Street. We would pick up some Empanadas and pastries from Coloradough, brownies from Rich Brownies and some fresh fruit from Forte Fruit before heading back to the Arapahoe Cafe right next to the Ptarmigan Lodge for some brunch. After brunch we would head down to the Dillon Marina and pick up our rental Pontoon boat for the afternoon and cruise around the lake, stopping to fish every so often while taking in the fresh air and warm sun on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Immediately after the boat ride we would head Northwest towards Steamboat Springs, stopping at Loves Truck stop on the way out of town for a quick gas station late lunch. On the way to Steamboat we would stop at the top of Rabbit Ears pass to hike and fish around Muddy Lake for a few minutes before heading down into town to check into our room at the Nordic Lodge. The Nordic Lodge is a great boutique hotel right by Main Street in Steamboat Springs. It has cute rustic rooms and is very affordable. After we check in we will head back up towards the City Market and eat at the little hole in the wall type of Mexican restaurant called La Fiesta Grill and Cantina where we would enjoy their Queso Colorado and Poblano Enchiladas with a side of their spectacular Tortilla Soup. After dinner we would head down to Schmiggitys Live Music and Dance Bar for some live local music and drinks before heading back to our hotel room for the night. The next morning, we would wake up and head down to the Steamboat Springs Farmer’s Market and get some coffee from Steamboat Coffee Company and a pastry from Koglers Bakery. We would check out the cool art vendors and then head to Mainstreet for some more unique shopping opportunities at Ohana and Mary Janes Steamboat Springs. After our shopping adventure we would head over to the old town Hot Springs and use the free pass we received from the Nordic Lodge. After a nice relaxing soak in the hot springs pool, we would head over to the Corner Slice for the best pizza in Steamboat before heading up to Fish Creek Falls for a great afternoon hike and visit the falls. We would finish off the day by finding a peaceful dispersed camping spot along Buffalo pass and get a campfire started for the night where would roast hot dogs and s’mores by the fire before heading off to bed for the night, taking extra care to put all of our food up in the trees so we don’t end up with an overnight hungry creature visit. The next day we would head down the pass and make a stop at the Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs for another incredible natural hot springs experience. They have several different natural pools with temperatures ranging from cool to burn your skin off hot. After the hot springs experience, we would head down to Wild Plum Grocer in Steamboat Springs to pick up some unique, local groceries for our next adventure up at Pearl Lake Northwest of Steamboat Springs where we will stay in a Yurt for 2 nights while enjoying some time paddle boarding on the lake, fishing and hike the very beautiful area. Finally on Tuesday Morning we would head down to Vail Colorado and stay a night at the luxury Arabelle at Vail Square where they have a huge spa and a rooftop lap pool and hot tub. We would book in room massages and eat at Sweet Basil for Dinner. On Wednesday morning we would wake up and eat breakfast at the Big Bear Bistro in Vail Village and walk around looking at the shops in vail village before heading up the Gondola to the top where we would ride the Alpine Coaster and eat lunch at the top of the mountain. We would head down for the day and get on the road for our trip back to Denver. We might stop to fish at Black reservoir on the top of Vail pass and eat dinner at Jose Oshea’s right off of 6th avenue in the foothills of Lakewood. We would stay our final night at the Crawford Hotel at Union station. The next morning, we would eat breakfast at Snooze before my friend gets on the light rail train to DIA for her flight home.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family deserves a tremendous shout out. If it wasn’t for the sacrifices my Husband and Children have made to helping me get my business off the ground, we wouldn’t be where we are today. They have jumped in at every opportunity to help run markets, pitch in by helping out in the kitchen or making a last minute delivery.

Website: www.healthybydesignpickles.com

Instagram: @healthybydesignpickles

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lesley-mortimer-8a6802a2

Twitter: @healthybydesignpickles

Facebook: @healthybydesignpickles

Image Credits
Shawn Gavlick