Meet Tyler DuBois | Pickler and co-founder of The Real Dill

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

Hi Tyler, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work life balance can be a very tricky thing to achieve, but it is very important to us. Not only do we value our work life balance, but it is also important to provide this to our staff. I think that if you are happy and fulfilled outside of work, your time working is more meaningful and productive. We work fairly “normal” hours. The staff works Monday through Friday for eight hours a day, and has the weekend off. We also give paid holidays off through the year, including a paid week off around Christmas and New Years. This is certainly not the norm in our industry, but it is a great way for us to help our employees achieve work life balance and show them that we appreciate them. My personal work life balance has only improved every year since starting the company. At the beginning, when Justin and I started the company we both had full time jobs. We would pickle after work in preparation for the coming farmers market season. We would then work the farmers market all weekend long. It wasn’t long before we realized that this was not sustainable, so we both put in our two weeks notice and never looked back. The early years were hard because we had little help (mostly family and friends), but we did not have kids or mortgages yet so it was easier to juggle the work and the risk. As we have grown, we realized just how important that balance is to our well-being and the success of the company. It is something that guides a lot of the decisions we make.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We set out to make the best products of their kind in the market, with a focus on clean and fresh ingredients that anyone would recognize when reading them off of our label. Our dedicated staff makes all of these products by hand, and it shows when you look at one of our jars. One of the things I am personally most proud of with the company is our dedication to treating our employees well. I think everyone has worked a job where they did not feel appreciated. It is a horrible feeling knowing that you are working for someone who doesn’t value you. We deeply value the people whose hands make our products so special. We treat them with respect and let them know that they are appreciated at every turn. I had never been a “boss” before starting this company, and I drew on a lot of my past work experience to mold the kind of boss I wanted to be, and maybe more importantly didn’t want to be. As challenges arise, it is so much easier to tackle them with a well informed and engaged team around you. The way we treat our team has directly correlated to our success.

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?
Man, there are so many great places that I love and miss. This past year has been so hard on the hospitality industry, and has made it hard to get out and truly enjoy these places. My favorite lunch in town is Lao Wang noodle house. Eating in the tiny dining room is a truly unique experience. They are only open for takeout right now, which is still great, but not the same. I also love Brewery Bar 2 on Kalamath st. It is one of the few places left that just screams “Old Denver”. I have been eating here since a friends dad took us in High School. Can’t go wrong with a #1 combo here, smothered in Green Chile. Ask how hot the Chile is before you decide on hot, mild, or half and half. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a bar, that I am not even sure what to say here, but I would more likely visit one of the cities many fine breweries. Hard to decide with so many good ones, but my personal favorite sports are Spangalang in Five points and Baere on Broadway. I’m biased because I am friends with both of them, but I love both spots. If I was showing someone around who had never been here, a trip to Red Rocks would be a must. If we had more time a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park to view the splendor of the Rockies.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This one is easy for me personally. It is hard to imagine this company existing without the unwavering support of my family. When we started the company my parents converted my old bedroom in their basement to a pickle warehouse. When we ordered our first pallet of glass jars my Dad cleared out half of the garage and parked on the street so that we could store it there. When we realized that we needed a vehicle because we had four different location that we were storing everything in, my parents donated their old minivan to the company. Even though the idea of starting a pickle company sounded crazy to most, they never stopped believing in us and supporting us. It really pushed me, because I wanted to make them proud, and hopefully repay their kindness and support with success. There have been countless people, companies and partners along the way who have greatly contributed to our success, but I truly don’t think we could have got it off the ground without my parents and the support of our significant others.

Website: therealdill.com

Instagram: @therealdillco

Facebook: @therealdillco

Image Credits
Mark Woolcott Dustin Hall