Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Masterson.
Hi Ken, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I had been in Sales for over 20 years and was becoming burned out. I was looking for a nonprofit to transfer my skill set to. While looking for opportunities I started volunteering at the North Texas Food Bank several days a week. It was here that I really understood how much food insecurity affected North Texas and how many families needed surplus food to survive.
After several months I saw an opening for Branch Director at Rescuing Leftover Cuisine in Dallas. I did some research and found out that they were started in New York City 8 years ago and were now in 9 cities. After learning how their model works (taking leftover food and delivering it to Homeless Shelters and Food Pantries to provide food to families in need) I knew this was a great opportunity. So, I found out who was the departing Branch Director in Dallas and reached out to her. This lead to several interviews and I was offered the role in April 2021.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have been some challenges. First of all, coming from the world of Sales, I was use to just managing myself. Within this role, I now have to interview/manage volunteers, work with Food Donors and the Homeless Shelters/Food Pantries. Additionally, if there are open rescues with no volunteers, then I will do them.
So, I really had to step out of my comfort zone and wear a lot of hats in this position. Plus, with the pandemic, we lost several food donors so I had to look for replacements.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As I mentioned, I was in Sales for 20 plus years. I did have a hiatus as a stay-at-home Dad for 9 years with my 2 sons. I started out in medical/pharmaceutical sales and then transitioned into technology/software sales. I really enjoyed sales because you essentially were the CEO of your territory and were responsible for growing your business.
I am the most proud of building my businesses in my territories and did receive several awards as a top salesperson. I think my ability to communicate with a wide range of people (no matter what level of an organization) helped contribute to my success and helped to set me apart from others.
What were you like growing up?
I had an interesting childhood. I was born in Tehran, Iran. My father was a CPA for an oil company and they lived there for 10 years. The Shah was still in power and it was very American friendly. My brother and I were both born there and we came back to Dallas when I was 6 years old.
Most of my youth was spent playing sports (soccer, baseball, and football). Being involved in sports helped me become more outgoing. By the time I got to Junior High school, I focused just on football. I went on to play in High School and then walked on at SMU. I was awarded a full scholarship after 2 years.
Contact Info:
- Email: dallas@rescuingleftovercuisine.org
- Website: https://www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/dallas-tx
- Instagram: rlc.dallas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rlcdallastx
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