Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Walter.
Ben, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My wife calls me a dreamer, I think up new concepts or ideas every day – a lot of them are still sitting in a notebook on my shelf. Some of those ideas have had their time in the sun and it’s interesting to see that Household is kind of an evolution/Frankenstein’s monster of a lot of those ideas.
I tried to start a creative non-profit coffee shop called ODDFOLK back in 2017 and spent the latter part of the year popping up at different film festivals and markets, trying to prove the concept to other creatives who could benefit from a space I was trying to create. By the end of the year, I was burned out and eventually scrapped the idea. But, some of the ideas always stuck with me.
In the time before and after ODDFOLK, I spent time in restaurant kitchens and at small companies helping lead creative departments. I have this knack for bringing people together, cooking, and digital media – I think I have been trying to find a way to bring it all together and be my own boss for the better part of a decade. But, I spent most of the time after ODDFOLK just recuperating and not thinking about doing my own thing.
A lot of that changed when my wife and I got pregnant this year. I started thinking about how much time I spent away from home and trying to figure out how to spend more time there, but still make a living. I also wanted to adopt a slower pace of life and begin to a more sustainable life.
I tried to freelance with my design and media skills, got some traction, but it felt like empty work. Then I started working in a kitchen again and thought to myself, “This is what I love doing.” I put pen to paper and pulled out my old ideas and began dreaming up Household.
And that’s where we are today.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We are still pretty young, literally about two months old.
I think the hardest thing so far has been building our pop up cart that is housed at Black Cat Pizza in Fort Worth, where we do our pop-ups currently.
But, I think the struggle now is getting back on track with what we want to do with the business after the birth of my son. We had been dreaming about opening a brick and mortar, and that being the route we want to take, but honestly, now it seems like that’s the anti-thesis of our dream.
We want to spend more time at home, not away from it. So, we are re-envisioning Household as more of a “lifestyle” brand with pop-ups and catering. I actually, kind of hate calling it that, but it’s the best way to describe where we are wanting to take everything.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
There’s not really one little, succinct term that Household can have as a tagline.
When we conceived of the entire idea, it was a bakeshop with speciality coffee. Now, it’s a little more complicated for others to understand but simpler for us.
Our mission statement is: “Build a home, full of flavor, for better.”
We want to create experiences that show how we can all do things “for better”.
What does “for better” mean?
For us, it means using the best ingredients in the food we offer to our community. It also means to facilitate a discussion about removing hurry from our lives and to seek out healthier ways of living.
We believe that if we focus on what goes on around the tables of our lives, we can make our tiny slice of the world a brighter place.
So, we specialize in baking, cooking, coffee, and eventually homesteading. A lot of what we want to do is produce articles, videos, books, and experiences (pop-ups, catering events, and supper clubs) that herald the idea of better food, better community, and better life.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have sat with the idea a little longer and really found out what I wanted to do with it. Now, it might be a little confusing for some of our patrons, but honestly, it’s not going to change a lot of what they experience – we just won’t be opening a brick and mortar.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.householdfw.com
- Email: householdftw@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/householdfw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Household-113451233351986/
Image Credit:
Dawson Turner
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