Fashion Gxd Magazine - Nemanja Golubovic, founder and CEO of famous Kale My Name Restaurants (Print Issue NOW Available)
Written By: Samantha Cee
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This month we sat down with Nemanja Golubovic, founder and CEO of famous Kale My Name Restaurants for a exclusive look into their rise to fame, success, and building a empire. Take a look at our exclusive interview with the rising restaurant-house.
FGM: Its an honor to sit down with you all. Tell us a little about your brand and how you've come to this vastly successful peek in your career.
Answer: Kale My Name is a globally inspired, 100% plant based restaurant. We are currently located in Chicago as well as Los Angeles. The business started very small with only 3 employees but everyone was so full of love. There was so much hard work and dedication put into Kale My Name from the very start to get us to where we are at now. We got a lot of support from our community and we started growing quickly. Our Chicago location started to get hundreds and hundreds of customers daily. We now have about 50 employees in both locations combined.
FGM: Who are the clients/what are the projects that you most enjoy working on?
Answer: You're probably expecting me to say vegans are our biggest clients, but that just wouldn't be true. EVERYBODY is our customer and that is the most exciting part about this restaurant. We are serving 100% plant based food and we introduce it to so many people who aren't vegan or have never tried vegan food before. Kale My Name presents veganism to be very fun and to show a non judgmental way to enjoy good food. We do this to attract more people and to show the alternative options for meat to show the rest of the world how much better it is to be vegan.
FGM: How do you feel you make a difference in the world?
Answer: Knowing that there is a serious climate change issue going on in the world and there are billions of animals being used for food, we are changing the lives of animals not being consumed. When people choose to eat plant based it helps the planet and it also contributes to your health.
FGM: Give me the three best qualities of your brand.
Answer: Our employees, our customers, and our food.
FGM: Give me an example of when you worked irregular hours?
Answer: Being a business owner I'm always working irregular hours. It is a lot of hands-on work. When we opened a second location we were way more prepared with the amount of staff we had hired. For our first location we were short staffed not knowing we would even be that busy in the middle of a pandemic so i was constantly at the restaurant working.
FGM: Being a entrepreneur is a 24/7 job, how did you get ready for that?
Answer: It has been 2 years and I'm still trying to adjust. There's still days where I'm really questioning what I really should be doing in life and if I should be running businesses. Sometimes I do feel a little bit down and think that I wasn't ready for all of this. But then when we get nominations on national levels and city levels, when we get awards, and trophies I know I'm doing this for a reason and it makes me feel so good that all my hard work is really paying off.
FGM: Which current public figure, are you inspired by or appreciate the most?
Answer: I would have to say my two best friends Tabitha Brown and Joanne Molinaro widely known as The Korean Vegan. I admire them and I am inspired by what they do. I truly was just a fan, but after meeting them in person, they turned out to be everything I hoped and so much more. Lucky me, they felt the same. Tabitha is now my business partner, but also my family. They are both changing the world, and absolutely changing my life, I feel so incredibly lucky to call them my besties.
FGM: How do you handle stress?
Answer: I spend time with my puppy who is of course named Kale, because I wanted him to be strong and healthy. He makes my life so much better. When my husband Julian, puppy Kale and I go for a walk at the park, everything seems to be perfect. It helps me calm down, be grateful and happy.
FGM: What are the three qualities you feel an entrepreneur must have?
Answer:
1. They must love what they do.
2. They Must have a really strong work ethic.
3. They must have ambition and desire to succeed and stand out.
FGM: Where do you see your business in 10 years? How do you plan to get there?
Answer: The goal is to open more locations and in 10 years I'd like to have at least one location in every state and maybe some international locations. With a goal to bring more plant based options to the entire world. I plan to get there by continuing what we are doing now. Providing excellent customer service and amazing food. We will continue to keep growing and growing.
FGM: It was a pleasure speaking with you thank you for joining us.
Answer: Thank you so much for having me,this was a lot of fun.