Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Stephenson
Hi Amber, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started my business in 2013 after attending a Weston A. Price Foundation meeting. Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist, studied the health and nutrition of different cultures. He learned that those eating grass-finished meats, fermented foods, drinking raw milk, and consuming ancestral foods were in the best health. At this meeting was a makers’ market. We were able to purchase raw milk cheese, homemade vanilla, sauerkraut, kombucha, and meat and eggs straight from the farmer. It was here I learned about the best salt available, called Baja Gold, which I have been using as the main ingredient in my seasoning mixes for over 11 years, but now, in 2025 is going viral because of a few health experts and the world of social media.
At this point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I just knew I wanted to be a part of it. Learning to make food that would fill our bellies and fuel our bodies, rather than fill our bellies and harm our health became my mission. As I was learning, I was sharing. I had people asking me to make things they were missing as they were trying to eat healthily or finding out that their children were affected by red dye and other ingredients.
I would attend our local farmers market after work and on Saturdays with the items I had been making. I would talk to anyone who would listen about the food we were putting into our bodies. I learned how to garden and preserve all that I grew. I learned how to make butter and yogurt, kombucha and sauerkraut. All the while, making seasoning mixes to make my creations the tastiest they could be.
What was started by attending a meeting in Lima, Ohio has now turned into producing over 40 different flavors of seasoning mixes, countless fruit butters, gluten free baking mixes, elderberry syrup, fire cider and so much more. We have gone from my kitchen table, then sharing a small pizza kitchen with a catering company, on to our own small kitchen and store of 1500 square feet on to our dream production facility of 6500 square feet in April of 2023. We help nourish people from our two store locations; our production facility in Covington, Ohio, and our year-round space at the Second Street Market in Dayton, Ohio. We attend over 50 events per year traveling to the hills of Virginia and even New York City.
Our goal for 2025 is to increase our wholesale distribution so we can grow our reach and help more families make meal time simple, nutritious, and delicious.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Running a small business is like raising a child. You are never “not a parent” and I am never off duty. I don’t get to take a vacation without a business trip attached. I don’t get to clock out. I answer the same questions over and over like “When is your store open?” and “What do you want me to do next?” As an entrepreneur, we are always learning, always studying how to improve our systems and we don’t know what we don’t know. Mistakes are costly and being a boss is hard.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The main component of my business is our seasoning mixes. Jane’s Italian, named after my mom Jane, is our best seller. Jane’s Italian is a garlic and herb blend that we use on everything from oven-roasted potatoes, pizza, and vegetable soup to scrambled eggs in the morning. It would also be our most popular seasoning to add to Olive
Oil for dipping a nice crusty loaf of sourdough. Even though I love Jane’s Italian, I tend to use Sassy Salt a bit more often. Sassy Salt ranks #2 in our list of top sellers. It is an all-purpose season salt with lemon, dill, onion, garlic, and many other flavors. It is my favorite on steak, chicken and just about everything. It is very versatile and that is what makes it so popular.
We use organic ingredients and Baja Gold Sea Salt, which is the lowest sodium yet highest mineral sea salt available. Our seasonings provide you with nourishment, not just amazing flavor.
I love my logo, it just makes me happy. My smiling pepper represents my spicy side. He is an actual poblano pepper that I grew in my garden and sliced open to make salsa. The grapes represent our sweeter side with our honey sweetened fruit butters. My business name came from my nickname. My middle name is Rose and my dad called me Rosebud.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I was quite the shy wallflower growing up, but now I don’t know a stranger. I was a single mom for 18 years which is one of the reasons I started my business as I had two daughters going off to college and I wanted to be able to help them achieve their dreams. My husband Rodney and I started dating shortly after that first Weston A Price meeting that sparked my business. Our first date was sparked by my inviting him to one of those meetings. My hug that night was blocked by a gallon jar with a Kombucha Scoby in it! I also had a few years of my life when I was known as the karaoke queen of our little town of Covington, Ohio. My favorite song to sing was Sweet Child of Mine, the Guns and Roses version, and there may be a CD floating around with me singing it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rosebudsrealfood.com
- Instagram: @rosebudsrealfood
- Facebook: @rosebudsrealfood
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rosebuds-real-food-covington
