Julie Butcher, owner and founder of The Vegan Knife
Julie Butcher, proprietor and founding father of The Vegan Knife. Images by Linsey Kelsey and Carolina Ovalle

Serendipity, the phenomenon of discovering good issues by probability, is a sport changer we can not plot, solely recognize. For Julie Butcher, a enterprise proprietor, spouse, and mom, serendipity is sort of a fortunate penny that simply retains popping up. 

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Butcher is the eldest daughter of three kids whose dad and mom labored in regulation—her mom as a authorized secretary and her father in a solo apply. 

Rising up, she cherished going to highschool and excelled academically. When she was a highschool freshman, she was accepted into an accelerated program that fast-tracked her to school, a scenario that wasn’t for the faint of coronary heart. 

In three years, she went off to the College of Puerto Rico, and although she was satisfied to pursue a level in psychology, journalism her as nicely. “Journalists have the power to assist the helpless and provides them the chance to inform their story,” Butcher believes. “I felt that would have been a means of giving again.” She didn’t comprehend it then, however serendipity would ultimately assist her discover different methods to help. 

The company's product offerings include simple dessert mixes that can be made at home.
The corporate’s product choices embrace easy dessert mixes that may be made at residence.

In 2001, she attended Western Michigan College Cooley Legislation College in Lansing. “My dream was to turn out to be a prosecutor,” she says. This time, when invited to affix the accelerated two-year juris physician program, Butcher took a well mannered cross. “It was a ridiculous schedule, and I noticed I wanted a social life.” 

Regardless of the heavy educational load and tutoring different college students as much as 4 instances every week, she nonetheless managed to seek out time to fall in love with a third-trimester regulation scholar and instructing
assistant named Bradley Butcher. Initially, they met at a assessment session he was internet hosting. Then he was her tutor for 2 semesters. Ultimately, their friendship blossomed into romance, and in September 2002, they tied the knot in Puerto Rico. 

When she graduated from regulation college in 2005, the couple moved to Miami for Bradley to pursue a grasp’s diploma in regulation whereas she studied for the bar examination. A yr later, they crossed the state to Estero, the place Bradley accepted a job. Subsequent, he opened his personal actual property regulation agency. As soon as she grew to become licensed to apply, Butcher represented workers in sexual harassment and discrimination circumstances. 

The Vegan Knife's chocolate cupcake.
The Vegan Knife’s chocolate cupcake.

After seven years of arguing with different attorneys and fixed journey elevating Butcher’s stress ranges, she felt sick and bloated. She noticed medical doctors who prescribed allergy meds, however none may pinpoint the supply of her signs and the
maladies continued. 

Via pals, she met the late Dr. Teresa Sievers, a well known doctor in Estero, who identified what was triggering the allergy symptoms. After “a ton of questions and a slew of various panels,” Sievers informed Butcher she may now not eat dairy, gluten, or shellfish.

As soon as, whereas buying at Publix for birthday cake baking provides, she couldn’t discover any gluten-free choices that didn’t require milk or butter. “Having a number of meals allergy symptoms, it was exhausting discovering one product that labored for me,” she says. After Sievers beneficial she strive making gluten-free desserts at residence, Butcher would share her creations along with her physician and her kids to pattern. “Dr. Sievers would inform me how good they had been and that I ought to open my very own meals enterprise,” she says. “I informed her I didn’t have any culinary expertise, however she mentioned, ‘You are able to do it.’ She was the inspiration behind my enterprise.”

The Vegan Knife's sugar-free birthday cake cupcakes
The Vegan Knife’s sugar-free birthday cake cupcakes.

Though she lacked expertise, Butcher had grown up cooking meals for her youthful twin brothers whereas her mom labored at evening. When she was 10, she began baking and her first dessert, a pineapple upside-down cake, grew to become her signature. In school, pals would invite themselves over  for dinners, and one requested her to make lasagna. 

In 2014, Butcher launched The Vegan Knife, a meal service with every day and weekly plans that delivered vegan and gluten-free entrées like eggplant Napoleon and coconut-curry chickpeas with coconut rice to houses round Southwest Florida. As add-ons, she provided salads and desserts. 

After a yr, extra well being points emerged, and she or he needed to take a hiatus. Her husband beneficial centering on one scalable space, and her allergen-free desserts had been born. She began promoting cupcakes and different baked items to native shops and at farmers markets. Quickly snowbirds and vacationers had been asking her to ship the desserts to their out-of-state residences, which created a brand new problem. 

the company's prod- uct offerings include simple dessert mixes that can be made at homethe company's prod- uct offerings include simple dessert mixes that can be made at home

After extra discussions along with her partner, Butcher transitioned The Vegan Knife right into a nationwide enterprise, which meant changing her desserts into easy mixes that could possibly be simply made at residence. The method took two years to finish and was “the toughest challenge of my life,” she recollects. In 2018, The Vegan Knife’s doughnut, cupcake, and cake mixes—in flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and birthday cake—debuted on-line. Every gluten- and dairy-free product is vegan and comprises not one of the prime eight meals allergens. (As listed by the U.S. Meals & Drug Administration, these embrace wheat, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, and milk, together with fish and shellfish.) The mixes, bought in particular person shopper packets and industrial-size baggage for industrial companies, will be bought on the company’s website. 

Fortune touched Butcher as soon as once more in 2021 when she entered the Stacy’s Rise Mission. Based by Stacy’s Pita Chips, this system awards 10 feminine finalists every a $10,000 grant to develop her enterprise, mentorships with the Frito-Lay management crew, participation in a webinar collection with different notable feminine leaders, and extra. Butcher realized she was one of many finalists chosen from 9,185 functions throughout a follow-up telephone interview. 

The Vegan Knife's Birthday cake cupcake
The Vegan Knife’s birthday cake cupcake.

Ciara Dilley, vp of Remodel Manufacturers with Frito-Lay North America at PepsiCo, says it was Butcher’s “enterprise’s social impacts and sustainability issue in addition to how she has confronted latest challenges for her enterprise” that impressed the judges. “The Vegan Knife helps additional a mission of delivering wholesome, sustainable, and protected meals to everybody. It’s an absolute honor to have Julie Butcher as part of the Stacy’s Rise Mission Class of 2021.”

Julie Butcher, owner and founder of The Vegan Knife 2Now Julie’s days are a blur of Zoom conferences with peer-to-peer teams and mentors at Frito-Lay who’re serving to her with advertising and marketing and model consciousness and to higher perceive her core buyer base. Day-after-day, she works on rising to her full potential, which is the target of the Stacy’s Rise Mission. Her 15-year-old son Leon helps her with social media, and his pals are a few of her greatest supporters. 

When she’s requested what her final objective is, Butcher solutions, “Recipe improvement. I completely want somebody would simply give me an enormous kitchen with all of the uncooked components at my disposal and let me play all day and create new issues. That’s my dream.”





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