From Potlucks to Oprah: The Magic of Insulated Bowls and Pitchers

Cindy sits down with Bryn Wilson, a former attorney who transformed a simple, real-life frustration into a thriving business. After years of bringing wilted salads and cold casseroles to potlucks, Bryn invented Served, a line of beautifully designed, insulated serveware that keeps food hot or cold, and has even landed a spot on Oprah’s Favorite Things list.

Join Cindy and Bryn as they dive into:

• the realities of entrepreneurship, 
• discuss the importance of functional design, 
• advice on following through on product ideas, 
• a killer mojito recipe, and 
• how simple solutions can make gathering with friends and family more joyful and stress-free. 

Products featured in this episode:

Served products at Berry & Basil

Check out Bryn's mojito and mac& cheese recipes! 

For more thoughtfully curated joy, check out berryandbasil.com and follow the store for all the latest products, events and sales at @theberrybasil

Follow the show at @joycuratedpodcast (Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok) and make sure to subscribe to us on the podcast app of your choice. It helps us grow and share the story of all the brands we love. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

We're a practical, fun, problem-solving less in the mental load brand.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to Joy Curated. I'm Cindy Peterson, co-founder of Berry and Basil, a thoughtfully curated kitchen store in beautiful downtown Chamberlain, South Dakota. Here we discuss food, quality, and real life without the pressure to get it perfect. I have real, honest conversations with makers and product experts to talk about how things are made, how they're meant to be used, and how thoughtful choices can make everyday life feel more confident and enjoyable. Today I am sitting down with someone who did something that most of us only dream about. She had a real problem, she solved it herself, and built a business around it. Brynn Wilson spent nearly two decades as an attorney before launching Served. It's a line of insulated serveware she created because she was tired of showing up to potlucks with a wilted salad and a sad bowl of something that used to be warm. Now her pitchers and bowls have landed on Oprah's favorite things list twice. And she's helping people show up to gatherings actually ready to enjoy it. Also available. It's one of Angie and I's favorite things in our store. So forget Oprah, Barry Basil's favorite things. But Bryn, welcome to the show. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Oh, thanks, Cindy. That was a lovely intro. Thank you so much for having me. So happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

So, like I said, you were two decades as an attorney. You launched, served, but what was your life actually like in that season of your life?

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Well, I think, I mean, honestly, I think it was was because of the season of my life. I'd always had this desire. Why could I not get to a picnic, party, barbecue with three kids? You know, it was always like a school event, a barbecue to friends' house. It felt like we're always taking food. And I I honestly also think it was because of COVID the courts closed. So I was not working, you know, I just there was mental space and just empty calendar time that I kind of had this eureka moment, like, wait, I know how to do it. We could take what we do in our water bottles, put it into a bowl, and then I can take my food, it'll keep it hot or cold. And then I came up with the name Served, which I think is cute. Like you've been served, you know, kind of tying in the legal part. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Oh my gosh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, but it was really like started telling my husband about it. And uh, he's like, honey, you cannot start a business based on what you and your friends want. I said, No, no, no. This is every woman in America, right? Like from I grew up in Michigan, a rural Michigan where church potlucks are a big thing, right? From the church potluck there to now we're in North Carolina taking drinks to the beach here, right? Like any demographic, these products have appeal for. So, you know, it started there and now we're here for better or for worse. And we're I'm actually in my husband's office today because we were just on the view last week again from Oprah's, Oprah's people. They highlighted us again. So my space is a complete disaster. But it'll be back together later.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Well, I've always, you know, from the moment I met you, I remember it was in, it was well, it was obviously during COVID and that first international houseware show in Chicago. You were in a little tiny booth kind of off on the far side of one of the buildings. And and uh, you know, I feel like when you meet someone else that's passionate about what they do, you're kind of drawn to them. And I I think we instantly kind of felt like, oh my gosh, we really like Brynn. It was about your product and how amazing it was, but it was also about you and us getting to sit there and chat with you just about real life and real problems and families and busyness. But what I think about when I saw your product initially was I can't believe someone else hasn't done this yet. Did you go through that process of I there has to be something out there?

SPEAKER_01 4:06

There has to be something. And there there's there simply wasn't. And the I mean, another part to kind of get into the business side of it, and then I do want to tell you a fun story about that home show. I also knew from day one, like the big guy should have done this, right? This is such a natural idea. So we also knew we had to come out really ready to go with really top-notch stuff because we were gonna have some big names coming after us. So becoming from like the legal world, no background in anything retail, I didn't really know what trade shows were, particularly in this industry. So if somebody's told us like you have to go to Chicago. So we're like, okay, this is like February, right? And that's it, it was in March at the time. And so we were too late for shipping deadlines. We always joke, like we looked like a family of refugees with all of the booth stuff pushing it through O'Hare Airport and getting there. So it's like, okay, truly like sweat equity. It's hard to sweat in Chicago in March, but we didn't. I mean, my husband came up like, Well, how else am I gonna get this booth set up? You know, so it was just the funniest like we will never forget. We had like three of those rented those carts push things through O'Hare. It was the most we had to rent a minivan to get all the stuff done, McCormick. Oh my god. But it ended up being great, right? We met HTI and so many of our current customers, and we didn't know it, but we met Oprah's people there also. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Yeah, I just love the storyline and I think about the entrepreneurship of it. And I think, you know, if I read it or or you mentioned, you know, you were a a reluctant entrepreneur. And I feel like I've always been an entrepreneur, but I never in my wildest dreams thought, oh, I'm gonna start a retail store. I remember thinking I'm going to work in a kitchen store at some point in my life because I was so passionate about it, but never own a kitchen store. There's an element to that that is a little daunting. And so I mean, things just do they just kind of start lining up for you. And I remember at some point I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to work. Did you have that moment of, oh my gosh, this is going to work?

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Well, I I think I had that. I always now say that the idea was the easy part. Whereas at the time, I thought, well, if you get this great idea that could support a company, that's the hard part. Everything else is gravy. So I think I, in some ways, have done this inverse journey of like, okay, we're there. And then, you know, there's a lot of up and downs. It's been a challenging few years in the economy and just with the, you know, tariffs and shipping costs and all of those things. So it's it's been, I'll say one thing I suggest to everyone on an entrepreneurial journey is you get our bowls and you eat humble pie out of them because it really tastes good. But it's been, you know, I think it's like you do have the other thing is that you have to have commitment. If you don't believe in it, no one's going to, right? And so you you have to kind of stick with it every day. And that's but I I listened to the podcast, How I Built This, quite a bit. Oh, I love that. Always, right? It's just this is the entrepreneurial journey. If you're not confident and then doubtful and then confident and you know, hitting it road buck, you're not doing it right. Like that is the that is the experience.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Wow. Okay, let's talk specs for a minute for the listeners who haven't held one of let's start with the pictures. It's not just a nice looking container. I mean it, all right. So what are the specs and the elements of it and that kind of thing?

SPEAKER_01 7:37

So right, I think the whole concept going again back to like what started it and like what I always say I'm not not a natural entrepreneur and not a natural entertainer. And I have some friends who are really good at so I'm like, okay, what do I need? I need something that keeps it hot or cold. I need something that I can transport easily, and I need something that looks good enough to put on my friend's countertop. And there was nothing in Surveware that had those three elements. So from day one, that was the focus. Like, I want it to be great. And it's interesting how many times we have people like, oh my gosh, they're so beautiful. I'm like, I feel like an infomercial from the 90s, but wait, there's more. It also, you know, keeps it. So it's that same technology that's in all of our favorite water bottles, the double wall, the interior copper lining at the vacuum insulation, but put in a really lovely form. We have the Triton lid, which is not only BPA-free, which we all care about, but chemically inert, which means it doesn't leach any flavors into your food. You know how sometimes you have that experience. So that's the other bonus. And then, you know, it's like just silly. I I want I don't want to say it's silly, don't, but going back to like what's the function, you know, it's cute when we have to do like the masking tape across our products to say who's a so. So we did like the name label on the bottom, you know, just like a super, super functional product. And so in the picture, right, your margaritas don't get watered down, and in the bowl, your potato salad stays cold and your baked beans stay hot.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Yeah. And so we're in a rural community, and so lots of agriculture around us. So my first, well, let me let me back up. My it was my second thought was to our our agricultural where we take meals out to the field where where they're planting and they're harvesting and that type of thing. But the other element of the economy in our area is the Missouri River. And it sounds so funny, but I say we ski on the river. We water ski on the river. Well, it's a huge river, it's it's dammed up, it's a lake. It's Lake Francis Case. So we have lots of boating, lots of margaritas, lots of pasta salads and those types of things being served out on the boat. And so when I saw your product, I knew immediately I had at least two elements of our customer base. Of course, we have big camping and like summertime, full-time campers in our area that are here every weekend and and are picnicking for more or less, you know, eating outside. So I had summer covered. I had spring with the farmers and and fall with the farmers and ranchers and pheasant hunters. But then I had the winter, and I I always thought cold, keeping things cold. But in the store, we serve all of our hot beverages, our spiked ciders, uh all of those things, and and it it I can't believe how cold it keeps it and how hot it keeps it. And and so I just love and it doesn't, it doesn't leak. It's not like my daughter's yeti.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Well, I always like I now call Q4 dish to pass season because I do think people think instinctively of what the summer use cases are. But again, if you think about how we actually live, Q4, I mean multiple Thanksgiving, you know, with different families over the holidays. Oh, we're gonna have a you know, happy hour this weekend and a New Year's Eve party that tailgates, right? Which I I don't think you guys have a big college town near you. But I it's I've also learned a lot of high school's tailgate, which is an interesting phenomenon we don't have here in North Carolina, but you know, there's just so many times to use it, and write the hot or cold. So you can you buy the one for the potato salad in May and the macaroni and cheese in November.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Even when I'm at home and I'm uh you know, I hosted Thanksgiving, timing out all my dishes out of the oven off the stovetop, and I needed that space for something else. I put my mashed potatoes in my served bowl uh at least an hour or two before we served, and everything was perfect. So I realized I was like, okay, I don't need another oven. I just need a couple more served bowls. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yes. But all of a sudden they're just a bargain. No, I I love that you say that. Actually, it's funny. I I often end up using ours. I kind of because like for meal prep, you know, if we're eating in stages because different people are getting home at different times, I'll make the dinner, put it in the bowl, and then the next person who comes home can just grab theirs right out of there. So they're just a ton of use cases. And then what I do love, like to the Thanksgiving example, is you can put it directly on the table. It looks great. That was a really important piece to me, and I want to have to transfer it to something else. I mean, the last thing I want in my life is more dishes.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Yes. Yeah. Okay, so the practical journey, you know, we talked about the the process of getting this idea once you realize no one else had done this yet. The idea to the product, the sourcing, the manufacturing. You've had the validation uh very soon on with the Oprah's favorite things. So we've had people come in the store where uh I got asking if we carry something. And a lot of times I'm realizing it's an idea they have, they think surely somebody else has created this. And uh I'm like, I have not seen that anywhere. I think you have a great product idea. So would you have any advice for anybody that has that idea? You know, what's the the process of kind of moving forward with that idea?

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Sure. Okay, yeah. So I would say, and some of this will be stuff I've learned the hard way. And my products were interesting because I knew I needed the vacuum insulation, which is a very, very specific manufacturing process. So for me, I had to work backwards to find the manufacturers who did that had the vacuum capability, which for most products, you're gonna have a broader potential manufacturing universe. What I would recommend doing early on, what I did early on is you find a local or you find an upwork, you know, someone in your area who could help you do design a CAD file with your concept that you could then get a 3D printout of to kind of first see, okay, what does this look and feel like? How do I because there are things that you think you can conceive? I don't maybe people have better imaginations than I do, but right, like to really first hold it, and then also you that will be very helpful when you're then sourcing with manufacturers. So I know there without getting into the politics of it, you know, some people don't love China. China has a huge manufacturing base, and you can actually go on Alibaba and you can source manufacturers from there. But that's where having the prototype in hand. So China was one of the only places that has the vacuum insulation capability. India is starting to get some, but they don't have what we need because ours are so large. But I sent over just my file that I'd had an engineer job, and they interpreted it in centimeters instead of inches because they entertained differently. Like they couldn't conceive of why anyone would want something this big. And it it would we probably lost about a month going back and forth till we discovered this real, which is where to me, had I had a picture of the prototype to send it first, would have been helpful. So so it actually was it's it's much easier. I mean, that's the other thing. I see people go, oh, it's so amazing. It's actually easier, I think, than you just sort of like one step leads to the next, leads to the next, leads to the next. And I think that first stage of talking to a product designer to to take your concept, get it into a 3D for you to see, I think is probably for most people, is either gonna really validate for them the idea or make them think, okay, wait, this isn't as great or doesn't get me as excited. Like when I saw the bowl, I was like, this really is gonna be as good as I think it's going to be.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

My gosh, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

So, and and the other thing I have found, and it's interesting coming from the legal world, and I'm a big fan of I was a I was a happy lawyer. Uh, I love the constitution, I love all the principles behind the system, but it's inherently adversarial, right? Like that is the legal system. And so even when I'm giving advice to a client, we're looking at it from a defensive posture of okay, how what are the legal implications for the lawsuit down the road? So coming into this field, which it's really been uh everyone's great, right? Like I've talked, you go to trade shows, the other vendors there are so open, and then the retailers are like, oh, you should talk to this store. So I would also say talk to, like, you know, you're taught you have a customer who has an idea, and you like pass along my information, like talk to other people because there's tons of people are really open to helping get you up and running.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Yeah. So you talked about protecting what you've built, and when the big players came in to copy the format, you know, they they were maybe already uh producing beverage containers, but had not translated that into the bowl or the pitcher. Now I'm seeing them. Is your moat around the brand, is it the community of your, you know, your your following, the the quality that you've created, or is it something else that really sets you apart?

SPEAKER_01 17:14

So I would say it's two things. I think our aesthetic remains the only one in the space that can bridge that Thanksgiving table to the picnic table. Our bowl objectively is the best one on the market. We have a double wall lid on there. But so that, and then I think the other thing that's gonna set us apart is what we're ideating on for the next things that people just aren't thinking of doing that they should have already done. But I I think our aesthetic ultimately is going to be what keeps us separate. And then I would the other thing I would say to go back to your previous question about like people with a product concept, I will say, you know, the the patent world is is a tough one. You know, there's uh utility patents, which are for the overarching concept of something large, and then there's a design patent. And the design patent just means no one can exactly copy my picture profile. In our instance, the technology, that double wall vacuum insulation, it did have a utility patent years ago. It expired and it's now in the public domain. So anyone can do, right? Because patents don't last forever. Even the design patents to get are pretty expensive. I felt like it was worth it because I I did know that the big players would come and I wanted to have an aesthetic differentiation at the very least. But they're expensive and um they're very hard to enforce both logistically, because you have a lot of foreign manufacturers who will knock you off. And then if you have like I have a large company that's selling my picture, which I think my manufacturer's selling to them, which isn't none of it's great, none of it feels terrific. And and when I submitted there, it's a very big company, and they're they're branding it, right? So they're they're not selling it at scale, but they've put their own brand on my picture. And I either have to say, I'm gonna invest boatloads of money that I'd rather be putting into the company, and and candidly more, right? Like, because these big lawsuits get really expensive. So I would say that's the one like heads up, that early protect like the moat that you can put around your brand when it's in a patent form, might feel more protective than it actually will end up being.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Hmm. Let's get back into, you know, the whole philosophy and the mission of served and the pitchers and the bowls and the gatherware. Um, you know, that you've you've created a new vocabulary word that I think is incredible. It's not serveware, it's gatherware. But a lot of what Angie and I built Barry and Basil on is that same concept of bringing people together easily, stress-free. So, what was behind, you know, your goal of of your values, your mission? What is served really about beyond the product?

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Well, I think it does conduct being in community. How do we both on a you know personal level, like how just getting to be with the people I want to spend time with? When your lives are so busy, it can be hard. And when it feels so burdensome and you don't do it, you're thinking, wait, the the tail is bagging the dog. And then, and this has kind of been post, this has been as we've gotten into served and thought about it more, I think on a global scale, like we are all dying for community, right? And a lot of the traditional forums where we've all found it has really disintegrated. I mean, even with charter schools, right? The public school back in the day, that was where the whole community went. And and that has been that has disintegrated, right? Church attendance. It's the you know, the bowling alone by Robert Putnam that came out in like 04, and I think he just reached it. You know, the the traditional plate ways that we've all gathered have really disintegrated, and then I think COVID just blew that open. So I find that we really are all dying for community. It's so funny. I've so I mentioned it free kids. So I just last I handed over the reins. I'm no longer the Bambooster president. And the person who took over from me, she said, I I'm doing this in part because I need community. Uh, you know, so I just think there's so many ways people are looking for it, and I look like how we can do that. So one of the things that it's super informal, everyone should do it though. So, you know, America's 250 is coming up.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

And each state has its own commission. They're all structured differently. Utah, and I'm in North Carolina, so I'm I'm I'm not in Utah, but their commission decided to do, they're calling it America's Potluck. On July 5th. They're encouraging people all over to sign up and host a potluck in your community and bring people back together. And I think then I again I we'll go to another overlay, you know, the political polarization, right? It's once you break bread, it's hard to be hateful towards certainly towards an individual and hopefully towards that larger group. So it just seems like it can be a really healing way for us all to be together. So those are just kind of that like from the personal kind of then to the societal, how I feel like what this can really mean for all of us.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

I I am so, you know, I get overwhelmed when I just think about the importance of that and how, yeah, you know, I'm a a recovering extrovert. I always say I'm a I'm an introvert. I love gathering and I love talking with people and and spending time with people, and then I'm ready to to crawl back into my hole with my book and and all those things. But it is, it's it's something that we crave and we deserve as as people and and and getting a to be a part of that. But I I think back with your, you know, you give 5% back to nonprofits with served. Was that something that was a day one commitment or did that kind of evolve?

SPEAKER_01 23:24

So candidly, it it evolved. It was pretty early on, but it was it's part of some of the applications to set up the business. And a lot of them say, Do you have a community component? So it kind of forced me to think about it. And like, yeah, you know, I just said I was a Bamboosters president, and we actually just my husband's the president of local charity. We just hosted a group of veterans at our house this weekend for the golf tournament that is a part of the charity. And actually, in my we my husband finally perfected the term. We are lazy hosts. This is why we need served. Like we in the Wilson family are lazy hosts. Like, I want to make the drink. I want you to enjoy your cocktail, but then I want to be with you to enjoy it also. I don't want to still be in the kitchen. So I think, you know, we we have kind of a culture of service. And I'm a Midwesterner by, you know, from upbringing, and I feel like the Midwest has that like, you know, kind of barn raising, like, let's all get in together. So it was an easy, you know, I hadn't articulated in the context of served, but those early business, I'm like, hey, wait, this can all mash really well.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Mm-hmm. So if you were starting served today, and really your f uh, I mean, uh, five years, six years that you guys have been. Four years, yeah. Four years. It's an amazing success story. Is there anything that you would do differently? Or would you do it the exact same way?

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Oh gosh. I mean, I do have a document titled Stuff, but a different word. I wish I knew. But I didn't know, so I can't I would do it again because I I would have the same lack of knowledge, right? Right. I would, I I wish I'd attended a few trade shows earlier to understand. You I just made would have made contacts earlier, would understand what booths look like, like things like that, but kind of overarchingly no. I mean, I guess it'd be it'd be too hard to know. And so many of the things I say, oh, I wish I wouldn't have done that, then I learned enough from there to be able to keep moving it forward.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

I we always said we don't know what we don't know when we were opening the store. We were just like, we're just there's winging it and it it worked out. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Yeah. Well, I one of my favorite, and not just serve, like my whole life, one of my favorite, favorite quotes and concepts is the larger my island of knowledge, right, the more I know, the longer my shore of ignorance, right? You're more aware of all of these things you don't know. But yeah, it's a bit of fun. And it really has been like so fun to meet all of the store owners. And I think going back to like the community concept, what I see in like just my interactions, the stores that are building community that are creating value and you know, a place for their customers to come, they are thriving, right? That there is this place for people who want the storefront where they walk in and the owners know them and can recommend a particular gift for a friend coming up, right? That it could, it's another way in our capital society, I think, you know, a good independent can be a really important part of our communities.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Yeah, yeah. Well, it I think it it's so meaningful to serve our community in the way that we do, where we know we're bringing in a product that we've we've met you. We trust the product because we've talked to you about the quality of it, that if I'm selling this to my mother-in-law, a good friend, our neighbors, that it's the quality that I can, you know, stand behind that I'm proud to bring to them and to share with them. And so I think that's what's so great with store owners is that we're the we're the ones talking to you, but then we're the ones directly handing your product over to the consumer and and having them be blessed by that. So what is your go-to for the summer beverage that you are going to serve in your pitcher?

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Mojitos.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

So I love a mojito.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

So how do you make your mojitos in uh to scale with the pitcher? And we don't have to go exact measurements, but what's your process?

SPEAKER_01 27:47

So do the I think making the simple it is actually okay. So remember, I'm a lazy host, I'm not a natural entertainer, I'm not a great cook. So, but making your own simple syrup is actually quite simple and is tasty. So do that, then dump in your soda and dump in your rum and either buy a batch of fresh mint or if you've managed to grow it and keep it alive, pull it uh and put and I have this like a ma I love it. Uh it's this countertop herb garden. I don't know if you've ever seen these.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Yes, love those.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

I mean, I f love it because I have my mint, so just pop my mint out of there in there. And like again, going back to like being in community, enjoying my time, being a lazy host, I make the batch, it stays cold and it's just with us and ready to go. But yes, we I do love a mojito.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Crushed ice, cubed ice, but your ice of choice. I do cube ice. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Although I am kind of experimenting. So without getting too far down the road, we're looking at like next products. Since our all of our ice last so long, we might as well have cute ice. So you know, so that's I that will be something that we'll be we'll have cute ice in the future.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

Well, that was one of my next questions, too, is if is there anything coming up that so we have ice to look forward to, huh?

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Yes. Well, and and related to ice, it was so funny. So this is the other, this is the other piece. I always say I'm on this tightrope of confidence that I have a good enough idea to build a business and humility that I have no idea what I'm doing, right? And so here I go. And so so I did, I sent out a survey to uh probably about 30 some reps, some retailers, some other brand friends, a couple just like people who aren't in the industry, and listed what should be our next product. And what I thought was going to be number one and number two was not the number one request that we are now working on is an ice bucket.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

I love that. Oh yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Yeah, I mean, I was shocked that it like, so I'm gonna get my exact stats wrong, but eighty percent of people put the ice bucket at number one.

unknown 30:01

Right?

SPEAKER_01 30:02

It was just I was blown on like it doesn't, but anyway, so now we're so then it got me on to be like, well, we're gonna have ice forever, so let's make really cute ice.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Yeah. Oh my gosh, I cannot wait.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

So that will be all things going correctly. That will be we'll have that for winter shows. And the other thing I'm working on, which so going back to my legal background where I'm probably like way too I I'm always wanting to be super careful. I'd love trying to introduce a plastic free bowl.

unknown 30:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Going to we like an eco-line with a bamboo lid, but I want to be double checking all of everything. So that would be another thing we're trying to bring to market.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

And then hopefully we'll just keep expanding.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Um well, i I think the groundwork is there and the the foundation with the mission and the the quality control and all of those things. We talked about the beverage in the picture, uh, but what's your favorite thing to serve out of the bowl?

SPEAKER_01 31:03

So we can't make sense of it all. I actually hate cheese, but I really make a wonderful macaroni and cheese.

unknown 31:09

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Yeah. So that is again that's really like how do you the old Pyrex, right? They're great, but they're so hot and bulky. So the macaroni and cheese is my go-to out of the bowl. And it's the other when we started our large bowl was going to be our medium. It's so big that it's really, you know, you can put fit well over a pound of a pasta salad in there.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Wow. Okay. So I love that uh I just placed an order yesterday. We had a customer come in and asked. Yeah. And she wants some more bowls. And so I got that taken care of. I love, we have the large bowl that fits the, you know, the pasta salads and the and the pound of pasta, which is huge. And then the small bowl. I absolutely love for hot dips, guacamole, cold, you know, sour cream, French onion dips, all of the things that, you know, I don't need to have ice. And then it does not, you know, and this is where I get so excited about the ice bucket, is that there is no condensation. There is no sweating on the outside of it where I can put it on a nice wood table and have it not sweat everywhere with that, where if I have a, you know, an ice or a typical ice bucket, it eventually is going to sweat out onto the table. And so it's a game changer, all of it. I love it. And I am it makes me look forward to taking things, you know, and and and sharing them with people, but also just having it in my house and making it easy to have people over. Can I put the bowl or the pitcher in? And does it serve any benefit if I put it in the refrigerator or the oven? You know, I you know, I don't I know it's not oven safe. I'm not saying that, and especially with the lid, but to pre-cool or pre-warm up the bowl, does it help or is it completely unnecessary?

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Completely unnecessary. The only thing I would say is in the bowl with cold food. And this is on our little insert card when people buy it. Put your cold food in, put it in the fridge, uncover, just for 10 minutes, so the air around the cold food gets cold as well. And because you're only sealing in what's already in there. That's the only thing. Otherwise, like that's it again, like going back to the ease of use, right? You just put it in and away you go.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

I love it. I love it. I always, no, I think this last time I got to see you, it was a quick in-passing. I kind of threw out the concept of the it was in Chicago. Or no, no, we I saw you in Atlanta. And I was like, okay, I have this crazy idea for this podcast. And here we are. And I am always so excited to see what's coming up for you because you are a treasure, your joy to talk to. But I respect and am so impressed by everything that you've you've grown. And and I love seeing you out and about and uh on in all your press because yeah, total fangirling here. So you've you've created something. Well, look at you.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Yeah, like we'd start a podcast on top of your store. Sounds like why not?

SPEAKER_00 34:23

We're yeah, we're kind of crazy like that.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

But it wasn't, I wasn't great when I started served, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Yeah, there's a lot of things that are not yeah, real here. So yeah, so perfect. Oh my gosh, Bryn. Well, I wish you all the best. And I think every time we get together and get to serve and and things like that, it's it's you know, it's something that I am proud to share because it looks so beautiful and so classy and clean and fun because the colors are bright and cheerful and they make me happy. And if I'm serving something that tastes good, then it better be, you know, I I want it to make me happy and make other people happy when I'm doing so.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

So grateful for it makes me happy that when people appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Oh my gosh, it's so fun. So we could, of course, we can uh find served at Berry and Basil in the store. Come pick it up, put it in your hand, look it over. But then, of course, it's online available at berryandbasil.com. And uh, of course, where are you on social media? Do you enjoy kind of doing that? I hate social media.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Oh, okay. That's a separate, I mean, that's a picture of mojitos. I right the this is so it we're at shop served on Instagram. So I have to call my daughter regularly and say, remind me what the kind is that disappears after 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Thank you. I know. Thank that's why we had children. That's why I tell my girls when they were little. I they would complain about me asking them to do something and it'd be like, Well, I had children, so I would have somebody to wind the cord on the vacuum cleaner.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

And I'd say, look, I taught you how to use a spoon. I don't want to hear it. Like, just tell me how to post this.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Just help me. And yeah, and just do it for me in this case lately, because otherwise it stresses me out.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

So Oh yeah, it's a whole, it's a whole bear. Um I want to convey, and part of it, like I I I have kept it because I do feel like there's this, there is a, I don't want to say a personality behind the brand, but I want to convey this, like we're a practical, fun, problem-solving, lessen the mental load brand. And I want to make sure that comes through. So that's why I have to text my daughter and say, Okay, how do I make that again?

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Right. Well, and it's something that the longevity of it. I mean, this is something that I can see my girls. You know, I have my my grandma's Tupperware pitcher. Yeah. And I can see my girls. I was like, I better get two of everything right now because this is definitely something that that they're gonna think they need. And I can write their name on the bottom.

unknown 37:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Well, and that's the other thing. You do want, like, I wanted a quality piece. And so, you know, there's the whole fast fashion. I know obviously I want everyone to buy two, but I don't want them to have to, right? You can buy this one bowl and this is it. This is all you need from again potlucks to a Thanksgiving table. So I love that. I love when people get the products because I feel like it just feels really validating to see it out in the world being used, how I envisioned.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Well, you've earned it, and uh, we're grateful that you did all that to make our lives easier and enjoyable. So thank you so much. I uh yes, good deal. I just love that woman. Brynn, thank you so much for joining me on Joy Curated Community. That is the word I walked away with from this conversation. It's not serve wear, it's gatherware, because that is exactly what Bryn has created. And honestly, it is the perfect word for what it is. And here is what I love about what Bryn has built. Served is not just a product, it's an invitation. It is a way of saying, come on over, I've got it handled, let's just be together. And that is exactly what Barry and Basil is about, too. Bringing people together around good food, good tools, and the people that matter most. So this summer, host the thing, invite the people, make the mojitos, and if you need a beautiful picture to put it in, you know where to find us. You can find Served at Barry and Basil in beautiful downtown Chamberlain, South Dakota, and online at berryandbasil.com, and follow Brynn and the Served team at Shop Served on Instagram. We will link everything in the show notes. Follow Joy Curated in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode, and share this one with the friend who always shows up to the potluck with a warm salad. You know who they are, and they need this. This show is written and hosted by me, Cindy Peterson, and produced by the incredibly intelligent Casey Brown at Teal Hat Communications. So until next time, set the table, fill the pitcher, and gather the people you love.