Daniel Perry of JAM according to Daniel Artwork

Sincerely, Your Small Business

You’ve always wanted to get to know your favorite local business owners. But with everyone’s busy schedules, it can be hard to actually sit down and chat with each other and learn about the dreams, setbacks, successes, failures, and everything in between! All of which help shape us into the humans we are today.The Sincerely, Your Small Business podcast is your window into the lives and identities of small business owners that you support year-round. What inspires them, what makes them tick, and what has helped them grow as business owners, parents, community members, and friends.It’s a way to get to know them, so that when you DO run into one another at the grocery store, park, or place of business, you’ll know that at the end of the day, we can all build relationships and connect with one another through shared experiences.

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Sincerely, Your Small Business

Daniel Perry of JAM according to Daniel

May 09, 2023 • Jess Norby • Season 2 • Episode 19

What does "resiliency" mean to you? Listen in as Daniel shares about what that word means to him, and what it can look like to forge your unique path of small business ownership.

Daniel Perry was introduced to jam-making 20 years ago and never looked back. 15 years ago, a year out of college, he started a jam business. He bought a tent at K-Mart, borrowed a table, and set up a booth at the Farmers Market behind his Grandmother's Oldsmobile. He sold a handful of jars and his life was forever changed.

Now, 100,000 jars later, he's married with two energetic toddlers, surrounded by friends & hungry customers every weekend at the City Market.

When he's not busy making jam or being a husband and pop, he loves to make connections in the food community, between bakers and caterers, cheese makers and gelato makers, winemakers and mead makers. He counts himself fortunate to be among a growing number of chefs who've used entrepreneurship to escape from restaurant kitchens in search of stability, independence, and mental health.

When fruit is in season, from May to September, he's a whirlwind of fruit, processing 500 pounds and making 250 jars in a series of wild 80-100 hour weeks. Every Saturday morning from April to Christmas you'll find him giving out free samples and selling jam at the City Market in downtown Charlottesville.

Follow Daniel on Instagram and purchase jams here!

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