Founder Feature: Sheena Hamby of Mac Squares

In this founder feature, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Sheena Hamby, founder of Mac Squares, baked mac and cheese frozen into squares, made with real aged cheddar cheese straight from the block, fresh milk, eggs, and spices, with zero cheese powder. Needing a fast comfort food that wasn't messy, Sheena created Mac Squares in a hospital kitchen while her daughter Nova was going through chemotherapy. Nurses and doctors started stopping by asking what she was cooking. Her family ate them, her kids ate them, cold or hot, and customers are now hiding the salmon SKU in their own deep freezers.Caitlin and Sheena dig into how frozen food is really just time travel, preserving the product at the exact moment it was made, Sheena's journey from hospital kitchen to her first retailer at Swamp Rabbit Cafe (which came from a Startup CPG event), her experience at the Fancy Food Show in New York, and the literal street sign that changed everything for her at a Startup CPG grocery run in Denver.Listen in as they discuss:How the idea for Mac Squares came from needing something fast and mess-free during her daughter's chemo treatmentCooking from scratch in a hospital kitchen after learning her daughter was allergic to dairyThe moment her daughter's oncologist tried Mac Squares during a Super Bowl watch and asked for the whole trayThe real ingredients behind Mac Squares: block cheddar, fresh milk and eggs, and less than 1% sodiumBuilding out five SKUs, including truffle, spinach, miso, salmon, and a dairy-free version made with oat milkHow the D2C pre-order model, shipping twice a month, allows Sheena to control logistics and productionDiscovering Startup CPG through a chance conversation, and applying to the Denver grocery run on a whimThe emotional Denver show: grieving her father, a street sign that felt like a sign, and pushing through anywayLanding Swamp Rabbit Cafe as her first grocery store accountWhy she reframes frozen food as "time travel," preserving a dish at the exact moment it was madeEpisode Links:Sheena Hamby - Founder, Mac Squares LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/sheenahambyWebsite: https://www.smacsquares.com/Instagram: @macsquaresDon't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.Show Links:Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to "Transcript" at the top)Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)Follow @startupcpgVisit host Caitlin's LinkedInQuestions or comments about the episode? Email [email protected] music by Super Fantastics