“Our earliest customers are knocking on my door saying, when are you going to relaunch? And today’s that day,” she said.
Today’s Table served as one of the caterers for Launch Dayton Startup Week.
“It’s helped to energize me,” she added. “And feel some really positive vibes about even just hummus and tortillas and pita bread.”
Arias worked in the nonprofit world for 20 years, including for Ronald McDonald House and East End Community Services, and decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship.
“I’ve really worked my whole life in some sort of hospitality. Social work and community organizing and all of that is a form of hospitality, and so this is just kind of broadening that hospitality work a little bit to include commercial kitchen work,” she said.
Today’s Table’s menu is intentionally packed with protein-rich foods, including chickpeas, and every dish has both a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option.
“I think as our world has become more informed about nutrition, even folks who aren’t bodybuilders are interested in taking in more protein and less carbs, knowing that many of our lifestyles are a little more sedentary than we would like,” Arias said. “it’s really helping people enjoy the food, enjoy the nutrition, and get in some really good whole foods.”
While all of Today’s Table’s packaging looks exactly like plastic, don’t be fooled. The company’s food is delivered in eco-friendly packaging.
“None of it is plastic,” she said. “It is all either plant-based packaging or recyclable. We chill all of our meals after making them and deliver them to your home or office…ready to be put in the fridge or ready to be heated in the microwave and then enjoyed.”
On the other side of the equation, Joshua Stucky and Brent Johnson are partners and co-owners of Square One Salon and Spa in Dayton. Having operated in Dayton for nearly 30 years, Stucky and Johnson say sharing their experiences and insights at Startup Week is a way to give back.
“So many people have given us so much information over the years that have helped us have and run the business we have, that it’s really important that we turn that favor and we look for opportunities to do that whenever we can,” said Johnson.
Johnson and Stucky’s keynote focused on the topics of leadership, emphasizing that business owners work for their team members as much as the other way around.
“The key thing is I want them to realize that it’s in them to do this,” Stucky said. “We all have these skills and abilities. It’s just a matter of getting them to come to the surface, and especially as business owners, understanding it’s about the people that work with and for you that make all the difference.”
Square One opened in the Cannery Building on 3rd Street in 1999, and has now grown to six locations in the Dayton and Columbus markets with about 175 employees.
“So many times we feel like we’re supposed to know things we haven’t had experience in yet as small business owners,” said Johnson. “We’re really here as a community all facing the same kinds of challenges regardless of the exact business we need and that we can be a resource for one another.”
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