We had the good fortune of connecting with Ivan Pelly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ivan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Serendipity led be to start ivan.bar. I’m vegetarian and hypoglycemic, so I wanted a snack that was made with minimal processing and only healthy ingredients… no corner-cutting! The engineer in me figured I could do it myself. After some experimentation, I made what I thought was the perfect bar for me, and it turned out that it was the perfect bar for a lot of people. Multiple requests for the bar (and the recipe!) culminated in the aha moment that I should turn this project into a business. I figured I could either look back in 10 years and regret not having thrown my hat into the ring, or dive into a heretofore unknown landscape (at least to me!), and see what happens. I’m glad I took the plunge!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The old adage, “if you want something done right, do it yourself” definitely applies in software engineering (my first career), and food creation. Being a software engineer teaches you that, if the thing you want doesn’t exist, you can make it yourself, and that translated well into the food realm. Other software development best practices, like thinking through “what-if” scenarios, definitely inform my business approach.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a big shoutout to my family, who have been completely supportive and incredibly helpful in this unfolding adventure. From helping with the smallest, and biggest, tasks in running the daily operations, to their unflagging encouragement and support, I would not have been able to make this work without them! Thank you Polly, Oliver and Ashton!

Website: https://www.ivan.bar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theivanbar/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theivanbar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theivanbar

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