#WIB-Q&A With Catherine Clark Founder Of The Harvest Table -

1. Can you please tell us more about your business?

A. The Harvest Table is a family-run business based in KwaZulu-Natal, founded by Catherine Clark. At The Harvest Table, we source the best quality products from across the globe that will allow you to increase your nutritional spectrum. Whether you decide to replace one meal a day with our ancient shake or to add one of our boosters to your shakes or smoothies, add bone broth to your soups or stews or collagen into your coffee, you can be assured every Harvest Table product you purchase will be an investment into your health and wellbeing.

2. When, how and why did you start your business?

A. The Harvest Table was established in 2017. I was only 20 years old when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a diagnosis that kickstarted a journey that gave birth to my business, The Harvest Table. I discovered that the key to wellness was wholeness – a balance between what you eat, keeping your body fit, maintaining a sound mind, and keeping your spirit on fire. This led me to develop a range of products that would give my family the nutrient dense whole foods I was looking for in a convenient form..

3. What is your role in the business?

A. I am the Owner and Founder of The Harvest Table.

4. Where did you study and what did you study?

A. I’m a qualified CA (SA) who studied at The University of Natal. I went on to do my articles at Deloitte in Umhlanga before moving into the working world as a qualified accountant.

5. How did you finance your business?

A. My business was completely self-funded.

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

A. I am generally at the office by 7:30 am and my first task is to check the ‘pulse’ of the business – how is our website performing, what store orders have come in. Once I have been through this review process, I then set up my urgent to-do list for the day.

When you run a small business, you wear many hats and so my day could be made up of finance, sales, or marketing tasks as well as radio interviews, strategising, new product development. I also spend time with my management team, developing processes, mentoring, and developing the team. Every day is different at The Harvest Table!

7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?

A. As a momtrepreneur, I don’t always manage to keep a healthy work-life balance. Juggling work, school, and home can be tough, but my husband Sam and I made the decision to carve time out for our two children (Josh, 12 and Ella, 9) by booking regular, device-free time away. In fact, our best memories have been made whilst caravanning and going away with friends.

8. What drives you and inspires you?

A. I found it frustrating that certain products that I knew would be vital for shifting my health forward (additive-, gluten- and sugar-free) weren’t available locally. The Harvest Table was born out of this frustration, ensuring that I could source top quality products, whilst educating and encouraging others on their journey to health and wholeness.

I am passionate about helping people to reach their health goals and could literally spend all daydreaming about what the future could look like and strategising how to get there! I think that dreaming is the easiest part of being an entrepreneur!

9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

A. I usually have my best ideas when we are away and my mind can stop thinking about day to day issues. This away time creates space for new ideas!

10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?

A. We use several channels such as online (Google, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube), Radio, print media such as magazines but our best method will always be word of mouth. If we create amazing products and a great shopping process for customers then they will tell other people!

11. What is next for your business?

A. The Harvest Table has recently launched our Lean range of products, the range which currently has three products, namely, Lean Vanilla, Lean Broth, and Lean Suga, is full of pure goodness and contains no additives, preservatives, colourants or flavourings as well as a kids range. Customers have a Sports Range coming soon to look forward to as well.

12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?

A. You can be driven, passionate, and have big dreams, but you will still wake up some mornings and wonder if anyone is ever going to buy your products again. So, the best thing to do in moments like that is to lift up your eyes, tell yourself that you’ve got this, and keep moving forward. That’s what I do. Plus my best pick-me-up on those ‘down days’ is feedback about how my products have changed the lives of my customers.

Short bio

Catherine Clark is a qualified CA(SA) who suffered from Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of 20 and began a journey of discovering how healthy eating could impact her health. After many years in business, she took the leap and opened The Harvest Table in 2017. The Harvest Table supplies pure, nutritious, honest whole foods that provide the building blocks that her customers need to complement their wellness journey.

Catherine is passionate about assisting people to improve their own health, as she has turned her own health story around through maintaining a well-balanced and nutrient-dense diet.