Founder Spotlight: Wian van Blommestein (Ayoba)
Company name: Ayoba
Company blurb: Developing delicious and nutritious alternatives to the typical beef snack.
Company website: AyobaFoods.com
Company headquarters: Springfield, VA
Founder’s hometown: Fairfax, VA
Founder fun fact: I once made Ruth Bader Ginsburg laugh. (She was the officiant at a wedding where I had the honor of being best man).
Why did you decide to start your company? Ayoba was founded in our family’s kitchen a few years after we moved to the USA from South Africa. What started as a Saturday morning hobby with my dad and brother slowly marinated into a business. We realized that the meat snack category was continuing to grow, without any real innovation, and that our products were not only tastier, but healthier, too! Typically beef jerky is cooked at a low temperature for about six hours, this leaves the beef very dry; to counter that, most jerky companies will use either sugar or chemicals to tenderize the meat. Instead, Ayoba’s Biltong is crafted with premium cuts of Grass-Fed Beef that are lightly seasoned with only a few natural spices, and air-dried for up to fourteen days! This result is a naturally tender slice of beef without any chemicals and NO sugar!
What is one thing that you want people to know about your company? Authenticity and transparency are very important for us. We work extra hard every day without cutting any corners when it comes to sourcing and our recipes. It’s not the easy way to do things, but it’s the right way to do it! Ayoba remains highly distinguished as the only Biltong and Droewors in the USA that is Grass-Fed, Paleo Certified, Keto Certified, and Whole30 Approved!
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur? I have always had the drive to do things myself. At age 12 I started walking dogs in our neighborhood. In high school, I did the typical neighborhood jobs like mowing lawns and scraping driveways. In college at JMU, I sold t-shirts to be able to buy a PS3 and for beer money. There were definitely periods where I strongly considered doing something else, but the drive for entrepreneurship always prevailed. Right out of college I wanted to do Industrial-Organizational Psychology, but luckily I wasn’t accepted into the two master programs I applied to. Those rejections still fuel me to this day.
What is one piece of advice you’d like to pass on to new founders? I recently saw a meme quoting Elon Musk that said “If you need encouragement, don’t become an entrepreneur”. That really stuck with me. At face value, it’s obviously terrible advice. However, what I do take from it as actionable, is that you need to find ways to encourage yourself, especially early on. Not saying you shouldn’t rely on your network, friends, and family; you definitely should, but there will be times where they won’t be able to relate to the pressures you’re feeling, and that’s when being able to encourage yourself will be the difference-maker.
