Shabbat Shalom! Marketer Creates Day-of-Rest Subscription Box

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Oh yeah, what's up, Side Hustlers? So glad you're here. My name is Chris Guillebeau. The program is Side Hustle School. It comes out every single day, seven days a week for 1,414 days and counting.

Presumably we'll make it through 1,415 since that's what I'm recording right now. But you never know, I don't count it until it's done. Well, let's talk today about subscription boxes. Now over the years, we have featured a lot of different subscription boxes, including face masks from Korea, candy from Japan, coffee, tea, beer, probably some other beverages from all sorts of places, care packages for military spouses. That was called the Brave Box or the Brave Crate, if I'm not mistaken.

We've also had, I'm just gonna call it items for consenting adults. We probably had some others as well. Those are just the ones I found when I looked quickly through the archives. And then looking online, I also saw the Louisville Vegan Jerky of the Month Club. Pretty specific there.

Louisville Vegan Jerky of the Month Club, as well as the Squawk Box, a monthly subscription box for your parrot. And that one just sounds amazing. We're gonna have to reach out to them and feature them on the program. I also might order that for myself, even though I don't have a parrot. Now to all of these, we can now add the Shabbat subscription box.

After dropping off supplies to help friends celebrating Shabbat by Zoom, this virtual world that we're all in now, the marketing specialist in today's story creates a subscription box to reach others with the Jewish day of rest. That's what we're gonna look at in this story. And just as a note, the side hustler in this story prefers the use of they or their pronouns instead of he or she. So that's what I'll use when referring to them. All right, stay tuned.

That story is coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]

During the pandemic, marketing specialist and Austin local Bex Prager began to feel like the days and weeks were blending together. They found themselves wanting to mark time with something meaningful, such as celebrating Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest every Friday night with friends. Shabbat is typically observed starting at sundown on Friday by lighting candles, sharing bread with wine or grape juice, and spending time with friends and family. Since in-person gatherings were still restricted, Bex began advertising Zoom meetings for anyone who wanted to come together to celebrate.

However, while a lot of people liked the idea, many of them did not have the items to observe the traditional meal. So Bex began dropping off challah bread, candles and kosher grape juice at their homes. Now around the same time, Bex was completing a fellowship called Changemakers through the Jewish Federation of North America. Through the fellowship, members were encouraged to give back to their own community. Not only that, but after completing the fellowship, fellows received $500.

Bex had always wanted to start a business, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The idea of creating a Shabbat subscription box began to take form. The first question Bex asked was, "What makes Shabbat and how can that be portable?" They realized that all that was really needed was the bread, candles and wine or juice. Once Bex figured out what the essential items were, their instincts as a marketing specialist kicked in, and they began diving down the rabbit hole of what size and packaging could look like. Bex experimented with the product, playing around with packaging and production to see if their idea was even feasible.

Finding that it was, they reached out to their local baker to see if she would help them with the bread. The baker was excited about the prospect and agreed to work with Bex. Together, Bex and Baker experimented with creating the perfect mini challah bread. Once they got that down, and this is now two people, Bex and the baker, once they got that down, they also decided to create a vegan recipe that Bex says is fluffy, crispy, delicious, and shelf-stable up to one week. Side note, this sounds like some really good bread.

Finally, Bex was ready to send out the test boxes. On the first week of August, these boxes went to a select group of friends, family and early customers. Bex asked for reviews and specifically looked for feedback about delivery times and packaging. Taking those reviews to heart, they refined the product even further. They also decided to include a specialty box each month with extra items.

For example, in September, they included apples and honey to help celebrate the Jewish new year. Finally, Bex also chose to include a handwritten note and a how-to card for the traditional Shabbat prayers. But what would it be called? Well, Bex had a name and it was, The Minch Box, of course. The word Minch is Yiddish for a person who is all around kind, helpful, and friendly.

Bex loved the idea that people may be giving this gift to one another and acting as a Minch through that process. After launching on Instagram and reaching out to a few local Jewish organizations, Bex developed a solid start. While this business is just a few months old, it's already bringing in about $600 a month. At this point, Bex has decided to not pocket any of the money, but instead invest it right back in. The goal is to further develop the products, increase marketing, and expand both local and national delivery.

Not only that, but Bex hopes to be able to continue giving back to the community. While the Minch Boxes are for sale, a partnership allows many of them to be donated. Bex has specifically focused donation efforts on the elderly Jewish community in Austin, hoping to give them a sense of community and tradition during the pandemic. Lastly, Bex is experimenting with the idea of a monthly specialty box. For example, November's box is LGBTQ-inspired with pride candles, including one for the trans day of remembrance, and a rainbow sprinkle challah.

It's a mission to create warmth and community in an unconventional way, and also a profitable side hustle for Bex. [Music]

It looks like we have almost made it through episode 14, 15, 1,415. Now here's one tip for subscription boxes from Bex. Bex says, "Make sure you know the dimensions "and weight of your box, "because that could affect your shipping cost. "The cost could end up being higher than you estimated, "and of course that's a cost that doesn't go down "the more you ship.

"The more subscribers you have, you're still paying "for all that shipping. "So make sure you know the dimensions "and weight of your items." And also a fun fact, most people associate challah bread with a braided golden colored loaf. However, this was not always the case. It goes back to the 1400s in Southern Germany and Austria. At the time, most Jewish people ate dark rye loaves during the week, and they wanted the bread for Shabbat to be distinctive.

So from there, Bakers incorporated white flour, the braided pattern, and even additions like eggs and raisins. So there you have it, a brief history of challah bread. Thank you so much for joining me today. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Congratulations to Bex, Shabbat Shalom to everyone, related or upcoming.

And to find the show notes for today's episode, go to sidehustleschool.com/1415. That is 1415, as mentioned. If you've got a comment or question for the show, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

From the "Onward Project."