SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Midlife Women Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Lynette Turner. And if you've been trying to grow your business, but you hate social media or you feel like you just can't keep up with that short, clippy content, this episode is for you. Today we're getting practical about one simple system that can drive sales even when life is full. My guest is Sina Wheeler, founder of Cena C, a direct consumer seafood company. She built real momentum using one weekly email, which I found fascinating. And we're going to break down exactly how she did it. Plus, we're going to give a little quick fish school at the end so you feel confident buying and cooking fish. Sina, welcome to the show. I'm going to hand the floor over to you, give yourself a bit of an introduction, and we'll take it from there.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hi, thanks for having me. And let's see. I come from a, we say fifth generation fishing family, but actually it goes back much further. My grandfather immigrated from Norway and learned to commercially fish from his father and on and on and on. So fishing is literally in my blood and what we do, what our family members do. And my husband and I, he's the fisherman. I'm home with the kids. And about 10 years ago, we decided to change things up and do it a little differently from the generations previous. I have a master's degree in um nutrition and food science. And I did 10 years in a national food company. And um, around the time when we had three small kids at home, you know, uh plenty busy, we decided let's switch things up and kind of do this fishing thing our way. And we started this direct-to-consumer business where we're shipping fish direct to customers' door, which has been really a whole nother set of skills and something to learn and something we really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Yeah, exactly. And so was he a fisherman when you met him? He actually met.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

No, he married in and became a fisherman just like my father. So actually, it's it's funny, but when I wrote our bio about, you know, us and fishing and all this stuff, my our editor for our website when we very first started changed all the he's to changed it so it sounded like it's my husband's family of fishermen. And it's like, no, it's my family actually. My mom was fisherman's wife, and my grandma was fisherman's wife. So we just go find the fisherman, which is kind of funny. That's that's how it's been since we moved, you know, since post-immigration from Norway and things like that. So my husband married in, got a chance on my dad's boat, actually fished on another boat and fished on my dad's boat and ended up liking it and decided to go for it.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Yeah, it's quite the business. So you said that you spent uh a majority of your time in your education doing the nutritional side of things. So, what made you decide to go into that and not into the the family business of being the fisherman yourself, being a fisherwoman?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

You know, I used to go out on the boat with my dad. He my dad had three daughters, and um, of all my sisters, I'm the one that went out of the boat. I went in the summers and I fished in Alaska with him, and he did offer to teach me to, you know, run the boat. And I was like, eh, I don't think so. Yeah. I I I envisioned that life and I thought, well, I could do that, but it's not really what I want to do. And so it's one of those things, and I have several in my life that, you know, I enjoyed the time on the boat. I really enjoyed learning about fishing, but I didn't, I couldn't see at the time like how this is gonna be a part of my life. I just enjoyed it and I didn't worry about it. Later, I got a degree in nutrition, which I loved. And then I went into food science. And it just so happened when I was getting my master's degree, it just happened to be a fisheries food science professor that needed help with his research and this and that. And I just emailed them, you know, one email like, oh yeah, I've you you know, fished on my dad's boat growing up, you know, in Alaska and and all of this. And in one email, I had my whole food science master's degree, you know, full scholarship with tuition, you know, stipend paid for to do this research. And so I felt like, oh, I guess that's why I spent that time on the boat. And so that's cool. It was really great because, you know, they don't, they're looking for somebody that's comfortable on a boat and working with fish. And I happen to be that person. And so then my um my work was around um omega-3s, identifying how much where they are in the fish, uh, which ties really well into my nutrition because the omega-3s are so nutritionally powerful and just really understanding where they're found in the fish and how much. And um then I also did work around handling and how that correlates to eating quality. And so that also happened to work really well when my husband is a commercial fisherman and I'm telling him, you need to handle it like this, and you need to do that, and you need to do this. You know, so we have literally the very best fish because I'm in the background telling him exactly what to do.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah, no kidding. Talk a bit about so because the family business wasn't C na C, was it?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

No, we've just been fishermen for generations, just fishing, and most fishermen just sell their fish at the dock and it gets thrown into the pile at the processor. And so we'd been about 10 years ago. My husband was fishing. He'd already he'd been fishing for probably 15 years at the time. And he was part of the Moat Marketing Association. Um, he's marketing Copper River salmon. And here I have this background I described, and I'm telling him, you know, we're on a road trip, we're going to Thanksgiving, and I'm telling him, you know, oh, you need to market it like this, and you need to say this, and you need to tell people this, and and you know, all of this. And and and he just finally looks at me and goes, You should. So, what? Yeah. And he goes, You should sell my fish. I'm doing all this stuff that you're telling me to do, and we have the great fish, and you know how to talk about it. So you should sell my fish. And that by the time we got, it was a long drive, it was about an eight-hour drive. By the time we got to Thanksgiving, we had the business name, CNSe, which is named after my parents' boat. And, you know, we went for it. And then I always say the craziest part about it is then we did it. Within a couple of months, we did start the business and and went for it.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Which was a pivot from, as you had mentioned, where you just go fishing and you kind of just throw all your fish in with everybody else, and it's like just off to whoever the third party, the intermediary to to sell your fish. No, that's great. So, you know, you've said it a couple of times now, and and I know towards the end of this interview we'll get more into how to pick the right fish, but you said you've got the best fish. What makes the best fish?

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Well, it's a few things, but it's like every fish has so our fish, we fish Copper River salmon. I mean, basically fish out of Alaska, so the cold water makes it the best. Uh cold water makes the eating qualities good at high omega-threes. So you have sort of the um, there's a lot like wine, like marrow and terwa, but there's a lot, there's certain species. So in fish, oftentimes high fat, just like beef, really grade A, grade whatever the top is really the high fat. But for fish, it's very similar. High fat means high omega-threes, which means it's healthiest and it tastes the best. So, in quality of fish, oftentimes you're looking for those high omega-3s. And so we fish Copper River salmon, which is the highest omega-3 fish, omega-3s of all the different types of salmon in all the different types of rivers. And then there's the handling, and that's a really big part of it. You can't make it better than it is as soon as it comes out of the ocean, but you can decrease the quality with the handling. So rapid chilling is really important, getting that fish chilled and bled and on ice right away and not banged around. So, you know, letting a fish flop around on the deck or something is creating heat, lactic acid, and bruising. So all that handling really makes a difference too. So it's taking the best fish and then keeping it. The best yeah, which is then what you do, right? We have a small custom processing facility right up in Cordova in Alaska. So we get our fish and other people's fish. We get we have other fishermen as well, quality-minded like we are, and we get their fish direct and we freeze right away and um freeze, cut, wrap in parchment, vacuum seal, you know, and get it. It's chilling at first and then it's freezing after we've cut it. So um gets that quality just locked in.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

So let's go back to the the eight-hour car ride where a business was born. You told me on our pre-call that you didn't really care for short form social media and you believed that there was a better way. So walk us through a little bit about like what felt wrong to you about short form social media. And then when did you realize that the other option, which is your email, could be your main sales channel?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Well, when I first started and built our website, I mean, at first I just envisioned, you know, like a storefront. People just buy fish, you know, here's our fish, come in by it. And then quickly realized on the internet, it's really, it seems like it would be transactional, but it's a lot. It's it's much more relationship and it's much more about you and you know, letting people see you and get to know you and things like that. And so when we set it up, our website, I had taken a course and, you know, online business, because I know fish. I don't know online stuff. And in this course, it said to set up an email list. And and I'm like, hmm, I wonder what that is. At that time, I didn't even know that I was on people's email lists. I didn't know, I didn't understand the concept. We were living really rural. I had three really small kids and I wasn't like tapped in. But when it said, you know, it's like step whatever, set up an email list. I'm going, okay, and I just did it. And I didn't overthink it. I just did it. And that was the best thing I've done. I then sent the link out, you know. Basically, when I started writing emails, you know, that was like step 15, write emails. Okay. So when I started writing emails, I was writing to probably 40 friends and family. And they were horrible, you know, but I didn't worry too much about it because I knew that it was just to 40 friends and family. And, you know, I'm really glad I did it because I got better at it and better at it. And by the time I started getting more, I I picked up momentum on that pretty quickly and um and just really early on realized, you know, when I send an email, I get sales, and there's not much else I can do that has that direct response. You know, I send an email, I get sales. So, you know, Facebook or uh all the other marketing is kind of um you spend money and then you maybe get sales. And social media is kind of like poised, you know, felt like posting into the void. And I don't get sales with every post for sure. And I just those short clippy things, I just I just always felt like, where do I start? I have like so many things to say. I just it never felt like I could fully explain my thoughts. I couldn't get a whole like concept out, like it, like to to to, I just it's not my style. I couldn't like blurb myself, I guess. And so yeah, what I have found great success is I write my weekly email. Um, and I I write it on all kinds of topics. I I let myself be pretty free there. Sometimes it's about what's hitting the dock, and sometimes it's about a recipe, and sometimes it's about my kids and all kinds of stuff. It always ties back to fish, but for me that's really easy because everything in our life kind of ties back to fish. And that's I think realizing that that is, you know, what's on topic for us is well, our life ties back to fish. So everything is kind of on topic for us. But so writing those weekly emails has been huge because it lets me get my thoughts out in kind of a long format. And then I have a gal that helps with social media and she just takes those and runs with them and does clips out of those. And that's great. I love that because I I don't have to um, you know, I can get my thoughts kind of more out in a more complete way.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Exactly. So you talked a little bit about that you make sales from your email. And when you said social media, you don't know if it's just going out into this abyss. You can feel the same way about emails as well. Like, is anybody opening them? And so how do you how did you know that this weekly email was kind of gonna be your sort of your real sales funnel, if you will?

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Right away. So I used MailChimp from the beginning and now I use Clavio. But because I have e-commerce business, uh, other people have different types of businesses, e-commerce ties right in. And per email I send, I can see a dollar amount for sales. And that is very motivating.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

You know, it's really nice when you can see those numbers and the software just shows it to you. And so from the beginning, even with a really small list, I found in the beginning, I was actually sending maybe monthly emails or sometimes twice a month, you know, if I was feeling really if there's a lot going on. And um, but I looked at it and I could see, you know, I I would make on average $500 on an email. And I told myself, okay, Sena, you know, when I didn't want to write an email and I didn't have a topic and I didn't, you know, all the reasons that you can't do it, especially with three young kids and your husband fishing and gone, there's a million reasons why not to sit down and write that. But I would just tell myself, well, you know, if somebody who just offered you $500 to sit down and write that email, would you do that? Yes, I would. And so I just told myself, this is your job. You need to write these emails and stay on, stay, you know, on top of. I give myself a lot of grace in a lot of areas, but on that, I was like, this is what you need to do, write these emails. So having that monetary value made a huge difference. And then it feels like once you're writing the emails, the next step is to grow your list because you're already writing the emails. It doesn't take any more work to send it to more people. And so that's also really helped kind of show that path of like, oh, you're writing the emails, you're good with that. Takes X amount of time to write the emails. If you have more people on your list, it's just doing that much more.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Yeah, no, exactly. And and you know, you said something there too, where, you know, it's like your emails are kind of like what's going on in your life. In all transparency, I did sign up after our pre-call, I did sign up to the em your email list just so I could see what kind of emails you were putting out. And I find them very interesting. I do know that you have a weekly or a monthly draw, maybe that, you know, if if somebody's opened the email every time they get some sort of incentive or whatever. So that's nice to know as well. But tell me what kind of is the difference between just talking about fish or just talking about your life? Because I have been on some different types of emails where, you know, I'm I'm hearing about her or his story. And sometimes it's like, oh, I scroll to the bottom, like let's get to the punchline kind of thing. And it's not meant to be rude. It's just it's the way that the story is written. I can't find myself in that story. So what goes through your mind when you sit down to write that story, to write that email? Like what's going on for you?

SPEAKER_01 15:57

What I really found early on, because I would have like six ideas for an email. And what I really try, and this is the hardest part actually, is I try to limit myself to one idea and one point. And I do really try to have a point. And and the and I always include fish with a link to buy it. The point is always to buy fish, but you know, the fun part is kind of making it fun and interesting to hear about why. And so I feel like that consistency, like I agree, I get some emails sometimes that are a little bit off the point, like a very long story about something that doesn't really relate. And so I think of it more as a short glimpse into our life with a point. And and I don't a big thing that I do is I don't feel bad about selling fish. That's what I do. It's what I'm here for. And I really think of it as though it's like a conversation with one of my girlfriends where they're, you know, recommending something to me. And at the end of the conversation, I'm always, every time, like, hey, send me the link. You know, I want to buy that and I want it to be easy. I don't want to go have to find it because I won't do that. I don't have time. I'm very busy. And so I try to think of my emails kind of like that, as in kind of sharing with a girlfriend. And then, like, here, here's that thing I was talking about that's gonna make it easier. Here's the link. And so I know that a lot of people have kind of barriers around the link and the selling part. And I think it really matters how you feel about it because I have so much, you know, true pride in our products, but I also feel like it's really helping people to get our fish. You know, it's they're they're gonna love it, they're gonna enjoy it, it's gonna be healthy. You know, I feel like they're searching for somebody like us, they can't find them anywhere, and we're the answer to a lot of their, you know, these problems. Maybe not like the top problems on their list, but we're the answer to some problems. So I feel I think a lot of it is I feel really good and confident about putting that link in and letting people know why they should buy fish.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Yeah, I like that. I like what you said. Like that's what you do. You sell fish. And so when I when you were saying that, I was thinking, yeah, of course. I mean, there's only so many emails I can open that don't have a call to action of some sort. And so why wouldn't you wrap that call to action around the story or the story around the call to action, if you will? And that I think that makes sense. And I think that's a good template. Like just imagine, like I'm just thinking, what would you say to a woman that's thinking about, you know what, maybe I do need to go back to the email and get a little more focused. How would you suggest to her to start crafting those messages? I mean, you've given us a pretty good workflow of your own, but what would you say to that person?

SPEAKER_01 18:55

I would say to really simplify, really distill down. I read a lot of emails that have many points and many messages. And if you have more to say than one thing, send more than one email. Um and people like a relatively short email, but you can have a story and people will read a story. But but a story doesn't mean pages. A story is a glimpse. And so I would say, especially in the very beginning, I would write, well, one of my tricks in the very beginning was, you know, when I I don't know what I'm gonna do, or I don't have a good enough idea, it's not good enough. I would tell myself, well, I'll just write a really crappy first draft.

unknown 19:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

And, you know, it would just be kind of bad. And then I would red pen myself. And so I would distill it down, one idea, one one concept, and take off. I used to just end up, whenever I wrote an email, I'd have this whole intro about like, I'm writing this email to let you know, blah, blah, blah. And I just ended up, I would just take off the whole paragraph. You know, just start with get just jump in and get started. And if that doesn't come naturally at first, write it long form and then get out your red pen and delete, delete, delete, delete what doesn't need to be there. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Let's shift a little bit to you learning how to be a CEO. So you were this mom of three, you're in the car, you're, you know, you've been giving your husband a bunch of advice on how he should be marketing his fish, he should be doing this, should, should, shit, should. And then he said, okay, go for it. You become the CEO. And so what did you what actually changed for you in that moment? Like just being like mom and giving out ideas to like, oh, I gotta be a mom and come up with the ideas and execute on them. So what did that look like?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

That was it was interesting because the CEO concept was a mind shift for me. I'd worked, I worked in corporate, you know, nine to five for 10 years. I've been home. I've I've done it all. I worked full-time, part-time, you know, no time. And so, but that CEO title was something I hadn't had yet. And and I remember at one point on the first summer when we were starting to ship, and you know, we had a lot of challenges, challenges getting people to the website, you know, and buying and things like that. But then the big thing is we're trying to ship frozen fish to people's door. And that is really hard. And I didn't know anything about shipping. And at our first summer that we, you know, launched, we had a local company that said, Oh, yeah, we can help you with that. We know how to do that. And I said, Oh, good, because I really don't. And um, they hadn't shipped fish before, which is very finicky. And we had so many reshipments and it it it got really frustrating where I'm looking at this and how many reshipments and reshipping and reshipping. Um, people do not like getting defrosted fish in the mail. It's not enjoyable for anybody. Luckily. It was a lot of our friends and family. So it was it helped us like, oh, you know, we we had the learning curve. And I remember again, I'm in the car. We lived pretty rural. So we did a lot of driving. And I'm just thinking about like this shipping company, you know, they don't even care. We can't do this. Our business is gonna fail if we can't get this figured out. And this shipping company doesn't care. And that's when I realized, you know, wait, I care and I'm the CEO. So I could just, you know, feel really bad about it, or I could fix it. And that's actually my role is to figure this out. There's a problem in our business. It's gonna fail if we don't figure it out. So I'm gonna need to figure it out. And so for, you know, having that CEO kind of title made me go, that's my job. I have to clear roadblocks when there's a problem in our business that's gonna, you know, be a big problem. And so I I um just took it on myself and I started shipping myself and getting my hands dirty. Basically, I got the supplies and I I did it myself and I did a lot of trials. I come from a science background with my food science where you just you do it and you get your hands on and you try steps. So I did a lot of trials, mocked up a lot of boxes, kept them in my car, rolled them around, put them in the sun, opened them, you know, a day later, two days later, took notes and got out a notebook like I would if I was doing a science experiment and really figured it out. And so I think having that CEO kind of title on there just helped me instead of being like, well, who's gonna do this? I was like, I am. Oh, oh, right, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

I guess so, you know, that makes me think a lot about, you know, when you are a solopreneur. I mean, I know you you you, you know, you started out kind of, I guess, as a solopreneur. I mean, I'm sure your business has grown a lot since then. But when I think about solopreneurs and having to roll up your sleeves and do it all, plus run your business, what would you say to somebody that's in that situation? How does she or he stay in that CEO mindset without diving too deep into the weeds? I mean, we can say, oh, well, write down everything you don't like to do and outsource it. But in some cases, you know, in your case, you didn't know how to do it, so you outsourced it. And then maybe that was a little bit too early, or like how do you know? The question is, how do you stay with the CEO hat on and not get bogged down with too much of the doing?

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Well, that's a real problem for me. So that's what I really am working on as we're 10 years in. And it's hard when that's how you made it. You know, that's how we got here. We got here because I rolled up my sleeves and I figured stuff out. And when I did stuff, I did it myself. And in the beginning, that was the skill that it took. You know, it took me when we decided to do an online business. I took an online business course and I figured it out. Shipping figured it out. And it has been a real shift, I will say, to realize that for one thing, I uh do not allow myself to take any more courses. I used to take courses because I was like, well, if I can learn this skill, I don't have to pay somebody and we're we're shoestringing this along. And, you know, it's it's money well spent if I can learn it and do it. But but definitely got myself into a classic situation where I am the pinch point. Everything goes through me. And the the big skill that I've learned and built is I learn how to do everything and I do everything. And so that is really where I'm at is is really trying to undo that a bit. And one way is I don't allow myself to take courses. I'm like, if I need this, then I can spend that money hiring somebody to do that and take that on. Um, and that's that's kind of what I'm trying to do and trying to find help. So I'm a work in progress on that one because I am definitely when I went to Alaska, this was maybe five years in. I you know, I'd been shipping every box. And um, I have a a warehouse, uh, a guy that helps in the warehouse, and he took over. He would, when I'd go to Alaska for, you know, a month at a time out fishing with Rich and stuff, he would take over. And then when I came home, somehow I would take it back. And then one year, when I left, you know, he did a really good job. He took it over and he and he did it flawless. And when I came back, I gave him a raise and I said, okay, now part of this is you can't let me take these responsibilities back because I don't know why I do that. So I think being, I think maybe the first step is recognizing, and I'll tell you the next step when I get there.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Yeah, exactly, exactly. You know, it's interesting too because I think that's what ends up happening. You know, we we hire a resource. That resource does the job not quite as good as you could have, or I mean, probably in this case you did do it just as good. But, you know, what I think a lot of women entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, well, the first thing we go to is let's hire a VA. And then we start to outsource these things. They can't do it as fast as we can. And so then we end up starting to just, oh, I'll just do it myself. And so I think that carving out one thing maybe is kind of what you said. Like he handled the packaging for you. And then I'm sure as more things, there's more and more things coming on in that role, then he kind of can grow into that role and take on more responsibility. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Yeah. Yeah. And I think being clear about what you want to do. So coming back to the emails, you know, I I write that weekly email, and now I have help on social media, and she takes that email as her, okay, this is your topic for the week, and you know, pull from here and go. So figuring out that part that is like the special part of what you do, and the part that is not so special that you can hand off. And that that's tricky.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yeah, absolutely. All right, you want to move over to fish school now? I always want to talk fish. Okay. All right. So, you know, I'm just thinking when we were on our pre-call, I was so fascinated about the business. And like when I first got, uh, you know, hey, would you like to interview you? I thought, absolutely. It just sounded so fun. And I I mentioned to you that after our pre-call, I I have look at fish way differently now. We should say that you don't are not able to ship to Canada right now, even though that's I was like getting primed up ready for my order. But now I'm like, oh, well, how do I find good fish? You know? And so if I'm at that grocery store, what is the first thing I'm looking for?

SPEAKER_01 28:42

I would say, first off, you want to go wild. And that's a that's a personal preference, but I think it's it's better, it's better tasting and it's better for the planet. The fish farms have done a really good job of making it very confusing and saying we're gonna take pressure off the wild fish by offering farm fish, but a lot of times they are fouling the very rivers that the wild stock is in andor creating all kinds of other issues. Perhaps it can be done right, but oftentimes it's not. And oftentimes it is harming the wild stock. So when we buy wild, we are saying, yes, I care about healthy fish that require healthy rivers and waterways to come back to. So when you buy wild, you're not making fishermen catch more of it because it doesn't work like that. We don't catch on demand. You're saying this resource is worth it to me, and you're investing in that, which these waterways have to be kept clear and clean and pristine for those fish to return. So just first off, I say buy wild because you're helping the system that returns wild. And it's gonna be the best, anyways. It's definitely always tastes the best. And it has a better omega-3, omega-6 ratio. So health-wise, planet-wise, I'd say go wild. And that's number one. Number two, if you can look for Alaskan. Alaskan also means wild because there's zero fish farming allowed in all of Alaska. And that's one reason that these species have stayed so strong. They're they are a gold standard for sustainability in their catching practices, but also not having fish farms that foul up the wild stocks and things like that. So wild in Alaskan, I'm not that's not biased. I guess it is biased, but their fish is the best and they they do it right. So Alaskan is a as soon as you see that, you know, okay, it's gonna be good. And go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

I was just gonna ask you, is it always labeled then? Like I know farmed is labeled, but I don't know if I've ever seen Alaskan from Alaska.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

If it's from Alaska, you'll often see it. And that's because people will look for that. And so often you'll see that. If you see Atlantic salmon, Atlantic is like kind of a code word for um farmed fish. So there's no wild Atlantic that that kind of means farmed, and I think they have to have it on there somewhere, but sometimes it's very tricky to see. So looking for that, that that wild or Alaskan, and oftentimes I look at a lot of stuff, and if it's Alaskan, a lot of times you'll see that word in there because people are kind of it helps sell. People want it. And then there's the big fresh versus frozen. Frozen fish has gotten kind of in the past, it's been kind of poo-pooed as oh, why buy frozen when you can get fresh? But I tell people, well, get fresh if you live by the ocean, by the does in Alaska. You know, if you live in an area where those boats come in and you can get fresh, then get fresh. But otherwise, frozen is just like our product, you know, we want to bring the very best, highest quality to people. So we've consciously chosen to freeze it in Alaska right when it's caught because that basically locks in the premium quality. And fish, it's all about time and temperature. And that time is just ticking along until it's frozen or eaten. And freezing can pause that. So freezing technologies all over the place in Alaska and at the source have gotten way better. And so has our distribution. So fresh is gonna come all the way from wherever it's caught, it's put in the case. Sometimes at the grocery store, what drives me crazy is what looks fresh is just defrosted.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

I know.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

There'll be salmon in the winter. Salmon is never caught in the winter, not wild salmon. It's closed. Most fishing's closed in the winter. So if it's in the case and it looks fresh, it's defrosted. And it's like, well, I want to defrost my fish right before I eat it. I don't even defrost it 24 hours in the fridge. I defrost it right before I eat it because as soon as you defrost it again, that time is ticking away on quality. So you really want to limit time in a refrigerator at any point.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

How are you defrosting it then?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

I take our portions and um they're individually vacuum sealed, they're a six-ounce portion, and I put them in a bowl with in cold water and I do it right before I'm gonna cook. So an hour, half an hour before, and they defrost just right then, and then I cut them out of the seal and uh cook them up. Some people like to put them in the fridge overnight, and if that's your routine and and you like to do that, that's fine. But I wouldn't leave it in longer than 24 hours because the quality is just degrading as it sits in there.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Exactly. Exactly. I know you have a cookbook. Let's talk a little bit about that because if somebody, I mean, I feel like I cook my fish the same way every single time. Now I do know on your emails, even though I can't order the fish, the emails contain recipes, so it's great. So talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Yeah, we do Fish Friday recipes for people on our list just because it's fun to see different ways of doing fish. And I like to, you know, the more you try stuff and the more you do this or you do that, you know, or see these recipes, the more you just feel a little more freer about, oh, I'm gonna try this or I'm gonna do it this way. And there's so many types of fish, and there's so many ways to cook it. I know that it's an intimidating part of it for people. So with our, we have a cookbook that talks about just some family, family recipes and tips. I do the weekly recipes for the list. I put recipes in the box when people order because I'm really trying to help people get over that. The one first pro you know, issue with fish is sourcing. And then the second is, well, how do I cook it or what do I do with it? And so I'm always trying to answer that that question for people, or at least let them play around and try a few things. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

All right, I'm gonna give you a little rapid fire. If a listener does one thing this week to build momentum, what is it? That one email step and one fish step.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Oh boy. Well, if you have a list, write an email. And I would say think of something crazy, like some story that's really fun, but you don't know how you're gonna tie it to your product. And then really challenge yourself to tie a funny, an interesting story to your product. And you will surprise yourself. I've written about my kids wrestling and tied it to fish. And I, it's fun. For fish, check us out. Jump on our email list. You'll get to see how we write our emails, and you might even see something that you want to try and get out of your comfort zone with fish and just give it a shot. All right. Well, then why don't you tell where they're gonna register for your email list? Go to info or I'm sorry, that's my email address. Go to CenaC.com, S E N A S E A.com and jump on our list. Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

Well, you were amazing. I loved it. I I don't think I've ever met or even just like spoken to somebody from the fishing side of things. So you've got a really interesting background. I loved interviewing you. Thank you for your time today.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

Thank you.