Posted on: August 16, 2022
Show Notes
Air Date: 8/16/2022
How can you combine PR and personal branding techniques to make your business successful? Find out in this episode as Amber Lambke, co-founder and CEO of Maine Grains shares her business’ success story. Amber explains how the topic of grains was missing from conversations, how she helped start Maine Grains, and how she uses speaking engagements to start conversations and inspire others within the industry. In addition, learn who the famous Maine Grains customer is, and how Amber has been on her baking show!
3:07 – Amber shares about why she started a gristmill, and how grains were missing in local food discussions and framer’s markets.
5:26 – Amber describes how COVID surged their online sales.
6:29 – Amber tells how she has had great success using a combination of PR and personal branding techniques for the past 10 years.
11:59 – Amber explains how important it is to train employees and how they are representing your brand and your company.
13:19 – Amber discusses the Kneading Conference and how it started as a conversation to inspire others.
14:28 – Amber talks about her recent speaking engagement in the UK where she helped teach how to grow a grain economy.
20:32 – Amber describes the Maine Grains’ 10th-anniversary celebration that is taking place on September 10, 2022.
23:00 – Amber talks about her twin sister, Heather’s, success starting The Good Crust, and the awards she has won.
28:18 – Nancy mentions that Maine Grains has a famous customer, and Amber talks about how she was on Martha Stewart’s baking show.
29:50 – Amber gives advice to other entrepreneurs on how they can use PR and personal branding to grow their businesses.
33:27 – Amber shares a book that has helped her develop her business and an app that she uses frequently.
36:54 – Amber shares how people can get in touch with her and how they can order Maine Grains products.
Quote
“I honestly could have never predicted the impact that the Kneading Conference would have. It started as problem solving conversations that we wanted to invite people to not only to solve the issues of ‘how do we spur Maine’s grain economy?’, but ‘how could these conversations inspire people in other places?’. It has spawned other conferences and networks of people who have formed grain alliances in their own region in order to stay connected, and we are now interconnected globally with each other.” -Amber Lambke, Co-Founder and CEO of Ma
ine Grains
Links:
Maine Grain Kneading Conference
Maine Grains 10th Anniversary Celebration
Martha Bakes: Oats (Episode featuring Amber)
Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine (book)
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (book)
The less annoying CRM (app)
Zingerman’s Community of Businesses
Episode 18: Mackenzie Riley Young, Assistant Director of Media Relations at Thomas College
Episode 82: How to use a message map to build your brand
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About the guest:
Amber Lambke is co-founder and CEO of Maine Grains, Inc., a gristmill housed in a r
epurposed jailhouse, which has spurred the revival of grain production in Maine. A driving force behind Maine’s sustainable foods movement, she has been a leader in bringing economic vitality back to Skowhegan, Maine by reviving the region’s grain growing and processing industry. She was also the founding director of the Maine Grain Alliance, a nonprofit geared toward preserving regional grain traditions from earth to table. Her efforts through the Maine Grain Alliance have generated a broader understanding and appreciation of the nutritional and economic value of heritage grains and oats, as well as their exceptional flavor. The Alliance’s Kneading
Conference, co-founded by Amber, now draws thousands of attendees from throughout North America each year and has spawned similar conferences across the country.
Looking to connect:
Email: info@mainegrains.com
Website: www.mainegrains.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-lambke-7902a517
Facebook: @mainegrains
Instagram: @mainegrains
Twitter: @mainegrains
