Join the Klaviyo community in a fireside chat on October 9th, 2024 @ 12:00 PM EST, as we talk to Kelly O’Connell, Founder & CEO of Lighthouse Keepers Pantry, about her journey from working with Martha Stewart and Ree Drummond to launching her own gourmet food line and cafe. Learn first hand how Kelly brings her brand to life and tells her story consistently across multiple channels.
Kelly O’Connell is a Cape Cod native who spent nearly two decades in New York City. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and spent her career managing product development and marketing for lifestyle brands such as Martha Stewart, The Pioneer Woman and Weight Watchers. In 2021, Kelly launched the Lighthouse Keeper’s brand of gourmet foods and opened a café and gourmet shop in the heart of her hometown of Yarmouthport with her business partner, Greg Bilezikian called Lighthouse Keeper’s Pantry.
To kick off this fireside chat we had a few questions for Kelly to help the community get to know her journey and brand before diving into the real stories and success that she has built as an entrepreneur in our live session on October 9th. Register in the link above, you wont want to miss this!
Tell us the story behind Lighthouse Keeper’s Pantry. What inspired you to start the company, and what was the initial vision?
Lighthouse Keeper’s started as a covid hobby project. When my corporate job went remote, I left NYC and came home to Cape Cod. I noticed after living with my parents that my father ate a lot of toast. I started making him jam to enjoy with his toast, and experimenting with different flavors. I started a jam stand in my front yard to sell the extra jars piling up on my counter tops. Our home was located on a busy road, so the jam started selling quickly. I spend every night making more and more jam. After spending time back at home on Cape Cod i realized I needed to make a major lifestyle change and leave NYC. The name lighthouse keeper’s was inspired by the lighthouse in my favorite place on cape cod, the Sandy Neck Lighthouse, and the idea of how the lighthouse keeper would have spend their free time provisioning for life on sandy neck and how they would have seasoned their seafood and using the abundant cranberries, wild blueberries and beach plums that grow natively on the beach to make jams.
About 4 months of selling jam in my front yard , I realized I had something there and found a business partner willing to help fund a scale up. After 6 months of behind the scenes work, I brought the brand back to my partner with a fully fleshed out assortment of 15 items, jam, hot sauce & condiments with a social following over 4K, 30 stores ready to place orders and a factory ready to produce my approved recipes. Shortly after we went into production for our line of gourmet food, the bakery were the cafe is today went on the market in the center of my hometown and my business partner and I saw the opportunity to open a cafe with a menu that highlighted our gourmet food business. Currently we operate the Lighthouse keeper’s pantry year round and sell our gourmet foods to over 600 stores nationally.
Were there any pivotal moments or turning points that shaped the direction of your business?
The bakery going on the market was the biggest game changer, it opened a new door that i never even considered when first dreaming up the business and allowed me to quit my corporate job and move to the cape full time and fully dedicate my work to growing the business.
How have you used storytelling, branding, or design to connect with your target audience?
I use story telling to create an aspirational lifestyle for customers, especially through social media. Because the cape is a vacation destination i try to showcase my authentic lifestyle through the beauty of cape cod, life on the ocean and sharing delicious foods with my family and friends.
What’s the role of community in your business, and how do you engage with your customers beyond transactions?
Our cafe acts as a beacon for our community as a gathering place, daily routine and a place that brings people joy. I try to form meaningful relationships with our community through daily interactions and build a community / small town spirit to showcase on social to drive new foot traffic to our cafe.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to build their own brand?
Authenticity is key, follow your heart, and don’t quit when things get tough. set backs are a part of growth, but you have to keep going. Entrepreneurship is a 25/8 game and you need to keep moving forward.