Female Disruptors: Kerry Song of Abbot’s Butcher On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Stay Thoughtful. It’s easy to fall into a pattern where you live and breathe growth. But growth without being thoughtful about the way you are growing is only going to set you up for greater challenges ahead. It’s important to have an attention to detail and a deep awareness around the kind of company you are building if you want longevity.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kerry Song.
Kerry Song is the founder and CEO of Abbot’s Butcher. Before Abbot’s Butcher, Kerry spent 5 years as a Brand Strategist for Tony Robbins, worked in finance for both Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, and led a grassroots campaign in Tanzania to develop HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Kerry is a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in Economics.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’ve followed a vegan diet since my college days and I’ve always felt deep compassion for animals, but it wasn’t until 2017 that I decided to start a plant-based food company. After graduating from Princeton with a degree in Economics, I worked in corporate finance for several years until I realized it wasn’t the right path for me. I longed for a career where I could make some sort of social impact. Following a year of European travels and attending an intimate cooking school in Italy, I relocated to Los Angeles where I worked my way from copywriter to content strategist for several non-profits. I soon joined the marketing team at Tony Robbins. While I was climbing professionally and felt fulfilled in my career, my body presented a new challenge. During this time, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that turned my life upside down. A long-time athlete, I was devastated by this illness that left me feeble, fatigued, and on lifetime medication with an array of side effects. I started searching for a solution beyond medication and realized that while I was eating vegan foods, many of them contained additives, synthetic chemicals, natural flavors, and generally a host of ingredients I couldn’t pronounce and had no idea where they came from. This research led me to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet, and my symptoms went into remission — without medication. While I felt better, I still missed some of my favorite dishes. I couldn’t find any plant-based products that satisfied my cravings for comfort dishes that were made with ingredients I could feel good about, and that is how the idea for Abbot’s Butcher was born.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Abbot’s Butcher is the third wave of plant-based meat. We don’t settle for ingredients with questionable sourcing or multiple syllables. We are the only plant-based meat company that is free of gluten, soy, natural and artificial flavors, and preservatives, as well as the only Whole30 Approved plant-based meat. We’re offering a product that is both nourishing and satisfying — a product that tastes as good as it makes people feel.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
This is definitely throwing it way back to the early days when we didn’t yet have retail presence. I was intent on getting into a local natural chain called Mother’s Markets, but no one there was returning my calls or emails. I decided to show up at their corporate headquarters in person. I asked the receptionist if I could meet directly with the buyer. She looked at me curiously, then disappeared, and after a short wait, returned with the buyer by her side. Who knows if it was the shock of someone just showing up in person to pitch a product, but the buyer stood there and listened while I told her about our products and why they were different. I asked her if I could bring lunch in for her team, and she agreed. The next week, I hosted a taco bar for their team, which was a huge success, and soon after, the products were accepted into all eight Mother’s Market locations. Part of me laughs about the gumption it took to just show up at an office like that. But it goes to show the importance of being scrappy. We’re a significantly different company now, but there are a lot of times I remind myself of the earlier days, and how important it is to take risks, and to bet on yourself.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
One of the most impactful mentors along this journey has been a gentleman named Luke Abbott. Luke has been instrumental from a business operations standpoint by providing invaluable guidance when it comes to sales strategies, marketing insights, and financial organization. But the greatest gift Luke has given me is teaching me the importance of company culture. Culture isn’t about obligatory team dinners or decking out the office with perks — it’s about a commitment to upholding core values. It’s how we interact with each other. It’s how we show up each day. It’s how we treat our customers. It’s how we endure the lows and celebrate the highs. Core values have rooted our team and helped us become more collaborative and more purposeful in everything we do.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Disruption is necessary when the status quo isn’t working. Just because something is accepted or normalized does not mean it’s right. Natural flavors, methylcellulose, and soy protein isolates shouldn’t be normal ingredients in the foods we rely on to nourish our bodies and make us feel our best. For example, certain fast-food establishments have stood the test of time, but they’re also a source of our nation’s preventable health problems. I’d also like to note that disruption doesn’t have to be aggressive or extreme. At Abbot’s Butcher, we meet consumers where they are at. We don’t demand they change their diet to better their health, the planet, and animals — we offer a one-for-one swap for the meaty recipes they crave. It’s not about sacrifice, it’s about finding sustainable solutions.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- Hungry. Humble. Smart. These are the principles established by Patrick Lencioni that have become core pillars of how we show up every single day. It’s about being hungry and having a strong work ethic. It’s about being humble enough to check your ego at the door, roll up your sleeves, and focus on something bigger than yourself. And it’s about being smart, scrappy, and resourceful.
- Stay Thoughtful. It’s easy to fall into a pattern where you live and breathe growth. But growth without being thoughtful about the way you are growing is only going to set you up for greater challenges ahead. It’s important to have an attention to detail and a deep awareness around the kind of company you are building if you want longevity.
- It’s about the customers. This company isn’t about our products. It’s about our customers. Our customers are the ones changing the world — we are just part of their journey. And it’s an incredible honor to be part of their story.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Right now we’re focusing on becoming a household staple. It’s been exciting to see our foods land in more retailers and foodservice accounts as well, and even more exciting to receive all the positive customer feedback. Because when it comes down to it, improving the lives of our customers is at the core of what we do.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
There’s no ignoring that I have faced a number of challenges in growing Abbot’s Butcher, and I do believe they were a direct result of being a woman. I’ve been spoken down to, asked to do menial tasks by potential male investors, and felt massive pressure to portray a more masculine persona to gain respect and authority in my own business. But despite these targeted challenges, I’ve persevered. Women may face discrimination when growing a company, but that shouldn’t stop them from going after it. The Abbot’s Butcher ethos is to be smart, hungry, and humble. Whether I face a hurdle because I’m a woman or simply because there’s a global pandemic and massive supply chain issues, I tackle it with the same resolve and determination to overcome the obstacle.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
I was recently introduced to Patrick Lencioni. His lessons on team building and cultivating a thriving work culture have helped me navigate through a lot of uncertainty.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would continue to spur the plant-based movement and the innovation of more wholesome, cleaner alternatives to animal products.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Peter Drucker said, “Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”
I believe firmly in constant and never-ending improvement. This comes from consistently challenging what you believe to be true, never getting comfortable with the status quo, and cultivating a growth mindset. It’s not about making massive changes overnight. It’s about making a lot of uncelebrated little improvements consistently, so we can get better and better one step at a time.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can find us at abbotsbutcher.com or @abbotsbutcher across all social media platforms.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Kerry Song of Abbot’s Butcher On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.