Architect Turned Local Food Hustler

Meet Joy, the CEO of Spade & Spoon, a Denver Meal Box Subscription Service Business

I go by many names/titles... Mom, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Friend, Founder, CEO, Big Boss, Fool, Rain Man, Ronda (I.am.a.computer) but most people call me Joy.

You won’t see a lot of pics of me, or see me in our reels/videos on social media. I typically have my hair in a bun, dog hair on my shirt, and I’m hustling in one direction or another in the name of local food. This business has never been about me and “my brand."

A little bit more about me:

  • I worked for a decade as an architect (why didn’t I take a damn business 101 class?!)
  • I've been with my husband for 26 years.
  • I have five siblings and one child.
  • Before starting in the local food business, I could cook about 7 things (and they weren’t that good.)

I suck at a lot of things, but I’m resilient, creative, and 100% dedicated to building a better food system.

Why? I was a working mom married to a young farmer and I desperately wanted someone to make it easy for me to get good food on the table. Could someone plan my meals around the best seasonal local ingredients and deliver it to my doorstep? Could this be designed to reduce waste and be good for my community and the environment?

Easy 🤣. I can’t believe I took this challenge on and despite 487 things that went wrong, I never gave up.

Eleven years later and I'm still hustling local food and following my dream of opening Spade & Spoon in Denver! I have family here, the sun exists, the food is so good... I’m ready and am surrounded by a great team excited to make it happen! Let's go!