Kirsten Ussery

Kirsten and Detroit Vegan Soul

Kirsten Ussery is co-founder / co-owner of Detroit Vegan Soul, Detroit’s premiere vegan soul food restaurant. The other half of the business is Erika Boyd. She is the Chef, while Kirsten is the General Manager and together they promote the business. Detroit Vegan Soul LLC started as a vegan meal delivery and catering company specializing in vegan soul food (a vegan twist on traditional soul food meals) and has grown to a full service 34 seat restaurant. Their mission is to help people live healthier lives by providing great-tasting, high-quality, nutritious vegan food, that appeals to all taste buds, while at the same time doing their part to support a sustainable earth.

“Build Institute helped me to set realistic goals and set milestones along the way.”

Building Her Business

Build Institute helped me by providing the peer support and hands-on exercises necessary for me to first determine whether our business idea was viable, and secondly, to put together a business plan. Before taking the Build class, I really didn’t understand the financial pieces of a business plan such as break-even point, etc. But now I know, based on real, tangible costs and other factors what we need to do to ensure our business is a success. Build Institute helped me to set realistic goals and set milestones along the way. But it wasn’t just the class activities and exercises that helped, it was the input, feedback, and connections received from peers in the class that provided was the biggest help.

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Media

CNN: Hot Vegan Destinations