https://youtu.be/xVmn3RWaWhM: Video automatically transcribed by Sonix

https://youtu.be/xVmn3RWaWhM: this xVmn3RWaWhM video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Hi, so and Welcome to our first live post. This is business as unusual. And the first one today, we are actually joined by video from lime lime Hut. Now, lime Hut are actually based on Varick Street in SoHo Sofitel, a little bit about yourself and to those that, don't know. Yeah. Hi guys, I'm fee and I'm the founder of line, but it's

Contemporary, Caribbean street food front were based in. Yeah, I'm Varick Street in SoHo, and we've got a focus on health and well-being. So, it's a little modern Twist on on sort of the classic dishes. Would expect my grandparents to cook, like jerk, chicken and rice and peas and we like to do a little little healthy Twist on it, so that it can be enjoyed for the lunchtime Market, it's fantastic. And it's a, it's very, it's very healthy. So you've got like super foods and it's just so colorful.

Oil. And and vegan as well, even options. Yeah, we have lots of vegan options. We've actually won an award for best vegan Lunch Spot in SoHo. So, I like to shout about that a lot, but we do also have a non vegan options. So when I exclusively vegan, but and yeah, are Trinidadian, coconut, curry is very popular with vegans and non-vegans alike. That's fantastic. We have people working at DLP that vegans and vegetarians. So that that always goes down really, really well, it's one of the very

A popular spots at lunch time for us. Yeah. People love the a jerk halloumi as well. Which obviously isn't vegan but vegetarian-friendly? That's the most popular item on our menu. Yeah, kinda, I like I absolutely love halloumi. I shouldn't really have dairy, but I can't give up cheese. So so tell us a little bit more about what you've been doing during lockdown because I've seen that, you have also started a live series

He's come dying with feet. Yeah, I can't believe there's no copyright infringement there with her the classic combined with me. But given that fear around with me, I couldn't help. But do that little pun there. Yeah, open that the street food market is closed. I still wanted to engage with our followers and loyal customers who have, you know, they've come out in the wind and the rain to support us, you know, lovely British mother too.

To lunch with us over the last couple years and I didn't want to just know shut up shop and not engage with you guys. So we started a very corny and very cheesy online cooking series and just on the gram stories and just fun little easy to do recipes at home. A bit of awkward dancing around the kitchen just to make it with my favorite bit. Yeah, I know.

A bit of a silly person so I could have myself and but it's been really fun and followers have been messaging asking for a particular recipe. And so we've been just ya doing requests a bit like DJ some requests, I guess. But for the recipes it's been a lot of fun. I get you get your requesting guys because they feel do a little dance for you and a little Cook Instagram as lime Hut London. So, check us out. Yeah, the story's out.

Fabulous. So, tell me a little bit more about what you've been doing in relation to the heart, to keep the cash flow going and different ideas because you've been very initiative within the yeah. So it's a really difficult time and I just want to say, I hope everyone is staying as safe and as soon as possible in this Bonkers time that we're all finding ourselves in. It's it's, you know, that is the main priority. But

But when you've quit your job and finance and put everything into into this dream of building a brand and like a slime her, it's so disheartening to have it closed down and it's quite anxiety-inducing when thinking about cash flow. So, I had to think very quickly and I basically sat up a voucher scheme, which isn't a handout at all. It's more of an IOU where our regular customers can courses by purchasing about Joe

Yes, that gives us cash in our pocket now, but it's redeemable against products or services in the future. So you know, if we're doing another pop-up Fitness Branch, we do lots of fun events and something usually that would be a redeemable against a ticket to attend there or we also do private, Chef experiences, we've got products, it's just there's all types of ways you can redeem it in the future. So it's a way of keeping our customer base engaged,

That when the world does return to business as usual rather than business as unusual. An audience that's already engaged in and ready to book us for our catering events and it just made sense to me. And the uptake on it was fantastic. I was quite overwhelmed actually by the responsive people that were willing to, to purchase about did because they wanted to see lime hurts succeed after after the crisis is over. Yeah, I think it is, it is really over.

Overwhelming the support. All of the locals are given to local small businesses. And I'm not surprised to be honest because it is a really good movement to support and tell me more about the events that you that you've done in the past that people that don't know. Yeah. So we're always available for private bookings or that's, you know, corporate bookings or private celebrations but the regular collaborations we've done our fitness, brunches

Really fun. We do yoga branches, and we also do twerk Fitness. Brunches fun. I do not get involved in the yoga, or the twerking. I very much stay in the kitchen. We've got them all the time collaborator. So one being Bambam Boogie who is a twerk fitness instructor her and infectious. So she hosts the yeah, the twerk Fitness classes and you know, it's a bit like somebody. It's just really fun. It's dark.

Sled, but it's quite, you know, it's got quite physically draining, so people turn up in their Gym gear, get a good solid, our workout and then we have a DJ afterwards, we serve up brunch and it's just a really good time. We were planning on doing one in June but obviously based on the current circumstances, it will be postponed for the next one. But yeah. We aim to host those every every couple months and you know, if twerking isn't your thing and you're

About the more Namaste kind of vibe. We can also do the yoga brunches, and which we've hosted with Angel be Fitness in the past as well. Yeah, it's um, it's which of about from Vista Street Food Market. It is really fun to to bring the brand in sort of the event space, as well as just the students. But I can see the Ashley and Keating has said, sign me up for the twerks

I know that you are on your background is in finance, isn't it? So have you kind of brought Finance into inter now seeing as you're not on the Storm? Yeah. So I yeah. So I qualified and the city as a chartered accountant. I worked in finance for four years, straight out of University. Before I sat up, line hurt and over the last couple years of meeting other

Small startup businesses, particularly other female creatives. I noticed that there was a bit of a gap in either knowledge or confidence, when it came to the accounting and finance aspect of running their businesses. And it made me realize I'd taken for granted. What I'd learned through my qualification and some things that I consider to be very basic and very rudimentary were just not public knowledge was not you know, general knowledge.

So a lot of people. So I co-founded cocoa Financial with my cousin which is a platform specifically designed to empower and educate particularly female-led businesses, but it opens both genders with the accounting and finance support. And so we've launched that and whilst it's got very quiet with the street food market at the moment. We've actually got quite busy with offering business consultations.

And offering support in that area. So it is proof that it's important to have diverse streams of income because nobody saw Corona coming. Absolutely. No. And and I never would have imagined that, you know, my my street food gazebo would be packed away in my van and I wouldn't be looking at it at all, but equally my little side hustle with cocoa Financial has really ramped up and so I've been able to to feel like I can survive this quite difficult.

Occult period as a result of that, but also to feel like you can support other people because it is during this time, people are so confused about their financial. So you're doing such a great part to the back to the community, by, doing this cocoa Financial by helping other people's financials. Well, done. You are smart or face helping with a financial or other people, so it's really good. Well done. So you just got such a good cause

To energy. And I really hope that a lot of people will tune in, to your Instagram, and, and try out your yummy food. I know that mango and lime are both two of my favorite ingredients, so I'll definitely be trying out quite a few during our rest of you is quite a lot. Yeah. And so about called line part and I think a lot of people presume we could line hurt named after the fruit which we are but

There's a double meaning lime, in the Caribbean, particularly the smaller islands. And so, my dad's from Jamaica, which is considered one of the larger islands and my mom is from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and one of the smaller island nations and lime, and the Caribbean means to hang out with your friends at the beach or party. So it's being there. So I do use a lot of lime in our, in our food, but we also, as I mentioned like to do the twerk, branches and host those policies. So it's the double meaning there. So bit of Caribbean Sunshine.

That's fantastic. I love that c. We learn something new everyday next Quiz. Question. I'm going to add that one in so many quiz question. Thank you so much for joining us be. I literally think that ever, everyone's been inspired by you just learning about kind of the voucher scheme is absolutely fantastic. Also with the financial support that you're doing, the come dine with the, you're literally putting everything out there to make sure.

That everything still runs and while supporting others as well and where are people able to buy the vouchers? Do you know? Yeah, so it's on gift up. But we've got the link on our Instagram page. So if you go to Lime underscore Hut underscore London, the link is in our bio and you can purchase about just there if you want to support. So please do, that's really good. I'm sure that we will. And it's thanks for getting the

I might as well. I'm glad that we both wanted our plants this morning in Gregor's, especially rough process, business as unusual incur Queen is King. Thank you so much for joining us on our first one though, and I really appreciated it. I hope that this gives some great exposure and gives lime Hut the the exposure that it deserves. So yeah, I think that's everything for today.

Guys, don't forget to tune in tomorrow and at 11:30 will be doing another one of these speaking to another local business. But yet, I think everybody can agree that being has done a fantastic job of kicking this off. Thank you very much. Thanks. Don't forget to join the check out her website and lime up doc code up UK, as well as her Instagram, and that's her Facebook as well, but her Instagram feed one more time.

Your Instagram. It's lime underscore Hut underscore London. Perfect. Get by those vouchers guys. Thanks so much. Thanks have a good day.