Interview with Angie Ruff
In this episode, we will uncover 3 keys:
- The Magic of Bringing an Idea to Market
- The Power of Persistence and Hard Work
- Entrepreneurs Are Not Alone
Podcast Transcription
Episode 51: Women in Manufacturing: Turn Your Passion into a Profitable Brand | Angie Ruff
Intro
Odiva Vasell (00:32):
Welcome, welcome, my fabulous fempreneurs! I am extra excited today to bring to you someone who has a wealth of knowledge in manufacturing and distribution, as well as other engineering-type fields. She has taken all that knowledge and passion and channeled it into something that can inspire women to step forward and be the face of their own beautiful brand. Welcome, welcome, Angie Ruff!
Angie Ruff (01:14):
Thank you so much! Thanks so much for having me here today. I’m really excited for our conversation.
Odiva Vasell (01:20):
Yes, and the fact that you have a background in engineering—that is something we actually have in common! So let’s bring that to our ladies right now because they don’t get to meet a lot of us. Tell me, how did you get started in engineering, and which aspect of it were you involved in?
The Magic of Bringing an Idea to Market
Angie Ruff (01:43):
Great question! Thank you so much for that. So, I actually decided in junior high that manufacturing was something of interest to me. I had one of those school days where they bring in employers and people who do different jobs, and I was so mesmerized by what engineers do that I wanted to continue to learn more.
I went to college for textile engineering and minored in mechanical engineering, and that’s how I got further into that. But it’s been the manufacturing piece that has always lit a fire under my soul. It’s amazing to see somebody take an idea and create it.
Odiva Vasell (02:25):
Yes, yes! And I guess people underestimate how much beauty and creativity go into that process. What we see on TV is a lot of big factories, and yes, the machines do a lot, but it has to come from someone’s idea first, right? Tell us, did you go into the textile industry first, or how did you start?
Angie Ruff (02:53):
Yes! So, my career journey took me from textiles to plastic extrusion and into food manufacturing eventually, which is where I’ve spent the majority of my career.
Odiva Vasell (03:04):
Oh! Okay, okay, okay. I’m trying to get a visual of—what is textile?
Angie Ruff (03:14):
Clothing! Anything that has a stitch—anything that has stitches—is textiles. So that could be the bra you’re wearing, the shirt you’re wearing; it could even be something as simple as a baseball because it requires a stitch.
You’re stitching within automotive and aerospace as well—every seat has a stitch.
Odiva Vasell (03:35):
I’m glad you said that because I was thinking about planes! The last time I actually worked with some textile engineers myself, they were talking about how they were developing the newer model of the plane. So, yeah—plane seats, cars… There’s carbon fiber coming out!
Angie Ruff (03:59): Yes, airbag. All of that has to do with textiles.
Odiva Vasell (04:05): Okay. Okay, and so now you, as I said, are channeling that passion into something that can help people brand their business. What motivated you to do that?
Angie Ruff (04:25): So, with the majority of my expertise being in the food manufacturing sector, there’s—you know, food is life. You go into a store, and you see hundreds and hundreds of brands. Some of those brands are represented by large manufacturers such as General Mills, Kellogg’s—we’ve all seen those. But then there are smaller brands. There are the brands that were started in a family, started in a garage, started because two guys maybe started building, you know, creating a beer. Or perhaps it was a woman who wanted a very particular type of deodorant or a perfume blend that she wanted.
But the point is that no matter what you wanted to create, the brand side behind it has to tell a story. And I love storytelling. I love being able to take that story that someone wants to create, all those ideas for a physical product, and then see it be produced.
Odiva Vasell (05:21): Can you say that last bit one more time? That was so beautiful—a product out of it. Say that again.
Angie Ruff (05:31): Right. So, let me try to remember where I was at. So, taking—yeah. Okay, so it’s—it, right? It’s basically the storytelling behind a brand. Everyone has a story, everyone has a concept and an idea, something that they envision in their eyes, in their head. But how do you get it out?
Well, the only way that you can do that is through telling a story. And storytelling doesn’t necessarily have to be words. It can also be a product. It can be something that is developed and creates a resolution to a problem. It can create a flavor that you’ve never had before.
But now, you have a story to tell on the opposite side—how that flavor made my meal, how that deodorant saved my life because now I don’t have particular ingredients in the deodorant that maybe are harmful or toxic to me. Those types of things—especially when it comes to, in my opinion, women who create brands. They want to do it for a function, for a purpose, something that brings value to the end user. And there’s generally a story behind it that got it there.
Odiva Vasell (06:42): Okay. Okay, and I asked you to reiterate that because it’s something that we tend to forget. When you get caught up in building your business and building your brand, there are a lot of social media moguls, shiny objects telling you, “Just get on social media and create content and content and content,” and then you get away from the person—the personality, the authentic being—which has a story that people can relate to. Yeah.
Angie Ruff (07:23): Right, and that’s just it. I mean, people crave connection. People crave all of that. We weren’t put on this earth to live in an apartment by ourselves and just have our groceries delivered. We were meant to have a human experience.
And having that human experience has to be with connection—through stories, through sharing products, through sharing food. All of those things just create a better life for anyone that touches them. That’s still that—I know I keep using the word “story” over and over again, but I mean, it’s really just the fabric of our lives, to be able to have that beautiful experience.
Odiva Vasell (08:07): Yes, yes. Okay, so that brings me to wonder—what was your story? What motivated you to build this branding institute?
Angie Ruff (08:20): So, yes, the Institute of Branding came about because there were so many, many companies that would come to a manufacturer and want advice. They would be like, “Well, I wanna build this product, and I wanna get it to market.” And the manufacturer is there to manufacture your product—they’re not there to tell you all the strategy that goes on behind closed doors in some cases to get it to market.
The Power of Persistence and Hard Work
The idea is actually helping someone flesh out all the pieces to the puzzle before they spend a ton of money on things, and then the product fails. So, for example, you have a beautiful product—it’s a concept in your head—and you want to be able to say, “I want to make the best—I’ll say steak seasoning because it’s an easy thing for me to talk about—the best steak seasoning on the planet.” Well, that’s great. So, what are you gonna call it? Why does it make it the best steak seasoning? How many steak seasonings are there already out there?
Let’s take a moment before you go buy that logo, before you go buy that website, to do the data on whether there is room for another steak seasoning. What makes yours unique? What’s your unique selling position for your product that’s going to blow the others out of the water? How can you position yourself in that way? Is the product that you want to build something that can be supported at the price point?
Some people build a beautiful product, but it costs so much to make that it just doesn’t land well at retail. So, we take that element out of it to determine what the pieces of the puzzle are to either make the product in alignment with what consumers are willing to pay and how to get there.
And then the next step is that co-manufacturing piece—whether they’re going to make it themselves or they’re going to have to trust somebody with their baby. I’m sure you’ve created something before where it’s been like, “This is my baby. No one else can touch it.”
Odiva Vasell (10:19): Yes.
Angie Ruff (10:20): And with that, you really have to make sure that whoever is helping you in that process is someone you can trust, and you know the right questions to ask. Are they going to put the labels on the correct way? Are they going to use the parts or the ingredients that you want to be used and not make substitutes because they’re going to save money? Because that happens.
And so, having that information and guiding people who want to create something just helps them avoid stepping on these landmines and having it blow up in their face. Then their experience becomes one of losing money or spending more than expected when their whole goal was to create this beautiful product in the first place.
Odiva Vasell (11:02): Yeah.
Angie Ruff (11:03): And I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Build it, and they will come,” right? So not true.
Odiva Vasell (11:11): Yes, you’re preaching to the choir. Yeah.
Angie Ruff (11:13): Yes. You have to know where it is going. What’s your distribution strategy? And so again, with the Institute of Branding, we really try to take that holistic approach—where is it going next? How is it going? Is your product meant for big box stores? Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just an e-commerce product. Maybe it’s something that is only being sold to specialty stores. Perhaps it’s just direct-to-consumer and in a more creative way. We’ve even worked with a brand that only does viral farmers’ markets.
There are so many different ways to market. We truly take the time to look at where the target audience is—the people who are going to purchase the product that it’s intended for. So, we take the time to do that data research and to make sure that they’ve got that path ready to go. And then, of course, the pricing structure to support that. If there have to be promotions or any type of advertisement, we ensure that it helps people know the product is out there—because you have to talk about your brand.
Odiva Vasell (12:20): Okay. All right. And so, yeah, just listening to that, you brought back so many memories for me about, I would say, the business journey—which is so important because it is a journey, and you have to allow yourself to make mistakes along the way.
I mentioned earlier “shiny object syndrome,” and what happens is a lot of entrepreneurs, especially new ones, will see somebody really successful, and that person will recommend a product or business they went through. And so, they just dump a lot of money into that product, close their eyes, and cross their fingers—without ever doing, like you talked about, this research process of how you’re going to get it from you to the market.
Not only that, but also making people want it with your unique story—because it’s not for everybody. It’s for that special person. And so, it’s so interesting because I remember when I started, the branding was all about—well, the branding that my marketing guy wanted me to do was meant for everybody. Just make it appeal to everyone. Make it generic. Even take my face off the product.
Yeah, and that’s when the fire really got in me, and I said, “No, I will never do that. I have to be part of my own brand.” And if it’s not for everybody—good! Because I don’t want to attract everybody to my brand.
Angie Ruff (14:12): Yeah. When you’re looking for everyone, you typically find no one. You’re looking for someone—but you’re looking for a very specific someone.
Odiva Vasell (14:24): Excellent! So, let’s get a little bit deeper and go into the personal side—your story, your journey. I know there were some difficult times, some challenges working in the engineering field. What happened before you decided to go out and really help people in this way?
Angie Ruff (14:55): Yeah. So, for my journey, again, like I kind of mentioned to you before we started having this chat, it’s interesting. It’s a very male-dominated field—manufacturing as a whole. And when you add the complexity of food manufacturing on top of it, it becomes an even more incredibly male-dominated field.
I had worked for a manufacturer for 16 years and had great opportunities to learn within the industry, for which I was very grateful. But as I was trying to grow, I had been promised equity that was never realized. Eventually, those opportunities dwindled, and I had to find my own way and carve my own path—only to find myself in another manufacturing plant where I was the lowest-paid plant manager in the history of the company, all because of my gender.
It was very daunting. When I reached the vice president level and had full access to the company’s financial situation, I realized how appalling it was. It was an ongoing issue for other roles in the company for many years. You could clearly see the differences—whether a male or a female held the role. And it was just truly sad that this was the case.
So, what do you do when that happens? Well, you just have to take the bull by the horns and do it yourself. I was at a crossroads when it was time to find a new path. Do I go work for someone else again and place my fate in their hands, or do I carve my own path and do it myself? I chose the hard way—I carved my own path. It’s not easy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I love what I do. I love the conversations I have—regardless of gender. It’s truly about humans helping humans and treating everyone fairly as they work toward their goals. And that sets my soul on fire every time I see someone “get it” or have a win. Their win is my win. And it doesn’t just apply to clients—it can be employees as well.
Odiva Vasell (17:26):
Give me—I’m burning to ask you—give me an example. Because you said you love those conversations, you’re passionate about them, and I’m guessing the clients are too. How do they come to you? What do they ask you for?
Entrepreneurs Are Not Alone
Angie Ruff (17:42):
Love to give you an example—just happened. We had a client that had an opportunity to get her brand into a distributor that would be able to distribute in the Northeast for her. The package that they presented her with was very confusing—lots of words where it says, “Well, for 60 days, we’ll only have you get 50% off of your product, selling it at 50% off.” Her product—she would basically be paying them to take her product rather than making any money.
But they told her, “No, that’s okay, you’ll get this on the back end. There will be more sales.” But the document does not say that. The document doesn’t have any guarantee for forward sales.
And in that, I was able to walk her through those challenges that she just doesn’t have the experience or the industry-related jargon to understand. There’s no dictionary for it, unfortunately, regarding what it was they wanted her to do. And when I took the time with her to show her the financial impact, she was simply grateful. She said, “Angie, there aren’t many people out there that have this blend of knowledge—on the manufacturing side, on the sales and distribution side—and yet still have the brand owner’s fate at their heart, ensuring that they will survive.”
And just her saying that back to me—I got all teary-eyed. I’m so glad that I was able to help her with that. And she says, from working with me, she feels more confident, she feels like she has a voice, that she can go back and advocate for herself as a business owner and a brand owner.
Odiva Vasell (19:31):
Oh my goodness! Oh wow! Yeah, I’m kind of having a flashback as you talk because I remember, with a family situation dealing with lawyers, they came at me like—this is the lawyer that I was hiring to help me. However, they come at you with all this lingo, and I don’t even think they’re trying to allow you to understand what they’re saying.
But you’ve signed up for something, and you’re not even getting what you signed up for—what you intended to have happen. She intended to have sales that would make a profit, of course, and now she’s signing this contract, and the guy or person is telling her, “Hey, don’t worry about it, just sign it. You will get it back.”
But it does not say that in writing. And she had no one—I mean, typically, she would have no one—to back her and tell her what she’s signing on the dotted line. So that is a beautiful thing that you’re doing.
Fortunately for me, before I went into that lawyer’s meeting, I had done two months of research, so I knew everything that she was telling me was wrong, actually, because she didn’t have all the facts before she started talking. But this is a beautiful thing, and I want fempreneurs to know that being an entrepreneur is not just putting yourself in the hands of another person who has more experience and hoping it works out, but doing your research and finding someone like you to guide them to the next level. Wow.
Angie Ruff (21:26):
It really is so important to find people that you can trust because so many people out there will get paid for whatever it is that you paid them, and your best interest is not always their best interest.
Odiva Vasell (21:40):
I like that—what you just said. They will get paid for whatever it is…
Angie Ruff (21:46):
Whatever service they’re providing to you, whether it’s a consulting fee or a lawyer fee, or maybe it’s even a sales fee that they’ve placed you into the spot. But at the end of the day, your success is not dependent on them getting paid. They’ve already received their fee, and they move on.
Odiva Vasell (22:05):
Oh my goodness! You are speaking such truth right now. And you, on the other hand, have a passion for this. Let’s dig—let’s dig deeper! I just wanna hear, before we start to wrap it up, I wanna hear more about your passion. And that’s it—I just leave it at that. Tell me more about your passion.
Angie Ruff (22:34):
Wait, so with the passion within getting people to market, there is something magical that happens. The first time that you have this idea in your head, you’ve done all the work to get it made, you’ve got this physical product, and you’re all excited.
But then, where it really changes is the day you see it on a store shelf. I remember specifically—I have my own brand that I was fortunate enough to get into a major retailer, that is a national retailer. We had a product that was a baking kit—it is actually still in this retailer—and it’s a baking kit that makes monkey bread.
If you ever see little dough cinnamon ball things with the caramel sauce—so good, but not great for you! But it’s so delicious.
Odiva Vasell (23:26):
This is good! I think your voice cut out just a little bit. It was a monkey… monkey…?
Angie Ruff (23:30):
It’s monkey bread! So it’s like a—it’s a monkey bread. It’s a dough, and you make them in these tiny little balls. You cover it with a cinnamon caramel sauce and bake it in the oven.
Typically, it’s in like a cast iron pan or something like that. Well, our packaging was beautiful—everything was on point. It had been almost a year from the time that the concept got started to actually getting it on the shelf. It was such a long journey!
So I started stalking this retailer. The retailer was 30 minutes from where I lived, and I would go every other day looking for it, knowing it was supposed to come out soon. And the day that it finally came out and I saw it—I squealed and danced in the store! I mean, it was ridiculous.
And I want that for other people. I want them to have that moment of, “Wow, what was in my head has now come to fruition, and it’s on the shelf, and now it can go home with other people.”
Our employees all the time—and anyone that I work with, whether it’s our manufacturing or we work with another co-manufacturer—the products that you’re making were someone’s passion. And however you make that, now you have this opportunity to be in someone else’s home and part of their joy for whatever it is.
I mean, imagine if it was just something as simple as a child’s toy—maybe it’s the perfect teddy bear, and someone created that. They had this idea for that, and you’re the person that’s creating this product. And you know that’s gonna go home and bring joy to someone else.
That’s powerful! That is really what brings the fabric of the human experience together. And as silly as it may sound—from an engineer, through manufacturing, branding, and distribution—that is truly my passion and my “why.”
Because it’s—it’s incredibly surreal to see that happen. And when it does, the experience, the excitement, the comfort from that—it is just fuel to continue to do the next thing.
Odiva Vasell (25:41):
Such a beautiful thing, and I love your heart for this. I love your passion for this! And I just want to let the men and women—entrepreneurs, businesspeople out there—know that there is someone who has your back.
And not only that, but to know that dreams can come true. Because there are many of us that have created something and thought, “No, there’s no way. There’s no way I can get it from here to out there in the world.” And now, this gives so much hope that there is a way to do that.
Angie Ruff (26:28):
Yes, there is.
Odiva Vasell (26:31):
Well, thank you so much for joining us, Angie.
Angie Ruff (26:34):
Thanks for having me! This has been so much fun. I truly appreciate the opportunity.
Odiva Vasell (26:41):
Thank you.
[music]
Conclusion
Bringing an idea to life and seeing it out in the world is a powerful and rewarding journey. As Angie Ruff shared, the excitement of watching a product go from a simple thought to sitting on a store shelf is truly magical. It takes passion, persistence, and belief in the process, but success is possible for those who keep going. Odiva Vasell reminds us that entrepreneurs are never alone—there is always a way forward, and dreams can become reality with the right support. So, if you have a vision, keep pushing, stay committed, and trust that your hard work will pay off.