One Sunday arvo, Jordyn Evans was meal prepping for the coming week. After glancing at her pantry which so desperately required a deep clean, she found herself reading a lot of the ingredients in her seasonings and was left incredibly underwhelmed. That's when her idea for Mingle Seasoning came about.
Jordyn is the creator of Mingle Seasoning, which is a spice and seasonings brand that focuses on natural, healthy ingredients without compromising taste and health.
Mingle Seasoning Website:
www.mingleseasoning.com
Jordyn on LinkedIn:
Jordyn Evans
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“I was like, this shit tastes good. But what actually is in it?”
“Here I am going to South Melbourne Market, buying good quality chicken and veg and then essentially shaking shit on it.”
“I'm a great talker, I'm a great pitcher, I can sell the dream, but at the end of the day, like numbers.”
“I think opinions are like assholes, like there's always one.”
“I think tall poppy syndrome, especially in Australia is pretty huge.”
What matters more for a startup: social following or business fundamentals?
You need both — a large social following doesn't guarantee a functioning business, so pair audience/brand growth with real numbers, focus, and execution.
How should a startup manage costs when just starting out?
Keep overheads as lean as possible in the early stages (e.g., working from public libraries for free wifi) rather than spending on flashy offices, and only invest in a staff member once you can no longer do everything yourself.
How do you find a good mentor or decide whose advice to take?
Look for people who acknowledge where you actually are in your business rather than giving generic advice, seek people with complementary skill sets you lack (e.g., accounting, FMCG experience), and be willing to consolidate conflicting advice and choose what applies to you rather than following it all.
How do you identify which emails or outreach requests are worth responding to?
Be wary of transactional, generic outreach (mass BCCs, 'to whom it may concern') and favour specific, personal, human-level connection; it's okay to say no to self-motivated requests.
Jordyn Evans describes grabbing her usual seasoning during a Sunday meal prep, reading the ingredient label out of curiosity after working at a natural drinks company, and being shocked to find MSG, vegetable oil and artificial flavouring, which pushed her to start blending her own spices.
Evans recounts staying overnight near Woolworths HQ before a 9am pitch meeting, getting stuck in heavy traffic/car-park congestion, U-turning, missing light cycles, and eventually mounting a curb in a hired 4WD to arrive with two minutes to spare, which ended up breaking the ice with the buyer.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
While meal prepping on a Sunday, she read the label of a seasoning brand she'd used for years and found it full of preservatives, MSG and vegetable oil. She started blending her own spice combinations instead, got positive feedback from family and friends, and launched an Instagram account and online store, eventually naming the brand Mingle.
From episode 129→MAP is a startup accelerator run through the University of Melbourne that supports 10 startups a year. Evans went through multiple pitching rounds, including a 3-minute pitch to 50 people, a 45-minute interview, and a Shark Tank-style session with investors, before receiving funding to help hire her first staff member.
From episode 129→She stayed near Woolworths HQ outside Sydney the night before a 9am meeting but got stuck in heavy traffic (effectively a packed car park), had to U-turn in a hired 4WD and drove aggressively, including mounting a curb, to arrive with two minutes to spare. The frantic arrival ended up breaking the ice with the buyer and humanising the meeting.
From episode 129→Every episode featuring Jordyn Evans on The Daily Talk Show.
