Get to know Jam Rohr, the multi-passionate and talented creative behind Radish Kitchen (previously Up Beet Jams) and learn about the transition to a new, larger vision for plant-based offerings in Peoria. You may remember Jam from our previous feature when we launched the branding for Up Beet Jams.

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am the owner of Radish Kitchen and Black Dog Metal Arts. I was born in Peoria, and it was an easy decision to move back home after receiving my MFA in Sculpture in 2018 as I saw the arts community was steadily growing. I have three cats and a dog. I enjoy gardening, reading, climbing, spending time outdoors, going to community events, meeting new people, and writing. I mostly enjoy spending time with my spouse, Danny Rohr, and watching wrestling and horror movies together.

What is your background in business?

I am the owner of Radish Kitchen and Black Dog Metal Arts. My mission through both endeavors is to strengthen the community through collaboration and education. For Black Dog Metal Arts, Danny and I decided to move back to Peoria after graduate school as we saw the arts community was growing and people in the community genuinely cared about art. There are so many artists working in a wide array of mediums in this city, but the iron community hadn’t yet made its way to the Heart of Illinois. We decided to make sculpture, woodworking, metal art, and iron casting accessible and available to the public with this business.

Radish Kitchen began as I was transitioning to a vegan diet to help ease endometriosis pain. I had no health insurance and no money for treatment but kept reading that a whole-food, plant-based vegan diet would help. I shared recipes on an Instagram page called Up Beet Jams that included a daily music recommendation. This grew into cooking meals each week for a friend and fellow Peoria artist, Jaci Musec, which grew into a few more friends and then more people in the community. I saw this was a need in Central Illinois, so I decided to start this business as a meal-prep service.

Radish Kitchen Logo by Lettering Works

What led you to pivot Up Beet Jams to Radish Kitchen?

When I started selling Up Beet Jams outside of friends and family I often had people ask if I was a jelly subscription service. People thought I made jam because they didn't know my name was Jam. People also often missed the beet pun, so the description of my business was completely lost. I felt Radish Kitchen is not only a nod to Up Beet Jams as beets and radishes are both root vegetables (delicious ones at that), but it more clearly explains what it is that I do for the public.

Radish Kitchen Brand Graphics by Lettering Works

What led you to come back to Lettering Works for your rebrand (after Chelsie did your initial branding for Up Beet Jams)?

It was the easiest decision of this entire process. I absolutely loved what Chelsie created for Up Beet Jams, and with the transition to Radish Kitchen I wanted people to not only recognize that this is still the same woman behind Up Beet Jams but that this is still a whole-food, plant-based, vegan kitchen. I went to Lettering Works for the rebrand because I knew Chelsie could convey through these branding elements that Radish Kitchen is the expansion and growth of Up Beet Jams. She did just that!

What is your biggest vision for Radish Kitchen?

Radish Kitchen will be a vegan hub with whole-food, plant-based, vegan meals prepared each week for subscribers, but also have grab-and-go meals available, a small menu of made-to-order meals, and several vegan items available in store. Some of these items include tea blends, adaptogen blends, bulk items like beans, oats, and legumes, baked goods, and more. I also see this as a community space as I will host monthly dinner parties called Fork and Beans where I will collaborate with a new person, business, not-for-profit entity, or artist from Peoria to lead a workshop or discussion while I prepare meals. I envision this as a place to offer vegan meals not available in the Peoria area currently, but also a place where people can come together to enjoy delicious food, learn, and collaborate.

What are some of your short and long term goals in making this vision a reality?

I plan to continue cooking the pre-ordered meals through the month of January while I build out the front of the store. I hope to open in mid-February to early March to the public with the full storefront. In the first year, I hope to host the monthly dinner parties while sharing more information on my Patreon page for people who might not be able to come to the store. After 5 years in this space, I hope to purchase a building to expand into a wellness hub with other local businesses.

You are a huge advocate of supporting other small businesses and artists. How do you plan to continue to collaborate with the community through Radish Kitchen?

I LOVE collaborating with others! It's a great way for us all to share our platforms but also learn from one another. One of the first projects is to create a little free vegan library. I will build a little free library in-store and purchase all of the books to fill the library from Lit on Fire just up the road. I plan to host a quarterly Veg Bop dinner where I will provide dinner and invite a local musician to play at the dinner. I will also continue collaboration through the Fork and Beans dinners - I am reaching out to other small businesses and artists right now to fill the calendar for 2022. (You can reach out to Jam here if you’re an artist or business interested in collaborating.) I'm planning on some other collaborations like a cookbook highlighting work from artists and sharing recipes from others in the region.

How would you describe the process of working with Lettering Works to establish your branding? What did you enjoy most?

It was absolutely as easy and streamlined as can be. I enjoyed the questionnaires that asked me to explain things in detail that I hadn't thought to share. The feedback space with each design proof made it easy to always fully explain my thoughts and what I would like to change. Having Zoom meetings to be more thorough and talk things through was even better. I of course enjoyed seeing the final product the most and the first design concepts. I cried every time as I always do with anything Chelsie has worked on for me. Overall, I would say how simple it is to see the design options, give feedback, and make payments on time. It is nice to see the full payment schedule with dates so I can put them in my calendar and stay on top of it easily.

Radish Kitchen Brand Pattern by Lettering Works

What value do you believe quality branding provides?

I had no idea how important branding was until I hired Chelsie for Up Beet Jams. I thought I just needed a logo, NOPE! Branding is absolutely essential and MUST be incorporated into the consideration of start-up costs. It makes my product recognizable to the public and appear much more professional. It helps connect all of the public platforms from my website to Instagram to Facebook. Even just the use of branding colors without the design elements helps people understand that what they are looking at is something from Radish Kitchen. Every single part of branding is worth every penny. I think more small businesses and start-ups should be more mindful that branding, not just a logo, is one of the most important parts of getting started.

Up Beet Jams Branding created by Lettering Works in 2020

You have multiple businesses and have done several ventures that have unique branding. At what point do you think artists and small business owners should invest in branding?

At the beginning! If artists and small business owners are just starting out I think it is important to take it slow before making the jump to a legal entity. Be sure you understand your audience, your target market, what your product/service is, who it is for, all of these elements that are answered on the SCORE business plan template. Once that is understood, the next step is to hire Chelsie Tamms of Lettering Works for branding. It should be in the initial start-up budget for sure!

Anything else you’d like to add?

I am incredibly grateful to know Chelsie and have had the opportunity to work with her twice on my branding. I look forward to future collaborations and opportunities together, but for now, feel fully confident stepping into Radish Kitchen in 2022.