Walt Grace’s Submarine Ride

Walt Grace’s Submarine Ride

As the school year ended, about 50 Choicelunch employees gathered for a two day, “all hands” meeting. We do it every year, and every year, the group gets bigger. Our expansion reflects the responsibility you, our Choicelunch families, place in us. (Five years ago, we cooked about 3000 lunches a day. This last year it was about 18,000 lunches a day!) The end of the year meeting is meant to review the school year and brain storm on how we can innovate and continue to enhance the way parents and kids think of what ‘school lunch’ can and should be. We sit in a circle, ask questions of each other, and eat! (There is never a Choicelunch meeting without WAY TOO much yummy food. This year we had an amazing lunch of raw corn & basil salad, homemade focaccia pizzas with BBQ chicken, and lots of snacks, a full Mexican buffet dinner, and house-made granola, pastries and quiches for brunch the second day.)


There were a lot insights discussed in the lengthy meetings. We covered some of the exciting changes on the website you will see soon, new custom packaging that has literally been in the works for two years and last minute orders, as we extend the deadline for your lunch orders to the morning of service! The undisputed highlight of the meetings, though, was our CEO Justin’s presentation on why we do what we do.

Justin had spent the beginning of our first day reviewing our financial outlook. It was a sober morning with serious business decisions ahead. Justin then hooked his iPod into a bank of speakers we hadn’t even realized we had been staring at for 5 hours. He paused and asked all of us Choicelunch employees if anyone had heard of the story of Walt Grace. We didn’t know quite what to make of this redirection. Justin then sat on the floor with his back to us. He cranked up the volume on the speakers and we all listed to John Mayer’s song, “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test January 1967.”

The story is about a man, Walt Grace, who had a dream to build his own 1 person submarine. His vision was ambitious and wild. Walt’s friends and family thought he was loony. Walt endangered himself to chase a fantasy; a submarine ride. With everything at stake, Walt leapt into the deep abyss (literally) and succeeded. He crossed the pacific in his 1 man submarine. Walt changed what was assumed to be possible. He changed his world by taking a risk and doing what he felt was right.

As all of us listened to the song, we slowly realized what Justin was alluding to. A few of us cried. Tears streamed down my face, I am not ashamed to say. We knew that Justin was really playing the song to remind us of the risk WE are taking: changing the way kids eat. We do what we do despite people telling us we are crazy, “kids only want corn dogs, not sushi,” “no kid will order Tikka Masala.” Seaweed as a snack? You are crazy!

But guess what? Slowly, but surely, despite the odds, we are changing the way kids eat, one lunch at a time.

This submarine we are on is not a 1 person submarine. It has 150 Choicelunch employees, 250 schools, almost 80,000 kids inside. It is a submarine that expands every year, and proves that what was once thought impossible is actually possible. As John Mayer says, “the rest is up to you.”

 

Hello There!

My name is Allison! Nurturer Of 4 Remarkable Littles / Married To My Own Modern Day Prince Charming / California Born And Raised / Adventure Seeker / Nature Enthusiast / Memory Maker / Food / Wine / Fashion / Sleep

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