Meet The Makers Mini Interview: KetoSips

Jeff Severs is the CEO and creator of KetoSips, a brand of premium, nutrient dense, all natural blended vegetable soups that are low in carbohydrates and high in healthy fats. His delicious recipes are formulated to be a convenient, tasty, and (most importantly) healthy way to help achieve nutritional ketosis. Jeff is also Pomme Staff Alumni! He was our Grocery Manager at Pomme Nanaimo for years and then was with us at Pomme Poco until the end of last year when he decided to focus on launching KetoSips, so we can personally guarantee that this is a fabulous human who has a ton of nutritional knowledge. And we're so proud of these amazing soups he's created, which have only been growing more and more popular. We're so happy to offer you this Mini Interview, so you can get to know him too!

KetoSips Mini Interview

Share your story with us in a 150 words or less.

Growing up, I had little interest in maintaining my health. It was around my early twenties that I discovered this passion. I found that I had food sensitivities and I decided to experiment with different diets. I worked at a few local health food stores, surrounded myself with likeminded people, and ended up managing the grocery department at Pomme. I did a lot of reading on my own time and ended up helping friends and family figure out some of their health issues as well. I’ve been so impressed by the ketogenic diet and how much it has improved my life and others. When I noticed how hard it was for others to stick to it though, I began dreaming up products that could help. My very patient wife, Ruby, eventually gave me the push I needed to turn my hobby into a business.

Getting from an idea to a small business is a lot of work! When did it first sink in for you that ‘this is really happening’?

The development stage was filled with uncertainty. To stay focused and motivated, I would occasionally close my eyes and visualize myself standing in front of the shelves at Pomme, looking at my finished product. I was so eager to experience that moment, but when it finally came I found myself thinking, “Well, nothing has really happened yet”. One day, I returned to the store shortly after delivering an order and stood in front of an empty shelf. I was confused and a little scared. I thought, “Where’s my soup? Did something go wrong? It couldn’t have sold that fast!”. I even asked the staff to confirm where it went! When I got the answer that it sold out, that’s when I thought, “This is really happening”.

Out of all your products, which is your personal favourite and why? 

Our asparagus soup for many reasons is my favourite. I’m personally not vegan, but I figured I couldn’t create a vegetable soup product without offering at least one vegan option! So I put the most thought and effort into this soup. It took a lot of tweaking to balance the different flavours while still achieving the nutritional values that I wanted. I think it’s really important that vegans get a good amount of healthy fats and I know this soup can help with that. I also find it cool that it’s the best seller.

What motivates you on a day-to-day basis? 

Smiles! I thrive when I’m around positive people and it’s that much better when I know that I’ve done something that makes people smile. My favourite part of my job is doing demos in stores because I get to see people’s faces light up when they taste the soups that I’ve created. It’s an amazing feeling to have someone thank me for making something so healthy taste so good. I get to share laughs with people who want every last drop, lick out the sample cups and get soup all over their faces! They want more soup, I want more smiles.

What’s your favourite thing about the town or city you live in? 

The food. Vancouver is such a diverse and multicultural city providing quality cuisines from around the world. It’s also really easy to support local, sustainable agriculture and food businesses with the many farmers markets, restaurants, and grocery stores that uphold these values.

Describe your ideal Sunday morning, including your breakfast. 

Ideally, Sunday morning is no different than any other morning. I have a morning routine that generates positivity and high energy for whatever the day presents. Simply, I drink a big glass of water and step outside to do some stretching and meditation before I make coffee, which I blend with grass-fed butter and MCT oil. I rarely eat breakfast since almost every day I do “intermittent fasting” which means that I eat within a 6-8 hour window (2pm or 4pm-10pm). I get into deep ketosis, I don’t get hungry, and my mood and energy remains stable throughout the day. I’ve learned most of these practices from the writing of Tim Ferriss, Dave Asprey, and Ben Greenfield. Apart from that if it’s a Sunday with an open schedule my wife and I would get out of the city with friends / family for some sort of adventure, usually in nature.

What are your personal top three tips for feeling awesome?
 
Coffee. Ketosis. Smiles.

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