A Labour of Love

“I started out in a completely different career,” she explains. “I was in the insurance industry for quite a while. Then I had my son, and of course, priorities change and your perspective changes. So, I decided to go back to school and do something that was really meaningful for me.”

Kelly-Jo attended culinary school at NSCC, and after graduation she began working at different restaurants to hone her skills. Then, COVID-19 happened.

“Again, kind of a life-changing moment that tends to give you some perspective,” she says. “My partner and I decided to start our own place, and that’s how the diner came to be.”

Kelly-Jo co-owns Easy Street Diner along with both her current partner and her ex-husband, with whom she is raising her son. She says that although relationships change, remaining friends and a positive co-parenting approach has allowed them to operate a business together since June of 2021. “That’s our family dynamic.”

This venture into the restaurant industry has since been affectionately referred to as a “dinersty” by their son, a play on the words ‘diner’ and ‘dynasty.’

Starting out, while searching for the right fit for their commercial banking, Kelly-Jo hoped to avoid some of the ‘headaches’ involved at the bigger banks that are headquartered in Toronto. That’s when the team remembered a financial institution that was spoken highly of by another restaurant owner they knew. “My partner and I have worked with Le Bistro by Liz, and she always sang CUA’s praises. That was really top of mind when we started out on our own.”

Kelly-Jo says that CUA’s local presence, community involvement (such as its annual Community Investment Grant Program), and its thumbs-up from a fellow restaurateur made it a clear fit for their needs. For their day-to-day small business banking, CUA was the perfect choice.

Upon opening the restaurant, Kelly-Jo explains that it was important for them to go above and beyond in meeting the dietary needs of their community.

“I know a lot of folks that have to eat gluten free, and we tried to be better and ensure their safety when it came to catering to folks with dietary challenges. I also have over ten items on the menu that can be done as a vegan version. We try to be ‘picky-eater friendly’ when it comes to both diets and kids.”

Beyond their sit-down restaurant, Easy Street Diner offers delivery, takeout, and catering services. Customers should also know how flexible the team is with requests.

“Sometimes people will email me saying ‘Hey, I need a gluten free cake for this person, and I don’t really know where to go. Is this something you can do?’” Kelly-Jo loves saying yes to these kinds of inquiries and emphasizes that she will always consider a custom request.

With this customer-centric approach to ensuring folks always leave happy and well-fed, Kelly-Jo says her community has been so supportive in return, citing customers as the best part of her job.

“They keep me going, I’ve got to say. I have a number of regulars that we’ve come to share our lives with. I’m just so thankful that they’re there, because on the tough days, sometimes just seeing their faces, them popping me a message on Facebook, or liking or commenting on a post can really turn a day around for me.”

With eight staff members at the restaurant, Kelly-Jo says that they’re a tight-knit group. “All of us are there most of the time, and we see each other sometimes more than we see our actual families,” she explains. “They just hold us up. I’m so grateful for each of them.”

Her first piece of advice to other small business owners in Nova Scotia is that “you always need more cash flow than you think you do, whether it’s starting out, or just starting a new project.”

Additionally, Kelly-Jo says it’s crucial for business owners to “find your people.” For Easy Street Diner, this includes customers, their community of vendors who carry specialized products just for them, and their district counsellor and MLA, all of whom have played an integral role in sustaining the business.

Long term, their plan is to have a place where customers who find it challenging to eat at restaurants can still access restaurant-quality food that meets their dietary needs at a lower price point. Easy Street Diner is currently in the works of opening a retail shop in their building that’s both a gluten free bakery and a prepared foods section and café.

“We’re hoping to do a number of prepared foods like soups, frozen goods, dry goods and things like that where the community can hopefully have that little indulgence at a lower price point.”

Looking back over nearly three years in operation during a time of economic volatility that has seen many restaurants shutter their doors, Kelly-Jo says that simply making it this far has been their greatest accomplishment. “I consider my measure of success just staying in business right now.”

Kelly-Jo also wants customers both new and old to know that “At the end of the day, we want people to have a good experience. We want to feed people, and we want them to be full and happy. So however we can make that happen, that’s the business we’re in.”

You can learn more about Kelly-Jo and Easy Street Diner on their website.