Spreading Joy with Culturally Relevant School Food at Red Rabbit with Rhys Powell

Let's Talk Limbic SparksStrategic Brand Management

Jun 14

Rhys Powell is Founder & CEO of Red Rabbit, America's largest black-owned K-12 school food company.

Rhys reveals how the Red Rabbit brand has evolved to stand for racial justice through food justice, by celebrating culturally relevant food in school cafeterias.

We talk about how the Red Rabbit brand has evolved - from living its values, to being very specific in language and purpose - to stand for racial justice through food justice. Rhys shares the emotional impact that school food has on students, and how Red Rabbit brings dignity and joy to students by affirming their cultural identity and sense of self through familiar food favorites.

Key Takeaways and Soundbites:

“If you want to create a brand that people emotionally connect to, you’ve got to tap into some part of their being.”

“You need to find some source to understand more than your lived experience.”

“Figure out what the story to tap into – the very basic human part of life that our limbic system controls. Then latch on to that and make sure you’re speaking to that part of the brain.”

“We really have this kind of visceral connection to things.”

We are moved by emotion. We use our brains, our upper level brain sometimes but really deep down like we're moved by that limbic part of our brain and and you know, for a brand to really connect with someone at that base level.”

“We started the process of changing our kind of brand messaging and our brand language, and like I said, to be really deliberate and specific about who it was that we're helping, why we're helping them.”

Episode Topics:

What Matters Most in Life & Career

What We Love about Ben & Jerry's

How a Bad Brand Experience Impacts Emotion & Desire

Red Rabbit's Brand Evolution Rooted in Social Justice

What Brand Purpose is All About

The Impact of School Food on Inclusion & Affirmation

Why Brand Leaders Should Not Ignore the Emotional Insights

Creating a Brand People Connect to Emotionally

Here are some fun facts about Rhys…

Rhys Powell is the Founder and CEO of Red Rabbit, the country’s largest Black-owned K-12 school food management company. As an entrepreneur and social justice advocate, Rhys is committed to uplifting communities of color by serving delicious, thoughtful, familiar food to kids in urban schools throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Recognized on Crain’s 40 Under 40 List, and named one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by the Builders and Innovators Summit, Rhys is frequently asked to speak or comment on the social justice movement happening in the country today. The New York Times, Black Enterprise Magazine, and Crain’s New York Business have all asked for his expert insight on the state of school food and the entrepreneurial drive behind Red Rabbit. Rhys has spoken in front of many groups such as the B-Corp Summit, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Summit, Aspen Leaders Business Action Forum, Columbia University, and Harvard University.

Under Rhys' leadership, Red Rabbit has developed a scalable for-profit model that addresses both childhood nutrition and inequity in urban schools. Rhys has raised multiple investment rounds led by impact investors Kapor Capital and Serious Change LP and has built a diverse leadership team with 75% women executives, and a Board that is 65% POC. Red Rabbit became an early B-Corp and maintains memberships in the Social Venture Network and the School Nutrition Association. Prior to launching Red Rabbit, Rhys was an equity trader at Carlin Financial Group (acquired by Royal Bank of Canada). He is a graduate of MIT, with a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering.

Rhys is proud to be a part of the grand tradition of Black Americans that have pledged their lives and careers to help America form itself into a better, more just society. He is a Bahamian American and lives in Harlem with his wife and two children.