Diet challenge evolves into Madisonville business

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – What started as a diet challenge has evolved into a new business in Madisonville.

From cheddar to parm and pimento, Heather Donaldson’s Mad Cheese brings all the flavors and a unique experience to those who stop in the shop on Bramble Avenue.

Donaldson says her Madisonville business is not your average cheese shop.

”We are an artisan plant-based hand-crafted cheese and charcuterie business,” Donaldson explains.

Donaldson says she started making her own plant-based cheeses just a few years ago after she and her husband, Reggie, decided to switch to a plant-based diet.

“We went plant-based, my husband and I because we wanted to do more to help the environment,” Donaldson said.

She says that week turned into months. While she was feeling healthier, Donaldson says she was still missing something.

“We really missed good cheese,” Donaldson said. “Didn’t like what we could get commercially, so I just started playing around at home as a hobby.”

A hobby that she says kept getting tastier and tastier with friends, even strangers, begging to buy a block.

The response inspired Donaldson to turn her hobby into a business, but she says the transition was difficult.

“I started with no capital,” Donaldson explains. “No knowledge of food production. I hoped to be able to do it out of my house. Kind of like a home bakery and I contacted the Department of Agriculture. They said, absolutely not, you need a nonresidential kitchen. I was like, ‘Oh, I have no money.’”

She kept working and eventually made a deal to use the kitchen at New Thought Unity Center in Walnut Hills.

“I used their kitchen in the church basement for the first year,” Donaldson recalls. “Four days a week, four hours a day in exchange for working in their office one day a week and cleaning their bathrooms. You got to do what you got to do.”

That work was enough to help her launch Mad Cheese.

The following year, Donaldson says she was awarded a grant, allowing her to open the space she’s in today.

The Cincinnati native says it’s been quite a journey. She started her career as a visual artist showing in galleries before moving to L.A. to become a food stylist on movie and TV sets.

But now, she says it feels good to be back at home creating something so many others enjoy.

”I’m really proud of what we’ve created,” Donaldson expressed. “We’ve grown from having three products at the beginning to 25-plus.”

As Donaldson experiments with more recipes, she says there’s one piece of advice she’s glad she never followed: “I’ve been told multiple times in my life, choose one thing and stick to it for a long time, and I’m glad I didn’t because I wouldn’t be here doing this, and this is really really fun.”

Mad Cheese also sells plant-based meats and charcuterie boards.

They also hold cheese-making classes and paint-and-sip events to create an experience from the moment you walk in the door.

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