It's Small Business Week, and we wanted to talk to a local biz owner making it happen in Oak City + across the Triangle — and we knew just who to turn to. We sat down with Michelle Woodward, the founder of DICED, a local salad shop that's been serving up greens since 2015 and is now gearing up to open its fifth location in Holly Springs.

"My whole life, I wanted to be an entrepreneur, so I was always having ideas," Woodward told RALtoday. "There was this restaurant in Louisville, [Kentucky], that did salads, and they had a line out the door, and I knew the owner, and I was trying to help them with some things, but their ingredients they used were not great, not fresh. They didn't make their own dressing, stuff like that. ... At some point, I was like, I could totally do this better."

After graduating from the University of Louisville and ending her cheerleading career, Woodward felt lost and decided to pour everything into creating DICED. After pitching her business plan to her dad, she found a storefront in Cary and opened the first location in 2015 with a wide variety of flavors to try.

DICED serves a wide array of salads made from 70 bespoke ingredients. | Photo by Forrest Mason

"Back when we first started, I really just wanted to cater to every kind of palate, so I have something for everybody," Woodward said. "If you're vegan, I have a super vegetable-heavy option, I have a Mexican-inspired one, a Greek-inspired one, a Thai-inspired one."

Want to eat like a founder? Woodward's favorite DICED salad has never changed: the Spicy Thai with shrimp, avocado, and mango. "The carrot ginger dressing is so good — we make it fresh in house with real ginger, real carrots, real green onions," Woodward said. "There's nothing fake in it."

Woodward is expanding her venture to a new standalone space in Holly Springs — a first for DICED — that will act as both a new storefront and a prep kitchen for all DICED locations across the Triangle. After a post about DICED went big on a local foodie Facebook group, Holly Springs residents asked for their own location, and in late May, their wishes will be granted.

As a successful small business owner, Woodward shared some sage advice for those just starting their entrepreneurial journey.

"I'm an overthinker, but in this realm, I don't overthink it," Woodward said. "You've got to be dedicated, for sure. It takes a special person to make it happen."