Shownotes
Business Building Insights
- Believe in yourself. You’re the one responsible for your success.
- Hold yourself accountable to the goals and promises you make to yourself.
- If something doesn’t work, look for another way to achieve the same result.
- Positive feedback keeps us going.
- Your product is not for everybody. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad product. It just means it’s not for them.
- It’s surprising what can happen when you say “yes” to things.
- Take a moment, pause, and celebrate your progress.
Resources Mentioned
Check out Jen Sincero’s full line of books on Amazon. In particular, Kate is referencing the one on How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life.Contact Links
Website Facebook Instagram LinkedInGift Biz Resources
Join our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
Sign up for my FREE MASTERCLASS – How to Turn Your Hobby into a Business
Learn to make money doing what you love. You’re a gifter, baker, crafter, or maker … and you’re stuck in a day job. You’d love to turn your one-of-a-kind jewelry or heavenly chocolate into a profitable business, but you have no idea where to start. How the heck do people turn their creative business dreams into reality?
- Learn the ONE thing that will take you from ‘hobbyist’ to ‘pro’ in no time
- Discover the 5 crucial steps to give your business a solid foundation and set you up for massive growth
- Find out how to be 2 steps ahead in your business so that your customer starts chasing you!
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you.
Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 190 I literally walk up into my
Speaker:apartment and say to my husband,
Speaker:there are a few things that are going to change.
Speaker:We're going to move to Santa Barbara and I'm going to
Speaker:quit my job.
Speaker:Attention. Gifters,
Speaker:bakers, crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun whether
Speaker:you have an established business or looking to start one now
Speaker:you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is give to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there And I so appreciate you joining me here today.
Speaker:Particularly if you're listening right after this episode got published because
Speaker:it's holiday season and I am guessing that you are busy,
Speaker:busy, busy.
Speaker:Given that your time is really precious right now I have
Speaker:just one checkpoint for you before we get into the show.
Speaker:If you are not already part of the gift biz breeze
Speaker:Facebook group.
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:what are you waiting for?
Speaker:We have something super special happening right now in that group
Speaker:for the holidays for you and I want you to be
Speaker:a part of it,
Speaker:to get all the details and to know what I'm talking
Speaker:about. However you need to go over and join the breeze.
Speaker:Joining is super easy.
Speaker:Just go on to Facebook,
Speaker:search for gift,
Speaker:biz breeze and asked to join Today.
Speaker:I am so excited to introduce you to Kate Flynn,
Speaker:who is the founder and CEO of sun and swell foods.
Speaker:This is a healthy snack food company based in Santa Barbara,
Speaker:California. Kate started her company two years ago with her husband,
Speaker:Brian, after realizing that most packaged good snack foods and stores
Speaker:are loaded with added sugars and preservatives.
Speaker:Her mission is to create on the go snack foods that
Speaker:are made only with the highest quality whole food ingredients so
Speaker:people don't have to compromise their health when eating on the
Speaker:go. This is such an important topic these days.
Speaker:Kate, I'm so glad you're here to talk with us about
Speaker:it. Welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
Speaker:I'm excited to chat with you today.
Speaker:Me too.
Speaker:And I was telling you in the pre chat that I've
Speaker:met you,
Speaker:I've tried your product and love your product,
Speaker:but I don't really know a lot about the backstory so
Speaker:I'm really excited to get into all of it.
Speaker:But before we do,
Speaker:I start off in a little bit of a different way.
Speaker:And that is by having you describe yourself through a motivational
Speaker:candle. So if you were to share what color would resonate
Speaker:with you,
Speaker:Kate, and what type of quote would be on a candle
Speaker:that speaks you describe for us your motivational candle.
Speaker:My Color would be yellow for me,
Speaker:yellow has always reminded me of being positive and optimistic and
Speaker:I haven't always had that lens in life.
Speaker:I think there have been times in my life where I've
Speaker:let stress and the craziness of life get the best to
Speaker:me, but suddenly I've been focusing on the past few years
Speaker:is really just take a deep breath and not worry about
Speaker:things and try to see everything with a view of optimism.
Speaker:And that's really what something that yellow stands for for me
Speaker:and man,
Speaker:in terms of my motivational quote,
Speaker:I think it would be,
Speaker:you are the only one who can limit your greatness.
Speaker:And the reason that would be my quote is because something
Speaker:that I've become very aware of in my adult life,
Speaker:but especially as a business owner,
Speaker:is that a lack of confidence is sometimes the only thing
Speaker:that holds me back.
Speaker:And I'll probably get a little more into that later as
Speaker:we discuss my business and some of the challenges along the
Speaker:way. But for me it's really you need to believe in
Speaker:yourself and you need to believe that you're the one who
Speaker:is going to be responsible for your success.
Speaker:And the only limitation is really limitations that you set for
Speaker:yourself. I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I think a lot of people who aren't in business for
Speaker:themselves think,
Speaker:Oh, it's so easy.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you can just set your time limits,
Speaker:decide what you're going to do,
Speaker:work when you want,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:Right? And the real story is exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker:The mindset can be brutal.
Speaker:Putting yourself out there can really mess you up if you
Speaker:don't get it in order.
Speaker:Exactly. So good.
Speaker:I know we're going to talk about this a little bit
Speaker:more as we go cause that's what you've said and I
Speaker:believe you,
Speaker:but before we start with that,
Speaker:tell us how you came upon the idea of being an
Speaker:entrepreneur and the whole concept behind sun and swell foods.
Speaker:Sure. So I never thought of myself as somebody who would
Speaker:be an entrepreneur.
Speaker:It's so funny because my husband from the day I met
Speaker:him, his dream has always been to own his own business.
Speaker:And I was always the person who said,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I never want to do that.
Speaker:I like stability.
Speaker:I like job security.
Speaker:I don't have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
Speaker:I'm not creative enough.
Speaker:And so I always had this mindset that that role was
Speaker:never for me.
Speaker:And that was up until about two years ago.
Speaker:And about two years ago,
Speaker:or I was living in San Francisco up until 2016 prior
Speaker:to starting my company.
Speaker:And when I was living in San Francisco,
Speaker:I wasn't a crazy corporate job.
Speaker:I was working really long hours.
Speaker:What kind of industry were you in?
Speaker:I'm curious.
Speaker:I did management consulting with a focus in the retail and
Speaker:consumer products space.
Speaker:So basically big companies would hire us to come work with
Speaker:their executive teams and help them set their strategy to grow
Speaker:their business.
Speaker:So for example,
Speaker:one of my clients was a grocery store chain with 250
Speaker:stores and they were trying to figure out who their core
Speaker:consumer is and how to target it.
Speaker:And so they brought us in to do the market research
Speaker:and the research and help them come up with the answer.
Speaker:So from a strategy side,
Speaker:I've been involved in this consumer industry for awhile,
Speaker:but it was really more on that.
Speaker:It's more on the advisory side.
Speaker:I was never actually working for a company that was making
Speaker:the product.
Speaker:Okay, got it.
Speaker:So why was in client services?
Speaker:So what that meant is we were often on projects with
Speaker:very short timelines with deadlines that couldn't be moved.
Speaker:And one thing I quickly realized about myself is I may,
Speaker:gosh, I would call a self prescribed workaholic.
Speaker:Oh, you and me.
Speaker:Yeah, it's a struggle.
Speaker:Sometimes I'm proud of it.
Speaker:I know it means I have great work ethic,
Speaker:but also has the tendency to throw me off balance sometime.
Speaker:But anyways,
Speaker:so I'm in this job,
Speaker:I'm working a lot of hours,
Speaker:I'm kind of burnt out.
Speaker:I like what I'm doing.
Speaker:But at the same time I knew I wasn't really,
Speaker:really passionate about it and I went on a yoga retreat
Speaker:place in big Sur called the Epsilon Institute and I went
Speaker:to this yoga meditation retreat.
Speaker:God, it was literally a life changing experience.
Speaker:I walked out of it saying,
Speaker:I'm not happy with my job.
Speaker:I am not happy with what I'm doing.
Speaker:I love my personal life,
Speaker:but my work life is not fulfilling me right now.
Speaker:I need to quit,
Speaker:I need to leave.
Speaker:And so I put a timeline on it and I said
Speaker:in two months I'm quitting my job.
Speaker:And the other thing that came out of that,
Speaker:it was we were going to move from San Francisco to
Speaker:Santa Barbara,
Speaker:which is something that we had always wanted to do,
Speaker:but it was one of those things where we wanted to
Speaker:move to Santa Barbara,
Speaker:but me and my husband kept telling ourselves that we weren't
Speaker:going to be able to make it work.
Speaker:So I walked out this retreat and I said,
Speaker:I'm quitting my job and we're moving to Santa Barbara.
Speaker:Okay, you got to stop there.
Speaker:I have a question.
Speaker:So you went to the retreat just for weekend healthy living
Speaker:grounding. Where was it in the middle of that retreat where
Speaker:this revelation came to you?
Speaker:Yeah, so there was a moment,
Speaker:and it's crazy because I never believed when people say there
Speaker:was a moment.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:yeah, right.
Speaker:That doesn't really happen.
Speaker:There was like a clear moment.
Speaker:We just had come out of a a morning yoga meditation
Speaker:center and we were walking back to the grounds and we
Speaker:walked over this bridge.
Speaker:There was a waterfall next to the bridge and the yoga
Speaker:instructor, when we were wrapping up our session,
Speaker:she said,
Speaker:when you walk over the bridge,
Speaker:I want you to stop and I want you to face
Speaker:the waterfall and breathe in everything that makes you happy.
Speaker:And then after you spend a few minutes doing that,
Speaker:turn your back towards the waterfall and exhale everything that does
Speaker:not make you happy.
Speaker:And literally I sat there and I inhaled and I thought
Speaker:of my husband and my friends and my family and I
Speaker:turned my back and I exhaled.
Speaker:And the only thought that into my mind was my job.
Speaker:Sometimes I feel bad saying that because I love the company
Speaker:I worked for.
Speaker:I love the work I was doing,
Speaker:I loved my colleagues,
Speaker:but it just,
Speaker:something was missing and it wasn't fulfilling me,
Speaker:but it was so clear to me in that moment,
Speaker:like that was it.
Speaker:So I've walked other tree,
Speaker:we made some decisions,
Speaker:we put a stake in the ground.
Speaker:And the funny thing is my advice to people,
Speaker:a lot of people have I think share this story of
Speaker:they want to go out and start their own business and
Speaker:they keep saying they're going to do it.
Speaker:They keep saying they're going to do it,
Speaker:but they keep pushing back the timeline.
Speaker:They keep pushing back the timeline and all of a sudden
Speaker:three years have gone by and they haven't really done it
Speaker:right. That could have happened to you because like you're saying
Speaker:the job wasn't bad.
Speaker:Right. And you could have endured and just said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I'd be crazy not to stay here.
Speaker:Right. But do you think that you were more open to
Speaker:it because you were already changing locations?
Speaker:There was already a transition going on for you.
Speaker:So the change of locations is also something that came out
Speaker:of that weekend because that's something that we have been talking
Speaker:about for years.
Speaker:That's something that was more clear in my head.
Speaker:Like I knew going into that weekend that we wanted to
Speaker:move. So we've thought about it,
Speaker:but we had never put a stake in the ground for
Speaker:it. So I think that was,
Speaker:yeah, so it kind of came hand in hand.
Speaker:Okay. Like this is the time to move and leave my
Speaker:job. Like it was those two things I think together did
Speaker:make it a little easier.
Speaker:We didn't have a timeline on the calendar.
Speaker:It was just something we talked about.
Speaker:Was Brian with you on this retreat?
Speaker:One of my girlfriends.
Speaker:Okay, so you have this revelation.
Speaker:So there's one more important thing that happened coming out of
Speaker:this weekend.
Speaker:We had this amazing yoga retreat,
Speaker:me and one of my best girlfriends,
Speaker:and we come out of the retreat thinking,
Speaker:okay, we're feeling inspired,
Speaker:we're feeling ready to change.
Speaker:And then on the way home we have a six hour
Speaker:drive and we decide to listen to this really amazing motivational
Speaker:book by the author's name.
Speaker:It's Jen's,
Speaker:I think it's in Sarah or it's in Cero.
Speaker:And the book is all about how you can create this
Speaker:positive change in your life and it's all up to you.
Speaker:And so we listen to this really,
Speaker:really inspirational book on the way home.
Speaker:We get home,
Speaker:drop her off.
Speaker:I arrived at my house.
Speaker:I literally walk up into my apartment and say to my
Speaker:husband, there are a few things that are going to change.
Speaker:We're going to move to Santa Barbara and I'm going to
Speaker:quit my job and we need to pick a date.
Speaker:We just need to put a date on the calendar.
Speaker:This was March and so we decided we were going to
Speaker:move. Wait,
Speaker:did he think you were insane?
Speaker:Did he say no more yoga retreats for you?
Speaker:Kate? A little bit.
Speaker:He also really wanted to move to Santa Barbara.
Speaker:He was in the same boat.
Speaker:It's something that we both wanted to do and he knew
Speaker:I wasn't fulfilled with what I was doing in my career
Speaker:and he could see that and he had seen that for
Speaker:years and he's so supportive.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I'm very blessed in that if I told him someone was
Speaker:going to make me happier,
Speaker:he's all in.
Speaker:Okay. So a thought is coming to me,
Speaker:Kate, that I just want to get your opinion on here.
Speaker:I think that people,
Speaker:and you were talking about this earlier,
Speaker:they say they want to do something,
Speaker:they're interested in doing more.
Speaker:They're afraid to take the leap into entrepreneurialship,
Speaker:but it doesn't need to be just that.
Speaker:It could be anything.
Speaker:It sounds like you and Brian shared what your possibilities were
Speaker:for the future and some thoughts and dreams and visions of
Speaker:what it could look like,
Speaker:which kind of then I'm thinking gave you to an opportunity
Speaker:to go back and forth about yeah,
Speaker:that would worked for me.
Speaker:Or well,
Speaker:what about doing it this way in,
Speaker:in like a dream mode before it just became reality.
Speaker:So you kind of could ease into the thought process and
Speaker:see if it really was good for you.
Speaker:So that leads me to think that people who are potentially
Speaker:looking at changes in their life could be having these conversations
Speaker:with their significant others and that's beneficial towards the progression when
Speaker:you really decide,
Speaker:okay, we're going to flip the switch and do it.
Speaker:What do you think?
Speaker:Absolutely. And one thing that was going on in parallel here,
Speaker:honestly, probably about two or three weeks before I went on
Speaker:this yoga retreat is when the idea for what is now
Speaker:sending soul food started brewing.
Speaker:So I had this idea of like,
Speaker:wow, it would be great to create a company around this.
Speaker:So that entrepreneurial bug for the first time ever started to
Speaker:hit me.
Speaker:So these little pieces were coming from different places and they
Speaker:were all starting to merge together.
Speaker:Exactly. Like I said,
Speaker:Brian was always the one who wanted to be my,
Speaker:that's my husband.
Speaker:He's the one who always wanted to be the entrepreneur.
Speaker:So when he hears I'm quitting my job and let's move,
Speaker:he's also thinking,
Speaker:Oh, this going to start our company.
Speaker:Like this is going to be the beginning,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:So it was all coming together.
Speaker:I literally,
Speaker:in order in an effort to make sure we actually did
Speaker:this, I bought concert tickets on Memorial day in may in
Speaker:Santa Barbara for a concert,
Speaker:and I said,
Speaker:we have to be living there by the state.
Speaker:This is what's going to get us there.
Speaker:We have a concert.
Speaker:Oh, I love that.
Speaker:And what month were you in at this point?
Speaker:Again, This was March.
Speaker:That's pretty fast.
Speaker:It was the beginning of March.
Speaker:It was the end of may.
Speaker:So it gave us about three months.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:we were an apartment.
Speaker:We were renting.
Speaker:We didn't have kids.
Speaker:It was easy for us to pick up and move.
Speaker:Okay. But it was so little.
Speaker:It was just concert tickets.
Speaker:But it actually gave us a date to work towards.
Speaker:And that's often one of the advice I give people who
Speaker:are maybe considering taking a big leap of faith.
Speaker:But it doesn't have to be,
Speaker:you're going to quit your job and move,
Speaker:but maybe it's that you're going to get your website up.
Speaker:Like pick a date.
Speaker:If you want to get your website up,
Speaker:schedule an event in December and say your website needs to
Speaker:be up by December.
Speaker:And I've scheduled the event and I want to make sure
Speaker:when I work this event that people have a website they
Speaker:can visit.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it's really just putting little tiny six in the ground to
Speaker:hold yourself accountable to these goals and promises that you make
Speaker:yourself. That is an excellent best practice.
Speaker:I want to underline that for all of our listeners to
Speaker:think about,
Speaker:and let's just use your website like you're talking about when
Speaker:you have any type of a project instead of just starting
Speaker:to work on it little by little because you know you
Speaker:need to setting a stake in the ground to use your
Speaker:words, Kate,
Speaker:and saying this is when it's going to be done,
Speaker:and then working backwards to make sure it gets done is
Speaker:a better way to make sure it actually happens and you
Speaker:just don't let it keep going into the future forever.
Speaker:Excellent. I love that you brought that up.
Speaker:Okay, so let's get to how did you actually develop sun
Speaker:and swell foods?
Speaker:This is all happening in early 2016 so in January of
Speaker:2016 I changed my diet to focusing on a diet where
Speaker:I was just eating whole real foods.
Speaker:The particular diet I was following is called the whole 30
Speaker:for anybody who's ever heard of that.
Speaker:I'm doing that.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:Yeah, I know it's pretty amazing.
Speaker:But up until doing the whole 30 I would say I
Speaker:constantly struggled with food.
Speaker:I went from,
Speaker:when was in high school,
Speaker:I was had a borderline eating disorder.
Speaker:I was a binge eater all through college in my twenties
Speaker:it was juice cleanses,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:starving man.
Speaker:It was just constant struggle and battle of food.
Speaker:All of my teenage and most of my adult life up
Speaker:until doing the whole 30 and what the whole 30 changed
Speaker:for me is it made me stop.
Speaker:It made me realize how simple it is to eat healthy.
Speaker:If you just start flipping over ingredient labels,
Speaker:you don't have to do all this math with calories and
Speaker:entering things into an app or keeping track of all your
Speaker:food or you know,
Speaker:just look at the ingredients that you're eating and staying as
Speaker:close to natural as possible.
Speaker:Exactly. And that was pretty eye opening to me.
Speaker:I describe it as finding food freedom because ever since doing
Speaker:that I have never struggled with food again.
Speaker:It's just an easy part of my life now and there's
Speaker:so many changes that came from switching my diet,
Speaker:cutting out all the refined sugar,
Speaker:eating just this whole real food close as natural state as
Speaker:possible. Not only did it call me mentally wrap my head
Speaker:around my relationship with food,
Speaker:but I had more energy than ever.
Speaker:I had asked me my entire life,
Speaker:it went away,
Speaker:I slept better,
Speaker:just all these crazy overall changes.
Speaker:And it really,
Speaker:I started doing a little more research on food and realizing
Speaker:that there was this whole movement toward going away from,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:added sugars,
Speaker:added preservatives,
Speaker:and really focusing on eating real foods.
Speaker:And I realized I'm not the only,
Speaker:there's a whole lot of people starting to eat this way.
Speaker:But what I also found was it was pretty impossible to
Speaker:find pre-made stacks that would accommodate this way of eating.
Speaker:And at the time,
Speaker:remember I was in my crazy job working long hours in
Speaker:the office.
Speaker:I didn't have time to sit at home and make my
Speaker:own snack foods.
Speaker:I really needed grab and go snacks to bring it into
Speaker:the office with me.
Speaker:And it was really hard for me to find things that
Speaker:fit that mold.
Speaker:And so this is when I started to realize,
Speaker:okay, there's a need here.
Speaker:There's more and more people eating this way.
Speaker:There's very,
Speaker:very, very few snacks and stores that can accommodate this way
Speaker:of eating.
Speaker:And I was making snacks at home and I wanted to
Speaker:start bringing them to the market to make it easier for
Speaker:people to eat this way.
Speaker:So that's where the original idea came from.
Speaker:Interestingly enough,
Speaker:our first product was not the product we're selling today.
Speaker:Our very first product that we experimented with,
Speaker:it was actually a substitute for,
Speaker:there's something that our endurance athletes use called GU,
Speaker:kind of like a little package of gel,
Speaker:but it's supposed to give you energy or nutrients.
Speaker:Exactly, yeah.
Speaker:It gives you energy and nutrients,
Speaker:but almost every product on the market is loaded with sugar.
Speaker:And at the time we were doing the whole 30 Brian
Speaker:and I were training for a marathon and so it was
Speaker:just challenge.
Speaker:But Jenny,
Speaker:the guru on the market,
Speaker:like what should we do?
Speaker:So we were making our own version of this using just
Speaker:dates and water and putting them in little couches.
Speaker:And that was the original idea that we were going after.
Speaker:But that does not sound good,
Speaker:Kate. I'm sorry.
Speaker:What we realized was it did fit that really small need
Speaker:that we had at that exact time.
Speaker:But we did some market research.
Speaker:We're like this is way too narrow of a niche.
Speaker:And then on top of that we found out that it
Speaker:had to be refrigerated and bringing it to market.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:So we did our research.
Speaker:Yeah. Cause all of the stability for shelf life and all
Speaker:of that has to be a challenge too.
Speaker:Exactly. The overarching idea was we want to make food products
Speaker:with clean,
Speaker:simple ingredients.
Speaker:We started with this one idea.
Speaker:We realized kind of quickly through a research it might not
Speaker:be the best thing to launch with.
Speaker:And so we pivoted,
Speaker:which I think is another important thing for entrepreneurs to keep
Speaker:in mind is you need to constantly evolve and change.
Speaker:And if something doesn't work out,
Speaker:it doesn't mean you give up and you're done with it.
Speaker:It means you figure out a way to make it work
Speaker:in another way.
Speaker:Absolutely. And you're testing your own product,
Speaker:which is perfect.
Speaker:Exactly. So I took a step back and I'm like,
Speaker:okay, when I do have time to make snacks at home,
Speaker:what am I making?
Speaker:And I was making these little energy balls,
Speaker:we realized that is something that you can bring to market
Speaker:and it's shelf stable.
Speaker:And that's where our first product,
Speaker:it wasn't really our first product,
Speaker:but it's the first one that worked.
Speaker:And so the idea started brewing early 2016 and we worked
Speaker:on the product and the recipe throughout the summer of 2016
Speaker:and we brought it to the market for the very first
Speaker:time in August.
Speaker:And this was another example of putting a stake in the
Speaker:ground. We picked a local triathlon and we registered for a
Speaker:booth and that was our deadline.
Speaker:We had to get our design work done.
Speaker:We had to get our website up,
Speaker:we had to get some version of the product out there,
Speaker:we had to have some version of packaging and it wasn't
Speaker:all perfect.
Speaker:And to be honest,
Speaker:if we would've waited till it was perfect,
Speaker:we probably would have waited another year to launch it.
Speaker:But it was something to get out there.
Speaker:And that was when we first brought it to market.
Speaker:Tell us about the receptivity.
Speaker:So people were trying it and I have to say it's
Speaker:delicious. Oh,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:So where I was saying your fig and water just sounds,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:it was probably a good,
Speaker:it just,
Speaker:when I visualize it,
Speaker:it doesn't look as good.
Speaker:But what you have now is delicious number one.
Speaker:But also it's a different look to some of the other
Speaker:things that are out there.
Speaker:So you're creating something still connected enough,
Speaker:like people understand what it is.
Speaker:That was something you said it looks different.
Speaker:That was something that we always valued from the very beginning
Speaker:and it is making something that we really prioritize design.
Speaker:And for me that's something that I personally always recommend.
Speaker:You have very little money when you're starting a business.
Speaker:You have to pick and choose where you spend it.
Speaker:And for me,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this is just my opinion,
Speaker:but I always think it's worth investing in the little design
Speaker:work upfront.
Speaker:I think of design,
Speaker:you think design of your packaging and all of that,
Speaker:but also design of your product.
Speaker:Yeah, that's going to catch people's eyes because before you have
Speaker:any brand recognition,
Speaker:you got to rely on your people just wanting to pick
Speaker:up your product.
Speaker:So it looks interesting.
Speaker:Right. So let's go back to the triathlon.
Speaker:What happened there?
Speaker:So that your very first time showing it to the public,
Speaker:first of all,
Speaker:were you scared,
Speaker:nervous and anxious or were you excited or everything?
Speaker:Yeah, I was nervous cause we had had our friends try
Speaker:it, but you never know,
Speaker:like you never know and we had really feedback and but
Speaker:they're our friends and families.
Speaker:Of course they're going to give positive,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we don't know if they would tell us if it was
Speaker:bad. Right.
Speaker:I was a little nervous going in,
Speaker:but we had really a lot of positive feedback at the
Speaker:event and to me what I walked away feeling the best
Speaker:about it was we had kids loving it and to me
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:wow, if a kid likes it,
Speaker:that's not an adult coming up to us and knowing we're
Speaker:local vendors and just being friendly and saying they like it
Speaker:to be nice and having it because it's healthy.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:if a kid's eating it and enjoying it,
Speaker:that means that we actually do have something that tastes good.
Speaker:I think what I think tastes good is probably not because
Speaker:I try to stay away from refined sugars and stuff like
Speaker:that. I think a lot of things,
Speaker:things that would taste yummy to me might not be for
Speaker:everybody. Right.
Speaker:But if we have kids approving it,
Speaker:that is,
Speaker:we really do have this good tasting product.
Speaker:The other really exciting thing to me is I could see
Speaker:at that event that our value proposition was resonating with people.
Speaker:So for us,
Speaker:I kind of talked about this little bit earlier,
Speaker:but what our commitment is is making products with only whole
Speaker:real foods and very,
Speaker:very short,
Speaker:simple ingredient lists.
Speaker:So I mean,
Speaker:you could literally make in your home kitchen,
Speaker:if you can't make it in your home kitchen,
Speaker:if you have to Google an ingredient,
Speaker:it's not going to work for us.
Speaker:It has to be simple ingredients,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:some of you can make yourself.
Speaker:And what was awesome for me was seeing people pick up
Speaker:our package,
Speaker:flip it over and make that comment and say,
Speaker:wow, that's all that's in there.
Speaker:To me,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:okay, we got something.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:this is resonating.
Speaker:And it was a very small audience that we introduced the
Speaker:product. I mean,
Speaker:I think maybe have you talked to like maybe we talked
Speaker:to 50 people throughout the whole weekend,
Speaker:but yeah.
Speaker:Was that a little bit of positive feedback that made us
Speaker:want to keep going?
Speaker:And it sounds like it was consistent too.
Speaker:Yeah. And of course you will get the people who are
Speaker:like, Ugh,
Speaker:not for me.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:there's always those people who try it and have a really
Speaker:adverse reaction and that's okay.
Speaker:Yeah, that's okay.
Speaker:That was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:only a smaller percentage of the people there.
Speaker:It's funny doing things like this cause like we're in the
Speaker:health food space and your product's not going to be for
Speaker:everybody. And I think that that's something that I try so
Speaker:hard not to take it personally and people don't like it.
Speaker:But I do and I try not to,
Speaker:and I know it's wrong and I know I shouldn't,
Speaker:but it is the reality.
Speaker:It doesn't matter if your product may be the perfect product
Speaker:for 5% of people out there and it's okay,
Speaker:then 95% of people don't like it.
Speaker:Or your product may be the perfect product for 75% of
Speaker:people out there and only 25% but it's never going to
Speaker:be for everybody.
Speaker:And I think that's something that is also important to keep
Speaker:in mind because there will consistently be every single day people
Speaker:who tell you they don't like it,
Speaker:but it doesn't mean you're having a bad product.
Speaker:It just means it's not for them.
Speaker:That's also when we talked in the very beginning about your
Speaker:mindset and understanding that that's okay.
Speaker:Nobody is going to be a hundred percent everyone's going to
Speaker:like everything for sure.
Speaker:Exactly. So I do want to jump a little bit ahead
Speaker:in your story cause I want to make sure we get
Speaker:this in right.
Speaker:So this was your first event.
Speaker:The product is still very new on the market,
Speaker:but you had a huge opportunity For visibility recently and I
Speaker:want to get into that story.
Speaker:I can't wait for you to hear Kate's story on this,
Speaker:but I'm going to keep you in suspense for just a
Speaker:minute so you can listen to our sponsor.
Speaker:This podcast is made possible thanks to the support of the
Speaker:ribbon print company.
Speaker:Create custom ribbons right in your store.
Speaker:Craft studio in seconds.
Speaker:Visit the ribbon,
Speaker:print company.com
Speaker:for more information.
Speaker:Yes, so I heard that deep breath there.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:This is the WIWORK story,
Speaker:right? Right.
Speaker:So that was back in August of 2016 fast forward,
Speaker:we're about,
Speaker:it's now,
Speaker:we've been in business for about two years.
Speaker:Throughout those two years we've been focusing on building our business
Speaker:in Southern California.
Speaker:We're building awareness,
Speaker:building the brand primarily in Southern California,
Speaker:but at the same time we are starting to think about
Speaker:what's next and how do we start to build the brand
Speaker:beyond that and what are some good partnerships for us companies
Speaker:and partners to align with to really get us to the
Speaker:next level of growth.
Speaker:And there is an opportunity that came up.
Speaker:It was first presented in tests about a couple of months
Speaker:ago. And basically there's an organization called we work and we
Speaker:work is a shared workspace for anybody who doesn't know what
Speaker:that is,
Speaker:it's basically a communal office.
Speaker:So for people who it's a place a lot of entrepreneurs
Speaker:or small or small businesses will work out of if they
Speaker:don't want to rent their own office space,
Speaker:they can go work in the shared workspace.
Speaker:So it has coffee and printers and everything a normal office
Speaker:would have,
Speaker:but it's more of a communal workspace and just an individual
Speaker:office. This company we work has like over 250 locations.
Speaker:That's also great.
Speaker:Besides the Starbucks option,
Speaker:just going and meeting someone at a local coffee shop.
Speaker:I think they also have areas like if you have a
Speaker:meeting that you need to do,
Speaker:you can rent out conference room space and they virtually have
Speaker:everything you need so you're able to represent your business and
Speaker:have meetings in a professional situation and do work on a
Speaker:regular basis too.
Speaker:And I think rubbing shoulders with other people who were doing
Speaker:business kind of at a similar level as you because they're
Speaker:not going into big office or something has a ton of
Speaker:value as well.
Speaker:Anyway, I went on a tangent.
Speaker:Carry on,
Speaker:Kate. That's exactly it.
Speaker:And so one of our friends,
Speaker:his name's Sam,
Speaker:he lives in New York city and we basically have asked
Speaker:him to help build out our brand in New York because
Speaker:although that's on the completely opposite side of the country,
Speaker:we think that's a really great market for our product.
Speaker:Given the types of consumers that live in New York city,
Speaker:Does he have some background or expertise?
Speaker:Is there a certain reason why you picked Sam?
Speaker:Well, he's one of Brian's best friends.
Speaker:They have in their past tried to do a few startups
Speaker:together. So it's kind of always been Brian's business partner.
Speaker:They're best friends from high school.
Speaker:But Sam is like such a sales guy.
Speaker:I mean he can sell anything and he's great.
Speaker:Everybody likes him.
Speaker:He can sell anything.
Speaker:So for when we were okay,
Speaker:we want to build out our brand in New York,
Speaker:Sam would be a great guy to help us with this.
Speaker:So that's where,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:our friend Sam is now in New York.
Speaker:He's helping us get our brand out there and he works
Speaker:out of WeWork for his day job.
Speaker:And he had heard about we,
Speaker:we basically talked to Sam about,
Speaker:Hey, we have these markets in that they sell food and
Speaker:a lot of them,
Speaker:how do we get our products in there?
Speaker:And so Sam looks into it and he finds out that
Speaker:they're actually holding a pitch competition.
Speaker:I think there's about 200 of these little markets throughout the
Speaker:country and they're actually revamping them too.
Speaker:Bring in products that are focused on better for you snack
Speaker:foods, so ones that are healthier,
Speaker:impact driven,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:So they're actually currently in the process of revamping their markets
Speaker:and best holding is pitch competitions to bring new products in.
Speaker:So Sam gets us looped in with this pitch competition and,
Speaker:and it's supposed to be in September and Brian and I
Speaker:are flying out to the East coast in September.
Speaker:We were doing a trade show out there and the idea
Speaker:was we're going to go to this trade show in Baltimore,
Speaker:hang out on the East coast for the weekend and go
Speaker:to New York city the following week to this pitch competition.
Speaker:So Friday before the pitch competition,
Speaker:we find out that there was a little confusion with the
Speaker:dates. I think that it had been rescheduled but we didn't
Speaker:find out till just then.
Speaker:So we have this whole trip planned in New York.
Speaker:We had to cancel it.
Speaker:We didn't go.
Speaker:The pitch competition was rescheduled for three weeks later in October.
Speaker:So at that point Brian and I were kind of like,
Speaker:you know that was there for tennis to go.
Speaker:It didn't happen.
Speaker:If we were meant to go there it would have worked
Speaker:out like that.
Speaker:It's probably just not meant to be,
Speaker:let's not book flights out to this other one.
Speaker:So it's really expensive.
Speaker:We already tried to go to New York,
Speaker:it didn't work.
Speaker:So you are canceling the whole thing.
Speaker:We're about to cancel it cause they've rescheduled it.
Speaker:We've already lost money on flights.
Speaker:We booked to New York that we have to cancel and
Speaker:on top of that it's going to be a lot of
Speaker:money to go back out to New York.
Speaker:And on top of that,
Speaker:the date that the pitch competition was going to be,
Speaker:it was a Tuesday and the Monday before and the Wednesday
Speaker:after, we had two really important production runs that I had
Speaker:to be there for.
Speaker:We were launching brand new products and it was a first
Speaker:time doing the recipes in a large scale and we had
Speaker:these production runs schedule that our kitchen here in Southern California.
Speaker:So everything was pointing to like maybe we just shouldn't go.
Speaker:Makes complete sense.
Speaker:Yeah. We're sitting there and we're like,
Speaker:okay, financially we probably shouldn't go trying to get out there
Speaker:for, you know,
Speaker:we have this production run,
Speaker:we probably shouldn't go,
Speaker:but there's this like little bug that's like,
Speaker:what if you go,
Speaker:what if you win?
Speaker:And this happens often that these opera,
Speaker:it's constantly when you're an entrepreneur,
Speaker:it's constantly trade offs of should I take this opportunity or
Speaker:should I not take this opportunity?
Speaker:Yeah. So here you're sitting with logic versus intuition.
Speaker:Exactly. And I'm like logically I don't think it makes a
Speaker:lot of sense,
Speaker:but we're feeling like there could be a chance and we're
Speaker:feeling like it could be a good opportunity.
Speaker:So kind of decided we're not going to go.
Speaker:And then the Friday before,
Speaker:so the company's not Tuesday,
Speaker:the Friday before,
Speaker:we're like,
Speaker:maybe we should go,
Speaker:let's just do it.
Speaker:So the competitions on a Tuesday,
Speaker:we have to be in Santa Barbara on Monday and Wednesday.
Speaker:So we book red eye flights out on Monday.
Speaker:So we fly overnight from LA to New York on Monday
Speaker:night. We go to the pitch competition Tuesday and then we
Speaker:have the flight book to return home Tuesday nights Again.
Speaker:That's insane.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:but I bet your adrenaline.
Speaker:Yeah. Once you made the decision you were doing it.
Speaker:It was like all it.
Speaker:Yeah, totally.
Speaker:And like,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:like I'm so much in the camp of if you put
Speaker:it out to the universe and if you say yes to
Speaker:things, things are just going to happen.
Speaker:Right. I think once I made the decision,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:I have a good feeling about this.
Speaker:This is gonna work out Okay.
Speaker:But Kate logistics and getting out there now is one thing.
Speaker:You got the whole pitch to do.
Speaker:So which we of course it was really hard to find
Speaker:time to prepare for a pitch because it's three days and
Speaker:we have a lot of other things going on as we
Speaker:always do as every entrepreneur does.
Speaker:So, but we figured out,
Speaker:we're like,
Speaker:well we have a five hour plane ride out there.
Speaker:Well we'll work on the pitch on the way out there.
Speaker:But the good thing is it's only a 92nd pitch.
Speaker:So it's not,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:okay, like we just have to figure out how to describe
Speaker:our company in 90 seconds,
Speaker:which sometimes is the hardest thing is trying to tell your
Speaker:story in 90 seconds.
Speaker:But at least there was no presentation.
Speaker:It's literally just getting up there and talking about your company
Speaker:for 90 seconds.
Speaker:Right? We can do this.
Speaker:So we go and we do it.
Speaker:And how do you feel you did?
Speaker:It's so funny because we were the first people to go
Speaker:and for some reason we didn't bring our product up there
Speaker:with us.
Speaker:So we're describing our company and what we do,
Speaker:but we're not holding the product.
Speaker:So one of the judges asked,
Speaker:can you describe your product?
Speaker:And we're like,
Speaker:Oh gosh,
Speaker:why weren't we just holding the pro?
Speaker:Like so you know,
Speaker:there's little things like that and I walk away being like,
Speaker:Oh gosh,
Speaker:we just lost it because we were holding the product,
Speaker:but that apparently didn't really matter cause we ended up winning.
Speaker:They basically selected I think three or four companies that day
Speaker:that were going to be placed into these markets.
Speaker:And you are one of them.
Speaker:And we're one of them.
Speaker:And this year we're going to roll out to five locations
Speaker:in New York.
Speaker:And over the course of next year they'll roll us out
Speaker:to all 200 locations.
Speaker:So I mean,
Speaker:this is huge for us.
Speaker:First off,
Speaker:congratulations. I obviously knew because I prompted you to go into
Speaker:this story,
Speaker:but you'll just jump over.
Speaker:We made the presentation.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:And by the way we want,
Speaker:right. So you got to do the presentation and then were
Speaker:you listening to everybody else?
Speaker:Like everyone gets to listen to everyone else who pitches,
Speaker:We're the first people and then we listened to everybody else.
Speaker:And so you're obviously comparing what you represented compared to everybody
Speaker:else and say,
Speaker:Oh well you know,
Speaker:maybe we're a better fit and not them and all of
Speaker:that. So when it got to the point where they were
Speaker:going to announce the winners,
Speaker:did you feel you had a chance?
Speaker:I have been told time and time and time again that
Speaker:we have a great product,
Speaker:but I still sit there and doubt myself in moments like
Speaker:this when I'm,
Speaker:there are so many other great products and yeah,
Speaker:every single person that I pitched,
Speaker:I thought that I could see why they would select them
Speaker:over us,
Speaker:but I could also see why they would select us over
Speaker:them. The one thing that I felt really,
Speaker:really good about was we were the only product like ours.
Speaker:We weren't up against other little snack bites.
Speaker:We were the only product that was really our style of
Speaker:snack food.
Speaker:And to me that was promising.
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:okay, well one of the companies that we were up against
Speaker:that also got selected as well was a water and a
Speaker:really sustainable package,
Speaker:which was great.
Speaker:But to me I'm like,
Speaker:okay, that's not really our competition right now because if they
Speaker:wanna bring a beverage and we'll bring a beverage.
Speaker:So I was kind of constantly doing that trade off in
Speaker:my head of why would they select us over them or
Speaker:are we even competing against them as a different category.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:the funny thing is you sit there for an hour and
Speaker:a half,
Speaker:listen to everybody else and just,
Speaker:it's not going to change anything.
Speaker:How hard you think about it or compared to change the
Speaker:resolve. But in a way it was great that you went
Speaker:first because even with the little tobacco,
Speaker:because then you weren't freaking out and comparing yourself.
Speaker:I always like going first.
Speaker:But I also have to say your product is so conducive
Speaker:to that environment.
Speaker:Being able to take the package,
Speaker:bring it back to wherever you're doing your work,
Speaker:open it up,
Speaker:you know it's not messy.
Speaker:All of that makes so much sense to me.
Speaker:So again,
Speaker:fireworks, confetti,
Speaker:congratulations. That is so exciting.
Speaker:And I bet you guys on the way back,
Speaker:because you still had this rush,
Speaker:you had to get back,
Speaker:but I bet you guys on the plane back were like
Speaker:what just happened?
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:So literally our flight was at,
Speaker:gosh I think 10th or like they was down to the
Speaker:minute when there was a point where we're waiting for them
Speaker:to announce the winners and we were like,
Speaker:we might miss our flight if we wait for this,
Speaker:but we have to wait.
Speaker:So if we miss our flight,
Speaker:we miss our flight.
Speaker:We need to wait and see what happens.
Speaker:So they announced the winners.
Speaker:We set our thank you is and we hopped in the
Speaker:cabins straight to the airport and honestly would have missed our
Speaker:flight if it wasn't delayed for an hour.
Speaker:We made our flight because it was delayed,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. It was just kind of surreal because when I look
Speaker:back at,
Speaker:or even when I was looking forward to it,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:wow, this is huge.
Speaker:And it's really hard to process sometimes in the moment it's
Speaker:hard to be like,
Speaker:wait, what just happened?
Speaker:And I think that with everything.
Speaker:Yeah, not just this pitch.
Speaker:Competition was amazing and it was a little bit more visibility
Speaker:than a lot of the other winds we have.
Speaker:But sometimes Brian and I sit back and we're like,
Speaker:yeah, we look at,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the stores we've gotten into or you know,
Speaker:some things that have happened and we're like,
Speaker:there's so many,
Speaker:just things to celebrate along the way that sometimes you get
Speaker:so caught up.
Speaker:We were so excited by this pitch competition,
Speaker:but the first thing we did when we get on the
Speaker:plane was start thinking what's next?
Speaker:We literally had to pause ourselves.
Speaker:We had to pause and say,
Speaker:let's not think about next steps on this play ride.
Speaker:Let's just talk about how cool this is.
Speaker:And we forced ourselves sit there and just be stoked about
Speaker:it for four hours on the way home versus trying to
Speaker:think of what's next,
Speaker:what's next,
Speaker:what's next.
Speaker:Right. It's hard sometimes to take a moment and pause and
Speaker:celebrate and congratulate yourself.
Speaker:When we first started the business.
Speaker:I'm really regret that we don't do this anymore.
Speaker:When we first started,
Speaker:I literally used to keep a little log of daily wins.
Speaker:I'm grateful we did it for like the first month because
Speaker:I look back on the log and it reminds me of
Speaker:how far we've come.
Speaker:I recorded when we got our first Instagram follower that was
Speaker:not friends and family or first organic Instagram follower or our
Speaker:first online purchase and all of these little tiny things that
Speaker:we celebrate it and we jumped up and down for her
Speaker:and we cheered for and as you grow you forget how
Speaker:far you've come and so although we don't keep that log
Speaker:anymore, I'm really glad we have it from that first mother
Speaker:too in business.
Speaker:And when I look back on it,
Speaker:it does tell me,
Speaker:put into perspective what we've been able to build.
Speaker:Yeah, I think it's a great idea.
Speaker:I have three questions for you about this whole thing and
Speaker:I want to make it a little bit shorter so that
Speaker:we can get into all the other things I want to
Speaker:talk to you about real quick,
Speaker:but hindsight now,
Speaker:what advice would you have for somebody who's in a situation
Speaker:like yours where there's always an opportunity,
Speaker:you're bracketed on both sides with time restraints.
Speaker:What was your thinking?
Speaker:What would you say to somebody who is in a situation
Speaker:like that in terms of should they do it or should
Speaker:they not?
Speaker:I would say trust your gut.
Speaker:I think if you have a good feeling,
Speaker:then go for it and be okay with the fact that
Speaker:it might not work out and it might not,
Speaker:but if you listen to your gut,
Speaker:your intuition is telling you something.
Speaker:There's a reason why,
Speaker:and you hate to be in a position where you look
Speaker:back and regret not taking a chance because as an entrepreneur,
Speaker:as a business owner,
Speaker:it's all about taking chances Really,
Speaker:really good point.
Speaker:So now you've landed this account that,
Speaker:because it was kind of spur of the moment,
Speaker:you thought about it before,
Speaker:but in spur of the moment you've decided,
Speaker:yes, we're going bought the tickets,
Speaker:went and now you've landed this big account.
Speaker:Did that affect how you were going to do business and
Speaker:your business plan moving forward?
Speaker:Because you now have to integrate all of that into your
Speaker:systems. We've built a base and we have set ourselves up
Speaker:to be able to handle something like this.
Speaker:I'm not saying everybody has will be in a position to
Speaker:do that every time they get a big win.
Speaker:But we were very cautious about going after things that we
Speaker:felt like we wouldn't be able to deliver on.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:to this day we have not approached whole foods.
Speaker:We've not approached sprouts because we don't know if we internally
Speaker:have the resources to be able to deliver.
Speaker:That's a whole different industry and has a whole different requirements.
Speaker:So we were ready for it.
Speaker:We set ourselves up for it,
Speaker:we have the manufacturing capacity and all of that,
Speaker:and it's going to be a little bit of a slow
Speaker:rollout. So it's going to be something that's not,
Speaker:it just doesn't happen tomorrow.
Speaker:It's going to happen over the next six to nine months.
Speaker:We're prepared for it,
Speaker:but we were cautious about putting ourselves in.
Speaker:We try not to put ourselves in situations where we think
Speaker:we might get a big win and then not be able
Speaker:to deliver.
Speaker:Right. So we've talked a lot about all the successes and
Speaker:chances that you've taken and you've been alluding to,
Speaker:go ahead,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:take chances.
Speaker:Is there one you can share with us that didn't work
Speaker:out? And of course the next question from that is,
Speaker:what do you learn from it?
Speaker:Yeah, so I would say if the example I'm going to
Speaker:give is not one grand example,
Speaker:but something that's happened over and over again.
Speaker:But it felt very big to when we first launched our
Speaker:company. So when we first launched our company and we were
Speaker:going after approaching these new accounts,
Speaker:we were trying to get our products in doors for the
Speaker:first time.
Speaker:I think we had currently three retail customers and I was
Speaker:trying to get our fourth door and I found the store
Speaker:and I thought it'd be the perfect fit.
Speaker:And I was going after them and they said,
Speaker:no, we don't think your product's going to be a good
Speaker:fit. We're not going to carry you.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:like at the time,
Speaker:in hindsight,
Speaker:to me,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:okay, that's just one account.
Speaker:Doesn't mean anything.
Speaker:But that was at the time when we're just bring our
Speaker:product to market.
Speaker:It was the first time I was putting my product out
Speaker:there. So even going up to anybody and trying to get
Speaker:them to buy the product was scary and a big thing.
Speaker:And they said no.
Speaker:And at first I just took their no and I got
Speaker:sad and I went home and I was like,
Speaker:Oh gosh,
Speaker:nobody wants their product.
Speaker:Somebody said no to me.
Speaker:That one no turns into nobody will want my product.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:it's like hard not to take,
Speaker:it's hard because in my mind this was the perfect fit
Speaker:for us.
Speaker:It was a natural food store.
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:Oh, they have a local natural food store.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:if they don't take our product then nobody's gonna want our
Speaker:product. But then I was like,
Speaker:okay, wait,
Speaker:no, can't just be like shut down and no has to
Speaker:be a learning opportunity.
Speaker:So I went back to them and I said,
Speaker:what do you see as the challenges?
Speaker:And they express some concerns and I was able to address
Speaker:the concerns cause I knew our product very well.
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we'll give you a chance.
Speaker:So they put us in.
Speaker:I followed up a week later and I said,
Speaker:how's the product doing?
Speaker:They said,
Speaker:the product's not selling.
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:Oh great,
Speaker:here we go again.
Speaker:This isn't going to work in natural food store.
Speaker:Nobody's buying it.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:I did walk out and I was super discouraged.
Speaker:Ended up following up with them and be like,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:is there anything that you can think of that we could
Speaker:do to help turn the product?
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:yeah, just give us some samples.
Speaker:Nobody's going to buy it without trying it.
Speaker:In hindsight,
Speaker:it was,
Speaker:Oh duck,
Speaker:I needed to give them some samples so people would try
Speaker:our product and I ended up giving them samples.
Speaker:The product ended up turning and they still carry our product
Speaker:to this day in comparison to the thing that just worked
Speaker:out, that seems small,
Speaker:but at the time it was just as big.
Speaker:It doesn't always work out like that.
Speaker:A lot of times we get told no and it really
Speaker:is a no and they won't reconsider and we don't end
Speaker:up selling or we have lost accounts because our product hasn't
Speaker:turned. And I think the biggest thing is treating them as
Speaker:a learning experience and not a point of discouragement.
Speaker:And if your product doesn't sell somewhere,
Speaker:it doesn't mean it's bad.
Speaker:We've learned that certain types of accounts aren't good fits for
Speaker:us because our price is too high or they don't have
Speaker:that type of clientele,
Speaker:but AF over time,
Speaker:now that we have all these data points,
Speaker:we've been able to understand what that looks like.
Speaker:But when you're first trying to get your product out there,
Speaker:you don't know what that looks like sometimes.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:I think treating everything is a learning experience versus a failure.
Speaker:I guess the best way to approach things like that and
Speaker:trying to stay in that mindset.
Speaker:Yes. Well you also did something that a lot of people
Speaker:don't do,
Speaker:so this is an excellent example and that is you approached
Speaker:this particular store thinking you were going to land it perfect
Speaker:fit, et cetera.
Speaker:They said no and you could have just then stopped.
Speaker:Yep. I don't mean stop in your entirety,
Speaker:like stop the business.
Speaker:Right. But you could have not approached them again and just
Speaker:gone on to another one.
Speaker:Let's say another one said no,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and just like continued going to individual stores getting either a
Speaker:yes Or no,
Speaker:but the fact that you went back and asked for further
Speaker:information from them to understand their perspective gets you so much
Speaker:further. Yeah.
Speaker:Because saying you know what the challenges were and then letting
Speaker:you put it in the store and then finding that you
Speaker:needed samples,
Speaker:all of that just makes you so much smarter for the
Speaker:next time versus again,
Speaker:just going into one store hearing no going to another,
Speaker:you're not setting yourself up for as deep a potential of
Speaker:success versus what you did when you went back in and
Speaker:asked. Right.
Speaker:I don't think I made a lot of sense with that,
Speaker:but maybe the point got through.
Speaker:The other thing though,
Speaker:I wanted to say,
Speaker:which always surprises me,
Speaker:I'm out a lot at different types of food shows,
Speaker:candy shows,
Speaker:savory shows,
Speaker:snap shows,
Speaker:all this type of thing.
Speaker:You would be amazed how many people don't give samples.
Speaker:Yeah. It's really surprising and you're right.
Speaker:I mean if you can't sample something specially yours because you
Speaker:know it does look a little bit different.
Speaker:It's super yummy.
Speaker:So you want people sampling,
Speaker:especially give it to the kids.
Speaker:Cause now we know all about.
Speaker:But it's a good point to underline for people who do
Speaker:have products that are edible,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:make sure to bring samples.
Speaker:And do you make smaller versions of your product for samples
Speaker:or do you just bring in bulk your product For different
Speaker:occasions? We have different things.
Speaker:We don't have like an official tiny sample pack because honestly
Speaker:with the way we make things right now,
Speaker:it would be very expensive for us to make those little
Speaker:sample packs because just from a packaging we have to order
Speaker:special packaging and stuff like that.
Speaker:What we typically do is when we're doing production runs,
Speaker:we set aside product specifically for samples.
Speaker:So we cut them up into little pieces.
Speaker:We put them in big bags.
Speaker:So we have these big sample bags sitting aside that we
Speaker:can always bring to events.
Speaker:So we're very generous.
Speaker:It's not just events.
Speaker:When we get a new,
Speaker:if we start selling a new coffee shop,
Speaker:part of our strategy when we launch a new account is
Speaker:to give them a bunch of samples for their staff to
Speaker:try. Because if you're selling a coffee shop,
Speaker:you want the cashiers and the baristas to know what the
Speaker:product is like cause people are going to ask and then
Speaker:we also give samples to give to their customers as well.
Speaker:So that's part of our launch strategy with new accounts.
Speaker:Well this whole history of what's come about to date cause
Speaker:it's very short history,
Speaker:but very successful is such a great story.
Speaker:I really appreciate you coming on and sharing this with me
Speaker:and my listeners.
Speaker:And in return I would like to offer to you a
Speaker:gift. It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:So accept this gift on behalf of me and my listeners
Speaker:and open it right now.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:I would actually give myself,
Speaker:and this ties back to the candle at the beginning,
Speaker:don't tell me it's another yoga retreat.
Speaker:No, it's okay.
Speaker:I would actually like a confidence Cape or competence hat or
Speaker:something that would give me the magical powers to always believe
Speaker:in myself and my product.
Speaker:It goes back to this example we were just talking about
Speaker:not getting defeated and going back into a store and asking
Speaker:and learning and this has been my biggest struggle as a
Speaker:business owner,
Speaker:the biggest,
Speaker:if I'm not aware of it and if I'm not constantly
Speaker:working on it,
Speaker:it holds me back and I think that there's so much
Speaker:room to grow.
Speaker:There's so much to do with our business right now,
Speaker:but you know it's,
Speaker:I need to believe in it and I do,
Speaker:but it's hard sometimes and sometimes it can hold me back.
Speaker:I think if I could walk around feeling a hundred percent
Speaker:confident all the time,
Speaker:there would be no stopping me.
Speaker:That would be amazing.
Speaker:If we do that,
Speaker:and I dare to say that there is no stopping you,
Speaker:you just go back and listen to this.
Speaker:When you are ever questioning yourself because look at all you
Speaker:have accomplished so far and your courage in all of these
Speaker:different steps.
Speaker:Here's to you keeping that confidence Cape on the majority of
Speaker:the time.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:We know it's not possible for us.
Speaker:We'll just try and keep it on you as often and
Speaker:as long as we can.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:That's perfect.
Speaker:Okay, so if there was one single place that you were
Speaker:direct our listeners,
Speaker:if they want to know more about you,
Speaker:where would that be?
Speaker:Yeah, our website is a great place for that and the
Speaker:website is just www.sunandswellfoods.com
Speaker:Perfect. And give biz listeners,
Speaker:you know there's a show notes page that accompanies this and
Speaker:every episode of the show I will have all social media
Speaker:links on there and I'm also going to put on that
Speaker:elusively titled inspirational book that Kate was referring to.
Speaker:We couldn't talk about the title and you'll know why when
Speaker:you see what it is.
Speaker:So that's a little kind of teaser for you to go
Speaker:over to the show notes page and see what it is,
Speaker:but an excellent book.
Speaker:I would recommend it just as much as you do.
Speaker:Kate, I also want to do a shout out to Ann
Speaker:pacier because she is the one who suggested that you and
Speaker:I get together for an interview and I'm so glad we
Speaker:did so Anne,
Speaker:thank you for that.
Speaker:I know you'll be listening at some point,
Speaker:so yes,
Speaker:so there's that and Kate,
Speaker:you are going to help all of us find food freedom.
Speaker:I know it and I just love that saying,
Speaker:but anyone who has a rework in their area over the
Speaker:course of maybe the next year or so,
Speaker:look for sun and swell foods and who knows where else
Speaker:it's going to be available,
Speaker:but for sure online too,
Speaker:right? Yes.
Speaker:Thank you again so much for your honesty,
Speaker:your insight and I'm so excited what happens next because I
Speaker:know you're an action taker.
Speaker:Love that.
Speaker:So all the best and much success to you,
Speaker:Kate. Thank you.
Speaker:Wasn't Kate story inspiring?
Speaker:Getting an idea?
Speaker:Developing a product and then getting confirmation that it's really good
Speaker:and getting placement in some big stores.
Speaker:I think as we circle into the new year,
Speaker:there will be other people who are thinking about,
Speaker:okay, this is maybe the year for me.
Speaker:This is maybe the year when I'm going to finally stop.
Speaker:Just dabbling and selling to friends and family,
Speaker:but really kicking off my business for real.
Speaker:If you have any friends like that,
Speaker:I just want to remind you of the new book I
Speaker:put out this year maker to master.
Speaker:It's full of best practices on how to start a business
Speaker:and also if someone has gotten started and is just stuck,
Speaker:the traction isn't there.
Speaker:There are some great examples of where you could be perfecting
Speaker:and enhancing what you're already doing.
Speaker:This would be a great gift or a stocking stuffer.
Speaker:If you have someone like this in your life,
Speaker:here's a little more info.
Speaker:Are you discouraged because your business is not performing as you
Speaker:had envisioned?
Speaker:Are you stuck and confused about how to turn things around?
Speaker:Sue's new best selling book is structured to help you identify
Speaker:where the holes are in your business and show you exactly
Speaker:how to fix them.
Speaker:You'll learn from Sue and owners just like you who are
Speaker:seeing real growth and are living their dream maker to master
Speaker:find and fix what's not working in your small business.
