OM DENNE EPISODE
Nicole kicks of the new year, interviewing the celebrated entrepreneur Kara Goldin, Founder and CEO of Hint Inc, the lifestyle company "committed to making it easy and enjoyable for consumers to live a healthy life." Known for producing the leading unsweetened flavored water, offerings have expanded with the recent launch of hint sunscreen. Kara is also an author, a motivational speaker, a podcaster, a mother and much more.
Kara's journey was anything but uncomplicated, detailed in her 2020 breakout book "Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters", which has landed on the Wallstreet Journal and the Amazon Bestsellers List, profiled by Nasdaq and receiving many more acolades.
In "Undaunted", Kara though no stranger to success, details how she found herself a determined but "accidental entrepreneur" - an outsider to the beverage industry, new to raising venture capital, and selling an approach well outside the norm with consumer products.
In discussion with Nicole, Kara shares her story and insights of her entrepreneurial journey for good. Already a respected Tech Executive, most recently with America Online, where she built the e-commerce and shopping partnerships, Kara became passionate about her business concept for Hint after her fourth child was born, and finding that as much as she tried with diet, lifestyle and exercise, her health was actually in serious and undiagnosed decline. In a moment of last resort, Kara decided to replace her Diet Coke habit with something else. The problem being Kara didn't like drinking plain water and in searching for a healthy and natural diest soda alternative she realized it didn't exist. Kara started adding fruit in water and two weeks cold-turkey from Diet Coke, she was on the road to recovery and the idea for Hint, Inc. was born.
When Kara started Hint, consumers and investors were not yet talking about purpose-led for-profit companies, but Kara knew that she could provide not only a consumable product that customers wanted, but provide a product they didn't yet know they needed in the pursuit of a better life, not just momentary satisfaction.
Market and purpose identified, Kara discusses setting out to make Hint exist for the masses, but discovering the difficulty of trying to launch a product with no experience or connections in the beverage industry despite what she knew she could achieve and a solid reputation. She shares how she stayed resolute, despite no easy path to bringing Hint to consumers and many more challenges as the company became established, including a life-changing disaster turned all-important discovery in her partnership with Starbucks. Out of doubt and disaster: triumph.
Kara, wildly successful with Hint, still encountered challenges in sharing her story in "Undaunted", limited by unfounded concerns that the book would only sell to other female entrepreneurs - a too-niche market, sadly. Once again Kara's instinct proved right hearing from many men (and women) about the life-limiting doubts and doubters shaping their experiences, and how her story inspired them to keep going.
Looking ahead, Kara shares many insights on how the events of 2020 are reshaping what it means to achieve healthier ways of living, and how Hint is thinking about serving that greater purpose. Nicole also asks Kara to share some thoughts and advice for listeners, as well as goals she has set herself for 2021 - the year we've all been waiting for! Listen and embrace "Undaunted" as your inspiration for 2021! Here's how you can find Kara: Social Media: @karagoldin Website/Book: https://karagoldin.com/undaunted
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DISCLAIMER: This episode is not explicit, though contains mild swearing that may be unsustainable for younger audiences.
Tweetable Comments:
"I went looking for a product, and I realized it didn't exist."
"I call myself an accidental entrepreneur."
"I saw a gap in the market and I acted on it."
"I didn't know if I could do it, but I knew I could try."
"I had no experience, so most people just wanted to hang the phone up on me."
"I've heard more from men than from women about having doubts in their life."
"It's about being ok with potentially failing at certain points along the way."
"We hear about the entrepreneurs that are unicorns or failures. But there's a lot in between."
"Customers say, 'should we buy from you or buy from Costco?' and we say, 'wherever you want.'"
"We sell to stores because we want consumers to have access to it."
"With this year's situation, people are really starting to think about what they should be putting into their body."
"You're like a gateway product for good."
"You have to figure out what you are interested in doing every single day."
