“We didn't go into Walmart until the beginning of 2020 not because we were snobby in any way. We knew that Walmart was a big company and had lots of great things about it and were in locations that, you know, we weren't in and so we wanted to give people access to better-tasting water unsweetened better tasting but at the time I mean we spoke to them for many, many years about partnerships but until Walmart was willing to like invest and give us the proper placement we thought we would be an afterthought and I was almost laughed out of the building multiple times because they were like we're giving you an opportunity I kept thinking maybe it's the wrong decision but it was the right decision, but you have to sometimes trust your gut I couldn't nail down exactly why I was making that decision but it was definitely the right decision.”
In this week’s all-new episode of THE IDEALISTS. podcast, host, and entrepreneur, Melissa Kiguwa, speaks with Kara Goldin. Kara is the founder and CEO of Hint, a $220 million beverage producer of fruit-infused waters and lifestyle goods that offers a healthy alternative to sodas and artificially sweetened drinks. Melissa sat down with the former AOL executive and current “accidental entrepreneur” to glean her insights on what it takes to start a category-changing business from scratch as well as learn how other dynamic female executives and would-be entrepreneurs can tap Kara’s pragmatic leadership wisdom. In this enlightening conversation, Kara and Melissa explore how process, persistence, and the ability to have patience with one’s inner knowing can help you ultimately make the right decisions.
in the episode:
Kara leads off the conversation with the need for training, process, and stability and what it means when an entrepreneur hasn’t experienced that grounding before building a company. “Process” may sound unsexy but there are so many ways it can prove empowering as you scale. As Kara reminds us, it’s not enough just to be a room full of visionaries.
Next, she relates how a company’s culture is often set from the top and infuses the whole experience not only within the business’s internal culture but also as the organization attempts to build partnerships. People can tell when there’s an alignment of mission and culture.
Building on that, she discusses how getting involved in the PFAS conversation became an unexpected turn into politics and raising awareness around water safety with Congresswoman Jackie Spiers and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Lastly, she shares her parting wish, gained from her time at the Fortune Women’s conference and the Young President’s Organization (https://www.ypo.org) is for younger leaders and would-be entrepreneurs to have greater access to stories, like those in her book, and to c-suite networks—so they can be emboldened to solve their own problems in building their businesses.
Resource(s):
Website:
Kara’s Book - Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts + Doubters
Hint Water:
More About PFAS: