A Hint of Undaunted with Kara Goldin, Founder and CEO of Hint

03/29/22 • 61 min

Stairway to CEO

In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

What it was like growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona as the youngest of five children, constantly craving a job, and finally landing a job at a toy store at the age of 14
The takeaways she learned in her experience at TIME, CNN, and AOL, that its important to do the little things that people will remember
Why it's important to be kind and helpful to everyone because you never know where they’re going to end up
How it can sometimes be luck that gets you to where you are, but most of the time its persistence
How after drinking 10-12 diet sodas every day, she came to the realization of how bad they were and gave her the idea to look into alternatives
The challenges entrepreneurs face in building a business from zero
Why she believes every founder should have their own personal attorney
The importance of choosing the right investors, and how to filter for the right ones
The advice Kara has for inspiring entrepreneurs or those that have an idea but don’t want to be a founder

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To Find Out More:

http://www.drinkhint.com/

Quotes:

“All of a sudden I'm going to these toy fairs and understanding margins and understanding less is more and critical things. I would go back into the classroom and I was so bored in the classroom versus what I was learning in these situations.”

“As you're building, you're really focusing on those things that are a little bit hard for you.”

“Years later, I still tell new recruits at Hint that the number one thing they need to do is make sure their boss and their team are successful. I run into so many people who make the mistake of worrying about how they look and concentrating on their own feelings, to the extent that they don't appreciate what's going on around them, focusing outward on those who depend on you and the rest of the team makes you a valuable person, gets you more responsibility and ultimately gives you a chance to not just look like, but also be a superstar.”

“If you walk into a situation and maybe you feel like ‘this isn't my place like my people aren't here or whatever.’ You rise above it and you be who you are supposed to be. You be yourself.”

“There's going to be luck, but there's also this persistence that plays in”

“I was shocked when I saw that nothing like Hint was on the shelf at the store.”

“I've had a lot of good stuff happen, I've had some not so good. And you know, that's life, right? That's how you learn, that's how you make mistakes, and how you get better.”

“Understand what you really enjoy.”
“Having a different lawyer who is actually looking out for you really key.”

“The key thing is to enjoy what you're doing and do something that you think has purpose.”

“Too many people are focused on making a buck and flipping a company quickly. If you actually lead with a concept, a company that is actually going to solve a problem, that you think will actually change people in some way for the better, then the money will come. And I think just always be thinking that. If that's what your purpose is in starting a company, that's the right purpose.”

In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

What it was like growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona as the youngest of five children, constantly craving a job, and finally landing a job at a toy store at the age of 14
The takeaways she learned in her experience at TIME, CNN, and AOL, that its important to do the little things that people will remember
Why it's important to be kind and helpful to everyone because you never know where they’re going to end up
How it can sometimes be luck that gets you to where you are, but most of the time its persistence
How after drinking 10-12 diet sodas every day, she came to the realization of how bad they were and gave her the idea to look into alternatives
The challenges entrepreneurs face in building a business from zero
Why she believes every founder should have their own personal attorney
The importance of choosing the right investors, and how to filter for the right ones
The advice Kara has for inspiring entrepreneurs or those that have an idea but don’t want to be a founder

Exclusive Deals from Our Sponsors:

Get a 30 day free trial with Rewind HERE
Use the promo code STAIRWAY200 for $200 off Outer furniture by shopping HERE‍
Get 2 months FREE with Gorgias by clicking HERE and mentioning the podcast

To Find Out More:

http://www.drinkhint.com/

Quotes:

“As you're building, you're really focusing on those things that are a little bit hard for you.”

“If you walk into a situation and maybe you feel like ‘this isn't my place like my people aren't here or whatever.’ You rise above it and you be who you are supposed to be. You be yourself.”

“There's going to be luck, but there's also this persistence that plays in”

“I was shocked when I saw that nothing like Hint was on the shelf at the store.”

“I've had a lot of good stuff happen, I've had some not so good. And you know, that's life, right? That's how you learn, that's how you make mistakes, and how you get better.”

“Understand what you really enjoy.”
“Having a different lawyer who is actually looking out for you really key.”

“The key thing is to enjoy what you're doing and do something that you think has purpose.”

Previous Episode

Influential Leadership with Craig Shiesley, CEO of Yasso

In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

What it was like growing up in Buffalo, New York as the second of five children
How at a young age he always appreciated the hard work he put into yard work or shoveling snow, getting to see the transformation he was able to make
What it was like going to Cornell University, being the first one in his family to leave his hometown, changing his major to business, and getting connected to the CEO of SC Johnson
The opportunity he was given as an undergrad student to intern with SC Johnson, and continue working for them for 16 years
His experience leading the plant-based food and beverages division at WhiteWave Food for brands including Silk, Horizon, and So Delicious
What qualities he thinks makes a good CEO, and how to grow in the CEO role
How stumbling into business allowed him to find his passion, which is helping brands grow in their purpose
What he looked for in building his initial team at Yasso
The things that make or break a CEO transition
How he practices and builds resiliency, with his head, heart, and body
Why he believes taking care of yourself is taking care of your team

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To Find Out More:

https://yasso.com/

Quotes:

“The way I broke through was I found my way through playing football, so I went to Cornell playing football and being a good student and good athlete, but football really broke me through.”

“I was just watching how much my parents worked to put me through to that moment, to get me into Cornell and to support that. And then I wanted to make my mark. I wanted to be part of whatever the Shiesly folklore was, I wanted to be part of that chapter.”

“Walk in their footsteps, know who they are, know their business, understand what they're trying to get out of their life, even beyond the business.”

“People and how they're going to feel when they're brought along is important and then sharing that vision.”

“Make it more about them versus about you and what you want to get done”

“We can debate the how, but let's agree to the what”

“If you believe in that conviction, you fight for it. And that was where I was willing to go down and be fired for that conviction. Cause at the end of the day, I'm going to die with my plan, no one else's.”

“I think a fallacy in a business is that margin comes later. But I think margin matters now.”

“It was very important for us to be more than a dessert brand. We wanted to be more than things that are sold on a stick, so we had to migrate that brand from dessert to snack.”

“If there's something that as a founder keeps you passionate and keeps your juice going and that you want to be involved in, put it on the table, discuss how that's going to go with the CEO and how you manage your way through that.”

“I would ask both sides, really do your homework, know each other, know people that know them informally, informally inside of work, outside of work, how are they in the good moments and the tough moments.”

“I'm really all about take care of yourself, prioritize that. Whether that's a workout, whether that's yoga, swimming, meditation, make sure that's there because you're going to need that, and your team's going to need to feel your energy day in, day out because sometimes you're going to have to give it to them and you can't give it to them unless you have it.”

Next Episode

Sparks, Sketches, and Sharks with Max Kislevitz, Co-Founder of Bala

In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

What it was like growing up in New Jersey with family working in the toy industry, having the influence of entrepreneurial parents
The life lessons learned from being a lifeguard and swim instructor at a young age
What he learned from his 13 years spent in advertising, is that products can become very meaningful not only to consumers but to creators
How a one way trip to Tokyo with his now wife and Co-Founder Natalie, led to the idea of Bala
How after a workout class in Indonesia, the idea for Bala was sparked by a napkin drawing
The insecurities faced in running with the idea of Bala, that it was a redesign of a product no longer used
The fears they faced of being told no, not being believed in, and the fears of putting their idea on Kickstarter
The year-long process of finalizing the product and getting it to be everything they needed it to be
How they landed on Shark Tank, and how their episode airing two weeks before COVID hit helped skyrocket Bala
The advice Max has for founders wanting to go on Shark Tank, and how it’s been after the fact
How leaning into product innovation, and not just focusing on bangles has grown Bala further
What it's like working with a spouse, raising a family, and building a company
What’s next for Bala from product innovation, more content, and partnerships

Exclusive Deals from Our Sponsors:

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To Find Out More:

https://www.shopbala.com/

Quotes:

“I'll admit that I don't think I've ever really known what I want to be when I grow up. I say it in the present tense because I think there's still a lot of life to live.”

“We noticed there had been a redesign of the adjacencies in this category, but not of the products folks are actually working out with, so we started sketching Bala on a napkin.”

“The challenge became, how do we start to bring this thing off the page? Early days it was just an incredibly iterative process.”

“Early insecurity was will people care? It is admittedly a redesign of a product no longer used to the same degree they once were.”

“We took a year to continue to develop the product and get to the perfect velcro closure that allowed folks to throw them on and off really simply.”

“We never thought about it as an at-home fitness product.”

“Like any pitch, focus and singularity around what your product or service is and why it's of interest, not just to your target audience, but the Shark Tank audience as well.”

“We wanted to make a deal, but we didn't want to make a deal that would really be a disservice to what it is we were trying to build at the time.”

“It really is this kind of intersection between fashion and fitness that didn't otherwise exist”

“We realized that making meaningful, functional improvements to the product, but also making them more beautiful would make for a more elevated experience for working out.”

“Baby steps are still steps. And as long as you're taking them, you're moving forward.”