In 2012, 22-year-old Katlin Smith was growing restless at her consulting job, so she started experimenting with grain-free, paleo-friendly muffin recipes in her Atlanta kitchen. A buyer at a nearby Whole Foods agreed to sell Katlin's muffin mixes and placed an order for twelve bags. She then hustled to expand the business: hand-mixing almond flour and coconut sugar in food-grade barrels, slinging wardrobe boxes of muffin mix into a rental car, and standing by helplessly while shoppers scarfed down more samples than anticipated. 8 years after launch, Simple Mills has expanded to include cookies and crackers and other treats; it's available in 28,000 stores and does roughly $100M in annual revenue.

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Show Notes:

2:17 - Intro
5:22 - Beginning a diet
8:10 - The results
8:57 - Getting bored with consulting
9:38 - Early ideas
13:35 - Experimenting in an apartment
15:43 - Forming a brand
18:20 - Pitching to Whole Foods
19:30 - Renting a commercial kitchen
22:27 - Taking off on the web
24:45 - Transitioning to a manufacturer
27:47 - Demos
33:47 - Expanding
35:20 - Starting business school
36:00 - Raising money
39:37 - Using business school to help the business
40:57 - Getting to new customers
43:25 - Balancing work
44:23 - Landing the first investment
46:48 - Running a young team
48:16 - Adding more items
51:37 - Learning how to lead
55:30 - Competing with large food companies
58:00 - Luck vs. hard work

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Selected Links:

Whole30 Diet
Keto Diet
Paleo Diet
Katlin Smith
Deloitte
Crossfit
Whole Foods
Danielle Walker
Natural Grocers
Booth School of Business
Earth Fare
Wegman’s
Expo West