0 (2s):
Lights that sparked fire nation. JLD here with an audio master class on overcoming doubts in doubters to drop these value bombs. I have brought Kara Goldin on the mic. She is the founder and CEO of hint, Inc. Best known for his award winning hint water and the author of undaunted. She's an active speaker and writer and host the podcast unstoppable with Kara Goldin, where she interviews founders, entrepreneurs, and other disruptors across various industries and lives in the Bay area. Up in San Francisco and foundations who will be talking about what it means to be an accidental entrepreneur, how to overcome doubts and doubters and what it means to be undaunted as well as much more fire nation.

0 (47s):
When we get back from thanking our sponsors, did you know that 97% of text messages get opened in 90% are opened within three minutes. You need to be texting your customers and podium can help for a limited time sign up for 20% off your plan at podium.com/fire. Grow your online business with online courses by jumping into Catholics five day course challenge today over five days, you'll hear from inspiring speakers who will walk you through the whole process. So you'll know exactly where you're headed. Sign up for this free challenge today at thinkific.com/fire that's T H I N K I F I C.com/fire.

0 (1m 29s):
Kara say what's up to fire nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know.

1 (1m 36s):
No, let's see. I was a competitive gymnast growing up.

0 (1m 41s):
Nice. And what age did you finally hang up with those stirrups high school? Well, fire nation, as I mentioned during the introduction, we're going to be talking about overcoming doubts in doubters and what I found pretty interesting carers that you've called yourself an accidental entrepreneur. What do you mean?

1 (2m 1s):
So I never had any plans to actually be an entrepreneur. I mean, it's always easier to look back in the rear view mirror and kind of see the signs, right. That, you know, of course she was going to go and be an entrepreneur, but I never thought of being an entrepreneur when I was a kid. And even when I started my work experience, didn't think that, but finally, when I had a health issue or multiple health issues that I was trying to resolve, I realized that the key thing was that I wasn't drinking enough water because water was boring to me. And that's when I thought, gosh, this product should be on the market. Something that really helps people to enjoy water. So I started, I had been slicing up fruit and throwing it in the water and, and, and doing kind of my hint homemade version of hint.

1 (2m 50s):
And that's when I decided this product should actually be in stores. So I decided to make it

0 (2m 56s):
In fire nation. I can definitely vouch for this cause kerosene was kind enough to send me out a variety pack and I made the mistake and I say, I made the mistake, just letting my landscaping team know. I'm like, Hey guys, we've got some waters in the outdoor furniture there. I'm like, just grabbing if you need it. I was just thinking the bottles of water. And, you know, we usually just have those normal, plain bottles of water and they'll take one or two, like, you know, cause we were having a little landscaping overhaul doing. So there was probably like four or five guys working. Literally I went out there and every hint was gone. It was just gone. And I was just like, man, they loved that. It was like this next level stuff. And I remember when I went back the next day and I was talking to them, they're just like, Hey, we noticed you didn't have any more of that hint in there.

0 (3m 39s):
Like you restocking anytime soon. And I'm just like,

1 (3m 42s):
Do John now you gotta get to the store.

0 (3m 45s):
Puerto Rico is hard to get it down here, but I know you're, you guys are making some great inroads, so we're definitely make that happen. And let's talk about your book, which you called on daunted, which is all about overcoming doubt and doubters. So give us an example of a doubt that you've overcome in your life.

1 (4m 4s):
So many doubts, you know, first of all, I, as I mentioned, I'm I had this big idea to go and launch a beverage company, but that was like, as far as I had, I had really gotten, I thought, Oh, how, how hard could it be? Right. And then when I actually got it on the shelf at whole foods, which certainly, I, I wasn't sure whether or not they were actually gonna agree to do that. And then it got on the shelf and actually I long crazy story. I tell him the book, but I was delivering my fourth child on, on my, on my way to getting the product on the shelf at whole foods. I had, you know, a bunch of hint at home and the garage and I thought, you know, I've got a, it'd be so great if I could actually get it on the shelf prior to going and having a planned C-section.

1 (4m 49s):
So that's what I did. And then I got a phone call from the guy that was working with me at the local store in San Francisco. And he called to tell me the next day, when I was laying in bed in the hospital, he said the 10 cases are gone. And I said, who, who took them? Right. Like I didn't even, I didn't even know that, that it was, I mean, I, I knew obviously or hope that people would buy them, but I hadn't sort of thought that far ahead. And, and that's when, you know, a new series of doubts came. Like I thought, well, how do I actually get a shelf life that on the product that whole foods wants and how do I distribute the product?

1 (5m 31s):
And, and, you know, part of the reason why I wrote this book too, was that I found that it was kind of counter to what I thought in order to be successful. I found out that, you know, actually admitting that you don't know what you're doing and, and actually coming from a different industry because you're curious and you're really trying to solve a problem. And, you know, we're, we're really the key things that actually helped me to succeed and build what is today, the largest independent private beverage company in the country that doesn't have a relationship with Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper Snapple. You know, I had these doubts and, and even there's another story in the book where I was lucky enough to sit down with, with somebody who had plenty of experience in the beverage industry at Coca-Cola.

1 (6m 22s):
And I was so excited to have this meeting because I thought he could just wave his wand and solve all my problems. Right. And then after, you know, a few minutes on the phone, he jumped in and shared with me that, that my idea was not so great by saying, sweetie Americans love sweet, this product isn't going anywhere. And you know, that sort of shocking condescending, you know, surprising statement actually was what woke me up to realize that I was on a different path, that path based on a mission of health and his was really around selling sweet stuff. Right. It seems obvious, but when you're in it, right, like that's, that's the, you want people to solve your problems, right?

1 (7m 9s):
You want your you're trying to figure out how to do something like launch a beverage or anything else. And you figure these people who have industry experience are gonna, you know, they've got the keys to the kingdom. And what I found was that, you know, instead they, they typically don't actually create new stuff and they don't believe in, and kind of doing something different or, you know, and also that some lady from San Francisco who had grown up and been a successful tech executive, there was no way she was going to be able to figure out how to launch a product that was better for you. But so, so that was, you know, a series of doubts along the way that I want to share with people because I've met so many people over the years who have said to me that, you know, basically by hearing my story, it's helped them to know that they're not alone in building a company and you can have doubts and you can have doubters and you can have Spears and you're gonna have failures.

1 (8m 10s):
And, and ultimately just by, you know, sharing these experiences, my hope is just to help people kinda get out and just go do it and just go try and have confidence to that, to know that, you know, every successful story out there and unsuccessful story out there as is just about an a founder or an entrepreneur is willing to try.

0 (8m 35s):
Yeah, your story reminds me of this person. I just picture from time to time looking at Henry Ford and saying, son, people just want a faster horse. Like, what are you trying to do? And he's like, Oh, we'll see, we'll see what they want. And that's why you never want to look at people who are ingrained in the industry and take them at their word when they're, you know, potentially just barging you, because listen, they've tried to build a moat around what they've created and they may have a lot of ignorance and they may have a lot of blindness as to what's coming because they're so focused on what is working. And yeah, people do love sweetness, but that doesn't mean there's not a huge segment of the population. And especially with the trends that's going here with the morbid obesity that this world is entering, especially America, that's saying, Hey, like, okay, I like to have some kind of flavor in my drinks, but I don't like being 75 pounds overweight.

0 (9m 27s):
I don't like putting my immune in a compromised system when there's a pandemic going around the world and all these different things. So that's why fire nation, you've got to say, what is working for me? Why does this make sense for me? And why does this make sense for this world in this creation that I'm creating? And I think it really kind of comes around Kara to have an ask you this next question, because you have four kids, you have this massive business, that's, you know, the largest independent water business as you described it. Why did you write this book? Don't you have enough to do

1 (10m 1s):
Exactly. You know, again, it goes back to this, this like need to actually solve a problem that I saw in front of me. I mean, prior to this, I was in the tech industry. I had built a e-commerce and shopping. I was responsible for e-commerce and shopping partnerships at AOL. And when I left, it was a billion dollars in revenue to the company. And, and I was, I was really looking at other tech companies. I mean, that was like the natural fit. I, again, live in San Francisco. And I felt like, especially when I left AOL in 2001, a long time ago, it was, it was, you know, there were lots of companies that were starting to crop up.

1 (10m 42s):
And, and really what I started thinking about was what am I really interested in? Like, what do I want to wake up every single day and do, and, you know, I have these three young kids at the time that were under the age of four, there, it was crazy town, right? Like everybody's running around. And, and I just, I don't know, I just kept, I missed working and I missed kind of doing something, but I didn't know that I should be almost pigeonholed in sort of working in tech. I mean, it was fun. I, I really enjoyed it, but I also felt like I had other interests. So that's when I, you know, was, was sort of as an interim step to kind of figuring out what I ultimately wanted to do.

1 (11m 25s):
That's that's when, you know, as I mentioned, I decided to start this company, which I didn't even really think it was a company at the time. It was just like three skews of flavored water. So didn't, you know, get it on the shelf. But I felt like this story reminds people so much about, you know, other people's stories along the way that I've done it in lots of different industries. And, and, you know, as I mentioned that, if I could actually share my story with people, like maybe they wouldn't continue to keep those walls up around them. That really are preventing them from doing something in another industry or having excuses that are really blocking them from being able to go out and achieve happiness.

1 (12m 14s):
Cause I just also really believe that if you actually love what you're doing, then it's, then you're a lot happier, right. As a person. And I watched sort of lots of people right now, even, you know, dealing with nine months of not so fun, right? Like everybody, you know, tries to figure out what are those good things that I, that I figured out along the way, but a lot of people are really trying to figure out, gosh, do I even really like what I'm doing? Do I want to sit in a company that I'm sitting on zoom all, all day long? I mean, you know, my company's not opening up for the next year. I mean, is there something else that I should be doing?

1 (12m 54s):
And, and again, like, I think it's an opportune time for people to really kind of take a step back for a minute. Even if you have, you know, four kids, maybe you're homeschooling kids right now. And really think about that problem, that product, that service that maybe you thought, you know, gosh, that'd be so great if it was on the market, go figure it out. Like go figure out how to write a business plan. Like, you know, I mean, go figure out how to like go and launch a product in whole foods. I mean, I, you know, I have stories in the book about like literally following, you know, people around that looked official from, you know, other beverage companies.

1 (13m 35s):
Like I was just, I had no idea what I was doing. I was like, okay, he's not wearing like a whole foods kind of uniform. And then he sorta looks like he's stocking shelves of a certain brand. So I'd like, tap him on the shoulder and say, Hey, like, do you work for that company? You know, Oh, where do you guys bottle your product? Or, you know, what other stores are you in? And I would, I would just ask these questions again, like I was this consumer, right. I hadn't no idea what I was doing. I mean, as close to really understanding how to distribute product was seeing Coke and Pepsi trucks go down the street. Right. I sort of knew that Cisco was like a distributor as well, but, but I was, you know, asking the guy at whole foods, like, do you have a phone number for Cisco?

1 (14m 17s):
It was, it was really right. Like he was like, wait, what, what don't you get at it? And you're going to run into people that will say, don't you get it? But, but I mean, that's part of the humor of the whole thing, right? Like it, it, it was, I would come back to my tech friends and I would share these stories with them and, and they would just start cracking up. Right. Because they just thought, isn't it kind of fun. I mean, I remember my, my CFO, I met him at a kid's party. We were, his kid was, was in school with mine and he's pouring me a glass of wine. It was an evening and he's pouring me a glass of wine. He was like, Oh, so what do you do? And what are you working? Or what are you doing?

1 (14m 57s):
And I said, Oh, you've never even heard of it. It's like this little company hint. And it's a, it's a beverage. I'm like almost apologizing. And he's like, wait, I work at Google. We, we drink a ton of hand. He was like, yeah. And so he's like, and he's like, get out of here. He's like, I can't believe you're like, like, are you, are you a salesperson? I said, no, I'm the founder. And he was like, like, how many people are in the company? I was like, Oh, like six. And he was like, you have six people in the company. Like he was like, get out of here. And he was like, and here this guy, you know, I'd grown up in tech. And he was just intrigued. He was asking me all the same questions that I had asked.

1 (15m 37s):
Right. When I went into the whole foods to the poor guy, stocking the shelves, like it, you know, I was clueless. And, and so it's fine. I mean, he, when we were looking for investment, he was actually, before we were looking for investment, his name is Julio and Julio was, was like, so when you guys are like looking for investors, please let me know. I, I love to invest. I drink it all day long and really awesome. And I was like, sure. So he, he invested like a year later when we were finally taking outside capital. And he said, and about two years ago, he, he was, he was always on our board, actually.

1 (16m 19s):
Not always, but about probably a couple of years in, we asked him to come on our board and he was always like, I know nothing about beverage. So just kick me off the board. Like, if you find somebody better, and then two years ago, he reached out to me and he said, I have something really weird to ask you. And I said, what? And he was like, I don't even know how to ask you this. And I was like, Oh my God, like, he's going to quit the board. He's like, you know, watch this money back. Like, what, where's this going? And he said, can I have a job? And I'm like a job. And he said, I mean, I've never actually asked for a job before. I, I just, I've always, you know, I'm looking at these other opportunities and I keep going back to the fact that like, I know you guys so well, I've watched your business.

1 (17m 3s):
I've really admired it. It's a lot of fun. You laugh, you smile, you don't take yourself so seriously, you guys are profitable. Like, you know, all these things. And, and that's what I want in a company. And so I was wondering if you guys would hire me for as your CFO. I mean, we'd always had like a head of finance and he would give us suggestions on it. But anyway, it's a funny story because you just, you know, you think that you're so alone, but that was the re response from so many people, you know, along the way and building this company. And, and frankly, I mean, most of our investors were fans before they've been invested

0 (17m 41s):
Fire nation. You never know who's listening. Never, never know who's watching. You never know who's drinking. You'd never know who's eating. You never know who's consuming your content. And it just might be that right person. And we're going to ask you fire nation. What does it mean to be UN daunted and is going to break into that? When we get back from thanking our sponsors, Thinkific is the best platform to create market and sell your own online courses. And we speak from personal experience since moving our online courses over to Thinkific in 2017. And we have welcomed thousands of new students into our courses. If you're currently training people or considering it as a business model, and you've got a book blog, coaching practice, YouTube channel or podcasts, then turning that into an online course can help you reach a wider audience, build revenue and make a bigger impact and think of it as the perfect partner to have by your side.

0 (18m 33s):
Plus Thinkific has an exclusive offer for you fire nation to join their free five day course challenge. Over five days, you'll hear from inspiring speakers who have firsthand experience in building a thriving online course business, including myself, get ready to take all the guesswork out of getting started. One student who recently finished the challenge that said, this is an excellent course. It keeps you moving and takes a lot of the intimidation and confusion out of the process. I would highly recommend to this challenge, sign up for this free challenge today at thinkific.com/fire that's T H I N K I F I C.com/fire. Did you know that 97% of text messages get opened and 90% are opened within three minutes. You need to be texting your customers.

0 (19m 14s):
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0 (20m 1s):
Visit podium.com/fire to get started. That's 20% off if you visit podium.com/fire. So Kara we're back and as I kind of teased before the break, what the heck does it mean to be undaunted?

1 (20m 16s):
Yeah, so I think it really, to me boils down to try, I mean, and, and, you know, it's, it's funny, I've been called relentless when I've been out speaking about building this brand over the years and, you know, I just don't really re I just don't view myself as being as much, I guess at times I'm relentless. But I think for me, it's just about just going and trying and being okay with failure and like, and, you know, people are like, you must like risk. Not really. I just view the world as like, I could always go back to tech if it didn't work out. Right.

1 (20m 55s):
So, you know, when you think about things that way, like, you know, what's the worst that can happen, then you decide to live in doctor, right? You're, you're decide to go out and try. And, and, and it's a lot of fun too, right? Like I don't think undaunted needs to be about like, just being a risk taker. And in fact, most people that I know who have founded companies and are successful, people in industries really do live in daunted. And I think as I have thought about it over the years, it really is about, you know, facing your fears and trying, and, and just being okay with knowing that it might not work out, but in the end, most of the time it does actually.

1 (21m 45s):
And it might not be exactly how you envisioned it, but it might be a, you know, a version that is okay,

0 (21m 53s):
Where it can fire nation pick up this book. Why should fire nation pick up this book and just end with a bang, the major takeaway that you want our audience to get from everything we talked about.

1 (22m 4s):
So undaunted overcoming doubts and doubters on Amazon audible

0 (22m 10s):
Question, I asked to ask, did you read the audio book? I did read that. Yes. Kara, you're a podcaster. I'm so proud of you.

1 (22m 17s):
Yeah, no. And in fact, I get, I get extra credit for it because I did it during the pandemic. When, when my publisher actually told me that I was not going to be able to find a studio. And I said, you're, you're dealing with an undaunted person, find a studio. And I did, but, but yeah, I mean, I think this is a book that people are, are saying, it's, it's not just for entrepreneurs, but it's also for people who are just saying, you know what, like if she can do it, I can do it. Whether that's just getting out of bed or just going out and trying and facing their fears.

1 (23m 0s):
And, you know, obviously amazing for entrepreneurs too. But I think everybody needs to hear these stories and, and really learn from people who have had challenges. I think that's the biggest takeaway and, and stories are stories are fun, right? Especially when they're hard and they're not happening to you, right? Like it, it gives you energy and it gives you fuel to be able to just go out and, and recognize that life, you know, brings you twists and turns, but it it's really about how you manage and handle them and not take them so seriously.

0 (23m 38s):
You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with kg and J L D today. So up that heat head over to eofire.com, just type it, Kara, K A R A in the search bar Herschel's page will pop up with everything we've talked about today, links to it, all, check out the book, undaunted in the way that you like to on Amazon or read it, listen to it. Kara actually does the audio book herself. So that's awesome. Please take my landscapers lead and consume massive quantities of hint. I didn't even get to, I had my eye on the, on the raspberry. I was like, I'm going to like that. And I didn't even get to try it cause it was gone.

0 (24m 19s):
Gone, gone. Ha Kara, you're the best and fire nation. You get some as well. Hint. That's H I N T if Google is drinking it, you should be too. And Kara, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with fire nation today, for that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, fire nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by Kara. And are you ready to rock your very own podcast? Well, then you should check out our free podcasting course, where I teach you how to create and launch your podcast for free visit free podcast course.com and I'll catch you there, or I'll catch you on the flip side.

2 (25m 0s):
Did you know that

0 (25m 1s):
97% of text messages get opened and 90% are opened within three minutes. You need to be texting your customers and podium can help for a limited time sign up for 20% off your plan at podium.com/fire. Grow your online business with online courses, by jumping into Thinkific five day course challenge. Today over five days, you'll hear from inspiring speakers who will walk you through the whole process. So you'll know exactly where you're headed. Sign up for this free challenge today at thinkific.com/fire that's T H I N K I F I C.com/fire.