Meet Aurora Echo

We were lucky to catch up with Aurora Echo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aurora, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.

I have an indestructible self-belief, because I know myself: I am a loving, kind person with integrity–brimming over with potential to create and shape the world around me. So although it is nonetheless hurtful and unfortunate that there are people and cultural systems that do not support, or even work to oppress, my efforts with statements such as “No, you can’t”, or “You won’t”, or they tell me “It’s impossible”, I know very well that I not only can, and will persist, I will actually persevere. That it is simply a matter time and effort; comprised of impassioned persistence and ultimate perseverance. In some way, being told no, or that I cannot do or achieve something excites me, because I know I can and that my success will prove them wrong. Not out of spite, but in spite of rejection or opposition. That I am forging my path, regardless and nonetheless.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I created a company that I wanted to exist in the world, and I trusted it would resonate with customers and eaters, and that has been overwhelmingly the case. People are so excited, emotional and just fervently thankful and supportive.

In 2022, I founded a beautiful organic pasta company called Wildly Beloved Foods, inspired by people’s raw reaction to eating my pasta. I had been making wildly beloved spinach pasta for the past 15 years, stemming from a sheer desire to eat what did not exist: vibrant, bright and clean spinach pasta. I had to rebel from recipes calling for powdered spinach or frozen spinach that you squeeze with a towel until the water is gone–absolute sacrilege for one who loved food or nutrition. I developed my own recipe and perfected the edible art. Less than a year into my business I became Certified Organic and I now have pasta in 12 Co-ops in Western Washington, many smaller specialty shops and restaurants.

As the founding owner Wildly Beloved Foods, I have been able to weave my values and knowledge of environmental health science into every part of my company, starting with organic ingredients and certification, to compostable packaging, and reducing use of and exposure to toxics as much as one can. Growing up in California, I had EWG (Environmental Working Group) as a resource to learn about body burden and chemical exposure, empowering me as an activist and now an entrepreneur with choices to offer my customers–all in the public interest of protecting and providing for current and future generations of life on our one and only planet, Earth.

What defines our pasta is the Italian organic semolina flour we use, all grown and milled in Parma, Italy. I came to use this flour after my years of testing and trying. It was incomparable for its utterly exceptional taste, texture and quality. People, including many who’d recently returned from Italy, have declared it to be the best pasta they’ve ever eaten. It feels wonderful to bring people joy through incredibly delicious and nourishing foods.

What has become a surprising and endless theme, is that we are crafting pasta which acts as a Safer Gluten. Many hundreds of people with gluten-intolerances and sensitivities, and a growing list of digestive diseases and issues, have told us that they are able to eat our pasta–without the consequence of feeling sick, and instead simply feel nourished. It has been called “Life-changing pasta” by many now. When you have to avoid eating pasta and suddenly you eat the best pasta you’ve ever tasted, and feel great afterward, it is absolutely life-changing! Food should only nourish, and never make someone sick.

We have launched our Wildly Beloved pasta in many grocers in Washington and are expanding into Oregon and California in the coming months. We look forward to being in California and sharing this beautiful pasta with many more!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

What is interesting about my journey into entrepreneurialism, is that it perfectly weaves all of my facets into this one venture. I get to utilize and express all parts of me!

I have had the opportunity to cook and make delicious food and recipes, which has always felt so natural and enriching to me, being able to share it with family and friends, and now as a business–with many more!

Environmental welfare and science was part of my childhood, as the daughter of smart hippies and organic consumers. An organic food company was almost a given. It is the only way forward. It is actually regenerative food processing.

I have always had an interest in the law, and in justice. Licensing and regulatory permits and processes require that natural legal acumen and ability to navigate it. Instead of hiring professionals, I get to dive in curious and capable, and learn as I go, utilizing my innate ability and opening doors along the way.

I have always been social and what is called a “people person”, and I firmly believe that kindness and goodwill, love, is the cosmic currency, the currency of the universe. The world opens for good people, not without challenges and persistence and perseverance–but the path is illuminated before us. Just keep going. Onward and upward, with love!

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

At this exciting stage of growth, brimming over with potential, I welcome experienced food entrepreneurs to offer guidance or become part of this journey. Angel investors and venture capitalists are also encouraged to reach out, because the greater the wind in our Wildly Beloved sails, the further we can go together. The future is bright and the sky is not the limit!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wildlybelovedfoods.com
• Instagram: @wildlybelovedfoods
• Facebook: Wildly Beloved Foods