We recently connected with Granola With Love and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Granola, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
If we are being completely honest, we would say that we are still developing the ability. If you look at whatever you are trying to do as a risk, then there is a greater chance you may not take that risk. It is a daily exercise of taking smaller leaps of faith which in time lead to bigger leaps. Smaller leaps begin with acknowledging the variety of truths that live within every opportunity or risk. While it may be true that we are scared, it’s also true that we are not alone, that we can ask for help and that if we’re learning, we’re not losing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Joleen and I am the co-founder of Granola With Love. I got the idea for the business when I got tired of buying bland granola from the store. It was also frustrating that I needed a background in chemistry to understand what was in the granola! I wanted something completely natural and wholesome. I believe if we put good things in our body, our bodies will be good to us. I was making my own granola for a while and my friends and family were insistent that I should consider selling it. For five plus years I resisted, and then I finally took the leap.
At the time, I was dissatisfied with my job, and I knew I wouldn’t to be happy working for someone else. So, I quit and turned my focus to Granola With Love. When I told my best friend and business partner, Morgan, she was all in! Our first sale was at a pop-up held at a local brewery, and it was an amazing experience. People were purchasing our product after the first bite!
Our mission is to spread love with granola. Everything about our brand is based on love. When I am in the kitchen, making granola, I am in a place of peace and love. I pray that when others eat our granola they feel that love same love.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
You won’t know everything AND that’s okay:
As much as I wanted to and honestly still do at times, want to know everything there is about starting and owning a business, I had to embrace the reality that I didn’t know everything. I felt not knowing something was a sign to others that I was deficient. I would tell myself “you should know this or that” when in reality I knew a lot AND I had much to learn, so I focused on surrounding myself with those who were willing to teach and encourage me. The power of strength rest in the humility of acknowledging and accepting that I don’t know.
Sacrifices will be necessary, and at same time there is one you should never make:
Life as you know it will not be the same; your routine, habits, schedule, etc. are all “subject to change” as you work towards entrepreneurship. As you make room to focus on your business, there will be sacrifices – maybe your time on social media is now spent during market research, your mornings that once started at 10am – now need to start at 8am to take calls or appointments, the standing weekly self-care date may need to shift to accommodate the schedule of a team. Making sacrifices should be expected, however you should never sacrifice your personal health and well-being, as you can never pour from a broken or empty cup.
Self-discipline is a form of self-love:
We often think of self-discipline when it comes to sticking to a workout routine or following through on a diet, when in fact self-discipline; our ability to control ourselves, impacts many areas of our lives; goal achievement, time management, focus, decision making, and the list goes on. When choosing the path of entrepreneurship, I had to get to know myself differently and understand what practices, rhythms, tips and tricks worked better for me in this space. For instance, time-blocking became one of my best friends, it encourages me to focus on a small amount of time (rather than the entire day), set a small attainable goal and then reach it. Doing that several times throughout the day, I can stack those small goals and before I know it, I’ve reached a larger one. You have to figure out what how you work and what works for you; what works for your bestie, sibling or your favorite influencer may not be your jam and that’s okay. Figuring out what does work for you, without the weight of comparison is self-love.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Brand awareness. This isn’t a new or exclusive problem, but a problem nonetheless and one we know from talking with other small businesses is shared hurdle once out the gate. We don’t have an endless budget, a team of ten or know one of “The Sharks”, we’re just two girls doing the best we can with what we got.
Don’t get me wrong we’re not above grassroots endeavors. We activate just about every weekend at local farmers markets, community pop-ups and the like. We know that once a potential customer taste our product, its love at first bite, so sampling is our cornerstone to conversion. We use every organic opportunity to share and spread the love!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.granolawithlove.com
- Instagram: granola.with.love
- Facebook: granola.with.love
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/granolawithlove
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
