Meet Sophie Helfend

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophie Helfend. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophie below.

Sophie, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Growing up, my parents often told me, “You can be anything you want; just put your mind to it.” While encouraging, it was sometimes hard to truly believe. After a sales internship at IBM during my junior year at NYU, I craved something more challenging. I turned to my entrepreneurial parents and asked, “What should I do with my life?” They boldly suggested, “Go build a business.”

Feeling uncertain, I asked for a different option. My dad replied, “Learn how others build successful businesses; then you’ll have the tools to do it yourself.” This sparked an idea—I would dive into the world of Venture Capital. At 23, I knew little about the field, but I was determined to figure it out. I spent six months reading, networking, and preparing to apply.

That’s when I faced Imposter Syndrome—the feeling that I didn’t deserve to be there. But I realized it stemmed from not yet having the evidence of my capabilities. In interviews, when asked about my qualifications, I replied, “While I haven’t built a business, I have the work ethic and drive to learn, fail, and keep going until I succeed.”

After two months of interviews, I landed a position at a venture capital firm. As one of the youngest and least experienced, I embraced challenges, I did not shy away from them. When asked to help raise money for the fund, I flew to Sweden to pitch to potential partners. When asked to be the host for our AGM, I didn’t bat an eye. When startups asked for my advice or support, I was right there next to them.

Imposter Syndrome is a feeling rooted in self-doubt, but once you tackle hard things, you build evidence of your abilities. Now, as I embark on building my own business, I face uncertainties, but I carry the confidence that comes from overcoming challenges. Just because you haven’t done something before doesn’t mean you can’t. You just need the determination to find the tools and figure it out. Trust yourself—you have what it takes!

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?

My family has been in the soup business for four generations. Growing up, I attended trade shows and visited meat plants with my dad, always learning from him. I knew I wanted to run my own business, but I wasn’t sure what that would be.

In 2019, my dad started a research and development project to tackle two major challenges in the soup industry: eliminating the high shipping costs associated with liquid products and creating rich, savory flavors using plant-based ingredients. After 2.5 years of hard work on formulations and recipes, he developed a groundbreaking product: gourmet broth packaged in single-serve tea bags. He launched it on QVC, Good Morning America, and 75 Airport, and the product quickly gained traction.

However, when COVID-19 hit, my dad paused the project to focus on his other business. In 2023, after the main soup company was acquired, he offered The Art of Broth to my brothers and me. I eagerly accepted.

In less than a year since taking over, we’ve launched our broth in several hotels, including Hilton and Courtyard Marriott, as well as corporate offices, coffee shops, and retail stores. We’re excited to create a better-for-you hot beverage that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. In between meals, The Art of Broth is satisfying cravings with 10-14 calories and zero fat and quickly becoming the everyday hot beverage.

I am excited for to take this product global. Wherever there is coffee and tea, there will be sipping broth.

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?

Problem-Solving: Building a business can be simplified into this sentence: You are just solving problems every single day, every minute, every second. If you are unable to solve problems quickly, do not become an entrepreneur. The problems become larger as you grow, with more dollars involved, more stress involved, you must be able to solve problems constantly.

Discipline: Building a business is about trade-offs, you need to decide if you are willing to trade one life for another. For example — steady paycheck (steady job) vs no income for several months, if not years (entrepreneurship), having time for friends (steady job) vs spending all your time building (entrepreneurship), being with a million people everyday on calls working together (steady job) vs being alone all the time (entrepreneurship), having someone give you instructions on how to do things (steady job) vs struggling daily and figuring it how to solve problems yourself (entrepreneurship). If you are going to go down the road of entrepreneurship you must discipline yourself to understand and accept these tradeoffs and to remind yourself constantly that this is the choice you made and the payoff will come, but that payoff only depends on how hard you work to achieve your goals.

Build your own path: You MUST be able to forge a new path for yourself. If people tell you marketing is done one way, you figure out how it works for you and your business. If people say “this is how to do x” go figure out if that is actually how things should be done for you. Listen to people who have done it before you and have succeeded.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents gave me everything. If there was one single thing that I must attribute my success to, it is my parents. Support, guidance, encouragement to take on risk, love when I fail, love when I succeed, inspiration, mentorship, a security net emotionally and physically. My parents have given me the wings to fly and if it all comes crashing down, they will be there to catch me when I fall. My parents are the two most important people in my life and I owe everything to them for giving me the confidence to tackle on the world with the understanding that they will always be there for me, through everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theartofbroth.com
• Instagram: @theartofbroth
• Linkedin: sophiehelfend
• Other: @theartofbroth – TikTok