The Startup Story

Elizabeth Stein, founder of Purely Elizabeth

Listen Later
About this episode

My guest this week is Elizabeth Stein, founder of Purely Elizabeth. Purely Elizabeth is one of the top natural food brands in the United States. In fact, they are the Premier granola brand in the Natural Foods Category and Top 10 Granola in all categories. Purely Elizabeth is a really big deal and aside from the brand's significance, Elizabeth's entrepreneurial journey is significant because it's so relatable to every single one of us. Elizabeth never thought her side hustle would turn into her full time job, let alone become a multi-million dollar company.

That said, within this episode, Elizabeth shares with me four really important considerations that we all need to be aware of when launching a CPG brand. But let me be clear, these are not about product packaging design, or logistics, or even how to reach out to buyers. You can find that info all over the internet and even in some of my past videos and podcast episodes. No, the things Elizabeth shares in this video are considerations that I have never heard before as it relates to launching a CPG brand.

In this episode, you'll hear:
  • Elizabeth shares how she always had a desire to build a business or lead a large organization. This influence came from her watching her Dad and Grandad run their own businesses and later observing her mother starting her own company.
  • When she was in college, she identified that there was a health and wellness problem and a lack of healthy products in America. This sparked her curiosity but she left it for a few years.
  • While working for a handbag company, she started running marathons. This allowed her to practice goal setting. With this new hobby she continued on her path of health and wellness and went back to school to study holistic nutrition. She learned how food is medicine for the body.
  • While she was studying holistic nutrition she started helping clients cook with amazing nutritious ingredients like Coconut salt and Chia seeds. She then went on to promote her nutrition service at the Westchester Triathalon. To promote her services she made a batch of blueberry muffins that sold out and everyone was asking where they could buy more. At the end of the day she switched from trying to sell her nutrition service, to creating a mailing list that would provide where they could get the muffins next.
  • In 2008 she launched Purely Elizabeth, a food company creating products with the most innovative and rich ingredients and making taste number one. Their mission is to help people thrive on their wellness journey through granola, oatmeal, and pancake mix.
  • She returned to the triathalon in 2009 with the Purely Elizabeth muffin and pancake mix and sold out. The Daily Candy reached out and wrote a feature in their newsletter of the company and in a few hours she received $10,000 in orders.
  • She even shares how she accidently came up with their signature Granola mix which went on to be the Premier granola brand in the natural foods category and top 10 granola and all categories.
  • Key points of consideration when developing a CPG brand
    • Resources from this episode

    Join Grindology: https://grindology.com/

    ExpressVPN: Get 3 Months Free → https://www.expressvpn.com/startupstory

    Get Emails: https://app.getemails.com/referrals/newaccount?ref=R18HWW5

    The Startup Story Inner Circle: https://www.thestartupstory.co/vip

    The Startup Story on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestartupstory
    The Startup Story is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jamesmckinney
    The Startup Story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestartupstory

    Purely Elizabeth: https://purelyelizabeth.com/

    Grindology shoutout: https://rmstechspa.com/

    Ember Giveaway: https://www.thestartupstory.co/ember

    Share the podcast

    The Startup Story community has been so incredible sharing our podcast with others, and we thank you! We do have more stories to tell and more people to reach. There are three ways you can help.

    First, the most powerful way you can support this podcast is by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store
    The Startup StoryBy James McKinney