Bill Keith is CEO and Co-Founder of Perfect Snacks.  

You can say Bill Keith was a “born leader” as he is the eldest of 13 children, and they became known as the family that founded Perfect Bar. 

Perfect Bar is the #1-Selling Refrigerated Protein Bar in the U.S. and is available in 27,000 retailers nationwide.

Bill's quest to create Perfect Bar began in college, when he submitted a business plan for a class project, outlining his concept for a first-of-its-kind refrigerated protein bar made with whole food ingredients — a concept hatched from a childhood recipe, created by his father. 

Over the next 13 years, Bill and his younger siblings worked tirelessly to turn the crowded, $6-billion protein bar industry upside down, leading consumers away from the highly-processed, non-perishable snack aisles, to the fresh and functional snack and beverage coolers where Perfect Snacks products continue to carve out desirable, high-velocity fridge real estate.

Named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Ernst & Young (San Diego Region), ‘Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in the U.S.”, “Most-Admired CEO” by San Diego Business Journal,  “Best Workplaces 2019” from Inc. Magazine

Bill’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-keith-48a77a14/ 

Bill’s Company Perfect Snacks: https://perfectsnacks.com/ 

WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER FROM THIS EPISODE:

• What it was like being the eldest child of such a large family, being home schooled, and growing up in national parks across the country.
• The “perfect” origin of the Perfect Bar, and how it saved his family.
• How growing up in a big family impacted his leadership.
• Bill’s top 3 national parks.
• The advice that Bill gives to his mentees who are starting a business.
• A strategy to keep going despite the ‘No’.
• How to work through a “No” with a customer.
• Why you must listen and react in real time.
• Why they’ve gone the extra mile to hand roll the bar.
• The key inflection points of start-up to boot strapping to working with investors.
• How to deal with stress when “daring greatly”.  
• How a $100,000 investment led to $20MM per year.
• The trait he’d like to instill in every employee…vulnerability.
• Three success strategies for every employee.

QUOTES:

“Make sure you long from the sign post along the way that tells you that you’re on the right path.”

“If you have a product you’d like to test, go to your local farmer’s market."

“When I was starting out, Google was my ‘cheat sheet’.”

“I want on my tombstone ‘He was a good listener’.”

“Constantly perfect your own brand and craft.”

“I would rather be a person who says what they know and don’t know. Then share what you’re doing to learn what you need to.”

“Look at your actions and determine where you need to do better.”

RESOURCES:

The Acadia Coop in Northern California

Brene Brown – Daring Greatly https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Greatly-Courage-Vulnerable-Transforms/dp/1592408419

College of Redwoods https://www.redwoods.edu/

Yosemite, Niagara, Lake Chelan 

Jordan Rubin, Ancient Nutrition https://ancientnutrition.com/

Peter Burns, One Bar and Justin’s Nut Butter https://www.cobizmag.com/how-peter-burns-helps-promising-food-companies-flourish/

Wayne Woo

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