Kara Goldin: Founder & CEO of Hint Water On Building & Scaling A Brand

The Shifting Perceptions Podcast - Inspiration For Creative Lifestyles

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Kara Goldin is a force to be reckoned with. An insanely successful entrepreneur, she is on a mission to improve the health of millions. We spoke to her about her early influences, what fuels her passion for healthy living, and how she stays motivated to inspire herself, and others.

Kara is the CEO and founder of the healthy lifestyle brand, Hint, Inc., based in San Francisco. Their products include fruit infused carbonated beverages that are free of artificial sweeteners and preservatives, naturally infused caffeine-based drinks, and a scented sunscreen spray that is oxybenzone and paraben-free.

Throughout her career, Kara has won numerous awards for her contributions to society and her business acumen. Named as one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, as well as one of Forbes' 40 Women to Watch Over 40, Kara is a trailblazing innovator who proves that women can, and will, do it all.

This awesomely insightful hour-long episode takes a deep dive into how Kara stumbled upon the benefits of healthy living, the challenges of juggling family life in the world of business, and the importance of both personal and professional growth.

Here are our favorite takeaways from wildly successful entrepreneur and all-around business guru Kara Goldin.

Healthy Perception VS Healthy Reality

When Kara decided to develop Hint water, she was inspired by her own journey of trying to be a committed H2O drinker. After gaining a wonderful new baby, and a not so wonderful new diet soda habit, Kara realized that her weight was creeping up and her energy levels were severely lacking. On a mission to kick the coke and up her water intake, she committed herself to drink more water. But, like most people, Kara found drinking water became a chore. So she did what any brilliant business innovator would — she solved the problem.

After realizing that adding fruit to her water made it much more palatable, she set about trying to find a product that was similar. Unfortunately, all that she could locate in her local grocery store were pseudo health drinks, with more sugar than most soft drinks contained. Armed with this information, and a desire to provide consumers with a healthy alternative, Kara set about developing a shelf-stable beverage that contained no sweeteners and no artificial preservatives. Cue the birth of Hint.

Start From The Beginning

A common theme throughout our discussion with Kara was that she's not afraid of diving into something new — because the fun is in the learning process. A self-confessed "scrappy" businesswoman, Kara explained to us the importance of jumping into a venture and educating yourself along the way.

When we asked Kara what significant lessons she had learned from being an entrepreneur, she told us that "Passion trumps experience," which really resonates with us as creatives. Almost every guest we chat to on this podcast has a passion for, and commitment, to what they do; it's not a coincidence; it's a correlation.

"I learned along the way that passion trumps experience any day. And curiosity is another one that's the key. If you can get somebody who just really loves what you're doing and emotionally excited about it, and curious, that's definitely something that is much more important."

Don't Put All Of Your Eggs In One Basket.

Kara shared with us the importance of diversification as an entrepreneur, and how she almost learned that lesson the hard way.

After earning a lucrative deal to have her beverage stocked in Starbucks, Kara received a phone call 18 months into the contract letting her know that Starbucks had decided to go into a different, more profitable, direction. Rather than dwell on the temporary loss, Kara used the disappointment as fuel to help diversify Hint's business model. This quick thinking helped Hint to develop a new business relationship with Amazon's grocery delivery arm, and they quickly became one of Amazon's top-selling products.

"I always tell entrepreneurs to have a quick celebration about that victory, but then figure out how do you actually diversify, you know, so that you've got a lot more like victories and not just be trying to figure out how to make that one account, keep going."

Kara is a genuinely passionate and dedicated advocate for safe and clean products. We love how much she stressed the importance of consumer education, and the responsibility of companies to be totally transparent about their products and what they contain. Even with the best will in the world, it can be challenging to decipher past snazzy marketing gimmicks and pseudo-health marketing, so we appreciate companies like Hint, Inc., who care about their consumer and are socially conscious — not just profit-driven.

To hear the full conversation, including more entrepreneurial hints and tips from Kara, click the player and prepare to be inspired!

Links & Resources

• Hint Water Blackberry — Pure Water Infused with Blackberry, Zero Sugar, Zero Calories, Zero Sweeteners, Zero Preservatives, Zero Artificial Flavors
• Hint Kids Water Variety Pack — Cherry, Watermelon, Apple, & Blackberry, Unsweet Water with Zero Diet Sweeteners
• Hint Water Peppermint — Pure Water Infused Peppermint Zero Sugar Zero Calories Zero Sweeteners Zero Preservatives Zero Artificial Flavor
• Hint Sunscreen — SPF 30, Grapefruit & Pineapple, Oxybenzone Free, Paraben Free Broad Spectrum Sunscreen

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