Kara Goldin | Living Undaunted From the Founder of Hint Water

Written By Kristel Bauer

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kara-goldin-living-undaunted-from-the-founder-of-hint-water/id1500457853?i=1000527974487

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY HERE: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0F9na5URlqmMFqYv6Gryhp

We all have fears and doubts in life, but deciding to face your challenges and learning from them is crucial to building a great business. Dial in and find out how Kara’s health issue inspired her to create a new product and be encouraged to defy your doubts and get past your fears. Kristel did received free Hint products to try before recording.

Key Takeaways From This Episode

  • The keys to entrepreneurship success

  • What does living undaunted mean?

  • Challenges faced by businesswomen

  • Is it possible to be a mom and CEO at the same time?

Disclaimer: All information and views shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not intended to provide medical advice or treatment recommendations. The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified health professional when you have any questions regarding your specific health, changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.

 Hint Water did send me free samples of their products to try.

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters

About Kara Goldin

Kara Goldin is the Founder and CEO of Hint, Inc., best known for its award-winning Hint water, the leading unsweetened flavored water. 

She has received numerous accolades, including being named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Northern California and one of InStyle’s 2019 Badass 50.  Previously, Kara was VP of Shopping Partnerships at America Online. She hosts the podcast The Kara Goldin Show.   Her first book, Undaunted:  Overcoming Doubts and Doubters, was released October 2020 and is now a WSJ and Amazon Best Seller.

Connect with Kara

 

If you are struggling with feeling overworked or overwhelmed, access the Top 10 Stress Management Tips for the Overworked free right now. 

Kristel Bauer, the Founder of Live Greatly, is on a mission to help people awaken to their ultimate potential.  She is a wellness expert, Integrative Medicine Fellow, Keynote Speaker, Physician Assistant, & Reiki Master with the goal of empowering others to live their best lives!

Follow her on:

To learn more about Live Greatly's transformative online courses for personal development and self-improvement, to discuss collaborations and partnerships, or to book Kristel as a speaker or consultant, click here.

Episode Transcript

Kara (Teaser)

You don't have to just allow stuff to roll by. Sometimes it's hard cause you're caught off guard, but other times just be willing to speak up about something that is just a little off because people will pick up on it and the next person won't have to listen to it.

Kristel (Guest Intro)

If you're looking to feel empowered and inspired, you have to listen to this episode with Kara Goldin, the CEO and founder of Hint, best known for its award-winning Hint water, the leading unsweetened flavored water.

I was super pumped when they sent me a case of their water and also their new hint sunscreen, which I was super pumped about cause it smells amazing and some other goodies and I love their products and Kara is a rock star. She has such passion and such drive. And we're going to be talking about how she got to where she is today.

We're going to be talking about her new book, which is Undaunted overcoming doubts and doubters. We're also going to be talking about some unique challenges that Kara faced as a woman, CEO, and really how she stood up for herself and was able to navigate being a CEO of a top company and also navigating motherhood, having four children and all the rest of it.

So let's jump into it. I'm super excited to welcome  Kara Goldin to the show.

So Kara, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so, so, so excited to have you here.

Kara

Thank you for having me very excited to be.

Kristel

So I would love to start by hearing a little bit about how you got into being an entrepreneur, starting Hint, because that was a big deal.

We're not allowed to have, um, options for non-sugary beverages at that time. And after reading your book, I know that there definitely was, um, a lot of really interesting stories involved in there. So I'm hoping that you can just educate the listener a little bit. So they get a feel for how that all start.

Kara

Yeah. Well, thank you. There weren't other options. And that was the thing that I had seen when I was, uh, actually not a beverage executive. I was a tech executive, and I was a parent. I had at the time when I left my tech job at America online, I was running their e-commerce and shopping partnerships. I had been traveling a ton.

I was on a United airlines flight from San Francisco where I live to the east coast almost every Monday. And I thought it's time to stop when it hit a billion dollars in revenue in my group. And I think when I sort of got off that train. People were really surprised, I was one of the youngest vice presidents.

I was one of the few females at that level within the company. And it wasn't that I hated my job or got in a fight with my boss or anything like that. I really  wanted to spend time with my family. And so I did that for a couple of years and I really enjoyed that time, but I also became really passionate and curious about what they were putting into their bodies.

And I think a lot of parents relate to this. It's kind of the first time that I really started paying attention. And that's when one day I woke up and I realized that I wasn't paying as much attention to myself. And in order for me to really be a parent, a great parent, as I wanted to be, I needed to eat healthy as well and use the right products and all of that.

And I had been kind of quietly fighting this health issue. I gained a bunch of weight over the course of, many of my pregnancies had also developed terrible adult acne, which I had seen a bunch of doctors for and nobody could really come up with any reason why. And finally, I decided that I was going to start dieting and start working out.

I was already working out, but I thought I'm going to pay attention to that as well before I actually go back to work and I had really looked at all I was eating. I, like I said, I'd been on a good exercise program. Um, but nothing was really working. I still wasn't getting the weight off that I wanted to, or my skin was still kind of a mess.

And so that point of really giving up that finally, one day I looked down at my soda can and I was drinking diet, soda, diet Coke in particular, and saw all the ingredients. And this was 17 years ago. And it was, it was at a time when it was, you know, not really a common topic where people thought that there was anything wrong with diet sweeteners, maybe like they do today.

And so I decided to do this test purely out of curiosity, whether or not it was the diet soda that was causing any of these health issues. I probably even thought that it wasn't going to work. And, but I thought, what the heck, I'm going to give it a try. And so I swapped it out for plain water. That's when I saw significant change.

In two and a half weeks, I lost over 20 pounds. I mean, it was insane just by making this one change in my diet and my skin cleared up, my energy levels were back and I felt. This is amazing, super surprising, but the one thing that I couldn't kind of get over was the fact that I felt that water was boring.

And I thought long-term, I'm not going to be able to stick to this because water is just boring. And so how do I make water exciting without adding these diets sweeteners back into it. I started slicing up fruit and throwing it into the water. Still not thinking that I was going to take on the beverage companies or become an entrepreneur.  For me, it was just solving a problem for myself.

And then I looked at the fact that I missed having the convenience of buying a diet soda at the store, having a 12 pack in my frigerator and grabbing it and running. Instead, it was a hassle. I took fruit. I had to buy pesticide free fruit and it would go bad  after a couple of days, I was cutting, cutting, cutting all the time.

And it was just a hassle. I thought I want a drink with fruit and water. No sweeteners. Couldn't believe that this product wasn't in, in the grocery store everywhere. I looked on the east coast. I looked on the west coast. I couldn't believe it. And so as a kind of intermediate step to actually going back to the tech world where I thought that that's where I would go.

I thought maybe I'll just get a product on the shelf at this new supermarket that just opened called whole foods. And I thought, I'll just go get a product on the shelf I'm going to be. And I remember saying to my husband, so I think I'm going to, I'm going to launch. On the shelf and he said, what are you doing?

And he was barely listening to me because he thought that it was just one of these ideas that I came up with, but I wouldn't actually go write a business plan, go buy bottles, caps, fruit, and everything, and actually go to it. But I think more than anything, it was my curiosity. And my discovery of this crazy world that existed out there that was really filled with healthy perception versus healthy reality.

That really bothered me. And I thought this is a big business in the diet industry and diets alone, as well as products like diet  soda, and It's not okay that people like me who want to get healthy, can't figure it out. And that it's expensive and I should take this product to market because it will help people to enjoy water.

Little did I know how hard it would be? What I was doing? I was not only launching a product on the shelf and a new company, but launching an entirely new theory called unsweetened flavored water, which, uh, no one who was actually the gatekeepers of my product to store shelves, the buyers who were doing the buying, they didn't know where to place me on the shelf.

They didn't find the fact that I had no competitors was actually a hindrance to me being able to get my product on the shelf because that signaled that the consumer didn't think that it was important enough. And I was like, wait, what? This is just crazy on so many fronts. So that led me ultimately to The journey, my book, as you and I chatted about earlier that I thought I've got to share the story. And today PS fast-forward, we are the largest privately held non non-alcoholic beverage in the country that doesn't have a relationship with Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper snapple.

That was 16 years ago from  somebody who didn't have experience who in the beverage industry and somebody who really saw a need, first starting with me and believe that I could help people just by bringing a product to market.

Kristel

That is such an incredible story on so many levels. And I resonate with it on so many levels. Thinking back in college, I was drinking diet, everything, diet soda. And then I felt like, well, I'm going to move to a little healthier beverage and I'll do like vitamin waters zero and all of that stuff. And I remember a girlfriend being like, do you know that artificial sweeteners in there it's not healthy.

This was before I got trained in integrative medicine, I was clueless. I was getting trained in medicine, but they didn't talk about that in PA school. So I was like, what do you mean? And then I wanted to get pregnant. And I started to look into some of this stuff. And then once I got pregnant, that's when I was like, I'm getting rid of anything artificial sweeteners.

And that opened my eyes because I really didn't know. And then also, like you said, with wanting to be healthy for your kids, I mean, I think that's such a drive for people to make those positive changes and like kudos to you for just like. Going for it, you know, you're like, yeah, I’m going to go get it on the shelf shelves at whole foods.

Kara

Like how hard could it be? Yeah. And so many stories that came out of it. Again, didn't know what I was doing, but as I've been out speaking over the years and meeting with entrepreneurs, so many people talk about. Fearless risk takers that entrepreneurs are like, what are those key things? And I think, you know, having a great idea, having a, having an idea to solve a problem, be willing to share your story with people along the way so that they get it.

People will see a product, they have to like a product, but also understanding your backstory is the way that, you allow your story to be told by others. So even if they don't get the story exactly. Right. I think that that's such a key thing, but then also just being able to do what you feel like has purpose and what is your legacy going forward?

And you know, you and I were chatting a little bit about that whole topic. And I think that it's one that we all have choices. And unfortunately, so often when where  you know, maybe in high school or maybe in university, we think the mega beautiful situation is that we get that first job and then we go become a manager and then we go become a VP and maybe a CEO.

But so often we continue to rise in organizations and make enough money maybe but we're not really happy. We don't really love what we're doing. We don't really understand what our purpose is and why we're going out there and doing it. And I think that's a lot of what I try and share in the book as well is that it's my purpose. It's not anyone else's purpose. And so coming from somebody who was considered a you know, great tech executive, a very successful tech executive. It was the last thing that people kind of expected me to say that I'm going to start a beverage company and I'm going into whole foods taking my cases and grand Cherokee and bringing it in there.

I mean, people were just like, are you okay? Is everything fine? And I said, yeah, it's great. I just have to figure out who could  watch the kids. Cause I can't put four car seats in my car and I mean, people were just like, this is just a trip. And I love running into those people today. Because again, everyone has their story about, I remember seeing you trying to figure this stuff out early on and so much, so many stories along the way.

You just have to build the plane as you're flying it. As I talk about in one of the chapters and it's just so it really is part of the journey to go and, and do what you want to be doing.

Kristel

And like you had this big vision, you had a big  why, a big purpose, a problem. That was a real problem that you were trying to solve.

So all that other stuff, it's like, you'll figure it out. You know, you had that bigger vision for why you were doing it. And I really want to talk a little bit about your title of your book. So undaunted, overcoming douts and doubters, what does being undaunted mean to you? And why did you decide to have that as your title?

Kara

So for me, undaunted really is a decision. It's a decision to live. I think we all live in a world where we have fears. We have challenges, but it's a decision that you're going to go and face those fears that you're going to go and do things that you're not always comfortable with, that you make a decision to live undaunted and keep moving forward and not stay complacent and know that you may make mistakes along the way you're going to possibly fail.

But instead, you're gonna use those times, those challenging times to learn from those things and recognize that your journey will not be uneventful. And I think that the people that I know that have chosen to live on daunted, are they considered the most resilient, maybe considered risk takers to people who don't really know them.

They're the ones that you want to join your team, join your company, have a dinner party with, because they're interesting and funny and they've done kind of crazy things. And so who wouldn't want to live undaunted and go out and face those days in that way. And part of the reason why I wanted to title the book this way is that as I've spoken to people, many of them entrepreneurs over the years, I think that people don't talk enough about the choice of, first of all becoming an entrepreneur is really challenging.

And a talk that I give when I'm on college campuses is it's not about not every entrepreneur becomes a unicorn, becomes a failure. There's a lot of steps along the way, and you've got to have a great idea. You've got to continue to be vulnerable and be curious along the way, but you've also got to be able to build a team and understand the importance of being able to do that.

And I think that all of these things are hard and they're scary at times. So,I think having the conversation about being undaunted and really believing that this is the way you choose to live is just such an important topic for everybody, men and women, you know, young and old, even if you haven't felt like you've lived on daunted to date, start today.

Kristel

I love that. I would also like to talk a little bit about how you've experienced or any unique challenges you've experienced being a woman in starting your business and being a CEO. And if you've had any unique challenges, um, since there are not as many women CEOs, I would just love to hear any experiences you've had for that.

At any advice that you could offer to women who are listening, who are looking to go down maybe a similar path or their own path, and they want to rise up in a company or Excel in their career.

Kara

So one of the stories that did not make the book, so you won't read about this in the book, but it's a pretty good one.

We were, I had launched Hint and finally decided it was about this subs about a year and a half into Uh, starting hint that we were going to actually raise money. I say we, because I had asked my husband or actually he asked me if he could help me, which soon he started having so much fun and really decided to also live undaunted and get out.

And he was an intellectual property, Silicon valley attorney who decided that he wasn't thrilled with being a lawyer and also saw large checks being written out of our personal bank account for bottles and fruit and caps and thought, okay, wait, what are we doing here? And maybe I should come along and see exactly what's going on.

And he thought, you know, just the, the learning experience and the discovery that he was finding along the way was just this whole new world as well. And so about a year and a half in, we decided, okay, we're doing well, but we need to start taking a salary. We've got four kids. We live in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

And if we're really going to do this, we need to go and try and raise some money. And so we have been self-funding it today. And we have had a few Silicon valley venture firms who we had sort of known through our tech days who had thought it was interesting. They started to see it in some tech offices as well.

And so they reached out and they said, oh, we hear you're like starting a new company. The tech, I mean, we really interested in meeting with you. So one of them, one of the more prominent ones invited us to come down to their office and, and, you know, share a little bit more about the company and we felt that it was pretty good timing.

So we got a babysitter. We went down to Silicon valley Sandhill road and my husband, I was wearing heels and my husband said, I'll just drop you here and I'll go park the car. So as he's parking the car, the partner shows up  and says, I'm, you know, who you're meeting with so nice to meet you. And I said, oh, nice to meet you as well.

And he saw that Theo was parking the car and he said, oh, you know, read that you have four children. And I said, I do. And he said, so who's watching the kids? And it was at that moment, I hadn't planned on him asking me who was watching the kids, but I also kind of reacted in what would soon be known as the right way?

I said, oh my gosh. And he said, are you, are you okay? And I said, oh yeah, it's really amazing. There's this thing called babysitters. And so before I knew I was coming to meet with you, I actually got a babysitter. And he said, oh, and my husband walked up at that moment and kind of an awkward moment. And he said, so is everything okay?

Yeah, it's fine. And we went into the meeting. The meeting was fine, by the way, they didn't invest and people have always asked me, do you think it was because of that awkward moment and they've never invested in another beverage company, which is a whole other topic where I believe people I've never had problems getting the meeting.

I think that the key thing is, is that people invest in what they know. They may not tell you that. But it's what they do. And especially when it's part of a big fund it's, if it's outside of the box of what they invest in. I mean, it's something that a lot of entrepreneurs certainly first-time entrepreneurs like me didn't really realize, but the funniest part of the story came a couple of years later when, you know, Hint was definitely taking off.

We were starting to show up in a lot of these tech offices, like Google and Facebook, many tech companies that this firm deals with. And so I saw this gentleman at, at an event and another mutual friend said, oh, do you know Kara? And he said, I do know Kara. And he said, as a matter of fact, I said something to Kara that I'll never forget.

And I mean, I'm just standing there, like just all ears. And he said, can you imagine she was coming into our offices to talk about her company? And the first thing out of my mouth was,I hear you have four kids. Who's watching the children?  Now, would I ever say that to a man? The two guys having this dialogue in front of me and he said, he answered his own question.

He said, absolutely not. Why would I have said that to her? And he said, but you know what, Kara, I never said, I never have asked that question again.

And so I think. The story that when I walked away that day, I thought actually doing is sharing how you feel about something, even when you're a little caught off guard, even how you don't walk away angry and hold it in and think, oh gosh, that person just said something and he got the message and he will not.

He said it himself. He will not say that again. So you can have teaching moments just by speaking up. Don't hold things in, but don't seem appropriate. And I think that that is something that we all need to learn from, that it's not a, you don't have to just allow stuff to roll by. And again, sometimes it's hard because you're caught off guard, but other times just be willing to speak up about something that is just a lot.

And because people will pick up on it and the next person won't have to listen to it.

Kristel

Yeah. That story, like it gave me goosebumps because, you know, that took a lot of courage and wit by the way, to respond like that in that situation. And you know, what a learning lesson for him and I just am so impressed with you responding in that way.

And I think that is really valuable for the women that are listening and the men that are listening, um, kind of moving forward in that. And I would love to get a little bit of insight and how you personally have navigated being the CEO, having a very successful company and motherhood. And I know from my personal experiences, like I was home with my kids for six years, I was working and then I spent some time with them and then I went back and I want it.

And then it was just figuring out, well, how can I make this work? I want to be there for a lot of their events. I want to do this, but I also want to grow my business. So it's just been a lot of trial and error. I'm trying to be flexible and, and just make changes as things shift in my life. But I would love to hear a little bit about what's worked for you.

Kara

Yeah. I think first of all, the willingness to actually have a support system is really important. And I think it's something that I see so many colleagues and the next generation who have asked me about this. I said, once I figured out what my team, what my family needs and the different stages of what they need and not being afraid.

To say that I can't do it all I think is really, really important. And also be willing to say that things can change along the way. For example, when my kids were really, really little having somebody that when I wasn't there. Really worked with them and nurtured them. And that wasn't taking the place of me.

I wasn't gone for days and days. I did a lot less travel w in the very early years, but again, for a few hours at a time when they were napping, things like that and took that opportunity to, to kind of really understand that schedule also being on a schedule so that I could be on a schedule, I think were things that I learned along the way.

And as they got older, they needed a driver. They needed a great driver that I felt confident that I could have somebody else driving. Things like that I think are really important. So often people are like, oh, well, the help that I've had when they were young didn't really carry them through to this stage.

And so then they thought, well, I need to just stay home. You don't necessarily, you need to really look at your support system and figure out if is it the right thing. And I think that holds true for your team and your business too, because I think a lot of the things that I've been able to do is because I hire people.

I understand the jobs I often kickstart all of these jobs, everything from writing the original business plan to starting our customer service and starting our direct to consumer business. But then I go and hire people to really take it over. Or the majority of the hours spent on those businesses. So really understanding how to hire and not fearing that somebody is going to take your place.

I guess, I think is such a key thing. And it's something, I think it's something that women kind of have a hard time doing initially until they start doing it until they find the right people. And it is hard to be able to find the right people to build that right support system. But I think taking the time to really evaluate that and maybe even getting help to try and evaluate that on what you may need and also trying things too, I think at every stage in your life, not feeling like, just because you hired somebody and it didn't work out, then suddenly you have to be doing what you don't want to do. I think that's another thing that you and I chatted about is that. You know, if you're not happy, if for example, you're staying home and you really want to be doing something, you want to be having a career and doing something else And you're not, you're not helping anybody by showing your frustrations at home.

When you're angry, you have to sort of figure out what's going to make you, and what's going to make your family happy. So, so that's something that's pretty key. But also, I think that the other piece of it too, is recognizing that just by being happy and doing something that you really love doing that actually transfers over to your children.

And so this whole idea of balance that is you and I chatted about, I think as often, you know, a struggle and I think very misunderstood by so many, what are we actually teaching our kids? If it's all about this or that versus actually integrating things together, find a way to do something that works for your family, for you to both do what you love. It doesn't have to be work or stay home. It can be a hybrid of both. And Ithink certainly the pandemic has also showed us that, you know, it may not be a world of just going into an office five days a week. I don't think it will be. I think there will be many jobs that maybe are totally remote and there will be some jobs, uh, probably within the next year that go back to an office. And I think the majority of jobs will be a hybrid of the two. And I think it's just finding what those opportunities are and how they fit within your life. Do they make you happy? Are the key thing?

Kristel

No, that was incredible. Lots of really great insights there.

And we are coming towards the end. So I want to make sure everybody knows where to find your book. I will put a link in the episode details and also a link where people can learn more about hint, anything else that you want to share. And then we're going to go into a quick wellness lightning round, right.

And ask a couple of quick questions, but anything else, as far as where people can learn more about you and your book.

Kara

So all of her social media at Kara golden and. Feel like picking up a copy of the book on Amazon or booksellers, also a case of Hint at, on Amazon or a drink, hint.com. And I would love to hear from all that.

Kristel

And you are rocking it on social media. Like I, your posts are so inspiring. I love it. So I follow you on LinkedIn and on Instagram, which is where I mostly am on social. And every time I'm like, oh, that's such a great post. So yeah, I would highly recommend checking out Cara's stuff there. And then your, you guys have a hint sparkling water now, too.

Kara

Right. Yeah. We've had it for a while. You know, it's just an, it's really kind of our theory that, you know, often when there's more than one person in the household, there's always somebody that really likes sparkling water and it's a great product. It's an interesting, having two different, having a Flatwater and a, uh, Stillwater.

And it carbonated water, especially at store level. It's always like when you're just trying to get a few skews in like, well, what should we do? Yeah. And so we definitely, we are the leader and the Stillwater market, and we have a carbonated, but it's harder to find it. It's also a high quality product. So the carbonated waters, there's a lot of competition out there.

They're not as good. High quality, frankly. And so it, we don't discount it in the same way that maybe other brands do, but you could definitely find it online as well. It's a great product.

Kristel

Awesome. Well, let's jump into the wellness lightning round care. I'm just going to ask you a couple of quick questions.

Just first thoughts that come to mind. Are you ready?

 I'm ready. First question is what is self-care routine or something you do for self care? That's like a non-negotiable.

Kara

Hike in the morning every morning. I love that.

Kristel

Are you close to like forest?

Kara

The other thing that I did kind of by accident, I moved out of San Francisco when I had young kids to save money to an area that had great public schools.

And literally did I know it was Marin county. It's about 20 minutes from San Francisco, but my house backs up to a state park. And so I have a hundred acres of trails in my backyard. And so, and I have two Labradors. So I'm used to, I started out hiking about three miles a day or running. And then now with the pandemic, it's gone up to five miles every day and I'm up there and I see all kinds of wildlife.

It's really starts my day. I don't wear headphones. I'm up there hearing birds and seeing all kinds of nature. And it really, it throws me [completely at it. I could count on one hand how many times I haven't hiked in the morning cause I just have to have it. So it's the oxygen. It's the, just the nature sounds that are just real.

Kristel

Oh, my gosh. I totally relate to that. That's incredible. So, second question, final question. What advice would you give to yourself from 10 years ago knowing what you know now, no matter how hard your days are, they serve a purpose and you may not really understand what that purpose is today. I'm confident eventually you'll figure it out and what they were there for, even if they were really, really challenging times.

And one of the things you'll read about in the book is the 2008, 2009 financial crisis for me was for many people, was a doozy. And I wasn't really sure what. Time was there for, but when the pandemic hit and I had to figure a lot of stuff out fast, including raise money before anything bad happened, potentially in the financial markets, I was very confident that I knew the roadmap and the importance of not staying complacent.

And that was. Really in my mind from being through that previously very challenging time. That that's what that time taught me for the future.

Kristel

That's wonderful, Kara. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to share all of these incredible insights. It was a really inspiring and eye-opening conversation.

Kristel Bauer
Previous

Reframing Failure: 2 Minutes of Motivation
Next

3 Ways to Support a Healthy Gut: 2 Minutes of Motivation