This episode of The Jake Dunlap Show features Kara Goldin, Founder and CEO of Hint, Inc. Even as a little girl, Kara learned that it's never too late to reinvent yourself and create your own opportunities. Her drive to learn business concepts from day 1 became the foundation for her success during her storied career.
After graduating, she kept an open mind, toured around the country, and interviewed with over 90 companies to figure out what was best for her. She created a vast network for herself and ended up applying for her journalism degree with Time Magazine.
Kara's story is characterized by an intense desire to keep learning and grabbing opportunities as they come. These traits would allow her to meet directly with executives who would recognize her passion and open even more doors for her.
Years after her first real job with Time, she would go on to build a billion dollar ecommerce business, found Hint Water, win awards and recognitions like Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2011, and write her book Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters.
Listen to the full podcast on Kara’s journey of self-discovery, curiosity, and the value of continuously learning as you go along your way.
QUOTES:
28:40 "Your journey, no matter what you do, as you go on your journey you can start to pick the things that you really like about it."
32:46 "I should ask more people what they do and maybe they'll be willing to set me up with jobs with their companies. So then, anyone who came across my path, not just in Teepee, but also my dad's friends, I was like, who do you know in LA?"
43:23 "Where do you think you're lacking? I would ask these questions that just showed curiosity and, to your point, that's who you want to hire. Great managers want to hire people that help them think."
49:16 "That's what happens when you start not only a new company but when you're the only one in the space in a new category, as I share with entrepreneurs, you got to stay alive along the way and you got to wait for the consumer to catch up."
52:11 "You can still get back up from your challenges. You just have to figure out how not to freeze or when to slow down or when to pivot along the way. All those things are so critical."
More about Kara
Kara's very first job was at Alphabet Toys when she was just 14 years old. By the time she was in college, she would also wait tables at Teepee where she learned that opportunities are not just given to people, you can make them yourself by engaging others in meaningful conversations.
After graduation and landing her first real job as an executive assistant with Time Magazine, she would eventually rise up to become the Circulation Sales Manager. She would then move to CNN to work in sales, and then switch industries to work in ecommerce with 2market.
This venture, under her leadership, would become a billion-dollar business that would eventually be acquired by AOL where she served as VP of Electronic Commerce and Shopping.
After a few years and several pregnancies, Kara would found Hint Water with a desire to provide consumers a fun yet healthier alternative to soda which had caused her health to decline. Since its founding in 2005, Hint would become the largest independent beverage company without ties to Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper Snapple.
Find out more about Kara Goldin and connect with her in the following links:
Learn more about Jake Dunlap and Skaled by visiting the links below:
Jake Dunlap:
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