The Exchanges

Q Like you would play, like, sports with them and take them for, like, nature walks and stuff like that?

A I would do anything and everything. I mean, we went to a natural food grocery store one day and got a tour of that, and Then I would take them to Rockies games because somebody would donate the tickets, and then we had the cat petting club, and I'd take them to the local animal shelter because they couldn't have pets in their homes, and then we would have our community garden, and so it was a year-round program. They'd come after school, and then during the summer, I basically ran a summer camp, and then I would teach them how to cook and do arts and crafts. I mean, anything I could think of to do, I would do.

AI assessment note: “I would do anything and everything. I mean, we went to a natural food grocery store”

Q And, and then what, you would take those, those bars to like Whole Foods and then, like, set up a table with, with samples and, and try to To, to sell them to people who are shopping in the store?

A Yes. So what I had learned working at Whole Foods in the three years that I was there, among other things, was when you sample products for free to people, it's this kind of non-risky trial. So in my mind, the marketing plan for me was to do that, is to stand in the store, to talk to people, educate them, because what I was doing, fruit and nuts, I mean, everybody was afraid to Of a piece of fruit at the time. The, the whole carb thing, the Atkins thing was very big, and everybody thought, like, eating a carrot was a very bad thing, so I'm thinking, what am I gonna do with, you know, cherries and dates, and then, and then nuts have high fat in them, but it's good fat, and so there was a lot to explain, but I had to make it digestible and simple for people, so my whole strategy was to get in each store, and as often as I could, lunch and dinner, Demo my product. Cut it up.

AI assessment note: “Yes. So what I had learned working at Whole Foods in the three years”

Q Like you would play, like, sports with them and take them for, like, nature walks and stuff like that?

A I would do anything and everything. I mean, we went to a natural food grocery store one day and got a tour of that, and Then I would take them to Rockies games because somebody would donate the tickets, and then we had the cat petting club, and I'd take them to the local animal shelter because they couldn't have pets in their homes, and then we would have our community garden, and so it was a year-round program. They'd come after school, and then during the summer, I basically ran a summer camp, and then I would teach them how to cook and do arts and crafts. I mean, anything I could think of to do, I would do.

AI assessment note: “I would do anything and everything. I mean, we went to a natural food grocery store”

Q Laura, any, any final words of, of wisdom for Allison?

A I would just use this time to just pay attention to everything going on. Make sure that the product has, um, is stable and it's packaging and all of that before you get distributed out widely, right? Like in, in my world with food, it was what's the shelf life, but, but you have the same thing in body care and you want to make sure that you're dotting your I's and crossing your T's with that stuff so that you You know that when you go to a bigger retailer that wants you, you're like, you're solid on that. You know what works, what doesn't, and you're still going to learn on the fly, but this is a great time, um, to really do that research and development.

AI assessment note: “Make sure that the product has, um, is stable and it's packaging”

Q 34. 39. You sell it, and all of a sudden, you and your dad, you have this money and this thing that you built. Like, how did you wrap your head around it?

A It took a while. You know, during the sale process, I had to be, um, you know, we, they had to do all of kind of the research of our company without us Telling our employees, and that was very nerve-wracking, so I had to have this very compartmentalized life for three months, and I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown, but, um, because you don't know if it's going to come together until, like, literally the day before. So that was a very stressful period for me. Exciting, but also really unknown, and then we put a deal together, and that was the day before I turned 40, and then All of a sudden, I had to go from running the ship to realizing that a whole other team of people wanted, needed to come in and do that, and I needed to let them do that. As a result, you know, I had a little boy, I'm involved in his life, I, you know, I get to spend time pursuing other things important to me.

AI assessment note: “It took a while. You know, during the sale process”

Q I bet. And, and I mean, you had spent most of, or all of, virtually all of your thirties really just grinding this out, right? And so, presumably you wanted to kind of just focus on yourself a little bit?

A Yeah, I, I just wanted a little relief, I think, and, um, and then we started to talk to some of these companies, and then I met with General Mills, and I just knew the day I walked in that building, and how they approached me, and the meeting we had, I knew, I felt that there was a connection and authenticity, that if there were a company that were big, that they would be A great fit. I felt like they understood my brand and respected it, and all the brands they'd had have been around forever, so they're not just churning brands out and putting them on the shelf and getting rid of them. I just felt the synergy.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, I, I just wanted a little relief, I think”

Q I bet. And, and I mean, you had spent most of, or all of, virtually all of your thirties really just grinding this out, right? And so, presumably you wanted to kind of just focus on yourself a little bit.

A Yeah, I, I just wanted a little relief, I think, and, um, and then we started to talk to some of these companies, and then I met with General Mills, and I just knew the day I walked in that building, and how they approached me, and the meeting we had, I knew, I felt that there was a connection and authenticity, that if there were a company that were big, that they would be A great fit. I felt like they understood my brand and respected it, and all the brands they'd had have been around forever. So they're not just churning brands out and putting them on the shelf and getting rid of them. I just felt the synergy.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, I, I just wanted a little relief, I think”

Q And were you nervous or anxious at all?

A I don't know. I, I would have moments where I would be really gung-ho, and I would get all kinds of great information, and a month would go by, and I would find out about a piece of manufacturing equipment, or just little things, and I would be so motivated, and somebody would want to buy bars, and I'd make them a batch of bars in these little Ziploc bags in a little Chinese takeout box, and, and I would They would pay me, like, 22 dollars or something for a box of bars, and I would think, wow. And then another month would go by where I couldn't get anywhere. I felt like my feet were stuck in the mud, and then I would just get really unmotivated, and nothing would happen. And this went on for the three-year period between my idea phase and when I actually launched.

AI assessment note: “I would have moments where I would be really gung-ho”

Q And were you nervous or anxious at all?

A I don't know. I, I would have moments where I would be really gung-ho, and I would get all kinds of great information, and a month would go by, and I would find out about a piece of manufacturing equipment, or just little things, and I would be so motivated, and somebody would want to buy bars, and I'd make them a batch of bars in these little Ziploc bags in a little Chinese takeout box, and, and I would They would pay me like, 22 dollars or something for a box of bars, and I would think, wow. And then another month would go by where I couldn't get anywhere. I felt like my feet were stuck in the mud, and then I would just get really unmotivated, and nothing would happen. And this went on for the three-year period between my idea phase and when I actually launched.

AI assessment note: “I don't know. I, I would have moments where I would be really gung-ho”

Q Okay, so you have the manufacturing and the printing nailed down, but how did you then find the stores to, to buy and then sell Lara bars?

A Well, let me, let me backtrack to where, when I was working at Whole Foods before I left. So one morning, I was there, because this is also part of what you're asking me, so I was on the early shift at eight a.m., and one of the grocery guys, he said, Lara, the guy you need to meet, he's the regional buyer from Austin, and he's, he's the guy, he's coming in, you know, this next week, he's the guy you should talk to about your product. So here I am. I'm taking trash out one morning. It's about eight 15 in the morning, and he walks across my path on the back dock of the store, this, this buyer, and he says, oh, hey, how are you? What's, what's new? You know, he just, he was being friendly. He'd seen me before. He didn't know who I was, and I, in that moment, I thought, this is my moment, and I said, oh, hi, you know, This is what's new. I've been working on this product. I'm creating my own nutrition bar, this and that. And he literally kind of dead stopped and started doing this motion. I didn't really mean that.

AI assessment note: “Lara, the guy you need to meet, he's the regional buyer from Austin”

Q is hard. It's asking is a very hard for a lot of people. It's very hard. It's hard for me. I'll be honest with you. Um, but I do think that if there's one thing I've seen in, in almost 700 episodes of how I built this is that virtually every entrepreneur on the show has figured out how to get over that and how to ask for help. Laura?

A It's so true. It's just, it's creating a new habit. I mean, you're asking for feedback right now. You've already taken a huge step. You, you, you're on this program. You've already asked. Like, you have it in you to do it. Right. And you just have to just little, little steps, one thing at a time. Right. You're not going to get to the top of the mountain tomorrow, but one little ask at a time. Everybody has their own way of asking. Right. Like I agree. I don't like asking either, but I like to be like a natural fit. Right. Like I like to connect with people because it, it just like, we have a similar thing. And I did that with the, with the stores. When I got in the stores, I was like, I'm not going to, I'm not going to Knock down the doors of people that don't believe in me, but I'm going to go where the energy is flowing, right? The people that believe in me and, and people like that. So that's what I would do. I mean. If you don't ask, you never know.

AI assessment note: “It's so true. It's just, it's creating a new habit.”

Q And naturopathic is like, uh, like, natural, like, homeopathic, uh, remedies and stuff?

A Yes, so there's a school in Seattle, Washington, and one in Portland, Oregon, and naturopathic medicine, and I thought, I'm gonna practice that, which covers all natural medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, everything, and that's what I really, I think that's the direction I want to go. I looked at the school for years, really renowned school, I thought, this is what I'm gonna do, so I started taking chemistry and physics and all these science classes at the local community college, And actually, I'd moved back out to California. My parents were living out there. So I'm on my path of taking classes, and I meet a friend of mine, a dear friend of mine now, one day eating at the local health food store. We're eating lunch, and he drags me to this raw food class, and I have one of the most amazing meals I've ever had in my life at this class, and I thought, Raw foods are kind of amazing, and it just never had occurred to me. And meanwhile, I'm taking my classes, I got accepted to this program, two schools, one in Seattle and one in Washington, and I thought, I'm gonna be a naturopathic doctor, that's what I'm gonna do. And I went to a meeting with all the doctors in California, and they were very limited in their scope of practice there at the time, because the laws weren't open there. And I went to this meeting, and it was like April, I was moving to Seattle in July of that year. Thi…

AI assessment note: “Yes, [...] which covers all natural medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, everything”

Q And naturopathic is like, uh, like natural, like homeopathic, uh, remedies and stuff?

A Yes, so there's a school in Seattle, Washington, and one in Portland, Oregon, and naturopathic medicine, and I thought, I'm gonna practice that, which covers all natural medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, everything, and that's what I really, I think that's the direction I want to go. I looked at the school for years, really renowned school, I thought, this is what I'm gonna do, so I started taking chemistry and physics and all these science classes at the local community college, And actually, I'd moved back out to California. My parents were living out there. So I'm on my path of taking classes, and I meet a friend of mine, a dear friend of mine now, one day eating at the local health food store. We're eating lunch, and he drags me to this raw food class, and I have one of the most amazing meals I've ever had in my life at this class, and I thought, Raw foods are kind of amazing, and it just never had occurred to me. And meanwhile, I'm taking my classes, I got accepted to this program, two schools, one in Seattle and one in Washington, and I thought, I'm gonna be a naturopathic doctor, that's what I'm gonna do. And I went to a meeting with all the doctors in California, and they were very limited in their scope of practice there at the time, because the laws weren't open there. And I went to this meeting, and it was like April, I was moving to Seattle in July of that year. Thi…

AI assessment note: “Yes... which covers all natural medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, everything”

Q Ok, so you have the manufacturing and the printing nailed down, but how did you then find the stores to, to buy and then sell Larabars?

A Well, let me, let me backtrack to where, when I was working at Whole Foods before I left. So one morning, I was there, because this is also part of what you're asking me, so I was on the early shift at eight a.m., and one of the grocery guys, he said, Laura, the guy you need to meet, he's the regional buyer from Austin, and he's, he's the guy, he's coming in, you know, this next week, he's the guy you should talk to about your product. So here I am. I'm taking trash out one morning. It's about eight 15 in the morning, and he walks across my path on the back dock of the store, this, this buyer, and he says, oh, hey, how are you? What's, what's new? You know, he just, he was being friendly. He'd seen me before. He didn't know who I was, and I, in that moment, I thought, this is my moment, and I said, oh, hi, you know, This is what's new. I've been working on this product. I'm creating my own nutrition bar, this and that. And he literally kind of dead stopped and started doing this motion. I didn't really mean that.

AI assessment note: “Laura, the guy you need to meet, he's the regional buyer from Austin”

Q Laura, how much of, of what happened to you is because of luck, and how much because of, of your skill?

A I, I mean, I feel lucky that I have opportunity in my life, and, and that I've surrounded myself with people that care about me, and that, you know, along the way when people thought I was completely out of my mind for starting an energy bar company, I remember thinking to myself, you know, you need to surround yourself with people that believe in you. It's really important. And actually, I remember thinking to myself, I have more to lose if I don't find out Than I do if I try this and it doesn't work. And I'm so glad that for whatever reason I had that in my mind because it compelled me to move forward and make Larimer happen.

AI assessment note: “I feel lucky that I have opportunity in my life”

Q Laura, how much of, of what happened to you is because of luck, and how much because of, of your skill?

A I, I mean, I feel lucky that I have opportunity in my life and, and that I've surrounded myself with people that care about me and that, you know, along the way when people thought I was completely out of my mind for starting an energy bar company, I remember thinking to myself, you know, you need to surround yourself with people that believe in you. It's really important. And actually, I remember thinking to myself, I have more to lose if I don't find out Than I do if I try this and it doesn't work. And I'm so glad that for whatever reason I had that in my mind because it compelled me to move forward and make Laura Burr happen.

AI assessment note: “I feel lucky that I have opportunity in my life”