Kara Goldin is the Founder and CEO of Hint Water, author, podcaster, wife and mom of 4. She refers to herself as an accidental entrepreneur because after having a career at Time Inc, CNN, and AOL, Kara found herself focusing on her health as a mom and that’s when Hint Water was created. Kara hosts the podcast “The Kara Goldin Show” (previously Unstoppable), where she converses with Founders, Disruptors, and other notable people she refers to as Unstoppable Guests.
Today, Kara’s book Undaunted: Overcoming Doubt and Doubters,launches and I was fortunate enough to read it prior to our conversation. In her book, she takes us along the journey of how she got to today while daring to be undaunted. It’s definitely a must-read and unlike any kind of entrepreneurial book I’ve read!
Grab a bottle of Hint and join us as Kara shares a hint of her history. You will love how relatable her story is and her friendly conversational style as she shares her journey with us.
Let’s discover how Kara followed her passion and purpose to become an entrepreneur!
What we’re talking about
- Kara’s Journey From Corporate To Entrepreneur
- The Launch Of Hint Water
- Kara’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Kara’s Journey From Corporate To Entrepreneur
Before her entrepreneurial journey started, Kara worked in media for TIME and CNN. She mentions that she was inspired by Steve Jobs’ ideas of making shopping easier for people. She decided to pick up the phone and call the CEO of 2Market, the e-commerce CD-ROM company that was behind the beginning of online shopping for AOL because she wanted to learn more. Kara ended up ultimately working at AOL running their e-commerce and shopping partnerships. Luckily for us, Kara played a significant role in pioneering the online shopping movement.
Kara refers to herself as an accidental entrepreneur. She bundled all of her career experiences with her health issues, weight gain, developing adult acne, and raising young kids to create a business that ultimately is her purpose and passion…a water that is changing the lives and health of others.
The Launch Of Hint Water
After leaving AOL, Kara was feeling the desire to focus on getting healthy. She had been reading the labels of the food she consumed, but she hadn’t paid attention to the beverage labels. Drinking numerous cans of diet soda every day, Kara was shocked to see that “diet” didn’t mean healthy. She started drinking water but became bored with the flavor, so she started adding fruit to it. After seeing the changes in her body and having friends gush over how delicious her fruit water was, she started looking for this type of product in stores, but couldn’t find it anywhere.
Kara decided it was time to bring her flavored water to the world. During her 4th pregnancy, she spent the time developing and learning in order to get the company off the ground. On the day that Kara gave birth to her fourth child, she stopped at Whole Foods on the way and landed Hint Water on the shelves!
From Day One, they were getting emails from satisfied customers praising the product and how it changed their lives. This feedback was incredibly powerful and continues as they have evolved and created new products like deodorant and sunscreen.
Kara’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Growing up, Kara was exposed to several entrepreneurial influences in her life. Her dad created Healthy Choice dinners while employed at Armco Foods (now ConAgra). When Kara’s mom decided to follow her love of fashion and retail, Kara’s dad became responsible for feeding her and her siblings dinner. He quickly realized that the TV dinners from the frozen section were pretty bland and he knew he had to create something healthy, tasty and that his company could do it. Kara’s dad worked with famed chef, Julia Child to create Healthy Choices! Kara’s older brother was constantly looking for ways to make money to pay for school while earning his law degree and would fix cars and paint houses. She describes her childhood self as being curious and that trait is still apparent today. Kara believed that she should be learning from all different people along the way and to not rely on just one person to give you information.
Through building her business, Kara has managed to learn a ton about water. She is on a mission to improve drinking water standards nationwide. She is currently working with Congresswoman Jackie Speier from California to get a Bill in front of Congress to clean up our water supply. This Bill will put pressure on every State and the EPA to classify PFAS as a dangerous substance. Doing so will force the States to measure the levels in the water.
Kara mentions that as a child athlete, she picked up a lot of life lessons. She has been able to apply those skills in tackling significant challenging issues that she’s encountered on her journey. Kara shows us that you can change your future by doing whatever you put your mind to. You have the power to follow whatever brings you purpose or are passionate about in your life.
Go grab your copy of Undaunted: Overcoming Doubt & Doubters and read the rest of Kara’s incredible story.
Are you ready to be Undaunted?
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