Christy Goldsby: Founder of Honey Mamas

Episode 568

On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we dive into an insightful conversation Christy Goldsby, the Founder and force behind Honey Mama’s. Renowned for their unique honey-sweetened refrigerated truffle bars, Honey Mama’s combines the luxuriousness of indulgent treats with the wholesomeness of nutrient-rich ingredients. Christy shares her fascinating journey from launching her product at a local Portland Farmers Market to expanding her reach to over 6,000 stores nationwide, illustrating a revolutionary shift in how we perceive and consume snacks.She also shares how her prior experiences growing Blue Gardenia Bakery shaped her approach to creating a sustainable and health-conscious food company. Her deep-rooted connection to Portland and her commitment to using food as medicine are evident in every aspect of Honey Mama’s. Christy shows us what it takes to overcome challenges and triumphs and what it takes to scale a business and stay true to the mission. This is a great episode about entrepreneurship, health and the snack industry. Discover how Honey Mama’s is revolutionizing the way we think about food, one snack at a time. Listen now to The Kara Goldin Show.

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Transcript

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be I want to be you just want to make sure you will get knocked down but just make sure you don’t get knocked down knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control control control. Hi, everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi, everyone. It’s Kara Goldin. So excited to be here today for the Kara Goldin show. super thrilled to have our next guest we have Christie Goldsby, who is the founder and so many other things of Honey Mama’s with us here today and Honey Mamas is renowned for its unique honey sweetened, refrigerated truffle bars that blend indulgence and nutrition. From starting her journey at local farmers market stores to now being in stores nationwide. Christie has revolutionized how we think about those bar treats. Super, super yummy. Her commitment to using food as medicine is not only changing the snack industry, but also continues to inspire. And her story is super incredible. I’m very excited to have her here to share not only her own personal business journey, but also so much more about Honey Mama’s and introduce everyone to the backstory. So welcome, Christy.

Christy Goldsby 1:45
It is so nice to be here. Thanks for such a such a wonderful introduction, Kara.

Kara Goldin 1:50
Yeah, absolutely. So let’s start with what inspired you to start Honey Mama’s and I guess you started at the farmers market. But what was kind of the backstory? Where did you get this concept? What were you? I guess, what was the hole that you really saw? And, you know, was there a personal health journey that kind of dictated this idea more than anything? There

Christy Goldsby 2:17
sure was. This is like, it’s it’s my favorite story. Because it’s it really is the most meaningful, one of the most meaningful things I’ve done in my life outside of having two daughters. But you know, I had owned a bakery and coffee roasting company with that was my mom and my sister and in the early 2000s. And so and I grew up in a family where food and I always worked in restaurants and things. So food always has been central to my world. And then I have that professional experience for many, many years running a bakery and, and leading that and it was in about 2010 My best friend had a really severe autoimmune disease that was diagnosed by the doctors, but there was no cure. And it was called myasthenia gravis. And she was really freaked out, she was losing her ability to use her muscles. And they she was getting studied by the, you know, at the Mayo Clinic and all these things well, she ended up being recommended the cleanse to do and it was this very simple cleanse that where you’re essentially cutting out all the sugar in your diet and, and she said, I’m going to do this cleanse. I’ve heard that it is like helpful for illness in general and autoimmune diseases. And so I said, Well, I’m doing it with you, because I’m going to support you in this process. And so we did it together. And it was a life changing experience for me about three weeks into the cleanse. She turned her autoimmune disease around, she started all of the symptoms within a couple of weeks started going away that she was having. I felt better than I had felt in years. And I had I was going through the kind of the breakup of my family bakery at that time. So it was a really challenging personal time for me. And so I had pretty heightened anxiety, I was having episodes of depression. And it was amazing what happened to me when I changed the foods that I was putting in my body where I just got down to the basics. And she found out she was a celiac through this process. And once she was able to understand that that alone helped her recognize that literally the food that she’s choosing to eat is going to impact her ability to either thrive or fail in the you know, with her body and kind of this autoimmune disease. And so it was just a huge turning point in my life. And I was really kind of trying to figure out what to do next as the bakery was you know, I was pulling away from the bakery really to salvage like family relationships and that was is a really challenging time. And I knew foods so well and loved foods so well. And it was such a, it’s such a love language. I think for me too, that I just kind of tried to figure out what’s going to be a bridge, number one for healing my own self, but also that I was so impacted by this experience. And also, I think just from I have a lifelong love of wellness and fitness and all of that, like, for me food I always loved, I always gravitated towards, you know, healthier food and things like this. And so it was a pretty natural and interesting experience where I it’s like, all of the things that I love about food and health, we’re kind of like coming together in this way from this like cleanse experience with Jen, my friend. And then at the same time, I kind of started having this entrepreneurial, this bug was able to kind of come back in me since the beginning of when we’d start the bakery. And I was like, How can I do something that really speaks to this very, you know, kind of this is like, you know, by by the time I really kind of was iterating on ideas for the business, it was a couple of years after that was about 2012 And I was definitely noticing in the marketplace, like, you know, some gluten free stuff, but it all tasted like cardboard, it was just not great. And so there was just lightbulb after light bulb happening for me and I was kind of going this more functional route where I was going to do like fermented foods and gut health focused. And I kept running into all sorts of problems with these business ideas and and I just ended up kind of sitting with that and thinking to myself, what’s my true what’s my truth with all of this? And why is this not working? And I kind of knew that this was not the path and so I I just went back to the basics, and I went to what I think I truly love which was you know, I love comfort food I love like chocolate bars, I’ve been at the bakery, it was just like, you know, there’s chocolate cakes and all of that stuff. So I just kind of slowed down and I went back to kind of what my true self and how can I kind of best represent that because that’s what’s gonna be successful what’s you know, kind of true for me so and I just got into this phase of playing with these kind of super nutrient rich like more like protein bar kind of things where they were like, I called them birds through it, they were just chock full of unrefined coconut oil and peanut butter and like maple syrup and nuts and seeds and all this stuff and I that was kind of like the my gateway to like, Okay, this is amazing. Like it was a raw food so it was never baked it was like refrigerated to was kind of like the bait was the refrigerator. And I was just so full of coconut oil and it just melted all over the place. But that was really the journey what brought me to creating the recipe for the Honey Mamas bars was you know, added some cocoa powder, I went kind of back into my pastry mindset and went that direction with it. And then five whole foods and like created this like incredibly delicious thing and my daughters, I’ve been making all these healthy things and they kept saying I you know, mom, like everything you’re making is just tasty, healthy, like, you know, can you and they they got they got that out of the fridge and it was just like tucked at the back of the fridge too. And they said what is this? And I was like okay, so they were like 12 and 14 at the time so I was like the air lighting or something. So yeah,

Kara Goldin 8:43
definitely that’s that’s amazing. So Whole Foods was kind of outside of the farmers market Whole Foods was your first stop for retail.

Christy Goldsby 8:53
Oh no just Whole Foods meaning Whole Foods. Oh, they bought it? Yes. I’ve got like whole food ingredients. So it was coconut oil, cocoa powder, sprouted almonds, Himalayan pink salt and what am I missing? Cocoa powder, salted ours, cocoa powder, almonds, coconut oil, honey raw honey. So honey as the sweetener and the binder for the bar so so it was I you know in the cleanse that I had done with my friend was that was at the root of it was it was learning about how kind of our gut health is really central to our well being. And so that was the whole foods were critical. And I loved that. You know, I think the thing for me, too, that’s really important that I should say is that at the bakery all those years and honestly just growing up refined sugar. I never have done great with it like I love candy bars and I love all the things and but I don’t feel well and I think certainly with anxiety and depression. They really really am fact that or they did for me at least. And of course, you know, looked at a lot of research after that and recognize like that that’s a common thread and data. And I think that just being able to do something where you’re having this really delicious thing, it’s kind of a gateway for you to be able to learn about like food as medicine. And it actually makes you feel vital after you eat it rather than depleted on any level. And I think that was kind of that was kind of what I was really after with wanting to, to kind of open up and improve the food system and be a part of that conversation about the choices that we make and how simple it can be to, to make different choices and feel wonderful and and really, really support your health from that that fundamental place. I

Kara Goldin 10:50
love that. So you started in farmers markets, you obviously felt like you were, you know, getting a read on this consumer that it wasn’t just you enjoying what you had in your fridge freezer, or your kids. I mean, other people were really enjoying it. What did you do after that? Like, what what was kind of the step that you made before? You know, you actually took it into other platforms or consumer audiences? What stores did you go into? And I think also like, how many skews did you have things like that,

Christy Goldsby 11:29
I started with four skews. And I knew that that line would be enough to kind of be on the grocery store shelves. And one of the when we had the bakery, blue gardenia, in the early 2000s, we had done a line of gourmet cinnamon rolls and pecan rolls at grocery stores. And, and so I understood CPG just a little bit. And then we did our coffees at the grocery stores as well. So I I recognized like I would need a line. So you know, had made one flavor. And then I ripped off of that and did one with peppermint and one with spice in it some cayenne pepper and cinnamon. And those four skews I launched at the farmers market. And I knew that the farmers market would be a great place for people to try the product. And then also, my my my, my intention was to get onto the natural grocery channel onto those grocery store shelves, because I recognize that that was definitely kind of would be the demographic for the bars. And I figured we’ll see how we do at the farmers market. And it was so fun Kara like the the response that I got so quickly from the grocery stores were so positive. I don’t know if you’ve had that experience with your product. But it was such a joy to because it tasted so good. And I think that I just have been so happy so many times over the years. I’m glad that you know, it’s like great that that the culture of vegetable idea that the fermented foods idea that I had tried, it was really stinky and you know, would not have been a very easy sell. I think that chocolate is an easy sell. So it’s an easier sell for sure.

Kara Goldin 13:05
But the bars I mean, that’s a really crowded category and very that’s prime real estate. So that is not easy. Now, are your bars all refrigerated? So maybe are frozen, I should say. So that maybe that helped you in some way versus being on the shelf against some of the other bars. What do you think?

Christy Goldsby 13:27
I think it’s it, I think it really did and I you know, so my My first experience was with New Seasons market, you know, as a chain in the Pacific Northwest and down to California and then Whole Foods. And so those were really my first national retailers that that came on board, I got into like a whole bunch of like mom and pops and coops which were the lifeblood of the company, and still are in many ways. But the it was really cool to drop off product to new seasons where that was the first kind of, you know, bigger store chain that I that I went into, and I just dropped him off asked him to for the Secretary to leave him for the buyer. And she called me a few days later and she was like, these are delicious. You need to come in for a meeting and it was just so much excitement around it. And that whole aspect of the refrigeration was really helpful because this paleo movement was really just kind of getting going during that time. She happened to be doing the Paleo diet too, which so she got it and she appreciated kind of what it was doing for the food system. I think and and I think the fact that it was refrigerated, I would say it’s opened a lot more doors than it’s done. It’s closed. And I think that that’s a really cool, it’s still is a big part of our story, I think and yes, it is prime real estate, but it is fantastic real estate and I think that I love it because maybe it’s being like entrepreneurial, spirited, but I think that being able to kind of push the status quo Oh, in that way of like, wake up a little bit, you know your story I just, you know, like there’s so there’s like, totally I know you get that. But being able to kind of let people find it, and then go, what is this? Why is it in the fridge? Well, those answers are why I started the whole company, it’s in the fridge because we don’t use, you know, any, any emulsifiers that make the product shelf stable, we don’t use any preservatives so that you’re not going to have like, all that crap buildup in your body. And, and I think that, that, and then the Whole Foods Market, our regional buyer just sent me an email, I was like we saw you at the farmers market. We love what you’re doing. We’d love to get you in the stores. I freaked out. I was so excited. Yeah, all that.

Kara Goldin 15:46
Oh, that’s, that’s so great. I’m so curious, how’s your packaging changed since you first launched, I remember having a few different companies, products that were on, especially ones in the frozen case. And, you know, just like having ice crystals on a clear package is never that great. Anyway, all these different things like I always say to people, your packaging doesn’t need to be perfect just when you’re first getting it out there. But you do need to pay attention to whether or not the consumers can see it and be willing to change, right. And you obviously want it to be safe, and it needs to stay closed and all those things. But I think that there’s so many examples of how in lots of different categories where the packaging has changed. I’m curious about your story.

Christy Goldsby 16:38
So this is the Oregon met bar that I launched with at the farmers market. And it’s it is wrapped in butcher paper, it’s got a line of parchment paper, and then another layer of butcher paper on top of that, and then we just printed, you know, colorful labels. And that was what closed it. And I had this for seven years in the company. It wasn’t until we did this package, you know, this was in 2019, we did our first round of investment Series A, and we got some dough in the bank. And we were able to make some of these brand changes that were long awaited. And it’s when we got into Whole Foods global you know, they think they were they had said to us a few times when we had you know, gone in for review with them that I think that this packaging worked, but they I think this communicated to the buyers that the company actually was investing in itself and able to kind of take it to that next level and give them the confidence. And so you know, I just love this packaging, this was this was like that talk about quick and dirty, you know, I mean, it was me and just figuring, like really trying to get figure out packaging quick enough so that I could get into the Portland farmers market and just kind of see if it would work. And I just think it’s really cool and funny that this this packaging lasted that long. You know, like it lasted seven years. And that was hand, you know, handed down by you know, we’re manufacturing company. So we we’ve always manufactured and so it’s just like all these people just hand wrapping all these bars all day long. And so it was really nice to, you know, bring a little bit of machinery into that process. And it’s just obviously been important for them, you know, for the margin effort with our growth and all of that stuff. But also, I think that, you know, kind of working with a creative agency and bringing out the best parts of the foundation of the company and celebrating that it’s been it’s been super, really, really fun. And I think that it’s just made all the difference in the world to do that packaging, upgrade.

Kara Goldin 18:53
I love it. So how did you experience after running blue gardenia, and really kind of growing up? It sounds like with that? How did you approach Honey Mamas that maybe was different than if you hadn’t had that experience? You know, many people who are first time entrepreneurs, you know, ignorance is bliss. They didn’t know better. Sometimes it works out. But sometimes it doesn’t. But when you run another business, I think you make decisions based on sometimes when things didn’t go well, you know much more about packaging in some cases. But I’m curious what your experience has been.

Christy Goldsby 19:36
I went with blue gardenia, you know, that was a passion project. It was a family. You know, this idea that we’d all bring our best strengths together and we would create this business and have a pretty harmonious livelihood and be able to work together. We’ve just were really tight as a family. And the strain that that brought on those relationships was profound and Are we in a brick and mortar space we did farmers markets, we launched into retail, and it was a lot of business for us to try to have together. And, and at all, I think the key learning that I really brought into Honey Mamas from that was defined roles. Definitely not starting out with a business partner, and certainly not family, I love my family, you know, but I think that that was challenging for me personally, with with our family. And so though, that was pretty liberating to, to, and also, I think recognizing the brick and mortar experience of having that brick and mortar space and the, the margins that you get in a bakery, and we had no idea we did our research, you know, before we opened, but we were just flying by the seat of our pants, you know, it was me and my sister, my dad really was helpful with the business part too. But like, we I just I was I think it was definitely my MBA. And I think that so with Honey Mamas I did the learnings I really would say took away from that was, I knew immediately that the grocery store shelves, were going to be a very simple straightforward model where the, you know, I would put money into the manufacturing, but then the margins would be exponential, as far as being the growth potential was exponential exponential. And so that I definitely learned from the bakery. And, and, and most importantly, you know, the element of being able to change, you know, impacts the conversation about how we what we’re eating, and, you know, kind of the food system, I just knew that that was on a ratio store shelves. And so it felt really simple, honestly, to be able to kind of just keep that basic business idea. And, yeah, we really just embodied a lot of those principles still with the company. And you know, we have 45 people on staff and I have a business partner and have had worked, you know, brought him on years ago. And I think that that’s a great segue, you know, one of my favorite stories. We were talking about stories. And one of one of the first stories that came to mind when I was thinking about that was number one I had, I called the company nectar foods when I first created the idea. And a friend of mine said, Yes, because I wasn’t sure exactly if it was just going to be the bars or if it was going to be other things. And, um, and she was like, you know, I’m just so happy for you. This seems like such a great idea. And, you know, it’s a great that you’ve gotten out of the farmers market and she’s like butcher butcher name, she’s like, you know, there’s gotta be something that’s a little bit more vibrant. You know, she’s like, you’re a happy person you have there’s a lot of vitality here. And anyway, so honey, Mama, this kind of is one of my favorite stories, because the name really is, you know, I have a lot of relatives in the south and my grant, both of my grandparents, both sides of my grandparents really influenced me a lot. I just, there’s, they were so dear to me. And they all work us, like everyone was books, everyone was bakers, my grandmother on my dad’s side was a farmer and honey mom, as you know, this, like tongue in cheek vernacular in the south is just very strong. And when I was I knew honey was going to be my only sweetener that I would use in the bars. And I just kind of played on that. And really, that was, for me this really fun opportunity to celebrate kind of my history and my ancestors and my family. And then. And then the other favorite story is, you know, being in business for 2013 1415 1617. I was in business for about six and a half years. And we had just moved into a brand new manufacturing space that we’re still in it’s a 12,000 square foot manufacturing space in the heart of Portland. And one of my board members, or he was my only board member at the time, we were still tiny. And he was saying, you know, there’s this kid that is he’s, he’s amazing. He is looking for a job in sales. And you know, if you guys need anybody, or you know, anybody who needs somebody, you know, let me know. And he’s looking for a job right now. I had actually met this guy. Yeah, he worked for salt company and I had met him he was trying to sell me salt several months before and I really liked him then, but I didn’t need his salt. But so it turns out to be this guy. And I was like, Okay, well, I’ll just go have coffee with this guy. And I’m happy to do that. Of course you know, I we don’t need anybody. I can’t afford to hire a new salesperson but and we met at a coffee shop and I said Got down. And you know, he was already there, which was great to see that he was like you’re punctual. And within, I would say 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes of that meeting, I not only knew that I wanted to hire him as the GM for the company, because we desperately needed that. And not sales, even though that would come in handy do. But, you know, I knew that I wanted to hire him as GM. And that he would, it was like, such a positive feeling, because it was like, she matched the parts of me that I was really struggling with. And it was just one of those things. And I think being in business, you really know pretty quickly when something is right. And when it is not, right. And it is just he’s so he is now CEO of the company. He’s been I brought him on as CEO, that’s just a couple years after that, it has been the most wonderful partnership, it was everything that I think we wanted from the family partnership. And so it’s been positive on every level. And I just, I just think that it’s just, it’s just so funny, I really appreciate. You know, number one, I think being able to be open enough and willing enough to bring on somebody into the company. But the level of trust, you know, it wasn’t just like, I mean, it was actually immediate. But you know, we obviously built that over over several years. But I just feel like in this one, I’ve just feel very lucky. Like I talked to lots of lots of founders who really struggle with being able to find a great operations person and and I always just think they’re like, how did you find Jaron? And I’m like, I wish that I could say that it was some linear. Theory. Yeah, it was through friends sort of?

Kara Goldin 26:56
Well, and I think there is no set formula to finding somebody. So my husband and I ran him for 17 years and co founded it together. But, and he, I always say, like, you find somebody that’s really passionate. And I think that, you know, in his case, he is the first person to say it was my idea. And we were actually using our own money initially. So he was slightly, you know, concerned about, you know, what, what are we doing here, so he was definitely sort of on, you know, wearing a lot of different hats, but he was very interested, we were not just creating a company, but we were also creating an entirely new category called unsweetened flavored water, and I wanted to water using real fruit that didn’t have preservatives in it. And so sounds great. I didn’t know how to make it. And so you, you’ve got to have somebody who is excited, curious, who’s willing to go and, you know, figure this stuff out. And so a lot of, you know, I give a lot of the, you know, the success that that hint has had is really been, you know, co being able to kind of figure that out along the way. But a lot of people say, Oh, God, I could never, you know, work with my husband.

Speaker 1 28:15
I love that you guys were that you guys were able to do that. That’s just amazing. Yes. And

Kara Goldin 28:19
it’s not perfect, you know, for nothing, right? Yeah. No. And I think, you know, in many ways, there’s a trust factor too. And I think that there was, it was a great way to be able to raise a family and, and do all of those things, too. So we could trade off along the way, but I think, yeah, so it’s a, it’s, it’s definitely, there’s no one one way to do it. So last question, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs who are thinking, I’ve got this great idea? I’m gonna go and launch this company, you talk briefly about this, but I mean, it’s, it’s a, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a big undertaking. It takes a lot longer than I think you ever thought. But, you know, I think more than anything, it’s it, you clearly have gotten the formula down, you’re killing it. And it’s, it’s great, but what would you say to other entrepreneurs thinking about doing this?

Christy Goldsby 29:26
You know, I think that one of the main things I would say is just just know that it’s gonna take, you know, potentially four or five times longer, if not more than you think it will. If you’re interested in doing if you have an idea for a product that you’re passionate about, start small, maybe try it out, if you can, locally, but just recognize that the game is going to change regularly, you know, as you would as you and so to beat to to know yourself well enough to know that you can be okay with vulnerability that you can have the ability to get out of your own way when you need to, which is maybe taking off a hat that doesn’t suit you and be able to how can you can you share that? It is all about the team, it is so much about the people around you leaning into that over and over and over again, and really trusting that process. And you take it, take it face by face, you know, no, I actually always say to people, when they’re asking you this question, or entrepreneurs, you know, who have ideas, it’s like, what is your ultimate goal? What is your ultimate goal? And then start from there. And look at what the like really trying to understand what that’s going to take you I didn’t do. I didn’t do this, which is like, I didn’t go out and interview a whole bunch of people about like, what they what happened with them and how it took them, you know, to grow companies. I did. I did, you know, like Ben and Jerry’s. I really, like looked at their story, Annie’s homegrown, I looked at her story. Like, there were certain businesses that I researched a bunch because I was like, I want to, I want to do like what they’re doing, because they really are an important part of like, our natural food system. And so I would just say, Just do as much research as you can on what it takes, you know, talk to as many people as you can about what it really takes and then make a decision

Kara Goldin 31:41
to do it. Well, and if you can find a way to do it, you know, inexpensively as a test, like yes, you know, small that’s start small and see whether or not you can get the confidence and also the velocity, right. It’s some kind of philosophy to show that. Yeah, that’s key. Yeah, that’s super, super, super key. So Well, thank you so much for joining us. Really, really appreciate it and love your story, Christy Goldsby, who is the founder of Honey Mamas. And we’ll have all the info in the show notes, but really, really thrilled with all of the progress and it’s super delicious. So everyone’s got to give it a try if you haven’t already. And thank you so much. And thanks, everyone for listening.

Christy Goldsby 32:28
Thank you, Kara.

Kara Goldin 32:30
Thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would, please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit and of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Goldin. I would love to hear from you too, so feel free to DM me. And if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book undaunted, where I share more about my journey including founding and building hint. We are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening and good bye for now.

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