Chimene Ross: CEO of Killer Brownie Company

Episode 605

In this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we’re joined by the incredible Chimene Ross, the CEO of Killer Brownies. Chimene shares the journey of how Killer Brownies has become synonymous with indulgence and quality in the dessert world. From their signature, decadent brownies to the brand’s expansion into new markets, we dive into what makes Killer Brownies stand out in a competitive industry.
Chimene reveals the challenges and triumphs of leading a well-loved brand, the importance of maintaining product quality and transparency, and how she navigates the evolving consumer landscape. We also explore how she fosters a strong company culture, builds a loyal community, and what the future holds for Killer Brownies. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a dessert enthusiast, or just love a good business story, this conversation is filled with delicious insights and inspiration. Don’t miss it! Now on #TheKaraGoldinShow.

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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 out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can 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, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show. So excited today. We’re in for a huge treat, literally and figuratively. We’ve got Chimene Ross, who is the CEO of Killer Brownie Company, which makes Killer Brownies, and she is here to talk to us all about this very, very wonderful indulgence that is, is super, super wonderful. The company has taken the classic Browning to the next level with layers of indulgence and unique flavors that have fans raving nationwide. It is a family business. Her grandfather actually started the business years ago, and Chimene became the CEO of the company not too long ago. Her leadership journey is just absolutely incredible. And of course, the product is great as well, and I am so excited to have her here with us today. So welcome.

Chimene Ross 1:42
Thank you so much for having me, Kara, this is quite an honor. It’s exciting to be here.

Kara Goldin 1:47
I am very, very excited to have you here. And of course, I knew what the brownies were you and I met on LinkedIn, and I’m like this. She’s amazing. She’s, you know, definitely knew about the product, but I did not know that you were the CEO of the company, so I was very, very excited to meet you. So so welcome.

Chimene Ross 2:10
Thank you so much. Welcome. So

Kara Goldin 2:11
okay, for those who aren’t familiar with Killer Brownies, you’re they’re hiding under a rock, right? For sure. I mean, even somebody that does not eat a ton, a ton of sugar, I have to admit that I have my every now and then indulgence. And you guys have done such an amazing, amazing job. So talk to me a little bit about this company. What is the kind of, what’s the founding of it and sort of, how did it all come to be?

Chimene Ross 2:40
Well? Interesting. Our story is it’s old, but new. We like to say we’re a 30 year startup. So my family has been in the food industry. For my grandfather started a small chain of supermarkets in 1948 and it was at that time, it was very unheard of to have a supermarket, because mostly you would go to the bakery or the butcher or those items were separated by store or by location or specialty. So to have everything under one roof was a new concept. And my grandfather actually traveled the world and spoke about what it was like to have a supermarket. So that was our roots, was in the entrepreneurial food space. And then my grandfather got sick, actually in the early 1970s and my dad actually took over when he was in his early 20s and had many small children, and he ended up taking over the the foods, the supermarkets. And part of that family history was always doing things that were innovative and different and entrepreneurial. And so my dad knew that in order to really kind of be different and differentiated in the market, that they needed to have different items, different types of items. And in the 1970s 80s, they started experimenting with doing something different in the bay Creek, and started making this multi layer brownie that they called the Killer Brownie. So it became kind of a cult following where the grocery stores were, which is in Dayton, Ohio, and was like that for many years. And then other retailers started purchasing and wanted to actually sell the product as well. And so it started to grow that way. My dad was smart enough to do two very important things. One, he trademarked the name in 1988 and then, then in the year 2000 he formed a small wholesale company, and so that ran primarily taking care of a few smaller customers for about 13 years. And then is kind of where my life interjected and crossed back over into the family business in 2013 and we took the brand from where it was at that time. Fast forward to today, so about 11 years later, and we are now in close to 15,000 locations in in US and Canada. So that’s like the 60 seconds or less kind of what got us to here. But I can tell. You about the brownies that’s unique is we say we’re reinventing the brownie category, and we specialize in brownies. So we do at scale what a lot of people do on Instagram, and you see smaller companies do more decadent premium, and we do it with a forward leaning into premium and clean ingredients. So right now that’s all we do is specialize in brownies, but we do private label as well as product under our own brand, but with a forward thinking, or forward in our product development of clean ingredients. So that really hasn’t been done at this scale. And so when people think of our brand, it’s interesting. You say that that at times you still do indulge, even though you don’t eat. Sure all the time, we feel very strongly that when people are going to indulge, it should be worth it, and that it should be an experience that’s memorable and and one that ties you into memories and occasions with family, but that is a real treat for yourself. So that’s kind of a summary. And like my family’s journey and how I got to or how I we interjected our lives interjected or crossed over and got here, I have a very weird background and interesting personal story that led me to that point. And if you’d like me to share my how I got Yeah,

Kara Goldin 6:22
that’s what I was. One of the, one of the things I was going to ask you is that, obviously you weren’t the founder of Killer Brownies, but this is, this was your grandfather, so you must have been around it for years, but you went off and did some other things. What? What were you doing? Yeah,

Chimene Ross 6:37
so growing up around the family business. I mean, we all worked very hard, even as kids, I related to so much in your book about your early life, too, just being part of a big family. And when we were kids, we would do all kinds of things in the stores. I can remember as a kid handing out entry blanks. We used to give away prizes around the anniversary. All the kids, we all took turns, taking four hour shifts, handing out entry blanks. And I was like 1314, years old for the giveaways. So yeah, that was our whole life. So when we joke about when we were kids, when we would go out of town, my dad would pull over on the way home to visit a grocery store somewhere, because we were always seeing what was out there

Kara Goldin 7:18
that was with it, yes, right there. So that

Chimene Ross 7:23
was our, our, my family’s story. So yes, we’re always around. But when I graduated from high school, I was kind of an independent I always had an independent streak, and I was like, I’m gonna go do my own thing. And I went to nursing school and spent over 20 years as a registered nurse in the healthcare field. And what I learned about that that I really, really loved was I loved, kind of the regulatory, technical side of nursing, and I absolutely loved the taking care of people. And I would say that if there was ever a message I could give to younger people, I would say, embrace every single thing you do in life and do the best you possibly can at it, because you never know where all those skills are going to come together and at a point in your life and be really, really valuable. So all those years that I spent in the nursing field taught me those very important things. And then along my personal journey, when my kids were little, I wanted to start a home based business, and I kind of had that bug for business, because I’d grown up around it, and I just I read a book from Robert I think it’s Kiyosaki. Is how you say his last name, that Rich Dad, Poor Dad is the series. I think a lot of people are familiar with that. Anyway, I read that book, or one of his books when the kids were little, and he said, If you really want to understand entrepreneurial journey. You should start a home based business, and you could even do, you know, one of those that you can kind of buy into. So I started selling makeup and skincare products, and actually built a team, and really fell in love with leadership, and fell in love with i This is a really fun thing to do, is helping people, helping people get what they want, get what they need. And loved building the brand, loved building a business. So in 2013 we, as a family, for many years, had talked about, you know, Killer Brownie, and what a love, beloved local brand it was. And what’s the potential for the future, and could we take those elements that my dad had around his business of loving people, loving his employees, having really great brands, and grow that into something national. So I’ve presented this idea to my dad and my brother, that, how about if I come back into the family business, and I think we could take the Killer Brownie brand and really grow it into something special. And he took jams on me and let me come into the business. And that was the kind of the beginning of the journey with what where we are now. But, and it’s, it’s been amazing. I can tell you all the things I did wrong. I. And all the things that I learned, but that’s how I ended up back here.

Kara Goldin 10:03
Your grandfather launched with just one recipe, essentially. Was it just or how many SKUs did he actually have when he first launched? Well,

Chimene Ross 10:11
my actually, my grandfather launched with a supermarket. So it was a grocery store, so he didn’t launch an actual he actually wasn’t around when we started the Killer Brownie, he passed away in 1903 Yeah. So in the late 1970s Yes, it was a single recipe that was launched, and it was just for the bakeries the store. It was the original Killer Brownie, yeah. And

Kara Goldin 10:35
that was it. And what was the point when they went from that one hero product into branching out to more options, because you have more options than just the one now, yes,

Chimene Ross 10:45
now we have just under 100 SKUs, so lots more. Yeah, but we so the trigger point was that at that time, a new concept in retail was box lunches, and they started introducing that into the business world in in and around Dayton, and they put the Killer Brownie as the dessert in the box lunch. So it was a new concept to be a box lunch, and here was this brand new dessert. So you had this entire community who loved this idea of this convenience, and that was the premium dessert. So people word started spreading like wildfire about this dessert that was unlike anything anyone had ever had, so that when they saw that they had a following for the brand, they started to expand and grow other flavors and think one of the second flavors, so there’s the original, which has pecans. The second flavor was at that time, we called it not a nutter, because it was another brownie. It didn’t have nuts. We’ve since changed that name, but and continued to grow their flavors. And those were all sold primarily at doorley Market in Dayton, Ohio, which were the retail stores where the bakeries were. So that’s where it started to grow, there at that point. And then some of those flavors were sold into other retailers, and they would put, you know, a few of the flavors into their bakery

Kara Goldin 12:06
as well. Okay, so you you came in, how many stores were you in when you stepped into this new role?

Chimene Ross 12:15
I you know, that’s a really good question, but I would say it was probably two or 300 at most, maybe not even that many. It was very much, a few chains, a handful, very much people that were friends in the industry. And the industry is big, but it’s also very small. So and at that time, it was very hand, hands on Handmade we would build, like a pallet a week. It was a very small amount. I mean, now we do 50 pallets a day, so it was a very small amount then. And like I said, very much a handmade product. So the we what happened was we started to get more and more interest in the product, and we knew that there were a few key things that we had to put in place in order to really scale, and one of those was food safety. So we became SQF certified because more and more people were asking about our food safety programs, and we are the manufacturer. We never used co manufacturer because our process was so unique, but so getting food safety, the foundation of it, allowed us to then have more and more conversations with other retailers and other stores so

Kara Goldin 13:22
interesting. So what stepping into an established brand, and, you know, as a CEO, but as any leadership role, right? It’s a change in in guard, right? And I think when you’re a family member, maybe there’s even more pressure if you’re a woman stepping into that position, you didn’t say that. I did. I think it probably would have been, you know, a little bit challenge, challenging, especially if you’re replacing a male who has been in that role for a while. How did you approach like joining the team, and what was that experience like? What were some of like, the real hurdles that you had to get over? You know,

Chimene Ross 14:07
that’s so interesting. I had a really good advisor early on, who told me that you one of the most important things you can do is do your job, because everyone is going to expect that you got this opportunity because of who you were and and I did, but that didn’t automatically guarantee success. I needed to do my job, and I needed to learn, and I asked a ton of questions. I mean, I went, I got behind the counter at the bakery and learned all about what the bakery needed. I was putting brownies out myself. I was helping the donuts out. I was learning about what a bakery needed and the challenges of everyone along the way. I knew I couldn’t come in and start making decisions from a place of really ignorance. There was so much I needed to learn, and so I think that really helped me. I needed to earn my own respect for my own work ethic. And that really helped, and I really put blinders on, because I was very passionate about the brand, I was passionate about the people. I was so passionate about helping customers. Was so rewarding for me to go out and talk to customers and be able to help them, and to be able to give them with what they needed and something that could help them feel like they could have something great to offer their customers. And so I really didn’t pay attention to a lot of of any of the doubt that may have been there, not that I’m not human, but I just really focused on the things that that were brought me joy. And so much of the joy was about helping people. And then I think as we started to grow, as we started to grow our business, and we started to grow our team, we did a really important thing in 2019 I sat down with our director of marketing, and we did a full brand like reevaluation, brand analysis. And it really started with my personal why. I think I just got really, really clear on why was I doing this, which I’m very much a follower of Simon Sinek, and love all the stuff that he does. And I have a gazillion books that have really taught me so much about, you know, how valuable it is to care about people. And that’s really what my grandfather my dad did. They built businesses that really weren’t really about food. They were about people. And we got really, really clear that our purpose and our journey was to build a really, really great company that people loved to work at, and the result of that was going to be this really great product that we could be proud of and take care of customers, and have a business that we could be really proud of. But I think doing that really helps me to focus on what was important. If you focus on people and helping people, the noise gets quieter and more, then you help those people get what they need, and help them to be happy and where they’re working, and then automatically, that helps your business. It’s the single most important thing you can do in leading a company, is nurturing and taking care of your people. And that really is what kind of helped us grow, is being clear about that. Well,

Kara Goldin 17:11
I think what you’re talking about, too, is empathetic leadership and obviously being a nurse and wanting to help people, probably speaking about your you know your journey, and your comments about suggesting to to people listening who are interested in kind of understanding, how do the dots connect, and what can you learn? I mean, it, it, it’s very, very interesting to hear your overall journey and some of the roles that you’ve had, because I think that that probably did help you to become the leader that you are today, so

Chimene Ross 17:49
much so. And I think that just about everyone, when I think about someone’s career journey, I mean every step along the way, just learn as much as you can and take in as much as you can. And I think the more that I’ve learned, and the more I’ve read and listened to podcasts and learned from other people, the more I realize I don’t know, and so it makes me want to learn more. And of course, that’s what, what, what led me to connecting with you is through books and podcasts. I listened to your husband’s interview with Cameron Harold, I think, and there’s just I was so touched by your journey, and I think that’s what by sharing this I mean, that’s we learn so much from other people who’ve walked in that path, and that’s what’s really helped me. I don’t feel like I’ve figured anything out on my own. I’ve figured it out from people who’ve done it before me, people have been willing to share their journeys, and from the people who’ve come into our company and that work for us, there’s so many great leaders here, and just giving people a place where they can flourish has then they end up helping us become better leaders too, and that’s been the greatest part of my personal journey, and there’s always a really fun business. We have a ton of fun here. Yeah,

Kara Goldin 19:08
yeah. So that’s that’s awesome. Well, I loved going to your website and seeing some of your different videos that you had on there. And it really does seem like you guys have a good time. And I love seeing that. So innovation is always something that people talk about. The key thing I think that so many entrepreneurs kind of are challenged by is, you know, when do you innovate? Right? How much is too much innovation? You have 100 SKUs now, and, you know, it’s a lot. It’s a lot of, I’m sure you look at your overall sales and see that there’s, you know, maybe you could do a SKU rationalization, yeah, here and there. Yes, we with, you know, new SKUs and new. Um, new things to add to the lineup. But how do you balance maintaining sort of the brand’s core identity while also exploring this innovation concept and new avenues for growth? Yeah,

Chimene Ross 20:15
well, we are very clear about our mission, vision and purpose and our core values, and I think that feeds through every decision that you make. And actually, right now, we’re kind of going through a another strategic planning for the next five years, and talking about our mission and purpose and core values again, although they’re very much similar to what we have now, but that every decision we make goes through that lens. And you know, sometimes I think people view mission and core values is kind of fluff, but we live them here. We do recognition by them. We talk about them every day. We put them through that lens every decision that we make. And so yes, we probably have too many SKUs, but as what’s so fun, and the reason why we probably do have a lot is innovation is fun. We like to play. And, you know, through all of that innovation, some things stick and some things don’t, but it’s always exciting to reinvent and look at new things. And it also allows us to have such a touch with the industry. What is the industry looking for? What’s Trending? How can we be a voice of, hey, we’re out here doing a lot of those fun, cutting edge things, how can we be become part of the conversation? So, and it’s, it’s someone said to me, once you know you don’t know what you shouldn’t be doing, and that’s a good thing. And that was a really good piece of advice, because I think sometimes we want someone to tell us exactly how to make it, how to do it, how it’s supposed to be done, and when it does not exist, we might think, well, it can’t be done, but it’s the people who don’t accept that it can’t be done that get past that and then really start to grow something special. So though we listen to a lot of people who help us, in the end, you do have to kind of follow your gut instinct about what you know the brand can be, and that starts with the leadership, knowing what is, what is the mission? What are we doing here? And leading through example and leading through that mission and core values because we believe in them, and not just because they’re on a piece of paper on them.

Kara Goldin 22:19
Yeah, no, I 1,000% agree. I think it’s, it’s absolutely critical. So when you think about the dessert space, because obviously it’s not just about brownies, it’s about lots of other things that you compete with. And just you compete, not only for mindshare from the consumer, but also for shelf space and lots of different ways to sort of look at this over overall, what keeps you up at night, what is like really hard in

Chimene Ross 22:54
the space? You know, I don’t worry too much about the opportunity, because I think we have a lot what keeps me awake at night is usually around to people, if someone’s not happy, or if we’ve not done something right by someone. And I think if we just take care of people, I mean, I know that sounds like maybe oversimplification, I know we’ll figure everything else out. When it comes to the business itself. What’s exciting for me is that we we can play in a lot of spaces and a lot of channels. We could be on a restaurant menu, we can be in a grocery store. We can be in a in a in a chain, we could be in a C store. So there’s a lot of spaces entertainment that we can play, which is really fun from an opportunity standpoint. You know, the challenges sometimes, when there’s so much, you have to make sure you’re focusing on the right thing. I think some of the other things, truthfully, that keeps me awake, and I think this is probably true of it could, because it’s around people. Is when you make food, when you’re in the food industry, it’s everything around food safety. So a recall, or any of those you just it’s always going to be something if you want to be in this business, you have to understand how important it is and what a huge responsibility it is to make food that people are putting in front of their families. So that’s our people, our people safety, food safety, because of how it affects consumers, are the single most important things in building this business. So

Kara Goldin 24:28
the brand that you have built over time, I think is, I mean, I think it really speaks to a lot of what you’re talking about, taking care of the people, but also maintaining quality. And as I always, you know, share with new entrepreneurs, like, if you stay alive for long enough, not just you as a human, but as your company, you know, then that’s how you build a brand. I mean. You just can’t stay alive and keep you know, going if you don’t, ultimately, at least in the B to C sector, you know, continue to build on that brand. So what has surprised you the most about the brand and sort of that whole journey that maybe somebody you know wouldn’t expect, maybe you didn’t expect coming in too how strong that is.

Chimene Ross 25:29
You know, goodness, I think probably what’s been the most surprising is it’s simple yet complicated. So the things that you need to keep simple are, yes, no matter how fun and great you are and great the people are, the product has to be good. So definitely, I mean, there are some people that I’ve seen come out with brands, and I love them so much, and the product is not good. And I think you have to have a good product. It has to taste good. That’s a very simple thing. So you can’t steer away from that while you’re building everything else. So at the very basic, the product has to taste good. People have to want to buy it again. And you know, I think that just maybe not knowing everything that I know now, had I known all that, I probably wouldn’t, maybe I wouldn’t have done it. It’s kind of good not to know, but you got to get the basics right. Is the product good? I would tell people to educate themselves. Or incredible books out there that you could get started with, ramping your brand, scaling up. Those are some really great books that helped me in the beginning. So I think, obviously your story is amazing. I think people should, should read your story and undaunted and understand that what it was like for you in the very beginning and all the challenges that you faced. I mean, I think, but anyway, I think it’s just that was really helpful for me to be able to read that I wrote. I read that a little later in my journey. But I think just sharing what other people have done and getting the basics right is the most important thing. And then just there is some follow your gut and not doubting, you know, if you’re really, really onto something, not doubting yourself, the answers are out there. You just have to find them in the right place. Yeah,

Kara Goldin 27:14
there. There are no shortcuts, right? I mean, there’s and I always tell people, I don’t know if you enjoyed undaunted, because misery is company, or I’ve got so many people, you know, reach out to me and they’re like, Oh my gosh. And you know what’s interesting once you’ve actually been through building a business or a couple of businesses, and in some cases, you read it and it, it’s, you get it right when? What? When I hear from people who are just in the beginning, I don’t think they fully grasp, like, everything in the book, and then they go back, like, I call I read it like for the second time, and it just meant more to me. And I’m like, because you’ve been through like, a lot, right? And you’ve seen it all, yeah, right. And it’s, it’s so true. So I think, you know, it’s fascinating to kind of hear from people who have read it too, because it’s where they are in their stage of of of life, it it makes a lot of stage of the business really makes a ton of sense as well. So thinking of, thinking ahead, last question on, you know, the company and and overall, what’s possible for Killer Brownies, what is, what would you say to that?

Chimene Ross 28:42
I think we will be a lot more than just brownies one day. I think that we can take this learnings from the brand we’ve built and the team we’ve built, and do a lot more exciting things in the future in the dessert space, we have recently partnered with irresistible food group. I don’t know if you read that or not, but just really aligned culturally, a wonderful family, the Tara family, that owns Kings Hawaiian, and they’re just, it’s an amazing group of people, and then just being able to partner with their their sales team, and to be able to be so aligned with mission and core values, and to be able to grow and become available for more and more people. So I’m excited to for more and more consumers to know about Killer Brownie, so to be able to go into anywhere, into any place, and for people to recognize the brand and just be so rewarding for our entire team. So I think that’s an exciting thing about the future. So

Kara Goldin 29:44
Chimene, thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate it, and loved hearing all about your overall journey, but also Killer Brownies. Everyone needs to try it. You’re in many, many locations across the country, but you. You can also order it online too. So definitely, definitely, we’ll have all that info in the show notes, but really appreciate you coming on and sharing a little bit more and all of the great words of wisdom. So thank you.

Chimene Ross 30:13
Thank you so much, Kara. I really appreciate it.

Kara Goldin 30:15
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 goodbye for now. Bye.

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