EP. 47 Unbankable to Unstoppable: The Nutpods Story with Madeline Haydon
Building a breakout brand isn’t just about having a great product. It’s about having the resilience to keep going when you’re exhausted, “unbankable,” and figuring it out in real time – while the stakes keep getting higher.
In this episode, Madeline Haydon, founder of nutpods, shares the real story behind building one of the fastest-growing plant-based creamer brands in the U.S. From a kitchen experiment during IVF to a nationally recognized brand sold in thousands of stores, and ultimately, a successful exit. We talk about what it takes to build in a competitive category without cutting corners, how she stayed relentlessly committed to her vision (unsweetened, better-for-you, premium), and why selling wasn’t just a business decision...it was a legacy decision.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
→ Why “not having money” can force better strategy, focus, and innovation
→ What it really takes to build a food brand when you’re new to the industry
→ How Madeline used Kickstarter + Amazon to create traction before retail
→ The leadership pressure and personal sacrifices that come with rapid growth
→ Why differentiation matters more than playing it safe
→ How her definition of legacy changed as the business scaled
→ What prompted her decision to sell and what she’s focused on now
This conversation is for founders building something big – and wondering how to grow without losing themselves in the process.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Madeline Haydon is the founder of nutpods, one of the fastest-growing plant-based and dairy-free creamer brands in the United States.
What began as a personal search for a cleaner, better-tasting non-dairy creamer during her IVF journey turned into a nationally recognized brand sold in more than 15,000 retail locations and loved by coffee drinkers across the country. Under Madeline’s leadership, nutpods debuted at #13 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies and #2 in Food & Beverage, was named Amazon’s Small Business of the Year, and earned her recognition as an Inc. Female Founder 200 honoree and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Pacific Northwest.
Building the company from scratch without deep industry connections or significant early capital, Madeline led nutpods through rapid growth, fierce competition, and national expansion – ultimately selling the business in 2023 after nearly a decade at the helm.
Today, Madeline focuses on mentoring and investing in emerging founders, serving as a board member and advisor, and helping the next generation of entrepreneurs build enduring brands with intention.
Connect with Madeline Haydon Linkedin
Learn more about Nut Pods
FULL TRANSCRIPT
I couldn't raise money to save my life because if you remember, I was pregnant, female founder, person of color.
Welcome to the Legacy Branding podcast. I'm your host, Laura Beauparlant here to guide you through the journey of selling your business and building a personal brand that leaves a lasting impact. On the show, we'll explore real life founder stories, expert insights, and actionable strategies to help you navigate the transition, avoid post-sale crisis, and create your impact driven legacy brand.
Whether you're thinking of selling, building to sell, or already on the other side, this podcast is your go-to resource for making your next evolution Your best one yet. Let's dive in.
Today on the Legacy Branding Podcast, I'm joined by Madeline Hayden, the founder of Nut Pods, one of the fastest growing plant-based and non-dairy creamer brands in the us. Madeline created nut pods out of her own search for a cleaner, better tasting dairy free creamer, and turned it into a nationally recognized brand.
Sold in over 15,000 stores, and beloved by coffee lovers across the country. Under her leadership, the business debuted at number 13 on Inc's list of fastest growing companies. Was named Amazon's small business of the year and earned her recognition as an Inc female founder, 200 and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2023, after nearly a decade of leading the company, Madeline sold nut pods making a powerful milestone into a journey that began with a personal need and turned into a category defining brand. Madeline, welcome to the show.
you so much. I'm so honored to be here, Laura.
I would love for you to share a little bit more about the journey of, back to the beginning, that defining moment of what led you to start Nut Pods and how did you find the courage to just go all in with it.
I, I love founder stories. They're always so interesting, right? Because we're the crazy ones that go for our ideas. And so I was actually living in California. I followed my husband's job down there. He was an investment banker and I was desperately trying at 39 to have a second daughter. So I was.
Eating healthy. I was doing the, paleo diet. I was doing all the things that you're supposed to do when you're going through an IVF journey and. I was drinking a lot of almond milk at the time. I'm lactose intolerant, but being from Seattle, Laura, I love a good cup of coffee even, even decaf coffee.
And so, and I just really missed having something that was rich and creamy and you could taste your coffee. And the options at the time were either processed creamers or it was one so delicious coconut creamer, and it was. Pretty rich and creamy, but every sip was, a coconut coffee. And so I just wanted something that was going back to a, balanced, neutral taste.
And so going through IVF, drinking a lot of coffee and thinking like, Ugh, this almond milk is just not cutting it. And I didn't want, I didn't want soy. And 90% of it is, is genetically modified in the us and I just had the coconut creamer and I'm like, Ugh. Like there's gotta be better options.
People were really embracing about how food can be thy medicine and how much it's linked to our health. I was just thinking like there's gotta be some type of almond milk type of creamer, but better than almond milk because it is so thin in your coffee and you have to pour so much into it.
And so that's when I'm all like. I like the creaminess of the coconut creamer, but it's just too dominant as a flavor. And so that's when I created the version, the kitchen version of nut pods in my kitchen. And it was, coconut cream and it was almond milk and a little bit of fancy sea salts. And so, and that was the original formula for nut pots. And so, talking down in California to my friends just saying, ah, don't you wish we had something better than like, processed creamers or, powdered creamers are these options?
And they're all like, yeah, I would totally use this. And it was. It seemed like such a small niche, but then I was thinking, no, 'cause like a lot of plant-based vegan, paleo, lactose intolerant, you add all of us up and it was actually a very large percentage. And so it turns out, 60% of of coffee drinkers take some type of creamer in their coffee.
And so, the reason why. So that was opportunity. And knowing that coffee is such a, a large category and I felt like I cannot be the only one who wants to have something, that is plant-based, that is neutral and balanced in flavor. And I think Laura, like, and I've talked about this in my other podcasts, you are just on this cycle of.
All of the injections and the, like ovulation kits and the, negative pregnancy tests. And I just felt like I was on a hamster wheel and I just felt like I need to have something other than this to focus on. And, that was like a moment of desperation because 80% of food startups fail in the first two years.
Oh my gosh. Is that the percentage?
Yeah, I mean it's, it's tough like restaurants and so, but I just felt like, I felt like I just wanted to have something else. To focus on something that had a, a more viable chance than, I didn't know if I was ever gonna get pregnant again. And then the other thing too is that moment where it's like I was just certain one day I was gonna go into a Whole Foods or a Sprouts or a natural food store and find a product like Nut Pods and be all like, I had that
Mm. Right.
And sometimes you just realize, it's that adage that ends up being so true where it's like, it's the things that you regret that you don't do. And so I decided to go for it.
I love that. Okay. So, and you did get pregnant a second time.
I did, I did get pregnant.
Where was that in the timeline of building
Oh, you are gonna love it. So I decided, you know, to go for it. And then I actually had gotten hit by a car as a pedestrian and so in my apartment complex, and so it was. It was this I haven't, I haven't ever shared this before, but I had miscarried and I went through the whole process of miscarrying and then I, it was literally the first day and like, like probably six weeks I got back into the gym just to kind of feel like myself again.
'cause I was on bed rest at the end trying to do everything to save that baby. And so, and I was walking back and it was blue skies and a Prius. You can't hear them sometimes behind you. And so she hit me from behind and I flew up and I hit my head on the windshield and had a concussion and was on the ground.
And, that is when I found out I was pregnant. So in going to the emergency room, in getting x-rays in them, saying, is it possible if you could be pregnant? And I'm like, no, I'm an IVF patient. They said, well, just for standard protocol, we're gonna, we're gonna do a, a pregnancy test.
And when they told me, after my x-rays that I was pregnant, I just was in absolute, like I, I. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. And so that's when I found out that I was pregnant. And then from there, we had already started the process, of, of nut pods. And so, I think because I had miscarried a couple times, I just, I didn't wanna give up this.
Nut pods thing, just in case it didn't work out again, and so I kept going on the pod side.
Well, I think, 'cause then you're just living your life on hold. You're like, okay, now my full-time job is like staying pregnant, which that's a lot of pressure, like emotional pressure.
So, so much, so much, and it's, I'm glad women are talking about their fertility struggles and sharing about it, and so, but it, it felt very lonely at the time. It felt very lonely at the time, and I think like I had been. Just burned where you didn't wanna share, you were pregnant, you didn't wanna share until, after 12 weeks and even after 12 weeks, I, I still miscarried.
And so it was just, it was just hard and I, I didn't want to get my hopes up in this unbelievable pregnancy again. And so, um, and
Especially after being hit by a car, like,
yes, exactly. And I'm just so grateful now that I don't have any, long-term repercussions, I can't always balance as well with my eyes closed in yoga and so small side effects and so, but but very lucky in so many
Amazing. Okay, so you're, you're pregnant. You've started building this business and you really bootstrapped it in the beginning, and then you turned this into a nationally recognized. Brand, like what did that take financially, emotionally, mentally, personally, especially in those early years when, when you weren't known in this space and, and I don't believe you'd worked in food previous to this.
No, I mean the, the thing about NPAs that people love is that we're just such an unlikely, uh, hero journey. I know my dog is. So ridiculous. And so, but the reason is because I exactly, I, I came from blood banking. I was a supervisor for blood drives, having, eight different donor reps organizing blood drives in the community, making sure hospitals had an adequate blood supply for patients and for people that were going through leukemia burn patients.
That benefit from plasma rare donor program for bone marrow. So that was my background. And also, a stint with medical devices, external defibrillators, pretty outside. Of the food and beverage space. The closest I came to was just, thank you so much, Laura, for donating blood today. Your donation's gonna save three lives.
We also have juice, cookies, tea and coffee and the canteen.
Yeah.
the closest I came and so, but my compass, my North star in creating nut pods was that this was a product that I felt was going to be of need enough purpose. People wanted to have a better for you option and. I thought people deserved to have an option that was unsweetened so that they could choose their own preferred sweetener and sweetness level, including none at all.
And so, and that became relevant for me as I was now, 39 and finally pregnant and had, having gestational diabetes. So now today in the us, one in four people are pre-diabetic. So the need for nut pods and the communities in which we serve sip by sip, cut by cup, it unfortunately continues to grow.
And so, but I'm glad that we're able to offer a product and it's not just a product that like is healthier for you. It's a product that people find, and then end up loving and then. It's an easy switch out for them. And so it, it was very difficult at first because I was the only entrepreneur I knew in my community.
So there wasn't like this network, that I could lean on about other founders. I couldn't raise money to like, to save my life because if you remember, I was pregnant. Female founder, person of color. If I wasn't pregnant, I had a newborn and I was breastfeeding, you know, and so like all, all of that in trying to pitch your company, you've never been a CEO before.
It's a new industry. I mean, I was pretty unbankable. One thing that is little known fact is that we were the opposite of being able to like call on a Rolodex and call family friends to just invest in our business. We actually had a bankruptcy and so my husband had invested in real estate and he had a portfolio of homes, and then the real estate bubble burst and then, he was underwater.
And how I got roped into that was that. When we had gotten married, he had said, well, why don't we refinance the home that we're gonna live in? And that way your name is on the title, it can feel like your home. Like he's wonderful and very loving. And so that one home got wrapped up in that bankruptcy.
So now I had a bankruptcy and I cannot tell you how difficult it is to start a company and with a bankruptcy because you can't even have credit cards. So. Being able to max out your credit cards. definitely came later. But at first I had to start with prepaid credit cards, which is like, here is $500 and then I magically have $500 of credit, in of a credit line.
And so it just was. A hard haul, but I really believed that it wasn't just a product that would help me, but it would help other people. And I had a lot of, a lot of people that weren't just encouraging because they were supportive of me, but encouraging to say, I think this is a great product and I would use it. And so that kept me going. And so we started online on Amazon. Thanks to my 510 Kickstarter backers that gave me $32,000 to kickstart my, my business, I now had 510. Backers around the world. And so in order for me to reach those early adopters, find out what they actually thought about our product, and hopefully get them to repeat and purchase again, I needed to be able to set up distribution and the only way back in 2015 to do that in a scrappy.
Nimble way was to go online. And so grocery stores is just so expensive and it takes such a long time and you don't realize at the time, it's like you go and you, you pitch your product to the buyer, which means you have a prototype or you have a finished product and then. It takes months to get an appointment, months to hear back from an appointment, months to get scheduled into a reset where grocery stores will take somebody out and put you in, enter you into their system, put up all the pricing.
I mean, it could literally be like six to nine months process. And meanwhile, you don't have any income or revenue coming in. And so that cash flow. Is king for the first, you know, two years. And that's why a lot of food businesses that have great products, that have great positioning end up failing because grocery's very expensive.
And the cashflow, once you get it going, I mean, it's still subject to, net 40 terms.
Right. Yeah, that is. And then, things, prices increasing on the products that you need to make your product all. There's so many different factors that come into play, but I, I've definitely heard that that is a huge challenge. I know somebody who recently started a food business. They had to go through like the food sciences to go from like, we're making these small batches in their kitchen to producing it in a commercial kitchen, larger quantities.
And then, oh, one of the ingredients is now no longer available. We have to switch it out. Now we have to go through the process again because the flavor is changing because of the different, so it's all of these different things, and I don't think I had any understanding about the complexity of. Creating a food product until I heard this from a friend, so I, I feel like I understand a little bit more about what that journey must have been like for you.
Oh, I mean, when, when I started I also worked with a, a formulator, a food technologist to help me scale my formula in my kitchen with my Oster blender. And I remember I was talking to my consultant, her name is Tara, and I said, oh, okay. So my top secret formula is the 365 Whole Foods almond milk, because it doesn't have ke Keenan Thai kitchen coconut cream, because it's not the milk, but it's the cream, Williams Sonoma Tahitian Vanilla Extract, a little bit of, of the, the Gray Sea salts because.
We have to have fancy salt, right? 'cause we're like premium. And she was looking at me and she said, okay, well she knew I was new. And she said, well, we can definitely contact the company and see if they provide wholesale, but obviously we can't open like 75,000 cans of coconut cream, you know? And the almond milk has already been formulated.
That's a complete product. And so our job is to build it from scratch with all these ingredients, but that was just one of the challenges. The other thing that I didn't realize, and it took me two years and many, many, many very expensive, failed food trials is because this creamer product is an alkaline product that goes into an acidic environment like coffee. But Laura, it is highly variable. Do you like blonde roast, medium rose, dark roast, all different phs. Do you like it extra hot or do you like it Iced also changes the pH of the coffee. And so when you're trying to formulate a product like ours, and I.
It felt like in order to stand out and differentiate and be able to justify your premium price point, I needed it to be third party certified. So non-G project verified vegan, gluten-free, kosher, whole 30 glyphosate free from the detox. You have a very narrow toolbox of ingredients. And we can't, go back to processed ingredients.
'cause that's literally the whole positioning of the brand is we're not going to have, the traditional suspects and processed creamers. And so being able to have a product that is natural that adheres to all of these guidelines for the third party certifications I insisted on and still have a perform two iced coffee, extra hot coffee, blonde, medium dark rose Hawaiian, and like so many different blends of, of coffee.
It was extremely difficult from a chemistry standpoint. And so, that was a big challenge that we had. And so, but as you. As you are an entrepreneur, you have to manage. So much of these, challenges that come up and you just have to navigate. And I think in a small, small way, because I had been put through the ringer with so many failed pregnancy tests by the time that had gone through like 20 failed trials of my creamer failing to perform in coffee without curdling, I had built up a little bit of a resilience.
It's that optimism that entrepreneurs need where it's like, it's not like we're going to the moon or we're creating iPhones. We're just trying to create, a healthy non-dairy creamer cannot be this hard. We just gotta get around the corner. And that, that ignorance, that blissful ignorance, just kind of spurs you to just keep going a little bit further.
Yeah, I think that's definitely the, the entrepreneurial spirit. But you touched on something there, and it's something I've really been sitting with a lot and and talking about is this. The light in the dark. So these dark moments, these challenges we have in business or life, uh, miscarriages and fertility challenges and business challenges, and, your non-dairy creamer, curdling in coffee, all of these things you can now look back on and go, oh, but look at the, the blessing in disguise.
Look at what came from that, those personal experiences gave me the strength to continue and keep pushing. And now look at the business that you, you built. So it's so interesting to look at these things. It's so hard when you're in it sometimes to realize that this too shall pass, and what are the things that perhaps are going to come from, from this experience?
It is, it goes back to the Greek stoics, right? It's not what happens to you, it's how you respond to it. And I'll tell you like the biggest busing of all, remember I told you, I said, gosh, I couldn't like raise money to save my life, you take a look at the capitalization of of nut pods, which I will politely decline to, to tell you how much we raised, it is literally a fraction.
We were very capital efficient in order for us to be able to get to the, to the revenue that we had based on the capital that we raised and i'll tell you, like I was comparing myself and you don't realize when you're going in because you just wanna create a great product that will help other people.
But then you're in it and then you learn like, oh gosh, like Califia, that founder is actually the founder of AUA Juice, Greg Stan Pole. So he's like a veteran and he has all these connections and he's raised, over a hundred million dollars in funding. And so, and these are all like publicly available figures, and then it's like, oh gosh, Adam from Method and now started Ripple and they've raised, just a ton of money.
And I remember there was this day with my team, and I think we were about 25 people at that point, and the news came out about how another competitor had just raised like Mega Millions, and one brave soul in our all staff company meeting just said like. How are we gonna compete?
They have so much more money than us. And it was that moment where it was like, oh, like as a leader, and it's, it's almost like when you get asked a really hard question by your kid and you can't fail in that moment. And I just said, you guys, I said, they have more money. And they have more people, but more money does not guarantee that they are better than us.
And I said it gives you more options for sure. It gives you more options on where to spend money, but when you don't have more money, it creates us to be more nimble. It creates us to be more strategic, more focused, really committed to what we do invest our money in. And I said, I firmly believe.
And I hope you guys do too, that like we really have something here and more money does not make them automatically better. And so you get these like crazy pinch me moments along the way where I remember at a trade show. I was in the audience and I was listening to someone from Nestle and they had asked, so what brands do you pay attention to?
And he said, nut pods. I'm like, oh, we're like on the map, like they're watching us. And so, and then you start to realize that as you're carving your own identity as a brand and as a company, we were able to shift and influence in our own industry, and so flavors that we came up with toasted marshmallow.
Like ended up being in other, company lineups where y'all like toasted marshmallow did not exist before nut pods and it's not a natural pairing to go in your cup of coffee. Right. And so, but it was such a great flavor and, being able to see other brands start turning away from plastic bottles to, sustainable, fully recyclable carton board and being able to see other brands adopt that, it's like.
We, it, it felt like we were the Apple brand where we didn't have the same market share as a pc, but we were outsized in our influence. And so it's, it's so wonderful to see and then you really start to get traction and that, inc 5,000 was a really. I mean, that really put us on the map. We were 13 nationwide in all industries, but we were actually number two in food and beverage.
I mean, we were like sub 40 people at that point, and we were just growing exponentially. Number one bestselling plant-based creamer on Amazon, and I don't know how I got on like a Forbes female 200 list, but thank goodness, because I just feel like you just don't know your influence.
And so, if you're committed to what you're building and if you're trying to do it well, I think that you'll, you'll be surprised about what influence you actually end up having.
I love so many parts of your story. I mean, I love all of it, but I think something I'm really taking away is the fact that you created something from a need and a passionate, and you did not waver. On your commitment to not having modified things, not having processed things, your packaging, trying new things like there's, you really just stuck to your vision and the impact you've been able to have on the company and the industry is huge, and that must feel very rewarding.
And from the outside looking in, I just really wanna applaud you for creating something that. Feels so aligned with you and the vision that you had, and you didn't cut corners.
you. I, I appreciate that and it means a lot to me, Laura, I will tell you. But in the moment it's hard. I mean, it's, it's very difficult to, like zag when everyone else is zigging. I remember I had an advisor and he was very like big food company, very high up there and he said, are you sure you wanna be unsweetened because sugar sells in America. At the time, it's like, oh, like he's like a VP and he really knows marketing. But I realized, I'm like, no, it, it is our one major differentiator. Coffee is such a ritualistic habit. Think about all the different packets you have, your raw sugar, your regular sugar, or Splenda, stevia trivia. Pick your color packets, right?
And then on top of that. Agave syrup, maple syrup, like, people want to create their perfect cup of coffee in order to do that. You can always add, but you can't take it out. And there were people like me where, I had gestational diabetes and hoping it was temporary, but a lot of people needed and deserved to have an unsweetened option.
But for sure, there was this moment. Where I'm all like, I don't know, maybe, maybe we should just kind of fall in line. But I knew that in, in adding sugar, we were missing out on a major differentiator for our brand. And so that was one where I bucked the conventional advice. Another was e-comm, and sometimes it's like, my goodness, you know when COVID happened and everyone pivoted literally overnight from going to grocery stores?
Online we had established ourselves and had a multimillion dollar business online, but the reason why we started is because I needed a way to have overnight distribution nationwide, and I couldn't do that with a team of three people, and two of them were contractors, to set up retail distribution for, and I didn't have the money, I didn't have the capitalization, I I think before friends and family had come on board. And so Amazon was the door that was open for us and with the shelf stable product, it was a great door for us. And now looking back, you go through this door that's open. And everyone else is like, oh, in food, you gotta be in grocery.
And that's where the volume is and they are right. You do have a lot of volume in grocery, but if you are a starter brand, if you're not sure how your product is gonna be received, if you're not sure about how to forecast or, or plan out the demand for your product or fulfillment, because you may or may not have a three PL or even a warehouse set up, Amazon with their nimbleness and the universe that they have made it very easy for us to go there. There's a lot of positives of starting online first, it's a, it's a good way for a lean startup if you have an appropriate product. And then, you build from there.
We felt like we did a lot of things backwards, but now looking back on it, we did a lot of zagging when a lot of companies were zigging and it worked in our favor.
Amazing. Okay. So I'd love to fast forward to when you decided to sell. Can you share a little bit about the decision and, and how you approached that?
So it was after COVID and. It turns out that I am a wartime CEO where it's like when, when there are really hard, headwinds, then I am at my best. I can lead best in in that regard. I think that at the time we had achieved so many things. I mean, I, I never would've thought our team, I think today we're like 45 people. Which four, five people we're the number two brand, in our channel in all channels. And so being able to achieve that is remarkable. And being able to achieve that with such formidable competitors like Starbucks and, Chobani and Nestle and and Danone, I mean, these are like big boy competitions.
I felt like I had achieved everything that I wanted to. I had spent over a decade building and loving this brand. And I think it's fair to say that there is a tremendous amount of personal sacrifice that you have to give in order to keep up with the business that's growing this fast, and a team that deserves your time and attention and opportunities that come your way.
And so, I think like a lot of people through COVID, it made me reflect on like if something happens today because I've already been hit by a car check, so, but if something happens, there's my professional legacy of all the things that I've been able to achieve and then what is my personal legacy and I wanted to make sure that my children didn't have a legacy where it's like, at my wake, people were like, oh, your mother was like this and this and this. And they're like, I just remember her missing, my first varsity game. I remember her missing my birthday and we had to celebrate early because like fancy foods, happened to be on my birthday and I mean, I, I'm sure this is in all industries, but you can't tell Kroger, I'm sorry, it's my daughter's birthday. Could we reschedule our, our headquarter call? You can't ask a trade show to reschedule. You have to make sacrifices, and I knew that I had this a window of opportunity to really make nut pods, keep going. I mean, it was not built to be a lifestyle brand that I would hand to my children. It was built, to grow because I wanted to get it into the households and pantries and refrigerators of people actually around the world. And so in order for me to do that, I needed to grow and I needed to attract capital in order to help fund my growth.
And if we were acquired, it would allow us to be able to have that distribution because I would love nothing more than have people have a healthier, better for you delicious option around the world. And if Vita Cocoa and Zico can do that with aseptic shelf stable coconut water, we can definitely do that.
And you totally wove right into the next question I had with for you, which was around Legacy and, and you've already really answered it. I love that you still have this legacy piece around wanting to have this brand in everybody's kitchen and pantry around the world and the family piece and this life piece beyond it that is so important.
You don't want to wake up one day, like you said, and and your kids don't know you, and you've missed out on their lives, especially after you've tried so hard to have them in the first place.
For sure, for sure. And I think the other thing too is you know, the legacy changes a little bit. And so, and that's this new chapter in my life that I'm just absolutely in love with now. And it's like towards the end in the decision to sell, we were in a position of strength. The holding period was, was in the target timeframe for my private equity partners.
And they were great partners, but I also told them, I said, that it was becoming more apparent to me that very few female founders get that opportunity to see their business go from concept to an exit. And even fewer are people of color. And so being able to have the bandwidth. And to have the opportunities to, mentor, invest in and be able to share all that I've learned in building this business that I'm so proud of and being able to share.
How do you pitch to venture? What's the difference between venture and capital partners? How do you manage a board for the first time when you've never been a CEO before? How do you. How do you manage the pressures of building and hiring. And what do you do when you mis-hire somebody and they're in an executive position?
How do you handle company tragedies when you have people that have taken their lives on your team. There's no handbook. And so I wanted to be able to represent, I wanted to be able to serve in different capacities that I just couldn't, in such a demanding, CEO job.
And I realized that I had achieved everything that I had wanted and more, and I still had aspirations and hopes because now I have a 17-year-old and a 12-year-old daughter, and one day they will enter the workforce and I want them to know, and when their mom wasn't with them, I was doing my part to represent and lift up other women.
So that. We can work towards the things that are important for them to have more opportunities for them to have, opportunities to be on public and private boards for them to, have an example of someone who grew up on food stamps, publicly educated, being able to become an entrepreneur, give back, mentor, help other entrepreneurs, whether or not you're a person of color or whether or not you are, a female. I mean, those are my sweet spots. And so I just think that that's my legacy that I wanna do now. And because I've been so blessed in the sale of our company, we're also in a position to give philanthropically.
So that's also a new legacy that we have been working on too.
What a beautiful role model you are for so many and I really appreciate you sharing this journey with me and with everybody who is listening. So Madeline, how can people connect with you? Learn more about nut pods, buy the product. Tell me where is the best place.
Oh, absolutely. So, now I, I have to update my LinkedIn. We're more than 15,000 locations, but we're in all leading retailers. We're in the Walmarts, we're in the targets, we're in the natural food stores, we're in the independence, and so they should be able to find us not only in the refrigerated section, but also in the shelf stable.
Might be either alternative milks or it might be coffee, tea. I also depends on your retail and region. And then the best way to reach me is on LinkedIn at Madeline Haydon.
Thank you so much for this beautiful, rich conversation. I know that so many people, women, founders. Are going to get so much out of what you shared, so thank you.
Thank you. I wanted to add that I have been starting an advice column on LinkedIn. And so typically. What happens is that, it's hard as a, as a founder, you wanna protect yourself, reputation, you wanna protect your company, and yet you need desperately for advice.
And sometimes you're like. Well, this is on Quorum or Reddit. I think this is good advice. I don't know who this person is. This is the handle. And so, and I realized I'm all like, we have advice, like anonymous advice, columns for sex. We have, advice columns for manners. And it's like, I wanted to be able to be a person who has some credibility and then you, Laura could sign in as just an anonymous, moniker, DM me about your particular problem. You still have your anonymity and you're still getting advice, but it's from someone who is not a random person on the internet that you hope is giving you good advice. And so that one is something that I am starting up and I hope it just gives people a safe place to ask questions and to get advice and my, my job really in this chapter is just to, to help others.
Amazing. Well everyone head on over, connect with Madeline on LinkedIn and send her any of your questions. I think you've got a lot of advice to share. So thank you so much, Madeline.
Thanks for tuning into the Legacy Branding podcast. I hope today's episode has inspired and empowered you on your journey to building a brand that truly matters. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with other founders who you think would benefit from listening.
And if you're ready to take the next step in building your legacy brand, visit our website, lab creative.ca to learn more and book a call. Don't forget to join us next time for more conversations that will help you navigate your transition and create your legacy. Until then, I'm Laura Beauparlant.