Learning and Adapting Along the Way with Sarah Chalos Co-Founder of I Heart Keenwah

Jun 28, 2018

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Today we have Sarah Chalos co-founder of I Heart Keenwah with Ravi Jolly. I Heart Keenwah makes "superfoods" accessible to consumers with a range of tasty food products, including quinoa based snacks such as Himalayan pink salt chocolate quinoa puffs, peanut butter chocolate quinoa puffs and many more. They can be found in thousands of stores across the U.S. and globally in places like Whole Foods, CVS, 7-11 and of course on Amazon and their website. Before I Heart Keenwah, Sarah studied engineering at MIT, worked in R&D, manufacturing at Abbott Laboratories, earned her MBA at Chicago Booth and consulted for big corporate clients at Bain & Company. The most impressive part is that Sarah does all this while raising 2 kids.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[1:10] Jeremy introduces his guest, Sarah Chalos.
[2:30] Juggling life as a professional and a parent.
[5:30] How did past business experience help Sarah with launching her startup?
[7:30] Why did Sarah go get her MBA?
[9:30] How did the idea to build a business around quinoa come about?
[12:15] Sarah talks about early quinoa creations and going to the farmers market.
[17:00] Taking the product to Whole Foods and expanding production.
[20:00] Advice that Sarah has for leaders considering their first startup.
[21:30] How did things change once Sarah was able to go full time?
[24:30] What was the next line quinoa snacks that Sarah and her team developed?
[30:00] Sarah talks about getting different labels and certifications for her product.
[31:00] Why is Bolivian quinoa a superior crop?
[34:45] Sarah’s go-to quinoa recipe.
[36:00] What is on the horizon for I Heart Keenwah?
[37:00] What made Sarah decide to grow her team? Who did she hire first?
[38:45] Which conferences and trade shows do Sarah and her team attend?
[39:45] What’s worked and hasn’t worked on the marketing front.
[41:00] The lowest moment in business so far.
[42:30] Sarah talks about a proud moment in her business.

In this episode…

How have you been able to learn and adapt along the way in your professional career? Have you been put in many situations where this was necessary? What worked and what didn’t? On this episode of Inspired Insider, you’ll hear from entrepreneur and innovator Sarah Chalos. In her conversation with Jeremy, Sarah opens up about her business career, what led her to start I Heart Keenwah, adjustments she has had to make along the way, why quinoa is such an awesome product, and so much more! You don’t want to miss a minute of this engaging episode!

One of the biggest struggles as a professional is maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Do you think that work-life balance is even possible? How do navigate both roles without one suffering? On this episode of Inspired Insider, Sarah Chalos shares her experience as a mother and a driven business professional. According to Sarah, her role as an entrepreneur actually empowers her as a parent. When family obligations come up, due to her role, she is able to move things around and be there for her family. To hear more about Sarah’s story and how she rocks both her professional and personal life, make sure to listen to this episode!

If you have any hope of advancing as a business leader, you’ve got to be willing to evolve, adapt, and learn along the way. In what ways have you done this? Have you seen leaders that you want to emulate display a willingness to adapt and adjust to new information and new situations? On this episode of Inspired Insider, you’ll hear from Sarah Chalos as she goes over how she’s adapted and evolved as an entrepreneur. One of the most impressive aspects of Sarah’s story is the fact that she went to school to get her MBA because she knew that she’d need it to pursue her dreams. Find out what valuable lessons you can learn from Sarah’s story by listening to this helpful episode!

The struggle that many startup entrepreneurs face is deciding when to start paying a full-time salary to the business owner. For many, this narrow window comes and goes and the business is worse off. If done with the right timing, a small business can capitalize on this growth opportunity to have its innovative leader dedicated to full-time involvement. What can you learn from this pivotal moment in the life of a small business? Find out on this episode of Inspired Insider as Sarah Chalos reveals the moment she was able to focus on I Heart Keenwah in a full-time capacity and the impact that decision had!

Let’s face it, developing a food product is not for the faint of heart. Even if you develop a product that tastes amazing, you still have to fight tooth and nail to get that product on grocery store shelves. Entrepreneurs and innovators that enter the consumable products arena are some of the toughest leaders on the marketplace today! On this episode of Inspired Insider, you’ll get the chance to learn from one of those tough as nails leaders, Sarah Chalos. Sarah and her team have worked hard to bring delicious and healthy quinoa snacks to kitchen tables all over the country. Discover what drives Sarah and how she’s been able to get her product in stores like Whole Foods by listening to this exciting episode, you don't’ want to miss it!

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