Behind Her Empire How to Bring Your Passions & Ideas to Life with Catherine McCord, Co-Founder of One Potato
Catherine McCord is the co-founder/CEO of One Potato, an organic family-friendly meal delivery service, and founder of Weelicious, a website dedicated to helping parents expose their children to wholesome, delicious homemade food.
Throughout the 90s, Catherine was considered one of the world’s top supermodels, posing for the cover of Vogue, walking the runway for Donna Karen and Calvin Klein, and appearing in movies that included Matt Damon, The Rock, and Jennifer Anniston. But then, 9/11 happened. Catherine was living in New York City and her perspective on life changed instantly. Although her career was soaring, she realized life was too short and wanted to follow her passion for food.
After graduating from culinary school, Catherine had her first son, who experienced health issues from a sensitive stomach. Although she could cook a four-star meal, she had no idea how to cook for her child and realized that this was a common occurrence for mothers. She began playing around with different recipes and decided to start her blog, Weelicious, to document her journey, build community as a new mother, and share her recipe ideas.
Fast forward to today, Weelicious has grown into a widely popular health and lifestyle brand, three cookbooks, and her most recent venture, One Potato, the first organic home meal delivery kit, which has grown over 200% in the past year.
We’ll chat with Catherine about how she pivoted her career, from model to serial entrepreneur, the importance of building a community when launching your brand, and how she manages to build her empire while also being a mother to three young kids.
In this episode, we’ll talk to Catherine about:
* Hear about Catherine’s upbringing and how it influenced her perspective on food. [2:42]
* What it was like being both an international model and an ordinary high school student. [4:30]
* How her understanding of money has evolved; how she learned the gift of saving. [7:37]
* How the tragedy of 9/11 helped Catherine realize her passion for food. [9:35]
* Catherine’s experience of being a woman in the male-dominated restaurant industry. [11:51]
* Her next steps towards starting a blog (and a family). [12:53]
* Advice for entrepreneurs that are just starting out: don’t be afraid to ask for advice! [14:52]
* When Catherine realized that she had a marketable idea and built a business. [16:15]
* She outlines the process of writing her first cookbook, starting with leaning into the expertise of other authors. [17:24]
* Learn how Catherine lets her children lead through her companies. [20:12]
* Find out where it was in her journey with Weelicious that One Potato came to life. [21:31]
* The value of finding the right partner, aligning your values, and creating a community around the launch of your brand. [24:16]
* Using word of mouth to market One Potato when they didn’t have any funding. [25:28]
* Advice for entrepreneurs looking to build a community: be authentic, start with just two social media platforms, and share your passion. [27:19]
* Approach fundraising as a definite strategy and a learned skill that takes practice. [34:15]
* Catherine cautions against taking it personally when investors don’t “get” your product. [40:38]
* Her advice for dealing with rejection, starting with knowing your audience. [0:41:39]
* The biggest mistake Catherine sees entrepreneurs making: thinking they will be wildly successful in two years or less. [48:17]
Follow Catherine:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weelicious/
* Weelicious Website: https://www.weelicious.com/
* One Potato Website: https://onepotato.com/
Follow Yasmin:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/
* Stay updated & subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.behindherempire.com/
Behind Her Empire Featured Entrepreneur:
* Niloofar Mirani, founder of Niloofar, a snack company with a mission to introduce Persian cuisine and culture.
* Learn more about Niloofar: https://www.niloofarmix.com/
* Follow Niloofar on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niloofarmix/
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