CAULIPOWER - HOW TAKING RISKS CAN MAKE YOUR BRAND IRRESISTIBLE
On my podcast, The Irresistible Factor, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gail Becker, the awesome and energetic founder of Caulipower. She started Caulipower to fill a void in the market that she herself was experiencing. And based on the incredible success of the brand, it seems as if she wasn’t the only one. Caulipower has re-imagined the frozen food aisle, won all kinds of awards and accolades for innovation and is the #1 selling gluten-free pizza and cauliflower crust pizza in the food industry.There is so much good stuff in this conversation, it was hard to summarize, but here are a few of my favorite bits on how Caulipower came to be and how they continue to disrupt the industry through innovation and truly Irresistible products. Listen to the full episode here.
How a void in the market can turn you into an entrepreneur
Gail Becker, was a mom trying to feed her two sons who were diagnosed with celiac disease, but found most gluten-free foods had so many bad ingredients. At the same time, she was wanting to escape corporate America for something more fulfilling . So after some soul searching and with no prior experience in the food industry, she made the decision to follow in her father’s entrepreneurial footsteps and start her own brand. Caulipower was born in May of 2016.
The highs and lows of being an entrepreneur in the food industry
As an entrepreneur, being uncomfortable is the risk you have to take, but Gail sees it as a good thing.. As she says, “I tell people, if you don't learn something new, every day, you need to find a new job. Being uncomfortable is exciting, exhilarating and heart wrenching.” . But there are also highs. Caulipower is now in about 30,000 stores and 5,000 restaurants, across the country and they have pasta rolling out in the next few months. They remain relevant by continuously innovating and bringing new products to the market.
Why waiting for the right moment is sometimes key
Caulipower started as a self-funded company, with every dollar Gail could scrape together and a strong belief in her product. It wasn’t until a year into her business that she decided to find an investor who could help them grow and allow them to try new things. In terms of expanding from the one great product Caulipower was built on, Gail waited for the permission from two key stakeholders; the retailer's and the consumers, who kept asking what they were going to Caulipower-ize next.
How a lack of experience can lead to success
Having no fear, and being comfortable with admitting what she did and more importantly didn’t know, helped Gail succeed. She asked a lot of questions and broke some rules because she believes you don't get a lot from being in the middle of the road. ”You have to be clear about what rules you're going to follow and which you're going to break. And although there's a lot of conventional wisdom in any industry, I disrupted a lot of conventional thinking, because if you just mimic what everyone else does, then what are you bringing to the table? If you're not a disrupter you're not really an entrepreneur, you're a fast follower.”
And her best advice for any entrepreneur or business owner,
“If you really want to do things differently, you have to do things differently in every sense of the word, and it doesn't have to be in every part of your business but pick the three or four things and where you are going to break with the rest of the industry, because that is ultimately what is going to set you apart.” If this interview isn’t enough inspiration to try this awesome brand - Caulipower would like to offer YOU a FREE Pizza! Just DM them on any of their social media accounts and mention “The Irresistible Factor” to send you a coupon for one FREE pizza!
If you’d like to be featured on The Irresistible Factor or need help figuring out how to make your brand Irresistible, reach out to me at kbridges@sawtoothgroup.com