Kara Goldin, UNDAUNTED
[0:08]Hi, I'm Zibi Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
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[0:54]Today's sponsor is actually my own holiday gift guide, which you all must check out at zibiowans.com slash gift shop.
[1:02]Zibiowans.com slash gift shop. I have so many amazing things organized by all the things Moms Don't Have Time to Do.
[1:08]Like eat, sleep, workout. I don't know. There are 10 different categories, and they're amazing and read.
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[1:21]What do you think? I hide your flask, and you loved all the sugary treats, right? Oh, yeah, anything with candy.
[1:27]Like sugar with and meaty treats. I love meaty treats. And the function of beauty champions.
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[1:44]but go to zibiowans.com slash gift shop, and get some great gifts for the people you love,
[1:49]and pick up a few for yourself. Why not stop into the gift shop? I love the Caragoldan's book
[1:54]undaunted. I've recommended it many times on TV and in print and everywhere. I just really think
[1:59]it's awesome and inspiring. And finally, I'm releasing the episode, and I'm doing this on Christmas Day,
[2:04]which for many people is obviously a very important day. And I hope that perhaps you will find
[2:10]time to listen to this either today or over the holidays when you have a minute. And you want to
[2:14]think about the next year and not be intimidated. And just take this with you into the holiday season,
[2:21]because I think it's really awesome. Anyway, Caragoldan is the founder and brilliant CEO of Hint,
[2:27]a healthy lifestyle brand, Hint Water. Her unsweetened, flavored water business has become one of
[2:32]the most successful beverage brands of our time, boarding her accolades as one of InStyle's a badass
[2:37]50, fast companies most creative people in business, fortunes, most powerful women entrepreneurs,
[2:43]and EY's entrepreneur of the year for Northern California. Her insightful podcast, Unstoppable
[2:48]with Caragoldan, features chats with amazing entrepreneurs. Cara's new book undaunted,
[2:54]overcoming doubts and doubters has received rave reviews from Sheryl Sandberg,
[2:58]John Legend, and Jamie Diamond, and was a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
[3:02]Part autobiography and part business memoir. Cara combines real honest stories from her life
[3:07]about her own fears and doubts, the challenges she encountered and what she did to overcome them
[3:12]and to build a great business and the life she loves. And I hope you all enjoy your holiday
[3:16]listening to this episode. Hi, how are you? Thank you for connecting and I'm really excited to do this.
[3:22]I'm really excited. Did you get a copy of my book by any chance? I did. Yes, awesome. Okay, I just
[3:29]wanted to make sure that you got it. So I've devoured it. I read every word. I loved it. I
[3:35]I mean, I love like a good sort of like business story memoir, but there's so many of them are by
[3:41]men. Like this was just so great. I just loved it and it was awesome. It was awesome. I can't
[3:46]wait to see it. It's funny because I didn't know when I wrote this book that there really aren't
[3:52]women's books like this. Like it's typically women who are no longer CEOs anymore or something
[3:59]horrible happened with their company. You know, like there's there's like a horrible story versus
[4:04]saying like, yeah, I had some crap that went on, you know, in the midst of it. But at the end of the
[4:11]day, if you want to succeed and you want to move forward and you want to learn, you know, some lessons
[4:18]and also, I mean, it's funny because so many people have said who have known me didn't even know
[4:22]I was going through some of those things. And I said, you know, it's interesting. Like it's not like
[4:28]when you're trying to, when you bet your company on, you know, like your life, like you've now
[4:34]just made this deal, like I think it's more likely that people sort of go into hibernation.
[4:40]Do you know what I'm saying? And like they don't want to talk about it. Like they don't want to,
[4:45]you know, sort of like have a lot of these conversations. And then they're like, okay, I've just
[4:49]got a resurface and like deal with some of the stuff. But even John Legend, who's one of our
[4:54]investors said, you know, there were so many things in here that just kind of like I just
[5:00]like have more respect for you just saying like, you know, you were trying and you were busy,
[5:06]but we all knew that you were busy, but we just had no idea some of the stuff that you were
[5:10]really dealing with along the way. And and that is really my hope for this book too, not just
[5:15]to explain myself, but also to share with people that, you know, if I can do it, you can do it too.
[5:21]And you know, and again, it's like it's really about it's pretty great when it just got the
[5:26]Wall Street Journal bestsellers list too. So yeah, I know. And so and especially like everybody
[5:31]was saying to me, don't count on any of those because during this time you're not doing big book talks,
[5:37]you know, you're not doing like it's an election, you know, like there's a million reasons why
[5:42]it wasn't going to be able to, you know, get it. And then it like got number seven. And so I was like,
[5:48]oh my God, it's like, it's crazy. So I'm really, really excited.
[5:52]Well, you deserve it. It's a great book. And seriously, you wrote it in such a, it's like an,
[5:58]it's a narrative, right? Like it feels like you're watching a movie about it. Like you're telling it
[6:02]as it comes, but then you have these little tips and both, you know, called out, but it's,
[6:06]you know, and it's not so much about like balancing your life and your work and, you know, how to,
[6:14]you know, it's like literally the story of building a business, which I find fascinating.
[6:18]I went to business school. I mean, I just like love entrepreneurial stuff in general personally.
[6:23]So when I hear about some of the things and some of the times you had to regroup like
[6:28]with hit water for like when you started out and that there was the mold in the water
[6:33]and you had to figure out like what to do about it. And how you had to like load up the Jeep and
[6:38]you like refuse to stay home. And you were like sneaking out of the house to work. It's awesome.
[6:44]No, I like, and I still laugh about that. Like I, we lived right across when we lived in San
[6:49]Francisco. We live in Marin County now, but when we lived in San Francisco, my, we had this private
[6:54]school right across the street from us. And it was a, it's called town school. It was all boys.
[7:00]And I knew a bunch of those mothers who were dropping their kids off. And so I knew that their
[7:04]drop off was at eight, 15. And so literally in the beginning, I would go over there with like
[7:10]bottles. I'd be like, oh my God, I have to get across the street to like get to the drop off because
[7:14]I'm going to give them a bottle and see what they think of this flavor. And people were like, okay.
[7:19]And, and I said because they won't expect it. And you'll hand it to them. And I'll be like,
[7:23]give me your honest opinion. Yeah. Oh my God, this is amazing. And the more that I got of this is
[7:28]amazing, then I would be like, okay, like let's move forward with it. And people and entrepreneurs
[7:34]laugh at that because they're like, oh my God, in the mold story too. Like I said, like, don't get
[7:39]me wrong. I mean, we had this lab that in South San Francisco that called and Resco that I used to
[7:46]like drive down there. And it's not in a great neighborhood. It's in like the baby neighborhood. And
[7:51]so my husband would like never let me go by myself in my, I'd lock my doors. And like I'd never
[7:56]bring my kids in the car. And I'd drive really fast and like a little scared. And then I'd like
[8:01]drop off these samples just to make sure that there wasn't like botulism or like we never
[8:06]wanted to kill anybody. We were like, which is nice. Entrepreneurs. Like I said, you know,
[8:12]especially in food and beverages, like it's amazing how many people do not like take those steps.
[8:18]I said, I like I wouldn't be able to live with myself. If I knew, you know, like don't like
[8:24]there was definitely mold, but we were testing it. I mean, it was like, you know, there's mold and
[8:28]cheese and kombucha and like there's lots of stuff. But you have to make sure that it's not the bad
[8:33]stuff that's going to kill you kind of. But how your husband would drink it in front of your
[8:38]buyers to be like, no, no, I'm good. Like look at me drink it. I'm like, I like the dedication of the
[8:44]two of you and like the better you could do it together. All of it. And we're still laughing. I mean,
[8:49]we still like laugh. Like people have said over the years when I've been out, you know, public speaking
[8:53]on this too. People are like, and he's like a, he's from Skarsdale. He's like a Seinfeld episode. I
[8:59]mean, when he doesn't, I mean, he talks, but he's typically not the one like speaking on the brand.
[9:04]But a couple of times the two of us have been together and like talking. And, you know, he's always
[9:09]like, you know, they're like, what's it like to work for your wife? And, and I remember when ink asked
[9:14]me the first time on this panel. I was like, oh my God, you know, really where is this going to go?
[9:20]And he is like, don't we all like work for women? Like at the end of the day, like, you know,
[9:25]he was like, I have two daughters. Like if they're not happy, I'm not happy. Like and he, I mean,
[9:30]like he'll say these things, you know, somewhat tongue and cheek. But he's pretty serious about it.
[9:36]He was like, look, like we have 60% women in our company right now. Like Cara always says it's
[9:41]because like the guys don't want to work for women. She might be right. Like, you know, like the
[9:46]people don't show up for the interviews because they're like, I don't want to work for a female
[9:50]founded company. And I'm like, good. Like don't like don't apply for the job. Like I'd rather
[9:55]you not show up, right? And apply for this stuff. And he's always
[10:00]like, yeah, but then it leaves like the cool guys here
[10:03]that actually like wanna work with women
[10:05]and like they enjoy like the thought process
[10:08]and whatever, I just, he's hysterical.
[10:12]I mean, he just like makes me laugh every single day
[10:15]but that was the other thing, you know,
[10:16]just in building, you know, the,
[10:18]like he did a lot of the editing on the book too
[10:21]and I mean, it's funny because, I mean,
[10:23]he was just this awesome
[10:25]and still is an awesome intellectual property lawyer
[10:28]and Silicon Valley like all of his friends
[10:30]were like, what are you doing?
[10:32]And he's like, okay, so Cara is writing 50,000,
[10:35]$100,000 checks off our bank account like it's water
[10:39]and like it is water, like she's just like
[10:41]and she can spend money like I've never seen in my life
[10:45]like she'll just like, and she made money
[10:47]but still like he's like, I don't wanna go bankrupt
[10:50]like over this like whole project.
[10:52]So he was like, I gotta like stay close to this
[10:54]and really understand where she's going with this.
[10:56]Anyway, he's so funny and now like, you know,
[11:00]he's, I mean, he was the general counsel,
[11:03]he's the chief operating officer
[11:04]but, you know, he always says like,
[11:07]I can always go back to being a lawyer
[11:09]if I really want to like I, you know,
[11:11]he realized that he didn't like law
[11:14]and he, you know, he loves like the operation side,
[11:17]he loves like, you know, the science side of things
[11:20]and like really, I mean, he's automated
[11:24]our whole like supply chain and where like we don't have
[11:27]any people in the room when the bottles are being filled.
[11:30]Like that was a four year project for him that, you know,
[11:34]again, like he just said like that's where
[11:36]when we don't have any like preservatives in our product
[11:39]that's where, you know, stuff actually like happens.
[11:42]That's where we like bacteria happens.
[11:44]And so he was like working on this project
[11:47]and as of December of 2019, he like got all the people
[11:51]out of the room and like again,
[11:53]like I would like look at that saying,
[11:55]okay, well, that sounds good,
[11:57]but I'm not gonna work on it.
[11:58]Like you can go work on it and he went and did it.
[12:01]And now like with the pandemic, I mean, you know,
[12:04]when the FDA was running around the plants,
[12:06]trying to figure out like where was COVID
[12:09]in the food supply and the drink supply,
[12:11]I mean, we were so happy that we had done so much work
[12:15]around automation and like that's totally,
[12:18]that's the way his brain thinks about things.
[12:20]So while he's like excited to be, you know,
[12:23]working for a beverage company,
[12:25]like I'm just like he does like so much other stuff
[12:29]that is like so important,
[12:31]but so like way beyond what like a coke or a Pepsi
[12:36]or and he loves what he does and, you know,
[12:39]and so you can't, you know, discount that at all.
[12:43]But I think that's a thing that comes through
[12:44]for both of you and how you keep innovating, right?
[12:47]One of the parts of the book that stayed with me the most
[12:49]is when you approached somebody who was like high up
[12:51]in your company at the time and you were like,
[12:53]you're doing a good job, you must be bored.
[12:55]Like time to change, change it up.
[12:57]Let's go.
[12:58]And he was like, what?
[13:00]And you're like, aren't you bored?
[13:01]You've mastered your job.
[13:02]If you've mastered your job,
[13:04]it means it's time to step up and do something else.
[13:06]And then so many, that's just like so sort of anathema,
[13:10]like it's like people don't, you at that way,
[13:12]like I got good at this, I'm gonna stay good at this.
[13:15]And you're like, no, no, like what else can you do?
[13:17]And even using that like, you don't wanna be bored
[13:20]and you wanna keep innovating.
[13:21]That's how all the great stuff happens.
[13:23]Yeah. And I think like that's the thing.
[13:25]Like when you, when you even talk to like,
[13:28]I mean, we just develop the hand sanitizer.
[13:30]I don't know if we sent you in.
[13:32]You didn't send me any of this.
[13:33]I went online and like and like bought out your website
[13:35]after reading this book.
[13:36]I was like, I have to try everything that they make.
[13:39]Yes, I have all the hand sanitizers.
[13:41]I have the deodorant.
[13:42]I have the sun lotion.
[13:44]I got everything to try it all.
[13:46]It was so funny because the hand sanitizer,
[13:49]I just kept like smelling all this hand sanitizer
[13:51]in the beginning.
[13:52]And first of all, it was like really hard to get.
[13:55]And then in the beginning of the pandemic
[13:57]and then I started smelling stuff that just like
[14:00]smelled rancid and it ended up that a lot of it was.
[14:03]You know, there was a lot of stuff that was recalled.
[14:05]And anyway, and so I just started thinking like,
[14:09]God, there has to be, you know, some better ones out there.
[14:12]And so finally, one day, I guess this was like
[14:14]the beginning of May, a girlfriend and I were hiking
[14:18]and she lives up in Sonoma and she knew this whiskey brand
[14:22]that was like really struggling
[14:24]and they were, you know, doing hand sanitizers
[14:27]and she's like, she's like,
[14:29]maybe you guys want to do a hand sanitizer.
[14:31]And so she's like, can you just talk to them
[14:33]and like talk to them about maybe some ideas
[14:36]around direct to consumer or whatever.
[14:37]So I got talking and I kind of did it like as just like
[14:41]a favor to them, like to sort of help them.
[14:44]And then all of a sudden, like now we're almost sold out
[14:47]of the product.
[14:48]We're like trying to figure out how to make more of it.
[14:50]But again, like people were so surprised that the CEO
[14:53]was jumping in on it.
[14:54]And I was like, no, no, no, it's like really,
[14:57]I don't want to like bog the rest of my team down on this stuff.
[15:00]And then selfishly, like that's the stuff that I love to do.
[15:04]Like I love getting, you know, scrappy and like roll up my sleeves
[15:08]and, you know, and trying to figure out
[15:11]could this actually be a big business.
[15:12]And so it's a lot of what I speak at, you know,
[15:15]on that topic, even on college campuses,
[15:18]like I used to think that, you know, becoming a manager
[15:22]and then you just become like the important thing was really
[15:25]like getting a bigger title.
[15:26]And now the more that I talk to CEOs, they're like, oh yeah,
[15:30]I got this little project here and it's like, it's like super fun.
[15:33]And like it's like this, you know, like don't tell anybody.
[15:38]It's like the secret, but it's the best thing I do in the company.
[15:40]And sometimes it's been like philanthropy or sometimes it's been right.
[15:44]Like it's, it's other stuff.
[15:46]But I think like the more you can do these little things
[15:50]where you are learning, right?
[15:53]That that's the other thing that I've, you know,
[15:55]realized about really smart people,
[15:57]that the Mecca is not being this boring, like, you know, CEO
[16:02]that is just like sitting here, we're looking at a spreadsheet
[16:04]and watching the numbers instead.
[16:05]It's like how do we innovate?
[16:07]How do we do other things?
[16:08]And so I think like that, you know,
[16:10]and that goes at every single level of the company
[16:13]that I've really tried to push on.
[16:15]It's like, what else can you be doing, you know,
[16:17]that really gets your head kind of thinking about stuff.
[16:20]So I feel like I share that not that, I mean, I'm obviously
[16:23]on much a tiny year, tiny year scale here,
[16:25]but even with like this podcast, I, you know, I've like,
[16:28]I've been doing it now for almost three years.
[16:30]So like I know how to do it, right?
[16:31]And I love it.
[16:33]I love everything about it.
[16:34]But recently I started like another thing called moms
[16:37]I don't have time to lose weight.
[16:38]And I'm like, I'm cheating on my company.
[16:40]I'm cheating on like my number one priority
[16:43]by doing this thing on the side.
[16:45]Like here's my other Instagram I can't have it.
[16:47]It's really, but I'm like, well, let's try this
[16:51]and let's try that.
[16:51]And I'm always like, I love trying new stuff.
[16:54]So I'm like, well, I don't know.
[16:55]Okay, well, looks like that's not working.
[16:57]Like let's go with something else.
[16:58]And I love that that it's like a tinkering
[17:01]and experimenting and, you know,
[17:03]people respond to, right?
[17:05]It's so fun.
[17:06]Yeah. And I think like that's that's so true.
[17:09]And I mean, it's funny.
[17:10]I've spoken on so many college campuses
[17:12]and business school classes about this.
[17:14]And I think I sort of like just roped like the learning
[17:17]a little bit like I was speaking to a whole group
[17:19]of engineers at Berkeley.
[17:21]And I'm like, look, if you want to be like Mark Zuckerberg
[17:23]or like, you know, it's not going to happen.
[17:26]If you don't actually go and take classes outside
[17:29]or like or trying to figure out like what other people do,
[17:33]like always be learning.
[17:35]It's not just about like it's not a linear thing
[17:38]and the goal isn't to like get to the top of the heap
[17:41]and then manage a bunch of people.
[17:42]Yes, you'll do that.
[17:44]But then, you know, can you go horizontally?
[17:47]And can you actually like come back with creative ideas?
[17:51]Can you actually like understand like, you know,
[17:54]a basic business plan?
[17:55]Can you understand, you know, these different things
[17:59]along the way horizontally?
[18:01]And that to me is like the key to the kingdom
[18:04]because it keeps you like energized,
[18:06]it keeps you learning.
[18:08]And you know, that guy is still at hint.
[18:11]And I think, you know, I think I point to him all the time
[18:14]as one of our best managers.
[18:16]But he's also like, you know, he's gunning
[18:18]for my husband's job.
[18:20]Like, you know, I mean, he is, which is great, right?
[18:24]And he keeps taking more and more off of this plate
[18:26]and which is like, and you know, and eventually like,
[18:30]you know, if it's not at hint, he'll go somewhere else
[18:33]like and go be like an amazing operating officer
[18:36]because he's done exactly that.
[18:38]Like he knows enough to get him in trouble
[18:40]and all these different, and you get it.
[18:42]I mean, like people talk about this at, you know,
[18:44]business school and a lot of these learnings are there.
[18:47]But it's clearly not how we're teaching people
[18:50]in regular like college campuses today.
[18:53]It's not what we're teaching people.
[18:55]Like if you're a manager, you're like,
[18:58]you're great with people, you know your stuff.
[19:01]And then you could teach people.
[19:03]But I'm like, okay, but what about like that person?
[19:06]Like because there's so many people who just get like angry
[19:11]at their company or they get depressed or whatever.
[19:15]And I really think it has a lot to do with the fact
[19:17]that they're no longer learning, right?
[19:19]And I think, you know, it's like the spice of life, right?
[19:23]To I mean, I think it's, you know, with marriage too.
[19:26]And with, you know, like your personal life,
[19:29]if it's like the same, it's part of the reason why I think
[19:32]COVID is so hard for people.
[19:33]It's like the, you got to switch it up.
[19:35]Like you got to go find new hiking trails.
[19:37]You got to get out of town every once in a while.
[19:39]Like you got to, you know, do things that are going to like,
[19:42]like allow your brain to sort of like create and have new.
[19:47]So I think that's sort of an under-discussed
[19:49]contributing factor to depression.
[19:51]I think people don't talk about how much we crave learning.
[19:56]And like I used to always say like, I like miss school.
[19:59]I miss like a.
[20:00]I love it. I really love it. I really love it. And I loved like all the stuff I was learning.
[20:05]And when I got into the real world, like, I felt very, like, ruthless. Like, you know, where is
[20:11]the structure? Where is the, what am I building? If I'm just like showing up, it works. Anyway,
[20:16]I totally agree with you. So yeah. It's like, yeah, it really, it really is. So should we just
[20:22]continue on this? Or do you want to ask me specifically, like, about stuff? Let me, well, yeah,
[20:28]let me just ask you a little bit more about your book. And what, so what made you decide to
[20:32]take all your experience and turn it into a book, first of all, like, why, why a book and why now?
[20:37]Why did you do it now? Yeah. So it's crazy. I, you know, I was out speaking about founding
[20:42]hint, like over the years at lots and lots of events. And then about four years ago, I started
[20:48]journaling. And I was like, and I was primarily doing it because I felt like I would tell these stories
[20:55]at, you know, when I was out speaking. And then I kind of wanted to hone them in and, and like,
[21:00]also think about, okay, if somebody talks about, like, how do you get started? Then I would like have,
[21:06]you know, what are the three stories that come to mind that are, you know, good examples of that?
[21:12]And then I just kept going, like every time somebody would ask me something kind of hard,
[21:16]like I would think about, okay, here's my examples that I can go back to or whatever. And then
[21:21]I started really hearing more and more from people, not just in audiences, but also like they
[21:27]were right to me on LinkedIn and saying things are really hard. I can't raise money. I can't like,
[21:33]I have so many doubts. This is so much not like you. I'm sure you've never had any fears or failures.
[21:38]You're relentless. You're this and I'm like, no, like I totally had lots of, you know, examples of,
[21:46]you know, I am not like I move forward, but I also like have doubts and I have doubts but,
[21:52]you know, et cetera. So anyway, the, the journal was like 600 pages about a year and a half ago.
[21:59]And I finally started, I have friends that are authors and I was like, maybe I should like
[22:06]put this in a book because I could actually help a lot more people who are like feeling this way
[22:12]that maybe aren't going to reach out to me or who aren't in an audience. Like hearing me talk about
[22:16]this. And so I went, you know, I got an agent and then the agent like was like, this is going to
[22:22]take a long time to, you know, these like publishers are going to want you to write a certain book
[22:27]and there was definitely that, but it got sold in like two weeks. I mean, it was like really
[22:32]unusual. And I think like primarily because I didn't know how to write a book. I wasn't like
[22:38]this person saying like one day I'm going to be an author. Like I'm not going to lie. It feels
[22:43]pretty great to like have a published book and be an author and Wall Street Journal by seller and
[22:47]all that stuff. But I like did it differently than most people. Like and I think today so many
[22:54]people are journaling to and kind of trying to feel like how do I find happiness and how do I,
[22:59]you know, how do I be a better leader or whatever it is and they're writing, but they're not
[23:05]really thinking they don't know where this goes. And so I think like that's another thing that I
[23:10]like to share with people is like, you know, I think that this book, my hope is that people will,
[23:16]you know, read it and be inspired and kind of put it into their own kind of, you know, their own
[23:23]storyline to figure out like where it fits. And, you know, even Jamie Diamond, who's kind of been a
[23:29]mentor to me over the years, I mean it's funny, he read the book and he said your story in the
[23:35]Grand Canyon like really got me kind of thinking about like what are those really hard things in
[23:41]business that I faced where when I was facing something in my personal life that was super hard,
[23:48]you know, what did I like, what did I think about? And like how did how did I have the,
[23:55]you know, the relentless list to just keep going on and, and you know, he had throat cancer and
[24:01]so, and he talked about all of these challenging times that he had had in business and how he loves
[24:07]what he does and he loves his work and, but he was, you know, really feeling like, you know,
[24:14]that was a challenging time for him. And so he was able to automatically set his mindset to think
[24:18]like, I got this, I can do this stuff and, you know, and yes, of course he, you know, remembered
[24:24]his family and all of those things, but in addition, he remembered all of the hard stuff that
[24:28]he had been through as sort of lessons to be able to tackle other hard stuff. And I mean, I think
[24:33]it's fascinating that that's what he picked up on, you know, in the book, like it's like it's
[24:38]people are, you know, incredibly smart people are picking up things and like placing it in their
[24:43]own life, which is helping, you know, helping them to kind of figure out like what did that mean?
[24:48]And so again, I think it's got, I'm excited because I wanted to get it out there and, you know,
[24:54]like I said, it got picked up by a publisher pretty quickly. So I was like, I didn't really know
[24:59]what that meant, but I, you know, I'll also realize like women don't really talk about this and,
[25:05]you know, this clearly is not a book about, you know, how I was, you know, shunned in some way.
[25:11]There's moments in there, but I've also hopefully give people kind of hope to sort of say that,
[25:17]you know, there's people like them, like I clearly had some tough, tough times. And, you know,
[25:23]also my kids are older now and, you know, they look at me and they're like, you know, my mom's a
[25:29]badass, like, you know, she just like goes, she's crazy. She's still, you know, right in the middle
[25:34]of my launch and Sheryl Sandberg's interviewing me, my son's like texting me, saying, can I get
[25:39]those shoes? Can I get those shoes? Like it's still, you know, a crazy count, right? And I'm like,
[25:44]stop it. Like, you know, like, right? Like that is, that's real and it never stops, right?
[25:51]And, and, but that's okay. Like that stuff goes on. But I think people just think it's just,
[25:57]is this just my life or is this, you know, everyone's life? And so anyway, that, that was really
[26:04]why I decided to, to ultimately get it out there. That's great. I mean, it's a book I want to give
[26:10]to my daughters, right? Like, not just my, you know, when they're older. I mean, one of my daughters
[26:14]is seven. But anyway, it's an example. It's like, look, you can do all this and you don't have to
[26:20]write a book about things you're complaining about essentially, right? I mean, I think a lot of
[26:23]books right now are things that are, I don't know what has worked against us as opposed to,
[26:29]yeah, these are things are hard, but I got through them and here's how you innovate. So,
[26:34]I don't know. I thought that was really awesome. So once you sold the book, tell me about the writing
[26:39]process. When did you ever find time to do this? Well, because I had really written so much of it,
[26:46]like it was a lot easier for a publisher to actually say, you know, let's do this part of the book
[26:54]and all in these sections. And then I got this editor who's on the, you know, inside cover of the book,
[27:01]John Butnam, and then my husband actually, like, he would remember other parts of the stories
[27:06]and stuff. And so he became sort of like the co-editor. What was so sad is that my publisher,
[27:12]we turned in everything at the end of January. And I mean, it was pretty fast. It was from like
[27:18]the end of June until the end of January. We just like talked like four days a week, like blocked
[27:25]like three hours, four days a week. We were like on it. And we were just like, he was sending me,
[27:31]we just went back and forth on emails and I was doing weekends and nights. And I was just like,
[27:36]you know, because I'm still the CEO of the company. And so I'm still like trying to do both of the
[27:40]things. And then actually on March 13, do you know who Platon is? He's a photographer in New York
[27:47]and he shot the cover of the book. And he had shot me for this Verizon commercial. And I just
[27:53]loved him on he shot like Kobe Bryant, that picture that was, you know, so powerful. And he's
[27:59]done every president. He's just this amazing guy. And so of course the city was shutting down
[28:05]and you know, when all this was going on. And I said, like, are you going to cancel on me
[28:10]on this photo shoot? And he was like, no, no, no, like, let's just do it. And then let's both get
[28:14]out of here. And so that's what happened. And then I got the pictures back that weekend,
[28:19]while like we were out of stock on shelves everywhere. I mean, it was just there were a lot of,
[28:25]there was a lot going on at this time. And I remember talking to John on that Monday saying,
[28:31]what do you think about the cover? And like in the meantime, we're trying to figure out to be
[28:35]closed down our San Francisco office. We shot, we already shot or closed down our New York office.
[28:42]And so he was like, oh my god, I love the cover. We put a period on the end of undaunted. Like,
[28:47]he was like, I love it. It's exactly how you talk. Like, you know, it's it all of the stuff. And then
[28:54]and then I get a phone call from my agent. And a few days later. And he's, she's like, I have
[29:00]something critical to tell you. And I thought, oh, God, like, what else is critical, like going on
[29:05]in the world. And she's like, John, die. What? And so I know. And so I was like, what? I mean,
[29:12]this is somebody that I talked to more than my husband. Like, I mean, for the last like six months,
[29:17]like I was just like, we were constantly and he had a massive heart attack. No. I know. And it was
[29:25]so sad. And it was just he had just bought a house in Portland, Maine. He was like, you know,
[29:31]super healthy. I mean, he's 65 years old. But I mean, I'm convinced that like COVID is, you know,
[29:38]we'll find out years later that, you know, he didn't like have it that he knew of. But anyway,
[29:44]it was really, really sad. So, so I hadn't gotten my manuscript back from the publisher. But I
[29:51]think in many ways, like, because I had time sitting at home and was able to kind of,
[29:55]you know, dig through it. And John did such an amazing job to really get it kind of where
[30:00]needed to be, you know, there wasn't that much editing even that was needed. But so it was,
[30:05]you know, again, like it was just, I think, you know, John in many ways, like I felt like through
[30:11]the process of like getting it out there, like I could just feel his presence, you know, as like
[30:16]crazy as that was, like you got this, like, you know, it's going to get out there. So anyway, it was
[30:22]just, it was very, very sad though. So along the way, I'm sorry that that happened. I know,
[30:27]I know, and you look really sad. So do you have any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and aspiring
[30:35]authors? Because now you're, you know, now you're both, you can, you know, show that.
[30:39]Yeah. Well, I think like the main thing that I've, I've sort of, you know, signed up for over the years
[30:46]that wasn't as clear to me maybe earlier on in life is that if you don't try, then you actually
[30:54]won't succeed, right? And so I always share with people that like no idea is crazy, especially if you
[31:01]just keep thinking about it. Like, you know, if you keep thinking, oh gosh, I should go right a book
[31:06]or I want to launch this company, like you can just take baby steps to actually go and do these
[31:12]things. Like, Google are like, I don't know how to write a business plan. I'm like, you just Google,
[31:16]like business plan. And you can start to figure this stuff out. It might not be the best business
[31:20]plan in the whole world. But, you know, stop, you know, putting these walls up in front of yourself
[31:26]that actually prevent you from moving forward. Because I think that that's the biggest thing. And
[31:31]frankly, that's the biggest thing that I find for entrepreneurs is that, you know, they,
[31:36]they think, oh, I haven't worked in a couple of years. I've never worked in that industry. I
[31:41]didn't go to the right school or business school or whatever it is. I'm like, just go, just go try.
[31:48]And if nothing else, you can actually say, well, I thought about it. I looked at the industry.
[31:54]I wrote a business plan. I talked to some people. And like, that's actually succeeding, right? Like,
[32:00]that's doing something. Like, you got a little bit further than you were, you know, six months ago or
[32:05]whatever it is. So I think that's my biggest advice to people like when you, you know, look at
[32:11]successful people today. They didn't have all the answers. They, you know, they actually had a lot of
[32:17]failures. They had a lot of doubts. And you just have to go and just take these little steps and
[32:23]figure out, you know, what are those steps that I can go even figure out whether or not this is,
[32:29]you know, worth doing. And, you know, that's really, and really just live your life undaunted.
[32:35]Because if you do that, you know, I do believe too that while it can be stressful at times,
[32:41]it's also, you know, really rewarding. I mean, today we're the, you know, largest non-alcoholic
[32:46]beverage company, private beverage company in the world that doesn't have a relationship with
[32:50]Coke Pepsi or Dr. Purpose Napa. Like, that was never supposed to happen. Like, I didn't have
[32:55]the experience. I, you know, I was just like this mom with four kids under the age of six, like
[33:00]walking into Whole Foods, like I was just like, you know, driving in my Jeep grand Cherokee, you know,
[33:07]it was just like none of this was supposed to happen. But I just kept trying. And I was,
[33:12]you know, getting educated. And I was really intrigued by, you know, the fact that originally I
[33:18]thought these little things were caps. And they're actually called closures. And I was like,
[33:23]that's so cool. Like, there's this whole like secret hidden vocabulary out there for like these
[33:29]things. And I don't know why I like geeked out on the fact that those were, you know, the things. But
[33:35]again, I think if you have to get confident in yourself that you can, you know, go and accomplish
[33:41]a lot. And most people actually can do a lot more than they allow themselves to do. And again,
[33:48]if you don't want to do something, that's a whole other topic. But I think it's really like,
[33:54]do you want to get up and actually move forward? And that's the biggest question that I think people
[33:59]need to answer. Well, I feel less donted maybe not us. But well, you are definitely in your
[34:07]just amazing stuff too. Yeah. Yeah. Because well, I feel like your book is so inspiring. And it
[34:15]just so important. And I think that entrepreneurship right now is sort of the greatest thing we
[34:20]have left in this country. And, you know, during this pandemic, watching people innovate has been
[34:26]the most sort of encouraging thing that's happened. And, you know, with your hand sanitizer. And
[34:31]like, there's this company that sent me all these things. So over they called something like
[34:34]senties like scented mass. Like, you should actually talk to this company. Maybe you should talk
[34:38]to this girl. It's just like this random entrepreneur who she's making scented masks. And like,
[34:42]fun. It's like all these little things. That's what it's all about. That's how our country can
[34:47]really get better. So anyway, I feel like I could, you know, talk to you all day and ask you a
[34:52]million other questions. But I'm so glad to have met you to read your book. Now I'm drinking all
[34:57]this extra water. And getting and getting super healthy. I like super healthy. So thank you so much
[35:05]very informal chat today. And I hope to stay in touch. Yeah, definitely. I love it. And if anybody
[35:12]wants to reach out to me too, I'm on social like Cara Golden. And again, the book is undaunted
[35:18]overcoming doubts and doubters. And it make a great holiday gift too. I've been talking to a lot of
[35:25]people who are talking, reaching out to me saying, how do I buy like 50 of these? Like, this is like
[35:32]I know a lot of girlfriends or high school kids, college kids that that need this book. So it's very
[35:38]applicable. Bless you. Sorry. No, not at all. Yeah, not at all. Perfect holiday gift. I'm holding it
[35:45]up now. So anyway, all right. Well, thank you and state. Yeah, I have a great rest of the week. Okay,
[35:51]you too. Bye bye. Thanks again to today's sponsor me. My holiday gift guide,
[35:59]zippyowans.com slash gift shop. Please go check it out. Buy something for someone you love.
[36:04]And I promise you won't regret it. Zippyowans.com slash gift shop. Go check it out.
[36:08]Thanks for listening to this episode of momstone have time to read books. Don't forget to
[36:12]follow me on Instagram at zippyowans and at momstone have time to read books. Also sign up for my
[36:18]newsletter at zippyowans.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on zoom
[36:23]every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at texture sound for the sound editing. And thank
[36:28]you to morning moon productions for providing this fantastic intro and now trim music.