By Ilanit Blumenfeld
Claudia Uribe and I are two Colombian-born moms, an MBA business consultant and a nutritionist who were always in search of snacks
for our families that were healthy AND tasty. We were sick of the same old stuff and missed the fruits from our home country. So In 2011 we formed
goVida, the only freeze-dried fruit company that
specializes in combining exotic fruits with unique flavors, creating hybrid
mixes and infusions, carefully selected from around the world. We want to share what we have learned.
-
- Be innovative. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. If you have an idea, go for it. To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to start somewhere. Thoughtful decision-making is vital for any startup, but fear of failure should not hinder your ability to move forward. People may think it’s easy to come up with ideas but it is always scary taking the plunge. This is not like working in safe, corporate America. Being in a startup, we are constantly treading new waters that haven’t been explored before. New questions, challenges and hurdles always come up. If you are afraid to get your feet wet, you’ll never learn to swim.
-
- Manage time wisely. If you are a mom, a wife or a single woman, you know the importance of a balanced life. Everything, EVERYTHING needs to be balanced. As women, we often feel conflicted between work and home. We need to find a way to ensure that we are happy in both of our worlds. “We want to be successful without having to throw everything else out the window”, says Claudia. Family, friends and health all need to remain at the forefront. I remember my pre-goVida days when I exercised at 9 am after my kids went to school. Now I get up at the crack of dawn to squeeze in a workout. The key to smiling at the end of each day is managing your time effectively and efficiently. Some things that work for us are waking up earlier, prioritizing our days and moving non-time sensitive activities to the weekend.
-
- Partner up with someone different than you. Women typically search for other women who are just like them. For friendship, that can make a lot of sense, for business, not so much. I remember reading about the importance of capitalizing on different professional backgrounds in an Oprah Magazine years before I started goVida and I thought how clever! Claudia and I are incredibly lucky to be working with each other on this business venture. While one is more creative, the other is more process oriented. "We recognize, appreciate, and build off of each other’s divergent strengths,” says Claudia. Underneath everything of course, we share the same common philosophies and goals for the company. A balanced company is a successful one.
-
- Capitalize on your expertise. Rebel against the status quo. How many times have you bought a new product and thought, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ I do it often. We often have ideas in our heads and it’s just a matter of getting them out! As busy moms and women, we are constantly searching for new ways to make our lives easier. Whether it is fulfilling an unmet need, product or service, our personal experiences are the best idea makers. We understood the importance of healthy eating and had always struggled with finding tasty, convenient snacks with functional benefits that we felt good about feeding our families. The mix of our upbringing and exposure to exotic fruits, combined with our business skills and expertise in nutrition, resulted in the launch of our one-of-a-kind freeze-dried fruit mixes.
-
- Give back. We don’t care if it sounds cheesy, we believe in karma. What goes around comes around (and we were saying it before Beyoncé.) Find a cause that is important to both yourself and your organization. The company philosophy should be close to your personal one. Not only will it make all of your hard work worthwhile, but if you do good, good things will come to you as well. We are not talking Voodoo here, just common sense and goodwill.
Ilanit Blumenfeld is the mother of four girls, a nutritionist, and co-founder of goVida Foods, leading its sales and marketing efforts.