Kara Goldin - Hint Water | Purpose & Passion in Business - Episode 34

In this week's episode, we dig into the story of Kara Goldin, an entrepreneur and founder of HINT water, an American beverage company producing healthy substitutes for soda, juices, and energy drinks. All their products are sugar-free and meet smart snack requirements.

The conversation starts with Goldin talking through what  led her to write her book, Undaunted. Her new book outlines her journey in entrepreneurialism and the qualities that people need to have in order to succeed. The discussion uncovers many insightful learnings Goldin gained through her experience. 

Goldin explains how it is important to learn from tough experiences that most people would want to forget and move past. She acknowledges that it can be uncomfortable for one to go back and reflect on their journey but highlights how valuable it can turn out to be . She substantiates this by talking about an early  experience with Starbucks when they were removed from Starbucks’ which left her with inventory that had to  to be sent back to the warehouse. Goldin believes when bad things happen, they don’t last forever. Continuing her story, she talks about her decision to not work with Amazon because she believed it did not foster  direct relationships with customers.  As a result, she launched  her own store, which allowed her to have meaningful conversations and build relationships with her customers. She believes  the subscription program she launched on the site was what made HINT water stand out. 

Goldin dives into her founding story where she talks about how her own health issues led to the creation of HINT water. She discovered ingredients in her diet soda that made her stop consuming the products because of the harm it was doing to her. Within a few weeks of doing so, she was surprised to see her skin glow and weight drop. After this, she ventured into the market only to realize everything had some kind of sweetener and decided to make her own products. 

The discussion comes to an end with Goldin explaining how the purpose of HINT water was to fill holes in the market that didn't exist. She says she always thought of the worst that could happen and reminded herself to go out and try it. If nothing else, she had the courage to laugh at herself and make the most of her learnings along the way.