Angela Sutherland is the Co-Founder and CEO of Yumi, a fresh, organic, and nutritious baby food delivery service.
After many years working in private equity, Angela never imagined she’d one day be an entrepreneur and start a baby food company. When she became pregnant with her first child, she became hyper-aware of the importance of nutrition in a child's first 1,000 days of life. She realized most baby food offerings in grocery stores are low in nutrition and incredibly high in sugar.
So, this made her think: what options do new working parents have to ensure their child gets proper nutrition without the hassle and clean-up of making every meal? The opportunity was clear. This led Angela to dive deep into research and discuss the problem with her longtime friend, Evelyn Rusli - and within weeks, they both decided to quit their jobs and create Yumi.
It only took one and a half months to launch Yumi's first beta which was a massive success. They’ve raised over $30 million to date and are available nationally while also having a cult following with celebrities like Jessica Alba, Gabrielle Union, and Molly Sims to name a few.
We’ll talk to Angela about the importance of taking a leap of faith when it comes to entrepreneurship, overcoming doubt, the power of community and brand when building your business, lessons learned when it comes to fundraising, and so much more.
In this episode, we talk to Angela about:
* Angela’s advice for anybody who is dealing with imposter syndrome. [3:04]
* The inspiration that Angela has drawn from her mom throughout her life. [4:50]
* How Angela became an entrepreneur. [6:10]
* What Angela realized when she started researching baby food. [7:30]
* Why Angela recommends taking the leap before doing too much planning. [10:23]
* The value of community. [11:50]
* How Angela and her long-time friend and Co-Founder, Evelyn Rusli, formed their business relationship [13:26]
* Angela and Evelyn’s approach to raising funding initially. [19:30]
* What the beta phase of Yumi looked like, and the response that they received. [22:02]
* Learnings that Angela and Evelyn had when they started Yumi. [24:23]
* How long Yumi’s beta phase lasted. [27:50]
* Challenges of fundraising as a woman of color. [29:08]
* Doubts that come with starting a company, and how to overcome them. [32:23]
* What Angela sees as a key to the success of Yumi. [35:35]
* Yumi’s approach to building community. [36:58]
* More important learnings that Angela had as a first time founder. [38:10]
* Meaning behind the name, Yumi. [40:14]
* How Angela’s relationship with recovery has evolved over time. [42:30]
* What wealth means to Angela. [43:33]
This episode is brought to you by beeya:
* If you or anyone you know have been struggling with hormonal imbalances and bad periods, go to https://beeyawellness.com/free to download the free guide to tackling hormonal imbalances and to learn more about beeya’s seed cycling bundle.
* Plus, get $10 off your order by using promo code BEHINDHEREMPIRE
Follow Angela:
* Yumi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yumi/
* Website: https://helloyumi.com/
Follow Yasmin:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/
* Stay updated & subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.behindherempire.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
