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 In This Episode You’ll Hear About:

•   [02:51] Kate’s “standard” upbringing in Ohio and her early love for consumer-end products.

•   [08:07] Why she changed her name and how moving to North Carolina helped her realize the value of surrounding yourself with down-to-earth people.

•   [14:08] Kate’s first job as a CPA and how her vision to be a businesswoman became a reality.

•   [19:03] From Deloitte to Harvard (for an MBA) to Kurt Salmon (now Accenture Strategy): Kate’s trial-by-fire introduction to the retail and consumer products industry.

•   [24:25] Tough lessons on embracing failure, being wrong, and getting over perfectionism that she learned a little later than most entrepreneurs.

•   [25:55] The origin story of Sun & Swell and when Kate knew to go all-in on her “side project.”

•   [32:31] How COVID strengthened her commitment to building a truly plastic-free brand.

•   [41:43] Unpacking what Sun & Swell means when they say their packaging is compostable.

•   [49:39] Insight into the battle between ego and authenticity in Kate’s fundraising journey.

•   [54:41] Kate’s evolution as a leader, her advice for entrepreneurs in the trenches, and more!

 To Find Out More:

Sun & Swell

Kate Flynn on LinkedIn

Kate Flynn on Instagram

Lee Greene on LinkedIn

Stairway to CEO

Stairway to CEO on Instagram

 Quotes:

“There has been a connection to consumer-end products since I was really young. [There was] something that really resonated with me there.” [0:05:42] 

“Surrounding yourself with people who bring you joy and make you a better person tends to serve you well in life.” [0:13:38]

“That vision of – being a businesswoman, I don’t even know what it meant. It was way too broad for me to understand, but that’s what I wanted to be. It wasn’t a teacher, it wasn’t a doctor – I wanted to be in the business world.” [0:15:51]

“I’ve learned as an entrepreneur to embrace failure, but it didn’t come until later in my entrepreneurial journey. I was not okay with failure for many, many years of my life.” [0:22:32]

“My whole journey as a consultant – was learning to get over perfectionism. It was learning to be okay with not being right all the time and be okay with failure. That was the first time I had to go through all those lessons, which ended up serving me well.” [0:25:05]

“[Transitioning to compostable packaging] is way harder than it sounds because of all the supply-chain differences between compostable and plastic.” [0:33:54] 

“This is about a movement away from plastic, not just building a [snack] brand.” [0:36:10]

“We have two types of customers; one who is committed to zero-waste, they discover us because they’re trying to go plastic-free, and the other – who is just trying to make small steps in the right direction.” [0:47:00]

“The ideal state is no packaging – Ideally, you’re buying everything from your farmer’s market or [you have] a reusable bag and you’re going to your bulk store – The compostable solution is an interim solution to make it easier for people to make a step in the right direction if they can’t do the ideal state.” [0:48:58] 

“It’s not about the end. It’s about the journey. Sometimes, the journey is way longer than you think. It’s usually very different than you think it’s going to be – If all you can focus on is the end goal – it’s not going to be a very fun journey.” [0:58:06]