Ready? Set? Go! Founders stories #2 with Ilana from Bolder Foods
Isn’t it often said that entrepreneurship is a “marathon and not a sprint”? Because behind every company, there’s a lot of unseen work from founders that goes into building a better company, we decided to put the spotlight on these entrepreneurial champions.
Ilana is an experienced entrepreneur. Before co-founding Chizou, she launched a food waste-fighting snack brand (Snact) 10 years ago with her partner in crime, Michael Minch-Dixon. Passionate about sustainable product design, she’s also a fellow of Unreasonable.
Together with Michael, she’s on her way to revolutionise alternatives to dairy, starting with cheese! 🧀🌱
When are you most productive? How “do you set the pace” for yourself?
I used to be most productive in the evenings for most of my life — post dinner! But having young kids, I’ve had to force myself to change and now I’m just most productive when I can be. Meaning as soon as the kids are off to school or sleeping… not needing me. I like to set myself deadlines even if there aren’t real ones to make sure things get done.
When did you give your best sprint with your company?
I think since starting the company! It’s a constant sprint… You always say to yourself “oh, I have to reach this goal”, but once the goal is reached, another one appears immediately, so you’re sort of always in sprint mode. I think the most notable sprint was the one that lasted 9 months, followed by my childbirth, all without losing sight of work. It’s been many mini sprints!🏃♀️
What’s the worst thing that already happened to you in your Entrepreneur life ?
There are many fires to put out in entrepreneur life and they make for funny stories later on, though not funny when they happen. 😅
I can name a few “horror” stories. Most recently a huge order was mislabelled so Mike and I had to go to the factory to check AND then re-sticker about a million boxes (ok it wasn’t that many but it felt like it because you’re doing this in a cold fridge so your hands freeze).
Another bad thing? When a logistics partner held our stock hostage because the company that was storing our product went bankrupt and owed them money — we needed the stock for a big delivery so we ended up having to drive hours ourselves to go and get it, and PAY for them to release our own product!
But this isn’t only related to startups, it happens in every business of course.
Being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming, what do you do when you need a time-out?
It’s a bit difficult to answer these questions having had a baby less than 3 months ago. This is because I am running a marathon. I don’t have time for anything apart from taking care of my kids & working. However, I love going for a walk or a run in the forest. And I love changing scenery when I can — skiing in the mountains is my favorite. 🏔
However, a time-out these days usually means ordering some food & watching a good show on Netflix. I’m also very conscious of how I feel and not letting things get to me — I’m not an anxious person.
I always ask myself: what is the worst that can happen?
When you think hard, the worst things in these contexts aren’t “that bad” (i.e. family/health is always the most important).
What advice would you give startup founders to stay “ahead of the game”?
I would say don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t be precious about equity or your idea — it’ll only grow if you share it with people and take on input from others.
Thank you Ilana for sharing your personal journey as a Founder!
You can follow her on LinkedIn and find out about Chizou on Instagram or directly on their website.
