You have to have a ton of passion for what you're doing because being an entrepreneur is probably twice as hard as you think it's going to be. The good news is that it's probably twice as much fun when it's going well.
We have 11 great potato flavors, and customers have been clamoring for tortilla. For over a year, we worked to develop the four flavors of tortilla popchips: chili limon, nacho cheese, ranch and salsa. They're made with traditional stoneground masa, are gluten-free, and have less than half the fat of other chips.
There's a deli around the corner from my office where I'd get a bag of chips with my sandwich, and I was hiding them under my sandwich because I was embarrassed. When I had this epiphany that I was hiding the potato chips from myself, I realized there was an opportunity there.
Everyone on our team shares a couple passions - putting the fun back in snacking, an entrepreneurial spiriting, and the passion for creating an innovative and exciting brand - all of which makes popchips a really fun place to work these days.
I'm a snacker, but also health-conscious. I thought there had to be an alternative to what was out there. But it had to taste good - if it doesn't taste good, it isn't a snack.
We focused on getting popchips into the hands of tastemakers and influencers wherever they were, from the fashionistas at Mercedes Benz fashion week to the passengers on Virgin Airlines.
The influencer strategy hasn't been built around celebrities. We're looking for influencers within every marketplace, who are the people who help influence decision-makers within that community.
