Kara Goldin - Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters

Kara is inspiring all generations searching for their own passions to just go make it happen. Take risks. Stop being afraid of failure. And align what you are good at, what the world needs, and what makes you happy. Read this book!

Sarah Friar,

CEO at Nextdoor, Member of the Board of Directors of Walmart and Slack, and Cofounder of Ladies Who Launch

Ive watched Kara grow Hint and show the world that it is possible to create something healthy that tastes great with love in each bottle. Karas work as a female leader shows women that it is possible to challenge the status quo. Undaunted takes us through the journey and helps us understand that even when we think it cant be done, if you can believe it, you can achieve it!

Ronnie Lott,

NFL Hall of Fame Legend from the San Francisco 49ers and Founder of All Stars Helping Kids

Kara is a masterful entrepreneur who figures out how to make the impossible happen. When others quit, she proceeds and makes it look easy. The lessons in Undaunted will undoubtedly make you feel like you need to go build something too.

Roland Frasier,

Co-Founder of DigitalMarketer.com and Business Lunch Podcast

Kara Goldins story about building a company in the wellness industry is a terrific chronicle about how well-being is front and center in peoples everyday lives. Kara is making an impact as a businesswoman, a leader, and a health activist. She is Undaunted.

Nancy Brown

Karas leadership is a shining example for women who are aspiring to be and do more. Whether in business, social impact, or womens empowerment, Kara is a trailblazer, and Undaunted provides a vulnerable, courageous, honest look at what it takes to build something that truly matters.

Shiza Shahid,

Cofounder of Our Place and the Malala Fund

Grit and resourcefulness define the best founders Ive known, and thats why I was the first investor in Hint and their biggest cheerleader throughout the companys amazing story. Read Undaunted, and youll be inspired by Kara Goldin to discover within yourself the intensity and determination that are the primary requirements for success.

Geoff Ralston,

President of Y Combinator

Undaunted is a perfect read for anyone who is motivated by pushing boundaries and who dreams of one day disrupting an industry. Goldin shows us how its done.

Alison Levine,

Team Captain of the First American Womens Everest Expedition and New York Times bestselling author of On the Edge

If you are looking for lessons on how to get through tough times, or a pandemic, there is no better person from whom to learn. She inspires.

Kerrie D MacPherson,

Board Director, Retired EY Partner, and Executive Sponsor of EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women

2020 Kara Goldin

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published by HarperCollins Leadership.

Book design by Aubrey Khan, Neuwirth & Associates.

Any internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by HarperCollins, nor does HarperCollins vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book.

ISBN 978-1-4002-2052-6 (eBook)

ISBN 978-1-4002-2028-1 (HC)

Epub Edition August 2020 9781400220526

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020941186

Printed in the United States of America

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To all who have helped me throughout my journey,

My family. My friends. My teachers and mentors.

My children, Emma, Kaitlin, Keenan, and Justin. Sadie and Buster too. Each teach and inspire me in their own way.

And to the women on whose shoulders we stand, who give me hope.

And finally, to my Theo, who always believed in me. From Day 1.

W hen youre the youngest of five kids, you can easily get lost in the family shuffle, which I did a lot. But you can also learn to fend for yourself, which I did eventually. And, ultimately, you can achieve more than anyone might have expected of you.

I never thought I would become a leader, run a company, or do anything particularly great for that matter. But when an executive at one of the worlds largest beverage companies told me no one would want my unsweetened flavored water, something clicked. I decided to prove him wrong.

And I did.

This is the story of how I overcame a seemingly endless series of no and you cant and its impossible to create a unique product, build a thriving company, compete with some of the biggest beverage companies on the planet, and live a life filled with rich experience and constant learning. Today, my product, Hint Water, is the number one flavored water in the United States, and Hint is an iconic brand loved by millions of customers.

In this book, I share the lessons Ive learned about how to get things done instead of letting real or imagined obstacles stop me in my tracks. The story starts when I was a little kid, but dont worry, this book isnt an autobiography. Its part business, part life lessons, and its all about the most important things you need to know to be a successful entrepreneur.

I call myself an accidental entrepreneur because I came to the world of start-ups on a different path than many other entrepreneurs. Founding a company was never my goal. I didnt go to business school. I was in my midthirties when I founded Hint. I had held a number of media and tech jobs, lived in New York and San Francisco, got married, and had kids.

Then, like many other people in the early 2000s, I discovered that kicking the diet soda habit and drinking more water helped me lose weight and get healthier. But I learned I could only drink so much plain water before I got bored, so I threw some slices of fruit into the pitcher to make it tastier.

That was the start, but I wasnt the first person to put fruit in water or try turning unsweetened flavored water into a product. I was, however, the first to create a successful product, while others made compromises that led them astray.

I let my passion and commitment to making a great product be my guide, and I stayed focused on what mattered most about the producttaste.

I started Hint in 2005 with my husband, Theo. At the time, enough consumers were making the move away from sugary and diet-sweetened drinks to bottled water that the large beverage companies, as well as a few entrepreneurial brands, started to include the word water in the name of their newest sweetened drinks. Brands like vitaminwater attempted to give consumers the feeling they were making a healthy choice, when actually they were getting more of the same.

Hint, by contrast, made water taste great without turning it into a sweet soft drink. No sugar. No diet sweeteners. No preservatives. At first, I wasnt confident I could get the message across in this confusing, highly competitive marketplace, but I wanted to show people that drinks could taste great without having to taste sweet.

I didnt anticipate how technically difficult it would be to turn what I made in a kitchen into a product that went on the shelf in a store. Everyone in the business told us we would have to use preservatives or other chemicals to ensure the product had a reasonable shelf life. I refused to make that compromise. I asked Theo to research the issue and, after weeks of phone calls and visits to other bottlers, he told me, Theres no way to get the taste you want and still have enough shelf life to distribute this product around the country.