What Expo West Says About Our Food Industry
(Listen on Apple or Spotify. Full transcript below.)
When I returned from Expo West this year, I knew immediately I wanted to record an episode about it.
This wasn't just about recapping a trade show experience – it was about addressing something that's been on my mind for years.
For over a decade, I deliberately stayed away from natural foods' biggest industry event. The last time I attended was when I had my own food business, and what I saw there left me with complicated feelings about the show, its purpose, and the messages it sends to founders.
The Missing Context
Here's the thing – I've watched countless food founders struggle with the industry's messaging around Expo West. There's tremendous pressure to exhibit, to be seen, to "make it" at this show. But what's often missing is the crucial context of whether it's the right time or place for YOUR specific business journey.
I wanted to record this episode to provide that missing context. To share not just my experience, but to help founders understand when and why you might consider attending, and when your resources might be better invested elsewhere.
A Tale of Two Food Worlds
Another compelling reason for this episode was the serendipitous timing. Just days after Expo West, I attended the Intense Conference for farmers market managers and vendors. The contrast between these two food worlds was so stark, so revealing about our food systems and what we value, that I felt it needed to be part of our industry conversation.
When a $19 imported strawberry wrapped in plastic gets more social media buzz than local farmers producing sustainable, affordable food – that says something important about our priorities. I wanted to bring this perspective to our Good Food CFO community.
More Than Expected
I'll admit, the episode became more personally meaningful than I anticipated. After years of connecting virtually with our community, meeting listeners in person who shared how our work impacts their businesses was profoundly validating.
I wanted to record this episode to process what I'd experienced – not just the logistics of a trade show, but the deeper questions about connection, community, and what it means to build businesses that align with our values in a world that often pushes us toward different metrics of success.
Beyond FOMO
Perhaps most importantly, I wanted this episode to serve as an antidote to FOMO (fear of missing out). The natural foods industry is particularly good at creating the impression that certain events, strategies, or paths are essential for everyone.
I hoped that by sharing my nuanced experience – the good, the challenging, and the unexpected – I could help founders make more intentional decisions about where and how to invest their limited resources.
Listen to Join the Conversation
There's so much more to this story than I can share in a blog post. If you're navigating your own path in the food industry, questioning the conventional wisdom, or simply curious about what these industry events are really like behind the glossy exterior, I invite you to listen to the full episode.
Listen to the full episode here →
And after you've listened, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have you been to Expo West? Are you considering it? What factors into your decision-making around industry events? Let's continue this important conversation.
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Episode Timeline
00:00 Welcome to Season 14
01:14 Goals and Growth of the Podcast
02:45 Experiences at Expo West
03:12 The Importance of Farmers Markets
08:21 Juxtaposition of Expo West and Intense Conference
11:20 Networking and Community Building
21:28 Mixed Feelings About Expo West
29:25 The Importance of Planning for Expo West
37:12 Takeaways from Expo West
Full Episode Transcript
You're listening to the Good Food CFO Podcast. I'm your host, Sara Delevan, and with us as always is our producer, Chelsea Stier. Chelsea, welcome to Season 14.
Sarah, I think it's important that we kick off this season, I want to remind everyone listening of our big goal here at the podcast, which is for this show to reach 1 million food founders. And there is one big way that you listening at home or in the car or at work, wherever you're listening, can help us do that. And that is by sharing this episode with your friends.
rating the podcast wherever you're listening and leaving us a review. Okay, Sarah. So you got to have some fun last week. are going to be kicking off season 14 with an episode where you're kind of recapping some of the exciting things and takeaways and conversations that you got to have. Number one at expo West. But I know that you also want to spend some time today talking about
your experience as well at the InTents conference.
Yeah. So March 5th, I think it was, March 5th and 6th, I was at Expo West for two days. And then the following Monday, I was in San Diego at the InTents Conference and we recorded the episode we're airing today, sort of the Friday after I got back from Expo West, everything was really fresh. I felt it was important to have a conversation about it because as I shared publicly, you know, on social media, I had not been to Expo West and over.
a decade, I was choosing to go for the first time. I wanted to talk about the why. I wanted to talk about what my goals were and sort of part of my experience in being there. I had not yet gone to the intense conference at the time that we recorded the episode. And coming back from San Diego, I was like, what an interesting juxtaposition.
Yeah.
Cat Fields-White and her daughter Bridget and the team at Farmers Market Pros have been putting on this conference annually for a very long time. I have attended, this is my third time, but I think I've been sort of part of that world sort of for the last five years and I know that it's been going on much longer than that. It is my favorite place to go annually.
And I mean that wholeheartedly. It is a conference specifically designed for farmers market managers and farmers market vendors. So you have farmers, have CPG, you know, brands there that are selling locally and regionally via farmers markets. And you've got folks that just want to support regional food systems at this conference as well. And there was a really interesting post, social media post that
one of the attendees made shortly after the conference ended, which I think is interesting to talk about. Right now in the world of social media and very fancy grocery stores is a $19 strawberry at Erewhon.
It's fascinating to me and to many people in this space that there's so much buzz and hype around a $19 single strawberry from Japan that is wrapped in plastic and obviously took a lot to get to the United States and et cetera, et cetera. I don't need to go into all of those details. Yet there's issue with spending money
on produce that's grown locally and regionally. You know what I mean? It's an interesting way to frame the experiences of what I'll call big CPG at Expo West and the work that the folks are doing at the InTents Conference, both the organizers and the individuals who attend each year. You've got a group of people in San Diego who are fighting for food access, who are fighting
for the farmers and the small businesses who want people. They talked about protein bucks as a new way to help people in the community who don't have the funds to get protein from the farmers market. We're talking to Benny Blanco Tortilla's founder, Christopher Hudson, later this season. He was in San Diego with us. He talks about his porcupine project, which is a secret word.
that allows people who don't have the financial means to get access to his high quality tortillas, right? To see that, to see all of the hard work, to see the roadblocks that these folks and farmers are running up against with USDA funding getting pulled, the number of people that were unable to attend that conference because they no longer had jobs, because their USDA funding and grants were gone was astonishing.
like stunning. And then to have just come from Expo West where I said to someone, that's all inner aisle. None of that is necessary. Farmer's markets are so necessary. Expo West brings some innovation, clean, healthy products, alternatives to what the big corporations are creating and selling.
in the middle of the grocery store, so there's value to it. But the hype and the hoopla and the money and everything that is happening there and the lack of that at a conference, like the intense conference where it's just really staggering to me. I think I need to say this out loud. I need that to be a part of
this conversation as we head into an episode where we're debriefing Expo West. It just feels really, really important. And every year, the Intense Conference solidifies my belief in the need for and the value of local and regional food systems and local and regional economies. And I want to thank Kat and her entire team for consistently putting this event together despite the challenges that
the farmers market community as a whole is facing and that they are facing individually to excite us, to invigorate us, to remind us. And as other, you know, attendees of the conference told me over lunch, it's a hard, hard job. It's an exhausting job. But coming to this conference really gives the motivation to go back to work and to keep on fighting.
And so thank you, Catt, and the entire Farmers Market Pros team for everything that you do.
I love that. That does feel very big, very important. know, one of the things that I was thinking about as you were talking and when you talk about the hype and the excitement and the money being spent on promoting and selling the brands that do sell in the middle aisles, right? I started thinking about a grocery store and like, yeah, on the outside, you know,
edges of the store, there's not a lot of like, which brand of apple am I going to buy? But that's one of the amazing things about going to a farmer's market, in my opinion. Actually, a little insider information is going to a farmer's market with you, Sarah, because that's where I get the like, we need to go to this farm. They have the best oranges. Then we need to go to this stand. They have the most delicious strawberries. mean, you introduced me to my
absolute favorite strawberry. And I'll tell you right now, a pint of those strawberries still cost less than the $19 single strawberry.
Good point too, Chelsea, if I might interject. Yeah. At grocery store, produce and outer aisle stuff is more expensive than inner aisle. But if you go to a farmer's market, that's not the case. And by the way, you are getting, and this I'm repeating from the woman who made the post about the strawberry, and I will share that on social media around the time that this episode airs, it has not traveled. It was picked within
24 hours or just a few days from when you're receiving it, it will last in your refrigerator so much longer. I applaud the brands that are working to create better versions, good food versions, clean versions of the stuff that's happening in the middle aisle, but we really, really, really need to be supporting our farmers and our local vendors.
Yeah. But Sarah, I think we both agree that that's not to take away from your experience at Expo West and at that conference. think that A, you got to meet a lot of people that you've worked with for a long time in real life for the first time. So that's really exciting. And you got to meet a lot of people that you've wanted to meet for a long time, right? And talk to some founders and also what I call like support partners, right? In the industry. And
You had a lot of really good takeaways.
I did. I think, yeah, my experience at Expo West was positive overall. The mission was community and meeting community in real life. I'll talk about that more in the main episode. yeah, both things are important, right? Both things are important. We talk about building a business on your own terms in whichever sort of path you choose. The end goal is better food for all.
Yeah.
we can approach it whichever way feels right for us. It's part of being a BABOYOT. And so yeah, it was a really good experience. I'm glad they both happened within a week of one another. That feels magical to me. Yeah. And so yeah, let's head to the main episode and share some of my takeaways from Expo West this year.
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Sarah, spent this week, so we're recording at the beginning of March for anyone wondering, right? You got to spend this week a couple of days at Expo West. And first off, the very first, you know, question I have or thing I want to talk about, maybe for those that are listening, I do realize that most people are familiar with what Expo West is, but for anybody who may not be familiar or have a full understanding,
Yes I did.
of what this show is or is like. Can you maybe fill us in a little bit there?
Yeah, I don't have a specific statistic, but I'm going to say that this is probably the largest natural foods expo in the industry that there is. It is hugely attended. I would say thousands of brands are there, distributors are there. This is a place where once a year, buyers, distributors, they all ascend on Anaheim, California and get to meet
brand founders get to taste products. It's very interesting to see how the expo is set up. are different rooms, different areas around the convention center where you've got like hot, new brands, hot products, I think they called it. Then there was another area where they're still sort of like emerging and like new products, but they're a bit more established. Then you've got another space where you've got not just food, but supplements and other consumer packaged goods products.
The booth sizes range from like a table with a banner behind them to in some areas of the convention center, just massive, you know, four square booths with, you know, lounge areas and big signage. And it's just, it's kind of wild to see and it's thousands of people.
all walking around very tightly in these rooms, tasting food and getting to know people and networking. It is a massive networking event. Everything from happy hours to brunches to bowling events, you name it, it's happening. And then there are educational tracks, pitching events and other things kind of going on all around the exhibiting.
area as well. Does that give you good picture?
Yeah, definitely. Definitely paints a picture in my head. And I think, you know, where my mind is at is, I've heard you talk about this before, you actually have not attended Expo West in over a decade. So since you had your own food business, and I think many will wonder what was it about this year? Why this year did you decide to go back? Yeah.
That's a great question. I decided to go back this year for a couple different reasons. Number one, from a marketing, sort of like an outreach standpoint, I thought this is a great year to start to spread the word to more folks about our podcast. So there was sort of like that as a goal. But more importantly, we have community members and clients who were attending Expo either as exhibitors or just
to be there to experience it. They call it like walking the show. And so I wanted to connect with them. I've known some of these folks for two, three, four years. We've only seen each other over Zoom. And the number of them that were going to be there this year kept sort of ticking upward and upward. And it reached a point where I was like, okay, it's feeling like it's going to be worth it to go, worth it to leave the office, to not do my typical work for a day or two, to go and see these folks because it really
means something to me to meet people in person. And then on top of that, there were some ladies coming from New York and Austin and San Francisco and Chicago and Minneapolis that, again, you know, they're in my network. They are branding experts, trademarking experts, retail experts. I've not met these women in person. And some networking events started to come together and I just thought, this is an opportunity to…
really build community in real life and community is so important for so many reasons. was like all the energy felt right and it felt like, this can be worthwhile for so many reasons that it feels like it's the right year to attend. Those were the primary reasons that I went this year.
I love that. I love the idea of building that, you know, kind of IRL community, right? Because that's a lot of what we do. And what we talk about is building community, but to be able to do that in person, face to face that that just sounds really amazing. Were there any, were there any particular events that you got to attend or kind of networking you got to do that really stood out to you?
Yeah. I mean, I didn't do a lot. So I'll kind of give people a sense of what my schedule looked like, right? So you can – the expo runs from like Tuesday to Friday. So Tuesday for exhibitors, the set up day, they've got two full days of exhibiting on Wednesday and Thursday and then I think it's like a half day on Friday. But there are events Tuesday through Friday going on. I decided to go on Wednesday and Thursday because I had client work to do on Mondays and Tuesdays.
And I went, like for example, on Wednesday, I left my house around 12, 1230. I'm an hour away from Anaheim. So I had meetings in the morning, you know, tried to take my time getting ready and then got down there, you know, just to kind of walk the floor. And I was attending a startup CPG event in the evening because one of our community members, Rachel, who's the co-founder of Sprinkle Bytes was going to be there. And she was one of the folks on my list that I really wanted to meet in person because we've collaborated so much online. So I was there for maybe five or six hours.
on Wednesday. And then on Thursday, similarly, had some things to do in the morning. A friend who lives here in LA was coming with me for the day. She's also in the industry. And we drove down together. And that day, I was seeing one of my clients who was only exhibiting from like nine to 12. So had a small window to see him. And then there was the, it's all happening and bread and butter happy hour that I really wanted to attend. So that's where a lot of the women
who are in our network were coming together for sure and I wanted to be there. So I spent probably another four or five hours there and got to attend also a networking event for FAIR and the Good Food Foundation. Love the Good Food Foundation. They're going through a transitional sort of period right now and so wanted to show up and support them as well. So what I was going for again specifically was like to see clients, to see
community members exhibiting. So those were my sort of starting points. I had a networking event on Thursday and what was really fun was there's another contact here in LA who I've never met in person. Her name is Jessica. She's the founder of the Y Collective. I texted her when I showed up and I said, hey, where are you? Like I was going to use her as sort of like a starting point, right? Like I'll meet you and then we'll sort of go from there. And she said, I'm headed to the Mazah booth. Mazah does like lentil hummuses and sauces. They're delicious. Their booth was beautiful.
So I met her there and I didn't know I was attending a happy hour at the booth. And so I ran into a number of people that I kind of had on a wish list that I would have liked to have met and I met them there. And so that was really exciting too. And then I just walked the floor after that just to experience it. as a consumer of good food, there are two particular areas where there is a lot of food, a lot of sustainable food, regenerative food, and I was excited to taste it and eat it.
And also, find some potential founders who could be a good fit to come on the podcast and talk about their journeys so far in the business. that was really fun.
Yeah. And I love hearing all of this kind of good stuff, right, that you got out of these last few days. But also, or on the other side of that, you know, I know that you've publicly shared before. mean, you've shared on Instagram, right? That you actually have mixed feelings about Expo West and about the show and hoping you can kind of shed some light or like help me to understand
that what is that mixed part of it, right?
Yeah. Yeah. So as you mentioned earlier, the last time I was at the show was like over a decade ago. That was when I had my food business and the way that the show was sort of pitched was like, you know, natural foods and product expo. And so we had attended that show thinking, maybe we can find products that we can share here. And I was surprised at that point in time how processed
things were and just sort of like what the products were and how big the brands were at the time that were there. I was just like, oh, bummer, this is not what I thought it was. I sort of had that kind of initial experience like, this is a lot bigger than what I thought it was going to be. Then in more recent years, as a financial consultant, there's a lot of conversation around how expensive this show is.
There's a lot of hype around this show as like the place to be and like a need to be place, you know? And it's not for every brand. It's for people who have a specific direction that they want to grow and a goal and that are at a certain point in their growth plan where they need distribution and different things, right?
Last year, I attended on the periphery. I didn't walk the show, as they say, but I met clients for dinner and stuff in Anaheim, and just at the expo, but I didn't go inside. I didn't buy a ticket. The overwhelming sense I got last year from looking at the lineup and the sponsored events and the different things was that
There's a lot of talk about selling your products, getting sales, getting connected to buyers, but there's not a lot of context around who is ready for this and when is the right time to do it. I, last year, was quite frankly very frustrated feeling like there are so many people who make money off of founders by giving them guidance that isn't right for them and where they are.
And I battled with that a little bit and I talked to others in the industry saying like, questioning, is it their responsibility to do it? And then the answer is like, maybe not, right? But where I land on things is that I want to be someone who is trusted and that does add context to decisions that brands are making. And I cannot hold other people accountable for doing that.
but I can do it, right? And I can collaborate with other service providers in this industry who do the same. And so sort of heading into this year, that was where I had landed. And so it was like, okay, how can I serve our community, like those who listen to this podcast and beyond, and just continue to help the industry move in the direction we want to see it going? So there was an evolution for me of like,
know, the pendulum swung like, this is such a frustrating and bad place that's not looking out for the well-being of founders and brands. But then it was like, well, they can't be held responsible for that. That's when the pendulum started to swing. Who can be and where do I fit into this and who do we want to be as the good footsie at faux? And really sort of landed in a place where I felt like, okay, I can attend the expo and I can show up.
in a way that makes me feel really proud and that is helpful. All of those things are true and I still – are levels of frustration, but nothing is going to be perfect. You can't, in my opinion, avoid something that you don't totally agree with. You have to show up and do the right thing within it, if that makes sense. That's not with a lot of judgment necessarily, but it's the truth of what I've observed and how I
feel about.
Yeah. And I also think, you know, based on what you're sharing and saying is, I think that you've also come to a place of like, both things can be true, right? Where, you know, yes, that can happen. Yes, there are people that are doing these things, but you can show up in a way that is honest and transparent and says, Hey, this can be great for you if x, y and z.
But if you don't have these things in place, or if you're not at this point in your business, like it's not the right place for you to be like, I think that that's totally reasonable. Yeah. To be and to share with people.
Yeah. If I might, I'll share an example. We were at a happy hour event and it was on the floor, which is so cool. It's just kind of like creating a storm of people around a booth and just kind of networking and talking. I was introduced to a founder who was – I'll share. Startup CPG, I think, is a huge celebrator of brands. They help get the word out. They are great connectors.
of brands to buyers and things, right? But they are not in the space of identifying if a brand is right for it, right? That's on the brand. And I met a founder who had seen an opportunity to pitch to a particular retailer that was made available through Startup CPG, which is awesome, but...
they weren't ready and they didn't know that they weren't ready. Now they're realizing, gosh, I got picked. I got this opportunity. They said, yes, we want to talk to you, which is very exciting and validating for the product, but they're still buying their ingredients on Amazon. They don't know what their true cost of goods sold will be. They don't have a distribution plan. They're just simply not ready, but now they're realizing that. So it's okay. The advice myself and another provider in the industry
gave to them was, take the meeting, learn, but just don't agree to anything, don't move forward. It's okay to do this and then just say, is amazing. Now is not the right time, but as soon as we – like it is, we'll reach back out, right, if it would be a good fit. But what that solidified for me was like everyone is needed in the industry and I can kind of like expand on what I mean by that. I don't connect
brands to buyers. Startup CBG does a great job of that. How can I be supportive of the work that they're doing? Well, that's helping those same founders understand, do I have everything in order? Do I have a financially viable business? What are the steps that I should be taking to be prepared for this pitch or to be ready for this pitch? And so we can be collaborative in that way. And so yeah, that's just kind of to like round out the idea of like,
Founders often don't know what they don't know and they're very excited to sell. Selling is exciting, right? Sometimes you just need a little bit of help and support. So connecting with other service providers to identify those founders who need that extra support and making sure that we're getting them in touch with one another is extremely important. That happened so many times at Expo West that I had moments where I was like, it was very much like positive reinforcement of like,
It's not just good that I'm here to meet all the people that I wanted to meet. I'm also meeting founders and having a tiny impact, potentially big impact on them and their business simply by meeting them for a few minutes, which is very exciting and it feels really good.
I love that. I definitely love that. And, you know, I've heard you say a few times in this conversation now, right, talking about brands that do decide to attend, right, that they should have a plan that they should have goals. And I'd love for you to expand on that, like a little bit and in what those plans or goals should or can look like. Yeah. For a brand.
That's a great question. Obviously, the breadth of what those things might be are pretty big, right? I'll give an example of Nooish who was here on the podcast, I think the beginning of season 13, if I'm not mistaken. Sarah Nathan was there with a clear backpack that had yellow brand color seams on it and it was stacked with Nooish soup inside. She was walking the floor. She's not interested right now to my knowledge in
going into distribution. She wasn't necessarily maybe, and I don't know her exact plan, but she didn't have a booth. For her, the ROI was not in investing in the booth because there mustn't have been enough to come from that. But for her, there was likely benefit in walking the floor, seeing what this show is all about, seeing what the different spaces are that I mentioned. What's the difference between hot products and
the North Room. I don't even know what the name of that room was, but there were other sort of more emerging brands, smaller brands there as well. What room do I want to be in? What is the schedule like around the exhibit hall? What might I want to attend? So I think for a lot of founders who are early stage or who
don't know if Expo West is right for them, attending for a day or two and walking the show with your product can be a really great experience because then you get to know the show. You get to know where do I fit in here, what makes sense, right? I think when you're ready to – when you're exhibiting, you're holding space for buyers to walk around and to meet you. And I think
If you're ready for distribution, if you're ready for wholesale direct, there are independent buyers who are there, but if you're ready for beyond that, then you should have a booth, I would say, or you could have a booth and be prepared, know who you want to talk to, know who you want to stop by your booth.
You probably should reach out to them before and let them know, I'd love to see you at the show. This is my booth number, right? So you're not just showing up with the booth and being like, hope the people I want to see- I'm here. Right, are going to come around. On the flip side of that though, Chelsea, there are certain brands that maybe they very strategically have one or two people that they want to get in contact with. You don't need a booth at Expo West to achieve that.
And I think that that's something that's really important for people to know. Like if you're growing in such a way where you've identified, this is my next target or these are my next targets and these are the people I want to reach out to, there are other ways to get in contact with them and to introduce your brand outside of Expo West. And I talked to a couple of brands and I'll keep their names private, but for them it was like, your brand has enough cachet, your product has gotten
publicity. The quality is good. To come to Expo West and invest in a booth for the very specific one to two people that you want to meet doesn't make sense because if you reach out to them, they'll probably be very excited to have heard from you. If that doesn't work and then you feel like you need to have a booth, you know I mean? Go from there. It's very, very specific to what you're doing and kind of
Yeah.
know, what you want to achieve. So those are some examples of like how you might attend and sort of how I think how to think through certain things.
I love that and I love the explanation of the difference between having a booth and just walking the floor because I heard you say that a couple of times throughout the episode and I was like, well, what does she mean walking the floor? Yeah. I think that's really cool and I love that story about Sarah Nathan.
I know. It was so cute. There are lots of brands that do that. The other thing I'll say too is that it's not – There are distributor buyers that are walking around. There's also grocery store buyers walking around. I heard a lot of people talking about, the Sprouts buyers are here for my category. You know what I mean? Again, knowing who you want to see, knowing if they're going to be at the show, different things like that. Are there other ways to get in front of those people that don't involve Expo West, for example? But again, I think
at the start of everything we do in our business, whether it's expos and exhibits, other trade shows, you name it, it's what is the vision and what is the plan for this year? What are we trying to achieve this year and what are the steps that I take for that? I hope the more we talk about this, the more the FOMO around Expo West goes away. I think that it has been over the last
few years. I will share this too, and I shared this with you kind of when we were doing our sort of initial download about how did Expo go. I would go for one day next year, most likely, because the amount you can get done in several hours is great. You can get a lot done. I was able to sort of check a bunch of things off of my list really quickly by having a – well,
I didn't have a plan. I didn't know that Mazan was having a happy hour. But had I known that, my schedule could have been less intense, if you will. So that's another thing that you kind of learn from going. And I was able to learn that with very minimal investment. And I should also clarify for anybody or everyone who's listening, full transparency, we got a press pass. So the Good Food CFO has a press pass.
we didn't pay for the ability to walk the floor. That was something that was granted to us by Expo West and I'm super grateful for that. And it's one of the reasons that we're talking about the show here and sharing about brands and bringing brands from the show, hopefully to the podcast, you that I had great connections with that I wouldn't have learned about. And this is something I wanted to say earlier in the world of algorithms, right? In like,
Yeah.
How we connect with people, how we learn about new brands, how brands learn about us, it's difficult because algorithms. It's so tricky, right? So being out in the world and getting to meet people, there's just so much value in that. But again, for me, I probably wouldn't have invested the thousands of dollars it would take to be on the floor, but to
have the opportunity to have a press pass, to get on the floor, to meet people, and then to be able to amplify some stories and things from the show. That's really amazing and was absolutely worth the time and the effort to get there and be there and all of that.
Yeah. So after all is said and done, Sarah, we're sitting here on Friday, you've spent the last two days commuting down to Anaheim, walking the floor, enjoying your time, connecting with people. Your takeaways like what how how do we wrap up this conversation? What did you learn? Yeah.
What are
My biggest takeaway, honestly, is that what we're doing is important and valued. It's a bit of an ego boost if I'm being really honest, but being recognized – and I was wearing a sweatshirt that said the Good Food CFO on it, our branded sweatshirt – but being recognized, having someone call your name out from their booth and say, my gosh.
It's so nice to meet you. listen to your show every week. I love hearing you and Chelsea." That's wonderful. Anna, who is a member of the show and I hope that we can highlight her brand here soon, she said, I know that when you do a podcast, you're talking out into a void and it's hard to always know how you are impacting and affecting people.
so kind to say, I listen every single week and you're having a big impact on me and my business. Ally Ball, for example, she was like, Sarah, I met a gentleman who's the founder of a brand who wants to meet you. I told him that you're going to be here, so this is where to find him. It was so wonderful. You know what I mean? It's true that we do talk to each other, right? And then we
put the recording out into the world. Yeah. And there's data, right? But data doesn't tell you if you had an impact. So getting to meet people and hear that was really amazing. The other piece that was really amazing that feeds into what we're doing is really important is being able to connect with people in real life where they're saying, you need to meet Sarah. This is what they do at the Good Food CFO.
They can help you with this. Meeting other service providers who are like, we constantly have clients that need financial support and it's so great to be connected. That was a really, really huge takeaway was the value that we are providing and the energy around what we're doing and the fact that people are getting excited about having a place to learn about financials is really flipping.
cool. And then also the other takeaway is that our network is rad. And I really left thinking to myself, what more can I do for particularly these women in our community who were so gracious in introducing me, who were so gracious in saying, you should attend this event? Because more transparency, after not being there for a decade, I was a little bit anxious about everything from where will I park?
to will I be able to find who I want to see to networking on this scale for the first time in I don't know how long.
also to it's raining outside.
S in Los Angeles. got rained on for two days in a row, drove in the rain.
It's just like, there's so much value in being with people, you know, and I am actually like extremely grateful to Expo West for granting us the pass and to all of the folks that were there to network, um, to talk about what we're doing, to connect us to founders, to, you know, support us and, we, you know, likewise we'll be, you know, continuing to support them and to meet new
people who are creating delicious food, really good food, mission-driven businesses, who are excited to talk.
Yeah, and I will say when you talk about meeting new people, these new mission-driven businesses, for anyone listening in our marketing meeting all morning, I got to enjoy watching Sarah eat all the different snacks that she brought home with her. So yeah, I would say that's pretty cool.
Yeah, it is really cool. And I'll say this too, because we talked about how there are some really big brands there. French Squirrel, that was one of the products I was eating this morning during our marketing meeting. Sydney was there. This was her second year. She has one of the most listened to and I think one of the most impactful episodes that we've done in terms of a Bobby Yacht episode.
walked up to her booth because she was on my list of people that I wanted to see. I'd never met her in person. We both live in Los Angeles. She said, Sarah, someone just walked away from the booth. She owns a macaroon company. And she told me that our episode together was so helpful for her and like really changed the way that she thinks about business. And so other people are getting that same kind of feedback, right, for coming on the show and sharing their stories. And something that Sydney said that I'll share here is like, she's like,
oh, it just feels like kind of embarrassing. Like what I talked about on the show, it should have been 101 information. And I was like, do not be hard on yourself. You're sort of right that it should be 101, but it's not because it's not what general business media is talking about, right? Growth at all costs is what is being celebrated and favored. so A, you're not alone in like believing what you were hearing, you what I mean?
But at the end of the day, she's such an amazing example of someone seeing things in her numbers saying, I need to make a change here. What can I do to fix this? And then making those changes, implementing them.
just riding the wave or hoping that it's going to work out. And I think that that's such an important point to make, right? That, yeah, sure, you could think of it that it should be 101, but it's not. And there are reasons that it's not. And that's what we're here trying to change.
And I hope that this episode is not coming across like, we're so great, but like- But we are. That's where, mean, again, like my friend Shanti who was with me, she's a culinary innovator who went to the show with me on Thursday and when we were in the car driving back home, she was like, how are you feeling after the show? And I was like, my ego is glowing. Like it feels good to do a job that you believe in that is
truly providing value to people. So that is the wave that I am riding right now of both like extreme gratitude and just this like very, very high level of joy for being a part of something that is bigger than me, which is so meaningful to me.
Yeah, and I think gratitude is the perfect word, right? I think, of course, you can talk about how you feel like your ego is shining and we think we're awesome, quote unquote, right? But I think at the end of the day, it really is about gratitude and the gratitude that we both, I think, in having the ability and the privilege to get on here every week and talk about these things and share and hopefully, and it seems like you got to find out.
impact people's lives.
So thank you again to Expo West for giving us the opportunity to be in real life with so many amazing founders to connect. And we're excited to bring many of them onto the show to continue collaborating with the women specifically because there are so many of them in our network. And those few gentlemen who were also around our ladies happy hours at Expo who are also doing just really good work in helping founders to build brands.
in a sustainable way. I'm excited to connect with them too. So excited about the podcast that's going to be happening in the future and in all the new episodes we'll have coming out.
Yeah, so exciting. All right. Well, Sarah, thanks so much for sharing your stories with us and welcome to season 14 where we're kicking things off with a bunch of gratitude. yeah, thank
Yeah, thanks.
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