Founder Fireside: Women in Food and Beverage Industry
Old Account ~Follow The Basement at UC San Diego
Follow our company page - The Basement at UC San Diego
An esteemed panel of founders spoke at The Basement last month, sharing their unique journeys as women growing food and beverage companies in Southern California. From their highs to their lows, the founders recalled the struggles they faced, but also the support and strength they gained from themselves and their communities.?
After student moderator Ailana Nurgali introduced them, the speakers first spoke about their development journey. This Founder Fireside was a collaboration between 美国加州大学圣迭戈分校 's Women Center and the Women's Network student organization, with Nurgali being from Women’s Network.
Panelist Spotlight
The featured speakers were:?
Ridaura was a first-generation student originally from Mexico. When her body began to reject coffee, Ridaura began ordering matcha from Japan. However, she realized that despite the number of coffee shops in San Diego, many of them lacked matcha drinks. In response, Ridaura was inspired to take a leap of faith.?
“I told my boyfriend at the time and my parents, ‘I’m gonna open a matcha cafe’.” Ridaura explained. “They asked me if I had retail experience? Did I know how to steam a latte? I was like, ‘No, but when have you known me to be lazy?’”?
Without any previous industry experience nor a business degree, Madsen started Maya’s Cookie to address a lack of vegan desserts being distributed. Over time, she took her cookies to farmers markets, and her business expanded organically to ecommerce.
“In 2020, due to the Black Lives Matter movement, my business ended up on several lists floating around that named black-owned businesses to support,” Madsen stated. “I went from 20 orders a day to about 10,000 a day.”?
A UC San Diego alum, Dew was preparing to go into pharmaceuticals, but then turned her attention to entrepreneurship. She spoke with her friends about possible business ideas, but landed on selling kombucha for their health benefits. After selling out at a farmers market, Dew and her co-founder kept building on their business.?
“We had no money, I took out a student loan to fund the business and my life for a year and a half. I gave myself a year and a half for a runway to take off from that,” Dew explained. “We got serious funding in 2013 to start our business, and that gave us the ammo to boost our work. Now, we’re the number two kombucha business in the United States.”?
Challenges as a Woman Founder and Leader
This Founder Fireside took a focus on the struggles of women founders. The speakers agreed that a common issue they faced was the dichotomy between being seen as assertive and decisive or being seen as aggressive and micromanaging. Alternatively, they felt the need to prove themselves when being questioned and second-guessed, particularly as a high-ranking woman.
“I was constantly balancing my feminine and masculine energy in the workplace as a leader, constantly trying to live up to what I think I should to the male investors in the room,”? Dew noted.?
“I’m a Black woman, and society has an issue when Black women assert themselves,” Madsen noted.? “I just got called two months ago threatening – I’m very reserved, but I was asserting myself in a certain situation. But because I did that, this person on the other side of the table told me that I was hostile and threatening.”?
When starting her brick and mortar business, Ridaura recounted a story she had with a construction worker as an owner.?
“The first thing the main construction dude asked me was, ‘Are you the owner’s daughter?’” Ridaura said. “‘Oh no, I’m not. I’m the owner. Is it because I’m young? No, it’s not my dad. My husband’s not the business owner. I am.’”?
领英推荐
Communities Propelling Women in Business
Speakers also shared stories about how the communities around them rallied to support them, making an emotionally-moving moment in the event.?
In particular, Madsen said that, as someone who relied on community support as a child, community has always been helpful. In 2020, when the Black Lives Matter movement helped boost her business, Madsen had a burst of orders when about 10,000 orders came in. Overwhelmed with the sudden orders, Madsen told her followers tearfully that orders would be greatly delayed, but that she was working hard to fulfill them all.?
“The community came out tenfold to support me,” Madsen stated. “People were bringing me food because we were working from 4am to 9pm to get our orders out.”
Dew also stated that she benefited from having a professional community around her. She reached out to female CEOs in the food and drink industry to help advise her.
“I wanted to learn from them on a functional, business level. But on a certain level, I needed my women. I needed my girls around me,” Dew stated.?
Ridaura also noted the importance of community for supporting her endeavors, even as a non-traditional founder.?
“My community is very important,” Ridaura said. “They were the ones who believed in me from day one – a Mexican girl selling matcha in a coffee area. But they gave me a shot. I never take it for granted.”
Connections between Women in the Audience and the Front
Bright women and men from the UC San Diego community filled The Basement that evening. They all were excited to learn more about women in the entrepreneurial sphere.?
“It was really incredible hearing about their experiences as women in entrepreneurship roles, but also how they are each very passionate about their product,” second year Nadini Desai said. “That’s something that helps a company break through, when you can tell that they are passionate about their product and where it comes from.”?
“I was excited to see Asian representation today within the founding community,” said Eleanor Roosevelt College third year Chloe Penggat. “Also, I got really emotional hearing Maya’s story struggling with Black Lives Matter and dealing with the pandemic. Learning about how the community uplifted reminded me that the people around you are just as important as the company you build.”?
“I loved the vulnerability because the way these women spoke about their community and their product was so inspiring,” said student moderator Nurgali, recalling how she felt sitting with the speakers.?
The audience’s energy and attention did not pull away from the speakers. Even separated and sitting on a couch, the speakers knew that they were among like-minded women leaders.?
“The energy of the audience I can tell they were hungry for information and knowledge, and I got a nice, warm reception from everyone,” Madsen noted.?
Ridaura agreed with Madsen, saying the audience’s attention never strayed.?
“I’m very aware of people, even when they come into the shop and I see when they take the first bite of something. But everyone was very engaged. The eyes were moving, and the heads were nodding in agreement.”
This special Founder Fireside serves as a testament to the power of women, especially women of color, who entered spaces that women traditionally never have been in.?
Thank you to everyone who attended, and thank you again to our speakers. And a? special thank you to The Basement’s collaborators, the UC San Diego Women’s Center and the Women’s Network student organization, who helped organize and host this event. We hope to collaborate with both of these spaces in the future.?
To stay updated with The Basement events and to learn more about future Founder Fireside panels like this one, follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn , and check out our Eventbrite .