There is nothing quite like that freshly brewed cup of coffee to wake you up first thing in the morning…am I right?! The caffeinated aroma seems to fill the air with possibilities and give us coffee drinkers the jolt we need to embrace the day head on. Sarah Rioux and Nicole Pinedo of Ladybird Provisions are also fellow coffee drinkers, however, their coffee mugs have a little something extra in them: coffee bombs. These two amazing ladies have created a line of coffee pods that you can easily add to your coffee to give it health benefits, flavor, and other tremendous benefits to make that coffee…dare we say it…EVEN better! We recently caught up with these co-founders to learn how they got their start and hear how they prioritize their financial futures throughout their entrepreneurial journey.
SavviHer: Tell us about you – who is Ladybird Provisions?
Sarah: I am a registered dietitian who has always been passionate about food and nutrition. My dad passed away when I was 17 from complications related to his diabetes and that was the catalyst that made me dedicate my life to helping others. My career, prior to Ladybird, was centered around pediatric nutrition and helping kids. Moving to Austin gave me the opportunity to do something new while still acting in integrity with my vow to always try to help others through nutrition. Ladybird is a company that promises to always use clean, healthy ingredients that customers can trust. We want everyone to know that when they pick up any product made by Ladybird that the label will be clean and the recipe will be intentionally crafted to help different aspects of the body and mind. Ladybird was born from Nicole and myself. We are two women with a dream of creating a successful business but neither of us knew what exactly that looked like until we met each other.
Nicole: I am a Drugless Practitioner and the Cofounder and COO of Ladybird Provisions. My son was diagnosed with a sensory disorder when he was 18 months old that seemed to be triggered by his diet. I began studying nutrition and ways to keep him off medications soon after. He is now 15 years old, is a healthy, happy teenage boy, and has no indication of his previous diagnosis. My goal is to provide both education and simple ways for other people to have a positive impact on their health through diet modification and stress management.
SavviHer: What was your inspiration for starting your business?
Sarah: My husband always encouraged me to start a business because he said “You work too hard for other people- you should really take that energy and work for yourself”. I always wanted to start my own business but I just didn’t know exactly what it would look like.
Fast forward a few years. I moved to Austin and started working as a dietitian at a local pharmacy where Nicole also worked. One day Nicole brought me a heart shaped mold of butter + coconut oil + collagen and told me to put it in my coffee. A few weeks went by and one night I literally couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about how to create a business out of these pods that Nicole shared with me. I talked to my husband about the idea that morning and with his support, I went to work and started collaborating with Nicole. Thus, the creation of Ladybird Provisions and our Coffee Bombs.
Nicole: My goal is to help people find quick and easy ways to add healthy fats and protein to their diet. They are non-stimulating; So they are also appropriate for non coffee drinkers and kiddos when added to milk or water. They are paired up with medicinal spices to help address other common issues and make them taste delicious. In 2016, Sarah and I met. She had the idea of starting the company and bringing them to more people who need healthier options. I think our personalities work amazing together and we have been very successful using our individual strengths to grow Ladybird Provisions.
SavviHer: Take us through a day in the life!
Sarah: No day is the same! I wake up around 4:40a to exercise 3 or 4 days a week so I can be home and showered by the time my son wakes up at 6a. We hustle in the morning and then when he goes to daycare around 8 my day begins. I am home Monday and Friday with my 6 month old so I try to get some work done during her naps and at night. The other days I work primarily on back of house stuff (financials, social media, trying to get new accounts, etc.) while Nicole is in the kitchen and in charge of all things production. Meetings, trade shows, competitions, and food shows happen periodically to keep things interesting. Nicole and I have very different skillsets which makes us a great team.
Nicole: My day generally starts between 4-6am (depending on the day) so I have time to exercise before having to Adult. I try to start my day with as much “Me Time” as possible. By 7 I’ve showered, checked emails and made my to-do list for the day. I’m generally at the kitchen between 7-8am Tuesday- Friday (most Sat, Sun, and Mondays I work at the Wellness Dept of Peoples Rx). I print orders and invoices, answer priority emails, and set the production schedule for the day. I make myself and team breakfast and when they come in at 9 we have our morning meeting and discuss the days goals while we eat. We have a small team of 2 (Ariel and Lupita) and produce 4 days a week, it’s always a balancing act between not over producing vs not being able to keep up with orders. I rely on their feedback, ideas, and insights to keep everything flowing. We try to be out of the kitchen by 5 and succeed most days! Some days I also deliver any orders we have for local coffee shops. Then it’s grocery store, dinner, and spending time with my favorite people, my 15 year old son, Sy and my partner Eric.
SavviHer: What is your favorite project to work on/client to work with?
Sarah: My favorite thing to work on is packaging design. I love having a vision and then seeing it come to life. To be clear, I am not the one who actually designs our packaging – I just have the vision J . I also love working on financials (yes, I just pushed my glasses on my nose and fixed my pencil protector on my t-shirt pocket ;))
Nicole: I love problem solving and trying to figure out new hacks to help stay productive and happy. I especially love it when I can bring those ideas to others. My son was my first client, he was diagnosed with high functioning spectrum very young. I started my journey down this path to learn how to help him using diet and exercise, today no one believes me when I tell them he ever had sensory issues. Now I get to use what I learned to help other people.
SavviHer: How do you stay inspired?
Sarah: Sometimes it’s hard. As a mother to two young kids (6 months and 2 years) it’s hard to stay motivated at times. But THEY are my motivation. I want to prove to them that working hard pays off and that you can be a working mom and still a “mom”.
Nicole: Working at Peoples Rx I get to see daily how helping people make little changes in their diet and lifestyle can have huge impacts on their health and lives. As my son gets older, I also see the struggles his peers experience due to diet and lifestyle. It’s pretty heartbreaking.
SavviHer: If you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be?
Sarah: TO BE CONFIDENT! I wish I was told to be more confident in who I was and what I could achieve long before I actually felt that way. Confidence is so important, especially for women. I hope to instill undeniable confidence in my daughter.
Nicole: Don’t be so hard on yourself.
SavviHer: What has been your favorite thing you’ve worked on?
Sarah: Creating a company! I have never created a company before so I had so much fun learning how to do it. Although we are not where we want to be yet, we have come so far. It’s pretty amazing to see how great we have done, just the two of us, with no real experience. Just hard workers who are passionate about this little company of ours.
Nicole: When I was in my 20s I worked in France for a year on a boat giving tours of chateaux and vineyards. Getting to experience the French culture and the way they treat food and stress really set the foundation for my perspective when I came back. It was an amazing experience and helped me break out of the fat fear mentality I grew up with. Having that foundation allowed me to be more open and creative to the formulations for the coffee bombs.
SavviHer: How do you prioritize your financial health?
Sarah: To me, financial health is just as important as personal health. Just like I wake up in the morning for exercise (even though it’s hard and the extra hour of sleep sounds so much more appealing at the time) I know that it’s just as important for my mind as it is for my body. That’s why it’s not hard for me to save money for my family’s future and not spend a lot on unnecessary things. In the case of Ladybird, we have bootstrapped it from the beginning- so although we have had more of a slow-grow approach, we do not have any outstanding debt and we still own 100% of our company.
Nicole: For me as a single parent, finances are not always easy. I struggle to keep everything balanced. I keep track of all my spending and earnings and have apps that help keep me organized. I try to prioritize vacation with my son at least once a year because days off are rare and usually spent catching up, so savings usually go towards that. With Sarah as the CEO of Ladybird, I’m confident we will continue to grow and Ladybird Bird will be an extremely successful company we can both be proud of.
SavviHer: What are your financial goals for 2019?
Sarah: We would like to double last year’s revenue and get to a place where we can raise a little money to help us hire qualified employees to help our business grow.
Nicole: I’m currently trying to pay off all my debt and set myself up to buy a house next year. My goal is for that to be an investment I hand down to my son when he graduates. The financial strain put on kids today I think sets them up for a lot of stress. Having a home and investment to start his adult life with will hopefully ease that strain and provide him with options and a safety net. I hope to retire and start a chain of coffee houses in low income neighborhoods where the profits will go back to education. I hope to provide a safe place for families and a place for children to do school work while helping with funding to the educational systems in the areas that rarely have enough.
SavviHer: How can others get involved with or learn more about you?
Sarah: Reach out to us on social media, ask us to do a talk, and of course buy some Coffee Bombs and tell us about it!
Nicole: Follow Ladybird Provisions and keep a lookout for new ideas coming soon!
We would like to thank Sarah and Nicole for sharing their story and for their time in helping create this post! For more on Ladybird Provisions and to order their delicious coffee bombs, check out their website or follow along on Instagram at @coffee.bombs!
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