March 9, 2026 • 20 mins
In this episode of CEOs You Should Know, we highlight Kortney Chase, Founder of Pecana and a third‑generation pecan farmer transforming the plant‑based beverage world. After seeing a gap in the market for clean, great‑tasting pecan milk, Kortney created Pecana—the world’s first fully organic, plant‑based milk made with 100% American pecans. Kortney shares the story behind Pecana, the personal mission that drives her, the early challenges of launching a first‑of‑its‑kind product, and how she’s innovating in a rapidly growing industry. She also reflects on key milestones, leadership lessons, and what’s next for Pecana.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to CEOs. You should know. I'm Rosie Perez with iHeartMedia,
and today I am joined by Courtney Chase of Pecana,
the world's first and only fully organic plant based milk.
Courtney is amazing. She's a third generation farmer, which you
don't hear a lot of, especially now. So Courtney, welcome.
(00:21):
I'm so happy to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Gosh, all of that just brought like tears to my eyes,
just so grateful, happy tears because you know, you work
really hard and you do things and you don't even realize,
I guess sometimes the impact you're making until you look
up three or four years later and like, oh wow,
we kind of did something.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You know, it's so true, that's fantastic. I kind of
want to start with your founder's journey, how this kind
of came about, and what kind of led to the
start or the idea of Pecana.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Right, So, I think the story will always be rooted
in the pecon, in the farming of the pecan.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Read it in like my family.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
History really, so my dad started planning pecan trees in
New Mexico where I'm from, and grew that. So as
a child, I grew up on the farm and then
I started working for a shelling company and selling pecans
around the world. And I think it took just getting
to the right point in my life to be like, Okay,
(01:24):
what do I want to do with the pecon right?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Like this has been I watched.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
My dad's dream for a while, and what do I
want to do? And I was at a very pivotal
place in my own health where I was starting to
truly look at the ingredient decks of like all of
the things that I was consuming.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
And it really started.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
For like with the smoothie for me in the morning
and I was like trying to lose weight and I
was putting a nut milk in my smoothie and I.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Was just like wait, what did I really just put
in this smoothie?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And it was just this light bulb moment of like
this is how I want the pookon to shine, Like
this is a healthy way that I want to innovate
this product that I've really humanized, Like when someone talks
about the peicon, it feels like they're talking about a
family member for.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Me, because that's how just truly passionate and ingrained in
kind of my DNA.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
The pocon is, so I love to showcase it in
a healthy way. This product really started from just working
out with the pookon already being in my family history
and just wanting to showcase it in a really healthy way.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
I think that's fantastic. My fiance is actually diabetic and
so his doctor has said, you really need to look
at more plant based food. And so it was interesting
because I can now say, hey, this is a great
product for you to use on.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
That topic, the diabetic thing. The one that I love,
the vanilla skew. It's our unseen and vanilla. I've had
friends that are are diabetic or even doing a Keto diet,
and so we'll test to make sure like before they
consume it there were sugars and then after and they're
still in like Keto U katosis for the product. So
like truly knowing that, like it's not going to spike
(03:11):
blood sugar unlike some other plant based milks that really
have a higher glycemic index.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
And we'll do that to you again.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
A reason why the product was started was for people
like your fiance.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, right, So entrepreneurship often begins with the personal why,
what personal experiences or challenges kind of shaped the mission
behind pecana.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
I think truly going back to where I was in
my own health, my own journey.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I was struggling with uh drinking.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I was in a lifestyle that I knew wasn't serving me,
and so I think it was waking up to be like,
what can I do that is going to hold such
a place in my life that I'm going to want
to give up what I'm doing now to give me
like to wake me up in the morning and feel
know that I'm fulfilled doing something. And I think it
(04:09):
was like kind of hitting the what I felt was
rock bottom that really woke me up to want to
do this. And then, like I said, just I was
the target market for pocanna at the time, there was
not a lot of nut milks that you saw on
the market that weren't filled with chemicals or fillers or
natural flavors. And I think it just just so aligned
(04:32):
that I was wanting to wake up in my own
just like life and then also just really work all
my health, and I wanted to incorporate the po con
on that journey.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So that's where the way I came from.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So you come up with the concept, do you have
your own experience as to why you want to do this,
So talk to me a little bit about maybe some
early hurdles that you faced and how you had to
kind of navigate through those.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Wow, there's I look back and I'm like, what I mean,
which one do I want to talk about. There's a
lot of them.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
So I think just maybe getting out of my own
way a little bit. Like I thought I had a
vision for the product. I wanted it to be refrigerated.
I had always bought nut milks and the refrigerator.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
In my head, I thought.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
That that meant adding more ingredients to the product that
were not healthy to make them shelf stable for what
you see pocana looks like today.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
And I was so just like hell bent on like
that vision.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
And then I realized in the United States to find
to find space for pocana in a grocery store really
needed a longer shelf life and to package it the
way that we do, which is a shelf stable packaging.
There's just not that many co packers in the United States,
and so I had to one find them, work through
the higher minimums that you know are required in the
(05:59):
United States to get line time. Just all of that
it's like, how do you if you don't have at
the time the sales right, and then taking the risk
and believing in something that no, I'm going to have
the sales someday to like to make sense for this
production run right, and that it's just this total mental
game of I think, being able any entrepreneur to stand
(06:23):
in your truth and believe in something when you really
haven't sold even a unit yet.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
You can look crazy in.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Front of some people that maybe don't see the vision
yet or they're they're telling you, oh yeah, like it's
gonna look like chicken stock, you know, like that's what
the bottle And I'm like, no, I can make this
look cool. I can make this look appealing, and we're
going to we're going to rock in this shelf stable
section that even though I was still trying to wrap
(06:51):
my head around, I think in the beginning that those
were the hurdles, just like having the idea and like,
how physically is it going to how is the pecon
going to I guess manifest itself on the shelf, Like
how would that look? Like that's hard when you haven't
sold anything, you don't have commercials with HB like they're
not on board yet, Like you're not No one's like
(07:13):
knocked on your door yet, you're not doing a podcast? Like,
how do you still find faith in yourself? That's hard?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Well, I think that and correct me if I'm wrong.
It's basically four years and now forty five hundred stores. Yeah, yeah,
So I just got goosebumps from saying that. So that
alone is that's a true testament to your faith in
the product and your belief in yourself. That was not
(07:41):
one of the questions. But I just think that's amazing.
Your business operates in a very rapidly changing landscape. How
are you innovating and differentiating pecana from others in the space.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
I truly believe that I'm innovating the nut milk space. Again,
what I've just been talking about this whole time for
a consumer like me, where I'm now looking at true
ingredients of do I know what this is? Do I
need to google? Maybe you do, Yes, you need to
google what pocon milk is. But when you look at
(08:15):
those ingredients, you don't need to google what vanilla with pecans,
what water with salt? Like what those are and what
they're doing to our bodies over a long period of
time because our grandparents, we're not consuming the things that
we are consuming in almost every packaged good that we
eat today, and we just don't have this like any
(08:37):
scientific research to know how it like affects our longevity.
And that I think is where pocana will truly stand out.
It's never to really replace dairy. I don't even I
don't even want to like compare it in those ways.
Or it's if you are wanting to look at your sugars,
you're wanting to look at ingredient deck and you still
(08:58):
want something to actually taste. I think that's where I mean,
I really have like double down on like I think
there's money behind that. I truly believe in it, and
so that's how I feel like we're innovating the space
is when we truly look at what we're consuming and
how it affects your mental health and all those things.
(09:19):
I think we stand out because the flavor is still there.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Which is phenomenal because you're so right in a time
where any type of food, especially milk or any type
of dairy, when you look at the ingredients, it's like
seventeen deep, you know, and you find that what I
was always taught is the higher the ingredient, the more
of it there is. So like if water was at
(09:45):
the bottom number sixteen, then this has like that's the
least amount of ingredient that it has. So to only
have four that I don't have to google is a
huge It's a very huge deal. Leadership is central to
any CEO's journey, and you take on the entire role
at Pecana, but you also have a role kind of
(10:06):
in your family business as well. So how would you
describe your leadership style and how has it evolved with Pecana.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I think about things like what kind of shaped me
as a as a young woman child working I started
working in my family businesses when I was ten, and
who shaped me the most?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Right?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And I think about conversations And then I was listening
to a church germon and literally those same words that
came out of my grandfather's mouth were kind of reset
and I was like, that's what I want to say,
Like that is I think what shaped me. But I
had my grandfather who came from nothing and did a lot,
and I got to watch his journey of entrepreneurship and
(10:51):
he very much took me, I guess, under his wing
to like along with his journey, right, And so I
remember him sending me and me down and saying, you
can start working for me, but you have to start
in housekeeping. You're going to take out the trash. I
want you to know that this is where it starts,
and this is how you will always respect people no
(11:13):
matter where they are in your company, because you've had
to do their job before. And I think that that
shaped me with the idea of no task is beneath me, right,
like I will be here in the morning with you,
and I'll be here at night with you. And I
think that shaped just my outlook on things with And
then I add I listened to this church sermon and
(11:36):
it said leaders.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Take out the trash.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
And I was like, yes, I've never met anybody that
was an entrepreneurship that looked at something and said like
you do it. And when you take out the trash
or when you do those roles, you claim ownership like
that's mine. You know, when you're in a hotel room,
you're usually not picking up the bed or you're making
(11:58):
the bed all the time cause you know someone's coming
behind you to do it. But in your own home,
when this is yours, you do it because no one's
coming behind you to do it for you. And I
think that is what I think so many people don't
understand about solo entrepreneurship journey. I will say that, like,
at no point do I want to get up here
(12:20):
and think that I did it by myself, Like I
did have people in my corner that helps you, but
their mentality is still there with them, Like I see
that in them, and they feel the same way about Pecana,
they feel the same way about Chase Pecan, And like,
I think that's why we have this like number that
you're saying from zero to forty five hundred, because I've
(12:41):
surrounded my people myself with those people that are like, look,
that's maybe not in my job description, but like it's
it's it's for the dream, right and you just you
hustle like that for a while.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I think is really important.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
And I don't think that every scene or entrepreneur think
that way. So you know your family or third generation farmers,
so obviously that's something that has proven to be true because,
like you said, your grandfather was like you're starting by
taking out the trash, yeah, and you know you've continued
(13:19):
to grow both in your family's business, but then breaking
out to start your own. Our listeners love hearing about
growth moments, and I feel we've talked like seven of
them because you've had so many. But is there any
one thing or a milestone for Pekana that has really
meant a lot to you as a founder?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
The one for me and I, of course, I always
get so teary eyed. I think it's just a way
I show emotion and like gratitude, gratefulness. But is the
Walmart moment? I mean, the moment that I so. I
grew up in a very rural part of the United States.
It's southeastern corner of New Mexico, where it was a
big deal. I was in middle school when we got
(14:03):
a Walmart, I mean, and that was that was the
hangout place.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
That was We hung out in the parking lot.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
And so when I pitched to Walmart, I started my story.
My sorry, I started my pitch with that story of like,
like I grew up in your parking lot. Like I
know that sounds crazy, but like small town people get it.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You all rally around whatever. You know.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Sonic is another one and like, oh Walmart, and you
do and you go out in the boonies and hang
out and figure out where everyone's going to be.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And to know that my product is now not.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Just available for the higher end markets, which we love them.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I love.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
I love shopping at those places too, but now that
my product is now available in the place that I
come from, for the people that live there and work there,
it's affordable in that space too. It's just that's a
whole other moment for me because it's like making you know,
accessible for everybody.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And that's kind of what a partnership like a Walmart
can give you. That can take you truly.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
From from Florida all the way up to you know,
or it can go across the country, and it's like that.
I think moment for me was like, Wow, I can
truly say Pocana is nationwide at this point.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Right, And that's kind of like a full three sixty
moment because I can only guess that a Walmart was
kind of like the mall, right, because that's what it
all happened right when you were kids, hang out the
mall or whatever. And so then to go back and
be like, and it's in my hometown Walmart there, I
am right there on the shelf. I do I'm just
one of I've always been that mindset of like I'm
(15:42):
going to sit at the table, but how can I
pull up a chair for somebody else? Or how can
I leave the table with more food on it than
when I got there? And I think about like the
next generation if I get cherioded. But like my nieces
and they were there for me, like my little nieces
were at the like when I to go see.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It all walmart in that moment that.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Was really cool to like I be like you guys
won't didn't grow up in this town, but like this
means a lot and that y'all are here with me.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So it was a really cool moment.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
That's amazing and to be And that kind of leads
into my next question because you're very thought you have
very thoughtful leadership. So what's kind of on the horizon
for Pekana. You've already accomplished so many things in such
a small amount of time, but are there any you know,
initiative or expansions or even goals that are kind of like, Okay,
(16:32):
next up is this one?
Speaker 3 (16:35):
One?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Is the natural play?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I think anyone that's watched other nut milks or like
an alternative dairy brands do it is having a milk.
And then I really want to get into like the
coffee space, like a coffee creamer, Like these are truly milks.
A lot of people use the praylene as a creamer
because it has added flavor, but I want to find
(16:58):
a way to make it a little more can froth
and like do the things that act as a coffee creamer.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That is very much on the horizon, just because in.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Texas we associate coffee with pecans so much, Like even
in the central markets and all of the they have
their own coffees that have actual pieces of pecan in them.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So I think that's a really natural play.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
And then two I think, of course, like getting that
placement with like a someone who really can full you know,
have an audience. I think if it's like someone famous
or someone like co signing it and getting it in
front of the masses, I think that this is a
really And I watch the word trendy, like I don't
think it's a trend, but I think it is a
(17:40):
lot of people now are caring and it's like cool
to like care about what you're.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Eating and like all of that.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
So someone in that space that shares the same values.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
About health as the brand.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
To co sign that and get it in front of people,
I think would be next level for Pakana.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, it's amazing. So my last question, Okay, so for
aspiring entrepreneurs listening today, like your nieces, right, what advice
would you give to someone who had a big idea
but really wasn't sure how to bring it to life.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
I think, and this is just for me. I think
I didn't understand what it was going to require. And
this is just me personally, but what it was going
to require from me physically and also mentally spiritually in
all the ways. I think that like if you, like
like I said earlier, are going to show up and
present something that you may not even be tangible. Yet
(18:38):
you have to get your health, You have to get
your mental health, you have to get your spirit, like
whatever you believe in you have.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
To because it. I think this journey might rock all
of those things.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
I think that the travel and all of that can rock,
like your your regimen. If you're not healthy and then
you wake up and then you mentally don't feel good,
or you let the wins or the loss and something
like this really wreck you spiritually or like I started
doing that, I started holding who I believe I am
with the success of the product, and like when something went.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Wrong, then I just crumbled, right.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
And then but you have to like know that this
is doesn't hold the value of who you are. And
I think that starts with the spiritual level of what
you believe in and not letting it because it is
a journey. And I don't say any of that to
like scare anybody, right, it's the most beautiful, awesome journey
to do this. But I think I just was a
(19:34):
little unprepared of what all realms that was gonna shake.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
But that would be my advice. No, And that's great,
And I think you're right. I think every there's something
that every entrepreneur has, and like for you, faith and
like getting your mind right. And it's very true because
every day is a struggle for the average person, right,
there's so much happening, and so to be the head
(19:58):
of a company and trying to get it to the
next level. The glamorizing is great, right, but it's all
of the other work that you have to do that
can really be a mental struggle. Y. So your true
testament to women, especially so being a female leader in
a predominantly male industry, so meeting other women that are
(20:24):
just as strong and just as powerful is really exciting. Courtney,
thank you so much for joining us and for sharing
your story. I think it's one of inspiration. You have
great leadership insights. I think that your advice to future
leaders is right on par, especially to female entrepreneurs or
females who are looking to become a trailblazer in their industry.
(20:47):
To our listeners, thank you. I'm Rosie Perez and this
is CEOs. You should know
Welcome to CEOs. You should know. I'm Rosie Perez with iHeartMedia,
and today I am joined by Courtney Chase of Pecana,
the world's first and only fully organic plant based milk.
Courtney is amazing. She's a third generation farmer, which you
don't hear a lot of, especially now. So Courtney, welcome.
(00:21):
I'm so happy to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Gosh, all of that just brought like tears to my eyes,
just so grateful, happy tears because you know, you work
really hard and you do things and you don't even realize,
I guess sometimes the impact you're making until you look
up three or four years later and like, oh wow,
we kind of did something.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You know, it's so true, that's fantastic. I kind of
want to start with your founder's journey, how this kind
of came about, and what kind of led to the
start or the idea of Pecana.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Right, So, I think the story will always be rooted
in the pecon, in the farming of the pecan.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Read it in like my family.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
History really, so my dad started planning pecan trees in
New Mexico where I'm from, and grew that. So as
a child, I grew up on the farm and then
I started working for a shelling company and selling pecans
around the world. And I think it took just getting
to the right point in my life to be like, Okay,
(01:24):
what do I want to do with the pecon right?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Like this has been I watched.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
My dad's dream for a while, and what do I
want to do? And I was at a very pivotal
place in my own health where I was starting to
truly look at the ingredient decks of like all of
the things that I was consuming.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
And it really started.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
For like with the smoothie for me in the morning
and I was like trying to lose weight and I
was putting a nut milk in my smoothie and I.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Was just like wait, what did I really just put
in this smoothie?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And it was just this light bulb moment of like
this is how I want the pookon to shine, Like
this is a healthy way that I want to innovate
this product that I've really humanized, Like when someone talks
about the peicon, it feels like they're talking about a
family member for.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Me, because that's how just truly passionate and ingrained in
kind of my DNA.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
The pocon is, so I love to showcase it in
a healthy way. This product really started from just working
out with the pookon already being in my family history
and just wanting to showcase it in a really healthy way.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
I think that's fantastic. My fiance is actually diabetic and
so his doctor has said, you really need to look
at more plant based food. And so it was interesting
because I can now say, hey, this is a great
product for you to use on.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
That topic, the diabetic thing. The one that I love,
the vanilla skew. It's our unseen and vanilla. I've had
friends that are are diabetic or even doing a Keto diet,
and so we'll test to make sure like before they
consume it there were sugars and then after and they're
still in like Keto U katosis for the product. So
like truly knowing that, like it's not going to spike
(03:11):
blood sugar unlike some other plant based milks that really
have a higher glycemic index.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
And we'll do that to you again.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
A reason why the product was started was for people
like your fiance.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, right, So entrepreneurship often begins with the personal why,
what personal experiences or challenges kind of shaped the mission
behind pecana.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
I think truly going back to where I was in
my own health, my own journey.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I was struggling with uh drinking.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I was in a lifestyle that I knew wasn't serving me,
and so I think it was waking up to be like,
what can I do that is going to hold such
a place in my life that I'm going to want
to give up what I'm doing now to give me
like to wake me up in the morning and feel
know that I'm fulfilled doing something. And I think it
(04:09):
was like kind of hitting the what I felt was
rock bottom that really woke me up to want to
do this. And then, like I said, just I was
the target market for pocanna at the time, there was
not a lot of nut milks that you saw on
the market that weren't filled with chemicals or fillers or
natural flavors. And I think it just just so aligned
(04:32):
that I was wanting to wake up in my own
just like life and then also just really work all
my health, and I wanted to incorporate the po con
on that journey.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So that's where the way I came from.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So you come up with the concept, do you have
your own experience as to why you want to do this,
So talk to me a little bit about maybe some
early hurdles that you faced and how you had to
kind of navigate through those.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Wow, there's I look back and I'm like, what I mean,
which one do I want to talk about. There's a
lot of them.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
So I think just maybe getting out of my own
way a little bit. Like I thought I had a
vision for the product. I wanted it to be refrigerated.
I had always bought nut milks and the refrigerator.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
In my head, I thought.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
That that meant adding more ingredients to the product that
were not healthy to make them shelf stable for what
you see pocana looks like today.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
And I was so just like hell bent on like
that vision.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
And then I realized in the United States to find
to find space for pocana in a grocery store really
needed a longer shelf life and to package it the
way that we do, which is a shelf stable packaging.
There's just not that many co packers in the United States,
and so I had to one find them, work through
the higher minimums that you know are required in the
(05:59):
United States to get line time. Just all of that
it's like, how do you if you don't have at
the time the sales right, and then taking the risk
and believing in something that no, I'm going to have
the sales someday to like to make sense for this
production run right, and that it's just this total mental
game of I think, being able any entrepreneur to stand
(06:23):
in your truth and believe in something when you really
haven't sold even a unit yet.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
You can look crazy in.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Front of some people that maybe don't see the vision
yet or they're they're telling you, oh yeah, like it's
gonna look like chicken stock, you know, like that's what
the bottle And I'm like, no, I can make this
look cool. I can make this look appealing, and we're
going to we're going to rock in this shelf stable
section that even though I was still trying to wrap
(06:51):
my head around, I think in the beginning that those
were the hurdles, just like having the idea and like,
how physically is it going to how is the pecon
going to I guess manifest itself on the shelf, Like
how would that look? Like that's hard when you haven't
sold anything, you don't have commercials with HB like they're
not on board yet, Like you're not No one's like
(07:13):
knocked on your door yet, you're not doing a podcast? Like,
how do you still find faith in yourself? That's hard?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Well, I think that and correct me if I'm wrong.
It's basically four years and now forty five hundred stores. Yeah, yeah,
So I just got goosebumps from saying that. So that
alone is that's a true testament to your faith in
the product and your belief in yourself. That was not
(07:41):
one of the questions. But I just think that's amazing.
Your business operates in a very rapidly changing landscape. How
are you innovating and differentiating pecana from others in the space.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
I truly believe that I'm innovating the nut milk space. Again,
what I've just been talking about this whole time for
a consumer like me, where I'm now looking at true
ingredients of do I know what this is? Do I
need to google? Maybe you do, Yes, you need to
google what pocon milk is. But when you look at
(08:15):
those ingredients, you don't need to google what vanilla with pecans,
what water with salt? Like what those are and what
they're doing to our bodies over a long period of
time because our grandparents, we're not consuming the things that
we are consuming in almost every packaged good that we
eat today, and we just don't have this like any
(08:37):
scientific research to know how it like affects our longevity.
And that I think is where pocana will truly stand out.
It's never to really replace dairy. I don't even I
don't even want to like compare it in those ways.
Or it's if you are wanting to look at your sugars,
you're wanting to look at ingredient deck and you still
(08:58):
want something to actually taste. I think that's where I mean,
I really have like double down on like I think
there's money behind that. I truly believe in it, and
so that's how I feel like we're innovating the space
is when we truly look at what we're consuming and
how it affects your mental health and all those things.
(09:19):
I think we stand out because the flavor is still there.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Which is phenomenal because you're so right in a time
where any type of food, especially milk or any type
of dairy, when you look at the ingredients, it's like
seventeen deep, you know, and you find that what I
was always taught is the higher the ingredient, the more
of it there is. So like if water was at
(09:45):
the bottom number sixteen, then this has like that's the
least amount of ingredient that it has. So to only
have four that I don't have to google is a
huge It's a very huge deal. Leadership is central to
any CEO's journey, and you take on the entire role
at Pecana, but you also have a role kind of
(10:06):
in your family business as well. So how would you
describe your leadership style and how has it evolved with Pecana.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I think about things like what kind of shaped me
as a as a young woman child working I started
working in my family businesses when I was ten, and
who shaped me the most?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Right?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And I think about conversations And then I was listening
to a church germon and literally those same words that
came out of my grandfather's mouth were kind of reset
and I was like, that's what I want to say,
Like that is I think what shaped me. But I
had my grandfather who came from nothing and did a lot,
and I got to watch his journey of entrepreneurship and
(10:51):
he very much took me, I guess, under his wing
to like along with his journey, right, And so I
remember him sending me and me down and saying, you
can start working for me, but you have to start
in housekeeping. You're going to take out the trash. I
want you to know that this is where it starts,
and this is how you will always respect people no
(11:13):
matter where they are in your company, because you've had
to do their job before. And I think that that
shaped me with the idea of no task is beneath me, right,
like I will be here in the morning with you,
and I'll be here at night with you. And I
think that shaped just my outlook on things with And
then I add I listened to this church sermon and
(11:36):
it said leaders.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Take out the trash.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
And I was like, yes, I've never met anybody that
was an entrepreneurship that looked at something and said like
you do it. And when you take out the trash
or when you do those roles, you claim ownership like
that's mine. You know, when you're in a hotel room,
you're usually not picking up the bed or you're making
(11:58):
the bed all the time cause you know someone's coming
behind you to do it. But in your own home,
when this is yours, you do it because no one's
coming behind you to do it for you. And I
think that is what I think so many people don't
understand about solo entrepreneurship journey. I will say that, like,
at no point do I want to get up here
(12:20):
and think that I did it by myself, Like I
did have people in my corner that helps you, but
their mentality is still there with them, Like I see
that in them, and they feel the same way about Pecana,
they feel the same way about Chase Pecan, And like,
I think that's why we have this like number that
you're saying from zero to forty five hundred, because I've
(12:41):
surrounded my people myself with those people that are like, look,
that's maybe not in my job description, but like it's
it's it's for the dream, right and you just you
hustle like that for a while.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I think is really important.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
And I don't think that every scene or entrepreneur think
that way. So you know your family or third generation farmers,
so obviously that's something that has proven to be true because,
like you said, your grandfather was like you're starting by
taking out the trash, yeah, and you know you've continued
(13:19):
to grow both in your family's business, but then breaking
out to start your own. Our listeners love hearing about
growth moments, and I feel we've talked like seven of
them because you've had so many. But is there any
one thing or a milestone for Pekana that has really
meant a lot to you as a founder?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
The one for me and I, of course, I always
get so teary eyed. I think it's just a way
I show emotion and like gratitude, gratefulness. But is the
Walmart moment? I mean, the moment that I so. I
grew up in a very rural part of the United States.
It's southeastern corner of New Mexico, where it was a
big deal. I was in middle school when we got
(14:03):
a Walmart, I mean, and that was that was the
hangout place.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
That was We hung out in the parking lot.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
And so when I pitched to Walmart, I started my story.
My sorry, I started my pitch with that story of like,
like I grew up in your parking lot. Like I
know that sounds crazy, but like small town people get it.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You all rally around whatever. You know.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Sonic is another one and like, oh Walmart, and you
do and you go out in the boonies and hang
out and figure out where everyone's going to be.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
And to know that my product is now not.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Just available for the higher end markets, which we love them.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I love.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
I love shopping at those places too, but now that
my product is now available in the place that I
come from, for the people that live there and work there,
it's affordable in that space too. It's just that's a
whole other moment for me because it's like making you know,
accessible for everybody.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And that's kind of what a partnership like a Walmart
can give you. That can take you truly.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
From from Florida all the way up to you know,
or it can go across the country, and it's like that.
I think moment for me was like, Wow, I can
truly say Pocana is nationwide at this point.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Right, And that's kind of like a full three sixty
moment because I can only guess that a Walmart was
kind of like the mall, right, because that's what it
all happened right when you were kids, hang out the
mall or whatever. And so then to go back and
be like, and it's in my hometown Walmart there, I
am right there on the shelf. I do I'm just
one of I've always been that mindset of like I'm
(15:42):
going to sit at the table, but how can I
pull up a chair for somebody else? Or how can
I leave the table with more food on it than
when I got there? And I think about like the
next generation if I get cherioded. But like my nieces
and they were there for me, like my little nieces
were at the like when I to go see.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It all walmart in that moment that.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Was really cool to like I be like you guys
won't didn't grow up in this town, but like this
means a lot and that y'all are here with me.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So it was a really cool moment.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
That's amazing and to be And that kind of leads
into my next question because you're very thought you have
very thoughtful leadership. So what's kind of on the horizon
for Pekana. You've already accomplished so many things in such
a small amount of time, but are there any you know,
initiative or expansions or even goals that are kind of like, Okay,
(16:32):
next up is this one?
Speaker 3 (16:35):
One?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Is the natural play?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I think anyone that's watched other nut milks or like
an alternative dairy brands do it is having a milk.
And then I really want to get into like the
coffee space, like a coffee creamer, Like these are truly milks.
A lot of people use the praylene as a creamer
because it has added flavor, but I want to find
(16:58):
a way to make it a little more can froth
and like do the things that act as a coffee creamer.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That is very much on the horizon, just because in.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Texas we associate coffee with pecans so much, Like even
in the central markets and all of the they have
their own coffees that have actual pieces of pecan in them.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
So I think that's a really natural play.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
And then two I think, of course, like getting that
placement with like a someone who really can full you know,
have an audience. I think if it's like someone famous
or someone like co signing it and getting it in
front of the masses, I think that this is a
really And I watch the word trendy, like I don't
think it's a trend, but I think it is a
(17:40):
lot of people now are caring and it's like cool
to like care about what you're.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Eating and like all of that.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
So someone in that space that shares the same values.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
About health as the brand.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
To co sign that and get it in front of people,
I think would be next level for Pakana.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, it's amazing. So my last question, Okay, so for
aspiring entrepreneurs listening today, like your nieces, right, what advice
would you give to someone who had a big idea
but really wasn't sure how to bring it to life.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
I think, and this is just for me. I think
I didn't understand what it was going to require. And
this is just me personally, but what it was going
to require from me physically and also mentally spiritually in
all the ways. I think that like if you, like
like I said earlier, are going to show up and
present something that you may not even be tangible. Yet
(18:38):
you have to get your health, You have to get
your mental health, you have to get your spirit, like
whatever you believe in you have.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
To because it. I think this journey might rock all
of those things.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
I think that the travel and all of that can rock,
like your your regimen. If you're not healthy and then
you wake up and then you mentally don't feel good,
or you let the wins or the loss and something
like this really wreck you spiritually or like I started
doing that, I started holding who I believe I am
with the success of the product, and like when something went.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Wrong, then I just crumbled, right.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
And then but you have to like know that this
is doesn't hold the value of who you are. And
I think that starts with the spiritual level of what
you believe in and not letting it because it is
a journey. And I don't say any of that to
like scare anybody, right, it's the most beautiful, awesome journey
to do this. But I think I just was a
(19:34):
little unprepared of what all realms that was gonna shake.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
But that would be my advice. No, And that's great,
And I think you're right. I think every there's something
that every entrepreneur has, and like for you, faith and
like getting your mind right. And it's very true because
every day is a struggle for the average person, right,
there's so much happening, and so to be the head
(19:58):
of a company and trying to get it to the
next level. The glamorizing is great, right, but it's all
of the other work that you have to do that
can really be a mental struggle. Y. So your true
testament to women, especially so being a female leader in
a predominantly male industry, so meeting other women that are
(20:24):
just as strong and just as powerful is really exciting. Courtney,
thank you so much for joining us and for sharing
your story. I think it's one of inspiration. You have
great leadership insights. I think that your advice to future
leaders is right on par, especially to female entrepreneurs or
females who are looking to become a trailblazer in their industry.
(20:47):
To our listeners, thank you. I'm Rosie Perez and this
is CEOs. You should know
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