#6 - Keeley Tillotson, the unfiltered story of Wild Friends Foods

Today’s episode is a little different.

I (Peter) am actually interviewing my co-host Keeley about her previous company, Wild Friends Foods.

Prior to co-founding Lumo Group, Keeley was the co-founder and CEO of a nut and seed butter company called Wild Friends Foods. All the way back in 2011 Keeley and her roommate and best friend Erika decided to start making their own nut butter in their college apartment. One thing led to the next and soon they were selling it at a local farmers market. Then they got shelf space at a local natural foods grocery chain. Then they dropped out of college to build the company full time.

Now, 13 years later, Wild Friends is officially shutting down. It was a wild ride, full of ups and downs and successes and failures. But ultimately it was THE formative professional experience of Keeley’s life that led her to where she is today. 

During this conversation, Keeley looks back and shares the unfiltered story of Wild Friends, and her key reflections and learnings from her journey over the past decade plus.

TOPICS WE DISCUSSED:

• Teaser Clip and Introduction
• Keeley discuss the history and journey of her previous company, Wild Friends Foods
• How Keeley and her co-founder Erika stumbled into entrepreneurship
• From farmers market to retail
• The early growth phase
• Exciting products or initiatives that didn’t succeed
• Best sellers and consumer psychology
• Raising investory money
• The costs and benefits of capital raising
• Hard times at Wild Friends
• Keeley's proudest moments of her journey with Wild Friends
• Deciding to sell the company 
• The challenges and processes involved in selling a company
• The story of selling just before the COVID-19 lockdown.
• Why the company "failed"
• Hiring and Firing
• Leadership and management 
• Advice for entrepreneurs on strategy development
• Mentors and Advisors
• Why did Keeley co-found Lumo Group?
• Rapid Fire Questions: all-time favorite Wild Friends flavor,  current go to breakfast, current workout routine, favorite Olympic sport to watch, current favorite hobby outside of work, go-to podcasts, lessons learned from her kid, book recommendations: favorite business/workbook, favorite parenting book or resource, favorite young adult book, adult fiction books