Hint CEO recounts how, with no experience, she overcame fear to build a hot, new beverage company

Entrepreneur Kara Goldin may be one of InStyle’s 2019 “Badass 50” and one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business," but in starting her own now hugely successful company she often found herself uncertain of her ability to succeed, she said in an Oct.19  National Press Club Headliners Book Event event moderated by Kimberly Adams, a member of the Club's Board of Governors. 

Goldin wrote her book, “Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters” as both a memoir and a source of advice for people hesitant to live their dreams. Her journey started 15 years ago, Goldin said, when she was an AOL tech executive suffering from bad skin, fatigue, and weight gain.

One day, looking down at the diet soda in her hand, she said, she examined the ingredients listed on the can and thought maybe she should drink water instead. Within two-and-a-half weeks, she had lost 20 pounds, her skin had cleared up and her energy levels increased. But water, Goldin decided, was boring, and she feared she would not be able to keep up her healthier routine.

When she added fresh-cut fruit to water, she found she liked it so much she wanted to bottle it. That was the genesis of Hint, Goldin’s flavored water company that disrupted the beverage industry and today boasts nearly $200 million in annual sales.

“My hope is that by sharing my story, my hurdles, fears, and failures along the way,” she said, “that people will be inspired to go and do what they are afraid to do. They will say, ‘If she can do it, I can do it, too.’”

Watch the complete interview here.

Goldin said she chose the title of her book to reflect her journey from uncertainty to success. “I didn’t have experience in the beverage industry,” she said. “I started doubting myself about whether I could even do this.

‘An idea sounds great but then you think ‘I don’t have experience. I have no idea how to get a product on the shelf, how distribution works.’ I decided I should take a couple of steps to see if it was a viable opportunity or not.”

Explaining that a common concern for developing a new product is finding investment, Goldin said some would-be entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to raise money too early, before they have tested their product to determine consumer interest. If they can prove they have a good product people like, even in challenging economic times such as the current pandemic, they can find capital, she said.

Goldin pointed out that many companies these days need to address consumer concerns about social responsibility. Consumers, she said, want to get to know the people behind the brand, hear their stories and learn how the company is giving back to the community. Hint, for instance, is working to provide clean, save, lead-free water in schools.

Goldin said she wants to eliminate PFAS, a chemical in our water supply that, according to the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control, can potentially cause cancer. Working with her congresswoman,  Jackie Speier , D-Calif., Goldin is formulating a plan to create laws regulating lead and PFAS.

What is Goldin’s message for people thinking about starting their own business? “Please don’t put walls in front of yourself,” she said, “focusing on your lack of education and experience and ‘I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.’ Instead, push forward.”