Enterprenuer
Amanda Gorter founds Leto Foods. After more than a decade of working with the top consumer packaged goods and healthcare companies globally at a small strategy consulting firm, Gorter decided to create a platform that makes healthy eating easy during pregnancy.
Although many products focused on babies, the few options for women during and after pregnancy left her dissatisfied.
Amanda oversees the production of every Leto pouch and pouch at Chicago’s state-of-the-art food & drink incubator.
She has advised more than 30 food, beverage, and healthcare brands.
These range in size from prelaunch to mature brands worth $1B+ to $100M-$1B growth brands to mature brands worth $1B+.
Amanda graduated from the University of Michigan.
What is the story of Leto Foods?
Leto Foods was born out of a weekend getaway with four friends, two pregnant.
I was left wondering why it wasn’t simpler to eat natural, clean foods during pregnancy.
How do you stay productive?
Each day is different, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
A typical day at work will see me in vendor and partner meetings, answering customer queries, reviewing marketing materials, developing new content, and responding to customer questions.
Non-office days I am out in the field. I could be at a market talking with customers and educating them about our product.
Or I might be in the manufacturing facility, working on our production line.
Or I might be helping customers ship their product from our warehouse.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I listen to my customers and iterate until it is perfect.
What’s your favorite trend?
Personalization. We now have the tools to personalize products based on research and big data.
What habits make you productive?
Although I am a perfectionist by nature, one of my most valuable lessons as an entrepreneur has been accepting failure and moving on.
What’s your advice for the Noob?
Keep your faith, and never give up.
What is one thing we can all agree on?
You can create your plan and follow your steps.
You don’t have to follow the same path as others because they do it differently.
What do you recommend as an entrepreneur?
Talk to people! Talk to people! I speak with my vendors, customers, peers, and other people.
I listen. Talking to others can be a great way to help your business evolve.
What’s your rich strategy?
Word of mouth is the power of word of mouth.
Leto was launched when we began hearing from customers about how they had heard about it from another person.
People heard about us often from a second or third connection. It was powerful.
How do you overcome Failure?
We over-rotated some marketing activities early on.
It’s essential to try and learn as soon as you start.
Don’t spend too much in one area.
Can you share a business idea?
We are often asked this question. Menopause is a time when food can be good for you.
There isn’t much to be found at Farmer’s Markets.
What’s your recent best buy?
Pants for the athleisure market with pockets.
You wouldn’t believe how many women’s athleisure trousers don’t have pockets.
My phone, keys, and entry cards must always be with me in the manufacturing facility.
What are your favorite Softwares or Apps?
Klaviyo. It is an incredible Email Service Provider that allows us to automate and create our emails.
Which book would you recommend?
They were designing Your Life. A fellow female entrepreneur recommended it to me!
What’s your favorite quote?
Your time is precious, so don’t waste it living another person’s life. Do not be influenced by dogma, which is the habit of living with other people’s thoughts. Do not let other people’s opinions drown your inner voice. Most importantly, be brave to listen to your intuition and follow your heart. They know exactly what you want to be. All else is secondary.”
Steve Job
TL;DR by Amanda Gorter
- Make products that can be customized
- Automate what you can, then move on
- Talk to your customers!
