Enterprenuer
Loren Brill Castle became a vegan after beating cancer in her twenties.
She was frustrated by the lack of great-tasting cookies made with clean ingredients and decided to make her own.
Sweet Loren’s is America’s #1 natural cookie dough business.
Sweet Loren’s, a clean food company, has its first product: refrigerated cookie dough.
It is plant-based, non-GMO verified, and dairy-free. It’s also free from many other things, but you can be sure that it is full of delicious flavor and joy.
Loren is an entrepreneur and visionary who works towards a brighter future in the food industry.
Loren graduated from the University of Southern California in Communication with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
She is a certified Hatha Yoga instructor who has attended the New School for Master Class in Cooking and the Natural Gourmet Institute.
Loren was raised in NYC and currently lives in Los Angeles.
She is committed to living a healthy lifestyle.
What is the story of Sweet Loren?
My life changed dramatically after I graduated college.
At 22 years old, I was diagnosed with cancer.
This was just as I was about to embark on a new chapter in my life.
I was highly fortunate to access the care that I needed.
Although my doctors were great in helping me beat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I was shocked that they never talked about nutrition.
The importance of nutrition the role of exercise and food in maintaining and obtaining health surprised me.
I began to examine what I was eating and research nutrition and wellness.
Intuitive eating is a way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
I couldn’t find sweet treats and delicious snacks with clean, identifiable ingredients.
So I set out to create my own Sweet Loren’s.
How do you stay productive?
Each day is unique. To ensure I’m prepared for the future, I look at the days, weeks, and months ahead to make sure I’m ready and set myself up for short-term and long-term success.
It helps me ensure that we have clear goals and meet them on time.
A healthy body and mind are crucial to productivity.
Poor nutrition can make it difficult to concentrate and be productive.
First, healthy and delicious food helps me to focus.
Second, working out makes me feel energized.
When I exercise, I have great ideas.
When I let go of energy, things become more apparent.
It is also amazing how productive I feel now that I have a baby.
I don’t have any time to waste, so I make every minute count.
I am thinking about how I use my time.
You can be more deliberate and productive when you have less time.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Two critical steps are required to bring an idea to life.
The first step in bringing an idea to life is getting the team onboard.
They need to be invested in the project and aligned with it.
It is vital that your team sees the opportunity and is passionate about it.
This is because the execution of an idea requires participation from many people in the company.
There are many opportunities and ideas, so it isn’t easy to narrow down those that matter.
The company must move forward together with the team that shares the vision.
Your customer’s input is the next step in bringing your idea to life.
Although I know exactly what I want to get to the market, people have opinions.
I tried many kinds of sugar and flour when I started baking cookies.
But it was more about making sure others loved it.
Although I understand what the consumer wants, the idea can only be improved by feedback.
It was impossible to predict how my first recipes would be received.
I heard things like “make it sweeter,” “add more chocolate,” and “need to have more salt.”
All this feedback helped me refine the idea and bring it to life.
It doesn’t matter if we love what we do or are passionate about solving a problem.
It is essential to get input from all stages of the process.
What’s your favorite trend?
The trend is right now to eat plant-based food. One category that I’m particularly excited about is plant-based icecream.
They are delicious and can be made in a very similar way to dairy.
I am lactose intolerant, so I have never been able to eat a lot of ice cream.
It’s something I love and can feel good about.
This trend is exciting because it shows how much food has changed since I first started in this industry.
There’s nothing better than warm cookies with ice cream.
In some cases, the alternative brands are even better tasting and better for you.
This is so exciting for us. It’s possible to have both.
It makes it more common for everyone in the space.
It moves us away from being a niche, specialty brand, and mainstream.
We all win because we all get delicious, better-for-you food.
What habits make you productive?
A whole and fulfilling life. I am a person who gives my all and is willing to go the extra mile.
That is how I started my business. You are free to create your schedule as an entrepreneur.
I chose to go all in. But I was becoming stressed, and this routine was not sustainable.
It is very stressful and can make you feel like a slave to your work.
It’s not the same as before, but I give 150% now. My goal is to live a balanced, fulfilling life.
I exercise, meditate, check in with my body, eat healthy, clean food, and spend time with my daughter, husband, and other close friends.
My personal life is filled with essential things.
I don’t waste my time on things that aren’t important to me or make me feel like a waste. Because it’s intentional, it makes me happier.
I have the best ideas when I’m so glad, and I’m more willing to work hard.
It was clear that if you don’t feel happy, you will only think about being unhappy. It is toxic and harmful.
This routine is where I check in with myself because no one can answer the questions about your life.
It’s constant. I continue asking these questions and working to improve myself.
Only you know your limits and can fill them.
This will give you the ability to live a happy and productive life.
What’s your advice for the Noob?
I would tell myself to get the best team possible and make it happen much quicker.
I was a solo entrepreneur when I started. I managed to do so much for four years.
Looking back, I think I would have progressed faster if there were experts to help me move faster and wiser.
Although I enjoy being lean and mean, you still need the right team to propel you forward.
What is one thing we can all agree on?
You can have dessert! It’s all about intuitive eating.
Sometimes you need a treat or a particular type of food to satisfy your needs.
That is okay! Everyone should be empowered to decide what food is best for them.
It is healthy to indulge in sweet treats when you want them, but only as long as they are part of a balanced diet.
What do you recommend as an entrepreneur?
Your day should include laughter and joy. You don’t have to take things too seriously.
Even if you are serious about something or working on a severe project/business, you can still enjoy the ride and keep your wits about you.
What’s your rich strategy?
At the beginning of my business, I made sure to find a mentor that I could trust.
At that time, I was a solopreneur and didn’t have the support of a team.
Daniella, a phenomenal female mentor in business, met me once a week.
She not only gave me valuable insight and experience that I didn’t know, but she also helped me to get out of my head and see the world differently.
Her confidence was a massive boost for me as a first-time entrepreneur.
My growth, as well as that of the company, was greatly aided by my mentor.
How do you overcome Failure?
We all know how difficult it can be to hire, but we also know that it is crucial to building the right team.
It was hard for me to see the failure of hiring.
It was exhausting, considering how much we had invested.
I felt fragile at the beginning. It wasn’t easy to accept that there could be many reasons why a hire doesn’t work out.
I learned to cope with it by learning and not getting frustrated or upset.
This has helped me to be more effective in vetting suitable candidates.
We have looked at various recruiters and used a more thorough interview process to ensure we ask the right question.
It takes a lot to find the right people, I’ve learned. It works when it is.
Can you share a business idea?
A virtual assistant is a person who assists everyone.
A virtual assistant familiar with you will make it easier and cheaper to hire.
So everyone can have someone to assist them with the smaller tasks.
It should be easy to personalize machine learning and AI and have someone help you.
In my early days, I was able to go to a personal coach.
The coach said that if you don’t have an assistant, then you are your assistant.
Someone should create a business that allows each person to have a virtual assistant who helps them make their time more productive.
This will enable them to focus on the essential things and reduce the unnecessary.
What’s your recent best buy?
I ordered socks with photos of my babies on them for my best friends and myself.
They will bring us joy and make us smile, and they can be kept forever.
It is a wise use of money to do things that make you happy, your family and friends, and celebrate the little and big things.
You can’t love socks that have a baby on them. ?
What are your favorite Softwares or Apps?
Zoom to connect with people, and Google Drive for Organization – they give me easy access from wherever I’m.
Which book would you recommend?
Steve Jobs’ Biography inspires us all to think big and be crazy, and that we are not the only ones.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. This memoir is by Nike’s creator will blow your mind.
What’s your favorite quote?
100% of shots you miss are your own.
TL;DR by Loren Brill Castle
- It doesn’t matter how much time you have, but how you use it. You can give 150% per day, but make sure that you have the right amount of time to generate positive energy and productivity.
- Intentionality is key to productivity. You need to be honest with yourself. Ask yourself hard questions and make conscious choices about how you spend your time. This is a difficult conversation to have with yourself and one that can be hard to act upon.
- Focus early and get perspective. There are always new ideas and possibilities. It is important to be able focus on the right opportunities and not lose sight of the bigger picture. To make a product that solves problems, you need the right people onboard and customer input.
- Alternative brands are now mainstream brands, which is a win-win situation for everyone. Food business is changing rapidly. Alternative brands that claim to be plant-based, gluten-free, or non-GMO are now just as good as traditional brands. In some cases, they even taste better and are better for you. This is a win-win situation for all.
