In honor of Women’s History Month and the launch of Vital Proteins new Collagen Water™, we’re kicking off a weekly series on Lively called “How I Uncap My Potential,” where we feature amazing women doing incredible things in their field. Today, we’re spotlighting Bridget Greaney, the co-founder of 2Betties. Get to know Greaney, who created the natural food company with her mom, and find out her advice for aspiring business owners.
Lively: Thanks for chatting with us! Tell us: what made you decide to start your own business?
Bridget Greaney: 2Betties began out of a desire to make better, healthier snack options that contained less sugar per serving. However, I was never on a mission necessarily to start a business or to start something with my mom, my co-founder and partner. My mom and I always shared a mutual belief that healthier snacks that both tasted good and were good for you were few and far between. I was on a personal mission to make more nutritious snacks for myself and family.
In college, I began making my own granola in an attempt to enjoy delicious granola that was made with less sugar and more nutrient-dense ingredients. Through a little trial and error using ingredients such as almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and lightly sweetening with maple syrup and honey, I arrived at something that tasted delicious and was truly healthy.
Fast forward, after sharing my granola product with family and friends, their feedback (and emails asking for the recipe!) led my mom and me to feel like we might have something worth exploring. From the granola we wanted to make something that was more on-the-go and also play on the ‘healthy but delicious’ theme, so we turned the product into little donuts which we call Rounds. It’s the best feeling in the world to be passionate about making something that positively impacts the lives of others.
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L: What made you choose the natural snack category?
BG: This might sound cliché, but I think it chose us! The granola I was making was inherently a natural snack product. It contained zero preservatives, additives, and nothing artificial. Our Rounds, which was a spin-off of my original granola recipe, maintain the same standards of a natural snack and additionally are free of gluten, grain, dairy and refined sugars. We’re thrilled to be part of a bigger mission to help reduce the overall dependence on sugar and to be working towards making healthier food options more accessible to all.
L: What has been the most rewarding experience with 2Betties and your career so far?
BG: It took about a year to get from idea to soft launch. That year was incredibly hard being right out of college, working in a kitchen alone and building a brand which felt overwhelmingly intangible aside from the batches of product I was distributing in Ziploc bags to anyone and everyone who would taste it.
I will never forget seeing those first couple of orders come in on our website. It was the first moment that I felt as if all the hard work that had been put into 2Betties was for something impactful.
Since then, the most rewarding experience has been connecting with our customers and hearing their feedback and love for our product.
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L: What is your dream 2Betties flavors?
BG: We love coming up with new flavors and just recently launched Mocha Chip, the first of three new flavors to launch this year. At this time, I think the Chocolate Chunk is still my dream flavor. It tastes like a brownie without the extra sugar and if you heat it up you truly might think you’re eating the real thing.
L: Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in starting their own business?
BG: First, I encourage anyone who has an idea for a business, whether in food or another space, to throw themselves fully into an exploratory process learning as much as they can about anything and everything to do with their idea and the potential customers for it. Ask questions, reach out to other business owners, talk to potential customers, and truly immerse yourself into discovering as much as possible about the space your business would be in, who the competitors are, who the leaders are, and what they are doing right and wrong. Launching and growing a business, in my opinion, is a process of testing and you can only do this when you have all the information you need to ask the right questions.
Secondly, I advise anyone interested in starting their own business to tap into their patience. We live in a hyper-connected society constantly bombarded by social posts and media coverage touting the overnight success stories that, in my opinion, is not reality. It takes a lot of work, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of time to get from point A to point B and that’s okay.
L: How do you "Uncap Your Potential"?
BG: I uncap my potential by having a daily routine which makes it easier to adjust to challenges that pop up throughout the day. My typical day is rooted in a healthful diet, exercise, and meditation (shout out to the Calm App) and then it varies beyond that, depending on the season or what I’m feeling I need. My routine is my default zone, so no matter what gets thrown at me, I know at least I have done my workout, eaten a balanced diet, and found some space for myself.
L: How do you incorporate Vital Proteins into your daily routine?
BG: Truly, Vital Proteins is the best and I am not just saying that. This is not an #ad, this is 100% authentic. I was a vegetarian who ate no dairy for six years and towards the end of that period of time I felt lethargic, mentally fogged, stressed, and my nails were brittle and dry. When I decided to transition to a more pescatarian diet, I started adding Marine Collagen to my smoothies and I felt a difference within weeks. To this day, I keep Vital Proteins stocked in my kitchen and probably use the Collagen Peptides about four times a week in everything from smoothies, oatmeal, and drinks. I am still dairy free, so I love being able to add it to my vegan protein powder to give me a little something extra. A healthy diet is an essential element to my ability to uncap my potential and Vital Proteins collagen products make it easy to be more balanced.
Photos: courtesy of Bridget Greaney; @2betties/Instagram