Sophia Cheng: How to say ‘Yes’ to Risk and Start Up

00:00:01:17 – 00:00:30:00
Sophia
The entrepreneurs that I saw did not look like me, right? They were typically, you know, men, right? Like middle aged white men. And I never thought that that was in the cards for someone like me. Right. Even though I was quite, like, hated. And I had like, all, like the tools.

00:00:30:02 – 00:00:56:14
Claudia
Hello and welcome to shift Happens. My name is Claudia Mahler. I’m your host and invite you to celebrate women’s voices. When women have the space and time to share stories. We all connect and feel heard. Today I’m in conversation with entrepreneur Sophia Cheng. The founder of oddball. Oddball is probably the healthy and wholesome snack we all have been longing for.

00:00:56:19 – 00:01:22:08
Claudia
And I’m not saying this as a paid comment. Listen in and find out about the importance of clean eating and how her Asian background around nutrition found its way into this product. Sophia, who grew up in Singapore and Hong Kong, left a secure and comfortable corporate position to become an entrepreneur. She describes this decision as jumping off a cliff.

00:01:22:10 – 00:02:08:03
Claudia
In our conversation, she talks about reinvention and trusting our instincts about realigning yourself and about feeling truly free despite all fears and anxiety that come with starting up a business. Sophia held positions in management consulting at Bridgewater Associates and Estee Lauder. She’s a speaker at sought after events and is a recipient of the Humanitarian Award, presented by the former President of Singapore, Halimah Yacob.

00:02:08:05 – 00:02:13:10
Claudia
So hello and welcome Sofia Chang to Sift happens.

00:02:13:11 – 00:02:14:10
Sophia
Hello.

00:02:14:12 – 00:02:15:13
Claudia
I’m very happy.

00:02:15:14 – 00:02:17:20
Sophia
I’m also very happy together.

00:02:17:22 – 00:02:33:11
Claudia
I know it’s a busy time for you. And we will hear about that later. Sophia, before we are talking about your shift, which you described as it feels like jumping from a cliff.

00:02:33:13 – 00:02:34:15
Sophia
Yes.

00:02:34:16 – 00:02:45:20
Claudia
And you will, you will explain a little bit more about that later. But first I wanted to ask you a few questions. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

00:02:45:21 – 00:03:08:15
Sophia
That’s a really good question. You know, I think, like over the past years, I’ve discovered that for me at least, like, what matters in life, like, boils down to two things, right? It’s meaningful work and meaningful relationships. And it seems like it’s a very simple concept, but it actually is much more complex than that and much and much less complex than that either.

00:03:08:15 – 00:03:26:10
Sophia
Right. Like because it is a pretty simple concept, right? Like if you are dedicating your time and like you figure out what like meaningful work and meaningful relationships mean to you and you put in the work to achieve that. I think that ultimately is what you know. That’s what brings me happiness.

00:03:26:12 – 00:03:31:06
Claudia
Yeah. What do you most value in your friends.

00:03:31:08 – 00:03:53:23
Sophia
I think as I get older I am realizing that different types of friendships play a different role in your life. Right. When I was younger I always kind of leaned in to the idea and the concept of the best friend, right? Like the best friend who is there for you, for everything. Right? For your ups and downs and your highs and lows.

00:03:53:23 – 00:04:18:12
Sophia
And I think as you grow and you become more and more complex human beings and you, you evolve, right? Because I think everyone is in a similar path, especially when you’re growing up. Up until a few years out of college, and when you start deviating from that, your life really changes. And it’s been a learning process for me to understand and to really be able to lean and lean onto my friends for different things.

00:04:18:12 – 00:04:38:15
Sophia
Right. You know, because I’m learning that, you know, it’s it’s not fair to rely on one person for everything that you need, right? Even if it’s my husband, for example. Right. Like he it’s not fair for him to be, you know, my my, my husband, my my my best friend, my confidant, my co-founder, my CFO, my cook, my caretaker, everything.

00:04:38:15 – 00:04:39:10
Sophia
And so.

00:04:39:12 – 00:04:41:15
Claudia
My cook.

00:04:41:17 – 00:04:56:02
Sophia
My business, everything. And so I think for me, it’s it’s having that consistency and reliability that they will always be there for you. But not but also playing your own part and playing my own part and understanding that they cannot be that everything for you?

00:04:56:04 – 00:05:19:18
Claudia
Yeah. Yeah. I just remembered when I was 3 or 4 years, I guess four years old. I had a friend, and sometimes if I did something wrong or we had a quarrel, she would say, and I’m not going to play with you ever in 100 years. And I was like, totally in panic, of course. But you can’t, you know, you’re right.

00:05:19:19 – 00:05:29:15
Claudia
Not everybody can feel every shoe and every category and every thing that we need. What is your most treasured possession?

00:05:29:17 – 00:05:48:21
Sophia
My most treasured possession. That’s a good question. It probably you know it’s it’s you know by my husband if he were in here and he’d be listening to this, he would be very offended if I didn’t say like, you know, the engagement ring that he got me. And that is probably one of my most prized possession.

00:05:48:21 – 00:06:10:06
Sophia
And I think it goes back to my whole, like, meaningful work of meaningful relationships that gives me happiness. And I think I have a most treasured possession in, in each of the categories. I think one of my most treasured possession is, is the engagement ring that my husband got me, right. We just got married and it is. It’s a very special ring because I, we traveled, we just we decided early on to design it together.

00:06:10:06 – 00:06:30:02
Sophia
Right? Like it wasn’t a surprise, like, he, you know, didn’t didn’t surprise me. It was a ring that I’ve never seen before. Is that a robe? But instead, like, we took the approach of really designing it together, and we, kicked the stone together. We sort of stone together in Sri Lanka, this beautiful, beautiful, like, Sri Lankan Ceylon sapphire, and had an incredible, like journey trip.

00:06:30:02 – 00:06:50:00
Sophia
And that really to me is like this symbol of, our love. Right? As cheesy as it sounds. That’s probably one of my most prized possession. And then the other is actually like I’m looking at it right now and it is a football. It is a football of the first 50 people who have tried on bowl.

00:06:50:02 – 00:07:09:16
Sophia
And that was like, you know, it’s a really funny story. I don’t want to go on too long about that. But, you know, when when audible was first a concept and an idea, we were kind of just toiling around it for a while, right? Because, you know, everyone who was involved had a full time job. And it wasn’t really until, this opportunity that we had, which was, the taste of NFL.

00:07:09:16 – 00:07:25:20
Sophia
So the Super Bowl about two years ago where we got invited to do a brand showcase. Right. And so that was a moment when we were like, we have no product, but we have this incredible opportunity to showcase it at the Super Bowl. So we have a week to figure out. Like, you know, the products like we have, you know, we’ve never made it before, right?

00:07:25:20 – 00:07:45:17
Sophia
Like the packaging and everything. And we made it happen. Right. So, you know, it’s I and and it’s funny because it was all like the people who have first try to we’re all NFL athletes and I made them all sign this football as like, a memory for how I started for.

00:07:45:19 – 00:07:53:04
Claudia
Oh, that’s nice. Of course. That’s a very special possession. What is your greatest fear?

00:07:53:06 – 00:08:00:00
Sophia
My greatest fear is probably leaving this earth with no having. Having no impact.

00:08:00:02 – 00:08:10:06
Claudia
Yeah, I can I can relate to that.

00:08:10:08 – 00:08:37:09
Claudia
So you mentioned audible. That’s your startup. And with this the shift began and it would be great if you could talk a little bit because you have, you know, quite a stellar career in the corporate world behind you. If you just could talk a little bit about your change and why you decided to leave the safe haven of the corporate world and dive into, becoming an entrepreneur.

00:08:37:11 – 00:08:57:05
Sophia
Yeah. Yes. So, you know, for context, right? I, I’m not American. Right? So, you know, I’ve, I haven’t had a complication of needing a visa, which is not a top. It’s not a sexy topic. Right. Like, it’s it’s not a it’s a topic. It’s not a topic that a lot of people understand, but you know, the the but it’s very real.

00:08:57:05 – 00:09:16:08
Sophia
But it’s a very real topic. Right. And like, you know, ties into this like immigration, you know, issues that we have and, you know, as a, as a country that like, you know, we’re talking about all the time, etc.. And, you know, for me, like I, I am in a more privileged position where, you know, I, you know, I came from Singapore, I came here for college and, you know, but the hurdles are still there, right?

00:09:16:08 – 00:09:35:08
Sophia
The hurdles being, needing to find sponsorship. Right. They needed to find the right visa to allow you to stay. And so, you know, I always joke that, like, I’m always on the brink of deportation because that’s how I feel. Right? But, you know, it’s it’s not true. It’s just, you know, that that pressure of having, the need to maintain your visa status and finding a job and like, sponsorship.

00:09:35:08 – 00:09:53:23
Sophia
Right. And so I think, you know, fighting to stay, not fighting, but like, you know, really working hard and like putting up that and staying in a you ask like had dictated a lot of that corporate career. Right. To be completely honest. Right. And to take a few steps back, like I had actually wanted to be a journalist growing up right.

00:09:53:23 – 00:10:12:14
Sophia
Which is it? Which is a completely different. Oh, yeah. I, you know, I did my internship at the Wall Street Journal, you know, like, I, I, the Associated Press, I was working on Wall Street Journal, my senior year in college. I worked for a school paper and high school and college. And that really, like, was what I was, like, super passionate about.

00:10:12:16 – 00:10:26:21
Sophia
But again, like, you know, I wanted to stay in the U.S. and it was just very difficult to get a sponsorship for, you know, any journalism job or, and in journalism, you know, during that and even now you’re really seeing that like peak is, has evolved like so much. And, you know, in my opinion not a great way.

00:10:26:22 – 00:10:53:09
Sophia
Right. And so, oh, no, I was a good it was a, it was a right move to play, not go to journalism when I graduated. But this is to say like, that’s that was how my corporate career started, right? You know, I wasn’t truly, like really imagining one, but it was circumstances that led me there. And so, you know, I had my first job was in management consulting at, you know, at carny, which is an amazing company where I still have incredible friends there.

00:10:53:09 – 00:11:08:08
Sophia
And I got my basic skills, you know, honed in and my professional skills to that. And. Right. And then my second job, I was at a hedge fund called Bridgewater Associates, working for Ray Dalio. Right. And, you know, that was a very interesting work environment. And yeah.

00:11:08:10 – 00:11:09:00
Claudia
I bet.

00:11:09:05 – 00:11:30:12
Sophia
I it was very interesting. And it was very it was a very it was a big moment for, for people who work there to really learn about yourself because of that, like radical feedback and transparency culture. Right. And then after that, you know, I, I just, you know, like, I want to stay longer. Right? And, a little bit of transformations.

00:11:30:14 – 00:11:54:01
Sophia
So I would say that for me, I had never really dreamt of a career in entrepreneurship. Right? Because I always say when I was growing up, the entrepreneurs that I saw did not look like me. Right. In many forms, they were typically, you know, men. Right. Like more middle age or like, you know, middle aged white men.

00:11:54:01 – 00:12:23:19
Sophia
And I never thought that that was in the cards for someone like me. Right. Even though I was well-educated and I had like all like the tools. But, you know, we have to remember it’s a very different time, right? Like, even now compared to, say like ten, 15 years ago. And so it wasn’t until, like me seeing, start to see like, you know, woman and woman of color to right, like be in, you know, entrepreneurship or in, like, high level like positions that like that sort sort of seed in my head.

00:12:23:19 – 00:12:45:09
Sophia
Right. Because you are, you are surrounded by what you see. And so for me, that was like an a really important part. It’s like when I started really seeing that there is more diversity coming through. It gave me the courage. Right? Because I’m going to be honest. Like, I’m not the bravest person in the world, right? Like I have my own fears, right?

00:12:45:09 – 00:13:04:05
Sophia
I have my own fears with, you know, my visa or like, you know, you know, leaving like the cushy environment of a corporate job, etc.. And so it took some time transparently for that courage to build up. And I would say like I really waited right for that moment where I felt like this is a moment where I won’t be scared.

00:13:04:07 – 00:13:15:12
Sophia
It would have feel like jumping off the cliff. But I realized that any moment that you choose, it’s going to feel like jumping off the cliff. And, you know, eventually I just I just did it.

00:13:15:14 – 00:13:22:19
Claudia
And that’s that’s scary jumping off a cliff. But on the other side, I mean, it unleashes a lot of adrenaline.

00:13:22:21 – 00:13:23:08
Sophia

00:13:23:08 – 00:13:36:14
Claudia
Which you know, again propels you into the direction that you really want to go. And what I also just want to point out what you mentioned earlier, just shows how important role models are. Right.

00:13:36:16 – 00:13:37:05
Sophia
Exactly.

00:13:37:05 – 00:13:55:10
Claudia
Especially when you said, you know, entrepreneurs, how did they look in your environment? And I don’t know, growing up in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong, it was a whole different, ball or ball game. But, yeah, I mean, that’s why it’s so important to have role models. And now you will be one. Yeah.

00:13:55:10 – 00:13:55:23
Sophia
No, I.

00:13:56:01 – 00:13:58:09
Claudia
Know for the next entrepreneurs coming after.

00:13:58:09 – 00:14:17:07
Sophia
You. Exactly. And I, I, I completely agree with you. I think it’s so important to have the right role models, right? Especially in this day and age where you can find role models everywhere. Right? I it’s very easily information is very easily accessible. Your social media of TikTok and role models come in different forms. I guess it depends on who you are right?

00:14:17:07 – 00:14:32:07
Sophia
And what kind of role models you’re looking for. Yeah, and you know, there’s also a lot of like Antero was right like that or, you know, not great role models. But I think, you know, it’s just having that for me was was really important because it served as a way for me to it’s almost like an invisible hand.

00:14:32:07 – 00:14:39:02
Sophia
It’s like helping you. Right? Like it’s a support system that you need even if you don’t know these people.

00:14:39:04 – 00:14:48:01
Claudia
Okay. So then you felt okay. The moment is right. So tell us what’s oddball and. Yeah. Yes. Love the name.

00:14:48:03 – 00:15:05:18
Sophia
Thank you. Thank you. So to take a step back right I yeah I really started oddball because of a need that I had. Right. As I said, like I wasn’t, you know, I, I had not been aspiring to be an entrepreneur. Like, I thought it was, you know, an incredible like, I, I’ve always looked up to entrepreneurs.

00:15:05:18 – 00:15:22:16
Sophia
I thought like they were absolutely incredible. And, you know, one of the I would consider, like, greatest entrepreneurs I’ve like met his name is jamon psuedo he’s a founder of Morning Star and now he owns, you know, like, you know, the ink and the Fast Company magazines. He, he did probably ones that it is a privilege to be an entrepreneur.

00:15:22:18 – 00:15:40:22
Sophia
And that really stuck with me for a long time. But going back to, like, where I, how I started, I didn’t start oddball because I wanted to do something. It was more of like a need that kind of snowballed in its own right. And I started oddball, quite frankly, because I love junk food. Right. And they go, people are always like, so shocked to hear that.

00:15:40:22 – 00:15:58:07
Sophia
But like, just transparently speaking, I’m one of those people that really love junk food because I love all food that tastes good and junk food just tastes really good, right? And at a certain point, you know, like when I’m in my early 20s or like late teens, like, I could eat like that, right? Like I like to eat chips and like Doritos and Cheetos.

00:15:58:07 – 00:15:59:16
Sophia
I get, like, all these different things.

00:15:59:19 – 00:16:00:13
Claudia

00:16:00:15 – 00:16:18:07
Sophia
Right. Like. And they’re delicious no matter what people say, they’re delicious. But at a certain point, I’m like, okay, like, I got to stop eating this, right? Like it’s not getting any younger. And, you know, it’s it was getting a little out of hand. Also like during Covid, which I think a lot of people like, had similar experience with just like your relationship with food.

00:16:18:07 – 00:16:35:21
Sophia
Right. And for me, it was like I was eating a Hackintosh ice cream bar every single night. Yeah. You know, and gradually I was, I got to just like, make a little more conscious effort to eat better. Just like, be healthier. Right. You know, I was gaining weight, like, I, my, I was breaking out, like, I didn’t feel good and, like, all those.

00:16:35:23 – 00:16:57:22
Sophia
So when I went to the grocery to find a replacement. Right. Because I’m not the kind of person that can just totally win off, like, all junk food, right? And I wasn’t looking to do that. I just wanted to like, a better, that was what I had my moment of like, epiphany. Right? That all the food right now, we’re we’re seemingly going through this era of catfish foods.

00:16:58:00 – 00:17:03:13
Sophia
Do you know, do you know what catfishing means? So I, I made up this term, by the way, catfish roots.

00:17:03:19 – 00:17:04:02
Claudia
Okay.

00:17:04:02 – 00:17:22:22
Sophia
So in the context of yeah, it’s a dating term, right. So like in dating it’s catfishing is when a person’s pretending to be not a person. Right. Like, I don’t know, some 65 year old man itself. Dakota pretending to be Justin Bieber. Right. Online and it’s the same thing that’s happening in food right now where I feel like, you know what I’m talking about.

00:17:22:22 – 00:17:40:22
Sophia
It’s oh, it’s so weird. It’s always a food pretending to be another food, right? Like it’s always like, you know, it kind of was like, you know, the the face of, like, the plant based face, right? Like, the Impossible Burger. So Beyond Meat, right? It’s like, okay, we want to eat less meat, so, like, we will eat safely, right?

00:17:40:22 – 00:18:00:20
Sophia
Instead of just eating vegetables. I don’t know, or something like that. Right. We want to eat. Yeah. We don’t eat less sugar. We eat fake sugar. Right? So, like, we have all of these concoction of, like, Aristotle and stevia and like, all these different things. Right? And these catfish food, a lot of the times, not all of them, but most of them, they’re, they’re ultra processed or even more processed, right?

00:18:00:20 – 00:18:23:18
Sophia
Like they are using ingredients that they claim as healthy but are actually not healthy. Right. And so to me, it’s even worse, right. Because at least a McDonald’s or Doritos release never claimed that they were healthy. You know, they were just always junk food. And just the way for food I thought was really strange, because now I actually have a guess whether this is good for me or not.

00:18:23:20 – 00:18:41:07
Sophia
You know, I can’t trust whether it’s good for you or not. And so I started thinking, you know, if I can’t find something that was satisfactory or what I was looking for, right, which is just something that’s like, delicious and trustworthy enough and clean where I can pronounce everything on the label. What do you do if you live in the middle of nowhere in America?

00:18:41:11 – 00:19:02:00
Sophia
Right. Like if you’re living in, say, a food desert, like whatever, some desert in the middle of Ohio say, right. And and for me personally, I’ve experienced a lot of that. Right. Because, you know, our manufacturers in Ohio. And every time I’m there, I during lunch, I see what people are eating and it’s Wendy’s is McDonald’s right.

00:19:02:00 – 00:19:30:05
Sophia
It’s it’s Arby’s and I’m eating Applebee’s. Right. And so it’s it’s very hard to access better foods, you know, in certain parts of the country. But anyway, so that was really like the impetus of what started oddball was I realized that there was a gap for me and most likely other people to. And where I started thinking about is this Catholic food culture is really not common anywhere else in the world, right?

00:19:30:07 – 00:19:53:22
Sophia
In Europe you eat differently. In Asia, you eat very differently. And for me, as someone growing up in in Singapore and Hong Kong, right, we grew up with certain principles of eating right. And it’s never about fad diets, right? It’s never about, you know, veganism or keto diet or a no sugar diet, etc. it’s always it’s a very ancient wisdom that we just grew up, grew up, was very and, very, very easy principles.

00:19:53:22 – 00:20:15:23
Sophia
Right. But it’s based on the overarching principle is that food equals your health, which even though it seems like it’s a widespread idea in the US here, it’s a very actually a very nascent, you know, it’s a very nascent thing that’s like people start believing that what you eat will dictate your health. And the overarching principle of balance and moderation, right.

00:20:15:23 – 00:20:35:13
Sophia
Like you, essentially, you can pretty much eat whatever you want, but in balance of moderation. Right. And other principles being, we always drink soup and bone broth, right? Like it’s not Assad is on face. It’s just part of our diet. We need fruit as a dessert, right? And in terms of our snacking habits, it really is very healthy base.

00:20:35:17 – 00:20:55:16
Sophia
Right? As in, when we snack, we’re snacking on fruit, we’re snacking on fruit bases are we’re snacking on seaweed. We’re we’re snacking on like, dried meat. Like and all these different like Covid based snacks. Right. You know, versus chemicals in a bag. Right. And so that was really what I had wanted to bring here that I had learned or not.

00:20:55:18 – 00:21:10:06
Sophia
Right. That I had kind of forgotten in a moment of time for being, away for so long. And so that was how and that is how I was started. And when I first started, it was just me working on a side, it was my full time job, working.

00:21:10:06 – 00:21:11:13
Claudia
On a healthy snack.

00:21:11:15 – 00:21:28:01
Sophia
Yes. Working. So I was, you know, I had my full time job right at my corporate job. And I was working on, you know, this idea of, like, oddball was going to be. But I knew what I wanted it to be is a snack that was inspired by the Asian principles of eating.

00:21:28:03 – 00:21:51:08
Claudia
I want to go back a little bit into this step and process of being an entrepreneur and apart from, you know, knowing which kind of product you wanted and which niche you will be filling. What did it do for to yourself? Like, so why was becoming an entrepreneur, such a big change and big pivot for you?

00:21:51:10 – 00:22:03:00
Claudia
Was it because, you know, you were free to do what you wanted or. Yeah, taking responsibility for everything yourself? Or what exactly was it that had made this so special?

00:22:03:02 – 00:22:27:20
Sophia
I think there’s a few things going on. Right? I think one is that idea of the privilege to be an entrepreneur. Right. It’s very special when you find what you want to do and you really believe in putting out a product out there and have the privilege to do that right, to have people believe in you for this, you know, nascent idea is a very special thing.

00:22:27:20 – 00:22:48:08
Sophia
And I think what it’s also really important for me is when I made that leap, I went through a period of what I call self alignment. You know, and I think, you know, that was the moment where everything started to make sense. Right. My career path started make sense because I had a somewhat windy career path.

00:22:48:08 – 00:23:12:18
Sophia
I was jumping from consulting to hedge fund to like consumer conglomerates etc. and for too many people my career path didn’t make perfect sense to me. It didn’t either. Right? But when I became an entrepreneur, when I started pursuing auto, when I started doing auto, everything started lining. And it was such an important moment for me because I felt, to be honest, I felt pretty lost before then, before all of this.

00:23:12:18 – 00:23:31:19
Sophia
Right? And this period of self alignment, of really figuring out who you are and your purpose in this world and how you show up in the world was a really rewarding experience for me. Right. And and it’s still happening now. And it was happening when I started doing oddball on a side when I still had a full time job.

00:23:31:19 – 00:23:53:17
Sophia
Right. It was happening. When I left, I made that leap and it manifested itself in many different ways, right? It manifested itself in, you know, the big ways in that I fulfilled my itch. Right? I had an entrepreneur itch, and I was making I did that right. It was manifesting itself in really little things. It’s such as the way I dress.

00:23:53:17 – 00:24:22:06
Sophia
Right? Because I realized I am through and through. I’m a brand person. I love brands, right? Like, I love beautiful things, I love design, I love creativity, I love like, taste, right? And for me, it showed up in how I dress. I was free to dress however I want. I was free to express myself in any way I possibly want, and realizing that was such an important part of my self alignment that entrepreneurship allowed me to do.

00:24:22:10 – 00:24:34:20
Sophia
Because I think sometimes for me at least, right? Like it’s not the same for anyone or every entrepreneur. It was the ultimate freedom. To be an entrepreneur is to be free right for me.

00:24:34:22 – 00:24:47:17
Claudia
So Yeah. Great. So where are you now in your process of building oddballs. So you said you had this amazing collaboration opportunity for the NFL for the, oh, the Super Bowl. No.

00:24:47:22 – 00:24:50:05
Sophia
Yeah, I know that was, that was.

00:24:50:07 – 00:24:50:16
Claudia
I mean.

00:24:50:16 – 00:24:56:20
Sophia
So how fun. Yeah, I know that was really fun. That was so that was nerve wracking. But it was so fun, right? It was, Yeah.

00:24:56:22 – 00:25:04:14
Claudia
So where are you now and what are the next steps? And when can we find oddball on the shelves and what’s in it?

00:25:04:14 – 00:25:29:04
Sophia
Yeah. So other questions. Right now we’re gearing up for launch. Right. We went through a very lengthy process of reformulation and like, really getting the the formulation right. Because, you know, I always tell people you can’t rush food, right? Food is not software. It’s not an app where you it’s all about like fast iterations. And you can just like, you know, fix it really quickly and all that.

00:25:29:06 – 00:25:48:06
Sophia
With food, you have to put your best forward on day one because people are not going to give you another chance. If you try something that’s bad ones. It’s a pretty scarring experience to, like, have bad taste, like food, you know? So, you know, we’re very much like, hands down in getting the product to launch and building a team out.

00:25:48:06 – 00:26:05:15
Sophia
Right. So for the longest time, you know, a really big learning curve. I had to learn. I was in an incubator mode because I was. So I’m a solo founder, and I was very scrappy, and I was doing everything by myself. Right. And we’re at the point where we need to be building out a team and having, like, functional expertise.

00:26:05:15 – 00:26:21:23
Sophia
Right. And so we are tentatively going to launch around the September October timeline online into our big e-tailer partners such as Fresh Direct, etc.. And then hopefully November will be on shelf. Our launch partner will be sprouts, nationwide. So you know.

00:26:22:00 – 00:26:22:18
Claudia
Fabulous.

00:26:22:20 – 00:26:39:08
Sophia
That’s what we’re working towards. You know, like our launch has grown from, you know, a, a, not a small launch. You know, even back then, it was more of, like a medium sized regional launch focus on New York to now a nationwide launch. And so the ball has really, you know, raised for us. Right. And so getting all those things right.

00:26:39:08 – 00:27:00:11
Sophia
And in terms of building up the team hiring. Right, which is very challenging. Right. It’s hard to hire, getting the product right, setting up our supply chain. Right. It’s like our my little Willy Wonka jelly factory up in Austria. One take that. Right. Yeah. And and just, you know, making sure that we are putting the best product out.

00:27:00:13 – 00:27:23:04
Sophia
And in terms of when people will be able to buy or hopefully be around a September-October time frame in the fall, just in time for back to school. Right. And, What’s in it? Again like for us like what’s important is maintaining the cleanliness and the deliciousness of the product. Right. So everything is made out of very clean ingredients.

00:27:23:06 – 00:27:43:01
Sophia
You know, we have juice, we have purees etc.. We don’t use gelatin. Right. Like, we use agar, which is very good for digestive system. We don’t have any out of sugar to it. So really it’s a very clean and light snack that you can eat all day, that you can understand. Right. And trust.

00:27:43:03 – 00:27:55:10
Claudia
And it’s fun to look at I mean it’s fun to look at when I look at artboards Instagram I see the colors and I already feel refreshed and yeah I mean it makes all sense to be.

00:27:55:12 – 00:28:12:05
Sophia
Exactly. It’s you know, it’s also about bringing back the fun of eating. Right. I think for a while it became very serious. Right. It became very. Yeah, just became very serious. And, you know, just like not fun when eating and snacking is such a fun activity, right? I yeah, for us, it’s about bringing back that joy. Yeah.

00:28:12:05 – 00:28:14:07
Sophia
The childhood joy. Yeah. And nostalgia.

00:28:14:08 – 00:28:37:23
Claudia
Yeah, yeah. That’s the feeling that is being generated through the colors and the design I felt. And that’s I find it. That’s a really good point to bring the fun back into eating. Yeah. And just to be able to indulge because it’s really I mean, I don’t know, it’s like so much not policing. I mean, it’s great to be healthy and to be healthy.

00:28:38:01 – 00:28:57:03
Claudia
And but also maybe as a European living here, it’s all a little bit intense because, you know, in Europe, yes, of course, it’s not great to eat bread, but it’s a healthier bread than we eat here. So of course, you know, once in a while you eat bread and it doesn’t need to be policed. Yeah, exactly. I guess it really puts a lot of stress.

00:28:57:03 – 00:29:17:16
Claudia
I mean, even though it’s all meant in a good way that people should be eating more healthy and, you know, I fully agree with these movements that in school cafeterias, the food has changed over the past decade and, you know, it’s much more healthier and so on, so forth. But, yeah, no, I’m looking forward to fun to fun snacking.

00:29:17:16 – 00:29:35:02
Sophia
Yeah. No. And I think you, you really hit the nail on the head with that because there’s a lot of reasons of why I started all ball right. And part of that was exactly like what you were talking about was a pressure to be, to have a six pack, right, to be working out five days a week, like, it’s like as if I have to be healthy.

00:29:35:02 – 00:29:57:12
Sophia
I have to look like a fitness influencer on Instagram. Right? And for a lot of people and myself, including, that’s extremely intimidating, right? And for me, it’s about, you know, I want to make an easier choice to be healthy and move on. I don’t want it to be intimidating. I don’t want my exercise regime to intimidate me. I don’t want my food to intimidate me.

00:29:57:14 – 00:30:18:07
Sophia
And I think a lot of, you know, a lot of times I have to remind people that change has to come in bite sizes, right? You cannot do a full transformation on your health and your, your, your, you know, your exercise regime or your food regime, right? And for a lot of people, that is so out of reach that like, they won’t even it’s intimidating to even take that small step.

00:30:18:09 – 00:30:40:05
Sophia
And so change has to come in bite sizes where you can build a habit over. Right. And that is what oddball at its core is also about too. Is this is such an easy way to make a healthier choice. It is your first step. Right. We’re bringing the fun back. Right. Like we are bringing back to you know when I was a kid like I, I, I still do I love like Tony the Tiger on my cereal boxes.

00:30:40:05 – 00:30:48:07
Sophia
Right. Because it’s fun. And this is a way to say you can be healthy and make that choice for yourself and have fun too.

00:30:48:09 – 00:30:52:13
Claudia
So your market your starting market will be will be the US.

00:30:52:15 – 00:30:54:02
Sophia
Yes it will be to us.

00:30:54:04 – 00:31:10:07
Claudia
Cool. So I assume that you must be very very busy. And as you said you did it all yourself in the beginning. And now you’re slowly building a team. But what is a way for you to relax?

00:31:10:09 – 00:31:13:21
Sophia
Oh, that’s such a good question.

00:31:13:23 – 00:31:16:04
Claudia
Good question, a good reminder.

00:31:16:06 – 00:31:37:03
Sophia
It’s both. I mean, I think about it every single day. I’m almost like just. Yeah, I think, you know, that’s something that I’m just going to be candid about, right. Of, what I struggle with. I struggle to relax. I struggle with anxiety. Right? I struggle with stress. I struggle with, you know, all these different things. And I, I think a lot of people, you know, in modern life do.

00:31:37:04 – 00:31:37:19
Sophia
Yes.

00:31:37:21 – 00:31:39:12
Claudia
Yes, very much.

00:31:39:13 – 00:32:02:02
Sophia
And then I stress about not being able to relax. I stress about not being able to, you know, let go, etc.. And I asked this question all the time with people and for me, what I’ve seen working. And by the way, like I really do think you have to actively make choices and put in the time to learn how to relax for certain types of people.

00:32:02:02 – 00:32:30:22
Sophia
I mean, including especially for entrepreneurs, because it’s your life’s work, right? And for me, for example, I had an incredibly brutal week last week, and my husband and I went to the mountains for two days, right, to just unwind. And that really helped me. Right? Being in nature helps me. We hiked a little, right? We exercised, we did yoga.

00:32:31:00 – 00:32:51:13
Sophia
And I, we enjoyed really great meals. Right. And for me, I think the peak moment of relaxation, which is when I had no anxiety, I’m not thinking about this. And that was I actually remember the moment off from just this weekend because I was I’ve been thinking about this question for so long, and it was a moment where, you know, we were wandering in Hudson, right?

00:32:51:13 – 00:33:17:03
Sophia
The town upstate in New York that, you know, in the Valley and Hudson is this town that has so that has no, like big stores, right? It’s all these little stores, little independent stores with beautiful, beautiful things. And I stumbled into this store called, Fort Fairy Farms. And it was so beautiful. It was so tastefully decorated. The things in it were all one of a kind pieces where I was like, wow.

00:33:17:03 – 00:33:37:19
Sophia
Like whoever created created this just had such incredible taste, right? And also had all these incredible snacks and food and homemade jams and homemade honey. And that was like the the one hour where I was like, I didn’t think about anything else because that really is what relaxes me, because it went back to what I really love. Right?

00:33:37:21 – 00:33:56:13
Sophia
I just love beautiful things, you know? So, you know, having that like moment where, oh, I discovered this, right? Because it was a new store that’s been only been open for two months. And I stumbled into it and I had this sense of discovery again. Was it like that really relaxed me and. Yeah. And and that was what I was like thinking about all weekend.

00:33:56:15 – 00:33:57:09
Sophia

00:33:57:11 – 00:34:11:18
Claudia
Lovely. So is there something that you do to energize yourself or to motivate yourself when you have a moment of like, oh, or are you always enjoying everything so much that you don’t need it?

00:34:11:20 – 00:34:30:08
Sophia
I think there’s a learning curve to being an entrepreneur, right? Which is like the highs are so high, the lows are so low. And you know, like I think everyone we’re like some people are more conditioned to it. But for me like I really like ride those waves like a roller coaster. Right. Like the high the highs and lows are low and I’m really trying to maintain a balance.

00:34:30:08 – 00:34:47:00
Sophia
But you’re right. Like I’m, I’m not one of those people that can stay motivated even at the darkest of all times. Right. And I have to learn how to stay motivated. And for me, I think it’s some I think it’s talking to entrepreneurs I really respect.

00:34:47:03 – 00:34:47:13
Claudia

00:34:47:22 – 00:35:01:07
Sophia
I think that it always resets me and reminds me of the bigger picture. Right. Yeah. But I, I would love advice. You have to know how to do that. No really.

00:35:01:09 – 00:35:20:15
Claudia
To think about the bigger picture but also to believe in yourself. Yeah. And I think we as women still have this tendency to fall for the imposter syndrome. Yes. And to doubt ourselves and to question ourselves. And I mean, I sometimes I’m sitting here thinking, you know why?

00:35:20:17 – 00:35:25:03
Sophia
Like, why did I do it all the time?

00:35:25:09 – 00:35:46:23
Claudia
And then, you know, and and I guess it’s also human. And thank you for being so honest about it because I think that’s really something that we need. Yeah, because of social media, but also because we still are conditioned this way also, especially in the surrounding of New York City, that, you know, success is just it just comes and it has to be.

00:35:46:23 – 00:35:49:20
Claudia
And success is the standard 24 seven. Yeah.

00:35:49:20 – 00:35:50:05
Sophia
No.

00:35:50:07 – 00:36:06:13
Claudia
And it’s it’s so much harder and so much more complicated than that. Yeah. And there’s so much fight and struggle in it and the need for self motivation. Yeah. Because it’s just really demanding. Yeah. So and I think it’s good to be honest about it because everybody feels like that. Yeah.

00:36:06:14 – 00:36:24:12
Sophia
Yeah. No I, I completely agree. And it’s through the Odyssey that I find strength to write. And it’s through other people’s honesty that I also find strength and motivation. Yeah. It’s hard to, as you say, like it’s harder to be a woman. Right? It’s hard to always feel that imposter syndrome in you as you are constantly trying to level up.

00:36:24:12 – 00:36:45:02
Sophia
Right. And New York is a very leveling up society where you’re always try to look for like the BBC or the bigger, better deal. And, you know, it’s it’s it’s through these vulnerabilities and I and that’s like why I am so open and honest and like vulnerable to because it was through other people’s vulnerability that made me realize that it’s okay to feel this way.

00:36:45:02 – 00:36:58:15
Sophia
And sometimes, as you say, like, just like I sometimes I just sit here and I’m just like, well, I mean, you know, just what I mean. And then and then, you know, in the moment, like, like, okay, well enough. Okay.

00:36:58:17 – 00:37:20:08
Claudia
But you know, I applaud you, Sofia. I mean this is a huge undertaking, but but truly a step into making the way for people, making it easier for people and fun for people to make a healthier choice in their snacking. And you are right. You know, snacking is just so much fun. And it’s so nice. Yeah.

00:37:20:09 – 00:37:24:11
Sophia
It’s so much fun. It’s so nice. It’s.

00:37:24:13 – 00:37:47:09
Claudia
So, so I’m really excited. And we’ll look out for oddball. And I thank you so much, for carving out the time to speak to me. I think it’s so important to share these stories and these shifts, these jumps into the cold water, these jumps from from the cliff. And this evolving, into another sphere. So thank you so much.

00:37:47:09 – 00:37:48:13
Sophia
Thank you for having me, for being.

00:37:48:13 – 00:37:49:22
Claudia
With me and and sharing.

00:37:49:22 – 00:38:14:14
Sophia
You. Absolutely. And, absolutely. My pleasure. And, you know, just this was the one thing that relaxed me today, so thank you. Yay. It’s super okay. And.

00:38:14:16 – 00:38:42:23
Claudia
It is so important to listen to voices. And Sofia’s frank and honest. Being an entrepreneur is hard. Dealing with setbacks is tough. Yet believing in yourself and your mission is such an incredible force. And clearly, with her creativity, sense of style, and business savvy, Sofia is off to a rocketing start. The.

00:38:43:01 – 00:39:07:17
Claudia
Shift happens has been created and is hosted by me, Claudia Mahler editing Andy Boroson social media. Magda Reckendrees. I hope you felt connected and heard by listening to Shift Happens, and please leave a review and a rating wherever you listen to podcasts.