Wild Friends, the business I started at 18, has shut down
My candid reflections on the beginning, middle, and end of Wild Friends
Earlier this year, Wild Friends Foods officially shut down. After 13 years, the business my best friend Erika and I started in 2011 in our college apartment (originally as Flying Squirrel Peanut Butter) has come to a close.
This week, Peter (my husband and business partner) interviewed me on Uncommon Business about the Wild Friends journey from start to finish.
Peter calls it the interview “unfiltered,” though a friend suggested a better title might have been “unshelled.” (Now that I have some distance from Wild Friends, I can find nut puns humorous again, which is a relief.)
I tried to answer Peter's questions honestly and openly, since that's what I always want to hear from other entrepreneurs and since I now have the freedom to be completely candid without worrying about any collateral damage to the company.
Listening back to the interview, I feel so much compassion and respect for Erika and me as 18 and 19 year olds. We took a leap into the unknown and learned a ton through daily trial and error. It was also cathartic to reflect on all the things I wish had gone differently, and the lessons I learned too late for Wild Friends to have benefitted.
It's my 32nd birthday this week. I don't know who I'd be without Wild Friends, and all the people and lessons along the way. I'm grateful for this business and the experiences it has brought me. I'm also grateful to continue to grow beyond it as a fractional COO for mission driven founders who need what I needed - partnership through the tough task of building a long term business.
If you listen to the interview, I'd love to hear what you think.
Keeley, Hi!! I listened to the entire interview and loved it. There were particular things I wanted to respond to, and now, many weeks later, I've lost them. Regardless, I loved hearing an update.