When Everything Goes Wrong with Sadrah Schadel of No Evil Foods

Written By Modern Species

No entrepreneurial journey is without its challenges, but even the biggest ones can be overcome with enough passion, drive, and support. 

Today’s guest is Sadrah Schadel, founder, and CEO of No Evil Foods, a nationwide plant-based protein company that she and her life partner started in their kitchen in 2014 with just $5000. After a few major hurdles which we discuss during today’s episode, they got to a point where they were weeks away from running out of money and having to shut their doors. 

Tune in to hear about the rise, fall, and recent rebrand of No Evil Foods!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • Factors that inspired Sadrah and her life partner, Mike, to found No Evil Foods.

  • An overview of the journey of No Evil Foods from Sadrah and Mike’s kitchen in upstate New York to a nationwide plant-based meat provider.

  • Factors that are foundational to the company culture at No Evil Foods, and the award they won as a result!

  • Major hurdles that No Evil Foods has been presented with over the past few years. 

  • Sadrah shares the challenges they experienced during the process of scaling their manufacturing. 

  • How No Evil Foods differs from many other plant-based protein brands.

  • Lessons that Sadrah learned through dealing with her employees' desire to form a union.

  • The value of being transparent and showing vulnerability as a leader.

  • The rebranding that No Evil Foods has recently undergone.

  • Valuable advice for other entrepreneurs. 

Tweetables:

“We are not trying to emulate a one-to-one direct comparison to animal protein. We are trying to emulate a protein experience. In the same way that a hot dog is not trying to be a pork chop, our plant meat is not trying to be animal meat.” — Sadrah Schadel [0:13:08]

“We don’t have business backgrounds. We’re not graduates of Yale and Harvard. We’re just people who had this drive to do something.” — Sadrah Schadel [0:23:54]

“You can’t go back and change anything that has happened. The past is the past. But you can always choose to start where you are and change the way that things end.” — Sadrah Schadel [01:01:10]

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Modern Species

A sustainable brand design agency helping better-for-the-world brand launch, evolve, and grow to scale their impact.

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