 This month’s four-minute FirstMile Founder interview features Stephanie Wibom, Founder and CEO of GrowHappy, a FirstMile Ventures 2020 portfolio company. GrowHappy was born out of Stephanie’s journey to help her daughter overcome life-threatening food allergies. Alongside the world’s top allergists, she’s working to prevent and eliminate food allergies through early food introduction — turning fear into food freedom for families. Before this journey, she built her career at Merrill Lynch, P&G, and Bain Consulting, always focused on products that solve mothers’ real problems. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I used to say that I wanted to be "a bank" when I grew up. I was 5 and what I really meant was that I wanted to be a bank teller. My mom was a homebuilder and worked from her car so we would often go to the bank, to the drive through window, she'd write a check and then send it up that old suction tube they used to have. Do they still have those? I do everything online now. I loved doing this with her. I'd put her license and check in there and hit the button. I wanted to work at the bank so I could do that all day long. As I think about it, it was great training to ride around her car and watch her do things - from writing checks, to meeting a team of roofers on site, to walking around and inspecting the house. She was a great role model for me. Was starting GrowHappy an "aha moment" or a "gradual realization"? Definitely gradual! It first started as a painful problem in my house that I suffered through. Then, as I was trying to solve it myself, I kept thinking, "Someone should make this easier. Wouldn't it be cool if there was this?" I remember sitting in my kitchen talking about my idea out loud and a friend saying, "That's actually a really good idea. You should find a manufacturer." The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I had no idea how to find a manufacturer. The whole thing felt extremely daunting and out of reach. Other friends would say things like, "Isn't that an incredibly niche? You are the only one doing these things." That was true. I was one of the first moms in the world doing LEAP allergy prevention, immunotherapy and egg ladders. What was also true was that years later, the allergists and knowledge that I had access to would shape the future care of allergies - for prevention and treatment - and soon millions would be doing this. Overtime, the idea took over all my thoughts. I realized I'd never be able to think about anything else until I tried to make it real. If you could go back in time and tell yourself something when you first started GrowHappy, what would it be? I wouldn't change anything really because the exact road I went on led me right here where I want to be, but I definitely wish I had raised money earlier. I kind of wasted a few years thinking and planning and wrongly assuming that I could start this with my own money as a side hustle to my busy life. The only way to make real progress was to do it full time and with enough money in the bank to make it all possible. GrowHappy is based on trust. And the only way to build that trust is to be legit - from the rigor of manufacturing to the branding that consumers see. It took me time to realize that I was someone who could raise money, so yeah, I wish I could give my old self a pep talk to go out there and raise some funds! What is the best constructive feedback you have gotten and how bad did it hurt first hearing it? I can talk for a century about food allergies. So I get advice all the time to tighten up my stories and pitches. It hurt maybe the first few times - mostly because I didn't get why other people didn't find it as interesting enough to talk about for hours as I did - but I have to get the most important bits of info out there before their eyes start glazing. I've learned the power of short and sweet. Sometimes it leaves them begging for more, to understand how or why. Why is Texas a great place to start a company? Texas is highly entrepreneurial. There is something in our blood that makes us want to build and create. One of my theories about all this is that many years ago, the big companies would go to big cities like New York and LA, etc. so if you wanted a job in the Dallas area, you had to make it yourself. Now we have companies coming here for tax reasons, quality of life, and everything else, but this is still part of our history and culture. Texas is also a great place to fundraise. Generally speaking, the culture here is very warm and welcoming so it's easier to get in the door in the first place. Rapid Fire Questions:
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