Sarah Endline: Mastermind and Chief Rioter SweetRiot.com

Before starting your own business, what other jobs did you hold?

I started out after undergrad running the largest cultural exchange program in the world, AIESEC. After that, I worked for the World Bank’s initiative to partner corporations and non-profits for developing countries. I also worked at the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship as the National Director of Marketing and Product Development. After getting my MBA at Harvard Business School, I worked at Yahoo! on launching products, developing brand positioning, building customer communications plans and creating loyalty strategies.

When did you know you wanted to start your own business?

I think I had the inkling dating back to undergrad. I wanted to create the next Ben & Jerry’s—an amazing company that gave back to the community, has a wonderful product, and takes a really fun approach. I was really fascinated with the candy community.

How did you settle on cacao?

I had started out in candy factories in China just looking around, when I realized I wasn’t interested in those products and they weren’t the future. It didn’t feel right. I came home and I started working on the idea of fair trade organic premium chocolate, and along the way I found the bean. At the same time I was doing consumer research, getting an idea about what people like to eat. That’s where I started to realize this idea of natural food that’s healthy and good for me and still tastes great. I’m a huge believer in the idea that you don’t need to come up with an entirely new product, but figure out your own unique innovation.

How did you know the time was right to strike out on your own?

The first thing I did, which I highly recommend, is I tried to set aside “x” amount of hours a week to work on my business while I was still at another job. I tried to read a lot of books and tried to get myself psyched and prepared to work for myself. During this time I was also trying to save money so I would be somewhat secure when I got to my jumping point. I finally got to the point where I realized I could keep talking about my idea, but I needed to work on it full time. Once I quit my job, I structured my life so it wasn’t like I was taking time off; I was just moving to the next job. Once I jumped, it was like, okay, now starting my own business is my full-time job.

Was there one moment when you knew starting your own business was the right decision?

About a month after launching, in October 2005, I landed the Whole Foods account. I remember the date vividly. That was a really huge milestone for us, a huge validation. I don’t think the best entrepreneurs ever really rest and say okay, now we can just hang out. All of these opportunities create new challenges. It’s like your running a marathon. New opportunities open up and you’re doing your best to grab every opportunity you can. But seeing your product in Whole Foods is definitely a validation.

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to start their own business?

There’s something to be said for setting goals and having really high expectations. It does impact your performance when you aim higher than you ever could imagine and then achieve.