[quote style=”boxed”]Surrender: When you surrender, you don’t know how things are going to work out. You just let go and do the next thing. [/quote]
Through life experiences and education, Audrey Darrow is focused on the path of a healthy, spiritual life. She is convinced that eating nutritious, high frequency foods is the essence of well being, inner peace and connection to the soul.
A eight-year survivor of breast cancer, Audrey experienced first hand the debilitating effects which chemotherapy, radical surgeries and long term radiation have on the body. On her journey to recovery, Audrey was overwhelmed by the expense of the nutritious foods she needed to help her heal. To get a discount to afford those foods, she took a job at a local health food store. While her body was still dealing with all the negative effects of her treatments, she worked long hours at a painful and often emotionally draining job just to be able to eat healthily.
To make her journey even more difficult, Audrey struggled to eliminate many foods to which her body had built intolerance after cancer treatment. She decided from that time on to create foods, using only the highest quality ingredients that people could afford and enjoy. She researched superfoods and high antioxidant foods and learned about their many attributes to help prevent and heal many diseases.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education from Cal State Northridge, Audrey understands the physical needs of the body. She has adapted her education and applied it to what she learned about the nutritional elements of raw foods. Audrey is on a mission to convey the power of superfoods in the prevention of cancers as she blazes her own path to healing through the creation of her products.
What are you working on right now?
Getting our packaging and new products ready for Expo West 2014 and coordinating travel for Sales trips this second half of the year
Where did the idea for Righteously Raw Chocolate come from?
Born out of illness after recovering from breast cancer in 2004 and seeing the high cost of raw, healthy organic foods. It was unaffordable so I had to take a job in a health food store just to get the discount to be able to afford to heal.
How do you make money?
We manufacturer and sell chocolate around the U.S. We also co-pack for a few companies to help fund our own growth.
What does your typical day look like?
Morning meeting with team, answer a lot of emails, work on Vocus marketing, work with designer for new packaging, lunch meeting with team, be there for any help needed by front office team
How do you bring ideas to life?
I visualize when I should be sleeping! I am able to stay ahead of trends in my industry by looking at the health of humanity. I visualize ways to help others avoid illness by creating foods that any one with any health issue can eat.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
That America is waking up and demanding transparency regarding who makes their food, who sells their food and what is in their food
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
Working in the health food store only because it was so physically demanding but it taught me what shoppers needs were, how they shopped and what they needed out of their experience. I was able to see how they looked at products they were interested in, how they read every label in depth and this taught me what I could do to provide that experience for the shopper.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
Not do business with family I would beg borrow and steal to put my dreams into reality instead of borrowing from family.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?”
Surrender: When you surrender, you don’t know how things are going to work out. You just let go and do the next thing. Each thing that you do in your life is really important. when you are surrendered, you never know until later how important each thing that you do is. It might be part of healing the past or an important piece of getting to where you are going. If you are surrendered, you are just doing each thing as it comes” This is my motto I live by in business and in life.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I had started an organic tea company in 2005. I wouldn’t call it a failure because it kept me from worrying about cancer but I did not continue on to make the company a success because I thought that I could not compete on the shelf with so many other tea companies. In my new venture I knew that I could make it successful and that competition only breads more success so not to worry so much about how many products sit on the shelf with me.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
The next trend in food is ALLERGEN FREE and a line of snacks that are made to this standard will be a hit as I envision stores having an ALLERGEN FREE endcap that will continue to grow as allergies to contineu to grow in our children and adults. The problem is exploding every year just like Celiac Disease has..
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be and how would you go about it?
I would get parents and young people today to see that this generation of energy drinks with high caffeine and high sugar content will kill this whole generation if they do not stop and make changes in their diets now. I would do it through educating at the school level, marketing and reaching out to young athletes to help me get my voice heard.
Tell us something about you that very few people know?
I am in constant pain from after treatment of cancer and it is a constant daily problem but I get up everyday and make each day the best that it can be
What are your three favorite online tools or resources and what do you love about them?
Vocus, Natural News and Facebook. Vocus: I can reach out to media and share my story, Natural News: I can stay up to date on alternative news and see what people are saying that isn’t always got a right wing tilt to it, Facebook, I love to engage my customers and they love to be a part of our chocolate family
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins because it is what I aspire to do in this company. I don’t want to just be good. It is an incredibly written book.
Three people we should follow on Twitter and why?
Marcus Lemonis The Profit because he is spot on about how to run a business and putting integrity into business, Thich Nhat Hanh because he is a spiritual profit by whom I live and breathe every moment and how and why I am a compassionate loving being , Rachel Parent because she is the voice of the world in a 14 year old body. Her ability to stand up to critics as she teaches us all how to awaken to what is our future and our health and not once stumble because she is passionate, educated and can debate like no adult ever seen before. I love this young girl and I see big things in her future.
When was the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it?
My employees because we start each day with a joke or story that is funny and this crew of mine is hysterical with what they share every morning!
Who is your hero, and why?
My son Justin because he had to live through my divorce, my cancer and the tragic loss of his only sister in 2008. He is a strong, amazing man who is a huge asset to this company now that he has graduated from UCSD and has his business degree. He makes me proud to be his Mom every day.
Why are we afraid to take a risk in business?
Because we don’t fully believe that we are capable of success and we fear success.
How can we know when we are on the right path?
When we begin to ALLOW INSTEAD OF TRYING TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN.
Connect:
,
Audrey Darrow on LinkedIn:
Audrey Darrow on Facebook:
Audrey Darrow on Twitter: @RighteouslyRaw
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.