Living Maxwell

Company Stories

Why Sheryl O’Loughlin’s Killing It is Such an Important Read for Organic Food Entrepreneurs

Serial entrepreneur Sheryl O’Loughlin has just come out with a phenomenal new book called Killing It: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart, and it should be at the top of the reading list for all founders of organic food companies, regardless of whether you’re in start-up mode or well on your way to generating $100 million in revenues.

Aside from the fact that Sheryl O’Loughlin has some serious street cred in the organic food industry – CEO of Clif Bar, Co-Founder of Plum Organics and now CEO of REBBL – and has plenty of experience to draw upon as an entrepreneur, this book focuses on the most important aspect of building a company that rarely gets discussed – the human element.

While strategy, branding, operations, and interfacing with customers are critical components of running a company, Sheryl has us look at the human emotions of being an entrepreneur and how it can be enthralling, debilitating and rewarding all at once.

Love, communication, support, honesty, presence, curiosity, self-reflection and radical self-acceptance must all be a part of the business journey. Yet, so many of us get caught up in the grind thinking that start-ups are nothing more than 16-hour days, rushing from to meeting to meeting, and pitching to investors. As a result, our health suffers and our companies do not thrive.

In Killing It, Sheryl O’Loughlin discusses how she fell into this trap, in both her battle with anorexia and how she and her husband faced near personal bankruptcy due to a failed business that they risked everything on. Fortunately, she was able to make it to the other side, and as readers, we are able to learn from her mistakes and experiences.

At the end of the day, we are in the organic food industry because we not only want to have a profitable business, but we want to have a positive impact on the world.

This book reminds us and helps teach us that if we want to have a positive impact on the world, it must start with what kind of human being we choose to be.

For organic food entrepreneurs, Killing It will make you a better, happier and more effective person, which, in turn, will make your business more successful.

And who doesn’t want that?

I strongly recommend Killing It, and the book has already had a significant impact on how I operate Living Maxwell.

Killing It can be purchased HERE.