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Joshua Steimle
I love what I do as an entrepreneur, but I have a confession to make–there are days I wonder if I went into the wrong kind of business. I had one of those days recently when I got the scoop on Heather K. Terry’s story. But I suppose we can’t all run chocolate factories.
I love what I do as an entrepreneur, but I have a confession to make–there are days I wonder if I went into the wrong kind of business. I had one of those days recently when I got the scoop on Heather K. Terry’s story. But I suppose we can’t all run chocolate factories.
Terry also didn’t get her start in the chocolate business. Her first
break was as a Broadway actress. Reviews called Terry “an actress with a
rare combination of a lovely, open spirit with Hollywood-caliber
beauty.” She performed briefly in the Broadway play “Irena’s Vow,” which
opened in March 2009 and closed only three months later. During this
time Terry doubled as a waitress and contemplated life beyond acting.
Fast forward six years and Terry, a health fanatic with a sweet tooth for chocolate, is the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, with its organic chocolates (no refined sugar, dairy, gluten or GMO) sold in more than 4,000 stores nationwide. Co-founded with a kindred spirit she met while attending the Institute of Integrative Nutrition just after the her play closed, NibMor (for “Nibble More”) quickly rose to the top of healthy treat lists across top tier publications, websites like Oprah.com, and morning talk shows such as “Today.”
“With such great exposure, NibMor’s sales exploded–taking us from
working 15 hours a day making chocolates in our kitchen to working with
manufacturers producing millions of bars a year,” said Terry, whose
first book, “My life in chocolate: Cautionary tales of an unlikely
entrepreneur,” comes out in February. “What we learned in those first
two years in business was huge: how to hire–and manage employees,
negotiate with manufacturers and closing contracts to get NibMor on the
shelves of thousands of businesses.”
While she’d earned her masters of fine arts at Rutgers University in 2004, her only business education came from her year-long education at Integrative Nutrition, where she’d planned to become a health coach to help others become healthy and happy. That education was critical. So was the most important piece of business advice she received from the school’s founder, Joshua Rosenthal, when she told him she was planning to get into a really crowded space. “There is enough room for everyone,” he said.
“It’s true and it changed everything,” Terry said. “Every time I felt down about the competition, I would think about that conversation. If you love what you do, it doesn’t matter if there are a hundred other people doing what you perceive to be the ‘same thing.’ Some people will gravitate to you and your message or product and some will go elsewhere. There is room for all.”
During that year learning about nutrition and how to start a health coaching business, she also learned to understand her strengths and weaknesses and create a proper work/life balance.
“In business as in life, you need to know how much work makes you happy or how much time you need to spend with your spouse or children or friends to make you happy,” Terry said. “That’s what’s stuck with me through the years and helped me stay sane and healthy and upbeat.”
NibMor is in the midst of major changes, with Terry’s partner moving on to pursue other interests, and Terry having to make one of the most difficult decisions for any entrepreneur: when to step aside and let a more experienced person take control. At the end of the year, NibMor is hiring a C-level executive with 20+ years of experience in confections and the two will run the business together.
“If you want to continue to grow your business, you have to recognize where you fit and what you bring to the table and then bring in others with complementary skills and knowledge to help get you there,” Terry said. “Knowing when to step aside is the only way it can happen–and still give you balance. But if you stay in some capacity, be open to helping make the necessary changes to further success.”
Consider these additional tips from Terry as you contemplate starting a business:
1. Choose: Large or Small? Where do you envision your business in 10 years? As a mom-and-pop shop or a Hershey or Apple, making millions of products–and dollars. “Both are incredibly admirable paths,” Terry said, “but you have to make a decision. If you live in the gray area, you will spend either too little or too much time to get to your goal.”
2. Be Honest: Life is too short not to be honest with yourself about what you really want to do in business or life. “While an actor, I always carried this phrase–‘If there is anything else in the world you can do that will make you happy, go do that.’ That applies to entrepreneurs too. Just do something you love. Life is too short to not. Not every moment in business is rosy and beautiful, but I can always look at mine and be proud of what I have done every day.”
3. Find Balance: Spend time to figure out what it takes to make you happy in life and in business. You will do better in both if you are able to find that balance. If you decide you are devoting too much time to work, for example, consider stepping aside and letting someone else take over.
Fast forward six years and Terry, a health fanatic with a sweet tooth for chocolate, is the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, with its organic chocolates (no refined sugar, dairy, gluten or GMO) sold in more than 4,000 stores nationwide. Co-founded with a kindred spirit she met while attending the Institute of Integrative Nutrition just after the her play closed, NibMor (for “Nibble More”) quickly rose to the top of healthy treat lists across top tier publications, websites like Oprah.com, and morning talk shows such as “Today.”
Heather Terry, Photo Courtesy NibMor
While she’d earned her masters of fine arts at Rutgers University in 2004, her only business education came from her year-long education at Integrative Nutrition, where she’d planned to become a health coach to help others become healthy and happy. That education was critical. So was the most important piece of business advice she received from the school’s founder, Joshua Rosenthal, when she told him she was planning to get into a really crowded space. “There is enough room for everyone,” he said.
“It’s true and it changed everything,” Terry said. “Every time I felt down about the competition, I would think about that conversation. If you love what you do, it doesn’t matter if there are a hundred other people doing what you perceive to be the ‘same thing.’ Some people will gravitate to you and your message or product and some will go elsewhere. There is room for all.”
During that year learning about nutrition and how to start a health coaching business, she also learned to understand her strengths and weaknesses and create a proper work/life balance.
“In business as in life, you need to know how much work makes you happy or how much time you need to spend with your spouse or children or friends to make you happy,” Terry said. “That’s what’s stuck with me through the years and helped me stay sane and healthy and upbeat.”
NibMor is in the midst of major changes, with Terry’s partner moving on to pursue other interests, and Terry having to make one of the most difficult decisions for any entrepreneur: when to step aside and let a more experienced person take control. At the end of the year, NibMor is hiring a C-level executive with 20+ years of experience in confections and the two will run the business together.
“If you want to continue to grow your business, you have to recognize where you fit and what you bring to the table and then bring in others with complementary skills and knowledge to help get you there,” Terry said. “Knowing when to step aside is the only way it can happen–and still give you balance. But if you stay in some capacity, be open to helping make the necessary changes to further success.”
Consider these additional tips from Terry as you contemplate starting a business:
1. Choose: Large or Small? Where do you envision your business in 10 years? As a mom-and-pop shop or a Hershey or Apple, making millions of products–and dollars. “Both are incredibly admirable paths,” Terry said, “but you have to make a decision. If you live in the gray area, you will spend either too little or too much time to get to your goal.”
2. Be Honest: Life is too short not to be honest with yourself about what you really want to do in business or life. “While an actor, I always carried this phrase–‘If there is anything else in the world you can do that will make you happy, go do that.’ That applies to entrepreneurs too. Just do something you love. Life is too short to not. Not every moment in business is rosy and beautiful, but I can always look at mine and be proud of what I have done every day.”
3. Find Balance: Spend time to figure out what it takes to make you happy in life and in business. You will do better in both if you are able to find that balance. If you decide you are devoting too much time to work, for example, consider stepping aside and letting someone else take over.
Joshua Steimle is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency with offices in the U.S. and Hong Kong.
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