Michele Liddle
CEO/Founder of The Perfect Granola
What inspired you to start your business?
While volunteering at my local food pantry, I saw an urgent need for healthy and allergy free food products for the underserved. I got the idea to start a food company where I could share profits and food with people in crisis, and then hire the underserved and offer living wage jobs and health benefits so that people had the means to get off the system and work. This idea came to me about 5 years ago, and from there stemmed The Perfect Granola. We share profits with homeless shelters, outreach centers, and food banks and support Feeding America and school systems in about 9 states.
What advice would you give to other women entrepreneurs?
To not give up. I have been faced twice now by individuals stating that my company would never become a success because I’m a mother and I would never put my company above my children. I follow that up by stating that while it’s true I will never put anything above my children, I will also be sure to show my daughters what women are capable of with a dream and hard work. There’s nothing we can’t accomplish together.
What three traits define you?
Kindness, perseverance, dedication.
What do you love about being a business owner?
I love having the opportunity to show my daughters that the sky is the limit. Being an entrepreneur means that there is no limit for me or our employees. We can truly have it all and have work/life balance within our lives.
How do you define success?
My definition of success might be a bit different than others in that I do not measure our success numerically by revenue, but numerically by donations and how much of an impact we can make on the communities we serve.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Fail Fast – many spend too much time and money on correcting failure vs. just throwing in the towel when needed. As a business owner and a mother, I fail all the time. The best thing we can do with these failures is learn from them, and move on as quickly as possible so we can turn them into successes.
If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?
Read – I try to learn and grow as much as possible through reading books
What’s the best way to start your day?
Hike with my puppy. I feel that a brisk hike in the morning puts me in the right mood and mindset for an amazing and productive day.
Fill in the blank:
When I face a challenge, I… reach out to people around me for advice.
If I could go back in time, I would tell myself… not to stress so much about what others think and to follow my heart.
The one thing I couldn’t live without is… my daughters, they are the light of my life.
By this time next year, I will be… continuing to make a positive impact in the communities we serve.
The best thing that happened to me last week was… the completion of another donation to a school district.
To get my creative juices flowing, I… hike with my puppy, the peace and calmness of a snowy trail really sets my day up for success.
The perfect Granola
The Perfect Granola is a mission-based company with the goal of ending hunger in America. They donate thousands of pounds of granola and 5% of our profits every year to homeless shelters, outreach centers and foodbanks nationwide. To help break the poverty cycle that fuels hunger in America, we hire at-risk youths and teach them valuable skills needed for bright futures. Their naturally-flavored, premium granola and granola bars are made with superfoods, no preservatives or refined sugars and are free of gluten, soy, dairy and high fructose corn syrup. Their products are certified Gluten-Free, NON-GMO, Kosher and Made in USA.
