Branders MagazineKara Goldin: a woman with a passion and a purpose to help people lead healthier lives
Kara started the company with a simple idea: to make water that tastes great. To do away with all the sugar and diet sweeteners. And to give her family and friends something better that they would love.
Today, HINT is going beyond water to give people better, healthier experiences that they can truly enjoy and share.
Kara is a woman with a passion and a purpose to help people lead healthier lives without compromising on enjoyment. A wife, a mother of four, a friend, an entrepreneur, a founder, a CEO and a consumer advocate. Goldin is energy and enthusiasm mixed with ideas and a large dose of “just do it.” She never gives up and she is thankful for everyone who helps make it happen.
Have you always been entrepreneurial? What led you and inspire you to take that first step and setting up your own brand hint?
Prior to Hint, I was in the tech world helping build a $1 billion e-commerce business for AOL. I was taking a moment to decide my next move and I wasn’t feeling 100%. I had gained weight, my skin was breaking out and I was feeling sluggish. I realized I had a serious diet soda habit and looked at the label one day and decided it was time to pay attention to what was going in my body. I thought because it said “diet” it was healthy for me—and was I wrong! There were all kinds of ingredients I didn’t recognize, so I decided to give it up.
I tried plain water but I found it boring…the rest is Hint history. I started slicing up fruit and putting it in water. Then I tried boiling the essences out of the fruits and infusing them into the water. My water started quickly disappearing from the refrigerator, the whole family loved it. My friends started calling asking about the fruit water their kids had at my house and asking where they could get it.
After a few months, I lost weight, my skin cleared up and my energy level really improved. When I realized there was nothing like it on the grocery store shelves, I decided to make it myself. I was totally inspired to create something that helped people lead healthier lives. Simple water with delicious flavor but no sugar, no diet sweeteners, no sodium, no color, no calories. I delivered the first 10 cases of Hint to Whole Foods on the way to deliver my fourth child (It sold out overnight and I had a boy).
How do your travels impact the success of your hint brand?
Traveling is so important not only for me personally but also for the business. The actual getaway usually means something with my family, something with adventure and discovery. We may be whitewater rafting and hiking in Patagonia or walking and biking in London, sometimes it’s just a blanket on the beach and sandcastles, okay I might sneak onto Instagram for a moment rather than working my shovel…whatever we do, it takes my mind out of the day-to-day and lets me wander into the bigger picture. It gives me time to consider and create, to tap into my most inspiring crew and to contemplate a few steps into the future. Getting away whether it’s another state or another country gives me the chance to see what’s going on in the market and sparks ideas for new products, new flavors and package design. The trends in Korea vs. New Zealand vs. the California Desert all add new perspectives to my process. Taking that breath also helps you appreciate your team in the office. After a few weeks of four very independent teenagers, my husband and I are ready for any challenge.
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