“Quite honestly, before cleaning up my diet, I ate whatever I wanted,” says Katlin Smith, founder of Simple Mills. Since high school, Smith had suffered from chronic joint pain and frequent colds. “I didn’t know what the solution was. I thought it was normal to be so susceptible to illness,” she says. “The realization was that it shouldn’t be normal.”
Smith, age 27, followed advice from a friend who said her joint pain went away after cleaning up her diet. Smith then did some experimental cooking and, in the aftermath, saw a major difference in her health. “I saw a huge need for products with simple, whole ingredients and a need to make that kind of food more accessible.”
The founder had the idea for her baking mixes company while working at Deloitte, when she regularly drove to the outskirts of Atlanta before and after work hours to practice her recipes in a test kitchen. She launched her business in 2013 and by the end of its first year, Simple Mills was in 25 stores. Now, the mixes are available in 1,700 retail locations nationwide, including Whole Foods and Safeway.
“My favorite thing about being an entrepreneur is learning to hack things that seem impossible,” says Smith, reflecting on the challenge she faced mixing ingredients for recipes when she was just starting out. Simple Mills offers mixes for pizza dough, pancakes, cookies, breads and muffins. The company sold 485,000 units in stores last year and will expand its product line in spring 2016. Ironically, Katlin says her sister is the baker in the family. But only one of them has their creation on supermarket shelves.
Initially Smith bootstrapped and then received $2 million in seed funding from angels, friends, and a cash prize from a business competition at her alma mater, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Simple Mills is in the process of closing its Series A, led by Charlotte Capital Partners, and is looking to raise more from current investors including Hyde Park Angels, Shazi Visram (Founder of
Smith says her company appeals to two major demographics: the “healthicurious” group that seeks out different ways to eat healthier as well as to those who want to get more bang for their buck at the grocery store by buying products that have extra nutrition, protein and vitamins. “I think people are looking for the food they’re eating to work harder for them,” says Smith.
Other than learning about the natural food industry and building her brand, Smith has picked up valuable lessons as a first-time entrepreneur. “Putting together a team is really hard and building it with the right people is harder,” says Smith. “I initially made mistakes setting up a team and I learned that it takes a lot of time to do a good job.” Her wisdom for other founders? “Don’t give up on finding the right person, it’ll be painful and it'll take a while but it’ll be worth it.”
Now based in Chicago, Smith has big plans for Simple Mills in 2016, like bringing a ready-to-eat product to shelves this spring. “The vision for the company has always been to not only do baking mixes,” she says. “Now that we’ve grown as a company we’re able to expand offerings.”
