Creating the Perfect Ecosystem for Your Business with Carly Stein Kremer

Carly was living the LinkedIn dream as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs until all-nighters at work with no time to truly nourish her mind, body, and spirit became the new normal that doubled as a wake-up call.  As someone who navigated the difficulties of an autoimmune condition from a young age, Carly created the product she couldn’t find but needed the most. Carly believed in her unique vision so fiercely, it led her to discover the key to experiencing a full recovery using the very product that would facilitate the growth of her now booming business. Not to mention, she did it all while saving the bees. 

Today, we sit down with Carly Stein-Kremer, the founder and CEO of Beekeepers Naturals, a leading holistic wellness product line in North America that offers a better way to feel better and cleaner alternatives to the traditional medicine cabinet. Carly shares valuable information with us about how her unique hobby helped create the mission behind her business, she provides a fascinating crash course behind her secret ingredient Propolis, discloses her process for scaling a product-based business, her secret to building a great team, why she believes the individual with the calmest nervous system always win, and so much more!

“I had to keep building myself up because I didn’t really have anyone that totally understood what I was doing. I think that skill set of just cultivating resilience and leaning on yourself. That is what carries me today. It carries me through fundraisers, and it carries me through any challenges I have.” – Carly Stein-Kremer 

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, join the Entreprenista League today at entreprenista.com/join. We can’t wait to welcome you, support you, and be part of your business journey!

This week’s takeaways from Entreprenista:

• Carly reflects on the journey from leaving her job to running her company full-time (2:11)
• Carly shares her first steps towards building her business full-time (5:37) 
• The first product Carly created (6:22) 
• How Carly manufactured her product in the early days (8:03) 
• Carly provides a Propolis 101 (9:11) 
• Carly discusses how her company has been able to support the bee community (11:19) 
• Carly walks through the evolution of her business tools (13:56) 
• Carly discusses the mistakes that gave her the most wisdom (18:06) 
• Carly explains why keeping calm is so important as a leader(21:51)
• Carly discusses her leadership style and her ideal team member (24:18) 
• The importance of checking in with yourself and celebrating the little wins (29:36) 
• Carly shares her advice on impactful marketing strategies (32:43) 
• Where Carly focused her marketing efforts when she was first getting started (35:28) 
• Carly explains how she navigated getting her products in Farmer’s Market (38:06) 
• Carly’s favorite tools for collecting payments and running business operations (40:27) 
• Carly reflects on the craziest moment of her entrepreneurial career (44:30)
• Carly shares her 3 tips for founders that are attempting to raise capital right now (46:36) 
• What being an Entreprenista means to Carly (47:56)

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “I didn’t have a lot of support that I could turn to, which meant I had to lean on resources, like podcasts and books, and I found so much support and there was so much information accessible. “ – Carly Stein-Kremer 
• “As the company scales, our supply chain scales, and we’ve really championed this regenerative beekeeping industry. So it’s a really cool thing where, as we grow, do-gooder beekeepers get to expand and we get to build the market for pesticide-free and humane beekeeping practices.” – Carly Stein-Kremer  
• “I never no matter how many mistakes I made, I never tried to cover it up or blame or push people off. I was just always like, Hey, this is what happened, I was super direct, let’s deal with this head on. And, you know, this is on me, and whatever consequences there are, I will receive them.” – Carly Stein-Kremer   
• “It was an interesting path. I was really solving my own problem before I even thought about starting a company.” – Carly Stein-Kremer 

This episode was made possible by our friends at Square, who are passionate about empowering women to Just Get Started with their business idea. Square is offering Entreprenista listeners 20% off your first POS hardware device. Click here for more.

Connect with Carly:  

• Instagram 
• Tiktok 
• Amazon 
• Website 

Resources Mentioned: 

• Square 
• Slack
• Asana
• Trello 
• Notion
• Google Sheets
• Photoshop

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level:

Join our Entreprenista League community of women founders! You’ll have access to a private community of like-minded Entreprenistas who are making an impact in business every day, special discounts on business products and solutions, exclusive content, private events, the opportunity to have your story featured on our website and social channels, and MORE!

Whether you’re looking to scale your existing business and want to make the right connections, or you’re thinking about finally taking the leap to launch your business, we’re here to give you access to a community of women who will celebrate your every step, and with whom you can share the candid reality of building a business from scratch.

Join the Entreprenista League today at entreprenista.com/join. We can’t wait to welcome you, support you, and be part of your business journey!

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