Ever expected an energy boost from a snack bar and found yourself crashed on the couch instead?
Yeah, I've been there too.
This is Marshall, the other co-founder of The GFB, and today, I'd love to share a slice of my journey with you.
The story of The GFB started when my life took a detour.
Back in the early 2010s, I led a generally healthy lifestyle from the outside.
But from the inside? I felt like my body was falling apart.
It took a Celiac disease diagnosis in my late 20s to explain all the aches and joint pains I was getting.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because when I had to go gluten-free...
The difference in my health was like night and day.
So now I found the problem, but how was I going to adapt to it?
My sales job at the time had me on the move constantly.
And navigating a gluten-free diet while on the road...
(Or on a 15 hour flight to Australia and China)...
Was nothing short of a colossal challenge.
Back then, finding "gluten-free" food (an unheard of saying at the time) was like finding a needle in a haystack inside a haystack.
Because not only did I have to figure out what I wanted on the menu was gluten-free or not...
It was in a completely foreign language that I had no clue how to read...
And then one day in China, midway through my third gluten-free bar of the day...
The thought that started it all, struck me.
"I'm tired of hating my food. I can do way better than this."
So, what does one do when they want to start a food business with zero baking skills?
You believe in your mission and put one foot in front of the other.
And so we started with our own facility.
(And by that, I mean in our own garage, where we were mixing and baking about 2,000 bars a day)...
It took a while to get it going...
But thanks to Meijer, our local grocer, we got the big big break that we needed...
Fast forward a decade later, and we're now a team of 60 and our products grace the shelves of around 13,000 stores across the U.S. and Canada.
Meijer's trust in us was the turning point that turned The GFB from a dream into reality.
So if you're at a crossroads, considering a new job, a move, or starting a business, ask yourself - do you believe in your mission?
I know I did, and even though I had zero culinary or baking skills to start out with.
I just believed in my mission and put one foot in front of the other.
And that's what I want you to take away from my journey today.
Here's to a future filled with better days and even better snacks.
And thanks for reading.
- Marshall Rader
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