On Trusting Your Expertise: Lilly Wunsch
Leading up to our Winter ‘20 iteration of WORK, we'll feature select interviews with some of our conference's speakers and thought leaders. In this interview, entrepreneur and OHi Foods COO Lilly Wunsch talks about trusting her expertise and pursuing challenges. Click here for a look at Winter 2020’s conference schedule.
who:
Lilly Wunsch has been a natural foods entrepreneur for the past seven years. She co-founded 4th & Heart ghee butter and grew the company to over 5,000 stores nationwide before leaving to shake up the energy bar space with OHi Superfood Bars. OHi bars are fresh from the fridge, so you don't have to sacrifice real food when you're on-the-go. She loves serving people by providing better yummy food options where you don't have to sacrifice feeling satisfied to feel nourished.
What are you currently working on? What does your work life look like?
I'm currently working on growing OHi Superfood Bars into a well-known nationwide brand as their Chief Operating Officer. In the past two years, we've grown from 250 stores primarily in Southern California to over 1500 stores all over the US, including Sprouts and Central Market. My work life looks different each day and that's what I love about it. I still spend a good chunk of my day on phone calls with my various teams, but that's not all I do. I travel to trade shows where I spend all day eating new food products and talking to customers. I travel to our plant to make sure the new foil type we're using going to seal the bars fast enough and chop the package at the right place so you can actually read the label. I get to tackle fun challenges, like how to judge the value of an influencer, source equipment that will help our bars stick together better, or buying contracts for millions of dollars of almonds. I love flexing different parts of my brain and coming up with creative solutions to whatever problem the day brings. I get bored easily—I always need new challenges. Growing a small business, there's never any shortage! I love what I do, so I work a lot. I make time to spend with my friends in the industry, because the knowledge I get from them has saved me weeks of work and countless dollars and headaches.
What goals are you working toward and how do you intend to reach them?
Right now one of my goals is to learn how to play the piano, despite never having played a musical instrument before. One day I was scrolling Facebook Marketplace and saw this gorgeous old wooden piano covered in scrollwork for only $50. I've never considered myself a "creative," but wanted to explore ways to grow my creativity. When I sit at the piano with my fingers on the keys, I feel music in my heart that hasn't quite learned how to be translated into actual sounds. One of my mottos this year has been "take a lesson," so I hired a piano teacher. I believe in learning from experts and not to be afraid to ask questions. Experts who not only have deep experience but also experience teaching—they can help you reach your goals quicker than trying to go it alone. I've had to be okay being a total beginner, to give myself a huge pat on the back for learning "Jingle Bells" and "Happy Birthday." Even the pros started with the basics! Writing my own four-note song made me feel like a rockstar.
How do you hold yourself accountable to long-term and short-term goals?
I love goal-setting. One of my earliest memories is of asking for homework in kindergarten because we weren't assigned any. (I was THAT kid.) For now, I've actually been doing the reverse and limiting my goal-setting. A few years ago, I'd start the day out with a huge list of what I wanted to accomplish. As the day progressed, both the list and my anxiety levels seemed to only increase. I'd go to bed at night filled with guilt about what I hadn't accomplished. Now I limit myself to three goals at a time—three short-term and three long-term goals. It helps me focus on what's actually the priority. And if something gets added, it has to be evaluated to see if it's more important than the three goals I started with. Anything else I do feels like bonus points!
How do you train your intuition?
This is a tough one! Our intuition is formed by our life experiences—it's our subconscious, somatic reactions. Depending on our past, that intuition might be protecting us too much or not enough. My intuition seems to drive me towards safety and security. I train it by staying open to new experiences and going a little outside of my comfort zone. Asking myself, Is your intuition saying something is scary just because you've never done it before? Or because it’s unfamiliar? Often life doesn't go as we expect. Intuition is a great guide that can take us to places we never thought we'd go!
How do you determine negative versus constructive feedback?
All feedback is constructive, but I've had to learn what (and who) NOT to listen to. To tell the difference between people who know what they're talking about and can help you versus ones that just like to hear themselves talk. Even the feedback I ignore often comes from well-intentioned people who want to help. When I'm getting feedback I try to focus on my desired long-term outcome and evaluate the feedback in that context. When I was at 4th & Heart, people would often suggest selling ghee into Indian stores, because ghee originates from India and is the primary cooking oil there. However, our goal was to build a natural foods brand that modernizes ancient pantry staples. The size of the Indian market is so small compared to the size of the natural foods market, and since most Indian store shoppers are already familiar with ghee, they'd be less likely to try 4th & Heart, especially as it’s more expensive. You can't listen to everybody—you have to focus on what you want to build and politely ignore a lot of the noise.
What's something you've unlearned lately that you're grateful for
When I first started as an entrepreneur, I believed everybody else in the room knew better than I did. And still now, often that IS true, but what I've unlearned is that it somehow makes me "less than." We're all human and we're all on different life paths. Sometimes we're the teacher and sometimes we're the student. Just because I'm meeting with somebody who's an expert at the Instagram algorithm and I have a lean 200 followers doesn't mean that we're not peers. And this goes back to trusting your intuition, too. Now I'm not afraid to ask questions and to know I have the responsibility to make people explain things to me I don't understand so that I can up my own game. Often when I do dig deeper, I'm able to catch things they didn't think of that might be specific to MY brand and MY knowledge and add valuable points to the conversation. We all have a voice and shouldn't be afraid to use it.
Do you have any daily habits that are crucial to your workflow or stress management?
Having friends I can call and complain to! Sometimes you just have to vent. I'm lucky enough to have a couple people I can ask "Am I being crazy?" Usually they say no, but then proceed to explain how maybe I could change my perspective or approach. Also yoga gives me time away to breathe, which helps me clarify my purpose and prioritize. Sometimes the best way to find a solution to something is to step away for a minute and come back to it. But neither of these is truly a daily habit. My only real daily habit is walking my dog. It puts things in perspective. I get to move my legs, be outside, and realize that no matter what's going on at work, my dog will still love me. She doesn't care how "smart" or "successful" I am.
About WORK: WORK is a biannual conference, exploring ideas and approaches to creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial work. Hosting 300 guests every summer and winter, this biannual, one-day event's panels, workshops and speaker sessions touch on personal and professional development, marketing, wellness, business management and entrepreneurship. Our next conference pops up on January 11, 2020 at Rowling Hall in Austin, Texas. ✨Click here for more information.
