Meet Catrina Brewer of Granola Bar™ Pan in Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Catrina Brewer.

Catrina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Years ago, I wanted to make healthy granola bars for my family but my attempts always ended in frustration because the bars would fall apart after I cut them up. I went on a search for the perfect granola bar pan with separate slots so the bars would stay together. I found pans on the market but they all failed! Taking what I had learned, I went to a product designer and he designed the Granola Bar Pan – a convenient and fun way to make homemade granola bars that are perfectly shaped every time! Plus, there’s not cutting the bar so they don’t crumble and fall apart! My husband and I used our money to pay for the production tooling to be made for manufacturing but we didn’t have enough money to order the first bulk batch of pans so I did a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Unfortunately, it didn’t fully fund but I wasn’t giving up. I did more research on crowdfunding, developed a new marketing plan and launch six months later on Indiegogo where we fully funded and were able to order the first 2,000 Granola Bar Pans. The pans arrive two days after Christmas and it was the best present ever!

We quickly fulfilled the orders from the Indiegogo campaign and then pressed forward with the remaining inventory. I’ve connected with hundreds of people on social media, mostly Instagram, where I strive to provide meaningful, helpful and inspiring content for my followers. I continue each day to post, interact, improve my website, learn more and just keep doing the daily tasks that will lead to future success. I’ve almost sold all the pans from the first batch so it’s likely that I will be doing another crowdfunding campaign to get more inventory. The start-up costs have been just over 30K so all my profit has gone back into the business. But I will absolutely keep going because I have been so blessed to see the impact and changes made on the lives of so many happy customers: mom’s who can now make allergy-friendly granola bars for their children, women who make their own nutrition bars to save money and have control over what ingredients are used and even a business on the east coast, who makes and sells his Paleo bars to his clients who work out in his gym. It’s been such an amazing experience and I’ve learned so much that I want to keep going!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There has been three stands out roadblocks over the course of this experience:

1) In the beginning, I didn’t have the skills to have my idea drawn in a CAD file to send to manufacturers and knowing how much it would cost to hire someone really overwhelmed me. For a couple of years, I let that stall me. Then one day, I decided to simply post on social media and ask if any of my friends knew someone that could help me. Turned out a friend from college’s dad was a product designer! We connected and he was the missing puzzle piece that put my dream back into action.

2) With a young family, my husband and I didn’t have much cash to invest in start-up costs so it was very handy that crowdfunding campaigns had gained traction and popularity. I launched on Kickstarter as I mentioned and it didn’t fully fund, which meant we didn’t reach our money-raising goal and therefore didn’t get the money to order inventory. Before crowdfunding even ended, I had already decided to try again and I had developed a new marketing strategy for the next campaign. And this time it worked! We fully funded and were able to place the order for inventory!

3) The third roadblock is actually more of one that I put up myself as I strive to balance my time and energy between my family and my business. Sometimes I have to pry myself from my work or remind myself to be better with my time so I can have time for work in order to keep a healthy balance. It’s a constant block that’s always being adjusted and moved but it’s nice that it’s one that I can control.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Granola Bar™ Pan – what should we know?
I specialize in providing a genuine interest in my customers and their needs. When someone needs help finding a recipe that works for specific nutritional needs, I’m here to help. When someone has a question, I’m here to help. I really enjoy making that connection and serving others – I feel like it gives me a small advantage over bigger companies and yields the greatest value for me and the customer.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My husband wins the award for Most Supportive because he not only works full time but also helps around the house with the kids and he helps me with the emotional side of things as well. I love having him by my side and I know he always has my back!

I also give credit to my friends’ dad, Hugo, who designed the pan. Not only did he an amazing job of listening to my ideas, but he also introduced me to my manufacturer, who I’m extremely pleased with and Hugo introduced me to a seasoned entrepreneur, Dave Hadden, who has given me advice for long term success and has opened up opportunities for me that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Both Hugo and Dave are perfect examples of how beneficial it is to talk to people and network!

Finally, my two sweet boys, ages 6 and 8, have been incredibly supportive and have offered tons of love at the exact moments that I needed it. How they know my needs before I do, I’m not sure but they are absolute gifts and they inspire me to keep working hard every day.

Pricing:

• One Granola Bar Pan costs $24.99
• One Granola Bar Press costs $8.99
• One Set of Printed Recipe Cards costs $3.99

Contact Info:

• Website: granolabarpan.com
• Email: catrina@granolabarpan.com
• Instagram: @granolabarpan
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/granolabarpan

Image Credit:
Jessie Boyd

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