Nikki Seaman, Founder of Freestyle Snacks

Speaker A: Welcome to Dear Citrus Diaries, a show by Citrus Diaries Studio. I'm your host, Lauren Hodgin, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey. In each episode, we'll sit down with inspiring founders and creatives who are making waves in the food and beverage world. From innovative entrepreneurs to trailblazing executives to game changing creatives, we delve into their stories and who they are outside of their title. Whether you're in the CPG world or simply looking for some motivation, you're in the right place. Get ready to be inspired, empowered, and equipped with the insights you need to succeed. Let's dive in. Hello, Nikki. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I am so excited for this conversation. As somebody that has been a very big olive and pickle lover since a very early age, this is quite a fun conversation and, you know, somebody that's followed the brand for a while. I'm excited to hear more from your perspective, but I would love for you to introduce yourself and introduce Freestyle and just everything that you have going on.

Speaker B: First off, thank you, Lauren for having me on the podcast. Very excited to be here and would love to talk more about Freestyle and how we got started. So I had always been a really big snacker growing up. Always very passionate about good food in general. I even had a famous food Instagram that I ran when I was in college. So food was always very central to my life and my passions. And during the pandemic, if you remember, olive bars, buffets, really anything shareable, all shut down. And olives were one of my favorite foods. I love to snack on them all day long. And when the olive bars closed, I now was face to face with this traditional shelf, stable inline grocery, olive and pickle aisle. And the first thing I noticed as kind of this brand loyalist, I was always kind of finding the newest and greatest CPG brands. Uh, the olive category was just missing that, like, modern, innovative flair, uh, from a branding perspective. And then on top of that, when I tried out a few of these, uh, jarred olives and pickles at home, they just didn't do the trick of what I knew a fresh product could taste like. They weren't very firm, they were mushy, they were watery and bland. And on top of that, they were so difficult to get out of the jar. You're kind of wriggling the jar, trying to get it open, then you're using like a fork or a spoon to fish it out. So there were just all of these pain points and friction. Just something that I Thought could be such an easy process and was such a delicious, easy, healthy snack to enjoy. So I was kind of inspired by my love of food, my passion for cpg, to really reinvent this category with something that was super easy and convenient, but also a really high quality, fresh and delicious product wrapped in very fun, sexy, modern branding for the category. And that's how Freestyle is born.

Speaker A: I love it. I think it's always interesting when I run into somebody that isn't a fan of olives, uh, or has some sort of like preconceived notion about them that they don't love, and I'm like, yeah, but have you actually tried a good one? Have you actually tried, I don't know, maybe a flavored one, a garlic one, like a cheese stuff one, whatever it may be. And usually by the time they try that, they're like, oh, actually I don't hate this. That felt so foreign before. And it's kind of funny. I feel like you hear there's always that like, um, stereotype of. In every relationship, there should be the one person who loves olives or pickles, whatever it may be, and then the one person that doesn't. And have you seen this ring true or do you feel like you're slowly converting both parties with Freestyle?

Speaker B: I'm a huge how I met your mother fan, which I think is where the theory originated. And it was funny because in the end they actually did both love olives, but one of them tried to just love the other person so much they wanted to always give them additional olives. Yes, I think, yeah, there's definitely, uh, I think olives are very polarizing, more so than pickles. And exactly to your point. It's just people haven't had a good olive. They've maybe had like the black olives that come in their like salads or on top of pizza. And I think that in my opinion is just like a very bland type of olive. And the quality of olives really varies greatly. It's kind of like wine. Like they're grown in similar regions and it can just vary in terms of like how tasty it is. So I'm very proud to say with freestyle, we've converted lots of people to the dark green side, including my mother in law who used to think olives taste like dirty diapers and now she, she can't get enough of them. So we're definitely that gateway olive.

Speaker A: Yeah, I would definitely agree. I know, like with my boyfriend, he was not an olive person when we first started dating and now he's wanting them in dishes, and we have Freestyle bags in the fridge, and he's a fan of it. And it's. It's funny when somebody, like, actually tastes something that's truly good and they're easily converted. I think the same can be said about, like, so many fruits and, like, actually getting a ripe one. Like, it's a very similar experience.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely.

Speaker A: Well, take me through how, you know, you notice that the olive and pickle aisle was just not all that it could be. And you have this idea, how do you then bring it to fruition? Bring it to what Freestyle is today?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think this is definitely one of the hardest parts of building. I mean, there's many hard parts to running a business, but I think everyone has ideas. Right? But actually being able to execute on that takes a lot of grit. And I think for me, like, I looked at it very tactically and I knew there were kind of two things I needed to do in parallel. One, I needed to figure out operationally, how do I actually manufacture this product, where do I pack it, where am I sourcing the olives from? So that was, like, one thing I was very heavily focused on. I taste tested olives from seven different countries, probably 50 different varietals to land on the ones we use in Freestyle today. And then finding the right partners to help marinate with the recipes I had in mind and pack them into the pouches that they are in today. And then the other thing that you have to kind of do in parallel is figure out, like, what is the brand stand for? What does it look like? Kind of more of that marketing angle. So those are kind of the two big things that you need to master and figure out before you have that, you know, MVP to launch.

Speaker A: Definitely. I think the kind of, uh, as we've been talking about, like, olives didn't really have a great position in the market as, like, being a true snack. I think they were an item that you thought of on pizza or added to a salad or some sort of addition on the side, but not necessarily its own item that's standing, you know, on its own as a snack. So what did the repositioning of that look like? Because I have to imagine there was a lot of work behind it.

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it was really interesting, Lauren, because, uh, a lot of people were already eating olives just like I was as a snack. So I did a ton of consumer surveys and, uh, I think, like, over 70% of consumers who purchased olives were already using them in that way. There just was no form factor that allowed that to happen easily. So I knew there was kind of this inherent need for a convenient, portable olive product. So that was kind of my first validation. Uh, and then there is still education going on today. But I think what's been one of our biggest levers is social media and just kind of creating that consumer education around. When you open the bag, it's not dried, it's not a chip. It's like the olive bar in a bag. It's super fresh marinated olives. They're plain, plump, they're juicy, and now they're just in this super easy, convenient format. So, um, we try and definitely convey that with packaging design, but I think social media has really helped us to. To drive that point home.

Speaker A: Definitely. I feel like you all are all over my feed in the best way possible, and I think you execute on it very well. And I know, you know, you guys started with olives, but you've moved into a line of pickles. Like, where did. What did that step kind of look like? It feels very natural when you're thinking about it now, But I'm sure moving into a kind of completely different category was a big step at that.

Speaker B: Yeah, it was actually a customer request. We were doing so well on the shelves with olives. They wanted to see, you know, can you bring this same form factor to pickles? So we kind of took that challenge. We had about six months to commercialize the product. So really quick timeline. But to your point, it's a supernatural extension of the brand, and it's an even bigger market size than olives. We're reaching even more consumers at this type of product. So it's just been kind of a slam dunk since we launched it, and we're really happy to have the brand be both olive and pickle forward today.

Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. How do you typically snack and enjoy the products? Do you have certain ones that you lean to? Do you have certain, like, pairings that you're having with the olives or pickles?

Speaker B: Yeah, I guess I'm a garlic girl, because lemon garlic olives and then the garlic dill minis. Those are kind of my two favorites of the whole family. Um, and I love to snack, you know, before. Before dinner is typically my hunt, But I'll also snack during the day when I'm at my desk before with olive and pickle jars. Like, you could not really do that. It would be so messy. So, you know, I just kind of snack all the time. I also love putting it out, you know, when I'm hosting as a charcuterie board. Um, but I would say I'm. I'm mostly using it as a snack, which is great. You know, I was the, uh, definitely the first customer of Freestyle that I had in mind.

Speaker A: I. I definitely agree. I'm a big snacker in general, and that'll be one of the questions we touch on later, too. But I love pickles and cheese together. Like, that is usually my, you know, like, 3:00pm 4:00pm snack. And I can, like, vividly remember the first time I tried the pairing together. I. I thought I saw God. I was like, this is the best tasting combination. Like, it's so delicious. And I feel like that's one of those things too. Like, I've told friends about it, and they think I'm nuts. And then they try it and they're like, oh, this is actually. Yeah, this is a really good pickle. This is really good cheese. I get. I get the flow here.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker A: Well, I'm curious. Your background, before you got into Freestyle, you have a background in cpg, and I think you. It's one of those things when you work in CPG that you hear a lot of people say, oh, well, you'll eventually move into a brand, or you'll eventually, like, want to start one, or maybe you're so scared that you never want to be on the brand side of things. But what were some, like, surprises? What did the journey look like? You know, kind of moving to a different part of your brain of you're working for a brand now. You have your own brand. What were the surprises?

Speaker B: Yeah, so before I started Freestyle, I was working for Wisp, the cheese crisp company. And it was actually such a, uh, transformational experience because it really gave me not only the confidence, but the expert expertise and wherewithal. How do you actually commercialize an idea that you have? Because when I was at Wisps, I was managing special projects, so leading new innovation that we had, uh, which was super fun. I was working with the co packers. We were consolidating from 2 to 1 for volume efficiency. So there were just a lot of moving pieces, and I felt like I had my hand in most of them. And it just gave me such, uh, a. Such expertise in the category where I felt, wow, I could actually go out and do this myself. And I feel like with CPG specifically, like, it's a lot of rinse and repeat. Once you kind of do it, once you do, follow the same steps in commercialization to. To get to that product and Then it is. I mean, the tactics, I would say they change over the years, right? Like, as TikTok has become even more important, like maybe Facebook becomes less so, and um, you know, shopper marketing and people buying on Instagram has become more important. So you do need to kind of keep up with the trends, but in general, like, the levers are all the same. So I feel like it was just a really great experience for me to go out and be able to start my own brand, I think without that experience. Uh, you know, my other work experience was as a management consultant. And while I may have been able to figure it out over time, I think having the brand side experience really prepares you well for, for launching your product into market.

Speaker A: Definitely. Was there anything that you experienced once you started freestyle that you just had no idea was coming? Like, even though you're, you're very prepared and you have that background, was there anything that just like shocked you that you had to deal with?

Speaker B: I think, like, you know, in the very beginning, I would say some of my bigger regrets or mistakes is that I speak spent on marketing activations that I really don't think moved the needle for us. Um, you know, whether it was like sampling product in bags, like, it's just very hard as a small brand to spend on marketing that is so focused on top of funnel and brand awareness because you just don't see that conversion happening. So I feel like over time that was, I guess, surprising and challenging to me. And over time we definitely moved to be more bottom of funnel conversion focused. Um, and, and I just make sure that everything we do has an roi. So I would say that's something I kind of learned along the way.

Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. That makes sense. You've had very impressive retail growth also, I think that you really exploded and I feel like there's always new places that you guys are finding yourselves in. What has that journey looked like? Like, how did you really push the needle? I guess on retail?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think one, you just have to first off have a great product and great packaging design. I think those two things have won us a lot of yeses with buyers, especially before we have the data story to back it up. And I think it's a lot of, uh, hustle and perseverance and not really taking no for an answer. Like we've gotten rejected by tons of retailers that we now sit on their shelves, you know, for one reason or another. So I think of a no as just a not now and just have to keep knocking on the doors and, and eventually they open Definitely.

Speaker A: I'm curious. Like, I feel like the side of things where you keep pushing even though somebody tells you no, is a skill that you have to build. Like, a confidence that you have to build. How have you built that confidence of, you know, being okay with being one turned down, but then revisiting the conversation at a later date too?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think. I think it's like rejection therapy or something. Uh, and it's great because it really does build your confidence. I think. For me, I feel like the way I've conquered it is just by living through it. I think in the very beginning, you know, I would be devastated over, you know, getting a no from a retailer, uh, or, you know, even when I was starting out, like, getting no's from different co packers I wanted to work with. But over time, you learn that kind of everything happens for a reason, works out the way it's supposed to, and every opportunity that you're meant for it will come back to you. I applied for Shark Tank three times. Rejected the first two, even though I got pretty far along the second time. And then when the timing was exactly right for me and my business, it worked out. So I think just by living through it, I've been okay with the nose and understanding. Like, it's not meant to be right now, but let's see what the future holds.

Speaker A: Definitely. And, uh, you brought up a point I wanted to touch on, is you all being on Shark Tank. Tell me about that process. First of all, congratulations. That is just so incredible. But what did it really look like, you know, from an insider perspective?

Speaker B: Yeah, it was an awesome once in a lifetime experience. I think I was very lucky in that all of the Sharks were very, very kind to me. I think they were just impressed by the business and what we've built. So the conversation was really easy and flowed super well. I think in the weeks leading up, I was definitely very nervous, probably most nervous for my pitch. You know, that initial kind of, um, performance, I guess that you do, because that was memorized and I didn't want to flub on my words at all. But once that was over and they just started asking questions, everything is totally live. There's no do overs. But I, you know, just kept in mind nobody in this room knows freestyle snacks in the business more than I do. And so that really helped to, uh, ground me in answering all the questions. And yeah, overall, really, really awesome experience. And of course, great exposure for the brand as well.

Speaker A: Definitely. I can't even imagine what the prep process looked like for all of that of, you know, figuring out your pitch and things like that. Did you know how you wanted to approach Shark Tank and how you wanted to approach your pitch long before you were even accepted, or what did that process look like?

Speaker B: I think the producers actually helped a ton with my pitch, which is great because frankly, like, I've been saying the same thing for four years of my elevator pitch. So, like, it's very hard for me to break away from that. So to have other people kind of workshop it with, with me to, like, bring a fresh spin to it, that's really appealing. That was actually super helpful. Um, and then as far as, you know, preparing for the questions, just made sure to know my numbers and, um, yeah, have, have everything handy. I watched a ton of Shark Tank before as well, just to get a feel of, uh, what to expect. And yeah, it was, it was definitely an awesome experience, but I felt really ready for it.

Speaker A: That's great. I think you always hear that when brands, whether or not they get a deal on Shark Tank, but the exposure is just so crazy. And you see a lot of brands that will run, like, Shark Tank, uh, specials on their products and things like that. What did it look like after the episode aired?

Speaker B: Yeah, so I actually was in the hospital, uh, delivering my second baby. No, for good things. For good things. So delivering my second baby when the episode aired. So it was quite funny. We prepared, you know, we get told about three weeks before that we're going to air. So we had all of our inventory prepared, our website ready to go. So very grateful for the team for kind of getting everything together and then. Yeah, it was just a surreal experience watching it in the hospital room. And, uh, what was most interesting was Amazon actually really popped off even more so than our website. I think people just go there.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: As the first place to look for easy conversion and shopping. So that was something that surprised me. But, um, we got so many new people into the funnel, got to expose the brand to so many new consumers. So it was just really a wonderful opportunity.

Speaker A: That must have been so crazy to have a new baby and then have this nationally televised episode going up at the same time.

Speaker B: Yes, it was a, um, really wild week.

Speaker A: What did the experience as a whole teach you about the business? I'm sure that there's, you know, a lot to learn, even from just the new customers coming into your funnel and coming into your mix. There's a lot to learn on that front. Like, what was your biggest takeaway of it all?

Speaker B: I think, you know, just being prepared from an inventory perspective that was really important to us and I think we nailed it there. Like we pre kitted a bunch of products. Um, it gave us an excuse also to redesign our website. So that was really fun working on kind of in the months ahead of it. And we've already seen so much higher conversion on our website. So I think just the exercise of doing all these preparations to get in front of this bigger audience was just a great exercise for the brand. Like we, we can and should be even bigger and better. And this was like a good excuse for us to do it, but we just need to keep optimizing and you know, continuously improving every single day.

Speaker A: Definitely. I kind of on same note, but a little bit different. When we're talking about this snacking category at large, I think you see just such a boom in the space of new products coming out, new types of products that we maybe haven't seen before. What are your thoughts on the trends that are happening in snacks? Like what are your predictions for the category? Any, any thoughts on that front?

Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I haven't been in CPG my whole lifetime, so I'm sure, you know, more seasoned people have even stronger opinions. But obviously we know protein is a huge trend right now. At least when I was at with, you know, keto was, was the big trend at the moment and that lasted a few years. I just think food in general is very cyclical. Like it's, it's very, very challenging to remain, you know, like a forever brand like Oreo that's just always going to be on the shelf. And I think even now, like these legacy brands that have been around for a hundred years, you know, are struggling versus the new brands coming on. So I think you just have to be very agile and willing to iterate and pivot as necessary to go where the consumer goes. Like with the GLPs for instance. Like, I just think more and more Americans are going to go on this and that has such a big effect on someone's relationship with food. So how do you now fit into their new lifestyle? Um, so I think just being open as a founder and willing to make those iterations to, to continuously fit into the consumer trends is really important.

Speaker A: Definitely. I agree that I think a lot of these legacy brands are having issues adapting to what feels like a very fast changing consumer landscape right now, especially in the snacking category. And I think the, the GLP1s are playing into it. The like, need for more protein and fiber and those sort of like bigger picture trends are making it hard for these big brands. That maybe can't adapt as fast as a newer brand or just a younger brand? Uh, how do you keep yourself in a position where you can adapt so that you can continue to grow to be this sort of legacy brand one day?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's challenging. You know, even though we do move very quickly and efficiently, we're a very small team with limited resources. So you have to just ruthlessly prioritize your time and resources. And you know, we still have so much ground to cover with olives and pickles, for instance, right now that that is where the bulk of our focus is versus, um, you know, we have very exciting innovations in the pipeline, but again, prioritizing those. What is going to be the next trend? How do we get ahead of it and then how do we dedicate the right resources to it? So I think it's, it's just a big puzzle and kind of figuring out what makes the most sense for the brand to actually be able to execute on and what is the consumer really asking for. But definitely to that point, you know, we have made, for instance, iterative changes on our pickles. I told you, we commercialized those in like less than six months. So, you know, it wasn't the most perfect product when it very first hit the market. Uh, our biggest complaint or piece of feedback was there aren't enough pickle chips in the bag. We heard that loud and clear. And now we've reduced the amount of brine in the, in the packs and added more pickle chips. So creating an even better value proposition. Um, so we're always listening and can make those types of iterations quickly.

Speaker A: I think the always listening aspect is what small brands or just newer brands on the scale of, you know, them versus legacy brands is what makes them so successful is being able to iterate very quickly and kind of on a whim is the best way because consumers want to feel like they're being listened to.

Speaker B: Totally.

Speaker A: Well, I have two final kind of fun questions for you. The first one, something we touched on a little bit earlier, but it's a question I ask every guest. If you had to build your ideal snack plate, obviously there's freestyle products on it, but what all is on the snack fleet?

Speaker B: Yes, obviously freestyle lemon garlic olives, freestyle mini garlic dill pickles. Um, I like mixing sweet and salty actually a lot. So probably some chocolate covered pretzels. Um, putting some fruit on there as well. I think is, is always good. Um, love crackers, cheese and, and salami. Um, um, I'm pretty brand agnostic with like all the salami companies. But I love the portable pouches that they've put them into recently where you just kind of feel and, and eat. I think that's been awesome. Um, so, yeah, those would be. And maybe like some cheesy cracker type things, like a healthier version of like a Cheez it or cheese cracker.

Speaker A: Yes, I completely agree. I like the Back to Nature. They came out with their own kind of like healthier Cheez it sort of thing. And those have been a staple on my snack plates recently.

Speaker B: Nice. I gotta try them. I just tried their, like, fudge cookies and those are pretty good.

Speaker A: They're also very good. Um, my final question for you is if you to give one piece of advice based on your journey of building freestyle, what would your piece of advice be?

Speaker B: I think I share this a lot, but I think the biggest piece of advice, which is a piece of advice someone gave me, is that you really need to have grit, which is a combination of passion and perseverance, because one of those alone isn't going to keep you going. And like we talked about, there's a lot of rejection, there's a lot of no's, there's a lot of challenges and hardships, and you just have to pick yourself up after every day and keep going and know that one day all, uh, this consistent hard work and this passion you have for the business will, will pay off. And it does make a difference. You know, I've even seen it in, like, microcosms of Freestyle. Like, we decided to dedicate time and energy to TikTok and put in that work. And, you know, we've, we've seen that payoff in, in leaps and bounds. So I think that's definitely something that every aspiring entrepreneur should keep in mind, is just kind of checking themselves on, on possessing those qualities for their business.

Speaker A: Definitely. I like that definition of grit. I think you hear this term grit a lot, but it's never really broken down as to what it actually means. So that's a good piece of advice. I like it.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, it's actually, there's a book on it by Angela Duckworth and she, like, really, really breaks it down even more than those couple, uh, of sentences, obviously. But it's, it's very interesting.

Speaker A: Okay, I'm going to have to read it because that sounds up my alley. Um, um, good recommendation. Well, Nikki, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. This has been such a fun conversation. I would love for you to share where people can find freestyle, where they can shop and follow along and just all the things.

Speaker B: Yeah, you can find Freestyle at Whole Foods nationwide. Uh, you can also shop us on Amazon, TikTok, shop our website and then we're in a ton of um, great regional grocers like HEB and Giant. So definitely would check out our store locator to see what's closest to you.

Speaker A: Perfect. Well, thanks again for coming on to chat with me.

Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me.

Speaker A: And that's a wrap for today's episode of Dear Citrus Diaries. Thank you so much for tuning in and being a part of this community. Thank you. I hope you found this conversation as inspiring and insightful as I did. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to follow the show and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. And follow me at Ah, CitrusDiaries studio on social media for updates, behind the scenes content, recipes and more. I'll be back with more stories every Tuesday at 7:00am EST. Talk soon.