451: How to Break Into the Vegan Food Industry Making Soups With Sara Polon, Soupergirl [Espresso Shots]

Sarah Polon is the founder of Soupergirl, a Washington D.C.-based company that sells healthy, vegan soups with locally-sourced ingredients.  It was Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, that inspired Sarah to quit her job and start a food business to educate her community on the importance of connecting with the food they eat and properly nourishing their bodies. Today, Soupergirl has two brick-and-mortar shops and delivers soups all over the country. The company has been featured on NBC, ABC and CBS. You can find the company’s soups on shelves in Whole Foods, Walgreens, and several other large grocery stores. After she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, in 1999, Sarah worked for a couple of startups, including the skincare brand, Blue Mercury, and even dabbled in standup comedy for a number of years. Tune in to this Espresso Shots episode to find out how Soupergirl Sarah Polon turned her American History degree into a successful food business!  WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: Why working in a fast casual restaurant may be the best way to break into the food industry (3:17) What skills Sara looks for in her employees (4:44) Why it’s not a dealbreaker to get into this industry if you haven’t studied it (5:32) Why believing in a restaurant’s mission trumps any real life experiences (7:10) How her time in the Middle East influenced her soups (7:59) What the best part of her profession is (9:11) Why managing people is the part of her job that sucks the most (10:19) Why staying one step ahead of the game is the best career advice she’s ever gotten (11:20) If you want to learn more about how Sara started her vegan soup business, Soupergirl, and built her career tune in the T4C episode #385