Luke Saunders, CEO/Founder of Farmer's Fridge on Why He Sets One Goal at a Time

In the four years we've hosted #WeGotGoals, we've interviewed more than 200 high achievers about their goals. We've learned a lot about their goals and the ways they've found success through these interviews. And as we kick off our fifth season, we think you should get that same opportunity. So, this year, we're playing goal-getting match maker. We're bringing on listeners who have big questions about their goals or people who are just plain stuck. We'll hear the experts' stories, but we'll also hear questions from people like you who want to know thing like, "how do I train for a triathlon if my gym's pool is close?" or "How do I create a business in the wellness space that's built to last?" To kick it off, we're welcoming Luke Saunders, CEO/Founder of Farmer's Fridge to the podcast. Under his leadership, Farmer's Fridge has a big goal: changing the supply chain to allow easier access to healthy food. And that's his North Star, Saunders explained. And having one big guiding goal just so happens to be the way that goal setting works best for him. The big "aspirational" goal guides him and a short term goal keeps him moving down the path. Saunders has lived that way - one goal at a time - since coming up with the idea for Farmer's Fridge in 2011. It was then that he realized how hard it was to find a healthy meal while driving up to 1,000 miles a week across the midwest for his sales job. He was sick of eating what he could find at gas stations, fast food restaurants and grocery stores and he had a big idea to make wholesome food easier to get your hands on. So he and his team created contactless vending machines and a totally new vertical food service model to go with them. Saunders talks about the beginnings of Farmer's Fridge and shares how his childhood, the pandemic, and his actual desire to achieve goals have all impacted the business since launching in 2013. His biggest pieces of advice for setting and achieving your goals? First, document it: this is the thing I want to accomplish and by when. Second, it has to actually speak to you, he said, “If you’re not obsessed with that goal, then let it go.” Goals to Go, a listener question from Chelsea Stegman, RD Saunders - a seasoned mentor - also takes questions from Chelsea Stegman, a Registered Dietitian who is building a business to help “active professionals reduce burnout, manage weight, feel strong, and sustain it." Stegman asked about finding her niche in business. In the episode, you'll hear Saunders dive into just plain good advice, like: Risk management in entrepreneurship and a concept called "letting go of the vine" How to spend your money and what's the best way to invest it when you're just getting your business off the ground And some good general business advice: "The first three years are really a blur, but you have to get through those to see traction." Other resources:     The chickpea cookie dough recipe you might not even know you love yet - we don't technically have it, but we do have the ingredients of the bites you asked about, here (We'd recommend using similar ratios to this recipe from The Kitchn) Cashew Oats Maple Syrup Cacao Nibs Vanilla Bean Paste Luke's article in Fast Company in which he shares his internal feedback process Farmer's Fridge is hiring - they're adding a lot of bright minds to their development team Farmer's Fridge delivers! Listeners can get $10 off their first delivery order here!