What Happens After You Sell the $100 Million Company You Built?

Sarah Kauss bootstrapped S'well with $30,000 of her own savings and built it into a $100 million company, one of the most recognizable consumer brands of the last decade. But this conversation isn't about how she built it. It's about what happened after she let it go, and what that taught her about identity, success, and legacy.In this episode, Sarah and Aransas talk about what it is like to step away from a company you spent years building. They get into the loneliness of being a founder who is learning and leading at the same time, why Sarah said yes to nearly everything for the first few years after her exit, and how she eventually built what she now calls her "portfolio life." This is a conversation for any woman in midlife who has wondered who she is when the thing she built no longer needs her, and the founders who want to build with a dream of selling their company someday.What You'll Learn:Building a company without a master plan — How Sarah grew S'well from one founder with $30,000 to a $100 million brand without ever mapping out an exit.Letting go of a founder identity in midlife — What it felt like when S'well removed her photo from the website, and why that hit harder than she expected.The hidden risk of overcorrecting after a big change — Why Sarah said yes to nearly every board seat offered to her, and what it took to start saying no.How to build a company someone wants to buy — Her advice for founders building toward an exit in their first five years.Defending your brand against copycats — What S'well learned when bigger, better-funded companies started copying the product.Building a portfolio career after 40 — How she moved from founder to investor, advisor, and board member.The midlife shift from founder to mentor role Key Timestamps: 0:00 — Introduction and sponsor read [~3:23] — Sarah's S'well origin story and the bootstrapped early years [~6:55] — Building a "portfolio life" instead of pouring into one thing [~11:01] — Learning to share the vision and bring in a team [~17:02] — Community Q&A: building a company someone wants to buy [~20:01] — Defending S'well against copycats and protecting IP [~23:02] — Sending S'well "off to college" and the mourning period after an exit [~28:47] — What scares Sarah now, and her advice for the next generation [~32:27] — Sarah nominates the next Uplifter Key Takeaways:For midlife founders building toward an exit: You don't need every part of the business polished. Show what's working and where there's room to grow, not that you've already maximized everything.For women over 40 redefining identity after a major career change: Not knowing what to say about yourself at a reunion or a party is normal, and it passes.For women building a second act: A portfolio of smaller, meaningful commitments can bring more fulfillment than pouring everything into one thing, even if it looks less impressive on paper.Featured Quote: "I finally realize at this age I actually know a lot of stuff." — Sarah KaussResources and Links:Sarah Kauss's website and office hours: sarahkauss.comEpisode sponsor, Join The Tryb: jointhetryb.com, code UPLIFTER20About Sarah Kauss: Sarah Kauss (50) is Managing Partner at Avignon Partners, where she is an investor and advisor to brands in retail, tech, and wellness. As the founder and former CEO of S’well, Sarah is a consumer products leader with a track record of launching companies, building multi-million dollar brands, and assembling high-performance senior leadership teams. She is a product design expert with deep experience developing and implementing successful exit strategies. Sarah held the position of CEO of S’well for ten years, bootstrapping the company with $30k of her savings to reach over $100M in annual revenue. During this time, Sarah created a new category and well-loved brand that helped displace more than four billion single-use plastic bottles and was named by Architectural Digest as one of the 25 designs that helped shape the world. Sarah sold S’well in 2022. Prior to S’well, Sarah was a real estate developer leading large international collaborations and partnerships, and a consultant working across a range of industries. Sarah started her career with EY as a Certified Public Accountant, working in both tax consulting and the auditing function. She provided professional services to public and privately held companies in the technology, healthcare, consumer products, and media sectors. Sarah has been recognized as a Fortune “40 Under 40” honoree and awarded the Harvard Business School Entrepreneurship Award. Under Sarah’s leadership, S’well was named the #1 Fastest-Growing, women-led company by the Women Presidents’ Organization, was honored with the Brand Design award by Inc. magazine, and placement on the Inc. 5000 List (top 100) of fastest-growing, privately-held companies. She is a member of the 2018 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and the 2020 Class of Braddock Scholars within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. She earned a BS in accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. About Your Host: Aransas Savas is a wellbeing and leadership coach specializing in helping women over 40 navigate midlife transitions, career changes, and second-act reinvention. With 20+ years of behavioral research experience partnering with companies like Disney, Weight Watchers, and Best Buy, she hosts The Uplifters Podcast, featuring women doing big, brave work in the second half of their lives. Aransas brings both research rigor and personal experience to conversations about courage capital, midlife reinvention, and building meaningful second acts.Connect with Aransas:Instagram: @aransas_savasPodcast Instagram: @the_uplifters_podcastTikTok: @theuplifterspodcastFacebook: Aransas SavasWebsite: theuplifterspodcast.comYouTube: @theuplifterspodcastLinkedIn: Aransas SavasKeywords: women over 40, midlife reinvention, second act career women, life after selling your business, midlife identity shift, women founders over 40, career change after 40, redefining success in midlife, portfolio career women, midlife transition women, women entrepreneurs midlife, second half of life women, building confidence after 40, midlife career pivot, women over 40 success stories Get full access to The Uplifters at www.theuplifterspodcast.com/subscribe