Delights for Enlightenment - Alice Mushrooms

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Charlotte Cruze, Co-Founder of Alice Mushrooms, located in Venice, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Alice is a functional mushroom chocolate brand on a mission to make mushrooms indulgent, joyful, and delicious. Our decadent bites combine the best organic, fruiting-body mushrooms with the most potent nootropics and herbal supplements. This union pairs the long-term benefits of mushrooms with the immediate effects of the nootropics to create an indulgent daily routine that’s good for you and only gets better with time.

Our customers range from mission-driven gen Zers looking for better alternatives to the status quo to millennials looking to find a balance to baby boomers looking for ways to preserve their overall brain health. Alice is for everyone!

Tell us about yourself

I come from an extensive background in marketing and brand partnerships, but I made a pivot into the food space during the early days of the pandemic when I got a Master’s in Food Studies at NYU. That set me on a path toward working on better-for-you food products, which led me to my business partner, Lindsay Goodstein. Lindsay was sundowning a successful career in pharmaceuticals to pursue her passion for the natural healing benefits of mushrooms and was already working on Alice’s initial two formulations. We met over the phone (she’s in LA, and I’m in NYC!), immediately hit it off, and have been working together from opposite sides of the country ever since.

To put it simply, we are driven to make people feel good. We both struggle with sleep and focus and bringing natural and effective solutions (in a delicious bite of chocolate) to people truly brings us so much joy.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Creating a product that has actually helped people. Nothing makes us feel more proud!

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Finding a work-life balance. The lines blur very quickly, and I find it borderline impossible to separate myself from my work! But finding time to get away from the constant flow of emails, calls, and a long to-do list is tantamount to our long-term success.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. You can do anything you put your mind to. Even if it seems daunting at first, just keep pushing. Perseverance and problem-solving are your two biggest assets.
2. People are kind! Ask questions, talk to anyone and everyone, and lean on others. No one can do it alone, and no one has gotten anywhere in life without help from other people.
3. Stay organized and diligent. I personally pull every possible performance metric I can pull on our business every Monday morning, which helps me stay on top of any changes and track our pace to hit weekly/monthly/quarterly goals. Also, as silly as it sounds, the Superhuman email platform has changed my life.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://alicemushrooms.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alice.mushrooms/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alice-mushrooms/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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