Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Benjamin Lillibridge, founder, and CEO of Mālama Mushrooms, located in Kailua Kona, HI, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Mālama Mushrooms is a family-owned, fung-tional superfood mushroom company based in the Hawaiian Islands. ‘Mālama’ is the Hawaiian word for protect, preserve, & nurture. This serves as the standard for all the work that they do. Mālama creates everyday health & wellness products utilizing superfood mushrooms that integrate easily into everyday habits like tea, coffee, & smoothies.
Our customers are anyone who wants to turbocharge their body & mind utilizing superfood mushrooms not just to survive but THRIVE.
Tell us about yourself
I began as an agriculturist & environmental scientist seeking to impact the world & the people that occupy it positively. My mission became very specific to mushrooms once I got an introduction to mycology, the study of fungi.
Did you know fungi can break down plastics & other harmful pollutants to remediate polluted water & soil? Or that some of the world's most important medicines, from both traditional cultures and western pharmacology, are fungi derived? Well, I didn't know that...but when I found out, I was absolutely amazed and was inspired to devote his life to learning more.
Unfortunately, no one was hiring for "Enthusiastic mushroom guy," so I knew he had to create the job myself. Thus commenced my life's mission of standing on his mushroom soapbox preaching the good word of the fungus among us with the entire world.
Having had experience cultivating mushrooms in college (don't tell Mom), I began a gourmet / medicinal mushroom operation while living in a mango tree on a farm in Kona. As there was a vacant lava-formed cave on the property, I thought it'd be a perfect place to use as a fruiting chamber…so I did!
I eventually realized my impact would be wider if I partnered with other farmers & focused on the product development & education to make easy-to-use products accessible to the masses.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is coming as a solo-founder, quitting my job & living out of a truck with my entire inventory, trying to get sales, eventually making it work, and turning Mālama Mushrooms into a growing family business. We spend most of our lives working, so the opportunity to work with my family (as well as a host of good humans I consider friends) means I get to also get more time in with people I love. Working with family also presents its share of unique challenges, but ultimately it is worth it for me, especially because even if they weren't family, I would want to enlist them to help since they're amazing at what they do!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things that come with being a business owner is finding a balance of unfettered yet relevant distractions: I've nurtured my focus so I can lock myself up to buckle down & get stuff done. However, this is extremely challenging as a business owner as I am a bottleneck for many things. Thus I need to be available for so many people for them to do their jobs successfully. If someone interrupts my focus because of a work issue, while it may not be ideal timing, it may have been appropriate for it to be addressed immediately at that moment. While my shift of focus to the new task is ultimately still "working," my finite focus (and I want to stress "finite") suffers immensely. I'm constantly finding the balance of being a focused productivity robot & also a flexible leader available to his people.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- You can do anything, but you can't do everything. So...
- People are everything. Build a team that you are amazed you get to work with, cherish them & make them feel valued. Also...
- The aphorism of "Getting to be your own boss" is an illusion. Customers are your boss, and making sure they're happy is your job. If you aren't obsessed or at least care about your customers & their experience with your business/product, don't expect them to come back.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
As with all things: business always has an element of timing & dumb luck with it. If it isn't working out, you may need to reconsider things & pivot. If it is working out, great, but don't rest on your laurels. Often people are planning victory laps before they complete the race.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.malamamushrooms.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malamamushrooms/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.
