Surviving cancer inspired Loren Brill to start her refrigerated cookie dough company, Sweet Loren’s. Brill was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma shortly after graduating from college. “After going through what I went through, I saw first-hand how food is tied to health,” she says.
She started to eat healthier, but she still had a self-proclaimed sweet tooth. “I decided to embark on a journey to create the best-tasting, most wholesome cookie dough possible. I hired my little sister as my official taste tester and, after thousands of pounds of all natural cookie dough, my top secret recipes were complete,” she says. When she started to get orders from family, friends and friends of friends she realized “the world needs better-for-you sweets” and started Sweet Loren’s in 2011. Now she says her cookies are sold in 7,000 supermarkets, and her New York-based team is constantly coming up with new products. We spoke about her career path and advice.
Gross: What advice do you have for other women who hope to start their own businesses?
Brill: My best advice is to spend time defining the things you are truly passionate about. Align your passion with your strengths and a need in the marketplace, and then you have a recipe for success. If you create a business around something that you are truly inspired by, not only will you be able to get others to rally behind it too, but you’ll have the strength to fight for it every day. Starting and running a business isn’t easy, but if it’s for something you love, then it isn’t work, but more of a mission.
Make sure you know what your end goal is too. How big do you want the company to be? What lifestyle do you want? What role do you want to play? This will help you build the business plan around your passion so you know what success looks like. I also think it’s vital to surround yourself with support from a team that is passionate about what you’re doing and friends, family and mentors that have your back. I truly believe we each have unique gifts, and the journey of life is to find yours. So, go find yours! Once you find it, why deprive the world of something that could make it a better place?
Gross: What are your responsibilities as the founder and CEO of Sweet Loren’s?
Brill: When you are the founder and CEO of a company like ours, you really are chief of everything. As the company has grown, I have been able to build an excellent team. I get to focus on the things I love the most: setting the vision and culture of the company, keeping the company financially sound, creating the best recipes possible, representing Sweet Loren’s at press and media events and being the face of the brand since it is called Sweet Loren’s.
