In 2012, 22-year-old Katlin Smith was growing restless at her consulting job, so she started experimenting with grain-free, paleo-friendly muffin recipes in her Atlanta kitchen.

A buyer at a nearby Whole Foods agreed to sell Katlin’s muffin mixes and placed an order for twelve bags. She then hustled to expand the business: hand-mixing almond flour and coconut sugar in food-grade barrels, slinging wardrobe boxes of muffin mix into a rental car, and standing by helplessly while shoppers scarfed down more samples than anticipated.

8 years after launch, Simple Mills has expanded to include cookies and crackers and other treats; it’s available in 28,000 stores and does roughly $100M in annual revenue.

Original poste featured at https://www.npr.org/2021/02/12/967337497/simple-mills-katlin-smith