322. Rachel Mansfield: From Food Blogger to Raising $3M & Selling in 2,000+ Target Stores

This week, Jason is joined by food creator, entrepreneur, investor, and cadootz! co-founder Rachel Mansfield for a conversation about turning an unexpected firing into a multi-faceted career spanning content, consumer brands, and venture investing. Rachel breaks down getting fired from her $54,000 corporate job after her food blog was viewed as a conflict of interest, giving herself six months to make it on her own, and ultimately surpassing her old salary within that timeframe. She reveals how brand partnerships, affiliate revenue, and evergreen recipe content helped turn her online following into a legitimate business. Jason and Rachel also dive into the economics behind cookbooks and venture investing, including why a $100,000 book advance can disappear quickly when photography alone can cost $60,000–$100,000. Rachel shares how she went from promoting brands to investing in them, eventually launching a venture fund with her husband that has raised roughly $3.5–$4 million and invested across more than 20 brands. Plus, Rachel breaks down building cadootz!, including spending roughly $500,000 developing the product, selling out its first online launch within hours, raising a $3 million seed round, and landing a nationwide Target rollout that has expanded to more than 2,000 stores. Rachel reveals why diversifying your income, building ownership, and constantly finding new opportunities within your niche have been key to her success. She reveals all this and so much more in another episode you can’t afford to miss! Host: Jason Tartick Audio: John Gurney Video: Marc Colcer Guest: Rachel Mansfield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices