Kara Goldin on Founding Hint Water

Intentional Performers

Kara Goldin has quite an impressive and extensive resume and bio. But rather than give you all of her bio and information, I think she covers a lot of her journey in this conversation, I’m just going to introduce her to you. Kara is the founder and CEO of Hint. You’re probably familiar with Hint, they’re best known for their award-winning water, which is really a leading unsweetened flavor water category. She’s been featured in magazines, won awards, she’s an active speaker, a podcaster, and she’s got a fantastic book which we cover in today’s conversation as well.

Kara had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“I learned to admire people who were better than I was at certain things, knowing that I was good at other things” (7:40).

“I could change the visual and I could eventually do it if I just set my mind to it and focused” (9:30).

“My parents were constantly saying to me ‘You need to figure it out.’” (11:05).

“My parents gave me the nudge to go and figure things out and go and be creative” (11:35).

“I was very social, I was very outgoing, because I realized that was a way to actually meet people but also learn new things” (13:35).

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes” (15:10).

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions” (15:25).

“Ask people a lot of questions because that’s going to satisfy your curiosity. You’re going to learn a lot from people, and it makes days much more interesting” (15:45).

“When you’re a kid, you don’t really know what you’re learning” (22:40).

“I love being an underdog” (26:45).

“I don’t mind being at zero and creating as long as I’m passionate about it” (27:00).

“What I tend to gravitate towards is people who own their story” (28:30).

“I am more likely to hire people who have made mistakes that they can own” (28:40).

“I think the people that can actually own their mistakes and tell you why they did what they did and ultimately not try and blame others for it are the ones that you actually want on your team” (32:15).

“If I have one fault, it’s that I don’t always trust my gut on people” (37:00).

“When somebody shows you their true colors, I’m now a very big believer to recognize that” (37:20).

“Sometimes it’s easier said than done to pay attention to your gut” (41:05).

“For me, stories have always been so powerful” (46:35).

“The beauty of starting your own company is that you get to cherry pick the good and the bad” (49:05).

“I don’t think any founder starts something thinking that this is their legacy” (54:20).

Additionally, you can purchase Kara’s book Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters anywhere books are sold. You can also follow and connect with Kara on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Thank you so much to Kara for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.