Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Pinedo.
Hi Nicole, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was a junk food junky most of my young adult life. I ate the typical American diet and never thought twice about it. I was always a little overweight, struggled with acne, depression, and anxiety, but everyone said that was normal so I didn’t worry too much about it. When I was 27, I had my son. During my pregnancy, I tried to eat healthier, but I lived in Miami at the time and had few resources and little understanding of what that meant.
After my son was born, I tried to stay on a healthier diet. My husband was an amazing cook so he prepared most of our food, but there was still a lot of junk in it. Early on, our son showed some odd developmental issues. He was a toe walker, had issues with texture, sounds, and his tendons were not developing properly. At 18 months, he was diagnosed as “on the spectrum”. His Drs recommended surgeries, therapies, and medications, but we didn’t have insurance and everything was very expensive. Without many resources for alternative help, I started studying how the rest of the world was working with these conditions and kept hearing how important diet was. We decided to work from that angle. My husband started food planning and prepping and we slowly, slowly figured out what he was reacting to and removed it. By the time he was four, we knew he reacted to most preservatives and added colors, it was just shocking how much of the food we feed our children contained those things.
I learned that in most parts of Europe they having warnings that artificial colors may be linked to hyperactive children, and BHA and BHT are banned. I decided I wanted to learn more about how diet impacted children so I went to the Institute for Integrated Nutrition and went on to become a Drugless Practitioner. I wanted to help parents of children struggling with the same issues. While working for the children, I ended up taking on their parents as well and eventually teachers trying to overcome the growing epidemic of metabolic syndrome. While working with teachers, Coffee Bombs were born. I was trying to find a way to introduce beneficial fats and proteins into breakfast foods without it being too time-consuming. But at the same time, my son was getting to an age where he needed the same thing. Most quick breakfast foods are full of sugars, carbs, and often colors, which are great for instant energy (hyperactivity in kids) and a crash once it’s burned off. But beneficial fats and proteins offer a more sustainable sources of energy, especially when combined with caffeine for adults that need that extra boost.
During this time, I was also working at Peoples Pharmacy as a wellness consultant. I started bringing in different versions of Coffee Bombs for my coworkers to try and they would give me feedback. That’s where I met Sarah Rioux. She had just moved to Austin and starting working at Peoples Pharmacy while she figured out what she really wanted to do. She is a registered dietitian and has a degree in business. She reached out to see if I wanted to partner up to bring Coffee Bombs to more people. Together we launched Ladybird Provisions in 2016. At first, we started in farmers markets and local coffee shops to see what the public thought, we were met with overwhelming positive feedback. After about a year and a half, we launched in HEB and slowly grew our accounts. We launched in some small chains in Southern California and Chicago, and this year nationwide with Sprouts. It’s been a crazy journey, but I’m so excited to be a part of it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road! But like they say: the bigger the challenge, the greater the reward. My husband and I separated when our son was two and being a single parent is never easy.
We moved to Austin when he was four (back when it was more affordable to live here thank goodness!) and I was able to find an amazing community of like-minded people who helped me in so many ways.
I went back to school when he was seven to learn more about how I could help support his needs and other parents who had similar struggles, but it was an uphill battle with public school foods so we switched to alternative education programs. They helped me keep his diet on point while offering education to the instructors and parents. Working full time and going to school while raising a child is no easy task, I would have been lost if it hadn’t been for my amazing village of awesome people!
Sarah and I launched Ladybird Provisions when he was 12 so then I was working full time as a consultant at Peoples Pharmacy, raising a teenager, and navigating the startup CPG world. If I hadn’t had a full toolbox of stress management skills, I’m not sure I would have made it.
As Ladybird has grown, we have learned a lot. We have changed packaging a million times, we’ve outgrown facilities and struggled to make our new one work. We’ve gained accounts and lost accounts and the pandemic hit us hard. We were lucky to be in a position to use the downtime to finalize the formulas and packaging for Dry Bombs and launch, but the company took a big hit financially and we have been slowly climbing back up that hill.
We are in a good place now with a lot of exciting things coming. My son just started college and is turning 18 in a few months! I feel like all the struggles have been well worth it and I hope I can help other people get through those times where everything seems impossible.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m the co-founder and COO at Ladybird Provisions. I’m also a certified Drugless Practitioner. I’m not sure what I can say I’m most known for, but I think I’m pretty good at finding simple solutions to hard problems. I like to have people tell me about what’s going on with their health and try to offer simple stress-free ways they can improve it. If they don’t enjoy it, they won’t stick with it, so it’s a lot of listening and trying to get to understand the person. I don’t create menus, I don’t meal plan or set up exercise schedules, and I don’t tell people what they need to do, I help them navigate a way to a healthier lifestyle and that has to mean they are happy with the choices they make and are the ones decided what is best for them. Coffee Bombs and Dry Bombs are a manifestation of that concept. Trying to make healthier living a simple choice that you actually want to make. And they are delicious 🙂
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
There have been so many people who have made where I am today possible. I collect some truly amazing people and without them, I’m not sure where I would be. Without my coworkers at Peoples Pharmacy being willing to sample all my crazy formulas and help me navigate flavors while cheering me on to keep moving forward, I never would have made it to the point of meeting Sarah in the first place!
Our production team is a group of the most awesome people I could ask for.
I’ve been so fortunate to meet some amazing people who gave me tips and pointers in the beginning and so many mentors that have offered their experience, advice, and connections once we launched. We were invited to participate in SKU which is an awe-inspiring wealth of mentors for just about every aspect of the company. I’m afraid to start naming people because I will inevitably forget some and feel bad about it later.
Pricing:
- Coffee Bombs retail for $9.99
- Dry Bombs single serve boxes retail for $14.99
- Dry Bombs pouch retail for $24.99
Contact Info:
- Email: Nicole@ladybirdprovisions.com
- Website: Ladybirdprovisions.com
