One year ago, I launched the first episode of The Perfect Bite. Today, Episode 50 was released.
Why did I even start The Perfect Bite last year? My mission for my work is to help founders in the F&B space tell their best stories.
I’ve always loved helping others find the people, places, and bites that will change their lives for the better. Whether this was after college on the editorial team of Where Chicago magazine (RIP), to the last few years acting as a marketing consultant for food brands and startups, this is where I’ve always felt my happiest—when I can help others share how special they are with the world.
Food connects all of us. It is the singular language that we speak wherever you come from. It brings us joy and comfort, and is my absolute favorite way to show love to others.
And we all have our own perfect bites. Those recipes, memories, dishes on trips, something so delicious that every time we think about it, it makes us smile.
That’s why I started The Perfect Bite. To share the stories of the kindest, hardest working folks building businesses that give the most delectable forms of love to whoever they serve.
For us all to remember we can do hard things—and be inspired to take our own leaps.
And to know that even if we each have our own incredibly unique perfect bites, it’s a question you can ask anyone and they’ll have an answer.
And if we’re talking about inspiration, you’re going to love our guest Rachel Mansfield. She faced a complete crossroads in her career about a decade ago and decided nothing was going to keep her down.
She now is not only an incredibly successful food creator, but also a cookbook author, manager of a venture fund that has invested in over 25 brands, and has just launched her first snack brand, cadootz!
So as we enter the second year of this mission together, I’d like to hear your perfect bites and for you to ask someone this over the dinner table soon. Leave your answers in the comments!
Love,
Sarah
Rachel Mansfield’s Perfect Bite
If you’re feeling down on yourself or like you’re not good enough to try something new, you need to listen to Rachel Mansfield.
Over the last decade, Rachel went from fired from her PR job for simply building her Instagram presence, to OG food blogger + creator extraordinaire, recipe developer, cookbook writer, CPG investor in over 25+ brands, and now snack founder. All while raising three kids with her husband and co-founder Jordan and renovating a 90-year-old dream home. Casual!
We talk about it all, including:
How getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to Rachel's career
Building a food and lifestyle brand from scratch in the early days of Instagram + influencers
Launching cadootz! and her cookbook More, Please! in the same week (accidentally)
Investing in 25+ CPG companies through grt sht Ventures and what she's seen go wrong
On sharing the hard stuff online: fertility, overwhelm, and keeping it real
Her closing advice for anyone thinking about putting themselves out there
You’re going to love this episode with Rachel—she’s smart, witty, inspiring, and keeps me laughing along the whole time.
🎧 Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen to the episode on Spotify
📺 Watch the episode on YouTube
Connect with Rachel:
Instagram: @rachlmansfield (no "e" in Rachl!)
Website: rachlmansfield.com
Substack: @rachlmansfield
Cadootz!: @cadootzsnacks | cadootz.com
Pre-order More, Please! at rachlmansfield.com
Storytelling Secret Ingredient: Mission-Led Messaging
Something I repeatedly say on TPB is that the best founders are the ones who inherently know and share the problem they’re trying to solve.
And this isn’t just because it makes you obsessed with trying to solve it from a business perspective. It’s so you can connect with your audience and let them know you really understand what they’re going through. It’s real. You’re not just starting this business to capture part of the market!
Rachel does such a great job at this when talking about cadootz! As she put it to me, she didn’t go into her career wanting to start a snack company or build something in CPG just because she could. She didn’t need just “one more thing to do.”
That’s where you can show your customers and audience that you’re in this for real. Here’s how to highlight your mission throughout your messaging.
Lean into your personal frustrations > market gaps: Your mission should start with a lived sentence, not just focusing on the opportunity you saw to make money. Think: “I was so frustrated not having x,” over “I didn’t see anyone doing y.”
Get specific about your ‘aha’ moment: Instead of jumping to “And then I decided to start this company,” really describe the moment you were in when you decided to take the plunge on your idea. Describe feelings, your physical surroundings, any conversations you were having to bring your audience with you.
Make the problem emotional, not just functional: Emotions are one of the strongest drivers of our purchasing decisions. Start with the why and the positive feelings you have now that you have a solution. Features can be secondary.
Storytelling secret ingredient: Build your messaging around your mission. If you’re not emotionally attached to the problem, your audience won’t be emotionally attached to the solution.
Mission Motivators
These F&B brands are putting their missions fully on display—and it’s building their tribes successfully!
The gals over at the Served App are on a mission to make dining safer for all based on their own food allergy experiences. There’s no question why they’ve built their platform! Listen to our convo here.
Oatly’s mission statement is across their content loud and proud, whether the homepage of their site or their IG bio. It’s clear and makes you feel something far beyond “Here are oat products that do this …”!
Recent pod guest Susannah Schoolman built Tourlami for professional bakers and chefs after she became vegan and needed a better butter solution for her own pastry work. Customers buy in quickly because they feel her frustration and she speaks with conviction. Listen to our chat here.
Thanks so much for being part of The Perfect Bite’s journey and supporting these founders’ stories. Feel free to respond to any of these messages with thoughts on how I can improve my storytelling in the future or if you have any guest ideas!
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