Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Flynn.
Hi Kim, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
As humans, we love a story of redemption. The hero falls, and then after brushing herself off while music plays through a montage, she gets a pep talk from her friends, tries again, and heroically rises to unparalleled success.
My story unfortunately doesn’t have this storybook ending.
My story instead reflects what life actually feels like Bumbling after failure with missteps and self-doubt. Even though I don’t have an “ending”, maybe being in the middle and sharing what it is like to be in the middle is also valuable.
In 2020, my business of 10M revenue, 3 locations, and a large closed its doors. It was devastating. It felt like a death, and I grieved and processed it like a death. In the months that followed, my drug of choice was watching documentaries. Climbing documentaries. There is an entire genre of films interviewing climbers about why they climb, what they climb, and who they know who has died climbing.
At the end of one of the documentaries, the filmmakers reveal that the star of the film himself had died during post-production. A lot of people die climbing. What kept me glued to this corner of Netflix was the very particular thought pattern that climbers and business owners share. “Yeah, it happens. But it won’t happen to me.”
Climbers don’t expect to slip. They don’t expect to fall into a crevasse. They don’t expect to die in an avalanche. But they frequently do. They don’t fully accept that they can fall, in fact, until they are in mid-air.
Similarly, I thought that with enough talent and gumption I could pull my business through any situation. I didn’t expect Covid. I didn’t expect to close my company doors and go through bankruptcy. I didn’t expect to try to cover Christmas for a family of six with a single Amazon gift card. I didn’t expect to get a loan from my 15-year-old son to buy groceries.
Fast forward a bit and we can again pay the mortgage and even go on modest vacations. From the outside, it may seem as if I have recovered, but I haven’t found my way yet. I am in the middle of the journey, not the end. I have fallen into a crevasse, lost my water bottle, and broke a rib, but I am on my feet. Not limping back to safety, but limping back onto the mountain to try again.
One year to the date of the close of the previous company, I launched a new business, Card Salad. This is my first product-based company. I have learned how to set up manufacturing, what supply chain issues look like, and now have a basement stacked full of inventory. While I used to have a large team and a corner office, today I work on an IKEA desk with my dog.
My story as it is now isn’t heroic, redemptive, or montage worthy. But this girl will rise again. Kim Flynn currently hosts the podcast Habits for Humans and is attempting to be successful with her new business venture Card Salad. She lives in Salt Lake City with her hubby and four kids. Follow her journey at CardSalad.com
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?
Not a smooth road, lol. From 10M to zero in 2020.
Feels like Schitt’s Creek. Starting over at age 46. The new business is an online e-commerce business, selling a product we manufacture ourselves. Very different from my old industry of live events and training!
It’s also hard to go from a team of 60+ to a team of 2 (me and my 15 years old son).
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Card Salad is a health and wellness company, providing organizational products to live a healthy, sustainable, deeply satisfying way of life.
Our flagship product is Eat Well. The Eat Well program is Hello Fresh meets Oprah.
This kit includes a Menu Board to hang on your fridge, monthly recipes that come on auto-ship, done-for-you shopping lists, and daily habit cards with lots of guidance and inspiration to get started in the daily habit of cooking real foods.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Provo: Shopping, close to the canyon, lots of parks, safe community.
What I least like: Not enough local restaurants, no nightlife–must drive to SLC.
Contact Info:
- Website: cardsalad.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cardsalad/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cardsalad
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn90eaUTY01qbQDe3GjRoSA
