Long before Nicole Bernard Dawes’ brands were lining the aisles of thousands of grocery stores, she got her start in business wheeling around baked goods in a little red wagon. The two-time founder discovered her passion for entrepreneurship as a kid selling $1 cookies to small businesses.
“My first foray into this universe was when I was 12. My best friend and I had a cookie company, and we had customers” Dawes tells Fortune. “I actually sold to local delis in my town, which is kind of wild that was even allowed.”
Over the course of one summer, their cookie operation brought in $500: a fortune in the eyes of a kid, but chump change compared to Dawes’ future success selling her organic tortilla chip brand Late July, which reeled in $100 million in annual sales. Her pre-teen business wasn’t a smashing financial success like her later ventures, but the experience did teach her about company costs, how to sell a product, and different ways to market.
Luckily, the then 12-year-old also had a strong mentor to guide her first operation; Dawes’ father, the late Steve Bernard, founded $4.87 billion brand Cape Cod potato chips back in 1980. Unfazed by her adolescence, he took her dream seriously, teaching her how to structure the costs of goods, price a product fairly, and above all else, bake a quality treat for customers. It was a formative summer job that set her up for success in helping turn around her father’s legendary snack business, and launching two of her own brands.
