Industry watch: Meet Isabel, founder of Laurel's Coffee.

Hi Isabel! Introduce yourself to readers.

Hi! I’m Isabel. I grew up in Southern California and went to school at USC. I’ve always loved food and beverage but I never thought I’d one day own a company! Crazy to be here now.

Tell me about Laurel’s! What led you to go after the coffee industry?

I helped some friends from college launch an energy drink company and there were parts of that I really enjoyed - account management, doing in-store demos, and hearing feedback. There are few things in life where you can pour a sample for someone, they try it and they either like it and buy it or don’t like it and don’t buy it.

I left the energy drink company and saw a white space in RTD coffee where I didn’t feel like anyone was really building what Poppi had in the soda space. There wasn’t anything that had 80% of the flavor profile of legacy brands - in this case Starbucks/Dunkin/La Colombe - but with none of the bad stuff and a much cleaner nutrition panel.

Everyone always tells me that coffee is saturated, but every company is so focused on protein and function. Lions mane and ashwagandha. 300mg of caffeine or 30g of protein. But what about the people that just want something that tastes good for those days they can’t make it to the coffee shop?

You were previously a consultant at McKinsey. What life lessons did you learn from that experience that have been applicable as a first-time founder?

When you’re at McKinsey, you’re expected to know a lot of things incredibly quickly. McKinsey was my first job out of college, so not only was I 22 trying to figure out what being an adult meant, but I had to very quickly learn what being a McKinsey consultant meant. I’ve moved into my founder role the exact same way.

I don’t have any experience building a company, it’s been an incredibly humbling process. On day 1 I spent time identifying things that I didn’t know and immediately found sources that could provide the knowledge that I was seeking. I spent countless hours every week having conversations with people in the industry learning about how they did it and who helped them - I still have these conversations every week. The sooner you can get over the hump of not knowing, the sooner you can tackle the next challenge. Every day there’s a new challenge - you have to remain persistent and hopeful that you’ll overcome it. Surrounding yourself with great people makes the hard days that much easier.

The second life lesson that McKinsey taught me was the importance of showing up. Replying to emails within hours of receipt. Showing up to scheduled meetings on time. Following-up with people if you are waiting to hear a response from them. Showing up to key accounts that you’re trying to get your product in to have discussions in-person. Supporting your fellow founder friends. Building relationships with the employees and managers - genuine ones. It’s a people business - half the battle is showing up.

What’s the difference between Laurel’s Coffee and other dairy based ready-to-drink lattes?

Dairy is coming back in a big way and is fundamental to the creaminess and indulgence of the product. Virtually every other dairy based ready-to-drink latte uses low fat milk, sometimes organic, certainly not quality, and definitely not gut-friendly. We’re also innovating on flavors in a fun and exciting way - everything in the coffee set currently is Vanilla, Mocha and Salted Caramel. Our first two SKUs are Classic, which is an elevated take on a standard latte, and Dirty Chai, which has been taking over cafe menus.

Where do you see Laurel’s Coffee in 5 years? In 10 years?

I believe there’s a huge opportunity to grow this into the next household name. There’s an evolving consumer that’s demanding more from their products and I’m excited to be at the forefront of that change in the coffee set. In 5 years I imagine we’ll be in most of the large natural grocery retailers, and in 10 we’ll be in most conventional retail.

What are some brands and founders that inspire you?

Yes! This is especially fun because for a lot of these people, I discovered their product organically before I was a CPG founder and have gotten close through the birth of Laurel’s.

Alex and Steve Michaelsen at Leisure. Gen Z Vitamin Water. Incredible. Also incredible people.

Troy Bonde at SAUZ. The most genuine person I’ve ever met who will go above and beyond to see his friends win. Plus the sauce is incredible.

Lex Evan at Lexington Bakes. Has been a one man show for years doing everything - baking, operations and marketing. Does it with incredible grace.

Nico and Fran at Pistakio. An incredible product that they’ve built from scratch in a commercial kitchen.

Leah and Yasaman at Good Girl Snacks. Absolutely crushed organic social and community building which has resulted in multiple sellouts.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but can we expect an expansion of Laurel’s flavors anytime soon?

Definitely working on a few new flavors - there’s the opportunity to do something fun with Mocha so that it’s not just plain cacao powder but something a bit more elevated and exciting. There’s also some tea lattes that are common at coffee shops that I think could make for great products, so I'm doing some experimentation there also. Aiming to get something out by EOY so watch this space