When Rachel Drori wanted to eat clean but didn’t have time to recipe plan, prep and cook, she started to bag fruits and veggies and toss them in the freezer on Sundays to have nutrient-packed smoothies ready-to-go throughout the week. When her friends realized how simple and effective it was, she started to deliver pre-portioned bags of smoothie ingredients to them, too. “With that, Daily Harvest was born, making clean food accessible, easy and convenient, without compromising on nutrition or farm-fresh quality,” says Drori.
Drori launched Daily Harvest in 2015, and now each recipe is co-designed by a Michelin-trained chef and nutritionist. They have expanded to include lattes, soups, overnight oats, chia parfaits, harvest bowls and sundaes that are delivered to more than 100,000 subscribers nationwide. In December 2017, Daily Harvest raised a $43 million Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with significant participation from VMG Partners and additional investors including M13, chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay, Olympic gold medalist Shaun White and actress Haylie Duff. I spoke to Drori about her career path and advice.
What inspired you to start Daily Harvest? What was your career path?
My career path began in marketing and branding at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. I learned a lot about the customer being at the center of any service business; it’s something that’s really been a guiding light for me in building Daily Harvest. I then got my MBA from Columbia University and spent a few years at AMEX before going to Gilt Groupe.
What has been the biggest challenge and, on the flip side, the biggest reward of starting Daily Harvest?
The biggest challenge has been building out the logistics and supply chain. We are adamant that our produce is picked at peak ripeness and then frozen on the farm. This was very tricky in the beginning before we had scale, so it meant building strong relationships with our farmers and building the infrastructure for supply alongside them.
Hearing customers talk about how Daily Harvest has made a meaningful impact on their lives has been one of the greatest rewards of starting this company. Whether we are giving them a bit more time back in their day or allowing them to practice some much-needed self-care, I am so proud to help others live more fully — whatever that means to them.
What advice do you have for other women who hope to start their own businesses?
I think one of the challenges women face is striving for the ideal of “having it all.” In my experience, there are real tradeoffs between work life and home life that have to be weighed. You simply cannot be in two places at once. Once I let go of this ideal and gave myself permission to prioritize, I was able to be better at my multiple roles.
You recently raised a $43 million Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with significant participation from VMG Partners. You also have a roster of celebrity investors including Bobby Flay, Shaun White, Haylie Duff, Gwyneth Paltrow and Serena Williams. What advice do you have for founders who are going through the fundraising process?
Be persistent and believe deep in your core that your business is worth investment from great partners. Heading into the funding process with drive and determination will greatly impact the results. Don’t let rejection deter you.
What are the most important characteristics someone needs to have to be successful in your role?
You have to trust your instincts but not be dogmatic. If you want to bring your vision to life, you have to have a clear idea of what you want that to be at every stage while at the same time using data and performance to validate the journey.
What are three characteristics you look for when you’re hiring a new team member?
The three A’s: authenticity, ambition and adaptability. Having a team that is just as passionate about your mission as you are is the key to growing a brand that solves the right problems and stays nimble. I also look for team members that can take initiative and quickly maneuver through the rapid changes of a startup.
What’s the biggest lesson you learned at work and how did you learn it?
Something extremely valuable I have learned along my journey of starting my own business is to trust my own voice. I made the mistake of not doing this more than once before really learning to follow my compass in a corporate setting. Early in my career there were a few times where I had true conviction about something but went the way of the team’s inertia or forfeited to someone more senior assuming they knew better than I did. The results from these occasions were always lackluster and the journey unmotivating. I later learned that constructive dialogue and not being afraid to “upset the applecart” always leads to a better outcome.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
I have been lucky enough to have a handful of amazing mentors throughout my career. One of my former bosses taught me to ask for forgiveness instead of permission. It’s something that stuck with me and, as I began to build my own team, and it’s a mantra I try to encourage because it removes the fear of making mistakes, which can stifle true innovation.
What is your business advice for other young professional women?
Learn as much as you can: ask questions, source for information but, most importantly, listen and be observant. There is a ton you can learn just from being receptive to your surroundings and acting like a sponge. Something as simple as walking out of a meeting where a surprising decision was made and asking the person accountable to spend 10 minutes walking you through his or her thought process can be so powerful for leadership development.
