How a Mom’s Lunchbox Idea Turned Into a $24 Million Business

Nancy Yen shares her journey from corporate professional to successful entrepreneur, highlighting the importance of market research, authentic branding, and continuous learning from bootstrapping to scaling her business, OmieLife, to $24 Million. Yen discusses balancing entrepreneurship with motherhood and turning personal challenges into innovative products. Nancy built her company around a simple but universal problem: feeding kids in a better way.

"A no today is not a no forever"

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Nancy's background
01:23 Nancy's journey from corporate to entrepreneurship
02:50 Inspiration behind OmieLife and product development
06:32 Scaling from small beginnings to a 24 million dollar company
10:04 Balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship
12:05 Upcoming product launch and future plans
13:12 Challenges in manufacturing and focus strategies
16:47 Advice for entrepreneurs and long-term brand vision

More Key Takeaways
*Deep market research is crucial for product fit and success.
*Focus and simplicity in marketing strategies
*Being present in manufacturing is key to quality.
*Long-term vision guides sustainable growth.

"Focus on one thing and do it well"

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

What starts off as a no doesn't mean it's no forever. It's just no at that point in time. Buyer came in, she said, This is too expensive. No one is gonna buy a bento box this expensive. Now, come last year, Target came to us and said, Hey guys, guess what? Omiboxes very frequently searched on Target.com. We'd like to try you in a 400 store test. We did that. The inventory blew out within less than 10 days, and now we're in every Target store for back to school this season, and then in Target stores all year round starting in October.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Entrepreneurs, I'm excited to bring on someone who's not just sustained seven, eight years we're talking going on year 14. Nancy is the founder and CEO of Ami Life, a kids' consumer products company dedicated to making the everyday work of parenting easier. With over two decades of experience in corporate strategy, merchandising, and product development, she has a proven track record of bringing new products to market. So a lot of you listeners, you know this could be the perfect show for you. And remember to share this show with someone who you know could use the value and expertise from Nancy. Before entrepreneurship, she held leadership roles at Gap Goldman Sachs, right? She's gonna help us learn so much. So, Nancy, welcome to that entrepreneur show.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Thank you so much, Enson. It's such a pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Where are you streaming in from today?

SPEAKER_01 1:33

I'm in San Francisco. I've been here for over 20 years. I grew up in LA in a small town just like in the east side of LA. And then I went to the East Coast for college, went to a small college called Williams College, where I just went for my 30th college reunion, if you can believe it. Wow. And then I came back to the West Coast for grad school at Stanford.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

So you're a West Coast girl. You like the West Coast.

unknown 1:57

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

I can't leave.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Well, everyone, especially if you're in that area, we have a great service to provide you. But first, let me welcome everyone back to That Entrepreneur Show. My name is Vincent A. Lancy. I'm excited to have you listening on today. Please remember to subscribe to Stay Current and check us out on any social media platform and website is that entrepreneurshow.com. As I tease before, Nancy brings great experience to the show. Some other areas we're going to dive into. What does it really take to bootstrap and scale not just to one million, but 24 million? How do you navigate entrepreneurship and motherhood at the same time? And I love how your company in this, we're going to get into that because I know there's a lot of strappy entrepreneurs out there who are also parents and you have been a beacon of hope while raising a child to find business excellence. And then, of course, how you turned your mom problem into a business idea and scale it. So please, Nancy, wherever you feel comfortable, what led you to become an entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_01 3:05

It was something that I was always intrigued by. I'd spent gosh, started working in '96. So had spent, you know, my whole career working in corporate. And I wanted a challenge. So actually after the birth of my second child, I was staying home for maternity leave and I was packing lunches for my older one who had just started preschool down the street. I was, you know, he's a smaller kid. He's always on the 1% of the growth chart. So we've always been really worried that he didn't get enough to eat, particularly when he went to school and they weren't helping him with meals. And true enough, he wasn't eating lunch very well at school. So I started just, you know, thinking about like different things I could pack him that would entice him to eat more. I even went to school to spend time there to see what was happening at lunchtime to just better understand the environment. I noticed that it had a lot to do with the containers that the lunches came in. So they want to sit there and eat lunch for a long time. So it was really important that everything was visible at once and there wasn't a lot of small containers with lids to open. It was really important that you give them foods that they're used to at home. So if a kid grows up eating warm foods, you know, soups, pastas, and then all of a sudden they're expected to eat wraps or sandwiches. It's a little bit hard to adjust at first. So that gave me the idea of inventing a bento style lunchbox that could pack hot and cold food together. So that was kind of where I got the idea to start this product. And I looked around and I was really surprised it didn't exist. So it made me want to do a lot more research. I went to playgrounds, I went to people's homes to watch them pack lunch in the mornings, I went to schools to watch kids eat lunch. And I learned a lot from that process. Um, we have hundreds and hundreds of pages of customer notes that we analyze and synthesize. And that gave us the direction that we needed to work with the designer to come up with the first version of the only box.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Well, you're inspiring me right now as we're talking. I love how you're highlighting market research and filling a need, right? Those are two things, entrepreneurs, whether you're in the same space or not, these are things you need to do, right? Something may sound great to us. And as entrepreneurs, we have quite a few ideas every day. Not many of them are actually worth pursuing and doing. So you've done a great job at that. When you were a younger kid, did you ever think you were going to grow up and be this powerhouse entrepreneur, founder of a company?

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Oh, of course, I'm not a powerhouse, but I didn't. When I was growing up, we're first generation immigrants. My parents moved here from Taiwan when I was eight years old. And as part of a very traditional Asian family, I was always encouraged to choose either one of two professions: either go to law school or go be a doctor. So never in my mind had I thought I would become an entrepreneur. And in fact, I really thought I was gonna go to law school and be a lawyer. Took a really different path after I graduated high school. And I worked in consulting, which opened my eyes to a bunch of different problems that corporations had and just really enjoyed the mental stimulation that I had from that job and just went on to work in other corporate environments. But I never thought that I would become an entrepreneur. And in fact, I didn't take this step until my sister started it. My sister, Jane Chen, is the founder of a company called Embrace, and she really like inspired me to challenge myself and take a step forward and try an entrepreneurial journey.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

How the heck does it happen where you bootstrap and scale to 24 million? So please provide our audience with some lessons learned, maybe some tips across that experience of how you accomplished it.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

You know, it didn't happen all at once. Kind of very slowly grew. I would say in the very early days, it was just me and one other employee, and we would be thrilled if we could make two sales a day. So it was something that happened slowly over time. And I think one thing that was really helpful to us is that we knew we had a product that parents needed. So all the research that we did in the beginning and identifying the product market fit was super duper important. Because if you are creating something that solves a problem and not just something that looks pretty on the shelf, my husband always says, you want to make a painkiller and not a vitamin. And I felt like I had that. So I really believed in the product that we were making. And we try to stay really authentic to what our values were and what our mission purpose was. And we really tried to communicate that to our customers across every single touch point. So we're a brand that, you know, really believes in authenticity. Everything we make is a very unique design. We're not a copycat. We don't do any Me Too designs. Everything we make, we spend hours and hours going into people's homes and understanding like, what are the pain points that you're facing as a parent? How can we make your life easier? What can we design that can just save you a little bit of time throughout the day so that your day runs a little smoother? We really keep that in mind. And actually, almost everyone who works at the company is a parent and we're able to share these stories with each other. We test products out on each other's families. So that's just a huge part of our culture. And I know the sales started just coming really slowly, you know, slowly and slowly, one by one. We joined Amazon, did really well there. We had a lot to learn. And every step along the way, we're learning new things. And just when you think you've fully learned something, you've conquered it, there's something else new that you have to learn. So it's just continual learning. And one of the mindsets that we have as a company is that it's okay if we don't know how to do it now, but we'll figure out how to do it in 30 days. And we'll reach out to people who've done it before, we'll ask for advice, never be embarrassed to ask questions. That's how you're gonna learn, that's how you're gonna move forward. And so that's just been so much part of our bootstrap mentality from day one. And slowly and slowly, I remember the first time we went to pitch target. I went in the dead of winter, maybe six or seven years ago. The meeting lasted five minutes. The buyer came in, she said, This is too expensive. No one is gonna buy a bento box this expensive. Now, come last year, Target came to us and said, Hey guys, guess what? Omi boxes very frequently searched on Target.com. We'd like to try you in a 400 store test. We did that. The inventory blew out within less than 10 days, and now we're in every Target store for back to school this season, and then in Target stores all year round, starting in October. So you just never know. And what starts off as a no doesn't mean it's no forever. It's just no at that point in time. And to be honest, we were really not ready for Target at that point in time of our trajectory. So I would just say one step at a time, one foot in front of another, and slowly but surely you'll get there.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Wow. Just incredible answer through and through. And congratulations, excuse me, on getting that return call right after being told no, she didn't give up. She actually had them pursue her. So incredible story. I'm so happy that we were able to connect and join for an episode. Everyone, again, please get ready to share this with someone that you would find value in it because we're now diving into how you navigated this incredible scale with motherhood. So please, tips, tricks, everything in between.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

I'm not gonna lie, it's really difficult. Raising children is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. And I would be remiss to tell you that it's not gonna take up all your time and effort. I think right now all I do is work and then I parent. So it's gonna take a lot of time. And one thing that I had was just a very supportive family structure. My husband really pitched in a lot. He helped a lot. And we were able to rely on daycare. Our schools had aftercare. That was really important. It takes a village. Sometimes people ask me, oh, is this your part-time job? Do you just work a couple days a week? And I say, no, no. This is my one and a half times job. I not only work Monday through Friday, I work until midnight most days. And a lot of times I work on weekends too. It's all consuming. And I'm just gonna be really upfront about you. If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, you're gonna have to put in a lot of hours. So, childcare, I think that's something that you're gonna have to make time for. So for me, most Saturdays and Sundays I don't work. Those are for my kids. And I'm able to be present for games and for play dates and things like that. But you really need a lot of people who are gonna support you, family, husbands, um, schools, in order for you to pursue this as a full-time job.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

I absolutely love how you shared that. And yes, everyone, entrepreneurship, it's not just your product brand, it's your brand, right? You are working abnormal hours be pre-revenue. I was definitely working seven days a week for whatever amount of hours, right? And that's just something that has to happen. I mean, I always feel as an entrepreneur, I could do more, right? Could but you have to recognize the power of taking breaks, resetting rest, the power of a support system in general, right? Your family and friends, that's very important. And I know once I do take that break, I usually come back sharper, more focused, with a little more clarity. So I I love how you're shedding light on that. And now I want to ask, as this will air here, prime time summer 2026, what are we looking forward to with this brand? Is there any new releases, updates coming for the end of the year, or what can we see?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

We have a very special product launching this back to skull season. Um we've been working on it for about two years and we're super excited. It's something that we've been thinking about for a long time, another bento box, but it's really unique and there's nothing like it on the market. So I'm just gonna tease out a little bit, but you'll have to wait to see in July when it launches. But I think everyone's gonna really like it. I hope so. It's certainly all of our children who've tested it have fallen in love. So we're super, super, super excited about this launch coming up.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Well, you heard it here first on that entrepreneur show. It's coming, right? So when this airs, you may be able to follow them on social media or visit their website to see some more sneak peeks and updates. So stick around just a little longer to find out how to do that, how to stay in touch with Nancy Online and everything in between. But now you've done such a great job at scaling this company. But as you said, it wasn't overnight. We talked about the target story. As you were building the brand, what were some of the more challenging parts of entrepreneurship to help out any early founders listening on today?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

I think that if you are gonna be in the business of manufacturing, you need to be there to see the process and to know it inside out. I think it's foolish to think that it would be possible to manufacture without being there on the ground and knowing all the people who are involved in making your product. I go all the time. In the beginning, I would go to my factories, well, two, three times a year. And each time I went, I would stay three to four weeks. So I spent a lot of time there. I got to know everyone really well. I got to know actually everyone on the production line because I worked on the production line. I knew what their kids' names were, what they ate for breakfast. I was able to learn a lot from working on the production line. And it takes that sort of scrutiny and presence in order to make really high-quality products. So whenever people reach out to me and ask for advice about manufacturing, the first thing I tell them is boots on the ground. That's the most important thing. And actually, one of the mentors that I had in the early days, that was the first thing he said to me. And now, you know, in hindsight, I understand why he told me that as the number one advice. So I think that's something that's really important. Number two is be really focused and scrappy. There's so many things that you can do. I think when we're starting out, we were running some meta ads, but people told us about Pinterest and YouTube and that you could do billboards or influencers or you can pay for collaborations. And one of the mentors I had at the time, she was so wise, she said, no, be focused. Just do one thing and do it well. You don't have enough bandwidth or money to try all these things right now. And that's always stayed with me. Now we constantly have so many opportunities that are thrown at us. And I always tell the team, let's focus on the one or two things that we want to do really well this year. And let's just ace it instead of chasing six different things and not doing any of them particularly well. So just stay super focused, know what you're all about, be really scrappy, ask for a free trial if you can. Any way that you can preserve capital is gonna be something smart that you do. And it's really hard to raise money these days and also in consumer products. So we're never, you know, shy of just asking for a better pricing. The worst answer that you can get back is a no. So why not try? And a lot of times you're able to, you know, really kind of get what you need and have a fair price. So we always strive to be very fair with all of our partners, particularly when it comes to product costing. So we do a really exhaustive job like costing out everything so that we can have a really fair discussion with our factories. One thing that I'll always remember is I went to a talk by one of the CMOs at Pepsi and she said, any business deal that you do that is not also a good deal for your business partner is in general not a good deal. And I've always remembered that. I think just everything we do has to be super fair because anything that's unfair is not gonna be long-lasting. So we constantly think about that as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

The transparency, I actually love how you're saying that. It's got to make sense for both parties. And you talked about the shiny object syndrome, right? Where entrepreneur is the next shiny thing. I w I mean, many of us have been there. I I definitely have, and staying focused. At one point, I remember before I went two feet in entrepreneurship, I was still using my finance degree, right? Whether it's advising, doing real estate, all these things. I'm confusing myself. I gotta be confusing my audience, right? So I was book coaching, and you know, things you have to find clarity, and that's what led me to Coming Alive Podcast Production. You have been a lights out guest, and now my favorite part of the show. If you could pick any entrepreneur, Nancy, dead or alive, to sit down with and pique their brain at this point in your career, who would you choose and why?

SPEAKER_01 17:19

There's an entrepreneur that I really admire in the fashion world, and I've been following her for a really long time, Amy Sinelik. I'm not sure if I'm butchering her name. She's the founder of a fashion brand named Tibi. And I really admire her because she actually gives a lot of business talks in her Instagram reels about how she runs her business. And she runs it with a lot of intention and purpose. She started out her business by selling to all these big box retailers and found out that the buyers are asking for her to change creative direction. You know, they were kind of butchering her prices, like making things on clearance when it wasn't meant to be. And so she took a lot of control back of her brand. And she kind of really just plays the long game. And that's something I think about a lot. She's really true to her creative vision. She doesn't make things that are chasing trends. She's really true to what her brand is all about. So we think about that a lot because there's always ways to maybe partner with somebody who's really not quite your brand aesthetic or ignition, but then you know it's gonna drive conversion in the short run. And I always think of Amy because I think I'm not in it for the short haul. I'm really in it for the long game. I want to make Omi into a as durable and long-lasting a brand as something like OXO, you know, that it's not chasing fads, just something that's every day in your life that's you can count on, that's reliable, that's high quality. So whenever I'm faced with choices where I'm like, oh, I could get a quick win, or uh, it just doesn't quite feel right, but I know it'll be right right now. I constantly think of to be in its evolution, and it really keeps me from doing the right things, forces me to do to make the right decisions.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

I can resonate in so many levels, especially early on in entrepreneurship. I had one client I took on that was outside the typical client persona per se, where a young company had cash up front and you do these things. It was a TikToker per se. And this is not a knock to any TikTokers out there or to each their own, I always say, but the alignment just did not fall through and it turned into a challenging situation. So we're not perfect. We won't know until we know sometime. So thank you for sharing that, and thank you for an absolutely rock star performance. I have to give a big shout out to how we got hooked up here today, right, Chelsea. Thank you so much for the introduction. Nancy was a terrific guest. Everyone, I know you got just as much value as me. As we're recording, I try to think of where I want the teaser to be in the beginning of the show. And then you just kept coming out with another amazing quote, right? You just kept rocking it. Well, thank you for what you brought to the show, everyone. Please remember to subscribe and share with someone who could use the tips today. Where can we find more about Ami and where can we find more about you?

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Yeah, come to my website. Uh it's omilife.com, O-M-I-E-L-I-F-E. We'll have lots of really cool products for you for back to school this season, and you can find me on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Yeah, and now I did the butchering. I said Ami, it's on Omi. So there you go. Thank you for correcting me. Everyone, my name is Vincent A. Lancy, and this is that entrepreneur show. We are located on all podcast platforms and social media platforms. And again, please share with a friend who could use the tips you just got lucky enough to hear because you tuned in today. We are brought to you today by Coming Alive Podcast Production.com. To get your journey started, head there for your free call. And with that, we are signing off today. Thank you so much from Tampa Bay. Add to the other bay.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Thanks, Vincent.