Behind the Brand: Morning Lover

1. What is the name of your company?

Morning Lover

2. What is your title?

Founder

3. Where is your company located?

Boulder, Colorado

4. Whats your current obsession?

I haven’t stopped reading (now listening) to romance novels for the last 5 years. I am obsessed with how they downregulate! Jenny Colgan and Emily Henry were my gateway drugs. Ali Hazelwood is a favorite, but currently I am on Kylie Scott. Who knows what’s next!

5. How did you hear about Naturally Colorado? What made you become a member? Has Naturally Colorado helped you in any way?

I first found out about the Naturally Network through a CPG advisor who is a mentor within the network. As a solo founder, you are constantly looking for support, and once we moved headquarters to Colorado, joining Naturally Colorado was a given. Everyone here, from other founders to board members to the team itself, has shown up for me. The biggest way Naturally Colorado has helped me, and continues to, is by being a trusted, kind, supportive source. It seems obvious, but life is cut throat. Community is survival.

6. What size is your company?

1 employee!

7. What inspired you to start your company?

Morning Lover was born out of a necessity. In 2021 I had three emergency heart procedures and was diagnosed with Crohn’s and Ankylosing Spondylitis a year later. All of it had been well managed, and most people thought I was the picture of health. Until I wasn’t. I’d taken care of so many things (I was a Pilates teacher at Equinox, gluten and dairy free, the whole list), but when I stopped and looked back, I realized I’d spent a decade cycling through morning drinks I had to stomach: they hurt, they tasted terrible, or they wired me past the point of useful. It seems absurd, but that’s how we are as humans. Listening too hard to culture or science and not to our bodies. So in that moment I kind of entered the ‘get angry or get even’ stage, and started concocting my own drink that would set up my day feeling good and end my day feeling good. What motivates me? The idea that we are on this earth for such a short time, so we might as well do what we want. Within a capitalist society, of course. Agency inspires me. Your day, your life, your choices are in your hands. You can choose to be happy, angry, sad, fit, watch TV for hours, glass half full or half empty. I ask myself every day if this is what I want to be doing, and every day I choose it again. With agency comes power. I hope to help people find more of it in their health by listening to what their bodies are asking for, and more of it in how they show up for the people around them. Both feel specifically important in this moment in time.

8. Why did you choose to focus on the natural and organic industry?

This is not even a question in my world. I was raised with a strict understanding of what food was and what food was not. I once asked my mom when I was 15 if we could buy Pop Tarts. She turned and looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘I would buy them for you, but I’m afraid you might die.’ I thought she was crazy. But now I get it. Whole foods and organic practices are life, same as water is life.

9. Can you describe the biggest challenge you faced during the early stages of your company, and how you overcame it?

I’m two years in and not sure when I will feel like I am not in the early stages of my company. It feels like there is always something else to build, to accomplish, something else you need to master before passing off. There couldn’t be just one thing to be honest, but if I were to choose: doing it alone. Specifically, trusting myself while doing it alone, which I’ve only recently started to overcome. Everyone has always labeled me as a confident person who knows herself, comfortable in a room. I mean, I went to acting school and represented talent (sales) for over a decade. But entering this space, there is so much you constantly don’t know, and yet, you are supposed to act like you do. Especially for women, the front can be a bit harder, I think. I was at SXSW a couple years ago and a lovely mentor, Jennifer Tacheff, did me a huge favor at the end of our meeting. She kindly asked if she could tell me something, then asked if I knew I was being self-effacing. I kind of balked, but also knew what she meant. I’d been knocked down by the bravado of others around me, in the rooms, on the stages with fake smiles, stories of grandeur. It took me until the last few months, and many great partnering relationships, to realize once again. That I am good. I am ready. I can take on whatever is thrown my way. I remind myself of these things even when they don’t feel true.

10. What keeps you up at night regarding your business?

Oh boy. I aim not to be kept up at night. That’s the goal. If I allowed myself to be kept up at night, the answer to this would be everything. Will my marketing hit? Will people care that it’s only whole foods? Do I know how to communicate to my customer? Will I be able to raise money? Am I too slow? Too late? Not anxious enough? We could keep going. The question might be, how do you sleep at night?

11. What strategies can you share that have been effective?

12. How important is networking, and what strategies do you use to build and maintain professional relationships?

Referencing my ‘everything is sales’ comment, I’d say networking is everything. As we know, most purchasing influence comes through word of mouth. This can also apply to vendors you need to use, or other founders who can help, support, or partner with you. Having spent my career in sales, and being a person who believes in therapy, I know myself well enough to keep my eye on what I need and when. Always be curious and learning, but understand your priorities and who can help you in that moment, and stack the people who can help later in your memory palace. For me, networking, sales, it’s not yucky. It’s a part of life. You are kind to someone, they want to help. You work hard, prove your worth, people want to be a part of it. I don’t think it has to be as hard as it can be made out to be. And it’s only gotten easier with places like Naturally Colorado, like LinkedIn.

13. What is one piece of advice or knowledge that has changed your life and why?

My parents are huge influences on the person I am today, and most of the advice that’s framed my life came from them. Their kind, blunt approach is something I have always latched onto. Two things my father said growing up have always stuck with me: Rome wasn’t built in a day. And a woman’s allowed to change her mind. One told me that it is totally normal for success, an empire, your pinnacle to take time. The other gave me the strength to understand that my choices were mine. My mother, having been the one who passed down the autoimmunes, taught me without even knowing what being healthy looked like. Sleep, love, good food, moving your body. She is who taught me that having a disease, something different, can be a super power. And I’m not sure she even knew it.

Connect with Cara.

Learn more about Morning Lover.

---

More about Behind the Brand:

Everyone has a unique founding journey and we want to hear yours and share it with the community! Whether it’s how you started, your mission or the challenges you’ve overcome, we want to spotlight you and celebrate your success and journey. 

We will feature one brand a month on our website, on social media, and in our newsletter. In addition to connecting with the Naturally Colorado community, this is an opportunity to provide support and guidance to others! 

We’re excited to hear your story, for a chance to be featured fill out this survey or submit a video!

The Naturally Colorado team will follow up with more information if your submission is chosen to be featured in the Behind the Brand series.