607: How I Built a $120M/Year Cookie Business From My Appartment | Loren Castle

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Loren Castle turned a life-threatening cancer diagnosis at 22 into the spark that built Sweet Loren’s, a $120M-a-year clean food brand now sold in over 5,000 supermarkets nationwide. In this interview, Loren shares how she bootstrapped her way from baking cookies in a tiny New York apartment to landing Whole Foods without packaging, rebranding her entire product line to be allergen-free, and scaling a household name—all while staying profitable and purpose-driven. From surviving adversity to mastering product-market fit, Loren’s story is proof that a personal mission can grow into a multimillion-dollar movement. What you’ll learn from this interview: • How Loren built Sweet Loren’s from $25K in savings to $120M+ in annual revenue • The pivotal moment she went all-in on allergen-free ingredients—and why it worked • How she landed Whole Foods before having proper packaging • The exact process she used to find true product-market fit through live demos • Why customer obsession is the ultimate growth strategy • How mentorship transformed her leadership and focus • The decision that created a moat around Sweet Loren’s in a saturated market • How to compete on shelf with billion-dollar CPG brands • Why staying small, focused, and profitable was the real superpower By the end of this interview, you’ll walk away with practical lessons on product development, brand positioning, and resilience—so you can build a mission-driven brand that truly stands out in competitive markets. SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to ⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠ to get started. HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠ CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN Instagram → ⁠https://www.instagram.com/nathanchan⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/⁠ CONNECT WITH LOREN CASTLE Website → https://sweetlorens.com/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/lorenbcastle/ LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/loren-brill-castle/ FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES YouTube → ⁠https://bit.ly/2uyvzdt⁠ Website → ⁠https://www.foundr.com⁠ Instagram → ⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundr/⁠ Facebook → ⁠https://www.facebook.com/foundr⁠ Twitter → ⁠https://www.twitter.com/foundr⁠ LinkedIn → ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/⁠ Podcast → ⁠https://www.foundr.com/podcast

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Founder Fam, I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omniscend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e-commerce founders. We've been recommending OmnisCent to Founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling the seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results.
0:24.0	Did you know on average, Omnysend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment.
0:32.6	And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code Founder 50.
0:39.3	Just head to Omnicend.com forward slash founder without the E to get started.
0:45.1	All right.
0:45.9	Now let's jump back into the show.
0:48.8	Welcome back to the founder podcast.
0:50.8	What of being diagnosed with cancer at 22 became the catalyst for building a
0:55.4	$120 million a year food brand? There's now in over 5,000 supermarkets nationwide. Well, today's
1:02.0	guest is Lauren Castle, founder of Sweet Lawrence. And after surviving cancer, just three months out
1:07.0	of college, Lauren channeled her passion for clean eating into creating what she calls
1:11.0	the best cookies in the world. Starting with only $25,000 in savings, demoing cookies from a rolling
1:17.3	suitcase on the New York subway and landing Whole Foods before she even had proper packaging.
1:22.4	In this conversation, you're going to discover how to start impossibly small and use
1:26.9	customer feedback to find true
1:28.6	product market fit before scaling and why going all in on allergen-free ingredients became
1:33.5	their competitive moat and superpower and the power of weekly mentorship sessions with
1:38.3	advisors outside your industry and how they help Lauren stay focused through the chaos
1:43.5	of building a CPT brand.
1:47.7	Hear the stories. Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through
1:53.8	entrepreneurship. Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chan.
2:01.6	So you were diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at 22, which led you to drastically change your diet.
	...

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