From Farmer’s Markets to 12,000+ Retail Locations in a Decade, With Ashley Thompson, Founder of MUSH
Dear FoundHer...Real Founder Stories for Women Small Business Owners
Lindsay Pinchuk
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you're a woman business owner over 40, join the Dear FoundHer... Forum to find support, advice, resources and mentorship—JUST FOR YOU. It’s all inside, without the gatekeeping and without the overwhelm.
Ashley Thompson transformed cold oatmeal into a powerhouse brand sold in over 12,000 retail locations, scaling MUSH from a farmers market stall to a national favorite with the help of a pivotal Shark Tank deal. Joining Lindsay Pinchuk in this episode, the MUSH founder shares how she left a fast-track finance career at Goldman Sachs at 24 to build a mission-driven business from the ground up, without a business plan, outside funding, or prior food experience.
Ashley recounts the early hustle of handmaking oats in her kitchen, demoing at local shops, and delivering products herself, all while using direct customer feedback to refine the brand. She explains how MUSH landed on Whole Foods shelves, survived a Shark Tank-fueled surge that nearly shut down the business, and ultimately scaled through smart automation and a disciplined, capital-efficient approach.
This episode shows what shaped Ashley’s choices as MUSH grew, from holding off on new products for years to building a team that could support large-scale growth across Target, Costco, and Kroger. She explains what helped her stay focused, how she made decisions with limited resources, and what she’s still learning about leading a brand at scale. If you’re building something from the ground up, there’s a lot here to sit with… and you won’t want to miss it!
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 From Farmers Markets to 12,000 Retail Locations
04:20 Quitting Goldman Sachs to Build MUSH from Scratch
14:45 Getting into Whole Foods and Landing a 10-Store Trial
19:25 Shark Tank Deal with Mark Cuban and Sudden Growth
24:35 Surviving the Post-Shark Tank Chaos
29:25 Why MUSH Focused on Retail Over DTC
34:05 Launching Protein Bars and Expanding the Product Line
39:00 Marketing Strategy Behind a National Health Brand
Connect with Ashley Thompson:
https://www.instagram.com/mush
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, guys, it's Lindsay Pinchuk, host of Deer Fountain. |
| 0:04.6 | And in just a few minutes, you're going to hear an amazing story about a product that launched at Southern California Farmers Markets and is now in thousands of retail stores nationwide. |
| 0:15.4 | Ashley Thompson, founder of mush, talks about the importance of connecting with your consumer in person, which played a large |
| 0:22.0 | role in how she launched her product 10 years ago. And I couldn't agree with her more. Connecting with |
| 0:27.5 | your community is key when it comes to figuring out what your customer needs, where they want |
| 0:32.3 | you to take your company, and how you can solve their biggest pain points. I learned this with my first company, |
| 0:37.9 | which hosted 2,000 live events for parents and parents to be over the course of a decade. |
| 0:44.0 | And now with Dear Founder, we're connecting with you both in person and through virtual |
| 0:48.1 | workshops in order to support your business growth. In addition to monthly networking events, |
| 0:52.5 | we have some bigger events coming up this fall, |
| 0:55.0 | and we can't wait to share them with you. Make sure that you get on our newsletter, which we're |
| 1:00.0 | relaunching later this summer. That way, you'll never miss the opportunity to connect with me |
| 1:04.8 | and Dear Founder in person. The link to do so is in the show notes. But for now, on to today's |
| 1:10.2 | episode. Welcome to Dear Found is in the show notes. But for now, on to today's episode. |
| 1:18.0 | Welcome to Dear Founder, the podcast that pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build and grow a successful business. |
| 1:20.4 | No gatekeeping, no fluff, just real talk. |
| 1:24.7 | I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, award-winning entrepreneur, founder, and proud member of the 1% of |
| 1:31.0 | female founders who led their company to an acquisition. |
| 1:34.6 | I bootstrapped my first company from $500 to seven figures before selling it and learned more |
| 1:40.2 | from the mistakes than from the wins. |
| 1:42.6 | What started as a podcast here has grown into a |
| 1:45.7 | movement supporting female entrepreneurs like you through not only this show, but also on |
... |
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