Today on the show, I chat with Kat Thomas and unpack her inspiring yet challenging entrepreneurial journey thus far. Kat opens up for the first time about her struggles as a founder and shares lessons about starting a company and finding your identity outside of work. Kat earned her BA from Duke, started her career at Goldman Sachs as an algorithmic trader of European equities, served as COO of American Health Associates, and co-founded MUSH, a ready-to-eat refrigerated oats brand. She even secured funding from Mark Cuban on ABC's Shark Tank and helped scale to thousands of retailers nationwide. Her decade of business experience has shaped her into an incredible leader and operator today as CEO of Bare Performance Nutrition. Enjoy the episode! Topics: (00:00) - Intro (00:55) - Reality of being a founder (04:30) - What would you do if money wasn’t a concern? (08:30) - Problems in the food industry (13:30) - Kat’s founder story (28:26) - Being your own boss (34:57) - Asking for help (41:00) - Scaling MUSH (49:30) - Appearance on Shark Tank (01:05:53) - 4 Phases of Founder (01:12:41) - Emotional attachment to your business (01:16:29) - Finding our identity (01:26:23) - Kat’s health struggles (01:54:55) - Why you need strong relationships Follow for more: IG: https://www.instagram.com/nickbarefitness/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@nickbarefitness Keep up with Kat here: IG: https://www.instagram.com/_thekatea/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-thomas