{"id":11812,"date":"2025-03-11T12:12:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T16:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/?p=11812"},"modified":"2025-03-13T16:32:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T20:32:53","slug":"turning-passion-into-purpose-three-entrepreneurship-lessons-from-richa-gupta-and-kailey-gilchrist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/blog\/turning-passion-into-purpose-three-entrepreneurship-lessons-from-richa-gupta-and-kailey-gilchrist\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning passion into purpose: Three entrepreneurship lessons from Richa Gupta and Kailey Gilchrist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Richa Gupta, Founder of Good Food for Good<\/a>, and Kailey Gilchrist, Founder of NONA Vegan<\/a>, are on a mission: transforming their passion for food into purpose-driven, successful businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richa launched Good Food for Good, a B Corp-certified company to offer organic condiments and sauces with no added sugar, dairy, wheat or preservatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kailey turned her love for plant-based food into NONA Vegan, a thriving business producing a variety of lactose-free, gluten-free vegan sauces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two entrepreneurial stories that began 10 years ago. Two inspiring women entrepreneurs with practical advice for aspiring business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richa and Kailey were panelists in a virtual session co-hosted by Futurpreneur and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)<\/a> during StrikeUP 2025<\/a>, Canada\u2019s leading digital conference for women entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three essential lessons from their entrepreneurial journeys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Know your industry inside and out<\/strong>
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Both Good Food for Good and NONA Vegan were born with the same purpose: making good food and using it to create a positive impact. They also aimed to fill a market gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richa was looking for healthy, no-sugar, no-preservative sauces to feed her four-year-old daughter. \u201cI was working in the food industry, and the more I learned, the more I questioned what I was feeding my child. I was putting ketchup on her potatoes while taking away her cookie, without realizing that a teaspoon of ketchup contains the same amount of sugar as one cookie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the same time, Kailey was working in a health food store and searching for tasty, healthy vegan sauces. \u201cNobody was making a bottled vegan Alfredo sauce or a cashew cheese sauce back then. I had the knowledge and the passion, and after my mom passed away, I needed something to channel my grief. Cooking was my way of staying connected to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While industry experience isn\u2019t a requirement for starting a business, both entrepreneurs emphasize the importance of understanding the market before launching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKnow everything possible about your industry: the data, the numbers, the product categories. No matter what industry you enter, deep dive into it\u2014understand how it works, the supply chains, the key players. This is all crucial,\u201d explains Richa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This knowledge will be invaluable when sourcing ingredients or building reliable supply chains. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with seven different co-packers in the past 10 years,\u201d says Kailey. \u201cMastering your industry helps you pivot quickly when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Let your purpose and values guide your business decisions<\/strong>
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Both Kailey and Richa built purpose-driven businesses. Through conscious sourcing, responsible production and a commitment to quality, their companies prove that success isn\u2019t just about profit\u2014it\u2019s also about making a positive impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been passionate about inclusivity. At NONA Vegan, we say, \u2018Tutti a tavola,\u2019 which means \u2018Everyone to the table.\u2019 This applies across all aspects of life\u2014who you are, who you love and what you eat. Everyone should feel included,\u201d says Kailey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way a business communicates shapes how customers perceive the brand and builds trust. \u201cI always ask my team to pay attention to the words we use. Instead of saying, \u2018This is crazy,\u2019 or \u2018I felt paralyzed,\u2019 we say, \u2018This is wild,\u2019 or \u2018I felt frozen.\u2019 Ultimately, it\u2019s about living your brand values,\u201d Kailey explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Good Food for Good, every purchase helps someone in need. \u201cWe\u2019ve donated over two million meals through partnerships with food banks and nonprofit organizations,\u201d says Richa. \u201cOur values drive our decisions. It\u2019s about good food\u2014and food for good. The food I create for others is the food I\u2019d serve my family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Reach out for help\u2014you don\u2019t have to do it alone<\/strong>
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Both entrepreneurs credit the support they received early on from Futurpreneur and BDC, along with other entrepreneurship-focused organizations, as key to their success. From Futurpreneur\u2019s <\/strong>business plan writer<\/a> and BDC\u2019s cash flow forecast<\/a><\/strong> to loan financing, networking and mentorship, ecosystem support is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPut aside that first-time founder ego. Ask for help,\u201d says Kailey, encouraging entrepreneurs to lean into their communities. \u201cGo to events\u2014you never know who you\u2019ll meet. Entrepreneurship can be lonely, but knowing others are going through the same challenges is reassuring. There\u2019s so much to learn from each other\u2019s successes and struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For young, first-time entrepreneurs, it\u2019s crucial to seek advisors with proven track records, adds Richa. \u201cThere\u2019s a great network of support out there. The financing, planning, connections and visibility are invaluable. I have a business degree, but I had never run a business before. The advice and support I received over the years were priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Futurpreneur’s loan financing with mentorship and resources for young entrepreneurs, here<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong>

You can<\/em> learn more about how BDC supports women entrepreneurs, here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

StrikeUP 2025 registrants can re-watch content from the conference, here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is presented in partnership with:<\/strong>

Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richa Gupta, Founder of Good Food for Good, and Kailey Gilchrist, Founder of NONA Vegan, are on a mission: transforming their passion for food into purpose-driven, successful businesses. Richa launched Good Food for Good, a B Corp-certified company to offer organic condiments and sauces with no added sugar, dairy, wheat or preservatives. Kailey turned her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":11832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneurship","category-futurpreneurs-and-partners"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}