Stein, a holistic nutrition counselor, couldn’t find sweets on grocery shelves that she was comfortable recommending to clients — everything was too unhealthy. So in 2008, she decided to create her own, selling muffin mixes at a local triathlon as a side hustle to help promote her business.
The side hustle overtook her full-time job: Today, Stein is the CEO of Purely Elizabeth, a Boulder, Colorado-based natural foods company that brought in $147 million in sales last year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. The 50-employee company’s sales have grown almost every year since its launch, and it reached profitability in 2023, a spokesperson says.