Addison LaBonte: Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. 

James Lacey: Get ready to meet Addison Labonte, founder of Sweet Addison’s. Addison's mission, to make gluten-free treats that are clean, tasty, and satisfying. Listen as Addison shares her story of passion.

Addison LaBonte: Sweet Addison’s is a brand of soft and thick desserts that are made with wholesome, better for you ingredients.

So I have been a lifelong baker and after college learned that I had to be gluten-free for health reasons. So immediately I started to try to make all of my favorite dessert recipes using gluten-free flour and it's been a lot of trial and error. It's been eight years now since I've been a gluten-free, so I've had a lot of, I've had a lot of, I'll call them lessons, not failures in the kitchen. And I launched sweet Addison's in January of 2024 because the gluten-free products that I was looking for weren't on the market.

So I'm a very healthy person. I love working out and I look at all the ingredients I eat. And I was a little bit alarmed at the ingredients that are in a lot of the things that we eat, especially gluten-free products, they're typically loaded with extra sugar to make them taste normal. So I thought I'm going to create a brand that's a truly better for you dessert experience. It's been a whirlwind, but it's been a lot of fun.

James Lacey: That's awesome. And for anybody that hasn't seen Sweet Addison's website, you just go and I guarantee you'll end up buying something like that. It is so, it's beautifully done, but also just look so delicious. And the ingredients are, like you said, so clean.

I always think it's an interesting journey from the point of concept to actually creating a product or brand and, you know, or experiencing a problem and then actually building something into a solution that feels like when you speak about it in hindsight, it sounds like such a, like just a skip into that you know, but I feel like there's a huge process.

And for somebody that's, you know, walking through something where they've experienced an issue in their life and have seen a solution that they're thinking, Oh, maybe others can benefit from this. What would you say to that person that is in the place of how do I go from this idea to actually beginning to build a product or a brand?

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Addison LaBonte: I really believe in mentorship and finding a great mentor, someone who's been there, done that gone before you, who's been successful at whatever you're trying to pursue and meet them for coffee, call them, get on a zoom call with them and just ask them all the questions that you have. I have found most people to be incredibly generous with their time and their knowledge, when I thought about starting Sweet Addison's I had no idea what I was doing.

I didn't know how to ship products around the country. And are these cookies going to spoil or crumble? Or how do I order bulk ingredients? Am I allowed to start out of my home kitchen? How do I get the barcodes on these products? What is a nutrition label have to look like?

I mean, I truly didn't know anything, but, Everything you can figure out through Google and YouTube and people in the industry. It's just a matter of making those connections, doing your research, everything is figure-out-able. It's out there for people to figure out and to learn. Nothing is just going to be handed to you and given to you. You really have to do the work, but it's truly out there if you're interested.

James Lacey: Do you think there's an element of, I suppose, fear, but also impatience that some people may have on the side of wanting to do what you're saying and kind of agreeing with what you're saying and kind of agreeing with what you're saying and saying, yeah, there is, there is the ability to know all of this, but it just seems so much.

And it seems like it's going to take so much time. from your experience, like you said, you've been on an eight-year journey, I think is what you said. And so what would you say, to that person that's a little bit impatient and they want it now? and how they can approach things.

Addison LaBonte: I totally understand that because once I had the idea for sweet Addison's, I wanted to launch it as soon as possible.

But I needed to have certain things in place before I was ready to launch it. You don't necessarily want to mess up your launch. But at the same time, I do think it's important to move with speed and to launch your product and then get customer feedback and then tweak it as needed. I would just encourage people to not try to wait for the perfect time or the perfect packaging or the perfect product.

You're always going to be innovating and things will never be perfect. I mean, most companies are always a work in progress anyway. So if you wait for everything to be perfect, you will be waiting forever at the same time. I don't think it's smart to act just out of impatience. Sometimes, good things will take a while and that's okay.

If I had launched with the first iteration of the chocolate chip cookie, It was a disaster. I mean, these cookies turned into pancakes. They just in the oven, they completely spread. And I thought, ew, I don't even want to eat this. And also, I can't ship something that's, razor-thin, a razor-thin cookie.

It's just going to get demolished in the mail. So it's important to both take your time and move with speed, which I understand that's a juxtaposition, but you need to have a really solid product, but things might not be perfect. So again, having a mentor for me was really instrumental in all of this.

And then touching on your question about fear, It's terrifying. I mean, I put my name and my face on this brand, and it was about a year ago now that I was finalizing the first recipe, getting things set up legally, getting my website up and going, and I just remember feeling this sense of fear thinking, what if nobody buys this?

I've done all this work. I've spent thousands of dollars on ingredients and recipe testing and all this time and what if it's not really a business and nobody cares and nobody buys it, and there's always going to be that sense of fear, but you just need to have enough courage and you need to be brave enough to overcome that.

James Lacey: Wow. So it's only been a year since you have been really all in and published and gone live. Is that right?

Addison LaBonte: I launched January 30th. So it hasn't even been quite a year yet.

James Lacey: That is, that is wild because I know that you've been, in some aspects, taking off fairly quickly for launching a brand that, that recently, I saw that you were in was it New York, what you were in and doing a pop-up?

Addison LaBonte: DC, Washington DC.

James Lacey: DC Sorry. Yeah. And so just, I feel like I'm, and I'm, following you and I feel like I'm seeing you everywhere. That's, it's incredible to have such a, I don't want to say quick because everybody thinks something is an overnight success, but they don't see the 10 years that have gone into it working on something like you were sharing a little bit.

But yeah, I love what you're saying about mentorship and, and I think it is actually really true. The balance between patience and also wanting to act with urgency in a way, it's like it is something that feels like they contradict one another, but you have to walk in tandem with that. Is there any things that you've learned either of the past year over the past years as you've been walking this journey and having this idea and wanting to bring it to fruition that you've learned of how to stay focused or motivated on a day to day basis. Any like, daily routines or things that you've just learned during that process.

Addison LaBonte: I am naturally a very disciplined person. I was a division one college soccer player and that experience has really set me up for Success. It forced me to become very disciplined. I've never struggled with motivation, but I also think that motivation is somewhat of a myth because I don't wake up and say, I can't wait to work 20 hours straight today.

And it's going to be so much fun, and I have all this energy. No, I'm exhausted. It's because I'm disciplined. So discipline comes in where motivation would fail you. So I think discipline more than anything is what it takes to be an entrepreneur and there are so many times where I have to choose my business over doing fun social things or taking the day off or just, hanging on the couch, doing whatever, watching TV, I have to be extremely disciplined. So For me, that's what the success comes down to.

James Lacey:  I think I heard somebody say recently that there are quite a few people who are disciplined and then there are a fair few people that are consistent, but there's very few people that are consistently disciplined. And I thought that was brilliant and it sounds like, you are maybe one of those very few people that are consistently disciplined, which I think is what it takes.

Addison LaBonte: I, I agree with that. Consistency is huge. I have to get up everyday and choose to work on this business. You know being self employed, there's no boss that's telling me the hours that I have to work. But also, I wouldn't trade entrepreneurship for, A corporate America job. I get to be my own boss and I get to choose when I work and I'd rather work 100 hours for myself than 40 hours for someone else. It's crazy to say, but having some autonomy over my time and but I just wouldn't trade it.

James Lacey: That is a really interesting statement because I think that's become a conversation, it's become more known. I think for a long time, entrepreneurship was this very, nice sounding thing where you just work for yourself and you have all this freedom and you're going to be an entrepreneur because you want your freedom back and it's going to be great. 

But in fact, it takes a lot more than it does, working a job in corporate America. So for you to make that statement, it's really interesting. I think it is a very telling sign of somebody who probably is called to entrepreneurship saying, I will willingly gladly work a hundred hours versus 40 for someone else.

That's a bold and powerful thing to hear. Is there anything that, keeps you motivated and inspired in the tough times? I know you said that, it's discipline over motivation, which I love. In spite of that, is there still something that kind of you, you grip onto and say, this is my why.

Addison LaBonte: My biggest why is my customers, the messages that I get from people saying how I changed their life or my desserts were part of their birthday or I've even had several people get my cookies for their wedding, which is mind blowing to me. And I've had messages from people saying I bought these for my birthday and I haven't been able to eat cookies because I'm gluten-free and whatever it is. So, my biggest why is my customers and I'm not just saying that to, to sound nice.

They really keep me going on the tough days because I'm able to remove the focus off of myself and instead of thinking about how tired I am or you know, insert emotion, frustrated, whatever it might be, I just think about my customers and how much I want to deliver for them. So they're my biggest why.

And then I also, I also think being a division one athlete allowed me to have a very long-term vision and know that even though things are a hustle right now, that someday this will pay off and I'll have a team around me and I won't necessarily be working 20 hours a day. And it also allowed me being a college athlete, allowed me to compartmentalize my life.

And it allowed me to see, it allowed me to succeed at things that I didn't necessarily want to do. And, I didn't want to run fitness tests at six in the morning, but I had to, and I had to succeed at those, right? Or else I wouldn't be on the team. So when I'm working these long days and long hours, it allows me to say, this isn't forever and this will pay off, but this is the, I guess, sacrifice that I'm willing to put in right now.

James Lacey: Yeah, that's huge. I don't think that's talked about enough is the preparation period and even prior to maybe what it is that you're working on now, it could be in completely different contexts. Is there any, you kind of touched on this already, is there any specific mistake that you've experienced already in business and like a major lesson you've learned from it or just overarching general mistakes and how you learn from them?

Addison LaBonte: I would say that one of the biggest lessons I've learned is, everyone you meet will give you advice and will give you their perspective on things. But at the end of the day, you have to trust your own gut instinct. So I've heard people say, do this, don't do this. You have to do this. You can't do this. And I have to trust myself as the CEO of this business to decide what is best for sweet Addison's going forward.

And so there are people that said, why would you get into the food business? It's, it's very competitive. It's cut-throat, the manual labor. And I said, cause this is what I'm passionate about and this is what I think my gift is to the world is these desserts and baking, and so I'm going to pursue this.

And then there's people that say, open a bakery. And then people say, don't open a bakery. So it's, you get all this unsolicited advice and I, most people mean really well. They're just trying to share their experiences with you. But at the end of the day, you need to be the CEO and you need to decide what is best for your business.

James Lacey: That sounds like that comes with experience.

Addison LaBonte: Yes.

James Lacey: Otherwise, I think you could probably end up turning in 300 different directions, at the same time and going around in circles. Leadership can, I think, become quite a lonely place. you're running a business, you talked about this earlier sacrifices that have to be made.

You can become maybe slightly isolated in a place of leadership too. Is there anything that you're learning, in how to balance that and stay connected to your friends, family, or just even outside world, outside of business?

Addison LaBonte: You're right. Entrepreneurship can be very isolating and lonely. It's a lot of time by myself and it's also a lot of my weekends and nights I spend working and some people don't understand that and that's fine. Because the average person doesn't work until 2 a.m. and they don't necessarily understand that, so it can definitely be difficult, and it can feel very lonely at times, I would just encourage people to get outside, go for a walk or run with a friend or family member. 

Since I spend so much time in the car, that's a great time to catch up with a friend and you know, call them or whatever it is. I actually have some of my friends who help me package the cookies, ship orders out.

So I'm able to see them that way. But I've also had to say to some of my friends, listen, it's not you, it's me. I love you, you're amazing. But right now I need to focus on this and I would love your support. And just realize that if you don't hear from me for a couple of days, it's not because something happened.

It's just because I'm really busy working on my business and so far, my family and friends have been very, very supportive and I'm incredibly thankful for that, but it is a lot of time spent alone.

James Lacey: Yeah, it seems like from what I've heard elsewhere as well, the, there is a lot of importance that comes with the support of those around you.

And you know, because of the decisions that you have to make, and you've talked about the sacrifices. It's maybe harder if people don't understand those and can become hurt or distanced by them, but those that kind of are willing to accept and say, we get it, go for it. And even if we don't fully understand, we want to back you and support you in this.

And like you said, it's so cool that you have your friends, a part of the journey, a part of the growth. I think that's like you talked about long term, that's probably going to tend to something that's really beautiful.

Addison LaBonte: Thank you. I appreciate that.

James Lacey: Is there a favorite quote that you have or a favorite piece of advice maybe that a mentor has given you that comes to mind?

Addison LaBonte: There's two quotes that I really like. One of them is don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. I think it's so important because there's always the fear of what if this doesn't work out or what if I fail, but that shouldn't hold you back from pursuing your dreams. I really believe that life is way too short to not, not chase after something that you really want to do, and then my, one of my other favorite quotes is there's no traffic on the extra mile, because most people aren't willing to go the extra mile. So you're, and that's where the loneliness comes in. You'll often be the only one there. But that's what it takes to be number one.

I've also heard the quote, you have to be odd to be number one. And I think that's funny. I was a math major in college, so I think it's just a little bit comical, but I, it's very true. There's a reason why successful people are successful and it's because they're willing to do the things that 99 percent of people aren't willing to do.

James Lacey: It makes sense. I love that. I've never heard that you have to be odd to be number one. That’s so true.

Addison LaBonte: Yes.

James Lacey: Is there an element, element of faith that goes into decision making for you or whether it's faith in yourself, faith in God, that comes into your business decisions or comes into your journey?

Addison LaBonte: Absolutely. I'm a Christian. My faith means everything to me. And it's funny, back when I had this scary health diagnosis, I, was like, okay, God, I don't know why I'm going through this and why I suddenly have to be gluten-free and my whole life has to change. And now I can look back and say, wow, God knew exactly what he was doing as always, because it's now my whole career and it's my passion and I'm able to have this amazing job that I love. And, you know looking back, It all makes sense. But at the time I was very confused, by I had all these health issues and I mean, I was too sick to run. My doctor said you might not ever be able to run again. And yeah, I was diagnosed with something called compartment syndrome, which is a blood circulation and inflammation issue.

As I was running, my legs would lose all feeling, they'd be completely numb. And went to my doctor and he said, you have compartment syndrome. I suggest that you either get surgery or you quit running altogether because you're doing permanent nerve damage. This is very dangerous for you. You might not be able to ever run normally again.

And I did a, an overhaul of my diet and it ended up being gluten. That was the issue. And eight months after my doctor said that to me, I finished my first marathon and I was able to do that safely. I felt every step of the way. It's just, so I ignited this passion in me to share my story with people.

And I started an Instagram account called (organically) Addison and I just took off. I'm at like almost 200, 000 followers on Instagram. And that's where the cookie business came from. As people said, you're talking about all this gluten free stuff and making all these cool recipes. Where can we buy it?

So again, I never in a million years thought I'd be an entrepreneur. I never ever thought I'd be doing what I'm doing, but it's way better than I could have imagined.

James Lacey: Wow, that is, I'm speechless. Just there's so many components within that story that without faith, without having a relationship with God, I think it could have gone in such a different direction.

And you know, you, you're walking that, that journey out, which, you know it's easy to hear things like that, I think and also in hindsight, as a listener, or you see the victory and the testimony on this side in some ways. But having, walking through that, I can only imagine how difficult that was, the athlete that you were and hearing information like that.

So to think that eight months after you, you finished a marathon and that you found what was causing the issue and then have now built out a career, a business, a growing brand. Yeah, that, that sounds like a God story to me.

Addison LaBonte: Absolutely.

James Lacey: It's really beautiful. Is there anything that you'd say to somebody that maybe is in a similar place that you were when you just received that news or when you were walking through, the pain of what you were going through something that maybe just to encourage someone saying, I kind of, I get it, but there is a way out or that there is hope?

Addison LaBonte: There's always hope. I would encourage people to be their own advocate. So my doctor was trying to have me get surgery or quit running. And I thought, I'm not interested in either one of those, there has to be a better way. And I was willing to go through the process of healing myself naturally.

And it, it ended up being gluten, that was the issue. But I would really encourage people to be their own advocate. Just because a doctor says you need to do this or you need to do that. Nobody knows your body better than you do. And you have to stick up for yourself and not just accept what someone says just because they said it. So there's always, always hope. Never lose hope.

James Lacey: That's good. Hope, hope, Everlasting. Is there anything specific that you're learning at the moment?

Addison LaBonte: There's so much I'm learning every day. It's so much. I would say, I would say coming back to just trusting yourself and knowing you, you know what's best for your business.

Now, again, it's important to have mentors and it's important to have the support of family and friends, but at the end of the day, it's your business and you have to decide where you want to take it and what you want to do with it. So it's so important to not second guess yourself. And I think that's one of the biggest lessons I've learned this year is there's been so many people that say, I want to help you. I want to do this, you should do that. And it has to come down to me and what I want to do and where I want to take this business.

James Lacey: Makes sense. Is there anything that you're experiencing as the major roadblock right now to scaling is that, as you're growing, you're coming up on, on a year in business. Is there any specific roadblocks that you're having to navigate, how you innovate or that type of thing?

Addison LaBonte: The biggest thing right now is building out a team. I've never been someone's boss. So trying to hire people and train them on certain things and I also want it to be a really fun, collaborative working environment.

I don't want to be a dictator. So building out the team as we grow in scale has been the biggest challenge, but it's something that's absolutely necessary if I want to really grow this business.

James Lacey: Makes sense. I think that's wise leadership. Just, closing out is just a couple last things I'd love to ask you.

And one, one key question that we'd love to ask everybody. But real quick, is there anything that you would share just, from your heart, either from business experience, from faith perspective, just really anything that's maybe gripping your heart at the moment from experience in business or life, that if you were to just, after hearing us talk about this journey, in life and business, that you would want to say to somebody, if you had 30 seconds of their time, to just encourage them.

Addison LaBonte: God's plan is always better than your plan. That's what I would say. That's simple. It comes down to that. I never in a million years, like I said, thought I'd be doing this, but it's way better than what I previously thought I wanted. So I have to trust in God's plan for my life and really step into this place that he has me at right now. So that would be my encouragement to people.

James Lacey: That's a good one. You never know what life has for you. Is there anything that you're really excited about right now? Or like, that's coming up that's next for you or the business that you're just excited to step into?

Addison LaBonte: I really feel like 2025 is going to be one of the best years of my life. 2024 was life changing. I mean, I'm having so much fun. And as I continue to grow and scale this business, I think it's off to the races and a short term launching a couple new flavors for the holidays that I'm really excited about. But I just think looking ahead to next year, I really want to grow this business and I'm incredibly thankful for the mentors that I have in my life and these people that want to run this race with me. I'm just incredibly grateful for the people that God has put in my life at the perfect time.

It's kind of  crazy to think about this year, since starting this business, I have met some of my favorite people I've ever met. And it's really cool to think that if I never took this leap of faith and started this business, I wouldn't have them in my life. And it's really hard to imagine my life without some of these people. So again, it just goes back to, you know, God's plan is the best. But I'm, so excited for the next year and beyond, I just, I wake up every day and pinch myself that this is what I get to do and I have amazing customers who order for me and love my product and just, being able to bring that sense of joy and hope to people is, is incredibly fulfilling.

James Lacey: That is exciting. I'm excited. That's it's got me excited. Just thinking about it and thinking about and following along with sweet Addison's journey. I'm definitely going to be doing that just because I'm fascinated and I believe in what you're doing as well from that solution, I think so.

I know so many people that have had real bad experiences because of gluten and have had to step back from it and have found it really difficult. And so I think delicious, delicious desserts that are gluten free and good for you. It's a huge thing for people. So I'm really thankful for what you're doing.

I just wanted to, wrap up with, a final question, which, we love to ask, which is what does real fulfillment mean to you?

Addison LaBonte: Waking up every day, getting to do what you love and surrounding yourself with people that you love and who uplift you, it just comes down to, I love what I do and I love serving my customers.

And like I said, I wake up so excited every day to do what I do and being able to share this experience, both with family, friends and the customers. That's what real fulfillment means to me.

James Lacey: That's awesome. Addison, thank you so much for your time. Is there anywhere that we can follow along with you, Sweet Addison's just want to make sure that people know where they can go to either grab some deliciousness or, or follow along with you.

Addison LaBonte: Yes, absolutely. So my website is sweetaddisons.com on Instagram, we are sweet.addisons and then TikTok is eatsweetaddisons. So that's where people can find me if they want to use the code free cookie at checkout on my website, they get a free cookie on their first order.

James Lacey: Awesome. That is amazing. Thank you so much Addison for your time today. This was just so fun and encouraging. I hope you were blessed. That is it for today's episode of the Fulfilled podcast and we'll see you on the next one.