This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Nikki Seaman, the 29-year-old, Atlanta, Georgia-based entrepreneur behind olive brand Freestyle Snacks. Learn more about her business journey, here. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Freestyle Snacks. Nikki Seaman.
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What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
I was on an externship from my management consulting job at Bain & Co, leading special projects at Whisps Cheese Crisps.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
The idea of Freestyle Snacks came about in 2021. I found inspiration during the pandemic, as olive bars in grocery stores shut down, and I was forced to get my olive fix from the traditional olive aisle. The “eyeballs” in a jar just weren’t cutting it for me in terms of quality and convenience. So I decided to create an easier, more enjoyable way to eat olives.
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What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money/investment did it take to launch?
I started by focusing on consumer data. I lived in Mintel reports, and I ran a bunch of surveys to pressure-test if there was real demand. I would stand in the olive aisle at the grocery store and interview olive-lovers about their preferences. After calling over 200 co-packers, I was able to find a partner to bring my vision for Freestyle Snacks to life. Including our packaging design, materials and first production run, I spent around $50,000 in savings to get to market.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Freestyle Snacks
Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?
No matter the industry, finding a community and other founders to chat with is invaluable. When I was first getting started, I would stack my Fridays with meetings with other CPG founders to see what I could learn from their wins and their mistakes. For my industry, the Startup CPG community is a great place to find other like-minded individuals who are eager to help and support. In running the business, one resource that has been incredible for us lately is TikTok — it is free organic reach to millions of potential customers, and we are investing a lot of time on this platform.
If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
I would have taken more time to build a stronger bench of part-time help earlier. In the beginning, I was doing everything from shipping samples to managing QuickBooks and answering customer emails at midnight. It was, of course, scrappy, but it was also draining and unsustainable. Looking back, I could have brought in affordable support sooner to free up my time for the highest-impact work. Some of my best hires are my virtual assistants; they truly save me so much time, and the business couldn’t run without them.
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When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?
Retail distribution sounds exciting, but it is incredibly operationally intense. From logistics coordination to managing distributor deductions to planning for promotions, it is a constant challenge. It can be expensive to get your product on the shelf, and that’s just the beginning. The real fun comes in making sure the product is actually selling off the shelf.
Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
We had a few operational hiccups very early on. One nightmare was when we received our latest packaging order from our supplier, and there were holes in the packaging near the resealable zipper. We didn’t realize this until after we’d packed thousands of products. Luckily, we were able to expedite a new order of packaging and tested it thoroughly, and now we are hypervigilant about all suppliers we work with.
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
Since I didn’t go the farmers market path, we tested product-market fit by putting the product online and seeing if it sold. Within our first two days of launch, we sold over $10,000 worth of olive snacks. I started seeing consistent revenue only after the first year, once our products landed in major retailers and demand was a bit more predictable.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Freestyle Snacks
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What does growth and revenue look like now?
Freestyle is now in about 5,000 retail locations, including Whole Foods, Target, CVS, Harris Teeter and Giant Food, and we’re just getting started. We have seen strong retail velocity and six-figure monthly sales, with growth driven by expanded retail distribution and a high repeat purchase rate in our existing retail footprint.
How much time do you spend working on your business on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? How do you structure that time? What does a typical day or week of work look like for you?
This started as a side hustle but quickly turned into a full-time job and more. I now work on Freestyle full-time, often from my home office and sometimes out of our garage, which has become overflow storage. I work pretty much seven days a week, with the weekends being lighter. I love to use the weekends for catching up on admin work or internal projects and conducting store visits. My days vary but usually include a mix of operations, sales outreach and strategy, content creation and team management. I also try to carve out time for creative and strategic thinking so I do not get stuck in execution mode.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
I love creating something from nothing and seeing people genuinely enjoy it. It never gets old when someone discovers Freestyle Snacks and shares what an essential snack it has become for them, whether they are diabetic, looking for a low-calorie snack or just craving a good olive. The best is all of the folks we’ve converted to the dark green side, who used to hate olives until they tried Freestyle!
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What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
In order to succeed, you need to have grit, passion and perseverance. You will face many rejections, have to navigate operational challenges and sometimes feel like the world is crumbling around you. Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. I like to stay grounded by focusing on being 1% better each day. These incremental improvements to the business truly add up to something incredible.
This article is part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.
