Meet the Audience: Chelsea Pratt
Chelsea Pratt | Founder, HYDEE
What inspired you to dive into the start-up world, despite all the risks and uncertainties that come with it?
I think I have always taken a bit of a naive approach and focused more on the problem I am solving as opposed to the risks of what could go wrong. When I get really passionate about something, I enjoy the process of finding a way around the hurdles that inevitably arise. I grew up with an entrepreneur as a father, and I think it has just always been ingrained in me.
I started my first business when I was 17! It was a flop, but actually got so many comments on the website I had built that I ended up pivoting and designing/developing websites freelance, which funded me through university. So while it is scary and the risks definitely have led to many sleepless nights in the past few months, the excitement and passion somewhat balance it out.
Why was it important for you to take a holistic, purpose-led approach to your business, even knowing it will require more time, energy, and complexity?
I have always seen business as a way to make a difference in the world, and I actually believe that if you have a clear purpose behind anything you do in life, then although it may take more time, it usually will take less energy than if you weren’t led by purpose.
My dad always told me his measure of success was how many families he could support through his business, and that for me really changed how I saw business.
Yes, obviously, there is the commercial aspect, but actually having a profitable business enables so much good if you have a clear purpose and are channeling it in a meaningful way.
Are you starting to see a return, tangible or intangible, from building your business around purpose?
It is still early days but I do believe that the traction we have got so early on has been a combination of two things - one being the power of brand, as a brand strategist this is something that I truly believe in the value of and having a network of friends who are incredible designers meant that I was able to communicate the vision and have see it brought to life better than I could ever have imagined by one of my best friends and old colleagues, Madison Ford. And the brand then became the bedrock of telling our story.
The bigger why behind HYDEE and my own personal challenge and desire to not see others go through the same challenges, which led to the development of the products we have today.
Building a solution for a challenge you have faced always creates a much more powerful outcome, and seeing that so many other people resonate with the products and purpose behind the brand and seeing them now loving and feeling the benefits from HYDEE is truly what it is all about.
When you imagine the world 20 years from now, what does it look like? And what gives you hope that we can get there?
Less diet talk, more sustainable daily habits and real food fueling. Dr. Stacey Sims gives me hope - the movement she is creating and getting huge traction around is so empowering to me having been on my own journey of under-fueling and getting sucked into diet culture, the way she is changing the conversation and empowering so many women to now eat BEFORE they train and recover well after is so exciting to me.
That is exactly the foundation that HYDEE is born upon, to make fueling your body well to feel your best, something that is empowering, enjoyable and comes naturally; both in habit and ingredients - starting with hydration.
What’s one piece of wisdom you’d share with other young entrepreneurs building businesses grounded in purpose?
Keep coming back to why you started and check in with that purpose regularly, BUT also check your margins and ensure you can create a profitable business model because profit is what enables you to deliver on your purpose and vice versa.
I have a couple of incredible mentors who were stern with me about margins. I find pricing so challenging because I just want everyone to be able to afford it, but the best advice I was given is that if you aren’t profitable, then you can’t use your business for good.
I truly believe purpose elevates profit, but profit is what enables you to act on your purpose! They aren’t mutually exclusive.
When things get challenging, how do you stay grounded in your values and original vision?
I go back to why I started and try to remind myself that nothing worth having comes easy, then I ring one of my mentors, as I am learning that talking always helps. Or I go for a run! This always grounds me and clears my mind and connects me directly to my purpose.
