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Encore from February 4, 2021: Mat Franken is the Founder and CEO of Aunt Fannie's, a line of healthy cleaning household products. Like many in the health and natural space, Mat did not set out to become an entrepreneur: his company is the direct result of a family medical challenge. Wanting to share what he discovered, he launched the first Aunt Fannie's product in 2015. And so began the company’s mission to prioritize wellness from the outside by creating people-friendly, pet-friendly, and non-toxic products for all.
Outside of Aunt Fannie’s, Mat is a Contributor at Entrepreneur Media, Advisor at adVenturesAcademy, and a Mentor with Built Oregon. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida.
Mat Franken shares the story behind founding Aunt Fannie's
How Mat's background in finance helped him in the new business
How Mat began making his products at home, brought in professionals to create great formulations, and started selling in Whole Foods
Selling directly to consumers and how Mat transitioned to selling in conventional stores
How Aunt Fannie’s has been impacted by COVID-19
How Mat bootstrapped Aunt Fannie’s and what he learned from the experience
The non-cleaning products sold by Aunt Fannie’s and the first employees Mat hired
Mat talks about his future plans for Aunt Fannie’s, his thoughts on how COVID-19 has changed our buying habits, and how he wants to scale the business
The biggest challenges Mat faced growing his business and how he handled them
Where to learn more about Aunt Fannie’s and healthy cleaning
A little-known fact: most household cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that are harmful to our health. Since the FDA doesn’t regulate this industry, many companies fail to list all the ingredients they use to formulate their cleaning products. The result? Household cleaning products with ingredients that are harmful to humans, pets, and the environment.
When Mat Franken's child developed health challenges, he discovered that the cleaning products used in his home were causing the problems. He set out to find a solution and ended up crafting his own product—with results. From his own success, he decided to start a business and provide the same solution to other people.
Mat Franken, the Founder and CEO of Aunt Fannie's, is this week's guest on the NexxtLevel Podcast. Today, he talks to Steve Cleere about his journey to find the right cleaning products for his family and how that led to his business, Aunt Fannie's. Mat also shares how his background in finance helped him bootstrap the business and his strategies for handling the challenges caused by the pandemic while continuing to grow the company.
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