How I Built This with Guy Raz: SkinnyDipped—Breezy and Val Griffith: The Flourishing Snack Company That Almost Failed

Episode Date: December 29, 2025
Guests: Breezy Griffith (CEO/co-founder), Val Griffith (Head of Innovation/co-founder)
Host: Guy Raz

Episode Overview

In this episode, Guy Raz sits down with mother-daughter co-founders Breezy and Val Griffith of SkinnyDipped, a brand that revolutionized chocolate-covered almonds with a thin, whole foods-focused coating and minimal sugar. The duo shares the emotional roots of their company, the gritty details of their underdog journey, near-collapses, and the relentless drive it took to transform SkinnyDipped from a kitchen experiment into a thriving business found in over 25,000 stores. Their story is one of innovation and learning on the job—with hard-earned insights about teamwork, entrepreneurship, and how even a flourishing brand can teeter on the edge of failure.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins: A Family in Transition and the Spark of Loss

[07:25–13:08]

• Breezy recounts her scrappy entrepreneurial attempts in Miami and New York—selling homemade sorbet and cupcakes—before realizing she was losing money but building skills by failing.
• The death of a close family friend, Josh Dickerson, prompts Breezy to return home to Seattle to be with her family, shifting her priorities toward deeper connections and meaningful work.
• Val also found herself at a crossroads, facing an uncertain freelance career and the emotional aftermath of helping Josh's family through illness.

  “It started to become a reminder as to what really mattered the most and what was most important.” – Breezy [12:43]

2. Founding SkinnyDipped: Mother-Daughter Brainstorming

[17:30–21:05]

• The team wanted to create “snacks for girls”—delicious, portion-controlled, better-for-you foods with less sugar and real ingredients.
• Influenced by a household focused on whole foods and minimal sugar.
• Inspiration strikes during a road trip; they reimagine the chocolate-covered almond as a modern, healthy snack.

  “We were constantly looking for, like, girl snacks… that would give you a little bit of energy and oomph, and we couldn’t find them.” – Val [17:44]

3. Product Development: From Kitchen Experiments to Chicken Coop Manufacturing

[23:23–41:40]

• Early attempts: deconstructing premium chocolates, experimenting with chocolate coatings, and learning the challenges of thin-dipping and protective truffling.
• Comical failures like the “paint sprayer and chocolate” experiment with Breezy’s dad; laborious manual dipping.
• Critical breakthrough came by connecting with a niche chocolatier on a blog, leading to makeshift commercial production in a converted chicken coop—dubbed “the cooperation.”

  "We might have taken those Fran's almonds and very, very, very carefully deconstructed them with a knife…" – Val [25:35] “We bought a paint sprayer… let me just tell you, it was a complete failure.” – Breezy [31:15]

4. Early Growth: Assembling a Team and Learning Raw Salesmanship

[42:26–49:44]

• Co-founders, Breezy's childhood friends Lizzie and Chrissy, joined the core team.
• Sales began in mom-and-pop stores via relentless in-person demos (sometimes seven days a week).
• Early packaging was hand-labeled “Skinny Nuts with a Z”—samples handed out everywhere for feedback.
• Chrissy hustled her way into local Whole Foods and even Google’s Seattle campus, bypassing barriers with pure tenacity.

  “In a single demo, we could easily sell, you know, 40 bags, 50 bags…” – Breezy [48:52]

5. The Naming and Branding Journey

[54:23–55:56]

• Origins and debates behind the “SkinnyDipped” name: intended to be literal and fun, not pejorative or diet-focused.
• Wanted playfulness (“skinny dipping”) and a clear message about thin chocolate coating.

  “We want women to feel great about their bodies… not because they were skinny.” – Val [54:46]

6. Big Break—and Big Panic: Target’s National Rollout

[56:23–61:29]

• Chance broker introduction leads to a Target buyer meeting; what was supposed to be a 100-store test became a chainwide (1,800 store) launch in just three months.
• No supply chain, distribution, or large-scale manufacturing in place—had to build overnight.

  “She said, ‘Okay, then, well, I’m gonna bring all your flavors in chain wide in three months.’” – Breezy [58:22]

• Catastrophe: a batch of 40,000 lbs of rancid almonds days before shipment. Breezy scrambles to source new nuts and narrowly averts disaster.

  “I will never forget the image of my mom sitting there… hundreds of nuts that she’s bitten in half… she just said, ‘There’s nothing we can do. They’re rancid.’” – Breezy [62:16 & 04:14]

7. Financial Wake-Up Call: From Growth at All Costs to Survival Mode

[66:59–76:31]

• Early culture favored growth, not profit; founders admit lack of financial literacy, gross margins in the “teens”, and tracking on sticky notes.
• The 2022 capital market freeze slams SkinnyDipped—fundraising dries up, and the company almost sinks despite enormous revenue growth.
• The team slashes spending, renegotiates supply chains, cuts trade and marketing to nothing, and takes payroll hits to keep the business afloat.
• President Mark Mortimer brings in capital to cover payroll; ultimately, Breezy secures a round of fundraising from 65 celebrity investors, including her Miami hospitality connection David Grutman.

  “We didn’t have a leaky bucket. We had a bucket with big holes… ship was going down.” – Breezy [71:41] “We cut to bone, essentially is the way I think about it. Everything.” – Breezy [75:19]

8. Breakthrough to Profitability and Balancing Growth

[78:16–79:41]

• In 2024, after 10 years, the business becomes profitable for the first time.
• Breezy underscores the need to balance responsible profitability and the realities of rapid, paid-entry growth in consumer packaged goods (CPG).
• Profitable operations finally allow investing in marketing and launching long-desired philanthropic programs.

  “It means that now we have the funds to invest more heavily in marketing… it took us 10 years to get there.” – Breezy [79:03]

9. Reflecting on the Journey: The Grind, Team, and Mother-Daughter Dynamic

[80:08–85:55]

• Both founders reflect: overnight success took a decade of relentless work, setbacks, and hard-earned camaraderie with co-founders and their “mighty team.”

  “People say to us… ‘It’s like an overnight success.’ And I always remember: it took a decade to get here.” – Breezy [80:08]

• Val expresses pride in building a successful mother-daughter business, noting that trusting Breezy as CEO was a leap of faith but the right choice.

  “To do it with my daughter has been the great honor of my life.” – Val [81:55]

• On luck versus hard work:

  “I would tell you 98% hard work and 2% luck. I mean, seriously. And you use the word grind, which is what it is. It is relentless…” – Breezy [84:31] “When people say to me, ‘Wow, you guys have been so lucky,’ I… feel the violence in my personality wanting to emerge.” – Val [84:51]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I was building these micro businesses… Really what I was doing was cultivating a skill set by failing.” – Breezy [09:50]
• “All I could think was I literally was paralyzed.” – Val [62:16] (on discovering the rancid nuts)
• “Don’t fuck this up.” – Advice from investor Rohan Oza, echoing at key moments [61:10]
• “That road trip… is really where we started experimenting in the home kitchen.” – Breezy [21:19]
• “We bought a paint sprayer… let me just tell you, it was a complete failure.” – Breezy [31:15]
• “We didn’t have a leaky bucket. We had a bucket with big holes in it.” – Breezy [71:41]
• “I used to think, wow, there’s so many father and son businesses, but you so rarely hear about a mother-daughter business… I wanted to set out to change that.” – Val [81:57]
• "It took a decade. You know, this didn’t come overnight." – Breezy [80:08]

Important Timestamps & Segments

• 04:14 – The “hundreds of rancid nuts” moment (crisis before Target launch)
• 07:25–13:08 – Breezy’s background and emotional catalyst for returning home
• 17:30–21:05 – Founding ideation, "girl snacks," and kitchen experiments
• 25:35–32:16 – Chocolate-dipping trials, paint sprayer failure, and “chicken coop” kitchen
• 42:26–46:26 – The team assembles; first grassroots sales and real-world business learning
• 54:23–55:56 – Choosing the name “SkinnyDipped”
• 56:23–61:29 – Target’s first massive order and the great almond crisis
• 66:59–76:31 – Financial freefall, rescue measures, and painful cost cutting to survive
• 78:16–79:41 – Transition to profitability and lessons on growth vs. sustainability
• 80:08–85:55 – Reflections on mother-daughter team, endurance, and what drove success

Tone & Style

This episode’s tone is heartfelt and gritty, with candid admissions about naivety, exhaustion, and setbacks. There’s warmth, humor (e.g., the paint sprayer fiasco), and a deep sense of family and team loyalty. Breezy brings infectious drive and optimism, while Val’s wisdom and visionary strengths shine through. The rapport between all is genuine, sprinkled with self-deprecating humor and honest admissions of near-failure—making their eventual success both relatable and inspiring.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Heard the Episode

This conversation delivers the unvarnished truth behind a household snack: it’s about love, grief, hustle, and a kitchen table product that almost didn’t make it. You’ll come away with rare insights into innovating in food, creating a brand from scratch, surviving the perilous “grow at all costs” era, and the bonds that hold a team—and a family—together under pressure.

End of Summary