Introducing a child to common food allergens is always a stressful time for parents, but for one mom, the experience led to a trip to the emergency room. Denise Woodard of Partake Foods told Mom.com that her daughter’s first Thanksgiving was a moment she will never forget, and ultimately led her to launch a new business.
Woodard said that after introducing bananas to her daughter, she noticed she broke out in hives. She eventually discovered that her now 8-year-old daughter has food protein induced enteric colitis and is allergic to tree nuts, corn, and eggs.
But being a full-time entrepreneur comes with its own set of learning curves. The working mom says she involves her daughter in the business as much as possible and embraces seeing her daughter flex her business and marketing skills at such an early age.
“I also try to give myself grace, and knowing that some days, I’m going to show up as a really strong business person. And that means I might miss school drop-off, or I might miss pickup,” she said.
Woodard, now one of the first Black women to raise more than $1 million publicly for a CPG food startup, is basking in the moment of seeing her hard work pay off. But she says she feels like she has a responsibility to “help accelerate other Black women as they go on their entrepreneurial journeys.”
