Interview with Rachel (Rooted Living):
Northeastern University is driven by the entrepreneurial spirit of its students. The first business we’re highlighting is Rooted Living by Rachel Domb, a second year Psychology major and environmental studies minor. Rooted Living is a mission-driven, eco-friendly snack company that addresses the lack of availability of environmentally friendly and healthy snacks. As a competitive runner in high school, Rachel always needed fuel for her active lifestyle, but she cared deeply about what she put in her body. Many of the existing snack options were branded as healthy, but they were still packed with refined sugars and wrapped in single-use plastic. This inspired Rachel to tap into her love for cooking and begin making her own snacks, which she would bring to track meets in compostable bags. Her teammates fell in love with Rachel’s snacks, and from there Rooted Living’s initial product line was born.
Rooted Living’s mission is to provide healthy, sustainable snacks that improve the health of the planet and the consumer. Rooted Living snacks do not contain unhealthy and impossible to pronounce ingredients or refined sugars. Notably, the company does not use single-use plastic packaging for any of their products.
For Rachel, establishing Rooted Living has been an empowering journey. Starting her business helped Rachel realize that if she put her mind to it, she already possessed all of the tools she needed to make her vision a reality. Rachel believes that getting started is the hardest part. She credits Northeastern University’s Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship (WISE) organization as “life-changing.” Through WeBuild, a WISE thought incubator program for members’ passion projects, Rachel found an invaluable community and the support she needed to begin molding Rooted Living into a real company. The most challenging aspect was knowing where to start—there is no single guidebook that works for all businesses. However, after many hours spent researching how to start a business and guidance from WISE’s WeBuild program, Rachel launched Rooted Living. Rachel is also grateful for Northeastern’s entrepreneurial ecosystem; NU’s Scout, Northeastern’s student-led design studio, is designing Rooted Living’s brand packaging, logo, and e-commerce website. IDEA, NU’s venture accelerator, has provided critical funding.
Rachel understands firsthand how overwhelming it can be to launch your own business, especially while juggling school and co-ops, but she is confident that anyone can do it if they have a clear vision and dedicated mindset. She offered some advice to other students who are considering starting a business. Firstly, Rachel stated that “your personal story must be integrated into your brand messaging.” For Rachel, this included her passions for health, cooking, and sustainability. Rachel also says that building your professional network is essential. According to Rachel, entrepreneurs “gain something from every single connection they make.” Develop the confidence to reach out to people—most people want to support small businesses! If someone is struggling to find their passion, Rachel recommends finding mentors who inspire you. Some of Rachel’s biggest supporters were Eliana and Mia (the founders of WISE), Johnny Fayad (Eat Your Coffee), and Sophie Gechijian (F(x) foods). She is also grateful to many other people who have helped Rooted Living along the way. Rachel encourages younger entrepreneurs to celebrate every little victory and to see their age as an advantage—it sets them apart and gives them room to pivot if necessary. They should also understand that everyone is on their own path: they should not compare their step one to someone else’s step ten. And lastly, if not now, then when?
Rooted Living launches in late January or early February, featuring two granola flavors with no refined sugars or single-use plastic packaging. In the future, Rooted Living plans to extend its line to protein balls, energy balls, and easily customizable options that are convenient for anyone on the go. Rachel is an incredibly dedicated and inspiring entrepreneur, and I highly recommend supporting Rooted Living!
Instagram: @rooted_living_