Summary On this very raw episode of Startup Junkies, hosts Jeff Amerine, Caleb Talley, and Victoria Dickerson chat with repeat guest and serial entrepreneur Deric Calhill, founder of Wicked BOLD, a company that crafts small-batch, all-organic vegan chocolate utilizing ethically sourced cacao and just four other real ingredients. Deric founded Wicked BOLD chocolate with his wife Brooklynn in 2019 after years of not being able to find a dairy-free chocolate. Now, four years later, Wicked BOLD has flourished and is being sold in Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, and Sprouts stores nationwide. Throughout the episode, Deric discusses his success on social media, the multiple books he’s authored: Zero to Side Hustle and Have You Ever Had a Silly Idea?, and how wealth doesn’t always mean that you’re happy or that you’re making conscious money. Show Notes (0:52) Introducing Deric Calhill (1:15) Wicked BOLD’s Origin Story (11:14) Deric’s Social Media Strategy (17:05) About Zero to Side Hustle (23:44) Redefining Wealth (31:28) Being Able to Trust Yourself (36:59) Advice to Younger Self (41:12) Closing Thoughts Links Jeff Amerine Caleb Talley Victoria Dickerson Deric Calhill Wicked BOLD Zero to Side Hustle Have You Ever Had a Silly Idea? Quotes “We read ingredients and a lot of mainstream chocolate had corn syrup in it or artificial flavors, and it was bullshit because chocolate is such a simple food. We decided we can probably go and make it simple. And I think I credit it because neither of us come from food so we’re not immersed in this crazy ingredient world. We were so simple going into it. We just believed that we could do it.” - Deric Calhill, (5:54) “I’m obviously very entrepreneurial and capitalistic, and I love making money, but I don’t love making money so much that I’d bring my value system down in order to do it.” - Deric Calhill, (7:20) “....because you put yourself out there when you start a business, when you post a video, when you try to write a book, you’re putting your soul on the line that says this is what I think I can be good at…No one successful is going to try to hurt someone else because they’re too busy being successful.” - Deric Calhill, (15:42) “If you’re going after perfection, you’re never going to start anything because it’s never going to be perfect. And whatever you start is going to suck horribly. It’s going to take you forever to evolve into something that’s actually cool…I was after perfection because it meant a lot for me to give this experience that I’d failed at so many times and give that to someone else at the very beginning of their journey to inspire them to go start something.” - Deric Calhill, (17:46)

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