Erin Wade: The Mac and Cheese Empire

I had been coming home on a day that was just super depressing. And all I wanted to do was curl up in front of the television with just like a big bowl of mac and cheese, but I realized that there was no place I could go to get really good mac and cheese, which is sort of nuts. I pulled out the recipe that I had grown up making with my dad. I made this delicious mac and cheese, and I'm sitting on my couch and eating it when I sort of have this aha moment thinking, oh, there was no restaurant I could go to get this. This restaurant should exist. I think I should open it. And so when I got fired, I was like, this is my moment to try this bizarre idea of of opening a mac and cheese restaurant. If I fail, I'll just be back to what I was already doing, which is, you know, to sell my soul to make a lot of money as a lawyer. I I realized that my worst case scenario was basically the life I was already living. Welcome to the Knowledge Project. I'm your host, Shane Parish. In a world where knowledge is power, this podcast is your toolkit for mastering the best of what other people have already figured out. If you're listening to this, it means you're not a supporting member. Members get early access to episodes, my personal reflections at the end of episodes, no ads, exclusive content, hand edited transcripts, and more.

Check out the link in the show notes for more information. My guest today is Erin Wade, who turned mac and cheese into a multi-million dollar empire. We talk about the mistakes she made starting out as a first-time founder with no experience in industry, empowering employees, open book management, her unique and viral policy on harassment, how titles can be affected. dealing with disciplinary problems at work and how she focuses and reasons around a collective success model. You'll walk away from this episode with a different lens around running a business and a front row seat for what it's like to start and scale one. It's time to listen. And learn. There are too many podcasts and not enough time. What if you could skip the noise and get just the insightful moments, even from shows you didn't know existed? That's what Overlap does. Overlap is an AI-driven podcast app that uses large language models to curate the best moments from episodes.

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