Based on how our story began, you wouldn’t expect my relationship with John Leahy to amount to anything. In 2009, our investors persuaded me to hire a president, a partner to manage the day-to-day at KIND Snacks. I agreed to meet John because he came at the strong recommendation of our head of finance, Dan Kruk, but we had already completed our search and were about to make an offer to someone else (which I kindly told John during our meeting). Meanwhile, John almost didn’t make it to our meeting. As a 5 year old start up with just 30 team members, we were in a decrepit office space above a restaurant that nearly scared him away. It was a far cry from what he was used to in his extensive career in much more established corporations. After Dan convinced him to come inside he and I spent 3 hours together, and it became clear that he was the person for the job. He quickly became the yin to my yang, and KIND would not be where it is today without all he has done to drive the business and keep the trains running on time over the last 9 years. As he transitions into a well deserved retirement this year, I can’t say that I’m going to miss him because I’m not going to let him go as a friend and adviser, but I will certainly miss our daily partnership.
