Better Nutrition August 2020

PASSION BEHIND THE PRODUCT *
companies fostering personal & global well-being
Purely Elizabeth
How entrepreneur Elizabeth Stein turned a batch of homemade
muffins into a thriving and socially conscious food business.
BY NEIL ZEVNIK
“Start a natural foods company.” That
was Elizabeth Stein’s declaration to her
holistic nutrition instructor when asked
about her “unpredictable future.”
Not long after, she was attending
a local triathlon expo to promote her
newly minted nutrition services, only
everyone seemed far more interested
in the healthy homemade muffins
she brought to lure them in. “When
everyone kept asking where they could
purchase the muffins, the light bulb
went on,” she says.
This was pretty much before anyone
outside the “health food” community
was aware of nutritional powerhouses
such as chia seeds, quinoa, almond
flour, coconut oil, and the like—all of
which she had learned about in her
holistic nutrition training.
Her path was now clear, and thus
was born Purely Elizabeth. “My mission
as a nutrition counselor was to help
my clients live a healthier, happier
lifestyle,” says Stein. “This was a way
to take that same purpose but help a
much larger audience on their wellness
journey. This is our guiding star and
what excites me each day.”
Stein admittedly knew nothing
about the food business, and her
learning curve was steep but successful.
“I learned that you don’t have to have
all the answers, just put one foot
in front of the other and move it
forward each day.”
After starting with gluten-free muffin
and pancake mixes, she continued on
to create Ancient Grain granola mixes
that are a healthy food lover’s dream—
non-GMO, organic, gluten-free, vegan,
with no additives or soy. The crowd
went wild, as the saying goes, and
sales skyrocketed.
“When you
eat better, you
feel better. It’s
that simple,”
says Elizabeth
Stein, founder
of Purely
Elizabeth.
10 • AUGUST 2020