SMU-in-Taos hosted its annual Unleash Entrepreneurship event in the Moody Graduate Auditorium on Thursday, Feb. 22 where Mustangs had the opportunity to hear from Taos Bakes co-founder and SMU alumni, Brooks Thostenson. The Taos Bakes co-founder spoke candidly about his entrepreneurship journey and provided tips for students on how to successfully start a business.

This lecture was part of a series of SMU-in-Taos hosted events created to encourage students to explore study abroad opportunities: In early February, the organization boosted student interest by distributing sopapillas and s’mores at Umphrey Lee Dining Hall and popcorn at Arnold Dining Hall. Assistant Director Cristalle Choi and Coordinator Lorene Sugars hosted this latest event, distributing granola bars to attendees near the entrance.

Taos Bakes was created in 2010 by Thostenson and longtime friends Kyle Hawari and Drew Dickey and was sparked by their concerns about the lack of nutritional value in popular granola bars. Their mission is to provide consumers with a guilt-free snack experience devoid of ingredients like processed sugars and soy.

“We believe in changing people’s perspectives with food by creating experiences, and we just happen to make that product”, Thostenson said.

The company’s packaging differentiates itself from the standard, homogenized design seen on other popular products. Each flavor of granola bar a consumer purchases boasts a fun, hungry cartoon character.

“Every bar that is on the table is different from the next,” he said. “That’s intentional. We purposely make bars different from the rest, and we purposely give people options. That’s a part of our ethos.”

Albeit the rapid success of Taos Bakes, Thostenson isn’t hyper-fixated on the profit or the number of units they were able to sell.

“If our only goal was to make money, then we would cheapen the product, thicken the margin, and reduce the quality,” he said. “On paper, the financials technically look better, but it’s a very short side of the bank because, over time, it doesn’t follow that.”

Thostenson encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to avoid society’s definition of success: accumulating millions of dollars going above the quota. Instead, they should create and adhere to a deeply purposeful and authentic mission, he said.

“If you’re putting a business plan together, figure out what your why is,” Thostenson said. “It will be one of the most beneficial things and it will inform everything you do in your business.”

This redefining of societal expectations for businesses was a process Thostenson had to undergo during the beginning stages of the company. Formerly an employee at a high-paying corporate job, he had to realize that achieving monetary success isn’t his true purpose.

“I thought about 11 million units, then I thought about 11 million bars, then I thought about 11 million people eating our bars,” Thostenson said. “What happened was this phenomenal image changed my brain where I was able to translate bars into moments, and I thought about 11 million different moments of people actually consuming our products. That point, my business meant something.”

Thostenson credits his curiosity as the reason behind Taos Bakes’s success. Curiosity, he believes, is at the epicenter for entrepreneurship.

“I choose curiosity first because I think it’s extremely important for curiosity to be at the epicenter for entrepreneurship,” he said. “Entrepreneurs are really good at asking questions about problems. If you ask enough questions, you start looking for answers. If you start looking for answers long enough, you’ll start finding solutions.”

Senior Dylan Ott appreciated Thostenson’s emphasis on creating an experience for their consumers through their products.

“I really liked how he was talking about making an ongoing relationship with people,” Ott said.

Senior Lucie Breton, along with the other attendees, fell in love with the company’s unique approach to marketing.

“I love his brand and how he markets his products,” Breton said.

If you want to learn more about Taos Bakes, visit their website at https://www.taosbakes.com/ or follow their Instagram at @taosbakes.