Tradition, Resilience & Self-Discovery: Three Founders on Their Toughest Challenges
At FemFounder, we believe every founder’s journey—full of uphill battles and breakthrough moments—holds lessons that can inspire and guide our community. Below, three women entrepreneurs share their most significant challenge and the hard-won lesson that emerged on the other side. Read on for stories of tradition meeting innovation, resilience in the face of existential pivots, and the power of self-discovery.
Name: Kara Smith
Company: Colorado Craft Beef
Website: https://coloradocraftbeef.com
Challenge & Lesson:
"One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a founder is learning to honor the deep-rooted traditions of our ranching heritage while embracing innovation to create a sustainable, legacy-driven business.
Ranching has always been about hard work, stewardship, and integrity — but to bring that value to the modern consumer, we had to rethink everything from supply chain to storytelling. Building a brand in a historically behind-the-scenes industry meant stepping into unfamiliar spaces: e-commerce, direct logistics, consumer education, and brand transparency.
What I’ve learned is that tradition and innovation aren’t opposites — they’re allies. By grounding our business in values passed down over generations and pairing that with forward-thinking systems and a direct relationship with our customers, we’ve created something enduring."
Name: Lisa Bradley
Company: R. Riveter
Website: http://www.rriveter.com
Challenge & Lesson:
"As a female founder leading an all-women team, the past year has tested every ounce of resilience, creativity, and grit I have. From navigating bankruptcy to relocating a production facility due to structural failure, we’ve battled challenges that threatened not just our business—but our sense of purpose. What I’ve learned is this: the American Dream doesn’t survive on hard work alone. It takes community, adaptability, and an unrelenting belief in the mission.
Over the last year, my company, R. Riveter, has faced an extraordinary set of challenges. We entered Chapter 11 in the fall of 2024—not from lack of vision or leadership—but due to the sheer unpredictability of running a mission-driven business. Throughout it all, we stayed standing as a female-founded, female-led team.
We’ve long modeled R. Riveter after the WWII generation: resilient, resourceful, and steadfast. But today’s generation of founders needs one more trait—openness. We’ve learned that community isn’t just something you build; it’s something you lean on.
At R. Riveter, we don’t just sell handbags—we tell stories of service, sacrifice, and strength. Every product we create supports military spouses with portable, flexible income. Many of our customers have shared deeply personal stories—memories of loved ones in uniform that surfaced simply because of a bag they held in their hands.
In 2024, we discovered that our production facility—meant to help our company as an economic development opportunity—was structurally unsound. Years of construction on this building had already caused major disruptions, but this spring, we were told the entire right side of the building had to be rebuilt. Rather than litigate, we pivoted. We made the difficult decision to relocate to a more sustainable space—an incredibly costly and logistically intense move.
To help offset the cost of relocation and continue empowering military spouses through meaningful work, we launched a crowdfunding campaign: www.carryforwardtheirstory.com. It’s one more way we’re inviting our community to walk alongside us during this transition.
We’ve also been working to make our products more accessible. As a U.S.-assembled brand, competing with imported goods is tough. Many of the very people who believe in our mission haven’t always been able to afford our bags. So we adapted—streamlining operations, launching new product lines, and finding a balance between affordability and sustainability. With new tariffs shifting awareness toward the true cost of domestic production, we hope more consumers begin to value what we’ve championed all along: American jobs, American quality, and American stories.
An experienced founder once told me there are four guarantees in entrepreneurship at some point in this journey:
You’ll struggle to make payroll.
You’ll likely encounter conflict with an investor or co-founder.
You’ll get sued.
You’ll be forced to choose between your family’s financial security and the business you’ve built.
Check. Check. Check. And unfortunately—check again. But we’re still here. We’re still fighting. And through it all, we’ve emerged stronger and more mission-focused than ever before."
Name: Lise Richard
Company: Tofino Hot Sauce
Website: http://www.tofinohotsauce.ca
Challenge & Lesson:
"The specific challenge I faced was the extreme existential crisis no podcast warns you of when you realize, “I did this.” For every aspect of entrepreneurship, when you are the founder of your business—from the successes to the obstacles—it is on your shoulders. There is a real growth moment every entrepreneur faces, presumably over and over and over again in their career, where they recommit to the pursuit they initiated. What an undersung experience and also challenge that we, in some ways, become an addict of.
What I learned from the pursuit of self-determined professionalism is the profound nature of self-discovery through a path I never saw coming into my life. As a former environmental advocate and athlete, “being my boss” was never a dream I had held, but suddenly, it was a reality I was experiencing. By pulling in aspects and attributes I had learned along the way through competitions, losses, wins, and scientific examinations, I have been able to pull together a skill set that continues to propel my business forward."
Final Thoughts:
These candid reflections remind us that behind every product, pivot, and pay-cheque are the founder’s values, vision, and vulnerability. Whether you’re innovating within a centuries-old tradition, rebuilding after bankruptcy, or confronting the existential weight of “I did this,” you’re never alone. At FemFounder, we celebrate each step forward—and stand ready to share in your next breakthrough.
