Episode 304: Fighting Food Waste and Building a Mission-Driven Startup | Kari Morris | Co-Founder of Martie
Kari Morris is the co-founder of Martie.com, a mission-driven online discount grocery store tackling food waste and food access head-on. In this episode, she joins Kara to talk about disrupting the grocery industry, building a brand with impact, and how motherhood and art continue to shape her entrepreneurial journey. They dig into purpose-driven business models, how to lead with heart, and the real-life systems that make doing-it-all sustainable. If you're interested in food innovation, creative leadership, or scaling a values-first business, this episode is packed with real-world takeaways and inspiration.
“If there’s not a mission behind it that is better for the planet and better for people, then I think you really have to ask yourself why you’re doing it.”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:02) - Introduction to Kari Morris and Martie
(00:03:26) - The Origin of Martie and Its Mission
(00:06:18) - Addressing Food Scarcity and Waste
(00:08:29) - Joy and Creativity in Business
(00:09:58) - Managing Personal and Professional Relationships
(00:11:14) - The Impact of Motherhood on Food Choices
(00:13:51) - Defining Powerful Ladies
(00:15:18) - Incorporating Art into Life and Work
(00:20:41) - Balancing Work, Family, and Self-Care
(00:29:52) - Responding to Community Needs
(00:34:14) - Women and Solutions in Business
My co founder and I had launched a few direct to consumer kind of better for you brands and had a Holiday cookie that we didn't sell through in January, we stopped and said, what are we doing? We want to make a big impact in the food industry. We really want to bring better for you foods to the masses.
That's Kari Morris, co founder of Martie. I'm Kara Duffy, and this is the Powerful Ladies Podcast. Welcome to the Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hi, it's so great to be here.
I'm so excited to have you here today. I have a bunch of questions But I love that we met at It's Roanne's house for her workshop on bringing business minded owner, women of LA together because we all needed a little reset to come back to what really matters. How did you meet Roanne?
I met Roanne when I was in my twenties in New York through a mutual friend. I had thrown myself into cooking and hosting events and parties and I ended up meeting and working on a, an event that she was hosting in her office for Ro and Co. And we both migrated West and have kids the same age and that's, how life works. We've stayed in touch and continue to build on a friendship.
I love when it just keeps, the community keeps building on top of each other. It's like you pick some up here, you pick some up there, you both move to LA, you keep collecting more people. It's a good sign that you're creating your surrounding yourself with really good women.
Yes, and it doesn't stop. Yeah, I'm still picking up people as I go.
Well, let's everybody your name, where you are in the world and what you're up to.
My name is Kari Morris. I'm in Los Angeles. And I'm the co founder of Martie. com. And we are a online
discount grocery store.
I'm so excited to dive into Martie and all the things about it. Cause I was on there today, putting together my little shopping cart and things that I buy all the time. are on there. And when you are advertising that you're saving your customers, not just thousands of dollars, but millions of dollars collectively, and you're making things better for the planet and you're preventing food waste.
It is the easiest thing to say yes to that I have seen get created in the longest time.
I like that. It's an easy yes. And you're right. There are many benefits and moments where it's really simple to add to your cart and feel good at the end of the day. And it's true. When I'm shopping Martie, I'm constantly putting things in my cart, like coffee. And it's not necessarily the same coffee brand every time, but when it's 50 percent off, it's a feel good moment.
Where did the idea of Martie come from?
My background is in food. Like I mentioned in New York, I had a company and so was on the other side of this scenario. Early days was making products and would oftentimes find myself in a situation where I would have seasonal product that didn't sell through or product that, is coming up on shelf life and it won't move through traditional channels. As a vendor, as a producer, I knew that piece of the industry and there wasn't a great option to offload that product and realize value for it. And my co founder and I this was in the middle of COVID, had launched a few direct to consumer kind of better for you brands and had a holiday cookie that we didn't sell through and in January, we stopped and said, what are we doing? We want to make a big impact in the food industry. We really want to bring better for you foods to the masses.
We want to disrupt what's happening out there. And we're not going to do it through these quality cookies. We need to think bigger. And the opportunity really Naturally presented itself. We started asking how are we going to move these holiday cookies? The options were limited, the light bulb went off and we thought why don't we be that option for vendors to offload product feel good about what they're doing?
It doesn't have to be an icky experience to, sell it for less. Liquidation, but it can be a way to celebrate we all have these issues. There's supply chain issues. There's, short dates and sometimes you got to move it fast. And the big, aha moment is like, there are a lot of these better for your brands, whether it's, organic or, better kid snacks, gluten free people with dietary restrictions.
Want to try these products and might not be able to at full price. So it really is like a discovery platform as well. And we're not training the customer always come get your groceries. So you're, you're saying products at a discount. This is like a treasure hunt. Try it if you love it. You're going to go find it. somewhere else at full price. So I think it really is like a nice way for brands to realize value and for customers to, to also realize value.
And when we look at all the issues that women have on their to do list to fix at a global level, or even in the nation level, or even coming down to greater Los Angeles level, food scarcity, food access, food waste is a big deal. And like all issues in the world, they tend to impact women and minorities way faster than other groups. How important is it or how good does it feel to you guys knowing that you're actively working on a real solution? Like this is something that solves so many problems and is fun and exciting and delicious. And there's just upsides in this. And that just must, I imagine it feels So good. So how is it occurring on your side?
I was asked this recently. I just think that there's really no other way to have a business these days. If you're not, if it's not, if there's not a mission, behind it, that is, better for the planet and better for the people, I think you really have to ask yourself why you're doing it.
So I feel really lucky that, it, for us, it, it was. The opportunity was there and we were the right people to take, tackle the problem and and it feels really good to know that we are making food more accessible just, price point alone, and I think there's still a lot more we can do, especially when you localize it and you think about, food distribution and how people get things.
Not everybody has, the luxury of having packages delivered. Sometimes that can be complicated or, getting things online. So I think there's still, even more barriers that we can break. And 1 of the things that we are actively and have been actively looking into is food stamps and adding that as an option on the site.
So I think that'll just be another unlock for us to make this more accessible.
On a day to day level, what brings you joy that you're doing for this business?
I love the people we work with. I love how everybody, is constantly thinking through how we can do things better from like a process standpoint.
And we're, we're all very aligned and very supportive of each other. And then personally, for me, I went to art school. I have a painting degree and while I never fully realized that and became a painter, I jumped right into, a career in food. For me, it's really important to try and remember to always integrate that.
Into my work, and I think we actually talked about this, but I found a very nice kind of way to. To always remember that what I do is creative. And there's painting all around me and, I find it in my day to day process and in small moments where I'm looking at ad creatives or, locking something up, even, if it's like a redesign for a UX problem, it's like all around.
So I think those little moments of joy are just remembering that I get to create this. world where I get to be creative and build something that's meaningful and they can happen together.
A lot of people get nervous going into business with a friend. How do you and your co founder manage your professional relationship versus your personal relationship?
And how has that been for you guys?
It's been amazing. When we met, we were put together. We were introduced from a friend of mine. And, we didn't know each other. Our backgrounds were different, but we had similarities in that we were incredibly ambitious and hard workers and we loved to solve problems.
And we had, just had kids about the same age. So we had a lot of things that we connected on. And I think we Compliment each other very well. And, we have a nice way of. Socializing and working and we can wear both hats and they. They dip into 1 another and when we need to let off steam we dance. As you should, that's fun. Everyone should dance more.
Did your relationship with food shift or evolve after becoming a mom?
Yes. And, I'm laughing because It's on one hand, it's like you're reading the back of labels more like you're cooking at home more but you're also given into the idea that you are going to have ketchup in the fridge and chicken nuggets are sometimes something that happens, and so it's going from living in New York and going out to eat and having fabulous meals and, definitely there's a, yeah, a shift to There's a little bit more convenience, but there's also really beautiful, cooking at home more and, just going back to the basics.
Think it's interesting how there's been so much shift in what women in particular have to read every label of every product, the food, and when we put on our skin and Even, buying furniture nowadays, you're like, Oh, is this going to have to off gas? We don't want to have to do that. I feel like there's just so much, there's such a big burden where we have to be checking everything all the time. How are you balancing caring and prioritizing what those things are for you? And also just remembering like you're human and you can't micromanage this whole process.
Yeah. Less is more. We go to the farm. We're very lucky to live in L. A. and have farmers markets. So we, we stuck up on fresh produce. I, when I shot Martie I like to shop for nuts and oatmeal. Dry beans, packaged beans, cooked beans, things that are relatively straightforward and then, there's snacks that might be more complicated or they might have sugar in them and those are treats and those are okay. Those are, things that we have every once in a while. But I think that the general rule it's, less is more on ingredients. So I think it's sticking with that.
Yeah. When you hear the words powerful and ladies next to each other, do their definitions change or evolve versus when they're apart? And how would you define them?
How are they? I think that there's just, there's. Every woman I know is powerful now, right? Whether it's, having kids or having a career or and, you name it managing family issues. We're doing a lot. We juggle a lot and, I think I see it all around me. In so many ways, I don't know how to answer that question.
You talked about the, your background in art and we had a little conversation the day we met about finding your way back to it and how to fill your life with it. Even if it wasn't a career that you were focusing on, how do you choose to bring art into your life? And how does having a moment either creating something yourself or appreciating someone else's art? How does that change your day your week?
Yeah, I think this is this is a good one I think for a while I tried to compartmentalize them and maybe created a narrative that like it wasn't available to me because I was so good work and I've really Worked hard to break down that story. And to just, accept that I can have it and it is there. It's available to me. And I think that has changed a lot of how I approach my work and how we think about creativity. And like I said it's everywhere, even if it's just, doing a drawing. With my 6 year old for his homework or honestly putting together dinner and inspired about.
The ingredients I'm using and wanting to, document it like it's the little moments that I get to like celebrate and those are a nod towards like you're in the right place at the right time successfully engaged in your activities, and so I think I, I feel a lot more comfortable saying that I am a painter.
I am an artist. And this is my canvas. These are my things that make me creative. And to your point, even, looking at art, like going to a museum or finding somebody online that, is painting that is, I'm really inspired by. That helps me find, yeah, more creative, more creativity and more drive to continue. To explore and be curious about what others are doing.
Are there some favorites that you go back to, whether it's a piece or an artist or a museum?
I don't have, there's one artist that I love and his name is Raoul De Keyser . He shows up with David Zwirner and Paintings are about the mundane, but they're abstracted and I really resonate with the way that they can be, I glimpsed into a moment or, like a still life, but also like an abstraction of shapes and textures and colors. And for me, it's like a nice way to get lost and something that I can understand and access and still get lost in. I think that's how I think about.
It, whether it's art or it's nature, there there's so many moments of everyday life that if we allow ourselves to be enchanted by them, it completely shifts what we're thinking about how we're feeling. And especially in how crazy the past month in particular has been, I find myself, intentionally coming back to that idea of okay, if I just look around the room or I look around in my walk. What can I be enchanted by that's here because I'm like, I'm just, I'm fighting so hard to play into the narratives that are being told right now.
And I'm like, no, I'm, I understand that's where you want to go. I'm designing it differently. And I think my friends are too.
That's a nice reminder and it's a good question to be enchanted by controlling the narrative in your head around what's happening, we're okay.
Yeah.
There's a lot of gratitude.
So much. Yeah. And I don't have kids yet, but I imagine that there must be so many opportunities just engaging with your kids of remembering the magic that is all around us in some capacity. 100%. Yeah.
They're living in a world of wonder and awe and it can change from moment to moment and we're, we're on this journey with them.
Yeah. Yes. I know. I saw a really cute video the other day of a it was a dad filming like really close. So you just saw like this, his son's profile of his little face and he's talking. He's but dad, I can't get married. If I have to wait until I'm 20 to get married, all of the sweet girls are going to be scooped up. And so I got to start asking them now. And he's Bob, you don't need to worry about that. There'll be plenty of girls when it's time for you to get married. And he's Oh, okay. But are you sure?
We'll see how this plays out later. Yeah. I know. Great. I'm glad it's documented.
And there's so many women we've had in this podcast who are balancing being great moms, balancing being friends, balancing taking care of themselves, plus the career that they have. Are there routines, systems, structures, people that you rely on to make sure like as much of it can happen? Simultaneously as possible.
Yes. I like to give a shout out to my nanny. We have a wonderful nanny who's been with us for six years and we always say that she's the reason why we have a second child and we're still married. She every day brings amazing energy into the house. And she's been a teacher in that way, just, that every day is blessing and it's so easy to get swooped up in the logistics and she's always a reminder every day. She says, how are you doing? How's your day? And I said, there you go. Good. And I guess, how was your day? She goes, it was the best. It was amazing.
Oh, I love that.
Just, it's so simple, but it's just a good reset and it's, it can happen every single day and it still feels like a reset. For her to say, I had an amazing day. It was the best. Thank you. Okay. Yes. She's been an amazing teacher and good partner to help with the day to day, keeping the wheels on and, great friends. It's important to always continue to foster those relationships. And it's very different, it's different than what you have at home and we have at work and it's a nice, safe space. Other than that I have to constantly remind myself that it's important to move my body and just to the extent that I can be mindful of. My calendar, making sure that there's always a little time in there for me, and I can show up and be like the best version of myself for those around me. So you gotta take care of yourself.
We do. I had a mini meltdown yesterday with my calendar. I just had gotten back from New York Wednesday night, and I woke up Thursday and I was like, who built this calendar? Yeah. And I was like messaging my team. I'm like, guys, there's not even, there's no break for four hours. Yeah. Like at a minimum, I have to pee give me 10 minute window something. So we were moving things around to make sure that's not happening. Cause there's so much going on. Like we're running three companies and plus my own life and all the things that are in that. And I was like, yes, we don't have to do everything in one day or one week. Yeah, it's very rare that we have to do something that specific day or week. Let's be a little more thoughtful about it. And I know we were talking when we had our, and we were at that workshop about. Needing to pass things off and delegate and being someone who talks about delegating all the time. I'm like, I usually think I'm good at it. And then I realized we've hit an expansion point when I'm hitting the ceiling again, being like, okay, we need to go to a new level of delegation. We are. Whatever's happening. It's not working right now.
Yeah. And that can be challenging when you have a vision. You want something to be done and you have to take the time to articulate and things evolve and grow and you have to go back to the drawing board and say, this is still serving us.
Yes. I know. And I feel, sometimes I feel badly for the people who are on my team because I, we, everything we're moving so rapidly and I'm like, Hey, I know that you're probably very comfortable in the job you're doing, but I'm going to need you to rise up behind me. So are you ready to be a leader? And they're like, Oh Lord. Okay. Okay. And I'm like, I know you can do it. I know you can. If I can do it, you can do it. But I think, sometimes as entrepreneurs remembering that everyone else in our team isn't and the encouragement that's needed to be like, listen, I know we're on a roller coaster. I know you don't actually like roller coasters, but I promise you the seatbelt is on. You will not fall out.
Yeah I we definitely, I think I like, I definitely notice. In others that I work with, the things that they do really well are the things that I don't and bless them, it takes a village, both, build it, building a company and raising a family and those differences are what, make us dynamic and make us thrive and they're important things to call out and recognizing people. Yeah, like I said, I definitely see that in my co founder. She pushes me. I push her out of our comfort zones and the things that we, the stories that we tell ourselves to about what, what we might have fear around and. I think that's a big part of the work is to be able to address that fear and push through it.
We all have it.
Yeah. It's only real if you let it be real.
Right? You can. Yeah. And I think sometimes too, like just saying out loud, everything you're afraid of and worried about and anxious about and questioning, you say it out loud and sometimes it's less scary than whatever you've had in your head.
That's the beauty I think also of having a co founder like the new business that we're launching in March has a co founder and it's nice to have that balance because things that they're worried about, I'm like, Oh, that'll be fine things. I'm like, what about this? Oh, it'll be fine. And having that balance is nice.
I honestly think it's why every business needs business coaches too, because you need someone to tell you like, it's fine, you're not insane. This will actually work. Let's just look at the numbers. Does this all make sense? It's we're really good at spinning things out. And I have, I was curious about, I've been looking into is this something that women do more than men?
And I don't think so. But I do think that there's an element of, Pressure that women, especially in our age group generation, have been caring about. Sure, you can do it all, and it has to be perfect. There's all these contradictions that we're having to balance that I didn't realize were contradictions until maybe the last 10 years.
And I'm like, wait a second they're not worrying about that. Yeah. I don't think it has to be perfect.
No, I think we're at this point in my career, in this company specifically to work, it's now's the moment. Don't hesitate. Like you, everything you've done up until this point has led you to feel confident about taking the next steps forward.
And again, having the co founder to to check some checks and balances along the way. It's Incredibly helpful. My first company, I did not have a co founder and when I sold that company, moved to New York or moved to California, there was no part of me that was thinking that I wanted to do that again.
That was cute. I love that idea.
No way. No way. But there's definitely, power in numbers. And I have so much respect for for my co founder. And I think that we can build an amazing company together. Because we trust each other and we encourage and push each other to be better. Yeah, that's a beautiful thing. It's nice to find myself here in this, in this unexpected sort of place.
A lot of my clients have been coming to me asking how they keep doing their business the way they had planned after what happened, the LA wildfires, after things that are happening with the government that's impacting them. How are you guys choosing to move forward and how are your values positioning you and navigating all the things that are happening in the world lately? We just keep moving. Yeah.
Yeah. Good. Good. The offers keep coming in. The orders keep going out. We, we can, it's like we're staying in our lane. Yeah, we can just put our heads down and keep doing what we're doing, and as it presents itself as an opportunity we can, be helpful was like, we know our business very well in the business of moving food, and if it's like supply chain issues, if it's and it's, we have 20 pallets of food in this location, and it would be really helpful if it was in this location, we can action on that. We did a food. We did a toy drive in December, which was really great. Like we, we had this idea. We put it up on the site. We figured out how to make a feature for people to very easily add added donations to their carts and they were checking out and we ended up should be shipping and we worked with our, we work with the local food bank.
I think close to 700 toys. It's in need in that area of Dallas close to where our houses and it was a great feeling. Was like, here's a problem. Let's make a solution. That is like, how we can respond relatively quickly. And I think also, because we're a startup and we're used to moving quickly and building things fast.
That's very much in our wheelhouse. So we can respond when there's again, the fires, it's there's an organization that's looking to buy pallets of food. You can buy it from Martie, you're going to get four times as much product. Let's make it happen, it's a good feeling to be able to move quickly and respond.
I think it speaks to the fact that since the dawn of time, women have always been doing the work. They've always been taking the actions because there hasn't been a choice or even like a, we don't have to think about it. It's of course, we want to make sure people have access to the food they need.
Of course, we want to make sure kids are okay. We're just doing it no matter what's happening around us, because we know it has to be done. And I had an interesting conversation with somebody recently where I was like, They were asking what political positions is Powerful Ladies taking? And I'm like, we're not political.
We've thought and felt the same things this whole time. The rest of the outside forces keep moving the line of normal, not normal. We haven't moved. It's like a friend of mine who grew up in Gilroy, Arizona. Her family's been there for generations. She's We didn't move the border moved like we were indigenous and then we were a Mexican and now we're American and we haven't moved the line.
It's just been moving around us this whole time and I just think that's what I love about getting to have this business and talk to incredible women like you is like we don't need to carry the burden of all the things on our own because when we look around and See what everyone's doing. It's look, everyone's taking steps.
Everyone's moving things forward. And I hope people who are listening to this podcast are seeing more of that because so much of the conversations that are happening in other places just aren't paying attention to all the good things that are moving forward. No, this doesn't mean we can put our head in the sand.
But there's a lot of goodness and a lot of movement and a lot of progress that's happening when people look. And if nothing else, it's a reason to move that VC funding number from 2 percent for female founding to anything higher, because not only are women doing good work, like you get 4x return than when it's going to traditionally male owned businesses.
So I don't know even the math says yes.
And when you are passionate about what you're doing, It pays off like it is, and it's just for me food insecurity, making sure that there's access to food for families for children. That's my that's that pulls at my heartstrings. And I know that if there's a way that I can just. Move the needle on that every day. It's just, I will gravitate towards it and I will, it's like primal. Yes. Okay, let's do it. What do we need to do? Jump into action on it. And it's yeah, it's just it's a good feeling to know that faced with that problem. I know how to be useful. Yeah. And just. Do what I do.
No it's I really do believe that there is a woman has an answer for whatever we're doing. I know you've seen that Reese Witherspoon clip where she's talking about how in so many of her movies or just movies in general, there's a line where something happens and a woman goes, what should we do?
Oh, she goes. I have never heard a woman ask, what should we do? They usually have 15 plans. So she's I will not produce a movie that has that line in it because it's the most unrealistic thing I have ever seen. But it is there's every problem we're facing as a society, we have an answer for at least to move it.
Towards the unknown component that we don't know the full answer yet. And women are a part of so many of the solutions as they always happen. And so I think that's what makes me so excited about what you guys are doing with Martie. Yeah, because again, it's you've simplified it so much for the customer to be able to make a good choice that checks so many boxes and I love when there's multitasking happening, if I can work out and catch up with friends and be outside, I'm like, Yes, we've checked three boxes today.
Let's keep going. And that's how I feel. Martie is. And you don't have to worry about it. Oh, is it secretly doing something that it's no you're getting food at a low cost. You're saving money. You're keeping it out of the landfills. You're, there's all these things you're checking. So just thank you for making it.
And, the work that you're doing it's really important work.
Amazing. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. And, it's hearing that every once in a while from strangers or friends. That keeps us going. Yeah.
I know. It's like we I'm excited to use this platform to be screaming Martie from the rooftop. So people know as we were wrapping up for the day, I have a few kind of rapid fire questions for you. The first is where do you rate yourself on the powerful lady scale? If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, where would you score yourself today or on an average day?
I'll give myself an eight and I would say that I can imagine myself being a 10 and that's how I'm going to get to a 10.
I love that. This is also a powerful community. We have so many people who can make things happen. So what is on your wishlist, manifest list, to do list? How can we help you? Whether it's big, small, ridiculous. Spread the word.
We want everybody to know Martie. We want it to be a household name. I always like to think shop Martie 1st when I'm going to the grocery store, just pull open my phone. See what's on there. See what I can save on before I. Put something else in my basket and yeah, spread the word. We, we want to have a really we are going to have an amazing growth year and it takes a village.
I love that. For, so everybody who wants to support you go buy on Martie. Where can they do all those things?
It's very simple, Martie. com and Martie is M A R T I E. So be a sMartie, shop at Martie, I'm sorry.
That's how we remember, be a sMartie, shop at Martie. This has been such a pleasure. Thank you much for being a yes to me and to Powerful Ladies and for the work that you're doing in the world. It means a lot to us. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Kara. I would say the same back to you. I really appreciate being a part of this and it's so fun to, to be a part of this community.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with a friend. Head to the powerful ladies. com where you can find all the links to connect with Kari shop at Martie and even get a special discount code just for listeners. Come hang out with us on Instagram at powerful ladies. And you can find me and all my socials at Cara Duffy. com. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode until then. I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Website: martie.com
Email: hello@martie.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
