Sophia Cheng: Founder and CEO of Oddball
In this episode, Nora sits down with Sophia Cheng, the founder and CEO of Oddball, a plant-based jelly snack brand taking on a century-old category monopoly. Sophia’s path to entrepreneurship was anything but traditional, spanning investigative journalism at the Wall Street Journal, management consulting at Kearney, and strategic leadership at Estée Lauder.
After realizing the snack aisle hadn't modernized in decades, Sophia created Oddball to bridge the gap between nostalgic joy and clean-label standards. She shares the raw reality of raising $2 million during a tough economic downturn while navigating a major health crisis. From the technical challenges of using agar agar to achieving national scale at Target and Whole Foods, Sophia discusses what it takes to democratize healthy food and prove that excellence should be accessible to everyone.
This conversation is for CPG founders, retail enthusiasts, and leaders looking to disrupt stagnant categories by prioritizing ingredient integrity and mass-market accessibility.
Key Topics:
Connecting the dots between investigative journalism, Wall Street, and CPG
Identifying whitespace in a stagnant, 120-year-old food category
Balancing "kid-like" nostalgia with "parent-approved" clean ingredients
The grit required to fundraise $2M during a market downturn and physical injury
Transitioning from "impulse buy" to "pantry staple" in major retail
Why mission-driven brands must master the P&L to achieve real impact
Breaking the "bougie" stereotype to bring healthy snacks to the mass market
