Keep Going: Interview with Sophia Karbowski and Austin Patry, co-founders of realsy

I recently spoke to Sophia Karbowski and Austin Patry, co-founders of really.

Adam: First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Austin: When Sophia and I met in college our senior year, we realized that there were no genuinely healthy food options within close walking distance of our campus. It was a problem we had, and then when we talked to our peers about it, we discovered it was a commonly known problem for all students (both at our school and schools across the country). So, we did something about it and started a food truck called Rollin’ n Bowlin’ serving health foods nearby campus. That then developed to a brick-and-mortar location on our campus and soon grew to ten other storefront locations - all on college campuses around the country. We listened to ourselves and to our peers about the problems we were facing daily and found success in addressing them. This all paved the way for what would then become the idea for realsy.

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas? 

Austin: We simply observed and listened - both to ourselves and external sources.

While running the health food café business, we would travel a lot. During our travels, we struggled to find genuinely healthy snacks with no additives (no added sugars, seed oils, natural flavorings, etc). At the same time, we saw nut butter-filled date recipes (a snack we ate at home) of a “healthy Snickers” going viral on social media with tens of millions of views. The final product was always refrigerated or frozen, and a mess to make, so we couldn’t travel with it. That’s when we decided again to solve our own problem and create a super clean, shelf-stable version of a nut butter-filled date!

I believe to come up with a great idea, you need to have a curious mindset. Constantly try new experiences and if there is any inconvenience or challenge faced in your life, ask yourself how you can fix it. Listen to yourself and get feedback from others around you.

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea? 

Austin: We knew our business was worth pursuing because the data told us so. With Rollin’ n Bowlin’, we knew that the majority of out-of-state students at our school (Texas Christian University) were from California, and they loved açaí bowls (and so did we). But Fort Worth, TX didn’t have an açaí bowl café, so we knew (in theory) based on the data that the business would land well. We started with small catering events to test the market, then a food truck, then storefronts. It was very low risk to do a catering event and receive feedback.

With realsy, we saw tens of millions of people making a variation of nut butter dates at home and going viral on social media, but the product wasn’t available in the market as a pre-made snack. Those viral videos and that void in the market were enough for us to know the idea was worth pursuing. We knew people would pay a little more for convenience.

The best advice I have is to just put the business idea out there! It can be as simple as paying $50 to send out a three-question survey to 5,000 random people to get feedback on your idea. If the feedback is positive, then move on to the next step. So many people become paralyzed with the fear that others will steal their idea. The idea is only an idea, but execution on that idea is a business.

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level? 

Sophia: Keep going! Don’t stop when something doesn’t work out as planned, and do not get easily discouraged. While it’s important to take critical feedback into account, YOU are still the master of your business, and it’s your passion that has gotten you to where you are. Staying focused and committed is really important, and taking it step by step, day by day will continue to amount to something bigger. I think it’s easy to get overwhelmed by thinking about how far you are from where you want to be from 5-10 years, so I’ve always felt that, while having long-term goals in mind, taking it one step at a time (or maybe a couple), helps! Our business growth has always been fueled by our passion and we’ve grown by evolving with the current market - a cross between our passion and always keeping up with what consumers need and want. 

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Sophia: Be persistent! Making sure to follow up often and not taking a lack of response as a “no”. Even if it’s not the right time to partner and the buyer (or whoever it may be) turns you down, we always make sure to keep the window of opportunity open by asking when a good time to reach back out would be. When it comes to marketing, I think putting yourself in the position of your consumer and creating material that they can relate to is extremely important – always be in tune with your most loyal customer base!

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? 

Sophia: In our experience, a great leader exudes a strong passion for their business, has a clear vision, and is effective and open with their communication.  And while it’s important to have solid goals for the future, I also think adapting to change along the way is so crucial and can make or break your success. 

We’ve learned so much from our years managing hundreds of Rollin’ n Bowlin’ team members, many of them college students. To effectively delegate tasks while keeping your team motivated and excited about what you’re building is no easy feat, but it will be so worth it in the long-run in building an incredible team. Leading by example and fostering a transparent and collaborative environment in which everyone feels like an asset to the team will further strengthen your impact.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams? 

Austin: Build processes, emphasize training, and give guided freedom.

While growing any business, it’s incredibly important to record your processes and update them as you go. When we had 150+ student employees with Rollin’ n Bowlin’, we created tutorial videos for every single task to be done in the stores. Even for digital tasks, we created screen recordings, so anyone can reference them and understand the process.

We also created very personal TikTok-style onboarding training videos that gave more information about the history of the company, our core values (which we had up in every store), and for each recipe in the store. These could always be referenced by anyone in the company at any point.

As far as our management team, I gave them significant freedom in their role, and we always told them to speak up if they could improve systems or had better ideas. Checking in with our leaders in one-on-one sessions and asking them about their career goals both near-term and long-term was also crucial in building a comradery that proved “We are here to grow and develop together.”

I am constantly trying to improve myself as a leader, and the biggest challenge for me personally is the balance of giving someone too much freedom while giving them the optimal amount of direction and responsibilities.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders? 

Sophia: Be open to new ideas, be passionate about your business, and be persistent!

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received? 

Austin: Commit now, figure out later.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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