The (Skinny) Popcorn Queen

Pam Netzy's SkinnyPop is an instant hit in Chicago -- and beyond

Some things are too good to be true. SkinnyPop, for example. Popcorn that’s low cal, all natural, very tasty and all you have to do is open the bag. Yet for SkinnyPop President and CEO Pamela Netzky, the emergence of the incredibly popular SkinnyPop brand has yet to sway her. In fact, she claims to have everything completely under control…until she finds herself cuddled up to her iPad in the middle of the night.

“Yes, it can be embarrassing to have someone see I responded to their email at 4:23am,” Ms. Netzky says with a laugh. “Everyone wants us to be everywhere, right this minute. We have a goal to be in every grocery store we can, but it can be tough to be everyone’s everything all of the time.”

First created in August 2010, the SkinnyPop brand has gained a following of all ages across the country. “At the beginning of last year, we were in 85 stores, and by year end, we’re in 2,000,” explains Ms. Netzky. “We eventually see ourselves being in an additional 2,000 stores by the end of this year’s first quarter.”

Born and raised in Chicago, Ms. Netzky grew up with aspirations of becoming a professional golfer. And while she did spend time on the amateur circuit after college, the mother of two (her partner, Ashley, is due with their third child next month) put her clubs in storage in 2001 to become CEO of Spa Group Inc.

“The spas weren’t my passion, though,” she admits. “In the back of my mind, I kept thinking of this popcorn concept my dad came up with years ago, but had never found the right operator to work with. My great uncle had these amazing recipes for gourmet caramel and cheese corn that I wondered if we could do something with.”

In 2006, Ms. Netzky found herself walking away from Spa Group, Inc. and toward the popcorn business, where she worked with various retailers, theaters and grocery stores supplying popcorn under the brand Wells Street Popcorn. This was also the time she began working alongside Andrew Friedman, who is co-founder and CEO of SkinnyPop Popcorn.

“Andy (Friedman) and I really work well together,” explains Ms. Netzky. “When we started working together on Wells Street Popcorn, we had come up with a great recipe for a low-calorie popcorn and sincerely felt we had something really special. I remember throwing the first two cases of SkinnyPop into my SUV and driving around, bringing it to some of our retail partners, having no idea if it would take off or not.”

And while the snack did indeed eventually “take off,” there were initial setbacks. “I would describe it as more frustrating than disappointing in terms of how long it took to get the final product completed after coming up with the idea and product now known as SkinnyPop,” she admits. “I couldn’t wait to get it launched and see consumers’ reactions.”

Yet, Ms. Netzky says it was these challenges that taught her the lessons every business owner needs to learn. “There is opportunity everywhere,” explains Ms. Netzky. “Even the stores and distributors that initially seemed out of reach, we have now been able to win many of them over. If you truly believe in your product, it makes selling and marketing easy because you can speak from the heart and people respond to that.”

Eventually, the brand was in stores across Chicago; a few short months later, a deli owner from New York; soon, the low-cal popcorn would be demanded by shoppers across the country.
“Our success became a combination of wildfire and really hard work,” Ms. Netzky explains. “I never really had any doubts that I wanted my own business. I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s always scary going down a new path, but if you don’t, you will never get the chance to reap all of the rewards.”

Currently offering just one popcorn variety, plans are underway for new 100 calorie SkinnyPop bags and new flavor offerings. With this increased workload, one might think Ms. Netzky may be looking to hire more help.

“I’m a bit of a control freak,” she admits. “Because of this, it can be hard to hand over control. Sure, we’re hiring, but it’s really too fun and too crazy at the moment. I don’t want to miss a thing.”

As for other aspiring women business owners, she notes, “Make sure you stay nimble and flexible with your business plan. Allow your business to grow organically and make changes accordingly along the way. We were open to changes and it took us down an entirely new path that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t allow ourselves to be flexible.”

Tagged as: small business, women business owners, Pam Netzky and SkinnyPop