Caulipower founder and CEO Gail Becker still has no idea what she was thinking when she walked away from a successful career to start her own business at the age of 52. Just seven years later, her company is more successful than she could have ever imagined.
Gail began her career as a broadcast journalist in the late 80s before moving on to a job as a communications strategist at Warner Bros. She worked in public relations for a number of years before making the decision to set out on a new path.
“I’d always wanted to do something for myself. I’d always wanted to be an entrepreneur,” Gail said in 2018. “I have this theory that I think a lot of women leave corporate America to start their own businesses because, at its very core, they’re just trying to build the type of work environments that they want to work in.”
But it was more than disenchantment with the corporate world that pushed Gail toward that decision. Although looking back Gail can’t help but have that “What was I thinking?” feeling, when she launched Caulipower in May of 2016, she knew exactly what she was thinking.
Gail is the mother of two boys who were diagnosed with Celiac disease at a young age. Celiac disease is a chronic digestive and immune disorder that damages the small intestine, and is triggered by eating foods that contain gluten. It can cause long-lasting digestive issues and keep your body from getting nutrients it needs.
The diagnosis came at a time before gluten-free options were common, so Gail had to prepare a lot of her boys’ food herself or order it online. It eased the burden on Gail when more companies began making gluten-free foods, but there was a problem.
“What I began to notice over the years was how much junk they put in gluten free food. More fat, sugar, salt, and calories, and less nutrients,” Gail said in an interview with Specialty Food Association when Caulipower was still in its infancy.
Before starting Caulipower, Gail had tried to make a cauliflower crust pizza one night for the family, and said it was “okay,” but it took 90 minutes to make and she didn’t have time to do that every time her boys wanted pizza. Gail promised to get cauliflower crust so her sons could have pizza, but she couldn’t find it anywhere, not at the store or online. That’s when the seed was planted.
“I had been wanting to make a change, I had wanted to leave corporate America,” Gail said. “I had wanted to do something more meaningful and more impactful, so I quit my job and I started Caulipower.”
While that may sound simple, it was anything but. About three months into the development of Caulipower, Gail began to have her doubts. She found herself at an impasse. She could go back to the corporate world, minimize her losses, and not risk moving forward with this venture. But Gail realized she had to take the chance.
“I realized I need to tell my kids, if you can’t bet on yourself, who in this world is ever going to?” Gail said in a 2018 interview. “So this is really about me just trying to live what I wanted my kids to understand and appreciate.”
Caulipower launched in February of 2017, appearing in 30 Whole Foods stores, but quickly found success as more mainstream retailers like Walmart began to carry it. Since then, Caulipower has become one of the most successful frozen health food options on the market, showing up in the freezers of over 25,000 stores.
Gail admits that walking away from the security of her career and stepping into a world in which she had no experience wasn’t an easy decision to make.
“It was one of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made,” Gail said, “but I think, in some respects, that’s what has made it so rewarding.”
Now 59 years old, just seven years after launching her new business, Gail has appeared on the Forbes list for America’s Richest Self-Made Women and the Forbes 50 over 50 list, and she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Caulipower entered 2023 with the company’s biggest campaign to date, aiming to erase any misconception about healthy food not tasting great.
Not long after she first began to experience the delectable taste of success, just a year after Caulipower launched and before it became the juggernaut it is today, Gail encouraged all women to believe in themselves and follow their passions, no matter your age.
“It’s never too late. It is never too late. I’ve had six different lives, six different careers. I’ve tried it all,” Gail said. “If you would have told me two and a half years ago that I’d be doing this, I’d say you were crazy. And yet it’s so natural, and it feels so right. And sometimes you just have to listen to that little voice, even if no one else hears it. You just have to listen. You sort of owe it to yourself.”
About the author: Stephen Proctor is a freelance writer who also writes for The Cool Down, along with multiple projects currently in various stages of production. Stephen previously worked as a writer and producer at Yahoo! and Hearst Digital Studios.
Photos: Shutterstock
