Julie Martin, a mother of four, saw a problem and is the founder of a solution. Having seen her children continuously snack on filling but non-nutritious foods between meals, Martin created enerj Balls, providing wholesome, grab-and-go oat balls to her community around the Quad Cities.

Martin spoke with hosts Emily Wood and LaDrina Wilson on the most recent episode of the Fearless podcast. Here are five key takeaways from the conversation.

Be impulsive

Enerj Balls took off before Martin even had a solid business plan. Sometimes, being impulsive is just the thing you need to kick an idea into high gear.

“That’s what I would tell anyone,” Martin said. “If you have the idea, try it out. If it fails, then go and try another idea.”

Families, step up

Martin credits the early success of enerj Balls with a semi-restructure of her family’s dynamics.

“I had to rely on my kids a lot, and my husband,” Martin says. “They needed to be responsible on their own, and they couldn’t be constantly coming to me. That was definitely something that was helpful.”

Suddenly, Martin didn’t have time to hold down the entire family fort. In addition to helping her with labeling products, her husband and kids banded together to take on some heavy lifting.

When starting a business, support networks are everything

Martin didn’t even have a name picked out for her business when she received her first round of orders. She started everything from the ground up with the support of business-minded connections.

“I had some amazing mentors that I reached out to, and they were women within this area that had already [run] successful businesses,” Martin said. “They helped navigate all the little questions on insurance, getting an LLC and everything that comes with it. They were a huge support for me.”

Finding a healthy balance

Martin noted that her four children are not exclusively “out and about snacking on broccoli.”

While her products use healthy ingredients — oats, flax seed, chia seed, honey, peanut butter — some recipes dabble with M&Ms or chocolate chips.

“Yes, that’s not the most ideal snack at all,” Martin said. “But when it’s wrapped into a bunch of healthy ingredients … I’m hoping [that it sets my kids up] for making healthier choices throughout the day.”

Just start

The first step for any entrepreneur starting their first business is to just start.

“If you don’t just put yourself out there and try it, then you’ll never know,” Martin said.

Watch the episode

All episodes are available to stream here

Caroline Siebels-Lindquist is a freelance contributing writer.