How the Founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams Knew It Was Time for a Second Act

Founders, Britton tells Inc.’s From the Ground Up podcast, “carry a certain power” that can be difficult for employees to ignore. “As much as we would like to be considered another member of the team… [we] never will be,” she says. “The feedback that you get from your people is going to be different because you can’t be fired—not in the same way. You have to be really aware of that.”


That’s why Britton stepped away from day-to-day operations at the $125 million per year business, which now has 80-plus scoop shops and product in more than 12,500 retail doors. She used her newfound free time to focus on physical health—which many founders neglect—by going on long walks through a nearby forest and eating lots of high-fiber blueberries.


“I became enamored of this idea of what it feels like to be healthy,” Britton says. “I had never felt it before. In my late 40s, to feel better than I ever have in my entire life was really spectacular.”


Britton says she didn’t plan on starting another business. But as she learned more about fiber, which she credits with improving her health, she began to think about creating something that could help others, too. Floura, Britton’s new company, released its first product last month: fiber rich fruit bars made from food trimmings like watermelon rinds and apple cores. Building a company, Britton says, is “the only thing I know how to do. It’s the only way I know how to impact the world.”