As many people within our community know, our Director of Membership + Operations, Marybeth Stucker, is building a company alongside our community of entrepreneurs. Launch Bars, a line of snack bars designed to “fuel the day,” will officially be launching this spring!  Learn more about Marybeth’s story and inspiration for starting Launch Bars.  

Originally published on www.LaunchBars.com/blog

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Let’s start from the beginning.

It was the fall of 2014, and I was a few years out of college working in finance at a regional bank.  My job paid well, I enjoyed my coworkers, and my commute was a short ten minutes on the bus.  But I was filled with angst.  I hated my job.  The kind of hate that makes you cry on the plane ride home from a vacation because you don’t want to go back to work.  It wasn’t so much that the work itself sucked, it was that I knew it wasn’t the work I was meant to be doing.  I knew I needed to make a drastic change while I was still young if I wanted to live the life I longed for.

Fast forward a few months, and I quit my job at the bank to work at LaunchHouse, a coworking community for entrepreneurs in Cleveland.

At the time, LaunchHouse didn’t have any full-time positions available.  But they did need a part-time bookkeeper, something I knew I could do.  So, crazy as it seems, I left my Financial Analyst position for a part-time bookkeeping gig (and a restaurant server gig… and a few babysitting gigs…. And some cat sitting gigs… you get the drift!).  The position allowed me to work alongside entrepreneurs and startups, which is exactly what I wanted.  Over time, my role quickly evolved to encompass much more than bookkeeping, and today I manage LaunchHouse on a day-to-day basis as our Director of Operations + Membership– and I love it.  Moreover, I like to think I’ve earned my “real world MBA” during my tenure. 

As an employee and member of LaunchHouse, I’ve most enjoyed witnessing the community come together to help one another.  Each day, I see entrepreneurs brainstorming together, making connections and introductions, and just supporting one another.  This is the true value of a coworking community– it’s not about having a desk to work at, it’s about having awesome people to work with.  I wanted a way to demonstrate this in a tangible way.  What better way to show that our community helps businesses start and succeed than to start a business of our own?!  Thus, Launch Bars were born.

Since founding Launch Bars, I have involved as many people from the LaunchHouse community as possible as we develop Launch Bars.  

Together, we’ve done focus groups and taste tests, brainstormed names, talked about nutrition and logistics and so much more.  I look forward to continuously developing our brand through collaborative engagement with our smart and creative community of entrepreneurs.  

Launch Bars are for every go-getter that is hustling to make their dreams a reality.  If you’re working long hours at the office, at home, in the gym, or on the go, Launch Bars are crafted to fuel your day.  

Marybeth Stucker

CEO + Co-Founder

Launch Bars