Nicole Bernard Dawes on building Late July and Nixie

Dawes, now 53, grew up watching her father, Steve Bernard, run Cape Cod Potato Chips while her mother owned a health food store. After school, she spent time at both businesses; her father taught her to read a profit-and-loss statement. In 2003, she and her father co-founded Late July. She was pregnant with her oldest child at the time, and says she and her husband arranged their work so one of them could be home with their two children.

The company hit a crisis after Bernard died relatively suddenly. The bank put a large loan in default, at the height of the recession, and Dawes said her family struggled to afford groceries. She pushed herself to network and find ways to repay the debt, while rejecting options including selling more equity. A mission-driven lender eventually refinanced the loan.

Late July’s turning point came in 2010, when it introduced tortilla chips. The company had started with crackers; its gluten-free, allergen-free chips helped it reach more customers. Sales grew from about $8 million as the business struggled with debt to a point where it was on track to reach $100 million within three years. Dawes sold an 80% stake to Snyder’s-Lance in 2014 and stayed on as CEO until Campbell’s acquired Snyder’s-Lance in 2018.

After the sale, Dawes and her husband began developing Nixie, which launched in late 2019 with sparkling water and has since expanded to zero-sugar soda. The Wellesley, Massachusetts-based brand is now in more than 11,000 retailers nationwide. Dawes said they initially self-funded it, later bringing in angel investors including Short List Capital. Nixie raised at least $8 million in a 2022 financing and more than $26 million last year from Invus; the firm’s managing director, Evren Bilimer, joined the board.

Dawes advises founders to prioritize retailer-focused marketing and sampling, and to choose investors carefully. She compares an investor partnership to a marriage, particularly for mission-driven or organic brands. Her goal for Nixie, she said, is to build a healthy beverage brand that can help make the drinks aisle healthier. She has also testified before Congress on the importance of organic agriculture.