"I Am Not a Diversity Quota," Says the Founder Disrupting the Dessert CategoryHere are three lessons Najwa Khan has learned in building her better-for-you brand.

我的母亲是我认识的最了不起的厨师。是否she's frying, grilling, stirring, flipping or baking, anything and everything that comes out of her kitchen is incredible. So when my mom told me how obsessed she was with Dalci's lemon coconut blondie, I knew it had to be incredible. And as someone who ispre-diabeticand watching what she eats, my mother is very particular about reading what's on the label and what she puts into her mouth.

"During the pandemic, I found myself making compromises to my health by trying to eat convenient, on-the-go treats. I couldn't find clean desserts in the marketplace," says Najwa Khan, founder and CEO ofDalci"I was tired of bars and "gut healthy' snacks made with chemical alternatives, natural flavors, bad oils and sugar alcohols. That's when I founded Dalci, to create brownies that are real, delicious and always clean."

The idea of"clean eating"is prevalent on social media now, but it was originally made popular by Canadian fitness model Tosca Reno with her bookThe Eat-Clean Diet. With clean eating, you focus on anatural form of nutrition.Pure, fresh and unprocessed foods; cutting out artificial preservatives, colors and flavorings and sweeteners and names of ingredients you can't even pronounce. Although many of us aspire to eat a more healthful diet, it's not always the easiest or most convenient option.

According to arecent NPR survey,75% of Americans say they eat healthy. Yet the statistics reveal otherwise: Many of us tend to overeat refined grains and sugars and don't control our portion sizes. Before the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about40% of Americansqualified as obese. According to a new study,61% of adultsexperienced undesired weight changes during the pandemic due to stress, not eating healthfully and having a less active lifestyle.

Enter Dalci. The bars are individually packaged and portioned. You can warm them up in the microwave to get that gooey, fresh-baked brownie experience. You can also freeze them and eat them later. They are easy to toss in your bag and have as anon-the-go snack. Flavors include dark chocolate brownie, almond butter dark chocolate blondie, and my mom's favorite, lemon coconut blondie. They're gluten-, dairy-, grain-, soy-, refined-sugar, sugar-alcohol, lecithin-, natural-flavor, and preservative-free.

"I believe Dalci is in a category of its own," Khan says. "Our first product line, the brownies and blondies, are true desserts that are disrupting the sweet category. Ultimately, we want our customers to say, 'Hell yes, I can have a brownie anytime I want!'"

Here's what starting Dalci has taught Khan.

Read More:How This 'Accidental Entrepreneur' Is Taking on Legacy Floral Companies and Disrupting the Industry

"I launched before everything was perfect."

In her previous roles as a product manager, Khan learned how to pilot, test and try ideas and quicklypivotwhen needed. She credits those early years in her career with teaching her how to be nimble. "I allowed pre-sales for Dalci even before I knew how the product would be manufactured and shipped to customers," she says. "Some might think that was crazy, but I was confident I needed to test the viability of the business before attempting to accelerate growth."

Khan says that her ability to launch before everything was perfect has been critical to the brand's success. It was the best way for her to learn how to improve Dalci's recipes and messaging. It also helped Khan continue to find and build relationships with her customer base and be strategic about how she wanted to build out her product lines.

Read More:学会接受她的文化领导这Entrepreneur to Found a Jewelry Brand Loved by Celebrities

"I can't do this alone."

Kahn launched Dalci during the pandemic. She wasn't working full-time, and she found herself disinterested in jobs she was finding in the marketplace. With onlya trademarkand an idea, she bought the domain dalci.com, built a cheap website, spun up an Instagram and decided to see if people wanted indulgent-tasting, clean brownies. Khan's husband helped her bake, pack and fill orders in the evenings. "I went ahead and self-funded and skipped over the steps most commonly taken by CPG brands," Khan says. "I loved the grind. I learned so much about food science, production, supply chain issues, and branding and marketing early on."

Despite her early success, Khan regrets not building a team from the get-go. "One person alone cannot build a business. A team is so critical," she says. "I know I took the risk to start Dalci, but I did it with guardrails where I kept telling myself 2020 was a 'test.' That limiting belief prevented me from building a team at the very beginning."

Read More:How This First-Generation American Founder Is Taking on Fast-Food Giants

"I am not a diversity quota."

The nameDalci is derived fromdalchini, the word for cinnamon in Bengali. Khan spent countless hours cooking South Asian treats with her family on weekends when she was growing up. Dalci is a reflection of her upbringing, representing home, love and the importance of treating yourself.

Khan is proud to be a woman of color founder. And on her journey to build her business, some have said to her, "You should use the fact that you are a woman of color to get that investor check." Khan's response is clear: I am not a diversity quota.

"Raising money is tough, with less than 3% of venture capital funding going to women of color founders," Khan says. "That has to change. And I just want to be me, Najwa. I want allies who sign on with me for all of the right reasons. Because they ultimately believe in me and Dalci and how we are on a mission to ignite change."

Read More:This Founder is Starting a Breakfast Revolution by Reinventing One of America's Favorite Foods