Step into the weird, wild, and wonderful world of Mid-Day Squares, a Canadian trailblazer poised for a groundbreaking 2024. Lezlie Karls leads the charge alongside co-founders Jake Karls (her brother) and Nick Saltarelli (her husband) with a vision that transcends traditional snacking.
Billed on their website as, “Everything a chocolate bar isn’t, everything a functional bar wishes it was,” Mid-Day Squares was born from a quest for healthier, tasty snack options that could seamlessly blend nutrition and indulgence. Harnessing the power of brand storytelling and social media, the brand has challenged traditional conventions around what it means to build a business today.
Karls’ commitment to innovation shines through, propelling Mid-Day Squares as a frontrunner in its category and promising a year of unparalleled growth. It’s all a part of their plans for global domination.
As part of the GLORY Ones to Watch 2024, read Karls’ thoughts on impact, the problems she’s trying to solve, and why this year will be their best one yet.
What is your elevator pitch to the world?
Lezlie Karls: The mission is simple: Create a chocolate bar that satisfies hunger. It should be tasty, healthier, and give you energy.
What excites you most about the work that you are doing?
Lezlie Karls: The idea of taking raw materials and turning them into a finished product that people eat and love. I guess you could say I love being an industrial builder.
Everything we make gets consumed by another human; it’s the ultimate intimate experience. We get to do that at scale. What’s better than having a full-time job where your sole purpose is to make people happy?
Where do you think you have made the most impact in your industry and/or community?
Lezlie Karls: I feel that Mid-Day Squares helps inspire people and other entrepreneurs to think about doing things differently. We have shown people that by putting one foot in front of the other, you can achieve anything.
Showing up and putting in the hard work is the most important skill set. Even if you fail, you started, and I feel that we have given that mindset to our community by telling our story in a very transparent way.
RELATED: This Modern-Day Willy Wonka is Building a Snack Food Empire.
Which kind of problems are you trying to solve?
Lezlie Karls: Honestly, we’re trying to do the impossible. How we make our chocolate is so unique that we had to build a manufacturing plant to be able to achieve the vision.
We went to see many different contract manufacturers and none were able to bring our vision to life. Bringing healthier options to people shouldn’t have to come at a sacrifice to deliciousness. Our mission is to continue to make the tastiest possible snacks that we believe make you feel good after you eat them. If having to build more manufacturing plants is what we need to do to achieve that, then that’s what we will do.
What is one lesson that you hope people will learn or walk away with from your work?
Lezlie Karls: That unaverage decisions lead to unaverage outcomes. Average decisions lead to average outcomes.
If you want to have an unaverage life (and not everyone does) then this simple framework will change your life. It’s mathematically impossible to have an unaverage outcome with average inputs.
What is a misconception about your work, industry, or community that you hope to dispel?
Lezlie Karls: People think Mid-Day Squares has an unlimited budget and resources. Even though we are not per se considered a startup anymore, we are still far from being a well-oiled machine.
We do not have a massive budget to invest in huge campaigns. We make a lot of noise organically to make up for our lack of paid marketing dollars and it’s worked really well.
That being said, every year we get closer and closer to our goals. The best of Mid-Day Squares has yet to be seen.
What is one way that your industry or line of work has improved as a result of the work that you do?
Lezlie Karls: I feel like Mid-Day Squares has shifted the way that brands market themselves. Over the last few years, I have seen so many brands start to tell their story or show the behind-the-scenes of how they are building their brand and business.
It’s nice to see what happens behind the scenes so the customers can feel that they are a part of the brand’s journey and I’m just happy it’s resonating with people.
Why is 2024 going to be your best year yet?
Lezlie Karls: After five-and-a-half years of digging our way out of a dark hole, 2024 marks the year we will achieve profitability.
I feel insanely proud of the hard work that has been done by the entire Mid-Day Squares team. I think we proved a lot of people that said it was impossible wrong.
Additionally, we’re excited about launching a new flavour, 4-packs, and expanding into more retailers.
It feels like we just reached the start line and our car finally has an engine to win the race.
What does GLORY mean to you?
Lezlie Karls: That when I die, I’ll be able to look myself in the mirror and know I did everything I could with the opportunity of life that I was given.
