Beryl Stafford

While Beryl’s dedication to Bobo’s keeps her busy, she still finds the time to play tennis and ride her road bike around beautiful Colorado. Owning and running a successful health food company in Boulder is a dream come true, and she is constantly looking for ways to take Bobo’s into the future.

1 Episode

Beryl Stafford's Bio

Beryl Stafford is the founder of Bobo's, the Boulder-based organic oat bar company. She started the business in 2003 after her marriage ended and she was looking for a way to support herself and her two young daughters. The name Bobo's came from her teenage daughter Alex's childhood nickname.

Stafford began baking oat bars in her home kitchen and selling them locally. The product found its way into Whole Foods and the business grew quickly from there. By the time she brought in a former Boulder brand executive as CEO, Bobo's had reached $8 million in annual revenue. The company eventually grew to $100 million in sales under her leadership.

She appeared on How I Built This with Guy Raz to discuss building a national food brand through her forties as a single mother. Stafford remains based in Boulder, Colorado.

Career Timeline

2003 — Marriage ended; moved to Boulder, Colorado with two young daughters
Left with no income and two daughters to raise, including teenage daughter Alex whose childhood nickname became the company name
2003 — Founded Bobo's Oat Bars in Boulder, Colorado
Started baking oat bars in her home kitchen and selling them locally; company named after daughter Alex's childhood nickname
2007 — Bobo's placed in Whole Foods
National retail placement accelerated growth beyond local Boulder markets
2010 — Bobo's reached 8 million USD in annual revenue
Brought in a former Boulder brand executive as CEO to scale operations
2018 — Bobo's grew to 100 million USD in sales
Company reached 100 million USD in annual revenue under Stafford leadership
2024 — Appeared on How I Built This with Guy Raz (Episode 815)
Discussed building a 100 million USD food brand as a single mother starting in her forties

Episodes

EP 815

Bobo’s: Beryl Stafford. A Single Mom Turns a Baking Project into a $100M Business

Beryl Stafford

Bobo’s

Beryl Stafford turned personal crisis into a $100 million empire. After her marriage collapsed in her early 40s, the stay-at-home mom began baking oat bars with her daughter in their Boulder kitchen. What started as a humble hobby—wrapped in Saran wrap and sold to local coffee shops—gradually grew into Bobo's, a national brand through grassroots demos, Whole Foods expansion, and strategic leadership hires. By embracing authenticity over trends and learning every role herself, Beryl built a profitable, vertically integrated snack company that proves grit can outweigh credentials.

Mar 9, 202658 min

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1 episode