Empowering Entrepreneurs & Franchise Success with Tara Gilad

From superfoods to nationwide success — Tara Gilad shares her journey through building Vitality Bowls, balancing motherhood, and empowering women entrepreneurs through franchising.

Discover how Tara transformed a personal mission to create allergy-friendly dining for her daughter into a booming health and wellness franchise with over 120 locations. Starting from her roots in Northern California, she navigated the male-dominated restaurant industry with resilience, confidence, and a purpose-driven vision.

Tara opens up about the challenges of scaling a franchise while raising a family, the importance of surrounding yourself with the right team, and why passion and personality matter most in successful franchising. She also highlights the value of transparency, trust, and strong support systems in ensuring franchisee success.

Today, Tara continues to champion women in business, writing children’s books, prioritizing self-care, and offering aspiring entrepreneurs opportunities to grow with Vitality Bowls. She even shares a special offer for listeners interested in franchising.

Ready to hear how purpose, perseverance, and passion fueled one woman’s path from a single smoothie bowl café to a thriving nationwide brand? Tune in to be inspired by Tara Gilad’s remarkable story!

Chapters
💪 04:42 Building confidence through early businesses in Silicon Valley without fear
🚺 05:20 Breaking barriers as a female founder in the male-dominated restaurant and franchise industry
🌱 08:19 Balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship, and purpose-driven growth while staying adaptable
🤝 10:52 Entering franchising by networking, seeking mentors, and learning quickly
👩‍🍳 13:05 Leading with trust and clarity while supporting franchisees nationwide through data-driven decisions
🔥 15:13 Defining a great franchisee through passion and personality above all else
📚 21:45 Overcoming burnout, writing children’s books, pursuing personal passions, and creating space for joy
💲 25:50 A special Vitality Bowls franchisee discount code for listeners!

Links

Website: vitalitybowls.com
Social Media: @vitalitybowls
Email: [e-mail]
Check out Tara's website, or look her up on social media to learn more about the Vitality Bowls franchise!

Reach out to Adrienne: [e-mail]

Visit our website: www.sheleadsmedia.com

Join us at the upcoming She Leads LIVE 2025 conference in NYC on November 6th & 7th. Learn more at sheleadsmedia.com

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Creators and Guests

Host

She Leads® Media

👩🏻‍⚖️ ⭐️ Adrienne Garland - She Leads® Podcast Network - 4 women X women ⭐️ 🎧 The She Leads Podcast Host| Leadership Conferences, Retreats #SheLeads #Women #entrepreneurs

What is The She Leads Podcast | Rewriting the Rules of Entrepreneurship?

No sugar-coating, no fluff - just real conversations that matter. The She Leads Podcast features raw, unfiltered stories from visionary women who see the future and who've been bold enough to break the mold and re-write the rules. Each episode amplifies diverse voices with powerful missions, giving women the platform they deserve while delivering actionable insights you won't find in business textbooks. Join host Adrienne Garland, MBA, Professor, Entrepreneur for the straight talk about entrepreneurship that other business podcasts are afraid to have.

[00:00] Adrienne Garland: Leadership isn't just changing. It's evolving in ways we're only just beginning to imagine. And women, we're not playing this game anymore. We're the ones reshaping the entire field, building models, movements, and businesses that serve more than just a few. On the She Leads podcast, you'll hear real conversations with women who've broken through all kinds of barriers—revenue, identity, borders, and expectations. There's no sugarcoating here, just the truth told by those who are living it. I'm Adrienne Garland, entrepreneur, strategist, educator, and creator of live experiences, gathering women leaders together for over a decade. And this is the She Leads podcast.

[00:40] Adrienne Garland: Hey everybody and welcome back to the She Leads podcast. My next guest is a health and wellness and restaurant franchise entrepreneur. I'm so pleased to introduce Tara Gilad, co-founder of Vitality Bowls, a successful restaurant brand boasting over 120 open or in-development locations across the United States. Vitality Bowls is revolutionizing healthy food across the country through a fresh, high-quality superfood menu. Tara's journey started in a Northern California hippie community, and she's since transformed her unique background and entrepreneurial drive into the creation of a thriving, healthy, allergy-aware business centered on açaí bowls and nutritious superfoods. Welcome to the She Leads podcast, Tara.

[01:25] Tara Gilad: Thank you for having me.

[01:27] Adrienne Garland: I am so happy that you're here today. I'm also hungry speaking to you. And I am in New York, so I did a quick little search to see the closest Vitality Bowls and it's all the way up in Wappingers Falls. So that is quite a distance for me right now. I'm in Long Island, but I did grow up sort of in the Wappingers Falls area. So I'll have to make sure to get up there and get into one of the stores. So exciting to talk to you.

Here at the She Leads Podcast, we really like to dive into our founder stories. We like to talk about mindset and, you know, what was the thing that prompted you to start your business—and now not only just, you know, start a business and have a single location, which is a feat unto itself, but also to transform that business into a franchise model so that you can grow and scale. I just love that mindset. So how did you get started?

[02:22] Tara Gilad: Thank you. Well, I am a fourth-time entrepreneur. So it wasn't new to me to start a business, but my daughter was born with severe food allergies. And so my husband and I quickly realized we couldn't just eat at any restaurant. And so we said, "Well, let's just create our own and let's create a safe environment for her that focuses on superfoods and nutritious foods because that's what we're about and that's our lifestyle."

We wanted to build something that we were proud of and that my daughter could eat. And that's how it started. We built the first one a few miles down the street from our house. I was five months pregnant with my son and my daughter was 19 months old when we opened our first restaurant. Six months later we opened our second one. About a year and a half later, our third one. And then we decided to franchise at that point, and that's kind of what led us down the journey of franchising.

We had lines out the door at our stores. The wait time was ridiculous. We had people driving an hour saying, "Will you open one in my city? Can I open one? Will you license to us? Will you franchise to us?" And that's how we started the journey into franchising.

[03:41] Adrienne Garland: Amazing. I want to dive into that a lot more because franchising is such an incredible business model that obviously helps you, the person that started the business, but also the franchisee so that they can also grow a business that has a lot of support behind it. It's a really great way into entrepreneurship.

But you mentioned something and I'm going to wind it back. So you said that you were, you know, you have started multiple businesses in the past. When did that journey start for you and what were some of the lessons that you learned through growing and—I don’t know, you know—selling or facing challenges with some of those other businesses?

[04:22] Tara Gilad: Yeah, I mean I started my first business really early. I want to say I was like maybe 25, 26 and, you know, in Silicon Valley and just thought I could do anything. You know, I have this weird thing that I don't have fear and I'm not afraid and I have an extraordinary amount of confidence in myself. So anything I do, I know I'll be successful. And anything that I've done, I've been successful. So it just has continued to give me more confidence.

And so, you know, opened a second business which was amazing, then opened Vitality Bowls and it's been this incredible journey. And, you know, Vitality Bowls was tough because as a female founder in the restaurant industry and franchise space, which is still very male-dominated, there were many challenges and just uncomfortable and annoying moments as a female.

And, you know, overall though it's been an incredible journey to build a brand—and one that's not only growing but is rooted in purpose. Right? We did this for our daughter and so that "why" is always there. And now we get to serve other communities and bring healthy foods to all communities across the country. It's so satisfying. It's so rewarding. And anybody with allergies or intolerances or preferences, we can cater to them.

So being an entrepreneur is just ingrained in me. I don't know that I would do anything else. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. And I would just say, you know, to a lot of women that are held back from wanting to start their own business, don't let fear prevent you. I think that's what holds a lot of people—or a lot of women—back in general: they lack the confidence, they have fear. And I think if you can get through that, women can do anything.

[06:05] Tara Gilad: We are so smart.

[06:06] Adrienne Garland: So smart, yeah. And unfortunately insecurities and fear typically hold us back, but I would just recommend to all women: build a strong network of mentors, build that support system, and don't be afraid.

Yeah, it's so funny—I teach entrepreneurship at NYU in the Tisch Center for Hospitality. So the students are, you know, they want to start restaurant concepts, they want to start hotels and event management businesses and all of the amazing things—very customer-focused and hospitality-driven, creating incredible experiences.

And so, you know, this is something that we talk about every single day: what makes for a successful company? There's the numbers part of it, the business model and all of that. But what we focus on a lot is everything that you just said. It is the confidence, it is not letting fear stop you from trying, right?

And also the failure part is real. And so you have to—I mean, you have so much confidence because you know that no matter what you do, it's going to be successful because you'll figure it out. That doesn't mean that every step that you take is paved in gold, I'm sure. So can you talk a little bit—maybe from some of the other businesses, or even in Vitality Bowls as you were growing and expanding and going down that franchising path—what are some of the challenges that you faced and how did you overcome them?

[07:44] Tara Gilad: Yeah, I mean, I think everybody overcomes challenges and everybody's going to have challenges. There's no path that is paved in gold, like you said—it just doesn't happen. But you have to stay adaptable and you have to really surround yourself with a trusted team and remind yourself of the "why," which is usually what is driving you in the first place. Right? Everybody has to have a why.

At the end of the day, we started Vitality Bowls, for example, for our daughter and we wanted to provide clean, nutritious food for her and then those in our community. And so we encountered a ton of challenges. And being a working mom and juggling the responsibilities of scaling a business while raising young kids and trying to prioritize personal time for myself—that has been the biggest challenge.

But really, who you surround yourself with and finding the right team, but also staying focused on your why and your goal—and being able to pivot if you need to pivot quickly. But it's not easy, right? It's not easy to be an entrepreneur. It's not easy to start your own business. But there are definitely pros and cons. And I think you just need to figure out the right thing for your lifestyle.

Just because something works for somebody else doesn't mean it works for you. Right? Like we talk to entrepreneurs all the time that may want to be a franchisee. And one of the things I tell them is, "Hey, I'm really happy to get up and go to work every day. This excites me. This is fun for me. I'm super passionate about what we're doing."

But that doesn't mean this will be right for you. So you've got to figure out, is this right for you? Because if you don't have that passion for what you're doing, it's really hard to be successful. And I've always done things that I have a passion about. It's fun and exciting for me. So I would just recommend to all women: find something that you have passion about, figure out your why, and then figure out what you're passionate about. Because if you're passionate about it, you can sell anything and you can wake up every day and be excited to do it. If you're not and you hate it, it's going to be a struggle and it's going to be a challenge.

[10:04] Adrienne Garland: Yeah. With the franchise model, I mean, thinking about your business and creating something that you're really proud of and then having the thought, "Well, this concept is solid, it's replicable, it's got a strong brand. We should consider licensing or franchising this." When did that point come for you and your husband/co-founder?

[10:35] Tara Gilad: It happened really fast. It was about the first year and a half, two years.

[10:38] Adrienne Garland: Wow.

[10:39] Tara Gilad: We started getting approached. And I also have the mindset that I don't know everything, but I'm really good at figuring things out.

[10:47] Tara Gilad: Right? So we didn't know how to franchise, but we were good at figuring it out. And we surrounded ourselves with the right team—the right franchise attorney. We started going to franchise conferences, we started talking to people. And the franchise industry is actually a really close-knit unit because—I don't know the exact number today—but there are a few thousand franchisors.

And there's conferences constantly and you go to them and meet people. So we started talking to other CEOs and asking questions, and everybody opened their arms to us and helped us. That's why now, any entrepreneur that comes to me, I love mentoring them, I love talking to them and brainstorming and walking through different scenarios. You have to give to get in life as well. And there were a lot of people that opened their arms to us and gave us a lot of great advice and feedback, and I'm always willing to give that as well.

[11:51] Adrienne Garland: That's amazing. Yeah, I love that so much and I have heard that about the franchise industry too—that it's a very close-knit group. How many of your restaurants are owned by you and how many are franchised? Just curious.

[12:05] Tara Gilad: Yep. So I have four corporate stores and the rest are franchise locations.

[12:13] Adrienne Garland: Wow. And that—I mean really—that's another model or another mindset altogether. Because as you are developing new menus, new incredible ingredients come to the table, right? There's always something new. You not only are thinking about your locations, your business, but also the other locations and the different tastes and preferences of the people in these different cities across the country.

How do you, as the franchisor, consider all of that as you're making decisions?

[12:50] Tara Gilad: I mean, we have to consider it in every single decision that we make. And, you know, we are nationwide. So what works in my town might not work in another town. But at the end of the day, we stay true to our focus, which is offering delicious, nutritious, healthy meals. And all communities like that, right? Everybody loves delicious food that's healthy.

So we are able to go into different markets and it works for us. And then we have a team, and everything that we do, we get together as a team. We brainstorm before we make any decisions. Everyone gathers as much information as we can so that we can all analyze that data together and make the best decision.

And I just try to lead with trust and clarity, especially in an industry that's so deeply personal like health and wellness. But involving my team in every decision and involving our franchisees in our decisions—we do a lot of surveys and gathering information from them and what they want. And that's really what guides us as well, because at the end of the day we want to make sure that every franchise is successful, that every franchisee in every location across the country is successful.

So it's a heavy weight that we have on our shoulders, making sure that all of our entrepreneurs are successful. And every day we just try to do the absolute best we can for each of them.

[14:26] Adrienne Garland: I love that. So let's take a look at the business from the franchisee’s perspective, right? Or someone who's a prospective franchisee. Because that is somebody that is clearly entrepreneurial in their thinking.

But yet, well number one, they probably see great potential in your business. But what makes for a really good franchisee? Because the women that are listening to this podcast—they are entrepreneurs. They're growing their business. They might even be thinking to themselves, "You know, I've got a really good concept here. Maybe I want to franchise." But how do you attract the best franchisees to your business and what are the characteristics that make a stellar franchisee?

[15:23] Tara Gilad: Yeah. You know, everybody asks me what makes a franchisee successful, and at the end of the day I go back to two words: it's passion and personality. You have to have the personality to be able to run a business.

And what does that mean? That means grit, grind, hard work, managing, leading, managing your back end and your front end of the business. It's being able to multitask and do everything. So you have to have that personality that is also like, "I'm going to do anything to make sure my business is successful."

That might mean some days you're putting in long hours. That might mean sacrificing time with family—whatever it might mean to get your business going. Once your business is up and running, it's a lot easier. But those first 30 to 90 days, it is tough.

And then you have to have the passion. It's personality and passion. You have to have the passion for what you're doing. If you love what you're doing, you're going to be happy to go and do it and it's going to be a lot easier for you to reach out within your community and sell it and partner with different organizations to help you grow your business.

So a lot of our franchisees come to us organically because they come in and try our food and then they want to open one. Or they Google, you know, healthy concepts or healthy franchises. And our franchise is deeply rooted in support. We're not rooted in "grow to a thousand units in two years." That's not what we're about.

We're rooted in supporting every single franchisee. We hand them this restaurant in a box and then hold their hand every single step of the way. We're so accessible to our franchisees in terms of support and communication and being available to them—that's how we've been able to make this clear path of success and last for 14 years. Not a lot of companies are in business after 14 years.

[17:34] Adrienne Garland: Not a lot of businesses are in business after two years, right?

[17:38] Tara Gilad: Right. Franchises usually, in the first two years, a lot of mom-and-pops do go out of business. But franchise locations—I think it's over 80 or 90%—are still in business after two years. They have such an incredibly higher success rate because you have the support of the franchisor.

You also have a proven concept, right? But having the support of a franchisor is huge. And our franchisees really have to focus on what's within their four walls, but we're doing all the marketing, the graphics, the distribution, the logistics, negotiating contracts, doing the R&D, hosting the website, the app, all the technology, the loyalty program—you name it. We're doing all of that for them so they can run their business in their store.

So you have a lot more support when you join a franchise system.

[18:41] Adrienne Garland: Yeah. It's an amazing thing. I really think it's such an interesting way into entrepreneurship for someone that, you know, they see something, they fall in love with something. It's a way for them to be in business with a huge team behind them that you wouldn't get if you were just opening your own restaurant or concept on your own.

I'm very, very impressed and I'm actually curious. I have two questions really. First: is there a certain point that you feel, "Okay, we have a certain number of franchise locations and that's what we're going for, that's our cap"?

[19:25] Tara Gilad: So you know, obviously when you grow your corporate team has to be ready for scaling. And as we've scaled throughout the years, you've got to make sure you're ready. You've got to have all the training protocols in place, a team to support, right? We have to have a team in order to support growth. So we always make sure we have the team in place first to support growth.

And then for us, it's not about reaching a number. It's about working with great people. I'm lucky enough that I get to choose who I work with. I meet and interview and talk to every single entrepreneur that wants to join our system. And before choosing if I want to have them become a franchisee, I get to meet with them and decide if they're right for our system and if I think that they'll make a great franchisee.

And so, you know, that's the beauty about joining a franchise too—there's a vetting period. We're vetting the right person, we're vetting the right candidate.

[20:31] Adrienne Garland: Right? It's about fit. Because as a franchisee, you also don't want to be joining something that isn't a fit for you, your lifestyle, the way that you operate, right?

[20:41] Tara Gilad: Exactly. It's an interview. And we try to be super transparent as to what it's like to own a Vitality Bowls. We have to make sure: does this work for you? We don't want to fool or mislead anybody, because then they're going to come in and it's not going to work. So it's about full transparency.

And so, you know, if any of your listeners are looking for a franchise, they really need to make sure that they feel like they're getting that transparency. Look for a franchise that is focused on support and not just growing in numbers.

There's a lot of franchisors that are just about the number. For us, it's about growing with the right people in the right communities. And there's a lot of communities, too—we run the data, and sure, we could approve this franchisee because they're amazing, but I don't know that their small town could support it. You know, some towns have like 5,000 people. And I'm like, "Oh, I don't know."

We don't want you to fail. And while I hate turning away great franchisees, at the end of the day, I don't want anybody to fail. So again, it's about the right fit. And sometimes location comes into that as well.

[21:55] Adrienne Garland: Oh, I can imagine. I mean, location is probably one of the key success factors. It has to be. Yeah—the traffic that you know is going by. I'm actually wondering, do you have plans for international growth?

[22:09] Tara Gilad: Oh, well, we have discussed that many times. We have looked into it. I think right now we just want to support our franchisees here in the United States and continue to grow to more communities. We have a lot of locations still in development. We want to get those open, we want to support those franchisees, and then potentially we can look at expansion.

[22:36] Adrienne Garland: I love that. And I guess I'm thinking too—that is your growth plan for the future for yourself personally as a business owner and also somebody who clearly likes to set high goals for herself. Do you have any personal goals for expansion, whether that's another business or developing your personal brand or writing a book or anything like that?

[23:02] Tara Gilad: Well, it's funny you mention that. So, I actually just wrote two books—one for my daughter and one for my son—and they're just cute little kids' books. And that was really rewarding. I actually gave them to both of them for Christmas this last Christmas. So I felt good about that.

It was something that I had in my mind that I wanted to do for a really long time and I just never had the time. Finally I took some time on a weekend and I powered through. Each book took me maybe a month, but they're cute and fun and, you know, they're for my kids and hopefully they appreciate that.

So, you know, as I go through life there are things like that that might come up. My personal goal is to just make more time for myself because I haven't always done that and I want to make time to do things that I really do enjoy. I've really made an effort to take time to spend with my friends, go hiking. I love to do puzzles—which I know sounds weird—but I take time to do my puzzles.

So if things come up in the future that I think will make me happy, I'm going to choose to do it.

[24:12] Adrienne Garland: I love that. And I think that's especially important, too, because you are in the health and wellness industry. And sometimes in the pursuit of introducing all of these amazing things into the market, you end up burning yourself out. And that's in direct opposition to what is fundamental to who you are and what you believe in.

So I think that's another critical success factor. If you are going to be in any type of health and wellness venture at all, you also definitely need to live in that space and walk that talk—because otherwise it's in opposition.

[24:54] Tara Gilad: That's right. And I am a better mom, I'm a better wife, I'm a better leader, I'm a better businesswoman when I take care of myself. When I'm mentally capped out, it's hard for me. And I've been there, I've had burnout, and I lost myself in working and the stress. And I'm not going to allow that anymore.

So positive mental health is so important. Taking that time to make yourself happy is so important. Because as moms and wives, we tend to do everything for everybody else and put everybody else first. And when your kids are smaller, you have to.

I'm also at a different phase in my life. My kids are 13 and 15, so they're a lot more independent and they don't need me as much. So I do have that time that I can take care of myself.

[25:50] Adrienne Garland: Yeah. Well, I have to tell you, my kids are 22 and almost 25 and it doesn't get any easier. They end up needing you more emotionally than physically, and that is a whole other realm of being. So it ain't over.

[26:10] Tara Gilad: No, it never ends. Our job as a mom never ends, that's for sure.

[26:15] Adrienne Garland: Yeah. Oh my gosh, I really have loved our conversation so much and I think you've offered a lot of great advice for women entrepreneurs out there that are looking to grow and scale their business. Maybe you have, you know, put a seed of an idea in someone's head that they have a concept that is actually franchisable.

So if women want to reach out and talk to you—either for literally opening a Vitality Bowls franchise or just to get some advice and mentorship from you—how can they get in touch with you?

[26:55] Tara Gilad: Absolutely. They can reach out to Vitality Bowls—we're on Instagram, just @VitalityBowls. They can reach out to me—I'm just @TaraGilad on Instagram.

And we do have an offer for all of your listeners: we will give $1,000 off the initial franchise fee if they mention your podcast when they come to us. So we would love to help your entrepreneurs and see if Vitality Bowls is right for them.

[27:35] Adrienne Garland: I think that would be so awesome if someone listening in said, "You know what? This is interesting to me," and they become a franchisee. You have to keep me posted.

[27:43] Tara Gilad: Yeah, absolutely.

[27:46] Adrienne Garland: Oh my gosh. So, I have one final question. Is there a Vitality Bowls that is going to be opening in Nassau County in Long Island anytime soon?

[27:56] Tara Gilad: I hope so.

[27:57] Adrienne Garland: Okay.

[27:58] Tara Gilad: I hope so. We're always talking to people. I hope so. And I hope we can bring Vitality to all communities, because I think everybody deserves to eat healthy and, of course, be in an environment that is safe if there are any allergies. So yes, hopefully.

[28:22] Adrienne Garland: Well, I definitely think it would do very well around where I am on the north shore of Long Island, because we have more pizza places than anything else. But Tara, this has been such a lovely conversation. Thank you so much for spending your time with me here today. I really enjoyed our conversation.

[28:38] Tara Gilad: Thank you as well.

[28:40] Adrienne Garland (Outro): If this conversation moved you, inspired you, or made you think differently, please take a moment to leave a five-star rating and review. It's not just about boosting the show. It's about amplifying the voices of women entrepreneurs who are leading with vision, building with purpose, and shaping what's next.

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