Jason Wright of Wilde: The Relentless Hustle That Drives The Ultimate Snack Industry Disruption

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Wilde Brands.

Wilde Brands could only ever have a wild founder, enter Jason Wright. He fell in love with chips early in his childhood, with a household mantra of “an open bag is an empty bag”. When he realized his favorite snack would not support his quest for a stronger and active lifestyle, he turned to making his own snacks, but nothing gave him the satisfaction like a good old fashioned potato chip. Thanks to his entrepreneurial spirit and never-give-up attitude, Jason’s bold idea starts to take shape in his boulder, CO kitchen: replace the potato with protein using “chicken breast ‘’. Naming it would be easy. Wilde Chips. Jason makes his first trial batch using recycled potato chip equipment, and two years later he finally nails it — reinventing his favorite snack “potato chips’’ forever.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I fell into the modeling industry, and did that as my full-time gig for 5 years. I became very committed to my health and taking care of my body, and started learning about natural foods. I really started to feel the correlation between what I ate and how I felt. And for the first time in my life, I felt great, so I became somewhat obsessed with eating clean. I ended up launching a cereal company, and I learned a lot. Afterwards, I really wanted to fill a white space in the clean earring world. And I LOVE potato chips, so I thought there had to be a better way so I set out on a mission to create the perfect chip made with fresh, wholesome ingredients. I knew that chicken breast was one of the healthiest proteins on the planet, and just like that, Wilde Chips was born.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Wilde Chips are the first of their kind. A chip that eats like a potato chip but is made with 100% all natural Chicken Breast has never been done before. After launching Wilde, we learned that a few companies have tried to create a meat based chip by dehydrating or using a baking process which turned out to have a negative effect on texture. Our approach from day 1, was to make a product that crunched like a traditional potato chip.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Originally, I thought we were going to make our product in a pork rind facility, and the owner was so excited about this new product, and he also thought we were going to make it there. I ended up burning the largest batch of Chicken & Waffle-flavored chips ever. I did such a number on the chips that the owner’s plant had to be shut down for a day — there was smoke everywhere, and they had to do a thorough deep clean. He basically ran me out. Whoops! Lesson learned — I needed custom built equipment, because the right equipment didn’t yet exist.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Philippe Barnoud is a well-seasoned industry vet. He told me my product tasted like … you-know-what. He thought it ate like cardboard. He started to test my ego, and gave it to me straight. I asked what he would do to change it. He told me exactly what he would do. So I hired him. To this day, he’s a mentor and friend.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

If it has a positive effect on people and on the planet, great. If we’re doing some harm, it just isn’t worth it. Simple as that.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Hustle. Or someone else will. You gotta pay the rent everyday.

Impatience. The day you stop being impatient is the day people will stop investing in you.

Dream. My grandma used to say “if you can dream it, you can do it.”

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

Maybe we’ll send Wilde Chips to space!

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

There’s an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp, and they talk about UFOs. Conversations like that remind me that we’re just a blimp on the radar.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I don’t think I have a quote. It’s more of a vision. I have a vision, I focus on it, I go after it, and I don’t give up on it. It doesn’t mean it’s going to work — but that’s it. You just have to keep going.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

We’re all sitting at a poker table. You don’t know what cards you’re going to get dealt. But you have to play your hand. I grew up in a small single family mobile home. You have to play the cards you were dealt. I promise you — if you focus on the cards YOU’RE dealt, and giving it your all, you’re going to come out a lot better than if you’re worried about what everyone else has, or how they got there, or why they’re successful.

How can our readers follow you online?

You have to follow Wilde :)

@wildechips

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!