She Rethought Soy and Built a Snack Brand for Better Health

A personal health discovery led Attessa Bradley to rethink soy and start a snack brand.

After entering perimenopause, Attessa began researching how nutrition could support her health. What she learned inspired Standing Tall, a brand making nutritious snacks for people who refuse to choose between taste and better-for-you ingredients.

This week, Attessa shares how she launched the brand, why entrepreneurship means getting comfortable with uncertainty, and how she's using AI to handle everything from financial planning to content creation.

The Interview

The Product and Audience: What is Standing Tall and who is it for?

Standing Tall makes nutritious snacks for people who expect more from what they eat. The brand initially focused on women in midlife, but its audience is expanding to include health-minded consumers who want high-quality nutrition in a clean, minimally processed format. Its customers include protein seekers, ingredient readers, busy professionals, and people who take an active role in their health. The philosophy is simple: eating better shouldn't mean giving up taste or making nutrition unnecessarily complicated.

The Spark: What made Attessa say "I need to build this"?

The idea started when Attessa entered perimenopause and began researching how nutrition could support her health. Soy kept coming up as a food with significant nutritional benefits, but Attessa had previously believed the negative messaging about soy that became popular in the early 2000s. Her research changed her perspective. She realized soy deserved a much closer look and saw an opportunity to make it easier for more people to incorporate it into their diets. She also wanted to support the growing community of women working to improve women's health, an area she believes has long been underserved. Standing Tall grew out of those two goals: making nutritious food more accessible and contributing to a bigger conversation about women's health.

The Launch: When did Standing Tall launch and how did it build pre-launch buzz?

Standing Tall launched in January 2026, focusing on Amazon and its own website. Rather than expanding into too many sales channels immediately, Attessa wanted to keep the business focused, monitor expenses, and learn quickly from customer feedback. Before launch, she shared the brand's journey on social media, bringing people along as the business took shape. She also researched and contacted influencers in advance, offering free samples to those interested in trying the product. Several influencers posted about Standing Tall, helping introduce the brand to new audiences and build early awareness.

The First 100: How did Standing Tall find its first customers?

Like many early-stage brands, Standing Tall's first 100 customers came from friends, family, coworkers, and friends of friends. Attessa shared the launch through her personal social media accounts, including LinkedIn, and those posts generated plenty of engagement and excitement. The support came from people across different parts of her life, helping the brand get its first customers and spread the word beyond its immediate circle.

The Advice: What would Attessa tell a first-time founder in their first 90 days?

Don't expect overnight success. Social media makes it easy to see other founders' wins without seeing the failures, hard work, and setbacks that came before them. Entrepreneurship comes with plenty of ups and downs, lessons, wins, and losses. Attessa's advice is to prepare for all of it and get comfortable being uncomfortable on a daily basis.

The Reality Check: What is the hardest part of this journey that people don't see on social media?

The hardest part is never feeling completely certain that you're making the right decisions. As a founder, you're responsible for everything, from marketing and packaging to production costs, Amazon fees, and the many other expenses that come with running a business. When you're investing your own money and don't have a team to share the responsibility, it's easy to question every decision. Attessa has learned that there isn't always one right answer. Especially in the early stages, building a business means balancing analytics with your gut and making the best decisions you can with the information available.

The Milestone: What has been the biggest "we made it" moment so far?

Attessa has had two moments that made her stop and think, "Wow." The first was seeing herself on the cover of a local magazine, alongside a multi-page story about Standing Tall. She had expected a much smaller feature, so seeing the magazine arrive with her face on the cover was a surprise. The second moment came when a very large influencer reposted one of the brand's comments. It was a small interaction in some ways, but it made the team feel seen and reminded them that people were starting to notice what they were building.

The AI Trend: How has Standing Tall used AI to help the business grow?

Standing Tall uses AI across nearly every part of the business. Attessa uses it for forecasting, budgeting, profit and loss statements, copywriting, content ideas, and brainstorming headlines. It also helps with reviewing contracts and working through legal-related tasks, including trademark applications. For a founder managing so many responsibilities, AI has become a practical tool for moving faster and handling work that might otherwise require additional time or outside support.

The Horizon: What should we be excited to see from Standing Tall in the next six months?

Standing Tall is preparing upgraded packaging designed to appeal to a broader audience as the brand continues to expand beyond its original focus on women in midlife. The team is also developing one-ounce snack packs made for people on the go. The goal is to make Standing Tall's products even easier to carry, enjoy, and fit into everyday routines.

Looking for more founder-built protein snacks? Read how Monica McClellan built Curd around cottage cheese after she couldn't find a clean protein snack.

The Shop: Where can readers buy Standing Tall?

You can shop Standing Tall on Amazon (search for Standing Tall Foods) and on its website, standingtallfoods.com. Start with our Preview of the Standing Tall Sea Salt Soybean Snacks.

The Connection: Where is the best place to follow along?

Follow @standingtallfoods on Instagram and connect with Attessa Bradley on LinkedIn for product updates and a closer look at Attessa's journey building Standing Tall.

The Recommendations: What under-the-radar brands does Attessa recommend?

In CPG, her pick is Butter & Sugar.