In this episode of Hustle Inspires Hustle, Alex Quin sits down with Greg Vetter, founder of Tessemae’s, to discuss how a stolen bottle of his mom’s homemade salad dressing sparked the creation of a national clean-food brand.
In this episode of Hustle Inspires Hustle, Alex Quin sits down with Greg Vetter, founder of Tessemae’s, to discuss how a stolen bottle of his mom’s homemade salad dressing sparked the creation of a national clean-food brand.
Greg shares the realities of building a business from scratch, including cold-calling executives for insights, inventing clean manufacturing, and scaling Tessemae’s to a $300–$500 million valuation—only to later face investor conflict and a complete collapse of the company.
He opens up about writing his book Undressed, launching new ventures like Altaresh, Quenchers, and Tushies, and how staying grounded through family, routine, and faith helped him rebuild and support other entrepreneurs through his brand accelerator.
Curiosity Fuels Success
Greg’s success started with asking questions—first to wealthy teammates' parents, then to CEOs. Curiosity and the willingness to learn opened massive doors.
Track Progress, Not Busyness
By creating a point-based system to track real sales progress, Greg focused on results over appearances. Real productivity drives outcomes, not just effort.
Clean Ingredients, Clear Value
Tessemae’s succeeded by removing unnecessary ingredients and offering better taste and transparency. Consumers valued authenticity, especially when paired with a strong story.
Chaos Isn’t the End—It’s the Shift
Even after investor lawsuits and the collapse of Tessemae’s, Greg used the experience as fuel to write a book and build new businesses. Failures can spark reinvention.
Build Systems That Serve Others
Altaresh streamlined grocery prep with pre-portioned kits. Solving industry pain points and making others' jobs easier can be a path to big wins.
"We were the first clean ingredient salad dressing on the market." – Gregory Vetter
"We got valued between 300 and 500 million bucks." – Gregory Vetter
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Alex Quin is a full-stack marketing expert and global keynote speaker. Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of UADV Marketing - a member of the Forbes Agency Council.
