Ten years ago, Denise Woodard set out to solve a problem most parents never have to think about: how do you give your child a cookie she can actually eat? After her daughter Vivienne was diagnosed with multiple food allergies as a baby, Denise left her corporate job, determined to create tasty, allergy-friendly treats that everyone could enjoy, not just those with dietary restrictions.

A decade later, Partake Foods is in thousands of stores nationwide. To mark the anniversary, Denise sat down with the person who started it all: Vivi. But first, the story of how a frustrated food-allergy mom built a brand from scratch.

It Started With a Scary Moment in her Living Room

Partake's origin isn't a tidy business-school case study. It began with fear. Around Vivienne's first birthday, a simple snack of peanuts and corn caused a severe allergic reaction, and the family learned she was allergic to multiple foods. Searching store shelves for snacks that were both safe and genuinely good, Denise came up empty. So she decided to make them herself.

She had the background for it. Before launching Partake, Denise spent a decade in consumer packaged goods at various Fortune 100 companies, including a decade at Coca-Cola working with emerging beverage brands. That window into entrepreneurship showed her what was possible.

The Hard Part Nobody Sees

Turning a kitchen idea into a shelf-ready product was brutal. Allergy-friendly manufacturing is a specialized world, and most facilities won't touch a small startup. Denise had to plead her case to find a co-manufacturer willing to work with her.

Then came the money. To keep Partake alive in the early days, she went all in personally, selling cookies store-by-store out of her car, clearing out her 401k, and selling her engagement ring to bootstrap the business. In 2019, the gamble paid off in a historic way: she became the first Black woman to raise $1 million in public funding for a packaged food or beverage startup, a round led by Marcy Venture Partners. 

Why She Refuses to Quit

Through every “no,” one thing kept Denise going, and it wasn't the funding milestones. It was Vivienne. As Denise has put it, it would be one thing if she'd started any other business and it failed, but there was no way she could look at her daughter and say "Mommy started a company to make things better for you, then it got hard, a lot of people said no, so I quit." 

Vivienne has been her North Star the entire way. Which makes the conversation below all the more full-circle.

The Anniversary Q&A: Denise and Vivi

Denise: Did you know Partake was started because of you?

Vivi: What kind of question is that? Yes!

Denise: What does it feel like when you see Partake at a store?

Vivi: It feels very surreal to me, because my mom started the brand just for me.

Denise: What's your favorite Partake cookie, and why?

Vivi: My favorite is the teeny tiny chocolate chips. I like how tiny they are, and you just pop them in your mouth.

Denise: What does it mean to you that other kids with food allergies can eat these cookies too?

Vivi: It makes me happy to know that other kids can feel included like me. When I'm having a celebration, I know I can always just eat Partake and feel included.

Denise: What do you want people to know about me that they might not know?

Vivi: I want people to know that just because you own a business, doesn't mean you have to be tough every second. It's not all work, work, work. You (Denise) always make time for me.

Denise: If you were CEO of Partake for a day, what would you make?

Vivi: I'd try to do a collab with a squishy brand, because squishies are very popular right now, and I think it would go viral. Probably Squeezie, because they have really good squishies.

Denise: Partake is turning 10. What do you think about that?

Vivi: I think about how crazy it is that Partake has been around for basically my whole entire life. I haven't really thought of a moment where it hasn't existed before.

Ten Years In, Still Built for Vivi

Vivi's answer about feeling “included” is the whole reason Partake exists. What began with cookies baked for one little girl has grown into a mission to make sure no one sits out. The company Denise nearly went broke to build now helps families everywhere snack with confidence.

And the promise behind it hasn't changed. Here's to the next ten.