Eating disorder survivor has £600k snack business after Dragons' Den rejection
A woman who used to only eat a teaspoon of peanut butter a day saw her business idea rejected by Dragons' Den but now has a £600,000 company.
Evie Waxman, 29, recalled growing up surrounded by “fad diet ideas in magazines”.
She started struggling with her body image aged just 11, and said this was influenced by how older women spoke about their bodies.
She said: “Listening to adults, especially women, talk negatively about their bodies unintentionally impacts and moulds the way you think about your own body growing up.”
But after overcoming her own eating disorders, Evie has now set up her own business, Raw Bake Station and she wants to help repair young people's relationship with food.
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Evie started up raw and vegan snacks business Raw Bake Station (Evie Waxman/BBC)She bounced back from a rejection from Dragons' Den and now sells her goods in some of the biggest supermarkets in the country.
MyLondon reported Evie said: “From a very young age I would think about the way I looked and how clothes fit me.
“At around 13 or 14, I started restricting what I ate and I remember my dad making concerned comments about the fact that he only ever saw me eating a teaspoon of peanut butter, but the issue with eating disorders is that they’re secretive and done in private.
“As a teen, my friends and I were egging each other on to not eat and, without realising, I was in a really toxic bubble around body image and diet.
Whilst unsuccessful, Evie didn't let the Dragon's Den rejection stop her (Evie Waxman/BBC)“At the time, magazines would promote fad diets like drinking lemon water and cayenne pepper, which is not healthy.”
Reaching her early 20s, Evie began to unlearn her bad eating habits, but also spotted a gap in the market for healthier snacks.
She continued: “It’s an ongoing journey but at around 21, I started to get my disordered eating under control. At the time I was only eating a couple of carrots and a handful of nuts a day, but I started learning about nutrition, veganism and raw cooking.
Her snacks are now available in some of the UK's biggest supermarkets (PA Real Life)“I was surrounded by girls that loved their bodies, no matter what their size was, and it gave me the first inkling that what I was doing wasn’t normal.
“But while I was unpicking my unhealthy eating, I realised I was missing snacks like chocolate and cookies that were good for you and could fuel your body.”
During her time working at a juice bar she started making “energy balls” as a health snack, made of dates, oats, flour and peanut butter.
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Then in 2016, Evie started her business from her mum’s kitchen selling these "energy balls", testing out recipes and ingredients for her healthy snacks.
Evie set up her business in 2018 after first making the healthy snack in her mum's kitchen (PA Real Life)It grew from there until in March 2020, Evie took her business Raw Bake Station into the Den, looking for £50,000 in exchange for a ten per cent stake.
Her venture divided opinions and she left with nothing, but that didn't stop the 29-year-old who now says her brand is a big "f*** you" to "toxic diet culture".
She's determined to help people battle eating disorders by giving them something to snack on "without worrying what's in the product".
Starting out on market stalls, Evie continued to develop her recipes while gaining a core customer base and, in 2021, her brand started appearing in retailers including Co-op and Ocado.
Evie said she has been overwhelmed by the support she’s received and has even been messaged directly by happy customers.
For more information, visit www.rawbakestation.co.uk.
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