Linda Kerr Kamm

Actually, Linda has come a long way from her Miss Georgia days, a contest she entered one week before the pageant because she thought she could make some good contacts for her soon-to-be-launched broadcasting career. As it turned out, she made the contacts that got her started on a more fruitful path.

Linda had been working her way through college in assorted unusual jobs: bellman at the Holiday Inn, manager of the men’s wrestling team, when she got in on an opportunity to sell franchises with a commission of $1,000 per franchise sold. A fortune for a struggling college student!

Happy & Healthy Products, Inc.

"It was the kind of job where you charged your expenses on your credit cards and the company would reimburse you," explained Linda. They left owing her $3,000 in commission and $10,000 in expenses.

It was shortly after that she began her own company, DDI, distributing frozen fruit bars manufactured locally From 1986 to 1991, business was booming to the tune of $4 million in annual sales, when all at once, the bottom dropped out. "They broke their contract," said Linda. It was that simple. One minute she had a lucrative business. The next, she was unemployed.

The next two years were filled with fear, optimism and hope. With DDI closed, Linda had bills to pay and no income. At the same time, she was working towards developing her own frozen fruit bar—a better product than was currently offered on the market.

"The things I learned from the failure of DDI are the very things that helped me succeed with Happy and Healthy Products," said Linda. The first lesson was to have control of the product you’re selling; the second was to operate the business as a franchise rather than a distributorship because you can provide a better level of support.

With these notions in mind, she worked to develop the Fruitfull® Bar to cater to the large market of women seeking a delicious, healthy, low-or-no-fat treat.

"Our product has chunks of real fruit, whole raspberries, hunks of mango," Linda explains proudly. "In fact, the only complaints I’ve ever gotten are that there are too many cherries in the cherry bar."

To get the new company off the ground, she mortgaged her home. "I mortgaged my house for the first business, but it wasn’t as scary," explained Linda. "Then, I figured if my business doesn’t work, I won’t be able to make the mortgage payments anyway."

This time, there was more on the line, more to lose. She raised the money through refinancing and through friends. A woman friend mortgaged her own house and gave Linda over six figures. Linda used her jewelry as collateral for another loan. "I went over a year without wearing my jewelry," she said.

Kellogg opposed the trademark for Fruitfull® after she had already committed $30,000 to buying wrappers for the product. A short battle went the right way for Linda and in March of 1993, Fruitfull® bars became available to the public. Her idea to sell individual bars, rather than bulk packages, allowing the product more flexibility in placement, i.e. healthclubs, schools, etc., paid off.

Happy and Healthy was off and running and in August of that year, started selling franchises. Over 100 franchises later in 37 states and Puerto Rico, Linda has found a niche in yet another market: Moms and couples seeking a relatively low-investment business opportunity.

Linda takes great pride in living up to the name Happy and Healthy. Of course, the natural fruit bar is the healthy part; the happy stands for Linda’s firm belief that all those involved with the company are family and should be treated as such. "We’re all here to support each other," said Linda.

Sixteen flavors and 7 million bars later (1997 sales), Linda is clearly a happy woman with a happy product in a happy business. It’s been an interesting turn of events for the Georgia native who never aspired to own a business. "I had to start my business when I ran out of things to sell that I could believe in."

Wit the help of some good friends, a supportive husband and world hungry for something delicious to eat and a flexible business opportunity Linda has created a business and a life that’s—you guessed it—Happy and Healthy!