Best-selling author Sarah Wilson has announced she is closing her business IQuitSugar.com.
In a letter to her fans on her self-titled website, Wilson said after seven years and “a lot of careful thought and much heartache” she would close the business she is so well-known for.
In her announcement, Wilson said she felt the business, in growing from a start-up to a scale-up, lost the core of what it was about in the pursuit of making money.
“As many of you know, the IQS journey started at a time in my life that had given me cause to re-evaluate what mattered in life. From this place I decided to (re)build my life according to certain values. These values went on to steer the IQS message as well as the business,” she wrote.
“The big commitment I made to myself back then was to not get caught up in the cycle.
“This meant doing things differently. It meant not taking on advertising. It meant starting small and growing at the same pace as the community was able to manage the messaging, and at a pace at which I could feel (dare I say it) authentic. It meant sticking to seemingly non-commercial principles. It meant “giving first”, aiming only to educate…and then seeing where it would all go. I did this for two years before feeling I could legitimately charge for my product. When I did, you guys supported me and enabled me.”
Listen: Journalist and TV Presenter Sarah Wilson talks about why she can’t live without zucchini and the fact her diet doesn’t really involve quitting sugar at all. Post continues after audio.
Recently, the author said, she realised she had to “pivot course” to remain true to her “original commitment”.
“Once we arrived at the point where “scale” – growing the existing structure exponentially – was required, I realised the motivator now was money. My motivator had not been money previously, a freedom that enabled me to make bold decisions that at times startled peers and the industry, but ultimately, and ironically, saw my message and product spread further.
“So I decided a little over 12 months ago that it was time for me to go. I’m an educator, a communicator. Not a money-spinner. It was best for everyone and for the message.”
After initiating talks with potential buyers, Wilson said she could not come to a place where she thought the business would thrive under new owners, or that she could survive watching it live without her. She says she has “a lot more to create”, detailing how she intends to continue the “anxiety discussion and the food waste” movement.
The business will be running as usual for a little while.
“Seven years into a movement, five years into a business, I feel my work in the realm is done. I set out to educate the world about the truth of our eating habits and to find a technique that could shift things in a meaningful way.”