The character and cofounder of Once Upon A Farm shares what she’s learned successful the first six months of starring a publically traded company.
By Chloe Sorvino, Forbes Staff
In February, Jennifer Garner stepped onto the pavilion of the New York Stock Exchange to ringing the opening doorbell and observe the $724 cardinal IPO of Once Upon A Farm, the Berkeley, California-based integrated babe nutrient institution she cofounded astir a decade ago. The banal closed its first time of trading up 17% and is now down astir 15% for the year, but Garner says she has “no interest” successful checking the value connected immoderate fixed day. She’s already mastered tuning retired sound from Wall Street.
“People opportunity to me, ‘Oh, I cognize you're checking it. You person to beryllium checking it,’” the 54-year-old actress, a personnel of the 50 Over 50 people of 2026, tells Forbes. “And I say, ‘You underestimate my discipline.’”
“The first six months in, I can't cognize that successful the aforesaid measurement that I can't cognize what's written astir maine successful tabloid media. It would break me,” adds Garner, who was named to the 2026 Forbes 50 Over 50 list. “I would not do good nether that benignant of unit aliases scrutiny from myself. I person to put that away—and I activity very, very difficult to debar ever seeing my sanction successful people successful that way. Same point pinch the OFRM stock.”
For the past decade, Garner has been conscionable arsenic committed to her Hollywood profession (starring successful and producing 2 deed streaming series, The Last Thing He Told Me connected Apple TV+ and The Five-Star Weekend on Peacock) arsenic she has been to her children’s nutrient company. As main marque officer, Garner has been a cardinal driver of the $288 cardinal (trailing 12 months revenue) business, which reported gross of $85.4 cardinal successful its 2nd 4th (a astir 17% summation from Q1) connected its net telephone past week.
“Beat and raise,” Garner says, showing disconnected her the caller vocabulary she acquired since going public. “We person unthinkable loyalty from families who are raising their kids pinch Once Upon a Farm. We person very beardown velocities and the IPO was a large lever for us. We added a batch of households.”
Garner is the azygous largest shareholder successful Once Upon a Farm, pinch a 7% liking worthy astir $55 million. But her equity successful the business, she says, is not top-of-mind. “That is not moreover thing I bespeak connected astatine each aliases ever really retrieve from 1 clip it's mentioned to another.”
Garner's activity successful film, tv and commercials (most notably Capital One and Neutrogena) has earned her astatine slightest $125 cardinal complete the people of her career, Forbes estimates. She’s been a Capital One spokeswoman since 2014 and erstwhile did a crossover commercialized featuring her babe nutrient and really the business has grown acknowledgment to its in installments cards.
She was besides an early investor successful Angel City Football Club—and she retains a very mini number stake—which Forbes estimates to beryllium the astir valuable women’s shot squad successful America, worthy astir $340 million. “That turned retired to beryllium good,” Garner says pinch a laugh. “I can’t opportunity I’m immoderate queen investor.”
But it did springiness Once Upon A Farm different opportunity to expand. In 2024, Garner helped agent the business’ first-ever sports sponsorship. The institution signed a multi-year woody to beryllium Angel City’s exclusive partner for children’s snacks.
“I'm wholly focused connected america executing against our mission,” she says. “And if we do that, the banal will follow.”
One large priority, Garner adds, has been getting Once Upon A Farm products WIC-certified truthful low-income families tin entree its products much easily. The marque now has that favoritism successful much than 20 states.
“It's been our northbound star,” she says. “We are feeding kids who would not person entree to the level of nutrition that Once Upon a Farm offers.”
The mother of 3 children (with ex-husband Ben Affleck), Garner had been a trustee for Save The Children for respective years erstwhile she joined Once Upon A Farm successful 2017 arsenic a cofounder. Garner had met the original founders, Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz, who had started the marque aft not being capable to find organic, farm-fresh babe nutrient successful their section supermarket, and says she “wanted to beryllium portion of solving a problem that I had knowledgeable arsenic a mom.”
Garner, who grew up middle-class successful West Virginia, had ne'er taken an economics aliases business course, and says she “didn’t cognize really to publication a spreadsheet.” But she figured it retired and recovered cardinal places (including meetings pinch retailers and visits to farms, wherever the marque sources ingredients) wherever she could adhd her perspective.
“They still really overwhelm me,” Garner says of spreadsheets, “but I judge arsenic heck emotion the process of being the student successful the room, always.”
John Foraker—an angel investor successful Once Upon A Farm, who had antecedently been CEO of the Berkeley-based Annie’s integrated nutrient brand, took it nationalist successful 2012 and led its acquisition to General Mills 2 years later—also joined successful 2017 arsenic a cofounder and became CEO.
About a twelvemonth in, he recalls visiting a salient retailer pinch Garner and proceeding that “they were going to beryllium cutting america backmost from 14 items to 5, and from complete 1,00 stores to astir 500” because the complaint of repetition purchases was “just not there.” After leaving the retailer’s headquarters, Foraker recalls that they were “not judge whether to laughter aliases cry” but, Garner, aft jokingly describing the gathering arsenic her “first CPG punch successful the face,” doubled down and said they would “make it activity and show everyone that we can.”
“All these years later this is simply a monolithic and very successful retailer,” Foraker says. “That is her resilience and competitory spirit. I’ve seen that perpetually for almost a decade.”
“She’s been location astatine each of our wins, successful each of our galore losses,” Foraker adds, “and astatine each pivot from wherever we started to wherever we are today, virtually successful the trenches.”
Once Upon A Farm has besides proven itself connected shelves since then. The brand’s 40-plus different products—including refrigerated drinkable smoothies and oat bars—are presently sold successful much than 25,000 stores. That includes complete 480 locations of Sprouts Farmers Market, tally by CEO Jack Sinclair, who has been a mentor to Garner for years.
"I encouraged Jennifer to usage the IPO arsenic an opportunity to enactment focused connected what has made Once Upon a Farm successful, alternatively than becoming overly corporate,” Sinclair says. “We discussed the value of building a beardown team, continuing to innovate and germinate the merchandise portfolio, and driving meaningful alteration crossed the nutrient proviso chain."
Garner recalls really Sinclair besides pushed her to “reinvest successful who you are to this company.”
“Now what are you going to do?” he asked her.
She committed to utilizing the first six months to fortify the relationships she has built pinch retailers complete the years, conscionable arsenic she did pinch the bankers connected the IPO roadshow.
And the ngo continues. In the adjacent fewer months, Garner will recreation pinch Foraker and the income squad to Bentonville, Arkansas, Austin, Texas, Cincinnati, Ohio and Minneapolis, Minnesota, to sanction a fewer stops connected her tour. “I'm re state itching to get backmost retired location and to beryllium reinvigorated by what those relationships mean to maine astatine this constituent 9 years in,” Garner says. “I'm still really hungry.”
Additional reporting by Matt Craig and Maggie McGrath.
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