Nicole Bernard Dawes grew up around two small businesses: her father founded Cape Cod Potato Chips, while her mother ran a health-food store. Today, Dawes is the founder and CEO of Nixie, a zero-sugar soda brand based in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Her path from Late July Snacks to Nixie has shaped how she approaches financing, debt and retail expansion.
A family business education
Dawes’s father, Steve Bernard, founded and ran Cape Cod Potato Chips. After school, she often spent time at the chip factory or her mother’s store, and her father taught her how to read a profit-and-loss statement. In 2003, she and Bernard co-founded Late July Snacks. Snyder’s-Lance bought an 80% stake in the company in 2014, with Dawes remaining CEO. Campbell’s acquired Snyder’s-Lance in 2018, bringing Late July into its portfolio.
Dawes was pregnant with her first child when she started Late July. She wanted the family to eat dinner together each night, so her husband left the film industry to join the business. For years, they avoided traveling at the same time so one of them could be with their children—a practical part of balancing company operations with family life.
Debt pressure and a tortilla-chip breakthrough
Not long after Dawes and her father founded Late July, he died unexpectedly. During the recession, the bank declared a large company loan in default following his death. Dawes has said her family was struggling to afford groceries. She cut costs, built business connections and looked for ways to turn the company around while trying to buy time to repay the debt. She rejected options including selling more equity, and a mission-focused lender eventually refinanced the loan.
Late July began with cookies, then added tortilla chips in 2010 before expanding into other snacks. Dawes said the chips were gluten-free and free of allergens, helping the company reach a broader market. Sales were about $8 million while the business was still struggling to repay its loan. The company later grew, with sales projected to reach $100 million within three years. By the time Campbell’s acquired Snyder’s-Lance, Late July had become a sizable, profitable business.
Nixie started with founder funding
After selling her stake in Late July, Dawes and her husband returned to an opportunity they had previously considered: an USDA-certified organic, zero-sugar beverage brand that could complement snack products. Founded in late 2019, Nixie entered the market with sparkling water. The founders supplied most of the initial capital before bringing in early investors, including Short List Capital.
Nixie raised at least $8 million in 2022. The following year, as described in the account, it secured more than $26 million from investment firm Invus. Evren Bilimer, an Invus managing director, joined Nixie’s board. The brand is now sold in more than 11,000 retail locations across the United States.
Dawes said that launching a second company meant starting again with no revenue, but her earlier experience helped her avoid repeating some mistakes. She also views investor selection as more than a funding decision: investors and founders need to agree on the company’s goals, particularly when building an organic or mission-driven brand.
Retail placement and sampling drive marketing
Dawes prioritizes trade marketing, especially securing product placement in key stores. She believes working directly with retailers on displays can deliver strong marketing returns. Sampling gives customers a chance to try the product, while store employees can also become advocates for the brand. Nixie has partnered with organizations including HeadCount to support voter registration and offer product samples at festivals and events.
Several managers from Late July’s roughly 27-person team later joined Nixie. Dawes wants to build Nixie into a leading brand in the health-focused beverage market, and has said that greater scale gives a company more room to drive change. She previously testified before Congress on organic agriculture; her current focus is building Nixie and expanding its retail business.