In this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I had the fortune of speaking with Janine Shea, Co-Founder and COO of Primi Foods, and what unfolds is far more than a conversation about pasta.
It’s a masterclass in how founders move markets.
Primi is redefining convenience with Italian-made pasta cups that are non-GMO, preservative-free, under 300 calories, and ready in minutes. But as Janine makes clear, this isn’t about “instant food.” It’s about modernizing a legacy category without compromising values.
And that distinction changes everything.
The Real Innovation: A Point of View
One of the biggest unlocks from this conversation is Janine’s perspective on innovation:
“Don’t lead with features. Lead with a point of view.” - Janine Shea
Too many founders try to educate customers with specs, attributes, and bullet points. But transformation doesn’t happen through explanation; it happens through reframing. (Sounds familiar to my conversation with Eliza Blank, Co-Founder, The Sill. ‘Plants Make People Happy.’)
Janine shares how early on, Primi could have leaned into the word “instant.” It would have been easier. Familiar. Search-friendly.
Instead, they rejected it. Not them and what they’re building.
Why? Because “instant” belongs to yesterday’s category, associated with low quality and compromise. By refusing that label, they forced a new mental model: traditional pasta, redesigned for modern life.
It’s the same playbook used by companies like:
Liquid Death — who didn’t sell “water in a can,” but reframed single-use plastic as absurd.
Apple — who didn’t just improve MP3 players, but made CDs feel obsolete.
Salesforce — who didn’t sell software features, but made on-premise servers look antiquated.
“As a founder, your main goal is to bring people from the old way of doing things into the new way of doing things. One of the ways you do that is by making the old way of doing things frankly look ridiculous.”
The Psychology of Category Change
Primi operates in a $600B convenience food ecosystem. Pasta alone is a $9B category that’s largely unchanged for decades.
Ready-to-eat meals are growing. Traditional boxed pasta is stagnant.
That gap is where opportunity lives.
Janine breaks down the tension every founder faces:
Honor the past.
Build for the future.
Don’t alienate the customer.
But don’t stay trapped in legacy thinking.
Her insight is incisive: your job as a founder is to usher people into a new world. That requires courage, especially when entrenched incumbents dominate shelf space and mindshare.
This is classic innovator’s dilemma territory. Incumbents optimize. Founders reimagine.
Values Aren’t Marketing. They’re Operational.
Primi’s non-negotiables: non-GMO, no artificial preservatives, ingredient sourcing from Italy, continuous improvement aren’t branding decisions. They’re operational ones.
Janine details how even replacing sunflower oil with coconut oil (without increasing cost of goods) was an easy call. If there’s a better way, do it.
This hits upon a broader shift in modern entrepreneurship:
Consumers are educated. Social media has accelerated ingredient literacy. Distrust in legacy brands is rising. Transparency isn’t optional anymore; it’s expected.
For founders and change-makers, the takeaway is clear:
You can’t bolt values onto a product. They must be embedded in the supply chain, sourcing, and decision-making. It must permeate every facet of your business!
Happiness, Autonomy, and Leadership
Perhaps the most unexpected thread in the episode is Janine’s study of human happiness during COVID.
Quick factoid: Janine is also a certified meditation teacher, which quietly shapes how she leads, builds, and handles the pressure of early‑stage entrepreneurship.
Her conclusion?
People are happier when they are doing good, when their actions positively affect others.
That philosophy shapes how she leads:
Giving team members autonomy.
Avoiding micromanagement.
Distinguishing clearly between her skillset and her co-founder’s.
It’s a reminder that culture is strategy.
When founders understand their strengths and hire or partner accordingly, they create momentum instead of friction.
Three Big Lessons for Builders
If you’re an entrepreneur or operator listening to this episode, here are three concepts to come back to:
1. Make the old way feel obsolete.
If customers can comfortably return to legacy behavior, you haven’t gone far enough.
2. Lead with perspective, not product specs.
Features support the story. They don’t drive it.
3. Operationalize your values.
Modern consumers reward integrity — and they can smell shortcuts.
This conversation with Janine Shea isn’t about pasta.
It’s about how founders reframe categories, earn trust in skeptical markets, and build businesses that uplift rather than exploit.
If you’re building the “new way” in your industry, this episode will challenge you and sharpen you.
Listen in, and ask yourself:
What old assumption in your category or industry needs to be made obsolete?
