Many know of The Wonderful Company, but if not, rest assured you’ve enjoyed many of their products. This powerhouse of a company sells wholesome, plant-based wares like FIJI Water, Wonderful Seedless Lemons, and those famously delicious POM Wonderful products (that you can use as a tart yet sweet mocktail or cocktail mixer).

Unlike other business behemoths, however, there’s actually a face (well, two) behind the name. Lynda Resnick and her husband, Stewart Resnick, were seasoned business owners when they met in the 1970s. They swiftly decided that their romance also doubled as a new professional partnership, and they haven’t slowed down since.

Katie recently sat down with Lynda to ask what it was like to start a global enterprise from the ground up — especially as a single mother. Resnick explains how she’s kept her wit sharp, where she got her drive, how womanhood has changed over the decades, the fateful meeting that led her toward her marriage to Stewart, and her long-standing commitment to philanthropy.

Check out our favorite moments from the podcast below.

Katie Couric: Let’s talk a little bit more about how you were really a woman ahead of your time, Lynda. I mean, most women — at the time you started your ad agency — were pretty traditional, right? They were getting married, they were raising families, they were homemakers. What was it like to be in the work world and what year was that? That was right in the heart of the Mad Men era.

Lynda Resnick: Absolutely. So it was ‘61, ‘62, ‘63 — all the way through the ‘60s. Running the ad agency was fabulous. I’m very creative and so the creative spirit that I would’ve put into fine art…well, I’m not that great an artist. I’m doing much better in business than I would’ve as a fine artist.

But that creativity was expressed every day in the copywriting and the art direction that I did. And eventually, I could hire staff and I tried to get better people than me. The agency grew and it did extremely well.

And you were a single mom?

I was a single mom. It was very expensive. My ex-husband was a deadbeat and I had to take him to court.
I had no money. And quite frankly, when I married [my husband] Stewart, he had no money either. He just seemed like he was going to be successful and he would understand my drive to be successful and not be outshined by me.

I know when you first met Stewart, you said he was cute, but kind of a jerk. He was kind of a jerk, really? Because really, I can’t imagine Stewart being a jerk.

Well, let me enlighten you. So what happened was he needed someone to do some advertising for a men’s clothing store that he bought. So Doug Spelman — my head of new business — went like three or four times.

[Doug] said, “This guy’s amazing. He’s so fabulous.”

I said, “Well…sign the deal.”

He said, “He won’t do it unless he meets you.”

So I go. Now, I was provocative and adorable, I must admit. I had boots that went above my knee. Brown leather — divine. I had on a lovely little tunic with nice, long sleeves and a high neck. So I think we went out to dinner for like three months and I said, “Are you gonna give me the business?”

And he said, “I’ll give you the business. But I’d rather have a meaningful relationship with you.” And that’s how our love affair started, and it was pretty amazing.

And all these years later, you’re still happily married.

Yes — except for this week.

Listen to the full episode below.