Angie Bastian

Angie Bastian, entrepreneur, co-founder, and namesake of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, took a kernel of an idea and popped it into one of the fastest growing brands of natural popcorn. As a means for creating a college fund for their children, she and husband Dan founded their snack company in their Mankato, MN, garage in 2001. On her entrepreneurial journey from Main Street to main stage, Angie grew a garage popcorn business into a global snack food leader – from being the official kettle corn of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings to becoming an attractive private equity investment and eventually acquired by Conagra Brands.

Exclusively represented for lectures by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Bastian is a dynamic speaker providing experience-driven insights on making a brand stand out, excelling in a competitive marketplace, surviving and thriving through a rebrand, and female leadership and empowerment. Her honest talks also discuss changes in the retail space, why authenticity matters, and how to weigh big marketing, sales, and branding decisions. Bastian motivates audiences to bring the fiery BOOMCHICKAPOP spirit alive in their own worlds.

Loved by fans as an empowered, spirited brand that represents authentic, real food, Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP delivers on the attributes of clean, transparent labeling and great taste experience. It is one of the fastest growing and most successful popcorn brands in the market today. Their gluten free, non-GMO, whole grain popcorn is now proudly sold in natural food, grocery, club, and mass retail outlets nationwide with a product presence in Canada, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and Peru. 

Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP has twice won Star Tribune’s Top Workplace honors and won the 2015 ACG BOLD Award for corporate growth. She and Dan share Connect Business Magazine’s 2012 Person of the Year. Girl Scouts honored her as a Pioneering Trailblazer and she is a 2015 Inductee to the Minnesota Women’s Business Owner’s Hall of Fame. In 2017, Angie was awarded Pioneer in Food by Women’s Entrepreneurship Day #WEDO2017 at the United Nations. She is also the subject of a children’s educational book series, Female Foodies, entitled Boomchickapop Boss.

Angie has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, quoted in Forbes Magazine, and appeared on NPR’s How I Build This podcast and the Martha Stewart Show. Her products have been recognized and awarded by numerous national publications and media. A corporate and non-profit board member, she is passionate about giving back to the community and supports causes that empower people, including I am that Girl, Jeremiah Program, Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, Partners for Affordable Housing, Feeding our Communities Partners, and Step2.