Her latest business, OffLimits, is a cereal brand that blends nutritious ingredients with unabashed fun. “The idea behind OffLimits is to take the fun side of cereal and merge it with thoughtful, nutritious ingredients to create a better-for-you cereal brand for modern generations,” says Emily, who launched her business on Shopify in July of 2020.
In celebration of ambitious entrepreneurs like Emily, Shopify Supply teamed up with OffLimits to create Entrepreneur Energy, a delicious cinnamon cereal designed to supercharge those on the go. To toast the launch of Entrepreneur Energy, the Shopify team sat down with Emily to discuss what energizes her as an entrepreneur and fuels her business’s journey.
Get to know Emily Elyse Miller, CEO of OffLimits
What’s the origin story of OffLimits? How did the brand come come about?
I chose to launch a cereal brand because cereal carries culture in a unique way that no other product does. I love how design, fun, and food intersect when it comes to cereal. Think about it: cereal is often associated with tons of dynamic, playful elements, like mascots, animations, toys, bright colors, and crazy flavors! So the idea behind OffLimits is to take the fun side of cereal and merge it with thoughtful, nutritious ingredients to create a better-for-you cereal brand for modern generations.
How does one scale a DTC brand in 2023 when competition is high?
Meet your customers where they’re at. Every 10 years or so, a group of new wild-card brands redefines the next decade of business models. Traditional D2C is changing, and the scrappy, creative newcomers and forward-thinking players will crack the next model.
Change is always met with resistance, so if you feel like everything and everyone is against you, you’re probably on the right path.
Emily Elyse Miller
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs who want to create a business that aligns with their values and contributes to positive social change?
Fuel that rebellious spark and stay delusionally committed to bringing the brand/world you want to see to life. Change is always met with resistance, so if you feel like everything and everyone is against you, you’re probably on the right path.
We have a completely headless site powered by Shopify because we wanted to build this whole thing from scratch in a way that would resonate with our fans.
Emily Elyse Miller
Why did you choose to launch your business on Shopify?
Shopify allowed us to world-build in a way we couldn’t have otherwise. We designed a store that had the same delight, joy, and dynamism of a fan page but had the tech flexes and capability we needed for ecommerce. With Shopify, we built a dynamic site, similar to how fashion houses handle their sites, in the sense that [the OffLimits website] is a dynamic and immersive experience.
Some people may think of their commerce platform as the transactional direct-to-consumer side of their business, but we see the Shopify platform as a tool that allows us to get innovative and build out this fun world for our community. We have a completely headless site powered by Shopify because we wanted to build this whole thing from scratch in a way that would resonate with our fans.
What gives you energy as an entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur can be a roller coaster of emotions, as in business, things rarely go as planned. When facing challenges, I tap into my passion for my company’s mission to energize myself. For example, the OffLimits cereal mascots were created to reflect the many emotions one can experience as an entrepreneur.
As entrepreneurs, sometimes we’re motivated (Dash), and sometimes we’re sad (Zombie), but all those big feelings are valid. The [OffLimits] mascots serve as a reminder that it is perfectly OK to experience an array of emotions as a founder. They encourage you to embrace your feelings and harness them for good.
What is entrepreneur energy to you?
Entrepreneur energy is that spark that inspires you to try something new, even if you know it will be hard. You don’t know what all the obstacles will be when you start a business, but to me, entrepreneur energy is the fuel, drive, and optimism that allows you to jump in and take a leap. It’s truly a gift.
Entrepreneur Energy FAQ
What is Entrepreneur Energy cereal?
Entrepreneur Energy is a limited-edition cinnamon cereal that Shopify Supply created with OffLimits, the cereal brand founded by CEO Emily Elyse Miller. The collaboration pairs a better-for-you formula with a flavor built for busy mornings, celebrating the drive that fuels founders. Shoppers find it through the Shopify Supply product page rather than general grocery retailers, since it's a limited-run release tied to the collaboration.
What does entrepreneurial energy mean for business owners?
Entrepreneurial energy is the internal drive that keeps founders motivated and moving forward, blending hope, optimism, and sustained focus on a goal. It shows up as the momentum that carries a founder through slow sales months, product pivots, or tough customer feedback, rather than a single short-lived burst of motivation. For most business owners, it builds through small wins and fades when progress stalls.
Where can you buy Entrepreneur Energy cereal?
Entrepreneur Energy cereal is available through the Shopify Supply product page as a limited-edition release rather than in general grocery stores. OffLimits' broader cereal lineup, including flavors like Dash and Zombie, ships direct-to-consumer from the OffLimits website. Checking the Shopify Supply listing directly is the most reliable way to confirm current stock, since limited-edition drops can sell out quickly.
What makes OffLimits cereal different from typical cereal brands?
OffLimits pairs playful, character-driven branding with an ingredient list built around nutritious ingredients rather than the artificial additives common in mainstream cereal aisles. Each flavor is tied to a mascot designed to represent a different entrepreneurial emotion, from motivated to burnt out. That mood-driven approach turns the cereal bowl into a ritual tied to how a founder feels that day, not just a quick breakfast.
How can you tell when your entrepreneurial energy is running low?
Signs of low entrepreneurial energy include dragging through routine tasks, feeling drained after stakeholder conflicts, and needing longer recovery time between work sessions. Mundane administrative work disconnected from the bigger vision, like paperwork or legal hurdles, tends to drain energy faster than strategic problem-solving. Scheduling deliberate breaks and reconnecting with the core reason the business started can help rebuild that drive instead of pushing through fatigue.
