Soupergirl sells soups and salsas at more than 800 grocery and retail stores across the country, from Whole Foods to Costco. But a few years ago, when people were congratulating local founder Sara Polon on her success and telling her she was “killing it,” she was living a very different reality.
“I was like, holy shit. I can’t believe you believe that. I am dying. Like literally. The stress almost literally killed me. I was hospitalized and needed emergency surgery so I was on drugs and my entire world was falling apart,” Polon says.
Coming out stronger on the other side, the CEO—formerly a standup comic in New York—is now turning her experience into an autobiographical one-woman show, “I Regret Nothing,” debuting at Penn Quarter’s National Union Building (918 F St., NW) in September. The show involves both her business and “a relationship that exploded in a way I never could have fathomed.”
“I kind of came out of it laughing, and just something in me was like, ‘I have to tell this story,'” Polon says. “A lot of us are pretending both as CEOs, small business owners, and just humans. And what I’ve learned since sharing this story with people is that a lot of us have the same story.”
The show debuts right on the heels of another local food entrepreneur’s one-woman act: chef and TV personality Carla Hall performed “Please Underestimate Me” at the Olney Theatre Center this summer.
But while Hall’s play spans her entire life and career, Polon focuses in on a specific period between 2023 and 2024, after she closed storefronts in Takoma and downtown DC due to pandemic pains and started ramping up wholesale production in Maryland. It also touches on her failed pitch on Shark Tank, in which Mark Cuban told her she was at risk of going out of business without even knowing it. (“He is an asshole,” she says now.)
“Things just weren’t as they seemed—both on the business front and on the personal front,” Polon says. While she does have a comedy background, the show isn’t a stand-up act. “It is very funny, but it’s also very raw and unfiltered and honest. And I think some parts are going to be hard for people.”
As for why she named the show “I Regret Nothing?”
“Fundamentally, I wouldn’t be here today right now if I had changed a thing. And I’m so glad to be here right now at this point.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
