How Cymbiotika Built a $500M Brand

I think that's why people love symbiotica is they feel like you made their health and wellness journey feel more achievable. It turns it into a little fat spear that mimics a cell membrane. So your body has it absorbs it and it remembers it. And so that's the reason why when you take a vitamin C, your body absorbs it like it's taking in an orange. And so for us, we were like, there's nothing out there like this today. And like you knew where to spend good money in like making sure like the website is phenomenal. The subscription is phenomenal. The way that you guys educated and advertised and the way that you've gifted is phenomenal. And it's because you knew where to that you had to spend in health and wellness. It became very real. We went from a team of three to a team of over 150. How fast? Five years. Wow. Yeah, that's crazy scaling. So then the other thing for us was about six months ago, we sold our 100 millionth packet. That's crazy. That's more crazy. Yeah. Isn't it goosebumps? I bet. I love that it balances this feeling of I'm giving myself something special. But it's also not a dessert like it is it. It is still good for you. We looked at it as what an opportunity to help, you know, Americans get healthy. Like how big a symbiotica gotten. We're launching an altistore. That makes perfect sense. Congratulations. And so much. I mean, that's smart. Cheers to this. Cheers. And our big glass. I also try to order champagne glasses, but we're going with it. What a brand. What a brand. What a brand. What a mighty good brand. Night again. Now. What a brand. What a brand. What a brand. Hi. Come here. So excited for today. I'm excited to be here. So who are you? What do you do? Okay. Well, we got the champagne in front of me, but what I do is I am the cheap operating officer of symbiotica. I also run experiential. I am one of the founders alongside my husband and best friend of 26 years. And who am I? I am Afghan American, who came to America with dreams in my pocket to one day become an entrepreneur, to become a powerful businesswoman. And I'm a mother of two beautiful daughters that are my minimies. He has me in an Ariana and been married, as I said, to my best friend. This is our fifth company together, so not our first rodeo. And I am a daughter, I am a sister, and at the end of the day, I would hope to be considered as a leader, as a thought leader who really cares about people and cares about the things that I put my time and my passion into. What a great intro. And you are all of those things, like you've literally completely, what I think of symbiotica, I think of absolutely transforming the digital experience of brands with health and wellness. And you guys blew it the fuck up. Thank you. I humbly speaking, I, there's days where I feel that and I'm like, we fucking did this. Yes. And there's days where I'm like, oh man, you know, I've got to get out of the office. It's been a tough week, but it's been an incredible journey. You know, we started the company, not to make money. We started the company, it was our fifth company, and we said, at this point in this stage in our life, how can we make an impact? Because my daughters were starting to turn a corner where it's like, what a mom and dad do. We spent many years in corporate America, had big titles, made tons of money, took that money, put it in great investment. So capital for us, like, wasn't about the money. We had already made our money. It was about when the girls turned the corner, what are we teaching them? And for us, as parents, our greatest legacy is how we mold and make these two little humans into great human beings where they can think outside themselves, and they can leave this world better than which they came into. And so for us, we started to see a lot of our family members losing the battle to life through health concerns, reasons, cancer, and we felt helpless. And as we kind of dissected and took a deep dive in the supplement space, there was such a white space in transparency, and everyone is taking supplements, but there's no outcome. Well, there's no outcome because your body is not absorbing. So what good is great ingredients if your body can't absorb it? So what we identified was that there was a huge gap in the technology of how people were making supplements. And that was the technology of liposomal, which liposomal has the highest bioavailability. So it encapsulates the nutrients and supplements. Most of the time, a lot of these pill forms, what happens is your body is absorbing less than 10%. Because of the acidity in your stomach, it doesn't get through the liver, lots of reasons that your body's rejecting it. But with liposomal, what's really unique about it is that as it encapsulates it, it turns it into a little fat spear that mimics a cell membrane. So your body absorbs it and it remembers it. And so for us, we were like, there is nothing out there like this today. And when you look at the modern diet, it lacks nutrients. And then you have the fast-paced lifestyle of America. As Americans, we rarely do like Europeans that we sit down and enjoy a meal. Everything is on the go and the go. So we were like, let's figure out how we can create a supplement that has high absorption rates, that works where we control the variables like sourcing all of our own laws and putting technology into how we make our products, so the technology of what the user experiences. And we did it to really make supplements for our friends and family. We started the company during COVID when people weren't starting companies. Everyone was kind of, you know, regressing and shutting down their companies and going remote, not knowing where the future was what was going to hold. And my husband, Shahab and I, we've always just believed in betting on ourselves. And we're like, we got this. We know how to build and scale companies. We've done this. And now, let's do it with something we're so incredibly passionate about. And today, it's like the most incredible part of the journey is one hearing the impacts that we're making with our community. Secondly, we'll be somewhere with a Samaritaka hat on and someone will walk up to us and say, oh my god, we go Samaritaka and then those tell us a transformative story and have my daughter's witness that. Like, it gives me goosebumps because I tell my kids like, that's, that's success when you can impact lives. And if you do it and you're passionate about it, the money will follow. Yeah. And the success will follow, but do it because you believe in what you're doing. You know the why behind your story. And you know, when you do what you love every day, as you know, like, you're not really working. At all. Man, that is like so, this is just going to be such a great episode today, the way that you just set that up because it makes so much sense. I talk so much about what makes brands great is this variable of time and you guys have going through the motions of like running and operating these other businesses. Like, it makes sense why you showed up and you like blew up this category because you had gone through those hours on demand businesses. Man, that is just, I feel like I just have a limited number of questions. And this like when you talk about the delivery system and then before we started recording, you were talking about the form factor. What would this packaging has to do with form factors? So it was interesting. We first started out. We had, you know, my run bottles. And I looked at my husband, I'm like, okay, this is kind of crazy. Like I personally would never throw that in my bag. And then how do you want me to travel with it? Do you want me to like carry a spoon everywhere I go? And he's like, well, let's like, let's figure this out. But you knew was to eat, but you didn't know how to deliver like not eating, but like more of this format. Yes. So in the initial phases, it was like, we knew it was a liquid form. And then we also knew like, okay, you're going to have to absorb this like taking it via spoon. We didn't really have this pouch, pouch pack that you'd like to call it. You know, we had it in the bottles and the way, you know, we were, our consumers and our community and the way we would take it is through a spoon. And then we're like, this isn't, this isn't a long-term solution. And you know, we would get feedback and we love hearing what our customers would say. So when you travel with the bottle, it would combust. It just wasn't like, it would leak, yeah, it wasn't perfect. And so we thought about, okay, when you take, you know, what are the customers saying? Well, the customers are saying, listen, my lives are busy. I need something that's on the go. You know, we need it to be so simple where I can just hand it over to a friend. We're not going to, you know, pull out a second spoon and say, hey, try this. And so this, you know, we kind of revolutionized this packet. We were first set it. We thought, wow, this is great because you know, you can travel with it. You can share it. And then for me, like, I love it. I have it in my purse is I have it in my gym bag. I have it in my office. So it goes everywhere that I'm at and there's this convenient factor. And so I'm very intentional about taking my supplements. I'm intentional about being healthy because this goes with me. And it removes all the excuses out of it. Totally. And it's also the viral factor. Yeah. Right. Like, it was instantly wanted to try it because of how cute the delivery I looked on online. And I remember it breaking through probably closer to maybe the end of COVID. Like how fast did you guys roll out? So we rolled out, we started in 2019. build. our office in San Diego, which is where I had quarters is. And I would probably say like right around third quarter was when we had like a solid team 'cause we really started out with three of us. And then after that as the company like, and then what happened is with COVID, people slowed down to almost speed up. 'Cause now you're so afraid of what you touched or what you put into your body. And during this time, we started the company first initially with just educating consumers. With, listen, like the pill forms aren't working. The delivery system isn't there. Your body's not absorbing it. And so education for us was like pivotal. That was our foundation. And then it worked to our advantage that people slowed down to really want to then know what were, what were they taking? What was going in their body? People were starting to read labels. And we were the company where we put our labels on blast. We were like, look into our labels, look into our ingredients. And we were very proud of that. And so again, work to our advantage. And we started to build community. And we also are in San Diego, which is a very, very like wellness. - Totally. - You know, sanctuary community. And so for us, like we talked a little bit offline about UGC and how we did it. But for us, like we put our hands, our products in the hands of people that, you know, were part of the alternative health community that were leaders and founders and, you know, trainers, but that were health enthusiasts that were already educated. And we allowed them to tell the story. - Yeah, you guys grew and crushed it. - Thank you. Like through their lived experience, like how is our products changing your lives? How does it make you feel every day? And just over time, we just continued to perfect our craft, perfect our craft. And I think that's the thing. As founders, you just have to remind yourself that no matter where you are in the, you know, the mountain of success, there's always a reflection point where you can perfect your craft. - Yeah, totally. - So you can, you know, drive more efficiency within your products, within how you're doing it, within infrastructure, within the overall organization. - Yeah, you're so right. I also really would like our most successful. - Let's do it. Yeah, we're gonna do it. - Do you want to, like, act like a marathon in the TV show and show us? - Oh, yes. - Okay, good to do. - Can we get someone cute on set to open this for us? - So I'm not condoning drinking by any means. However, I just met Camille and she is such a girls girl. So we gotta tell us to this. - We're having a girls moment. - Should we do this part first? - Yes, and then we're gonna go ahead and pour our vitamin C into our glass here. - Like, this to me is the elevated mimosa that I am looking for. - So this is wonderful because you are getting your thousand milligrams of vitamin C collagen, skin health, immunity, gut health. You know, we just actually, am I allowed to announce this, but we just did a thing with Commodo. So we worked with Dave Grotman and his team on creating mocktails for Commodo. - Cool. - So you were also open in the fountain blue, which was so smart. - Yeah, talk about experiential, right? - Right, and when we're totally gonna talk about that, the only problem is we don't have a knife. So how do we have anything to stir this way? - Well, we might be able to. Can we get someone from the kitchen? - Just like a screen or knife. - Yeah, maybe it's feeling to be cuter, good call. What products do you have everyday? - Vitamin C, I love because I'm all about my skin. - Cool. - And I'm a lot older than you, most likely. - So I do go to career career now. So maybe who knows? Maybe I'm going to go with you. - So vitamin C, glutathide is a non-negotiable because detoxifies your liver. - And it's been doing skinnier, right? Like it helps you process food. - Yes, it just helps. - Oops, yeah, okay. - How is that that? And then colostrum, which is my favorite. - I had the colostrum that you guys had me and I loved it too. - For a healthy cake batter. - Totally. - It's yummy, very yummy. - Thank you so much for bringing this to me. We said we were getting away from spoons and here we are stirring. - All right, so. - Mmm, I'm sure you're good. - Let's see, cheers to this. - Cheers and our big glass. I also tried to order champagne glasses, but we're going with it. - So refreshing. - Mmm, it's really good. Just the way that I would just start my day. - Yes. - It's actually really good. - It's really good, right? - Way better than the orange juice. - Yeah. - I feel like sororities should catch onto this. - I think so. I'm gonna, I'm not saying it, but you did. I like it, right? It's good. - That's what's all going. - I think the thing I like about alcohol is it feels no longer like the standard. It's more like a treat. - Yeah. - Which to me is a happy place for it to be. - Yeah, I think there's mod, if you could do it in moderation, then it's okay. - Totally. So you guys started this. So, okay, so what's interesting is by the time that I saw you guys, you had already had a lot of skews. Did you guys launch with a lot of skews? What was the launch strategy? - We launched with Omega, which was our first skew. And then over, it's like Omega in the, in the, what do you call it? - No, so we call these pouches. - Pouches, yeah. - But they weren't in the pouches. No, they were in the little glass, Myron bottles and you pump 12 pumps into a city. - You started with that. - We started with that. - I think you're saying. - And then the things that for us were the, you know, kind of non-negotiables in our skew development was, it had to be liposomal. And then at that time it was in the Myron glass bottles, but we were looking somehow to find a solution because that wasn't the best solution. - You know what, I think I ordered them with you. You had them in like the red B-twast. - Oh, yeah. - So they had the vitamin D. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - I really know exactly what you're talking about. - So first products were really around immunity. - Yeah. - So it was our Omega. It was the B12B6, our vitamin D. - And it was like due 12 pumps. - Exactly. - Yeah. - Yeah. - And so it really was immunity products. And then we did, you know, get creative and launch like a children's line. You know, we got into pet care, which was great. But our infrastructure is small. We're like a small nimble team. And we just spread ourselves a little too thin. So we had to wheel it back and re-remind ourselves. What are we great at? - And that's creating, you know, the healthy products for, you know, for the average person. And so we wanted to just, we sun-set it. Most of those different lines and verticals and just focused and honed in on this. - What was the lesson in that? - The lesson in that is that there takes a time period, we have to really educate your consumers on like why this product over this product for their pets, why this over that for their children. And you don't have unlimited time and resources. - Yeah, that's a huge problem. - Yeah, so you need to be mindful of where you want to put your time. And we kind of just spread ourselves to thin. We created some of the best products. But again, the education part is everything, is everything. - What delivery did you find when you kind of got your stride in the products allowed you to educate your consumer in the best? 'Cause I think that's why people love symbiotica. Is they feel like you made their health and wellness journey feel more achievable? - Yeah, so we created, so there's a lot of things we did. So one is we say we're a tech company beyond everything else. Tech in how we make our supplements, which is the liposomal delivery. And then tech from the experience that you have when you come onto our site. - Yeah, totally. - And you scaled it, yeah. - So we've got, we've built infrastructure. As the company became profitable, we poured that money right back into the business. We, that's one of the ways the success of behind how we've been able to scale so quickly in the past five years. But we built, you know, we have 11 UI UX designers in house who are writing code daily. When you come on, we've deployed an entire AI department. So when you come onto our site, we've got a very sophisticated AI tool that's asking you and right-fitting you into the right questions, cool. To figure out, you know, what is the right supplements? Or what's the supplementation kind of regimen based on your lifestyle and based on your needs? And then the other thing was, we have this program called the Arise Program. - Yeah. - So the Arise Program, again, we're really, really proud of this because we wrote the proprietary code behind this but it's a tech platform where we reward our loyal subscribers who have been with us, who are continually with us every single month. We have deployed a platform for them to, you know, communicate with other wellness enthusiasts. It's a community where they get discounts. They're first, when we launch products, they get it first. They get to share their experience with other, you know, community customers, subscribers, whatever you like to call it. So it's this really cool, like, platform where you feel safe, you feel like you can exchange best practices community. And on top of it, it's, it's like rewarding you to remind us, reminds you every day to, you know, have good habits, take your supplements. And as you do this, you're a part of this greater community that's also like-minded and at the end of the day, I always say it comes down to a mindset. So you're in a community and it's a platform where it's like-minded people who are, you know, changing their life or in a direction, you guys are all like kind of rowing in that same direction where you want to be intentional about the choices and the things you're putting into your body. - My favorite part of my job is seeing where the success leaves clues. You know, like where, like what I can see from successful founder stories that overlap but it's so interesting to hear that you guys were successful before you launched this because you knew where to invest. the way that you guys educated and advertised, and the way that you've gifted is phenomenal, and it's because because you knew where to that you had to spend in health and wellness. And I think that's like an interesting thing for us to talk about for founders is this idea of kind of knowing where to invest in infrastructure to make the experience in the community strong is so integral to kind of making it and being in the game. - Yeah, and it's interesting. We were also first at doing a lot of influencer activations. - Yeah, I think we didn't have PR firm early on that really touted our story. And like, hey, these guys are first at all these things but we were very engaged in involved with the community. We would do so many community events. I mean, I laughed because I'm like, oh, the coal plunge, the sound bats. Like, we did that five years ago. - We really did. I mean, we would bring groups together. And so for us, like, we've always believed in our story. We believe in what we're doing. And then to be able to create a community where you are inspiring and changing the lives over the community and then saying, hey, share your story because it is really powerful. It empowers people to know that they can make an impact in their lives. - Totally. But you also just focus on all areas of brand. Like, where did you and your husband study, how to build a great brand? - So it's my husband and I. And then one of his childhood friends, named Shervin, so it's the three of us. For Shahab and I, like, again, being that this is our fifth company, we were in tech before. We were in the cell phone business, accessory business. So we knew, like, we know that there's an interception between, like, product, customer and community. And, you know, we just, I would say, over the years became more experienced with how many times we failed. - Yeah. - And I think for us, you know, we had failed so much through our journey that at this point, we were, like, not afraid to fail. We wanted to embrace it. And what we knew was for us, because we didn't build a company to make money, we were okay if this didn't work out. We just knew that these were the best products. And we were incredibly passionate to give this to our family and friends. And one day to our daughter that was old enough to be able to take it and say, like, we feel really good that we're living a life with purpose. And when I put my head down on my pillow, I know I'm doing the right thing. - You feel good. - Yeah. When did you guys realize you were on to something? The one thing, if I was to criticize is, we don't do a good job unpacking the success. We like move on onto the next, onto the next. I think there were a few pivotal moments where we knew we were on to something. First for me, it was, you know, building out our office space, which became, you know, three acts the first size. And when we started to see, like, real infrastructure, customer experience in-house, all of marketing in-house, tech in-house, wholesale, procurement, fulfillment, all-in-house, all-in-house, it became very real. - How fast? - Five years. - Wow. - Yeah, that's crazy scaling. - Crazy scaling. And our culture, we've won best places to work the past four years. - Don't wait. - Yeah. - Turns to that. - Thank you so much. - Thank you. - But it's a champagne. - That's amazing. - Thank you. - To, as you're scaling fast, to also build somewhere that's great to work. - That one I'm really incredibly passionate about. - I'm really enjoying this. I actually really think that this should be like a, this is a thing. - I think so too. - I think we should sponsor the Mimosas on the show. - Yeah. Okay, so yes, yes. But also, I mean, we got enough for a year, but white lotus, that's very smart. Sorry, for cutting you off, keep going. - Yeah, okay, so then the other thing for us was, about six months ago, we sold our 100 millionth packet. - Shit. - That's crazy, I am. - Crazy. - Yeah, isn't he goosebumps? - I bet. - It's incredible, and I think the other thing that made it very real is, it's everywhere now. - It's everywhere. - We launched in all target stores nationwide. - I loved your campaign, you were so cute. - Thank you. Thank you, my mom made that dress out of packets and it was so heavy. - What? - Yes, yeah. - No way. - Yeah, my teammate, like all, he's brilliant and he said, yeah, everybody loves him, including myself. He said, hey, let's make a dress out of packets. And I was like, what? - Did you guys should have told your mom making it? - I know, I actually think we have some BTS on it. - It's like, that is like the part of the story that needs to be there, is like, sorry, we keep going. - No, no, no, I love that you said that, 'cause I actually, yesterday, like all came over and we had dinner, and I said to him, if I was to reflect on how we can perfect our craft for this year, we haven't shared the BTS. Like, I come out to LA quite often, and sometimes on the ride back, it's been a 10, 12 hour day. I'm in the back row, like, you know, in a fetal position, trying to get some sleep, the seat belts up my butt, like, it's uncomfortable and I was telling him, no one sees that side, but I wish they would because you always see this like, glammed up version of me, but I'm, you know, tired a lot. And I am juggling life, my husband, which is my first child, my two daughters, like, the office, right? And then I was telling him, it's like hard 'cause you always have to be on. - Yeah. - And I would love for him to showcase more when we're not on. - Yeah. - 'Cause I think that tells the real story. - When in doing their research, I really loved the two of you, but I must say, in meeting you in person, reading your energy, talking before we're recording, there is so much more to love about you. - Oh, that's so sweet. - And to me, it's such an additional strength to stuff you're already doing so well that I really think you should. - Thank you. - 'Cause there's no harm in it. - Yeah. - You know, it's especially when you have it. - Yeah, I feel like so often, like we're kind of, you know, you go into social and you see the success story and you see like-- - Highlight reel. - It's a highlight reel. And so you kind of follow that path. And yeah, this year, one of our goals is to get away from the highlight reel. And I wanna like, I want them to film the days where I'm having a rough day 'cause I-- - I wasn't in public. - I have that often. - Yeah. - And no one talks about that. And also like, working with my husband, it never turns off. - Yeah. - And there's, we have great days. And then we also have some not so good days. And those go home with us. - Me the same. I mean, I also work with my husband too. And the office here is at all, you know? But I also think that there's something to that though in that when your life is your work and you love what you're doing, it doesn't always have to be perfect. - Yeah. - And that's actually what I think people want more when you talk about community is, we want less of that, the celebrity highlight reel. We want more of the connection. - Yeah, and being a real person and I think your imperfections is almost what makes you perfect. - Totally agree. - Well, how did you guys come to the name symbiotica? - So symbiotica comes from the word symbiosis. - Yeah. - And when you think about like, with the way we look at it as your body, when you provide your body with the right, you know, tools, your body knows what to do with it. And so for us, it was like, okay, we know the non-negotiables is our form factor. - Yeah. - Life with somal technology. We know we're gonna source the best rods. And if we can put that into your body, then your body is gonna like symbiosis partner and know what to do with it. And so we didn't want a word that was too clinical. We didn't want to, and for us, there was like a greater meaning behind symbiotica. - The thing I love about it is that it touches on that like tech aspect. - Yeah. - It feels like there's like modern human. - Yeah. - But it still has this idea of health, nature, natural. - Yeah. - And it's also like, I feel like the name, you know, it's like cool. It's like symbiotica. - It's so cool. - Yeah. - That's the thing that's cool about this brand is like, there's this aspirational element to it. But it also, I thought you getting a target was also brilliant. Like it didn't, it didn't take away from that. Like it didn't feel like it went mass market. It feels to me like a kind of brand that feels approachable, but feels like a treat. And that's what I really like about. I mean, I've purchased these four years. I love that it balances this feeling of I'm giving myself something special, but it's also not a dessert. Like it is a, it is still good for you. - It is so good for you. And you know the target, we would working on target for so long, and target is really pioneered the retail experience. - And it's not a reality, yeah. - And for us, it's like, when you look at the foot traffic that walks into target every day, we looked at it as what an opportunity to help Americans get healthy, where let's show up in an easy way, and let's show up where they're shopping. Let's be there. And we are a premium product, but target also is changing totally. The experience of wellness, and I'm really, really proud to partner with them and proud of their kind of the direction that they're taking. They really pioneered, if you think about it, the makeup industry with their minis. And so I remember in our first meeting with them, one of the things that I brought up, which my husband was kicking me under the table, and I was like, "Stop kicking me." But I said, "You guys are onto something, "we're partnering with us, "because these are individual packets, "so imagine like during the holidays, "you can do a pick and pack, right?" Three for five, like you do with the ornaments. Yeah. Like you do with the minis. What a great way to try it. Yeah. To not commit to a whole box. Yes, and so we actually are in the Bullseye area now with a five dollar two pack. And so it's great, because we're providing solutions for customers, for a community, for the average American, and we want to be able to take the excuses out of why you can't be healthy. Yeah. I mean, it's also so intelligent for, you know, in case you weren't doing a nut, if you're taking on a second title, because you dovetailing into getting into experience with being in more mass market retailers is a perfect marriage. - Yeah, talk about that move. - So experiential. So I'm really personally passionate about experience. Like you come to my home and my husband says, no one could tell that that candle's not on. I'm like, but I can tell. So I'm really passionate about, I think that our family motto is life is about relationships and experiences. And I think that that really defines success. And so for me, experience is so important because it's how you are remembered. And anytime we've done anything at Semarika from the experience of when you come into our office, that's important to me because we have teammates who are, they choose to be here. Like we don't, they don't have to come into work but they want to come into work. So if they give me the want, I'm gonna take care of the rest. I wanna create an environment where they feel supported. They feel good. There's unlimited healthy snacks. There's like we do a lot of employee surveys because it's important for me. I want their environment to be conducive to their success and I'm feeling good. And so where we kind of launch this experiential role for me is I'm a very passionate about it. I've been doing it since day one in my personal life but also in the office. I've led all the influencer events that we've had. I'm very passionate about leaving people inspired. I always say your brand isn't the blue checkmark. Your brand isn't what you're wearing or what you own but it's how people feel in your company. It's how you make them feel when you leave the room. That's your brand. And so it starts with our products but then also anytime we're involved, we've done a lot of community engagement with different artists from Ghana to J Bal, not J Balvin just yet, but sorry, I was just texting him a few days ago. So he's like top of mine. But Paiso Pluma to different athletes, it's about like how can we deliver a different experience where like I guess a great example of this would be the Symbolica Cafe in Las Vegas at the Fountain Blues. So that delivers an experience and you remember to take your supplements through the smoothie you order, through the rap or your salad. And I just think that when you look at CPG brands today that are really differentiating and setting themselves apart, it's the experience that's creating an emotional connection to your product. - What pushback did you receive for wanting to go all in on experience? - You know, I have to say I can none to be honest with you. I mean, my team is bought in because we do so much internally. So as we've scaled the company, one of the things I've said to our CFO who's so incredible, I was called the back office baddie. - She, I say listen, when it comes to like the experiential part of our internal office, we can't cut budget there. - Cool. - Because we've got to create an environment when people want to show up. We do this thing like on Wednesdays during the summertime where we have a different popup, whether it's Asahi or, you know, breakfast burritos, whatever it may be, but we have different experiences. We have a mentalist that'll come into the office. We do fun things. So it's like it breaks the week up. We do different things like Happy Hour. We, you know, have a Padre suite so you can go with your friends and family. We just try to create an environment. And so she and the greater leadership team have realized the impacts that that's made. And they realize like, that we're attention. - We're attention. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like all of it. And so we realize like everyone's bought into like, we first hand experienced it here. And then when we have influencer events, the amount of feedback that we get from influencers. - And you're there a lot. - Yeah, I try to show up to all of my events because it's personal for me that those events go well. It's personal for me that, and they're meeting you. They're meeting the brand. And again, like, I want them to be able to put a face to the name and know that I'm accessible and that I'm just like them. I'm girls girl and I have my days. And I just, I want there to be this like, emotional connection to the brand in a greater way than just, you know, our products. - Well, what's cool to you is I've been like, with seeing you on social. Like you're activating all over the world. - Mm-hmm, we are. - Like how big has symbiotic a gotten? - So we are, I can't, okay, I can't say it. I don't think so. We're launching in a really big retailer, which I'm so excited about. - Oh, March. - Cool. - Yes. - Do you want us to launch this in March so you can say who you're retailing with the clip? - I'm open to that. - We're launching in all altestores. - That makes perfect sense. - Congratulations. - Thank you so much. - I know that's March. - Well, I have to tell you, two daughters, 12 and 11. - Oh my god, they're probably thinking you're like the biggest hero on planet Earth. - Oh my gosh. - No, they thought I was a hero like knowing gunna. I believe, they don't think I'm that much of a hero with the altar. - Oh no. - I think though, when they go into the store and see it, they'll have that connection. - I mean, they're gonna be the coolest kids at school. - What I'll tell you is I had a holiday party for them. - Right. - I had a Santa supplement shop. And all of their friends started trying the supplements. And that's actually, I earned some cool points there. But I am really proud of this one because I love makeup. I love that my girls are girls, girl. But real beauty also starts from within. - Totally. - You're good. - Totally. - So it's so smart. - Yes. It's such an incredible time to partner in the beauty industry. - That intersection totally. - Yeah. - So I'm proud of that. We are in Australia. We're also in UAE, we're in Canada. And we are looking to launch an EU as well. But right now, this year, our main focus is going to be our retail expansion and making sure that we have the infrastructure to support that. - Like going through other channels like a target or opening your own footprint. - Other channels like a target. - Cool. - Cool, cool, cool. And when you say what you did with fountain blue, is that something that you also want to continue to roll out? - Yes, I would love that. I think Dave Grutman is a good dear, dear friend of ours. That's my brother right there, shout out to him. But he's been just such a great partner of ours and has really kind of pushed us to think differently. He totally gets experience. He gets experience and he's a visionary. - He is. And so like he's really kind of brought in our own perspective on how we can show up to different places. And you know, when you think about all the different, I would say cultural moments from F1 to art Basel, Fashion Week, like everyone, recovery is such an important part of it. And so now we're showing up in all these cultural moments. And the fountain blue, Symbatica Cafe was the start of it. It really was like a test pilot. Is this going to work and it's worked? People are hungry for it. People are asking for it. And so now, not just so we're showing up, you know, at specific, your favorite hospitality hotel, but we're also going to show up at the cultural moments. And we're looking to partner with some other very large experiential, you know, hospitality or, you know, we're looking to be at your favorite gym. We're already, we already work with Equinox, but we're looking at other partners like that. Because for us, again, it's like we want to integrate into your daily routine. - Well, it totally changes your, like to use the word relationship, like with the brand. Like I would, if I was in Vegas, I would seek that out because it changes the relationship of it being like on the pantry in my kitchen to like, that's world building. - Yeah. - Like I can experience the brand in a way that you weren't able to and it's so cool and brands do that because it creates more of like evangelist, like I feel more committed to the brand than I would if I was just a product to buy at the store. - Yeah, it creates that stickiness. I'm working right now with a very dear friend of mine, Sylvie, and we're working on a cookbook. - Cool. - Yeah, and so it's like to put the product into cookbook. - Yeah. - So it's from like recipes from morning, lunch, dinner, desserts, and grow. - So she's a phenomenal cook. I can't even take credit for that. And so we, she, I gave her my products. She's such a sabata, what she does. For my birthday last year, she created an array of macaroons. - And I'm like a product. - And they're so, he's taking macaroons. Like they're so hard to, yeah. And I was like, this is incredible. Like it was a Sheila G. And it was a vitamin C, and it was a magnesium. And I was like, wow, this is pretty profound. Because now again, like there's this experience, right? - Activating your product. - You're activating the product. And into your daily day, and you have to have breakfast, you have to have lunch, you have to do it. So, you know, she and I just sat together and said, how about we create a cook where we can teach people how to make simple recipes with their supplements? So now, they are having their assahi bowl, you know, with their vitamin C or, you know, with whatever it is. They're B12, but super excited. So that's gonna launch this year. - People don't think about how to create, like, more reasons to interact with your brand. And you coming up with ways to increase the use type. Like I would have never thought to put it in a mimosa. It's like, to cook with a colostrum. But like, just even ideating on, like, there's a way, you really get world building, which is so important for brands to think about is, how can you make your brand more relevant in more times throughout the day? 'Cause if you can make the people think about your brand naturally, you're winning. - Yeah, yeah. And I think that's where you have the, like, where you build the organic trust. - Totally. - Where you build the organic virality of your products. It's these moments. It's like, how do you integrate? It's not just like a one time, right? [BLANK_AUDIO] like, we don't want you to take our products one time. There's no result you'd ever get out of that. We want it to be consistent in your life. For us, it's like, how do you work and play and your personal life? And then how do we integrate into that? - Totally. - Let's talk about your day to day, because I can't imagine what it looks like. - So my day to day is very different every day. And I'm activating in Doha. - Oh yeah, yeah, no, it's R&D on Tuesday. - Yeah, no, it's fun though, I have to say. So my day to day starts with, if I'm here in HQ in San Diego, then we kick off the morning with taking the kids to school. - Oh, you drive them to school every day? - Every day, both my husband and I. - Together? - Together. - Wow. - We commute into the office every day. So I'm like, you know what, we better get along 'cause I'm gonna see, I'm gonna be with you all day. We have a really beautiful relationship. - But that'd be a dream. - Yeah, it's really special. - We drive into work together, we drop off the kids, drive into work together. And I kick off my morning with really, my EA prints out my calendar. So I understand like, what's ahead of me, what's in front of me, what do I, the meetings? - Yeah. - And then I have to meet with my team. I love meeting with my team. They are some of the most brilliant people I've ever worked with. They're smart, they come with energy. And we kind of go around the room and talk about what everyone's working on, what I can help support them with, what are time sensitive. And then after my team meetings, I go into internal meetings or external meetings. Lots of conference calls, R&D, a lot around operations, a lot about office management right now. We're actually building a campus in San Diego where we're gonna bring fulfillment and HQ in one. - The construction you're posting about? - Yes, cool. - So I'm very excited about that. And the experience that I wanna deliver within, 'cause again, we're in office and it's tough right, 'cause there's a lot of companies that are remote. There's a lot of companies that are hybrid. So for me, I'm constantly thinking through, how do I create a best place to work? How do I create the best place to show up? So our campus is gonna have a gym. We're gonna continue on with our meditation room. Yeah, we're gonna have a very, very, we're gonna expand our content space to lounges. So we're trying to think through the experiential part of our office building that out now. We're gonna have a lab in there. So I'm very, very proud of that. So building out this new office is a big part of my everyday. And then after my long day of work, getting the kids from school, I go home and I try to make a fresh, quick meal Monday through Thursday. - Cool, you cook it? - I do cook. - Good for you. - Yeah, it's like healthy, simple meals. - No, but it's just there, pasta. - It's beautiful that you make time for your family. - I, you know what I realized the magic to my relationship at home with my husband is that what's important to him has to be important to me. And he loves eating. I'm not like a baked foodie, but he loves eating. Like it just makes his brain so his entire day. So cooking is important for him. And then we sit around the table as a family have dinner. Kids go upstairs, finish their homework, get ready for bed. And then he and I will cold plunge, do the sauna hot cold, hot cold, take the shower, get to bed. - Every day. - Yeah, and I felt a mention that I work out the mornings before I. - What time is your alarm set up? - 5.30, woof, let's go. - But I also sleep very early. It's like a running joke amongst my friends and family 'cause I'm tucked away in bed by like 7.30, 7.45. - Oh yeah, so when you're saying the kids are like going to do homework, it's like right after dinner. - Yeah. - Wow, I turn into a pumpkin too, but I think you have to if you're waking up early. - There's no other way I can do it. - And part of for me is like, I really like to be present for my team. - Cool. - And just present in general. And like one of my other goals this year is, we always wait in life. Like I'm gonna wait to do this this weekend. I'm gonna wait for an occasion. And I told my husband this year, we're gonna create the moments every day. We're not gonna wait any longer. The moments are now, the moments are every day. If we wanna, you know, go out with a friend, we don't have to wait for the weekend. We could do it during the week. We're just like, we'll have work-life balance. We'll figure out. - We're just eating at 4.45, if that's it. - Yeah, exactly. I was eating at 2. No, but, you know, I just think like, life is really, really beautiful. Despite, you know, the ups, the downs, and part of the challenges within work, I have to remind myself that I prayed to have the days that I have. And so I'm incredibly grateful. Like the hardships are part of the story, part of the chapter. And the times where we're growing hasn't been because we're successful. It's because we overcame a hardship. We overcame something we failed. And so I wanna fall and fail more than I succeed because that's when we're really growing. - I taught, I mean, in building an agency, I felt the same, like you learn from the tough clients. - Yeah. - You don't learn from the good clients. - Yeah. - Like you don't make changes by like the easy people that don't ask for edits and questions. Like you learn from the problems. - You do. - And what's so cool too about what you said is, you see experience as both internal and external. I wasn't expecting that. - Yeah. - You're expecting you being in charge of experience to be predominantly throughout this episode. You've talked about how to make your company better for your employees than thinking about experience as a way to sell more product. - Yeah. I think people underestimate the importance of culture and culture, you know, it starts and ends with your team. Your team is the most important asset that you can have in your organization. And then of course, culture and community. And that the foundation of both of those is people. And then when you think about people, it's the experience that they have that delivers and drives that emotional connection. Whether it's to your brand or whether it's to your company or whether it's dedicated to your leadership. Like I hope the why behind why my team shows up every day at work is who I am to them. - When are you writing your book? - I'm working on that too. I'm working on that. I don't think it's gonna be this year because we have the cookbook ahead of us. But I really love to share my story because I think women and people, everyone has got such an inspiring story to tell. If you can just figure out your why, if you can figure out how you can keep yourself inspired every day despite life's hardships. And just learn to embrace whatever it is you're going through because it's meant for you. - Yeah, you're really special. - Oh, thank you. That's so good. - Oh, are you really, are you really need to have a book? - Thank you. I can't thank you enough for your platform and giving founders like myself an opportunity to come and share our story in such an authentic way and that stems from who you are. I'm excited that you're moving out here. I hope we get to hang out more. - So it must be real, bro. - Yes, I would love to be real friends. I would love to host you in San Diego. - I'd love to come. - Yeah, I would really like that. - I actually also can't wait to tell people how incredible the founder, I mean, that's the best part of my job is there's one thing to like fan girl over the execution of branding in real life. But the success leaves clues is that the good brands have truly good people behind that. You can't fake that. - You can't fake that. - Before we get to that, because you're so deep and so reflective, I know this is kind of a bit left field, but what are some of those like lessons you learned for like founders listening to this? Like big things that you learned from moments, like you're so reflective. - I actually don't watch TV. I spend a lot of time with myself. But my besties are besties. - I love to listen to music and I think reflection is really important, because so some of the things that we've learned, I think what we've learned is that success is not linear and failure is a big part of the story. And any brands that are looking for like the quick success, the brands are not gonna stick. It's not because you gotta be prepared to fail. I think the other big lesson is knowing your why. And the most important thing, irrespective of what your brand is, what your byproduct is, it's who are you as a human being and how do you show up? And how do people feel around you? And like you said, you can't fake that. - No. - You cannot fake that. And I think being authentic to who you are and why you're doing what you're doing is really mission critical. And you know, listen to your intuition and energy is real. Like when you don't feel good about something, you know, I don't leave the room, not the right people, don't make that decision, but you know, believe in yourself. And it's okay if you fail. And then the other thing, just you know, higher people that you want to work with, that you believe in. And provide them with the skills and resources they need. And then get out of their way and let them do what you've hired them for. I want my team to be better than I've ever been when they're at 45 or when they're in my seat. And I believe that they 100% will be and can be. - I believe in abundance too. - Yeah. - I think that's a big thing that holds people back is they want people to do what they want to do, but with a scarcity mindset. And unless you're prepared to really invest in people, you can't get what you want out of them. If you're looking at, you know what I'm saying? - You know, I do all the last round interviews. - Are you a gut person? - No, total gut person. That's why I keep my gut so closed. But I do the last round. - Last round? - The colostrum, yes. And let's get some glutathione and some CMOS. But like for me, I do all the last round interviews because I'm so passionate about who's coming into our company, who's coming into our culture. And I want to protect it because we have some great people. So yes, I think that that's super critical. And then I think gratitude, I know we use that word so loosely, but it is really important to just be thankful and the world that we're in where there's so much going on around the world. We're so grateful for being here in America, being in American, and then just being able to like get up every day and work. It's like such a privilege, totally. You know, Billie Jean King was a dear friend of mine. She says, "Presure is privilege." And it's the truth. Like, pressure is privilege. And it's up to you in those moments of reflection. It's up to you in those moments when you're down, when you fall in. To really reflect and say like, "But I'm blessed." Like, like, this is an incredible problem to have. Like, one of our problems as we were scaling was, you know, how do you scale while you're self-funded? Well, it's a good problem to have though. So, when you spent your money, Wiser, more intelligently. And you could see it. Everything that went out was so intentional. The message was so dialed in. The visual, the branding. To me, it was a no-brainer. It was a no-brainer. And the first time that I ordered, I ordered this. A stupid amount from a perspective trying something that's novel and new, because it made so much sense. You broke through that truss barrier. And that's why, not only was it so exciting to be able to speak with you, but it was so exciting that, you know, when you spend your own money, and you feel so good about it, like you don't. You feel invested. Yes. And, but you also feel like it was money well spent. Yeah. Like, I feel like I got value out of one of the personal equity that I put into the brand, not legitimate equity, but the investment I put into the brand, and how many people I've told about it, because it was always clear that it was authentic, but now it's reinforced that it's authentic. And I think the neat thing about what you just said is, it's an investment that you're making in yourself. 100%, which is the greatest investment you can make. Totally. And it's like, I think we talk about gratitude, self-love, self-love is the most expensive thing you can give yourself. That's what the symbiotica brand is to me, because when I give myself the packet, it's a moment of self-love. It's a treat that doesn't feel. it's not a cookie. You know, like, it's something that checks several boxes of, like, intelligent toys, but it's a moment of self-love. Yeah, we always say when you rip and sip, that's your moment, like, your self-love, your moment of gratitude, your moment of reflection. The question I always ask to founders that come on the podcast is, and it's a doozy. What is a brand to you? What is a brand to me? Well, first, I would say, it's how it makes me feel. Yeah. Yeah. It's whatever the end product is, how does it make me feel? Because how I feel, that's my superpower. And so I think it's about authenticity, it's about transparency, it's about education, and it's about the end of the day, like, how are you pouring into me? Because I have to show up for everyone around me. Yeah. And I need to know that whatever brands, whether it's what I'm putting on my body or whether it's something I'm consuming, it's like, how do you make me feel? Yeah. The feel parts are very important for me. And you've built a tribal brand. I have a heritage brand at a Paris that saw the story I post. They're like, "Anson, biotica, they're like, we're loving this wellness travel." And it's when you evoke emotion across the world, that's when you know you've tapped into a feeling. Yeah. We, and thanks for saying that, I do feel that way. I do feel like, and then there's also this emotional connection that you have when you give this to someone, and they tell you, "Wow, I love the way that tastes." Or, "I love the way that made me feel." But also the idea that you're actually giving them something good. Like, you're giving them something of value. Like, how do you create something of value that is effectively a pouch with a vitamins? Like, that's when you know you've tapped into brand. Like, it's bigger than a vitamin. Like, it's a way that you make people feel. Yeah, yeah. And we always say, like, the brand today is bigger than us. It totally is. But you're a big part of it. Thank you. I mean, I'm proud to be alongside my team to be doing this, what we do every single day. But really, it's a mindset. And the mindset of the world is changing today when you think of health, wellness, how it's being accessed, your own intentional decisions that you make daily, intentionality, and then self-love. Cool. Do you read it all? I do. What's that book that's changed your life? Oh, so many. I love it. It's tough to ask questions. I have an 108 question right now. The power of your subconscious mind. Okay, that's what I have in red. Okay, it's amazing. The power of your subconscious mind has been one of my favorite books. Okay. It teaches you how powerful your mind is. Manifestation is real. And how you speak to yourself is the outcome of what you get. And so be very, I always tell my children, so I drop my two girls off at school and I say, "Baby girl, baby girl, before you get out of the car." And then they roll their eyes and they go, "Mom, you're so cringy." You've been saying this to us all year long. And I'm like, "What's the most expensive thing you want?" And then they look at me and they go, "I know, mom, my thoughts." Your thoughts are the most expensive thing you want. Yeah. And if you can learn how to water that, you can learn how to pour into that. I really do think where you see yourself grow is within, and it starts with your thoughts. A hundred percent. My mindset is literally everything. Yeah, yeah. You were a gift. Oh, you're sweet. You're the gift. I am so, I'm so excited to be able to read your book and follow your story. Thank you. Thank you so much. Again, thank you for the gift of your time. Thanks for having a glass of champagne with me. I finished mine. Oh, don't worry. I'm gonna be finishing mine. All right. Well, where can people find you? So they could find me at Dorana Elmi, and at samadhaka.com. Yeah. Right. There we go. I love it. Thank you. Okay, so what do we have here? So my favorite favorite product, vitamin C. I love vitamin C, skin health, immunity, gut health, colostrum, another one of my favorite. It reminds me of like a healthy cake better. And so it takes me back to my childhood. Our favorite profiles are also pretty incredible. You know, you, a little sweet tooth. You need a little snack. Midday. This is where you can lean into our glutathione. Again, like talk about my three dailies. My glutathione. I love because it detoxifies your liver. And the more detoxifies your liver is the more, you know, my Dr. Shilpa described your gut as one of the most beautiful things that ever heard. She said your gut is like the soil to your garden. And in order for anything to grow, the soil has to be healthy. Yeah. So glutathione is a great product for that. So, yeah. So is the Irish CMOS, magnesium, another great product. It also helps you just function, brain health. I also love it. It helps me sleep. It just keeps me calm, cool, and collected. We don't have our vitamin D, but we've got to get you some vitamin D and our B12. Again, both really great for energy. Did you change it into this format? We did. So for us now, like all of our form factor has to be liposomal delivery in a packet. Cool. And the flavor profile has to be delicious. Cool. Because I have a, I would say, I have a palette of a five-year-old. Really? You're a chicken nugget girl? Total chicken nugget girl. I mean, I probably consumed a bunch of chicken nuggets, too, if you can't tell. But I, yeah, I mean, as a child, I ate a bunch. I ate just like, you know, is it? Yeah, I didn't grow up like fancy schmancy. And I, you know, I had a lot of, you know, in and out, not in and out. But McDonald's growing up. I mean, I was a normal kid. And that's pretty good though. And that was good, too. I still love in and out. But, yeah, so I forgot where we were talking about. Can you eat ketchup with fries? Oh, I do eat ketchup with fries. I actually like mustard sometimes with it, too. Wow, that's wild. That is wild. Yeah, I like cheese on top of my fries, too. Oh, wow. Really cheese. That's exotic. Yeah. But anyhow, so a lot of great products that you have on the table here that are daily, usage products that you can take. Again, immunity, gut health, skin health. So if I would say if you were to start with anything, this is like a good start of, start of pack. And you can do your vitamin C with champagne. The options are endless. You can. You can mix it with your champagne. You can mix it with the foods you're putting in. You can create a dressing with it. You can also make a mocktail, if you don't want to. Dressings. Oh, my goodness. It's unbelievable. Yeah, there's so much you can do because it's in the liquid form. Next time we do this, we should do a live. So we can like me making a salad. Yeah, so when we launch the cookbook, we should do another episode. Perfect. And we make one of the recipes here. Let's cook in the kitchen. I would love that. Love it. Thank you again. Thanks to the entire team for being here today. That's it.