October 9, 2024 • 33 mins
What happens when a career in litigation and pharmaceuticals leads to a groundbreaking natural health venture? Meet Tina Anderson from Just Thrive Health, who takes us on her remarkable journey from the courtroom to the world of gut health and probiotics. Learn about the early hurdles she faced, such as cold-calling health food stores and setting up their e-commerce platform. Discover the pioneering nature of their probiotic strains and the vital support from health food stores that spurred their growth.
In our conversation, Tina dives into the intricacies of compliance in marketing health benefits and how her legal background provided a unique perspective. From ensuring influencer and customer testimonial compliance to the strategic moves like offering free shipping and hassle-free returns, Tina sheds light on the balancing act between robust scientific evidence and strict regulatory boundaries. Gain insights into their efforts to build trust and social proof amidst a challenging landscape.
Explore the significant role of podcasts and customer engagement in Just Thrive's success. Tina discusses the importance of direct feedback from customers and the ongoing battle against counterfeit products and low-quality supplements. Hear practical marketing strategies for natural products, including education through seminars and informational emails. Wrap up with a heartfelt thank you message from Tina, encouraging you to engage with our podcast across various platforms for more actionable advice on transforming lives through marketing.
Connect with us:
Email: info@naturalproductsmarketer.com
About Amanda Ballard
Amanda has worked in natural products marketing in the retail setting since 2016 and has a great understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities that retailers in this industry face. More than anything, she wants this industry to continue to boom and believes much of that success hinges on the ability of retailers to do well in their businesses and market their products effectively.
About Tina Smith
Since 2014, Tina has worked with multiple natural products businesses, discovering how to market their CBD products online, without having their payment processor shut them down, to letting customers talk about their health issues those products have helped them solve. She knows first hand how experts like you offer the best products and a superior customer experience, that is why she is committed to helping you find an easy way to grow your natural product business.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tina Anderson (00:00):
Yeah, well, I think our journey is very
different than what I think alot of new entrepreneurs would
be.
Tina Smith (00:07):
You know, starting with now, we Welcome to the
Natural Products MarketerPodcast.
I'm Tina.
Amanda Ballard (00:18):
And I'm Amanda, and we're here to make marketing
easier for natural productsbusinesses, so you can reach
more people and change morelives.
Tina Smith (00:28):
Hi there and welcome to the Natural Products
Marketer podcast.
Today we have a special guestjoining us from Just Thrive
Health, tina Anderson.
Tina, we're so excited to haveyou here with us.
You founded Just Thrive Health.
You have an amazing story and Icannot wait to jump into your
story and let everybody knowabout your amazing products.
Tina Anderson (00:51):
Oh well, thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited to be here, sowould you like me to jump in and
kind of tell my story?
I?
Tina Smith (00:58):
read your story on the website and it's very cool,
but I think it would beinteresting for you to start
there, for the audience to hearwhat got you into this industry.
Tina Anderson (01:09):
Yeah.
So my husband and I were Backin the day.
I'm an attorney, I still am anattorney, but I was in
litigation for many years andjust trying to have more of a
work-life balance.
I started having children anddecided to go into a family
pharmaceutical business where Ithought it was great because I'm
like, oh, I'm deliveringlife-saving medications to
(01:31):
people, making the world ahealthier quote-unquote place.
And my husband and I were inthe industry for a while and
just started to see a lot of theabuses in the industry.
We started seeing theover-prescribing of medications.
We started seeing even our ownrelatives you know who would be
on like one of his aunts was onone medication and that
medication started causing jointissues.
(01:52):
And then that medication totreat the joint issues started
causing stomach issues and thenthat medication started causing
skin rashes.
And then she was on anothermedication.
It was like she, before youknew it, she was like on a half
a dozen medications and nevergetting any better.
And we read a lot of Wayne Dyer.
We're huge fans of his he'spassed away since but his
(02:15):
message was always like do yourlife's work.
And we just didn't feel like wewere doing our life's work.
And so we really starteddelving into the natural health
world.
It was the way we were alreadyliving our lives with our three
children, and so we decided tostart researching and we learned
about the gut.
We learned so much about thegut and we learned about some of
(02:36):
the issues with probiotics onthe market, and so my husband's
naturopathic physician calledhim into his office one day and
said you won't believe this, butwe have the opportunity to
purchase these exclusiveprobiotic strains out of London
University.
This is a probiotic strain thathas never been brought to the
retail market, and we werereally excited about it, and so
(02:59):
we decided to take our lifesavings and put it into the
business and give it a try, andthat's how Just Thrive was born,
and it was the most stressfultime of my life, but yet the
most gratifying.
Tina Smith (03:14):
Yeah, I'd love to hear a little bit about you guys
getting started.
What was that?
Like you said, it's stressful,but launching a new product and
natural products market, like alot of people think, that's
super easy and it's not.
So I'd love to hear a littlebit about that journey and the
struggle you went through, andhow did you get established?
Tina Anderson (03:37):
Yeah, well, I think our journey is very
different than what I think alot of new entrepreneurs would
be starting with now.
We launched 10 years ago, andso almost 11 years ago, and at
the time we didn't do thedirect-to consumer online where
I think a lot of people start.
We did have a website that wassupposedly an e-commerce website
(04:01):
, but it wasn't.
It wasn't Shopify, it was likeI don't even know what it was,
but it was not very functional.
Where we started was going intohealth food stores and just
explaining our product,literally cold calling.
I mean, I'd be on the phone.
We were calling stores and thenwe got.
I remember getting our firststore and the owner was like
(04:21):
this is great, this makes somuch sense.
Now I understand why a lot ofthese products probiotics aren't
working, and now I understandwhy it makes sense and we had
science behind the product, andso that was literally the way we
started was going to healthfood stores and we kind of
started a nice little business.
Then we started to get oure-commerce platform a little bit
(04:42):
better, and then we started,you know, then we got onto
Amazon and and and we went thatroute.
So, but really we started inthe health food stores and
that's that proved to be reallygreat because, you know, there
wasn't a high customeracquisition necessarily.
You know, once you got in theyreally believed in the product
(05:03):
and they were selling theproduct for you and because the
product works so well it was, itwas just easy to grow in that
channel.
Amanda Ballard (05:11):
Yeah, I actually remember when I was working at
the health food store at thetime, the first time I saw just
thrive, hit the, hit the shelvesand I was like this is.
At the time it was, there wasnothing else like it, and even
still I would say that therestill is nothing like it which
is really, really inspiring.
I would love to know more oflike what brought you from
(05:34):
starting with the probioticsthat were so revolutionary to
then, like now you have more ofa full product line.
So kind of what what stirred upthe, the drive to add more
products?
What makes those different andunique?
And kind of what do you guyshave to offer now on top of the
probiotics?
Tina Anderson (05:51):
Yeah, we stayed with the probiotic for many
years I mean, it wasn't.
It was years before we launched.
Well, we, we launched a vitaminK27 product.
That was also revolutionary anddifferent because it was the
only natural form of K27 that'sout there and it still really is
the only natural form.
But our big mantra was that wewere only going to launch
(06:13):
products that were missing andneeded in the market, and we
really don't want to be a me toocompany.
I'm a huge believer in, forexample, vitamin C, but I'm not
going to launch another vitaminC because there's lots of
companies doing a great job withthat already.
So we really did something thatwas very different, like our
prebiotic.
We didn't launch a prebioticfor many years because we felt
that a lot of prebiotics on themarket actually could make a
(06:35):
problem worse when you have gutissues.
They actually will feed thebeneficial bacteria, but also
feed the pathogenic bacteria.
We found these particularoligosaccharides that only
target the beneficial bacteria.
So our whole the way we come tomarket with something that is
very it's unique and it'smissing in the market and it has
(06:56):
research behind it.
Our IgG was the same.
Nobody had brought a bovinederived IgG product to the
market at the time we weredefinitely the first out there
and then our Just Calm product,which is a psychobiotic we were
the first to bring apsychobiotic to the market.
So we really are verythoughtful about what we bring
(07:19):
to market, because we're nevergoing to be a 200 SKU supplement
company and you know we don'twant to be.
We just want to bring productsthat are truly high quality,
that have research real researchbehind it not borrowed research
, but real research behind itand that are really missing and
could impact society.
Tina Smith (07:40):
I love hearing that.
We love that you guys are beinginnovative and looking for
what's missing rather thanstacking a whole bunch of
products together.
I think that's a unique way ofdoing things.
It's not what we see oftenhappening with product
manufacturers.
And what else we think isunique about you guys is when we
(08:03):
look at your website.
You've got a ton of greatmarketing pieces on there,
including the health quiz as agood example.
People love quizzes and I'mbetting that has really grown
your reach and you're helpingyou start great relationships
with your customers and I tookit just so I could see what it
(08:23):
was like, and I am a runawaycortisol.
Tina Anderson (08:27):
Me too.
Yeah, not anymore, but I usedto be yeah.
Tina Smith (08:31):
So tell me a little bit about what got you guys into
doing the quiz, whether or notit's been successful for you,
and maybe using use cases likethat to help promote your
product.
Tina Anderson (08:47):
Yeah, I think the big thing with the quiz is we
are really trying to empower ourcustomers.
I mean, we know from amarketing perspective that
quizzes are really great forcustomer acquisition.
So that's great because youneed to acquire your customer,
but we also feel like we're very, very passionate about
empowering people.
I mean, like I said, we camefrom the pharmaceutical industry
.
We are brought up in this worldwhere you go to the doctor,
(09:09):
they tell you what to do.
You're sick, you take apharmaceutical and there's no
explanation, there's no why,there's no understanding the
root cause of an issue, and sothat's something that was really
passionate to my husband, who'sthe co-founder of the business,
and I.
We really wanted to have peoplebe empowered and to take charge
(09:29):
of their health.
So I think the quiz was onetool.
You can't spend hours with acustomer.
Unfortunately, online You'renot going to have their
attention for that long, but Ithink the quiz lets them know
like, okay, we could really diginto what your issue is and we
could figure out what will workthe best for you.
So, yeah, it has been a reallygreat tool for us.
Amanda Ballard (09:53):
So I'm curious you had said that you were a
lawyer.
Still are a lawyer.
How has that helped you guys,since this industry?
There's so much, I think, grayabout what you can say what you
can't say.
So we're actually going tospend a lot of time in our
second season of the podcastfocusing on regulatory issues,
(10:15):
so I would love to just pickyour brain on what what that
looks like for you and how yourexperience with with law has
helped you guys with a lot ofthese label claim type issues
and how you're able to utilizeusing health benefits in your
marketing as well.
Tina Anderson (10:33):
Yeah, so it's funny, I was in litigation so I
really had no training in thecompliance aspect of things.
But what I do know, there's acouple of things that have
helped me being an entrepreneurin this.
Being an entrepreneur in thespace of being a lawyer is that
A I know how to research.
You know we were bigresearchers and you know
(10:54):
whatever case I was dealing with, I always had to know how to
research and so I really honedin on that skill.
The other thing is I know thatthere's so many specialties in
law and that you need to godefer to the specialist.
So we have a complianceattorney, an FDA compliance
attorney on retainer that we payevery month to review whatever
(11:15):
issues that we need.
You know labels and claims andall of that.
So that's super important to us.
It's expensive, but it's reallyimportant to us that we do it
right.
Tina Smith (11:26):
So kind of a cost of doing business is making sure
that you have that all zipped upand the I's dotted and the T's
crossed.
Tina Anderson (11:37):
Yeah, you really have to.
I mean, you just have to sleepwell at night.
That's the thing.
There's plenty of companies outthere making outrageous claims.
We know that, and they're stillselling, even though they've
been slapped over and over again.
But it's just not the way thatwe want to do business.
We just I don't I'mconservative in that respect.
Tina Smith (11:59):
Well, so we saw that there are some testimonials on
your site and even like bigindustry names as well.
Is that a way that you guys cantalk about some of those health
benefits without crossing anyof those legal lines?
Tina Anderson (12:13):
Well, no, you still need to have your
influencers speak in a compliantlanguage.
So that's part of what we do.
When we bring on like aninfluencer or you know somebody
wants to talk about our product,they we need to give them our
product, they we need to givethem the compliant language.
Um, they still need to becompliant also.
So and I think that's what alot of people kind of get you
know, they don't.
I mean, obviously, a brand'sgoing to get in more trouble if
(12:37):
they're doing it, but you alsoneed to be have your people who
are promoting your product becompliant as well.
Amanda Ballard (12:50):
Yeah, that's super helpful to know Because,
yeah, I think that that'sprobably one of our biggest
questions is how do you, how doyou use customer testimonials,
since it's technically not yousaying it is someone else said
it.
Tina Anderson (12:57):
So before we publish, before we allow a
testimonial to be published, wehave a process in our office or
in our company where it needs tobe reviewed to make sure it's
compliant, because you shouldimagine the customers will be
like this cured me of IBS, thiscured me of Crohn's and I'm like
, oh my God, we can't put thaton the website.
(13:19):
And we didn't know that rightaway.
We thought, oh well, it's notour voice exactly what you're
saying, but if you're putting iton your website, you need to
edit it.
So there's a whole process tomake sure that the testimonials
are in fact compliant.
That's a great question, causeI think a lot of brands I mean.
I know we didn't know that inthe beginning.
Tina Smith (13:39):
Yeah, that's definitely.
That's great information forour community and we're always
trying to talk about differentways that you can promote your
product without getting incompliance hot water.
So the testimonials is aninteresting one we also noticed.
Tina Anderson (14:02):
Sorry, go ahead, go ahead.
I said we even havedouble-blind human clinical
trials on our formulation and wehave to be very careful to not
say Ours is on leaky gut and wecould talk about structure
function claims, but we can'ttalk about any diseases that are
associated with the gutpermeability.
So it's frustrating becausewe've done all the work and we
(14:26):
have all the science, but wehave to follow the rules.
Tina Smith (14:29):
Yeah Well, another thing that we were noticing on
the website that you guys do isthis free shipping, 100%
guarantee, zero hassle returnsand that you have this 4.9 star
rating at the top of your page,and we love seeing that social
proof and that you've got somereal, that you're going to back
(14:51):
your product and have that ahundred percent guarantee and
zero hassle returns.
That's helpful for everyone inthe market.
Tina Anderson (15:02):
Yeah, no, we.
We thought about that long andhard because a lot of times
people will say you know, oh,we'll do a 30-day money-back
guarantee or a 60-day money-backguarantee.
And we had a friend of mine,from a mastermind that I'm
involved in, had said to me youknow, just, I would.
Just.
She's like, I studied this,we've done research on it and
(15:22):
when you say a lifetime, youknow unlimited return, not
unlimited product, but unlimitedtime, lifetime return, bottom
of the bottle guarantee.
It improves your customeracquisition and especially when
you have a product that works,you know I mean that's it's I
would be.
I would never recommend somebodydoes that for a product that
you don't maybe see a differenceor that really isn't maybe a
(15:44):
super strong product.
But I mean, nobody would wantto bring a product to market
that they didn't believe in.
At least I would hope that theydidn't.
But you know, with the factthat our product works so
effectively for people has been,you know we've never even
thought about changing itbecause there haven't been
abuses of it.
We have limits on the amount.
You know you can't buy sixbottles and then return them all
(16:04):
after you've used them.
You know there are limits on it, but for the most part it
hasn't been abused.
It's been a great tool foracquisition.
Amanda Ballard (16:13):
Yeah, that's really interesting.
I wouldn't have thought aboutthat just from a sheer customer
acquisition standpoint that thatguarantee would be so powerful.
So that's awesome.
Another thing that we noticedwas how important philanthropy
is to you guys and that you havethis partnership with Vitamin
Angels.
I think they're a reallyawesome organization, but for
(16:35):
those that aren't familiar withthem, could you kind of just
fill us in on what VitaminAngels is and why that's an
important partnership for youguys?
Tina Anderson (16:44):
Yeah.
So that was really important tous when we launched that we
wanted to do something that wegave back to some organization
that was really making adifference, especially with,
like, natural health andwellness.
And so Vitamin Angels goes tocountries that where women and
children are undernourished andprovides them with vitamins, and
(17:04):
it's amazing the impact it'shaving, you know, because we
know how important thesenutrients are to health.
We know that here, but inunderdeveloped countries where
they don't have, you know,access to these new, you know
these vitamins.
That's what vitamin angels doesis they go into these countries
that have an underdevelopedpopulation and provides these
(17:26):
life-changing vitamins andsupplements.
So we've been a part of VitaminAngels for my gosh, I think,
shortly after launch, becausethat was really really important
to us to start giving backright away, even when there
really weren't any profits inthe beginning.
Tina Smith (17:44):
So yeah, that's so interesting that you talk about
like the profitability andthinking through can I give at a
certain point, even when you'renot bringing money into the
business, that's enough to coverall the expenses.
So how did you guys decide like, hey, we're just going to do
(18:04):
this from sacrifice versuswaiting until you had money to
really give away?
Tina Anderson (18:12):
You know, if there wasn't really much of a
decision, because the decisionwas made from the beginning.
When my husband and I startedthis company.
That's part of we wanted tolike have a company that gave
back.
We wanted a company that had areally great culture.
That was super important to usand it was like fun.
We wanted to like really havefun with it and make a
(18:32):
difference.
So it was just there reallywasn't a big decision.
It was like we just wanted todo this from the beginning and
it was just kind of part of ourlike cost basically.
Amanda Ballard (18:41):
I love that.
Yeah, definitely not the norm,so that's really cool.
I love that.
Yeah, definitely not the norm,so that's really cool.
So another question that wehave for you, tina, is you know,
you obviously started in thegut health space and that's
still kind of like your maincategory.
It's not as researched as faras you know other nutrients like
(19:03):
vitamin D and magnesium andthings like that.
So what have you found to betrending in the gut health space
?
And then what?
What do you think we could seenext in this space as far as new
products and innovations?
Tina Anderson (19:18):
Yeah, I think the big thing is in the gut health
space.
People have always associated,you know, digestive issues with
gut health.
So gas and bloating, diarrhea,constipation and, you know, acid
reflux, all those types ofthings.
People are like, oh, I've gotsome gut issues going on.
But I think the big trend isnow seeing that the gut is
responsible for all aspects ofour health and especially the
(19:40):
gut-brain connection.
I think there's a lot of talkout there about the gut-brain
connection.
You know all of our importantneurotransmitters like serotonin
, gaba, dopamine, are allproduced in our gut, where we
were always focusing on thebrain.
So I think there's a lot.
I think that's a big trend.
You're seeing people talkingabout brain health when they're
talking about gut health andreally I think people are now
(20:03):
starting to understand that it'sjust it's our gut that is
foundational for our health.
I mean, we're not going to beabsorbing nutrients if our gut
is not absorbed, if our gut isinflamed, it's our gut's job to
assimilate those nutrients.
So I think that the trend nowis that people are understanding
it, because for so long it'slike oh, I don't need a
probiotic, I don't need aprobiotic, my gut is fine.
(20:23):
I go to the bathroom regularlyand I think now people are
really starting to understandlike, even if you do feel like
you don't have any gut issues,you need to be taking a high
quality probiotic because youneed to be making sure that you
are.
You know, your immune system isin your gut.
All of your neurotransmittersare in your gut.
Your hormones are being detoxedand absorbed in your gut, so we
(20:43):
need to be focusing on our guthealth when you're talking about
any aspect of our overallhealth.
Tina Smith (20:49):
Yeah, I've been noticing the trend of, as I'm
getting older myself, that thedoctors are talking to me about
hormone changes and they're likeokay, you have to have a good
probiotic.
Even the medical community isstarting to steer people in that
direction, which is reallyexciting for me.
Tina Anderson (21:06):
Yes, it is so nice to see that.
Yeah, and you're hearing solittle of it out there, but I'm
glad that people now are finallystarting to talk about it.
Especially, every hormoneexpert you hear about is like
you need to take care of yourgut.
I mean, that is it's likeundisputed in the hormone space
we need to be taking care of ourgut undisputed in the hormone
(21:26):
space, we need to be taking careof our gut.
Amanda Ballard (21:32):
So what advice would you give, particularly to
retailers, about how to kind oftake hold of that trend and
implement that in their businessto give them some marketing
wins?
Tina Anderson (21:39):
Oh, I think anybody that walks in the store
should be leaving with a focuson gut health.
I mean, like I said, you couldbe taking all these other
supplements, but if you have aleaky gut, we know that you're
not going to be absorbing thenutrients and toxins are going
to be seeping into yourbloodstream.
So you need to, first andforemost, be taking care of the
gut and I just think you feellike, oh, you don't want to
(22:04):
upsell somebody, but it's likethat's where somebody needs to
start is their gut.
I'm always so careful about nottrying to like sell all these
different products to people,even when I'm on podcasts.
I'll say start with theprobiotic, like foundationally,
we have lots of other productsthat are very well-researched
and really thought out, butstart with the probiotic,
because I think once they startto have that trust in you and I
(22:24):
mean if a retailer were to, youknow, hand out any old probiotic
, then someone's not going tocome back for it because it
doesn't work.
You know when what we'venoticed with Just Thrive is that
they start on Just Thrive andthey see the difference, so they
come to trust our brand so much.
I mean, we have such amazingcustomers and just raving fans
of our product because it worksso well.
(22:47):
I mean, the comment always islike life changing.
It's just it has been lifechanging because then when you
start taking some othersupplement that you, you know,
somebody has recommended it'sabsorbed.
It's absorbing that much better.
All the nutrients, the healthyfoods you're eating are being
absorbed that much better.
So I guess I would recommendthat just retailers have every
person that walks in should bestarting with their gut health,
because that's whatever thingthey're walking in for.
(23:09):
You know, maybe you're taking amulti.
They just want to stay healthy.
They're taking a multivitamin.
Well, I don't know whyeverybody's so easily persuaded
to take a multivitamin, but thenthey won't take a probiotic
because, like I said this, yourgut is really dictating.
80% of your immune systemsfound in your gut lining.
We need to be focusing on ourgut when we're talking about all
of our health.
I get a little passionate aboutthat, sorry.
Tina Smith (23:33):
No, that's great.
We love the passion and talkingabout like helping these
retailers.
I think it's great Like startwith the gut and I know that you
guys started in you knownatural product stores, so I'm
curious are there other thingsthat natural product stores can
do to with your brand that canhelp create some more
(23:56):
profitability for them?
Longer customer relationships?
What did you find worked reallywell in those stores from the
beginning?
Tina Anderson (24:04):
The biggest thing I would say is education.
We are so big on education, wehave trainings.
We would always, I know, in thebeginning we would say you
could get this discountedproduct or this discount off of
your order if you will agree totrainings, because it was really
important for us to dotrainings.
Most stores are really intotrainings anyway, but that has
(24:25):
really been a huge.
Huge factor is we do expertvoice.
I know a lot of retailers usethat platform, but then we also
do like in-person trainings atthe, you know, at the smaller
level, mid-size level.
So that's really been our focuson.
Education has really beenhugely helpful and just
empowering them to empower theircustomers.
Amanda Ballard (24:49):
So I'm assuming it's the stores that say yes to
the trainings that do betterwith you guys and they're
probably thriving in theirbusiness as well.
Yes absolutely.
Tina Anderson (24:58):
And then also we are on a lot of podcasts, I mean
on all different genres, and Ithink that that has really
helped our stores have a lot ofsuccess because we are doing so
much marketing out there.
The podcasts are so beneficialbecause we're able to tell the
story, we're able to explain thescience and why this is so
different and why ours surviveand most are not, and so that
(25:22):
has really been a huge help tothe stores because they're
seeing people now walk into thestores hearing about, you know,
hearing about Just Thrive.
So that's also the trainingsand then just the other
marketing that we're doingnationally has been super
helpful.
Tina Smith (25:39):
Yeah, well, look, this has been an amazing
interview, tina.
I know it's going to be sohelpful for the retailers and
the other manufacturers that wesupport in the market, and
they're going to be excited tohear your story and all this
good marketing advice as well.
We usually end our podcast witha few standard questions and we
(26:03):
try to call them rapid fire,but it never works out that way.
Tina Anderson (26:07):
I'll try to be brief.
Tina Smith (26:08):
I'll try to be brief .
Okay, amanda, do you have thosepulled up?
I do.
Amanda Ballard (26:12):
Yeah, so what do you like to listen, to read?
Um, who are you following tokind of keep up with what's next
in the natural productsindustry?
Tina Anderson (26:26):
Oh gosh, I feel like that all the podcasts I
listened to are like ones thatI'm going to be on, so I get
like I listened to so manydifferent ones.
Um, listen to some of the bigones like Peter Attia and Andrew
Huberman, and then, as far asthe industry, I feel like I get
a lot of that just from talkingto our customers.
Really, that's where I'mlearning mostly from our
(26:48):
customers that are online, aswell as our customers that are
our store customers.
Tina Smith (26:53):
I love that you're finding out industry information
from customers.
That is the place that wealways tell people to start is
talk to the people that you'reserving, because they will give
you more information than anyoneelse.
Tina Anderson (27:06):
Yeah, it's amazing how much you get from
the stores as well as youractual customers, and we are so
committed to customer serviceand we have health coaches on
our team, product coaches andthese women are amazing.
I mean they are everyone's like.
I mean they're the customersatisfaction rate is so great
because I mean we are, they're apart of our weekly calls.
(27:26):
I don't look at like a lot ofcompanies will be like oh your,
our CS team is off on thisIsland and like, no, like
they're the ones that aretalking to the customers.
They are on every call with usto try.
So we want to, because we wantto hear what they have to say.
So I would encourage you knowcompanies to really listen to
their CS team.
Amanda Ballard (27:43):
So what do you think is the biggest challenge
that our industry is going toface over the next three to five
years?
Is there anything that'skeeping you up at night?
Tina Anderson (27:54):
Yeah, you know I think, well, the counterfeiters
is really, um, that keeps me upat night.
We've had several umcounterfeiters put our product
on amazon and they were not ourproduct.
Um, so that's a huge productproblem we've.
You know, amazon will handle it, but it takes a long time.
There's a process involved thatpeople are getting the product.
So, um, I also, of course, theincreased competition with
(28:18):
people who are, you know,jumping on the bandwagon my
husband had just seen.
He saw a, a like, a onlinecourse of like how to start a
supplement brand in you knowwhatever 10 days or something
like that.
It was like I mean, yeah, it's.
There's a lot of junky productsout there and I and I think a
lot of products that are beingfunded by investment groups that
(28:42):
there's no passion behind it.
We are bootstrapped.
We have never taken a penny ofinvestor money Not that there's
anything wrong with companiesthat do that.
That's a way that people couldbring good quality products to
market.
But we answer to ourselves atnight, you know, and we don't
have to, and I think there's somany companies out there that
(29:02):
are getting a ton of money andjust marketing the you know what
out of the products and puttingfancy, you know, I would say,
like lipstick on a pig.
Really they're taking like acrappy product and putting you
know some research behind it,but it's not real research or
it's borrowed science.
And that's what keeps me up atnight is seeing the industry
(29:23):
standards go down.
When we came into this market,we wanted to elevate the
standards because we believe somuch in supplements that we
started doing double-blind humanclinical trials.
We elevated the standard and Ihate know we're not and I hate
seeing that like some companiesare bringing it down.
There's lots of still reallygood companies doing the right
thing, but unfortunately there'salways bad players.
Amanda Ballard (29:45):
Yeah, that's so.
It's so true.
I've had so many encounterswith just friends and family.
And it's so funny like myhusband and I we've been in the
industry for a decade now andit's like, why don't you ask us,
like whether or not this is acredible brand?
Like and they just buy randomcrap on Amazon.
I'm like this is literalgarbage.
Like you just wasted $13 onthis.
(30:07):
And it's like, just ask like orgo to a store, please.
Tina Anderson (30:12):
I know, I know it's like.
Oh, I have the same problemwith family members.
Amanda Ballard (30:18):
So what do you think would be?
Some low-hanging fruit and Ithink we already kind of
addressed this, you know,starting with the gut but just
some low-hanging fruit, quickwins that natural products
marketers or retailers, rather,could grab a hold of and start
implementing in their businesstoday.
Tina Anderson (30:47):
Gosh some quick wins for them.
Again, what has worked for ushas been education.
So I think doing like seminarsI think people are hungry for
knowledge about health andwellness, and maybe doing like
seminars or some type know sometype of educational email,
something like that, that couldjust educate them, cause the
more education that you provideyour customers, the more they're
going to trust you and comeback to you and the more the
healthier they're going to be.
(31:08):
And and I think that that wouldbe huge even maybe if they did
email newsletters, which I knowmany of them already do that but
those kinds of things, I thinkwould be helpful.
Amanda Ballard (31:23):
And then lastly, Tina, if anyone's listening
that wants to get in touch withyou or learn more about your
company, how can they do that?
Tina Anderson (31:28):
The easiest thing would be just going to
justthrivehealthcom.
So obviously you guys have seenthe website.
We put a lot into the researchon our blogs, but you could
always reach out to our CS team.
Like I said, they're amazing.
You could call them or emailthem, but going to
justthrivehealthcom wouldprobably be the best spot for
people to go.
Tina Smith (31:49):
Perfect.
Well, I hope that everyone doesgo visit your website.
It's got a lot of marketingtactics that we support and
think that other people shouldbe deploying on their websites.
If you've got a good product oryou have a fabulous store, take
a look at this website and getsome great ideas to put on your
(32:09):
own website.
It's there and it sounds great.
You guys are very supportive ofthe local retailers and I know
that they'll be excited to getin touch with your team so that
they can research your brand andfind out even more about gut
health.
Tina Anderson (32:26):
Well, thank you so much for the opportunity.
I really appreciate it and justlove to share our story.
Amanda Ballard (32:32):
Thanks so much for listening to the Natural
Products Marketer podcast.
We hope you found this episodeto be super helpful.
Make sure you check out theshow notes for any of those
valuable resources that wementioned on today's episode.
Tina Smith (32:43):
And, before you go, we would love for you to give us
a review.
Follow, like and subscribe onApple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube
or wherever you're listeningtoday, and make sure you join us
for our next episode, where wegive you more marketing tips so
that you can reach more peopleand change more lives.
Yeah, well, I think our journey is very
different than what I think alot of new entrepreneurs would
be.
Tina Smith (00:07):
You know, starting with now, we Welcome to the
Natural Products MarketerPodcast.
I'm Tina.
Amanda Ballard (00:18):
And I'm Amanda, and we're here to make marketing
easier for natural productsbusinesses, so you can reach
more people and change morelives.
Tina Smith (00:28):
Hi there and welcome to the Natural Products
Marketer podcast.
Today we have a special guestjoining us from Just Thrive
Health, tina Anderson.
Tina, we're so excited to haveyou here with us.
You founded Just Thrive Health.
You have an amazing story and Icannot wait to jump into your
story and let everybody knowabout your amazing products.
Tina Anderson (00:51):
Oh well, thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited to be here, sowould you like me to jump in and
kind of tell my story?
I?
Tina Smith (00:58):
read your story on the website and it's very cool,
but I think it would beinteresting for you to start
there, for the audience to hearwhat got you into this industry.
Tina Anderson (01:09):
Yeah.
So my husband and I were Backin the day.
I'm an attorney, I still am anattorney, but I was in
litigation for many years andjust trying to have more of a
work-life balance.
I started having children anddecided to go into a family
pharmaceutical business where Ithought it was great because I'm
like, oh, I'm deliveringlife-saving medications to
(01:31):
people, making the world ahealthier quote-unquote place.
And my husband and I were inthe industry for a while and
just started to see a lot of theabuses in the industry.
We started seeing theover-prescribing of medications.
We started seeing even our ownrelatives you know who would be
on like one of his aunts was onone medication and that
medication started causing jointissues.
(01:52):
And then that medication totreat the joint issues started
causing stomach issues and thenthat medication started causing
skin rashes.
And then she was on anothermedication.
It was like she, before youknew it, she was like on a half
a dozen medications and nevergetting any better.
And we read a lot of Wayne Dyer.
We're huge fans of his he'spassed away since but his
(02:15):
message was always like do yourlife's work.
And we just didn't feel like wewere doing our life's work.
And so we really starteddelving into the natural health
world.
It was the way we were alreadyliving our lives with our three
children, and so we decided tostart researching and we learned
about the gut.
We learned so much about thegut and we learned about some of
(02:36):
the issues with probiotics onthe market, and so my husband's
naturopathic physician calledhim into his office one day and
said you won't believe this, butwe have the opportunity to
purchase these exclusiveprobiotic strains out of London
University.
This is a probiotic strain thathas never been brought to the
retail market, and we werereally excited about it, and so
(02:59):
we decided to take our lifesavings and put it into the
business and give it a try, andthat's how Just Thrive was born,
and it was the most stressfultime of my life, but yet the
most gratifying.
Tina Smith (03:14):
Yeah, I'd love to hear a little bit about you guys
getting started.
What was that?
Like you said, it's stressful,but launching a new product and
natural products market, like alot of people think, that's
super easy and it's not.
So I'd love to hear a littlebit about that journey and the
struggle you went through, andhow did you get established?
Tina Anderson (03:37):
Yeah, well, I think our journey is very
different than what I think alot of new entrepreneurs would
be starting with now.
We launched 10 years ago, andso almost 11 years ago, and at
the time we didn't do thedirect-to consumer online where
I think a lot of people start.
We did have a website that wassupposedly an e-commerce website
(04:01):
, but it wasn't.
It wasn't Shopify, it was likeI don't even know what it was,
but it was not very functional.
Where we started was going intohealth food stores and just
explaining our product,literally cold calling.
I mean, I'd be on the phone.
We were calling stores and thenwe got.
I remember getting our firststore and the owner was like
(04:21):
this is great, this makes somuch sense.
Now I understand why a lot ofthese products probiotics aren't
working, and now I understandwhy it makes sense and we had
science behind the product, andso that was literally the way we
started was going to healthfood stores and we kind of
started a nice little business.
Then we started to get oure-commerce platform a little bit
(04:42):
better, and then we started,you know, then we got onto
Amazon and and and we went thatroute.
So, but really we started inthe health food stores and
that's that proved to be reallygreat because, you know, there
wasn't a high customeracquisition necessarily.
You know, once you got in theyreally believed in the product
(05:03):
and they were selling theproduct for you and because the
product works so well it was, itwas just easy to grow in that
channel.
Amanda Ballard (05:11):
Yeah, I actually remember when I was working at
the health food store at thetime, the first time I saw just
thrive, hit the, hit the shelvesand I was like this is.
At the time it was, there wasnothing else like it, and even
still I would say that therestill is nothing like it which
is really, really inspiring.
I would love to know more oflike what brought you from
(05:34):
starting with the probioticsthat were so revolutionary to
then, like now you have more ofa full product line.
So kind of what what stirred upthe, the drive to add more
products?
What makes those different andunique?
And kind of what do you guyshave to offer now on top of the
probiotics?
Tina Anderson (05:51):
Yeah, we stayed with the probiotic for many
years I mean, it wasn't.
It was years before we launched.
Well, we, we launched a vitaminK27 product.
That was also revolutionary anddifferent because it was the
only natural form of K27 that'sout there and it still really is
the only natural form.
But our big mantra was that wewere only going to launch
(06:13):
products that were missing andneeded in the market, and we
really don't want to be a me toocompany.
I'm a huge believer in, forexample, vitamin C, but I'm not
going to launch another vitaminC because there's lots of
companies doing a great job withthat already.
So we really did something thatwas very different, like our
prebiotic.
We didn't launch a prebioticfor many years because we felt
that a lot of prebiotics on themarket actually could make a
(06:35):
problem worse when you have gutissues.
They actually will feed thebeneficial bacteria, but also
feed the pathogenic bacteria.
We found these particularoligosaccharides that only
target the beneficial bacteria.
So our whole the way we come tomarket with something that is
very it's unique and it'smissing in the market and it has
(06:56):
research behind it.
Our IgG was the same.
Nobody had brought a bovinederived IgG product to the
market at the time we weredefinitely the first out there
and then our Just Calm product,which is a psychobiotic we were
the first to bring apsychobiotic to the market.
So we really are verythoughtful about what we bring
(07:19):
to market, because we're nevergoing to be a 200 SKU supplement
company and you know we don'twant to be.
We just want to bring productsthat are truly high quality,
that have research real researchbehind it not borrowed research
, but real research behind itand that are really missing and
could impact society.
Tina Smith (07:40):
I love hearing that.
We love that you guys are beinginnovative and looking for
what's missing rather thanstacking a whole bunch of
products together.
I think that's a unique way ofdoing things.
It's not what we see oftenhappening with product
manufacturers.
And what else we think isunique about you guys is when we
(08:03):
look at your website.
You've got a ton of greatmarketing pieces on there,
including the health quiz as agood example.
People love quizzes and I'mbetting that has really grown
your reach and you're helpingyou start great relationships
with your customers and I tookit just so I could see what it
(08:23):
was like, and I am a runawaycortisol.
Tina Anderson (08:27):
Me too.
Yeah, not anymore, but I usedto be yeah.
Tina Smith (08:31):
So tell me a little bit about what got you guys into
doing the quiz, whether or notit's been successful for you,
and maybe using use cases likethat to help promote your
product.
Tina Anderson (08:47):
Yeah, I think the big thing with the quiz is we
are really trying to empower ourcustomers.
I mean, we know from amarketing perspective that
quizzes are really great forcustomer acquisition.
So that's great because youneed to acquire your customer,
but we also feel like we're very, very passionate about
empowering people.
I mean, like I said, we camefrom the pharmaceutical industry
.
We are brought up in this worldwhere you go to the doctor,
(09:09):
they tell you what to do.
You're sick, you take apharmaceutical and there's no
explanation, there's no why,there's no understanding the
root cause of an issue, and sothat's something that was really
passionate to my husband, who'sthe co-founder of the business,
and I.
We really wanted to have peoplebe empowered and to take charge
(09:29):
of their health.
So I think the quiz was onetool.
You can't spend hours with acustomer.
Unfortunately, online You'renot going to have their
attention for that long, but Ithink the quiz lets them know
like, okay, we could really diginto what your issue is and we
could figure out what will workthe best for you.
So, yeah, it has been a reallygreat tool for us.
Amanda Ballard (09:53):
So I'm curious you had said that you were a
lawyer.
Still are a lawyer.
How has that helped you guys,since this industry?
There's so much, I think, grayabout what you can say what you
can't say.
So we're actually going tospend a lot of time in our
second season of the podcastfocusing on regulatory issues,
(10:15):
so I would love to just pickyour brain on what what that
looks like for you and how yourexperience with with law has
helped you guys with a lot ofthese label claim type issues
and how you're able to utilizeusing health benefits in your
marketing as well.
Tina Anderson (10:33):
Yeah, so it's funny, I was in litigation so I
really had no training in thecompliance aspect of things.
But what I do know, there's acouple of things that have
helped me being an entrepreneurin this.
Being an entrepreneur in thespace of being a lawyer is that
A I know how to research.
You know we were bigresearchers and you know
(10:54):
whatever case I was dealing with, I always had to know how to
research and so I really honedin on that skill.
The other thing is I know thatthere's so many specialties in
law and that you need to godefer to the specialist.
So we have a complianceattorney, an FDA compliance
attorney on retainer that we payevery month to review whatever
(11:15):
issues that we need.
You know labels and claims andall of that.
So that's super important to us.
It's expensive, but it's reallyimportant to us that we do it
right.
Tina Smith (11:26):
So kind of a cost of doing business is making sure
that you have that all zipped upand the I's dotted and the T's
crossed.
Tina Anderson (11:37):
Yeah, you really have to.
I mean, you just have to sleepwell at night.
That's the thing.
There's plenty of companies outthere making outrageous claims.
We know that, and they're stillselling, even though they've
been slapped over and over again.
But it's just not the way thatwe want to do business.
We just I don't I'mconservative in that respect.
Tina Smith (11:59):
Well, so we saw that there are some testimonials on
your site and even like bigindustry names as well.
Is that a way that you guys cantalk about some of those health
benefits without crossing anyof those legal lines?
Tina Anderson (12:13):
Well, no, you still need to have your
influencers speak in a compliantlanguage.
So that's part of what we do.
When we bring on like aninfluencer or you know somebody
wants to talk about our product,they we need to give them our
product, they we need to givethem the compliant language.
Um, they still need to becompliant also.
So and I think that's what alot of people kind of get you
know, they don't.
I mean, obviously, a brand'sgoing to get in more trouble if
(12:37):
they're doing it, but you alsoneed to be have your people who
are promoting your product becompliant as well.
Amanda Ballard (12:50):
Yeah, that's super helpful to know Because,
yeah, I think that that'sprobably one of our biggest
questions is how do you, how doyou use customer testimonials,
since it's technically not yousaying it is someone else said
it.
Tina Anderson (12:57):
So before we publish, before we allow a
testimonial to be published, wehave a process in our office or
in our company where it needs tobe reviewed to make sure it's
compliant, because you shouldimagine the customers will be
like this cured me of IBS, thiscured me of Crohn's and I'm like
, oh my God, we can't put thaton the website.
(13:19):
And we didn't know that rightaway.
We thought, oh well, it's notour voice exactly what you're
saying, but if you're putting iton your website, you need to
edit it.
So there's a whole process tomake sure that the testimonials
are in fact compliant.
That's a great question, causeI think a lot of brands I mean.
I know we didn't know that inthe beginning.
Tina Smith (13:39):
Yeah, that's definitely.
That's great information forour community and we're always
trying to talk about differentways that you can promote your
product without getting incompliance hot water.
So the testimonials is aninteresting one we also noticed.
Tina Anderson (14:02):
Sorry, go ahead, go ahead.
I said we even havedouble-blind human clinical
trials on our formulation and wehave to be very careful to not
say Ours is on leaky gut and wecould talk about structure
function claims, but we can'ttalk about any diseases that are
associated with the gutpermeability.
So it's frustrating becausewe've done all the work and we
(14:26):
have all the science, but wehave to follow the rules.
Tina Smith (14:29):
Yeah Well, another thing that we were noticing on
the website that you guys do isthis free shipping, 100%
guarantee, zero hassle returnsand that you have this 4.9 star
rating at the top of your page,and we love seeing that social
proof and that you've got somereal, that you're going to back
(14:51):
your product and have that ahundred percent guarantee and
zero hassle returns.
That's helpful for everyone inthe market.
Tina Anderson (15:02):
Yeah, no, we.
We thought about that long andhard because a lot of times
people will say you know, oh,we'll do a 30-day money-back
guarantee or a 60-day money-backguarantee.
And we had a friend of mine,from a mastermind that I'm
involved in, had said to me youknow, just, I would.
Just.
She's like, I studied this,we've done research on it and
(15:22):
when you say a lifetime, youknow unlimited return, not
unlimited product, but unlimitedtime, lifetime return, bottom
of the bottle guarantee.
It improves your customeracquisition and especially when
you have a product that works,you know I mean that's it's I
would be.
I would never recommend somebodydoes that for a product that
you don't maybe see a differenceor that really isn't maybe a
(15:44):
super strong product.
But I mean, nobody would wantto bring a product to market
that they didn't believe in.
At least I would hope that theydidn't.
But you know, with the factthat our product works so
effectively for people has been,you know we've never even
thought about changing itbecause there haven't been
abuses of it.
We have limits on the amount.
You know you can't buy sixbottles and then return them all
(16:04):
after you've used them.
You know there are limits on it, but for the most part it
hasn't been abused.
It's been a great tool foracquisition.
Amanda Ballard (16:13):
Yeah, that's really interesting.
I wouldn't have thought aboutthat just from a sheer customer
acquisition standpoint that thatguarantee would be so powerful.
So that's awesome.
Another thing that we noticedwas how important philanthropy
is to you guys and that you havethis partnership with Vitamin
Angels.
I think they're a reallyawesome organization, but for
(16:35):
those that aren't familiar withthem, could you kind of just
fill us in on what VitaminAngels is and why that's an
important partnership for youguys?
Tina Anderson (16:44):
Yeah.
So that was really important tous when we launched that we
wanted to do something that wegave back to some organization
that was really making adifference, especially with,
like, natural health andwellness.
And so Vitamin Angels goes tocountries that where women and
children are undernourished andprovides them with vitamins, and
(17:04):
it's amazing the impact it'shaving, you know, because we
know how important thesenutrients are to health.
We know that here, but inunderdeveloped countries where
they don't have, you know,access to these new, you know
these vitamins.
That's what vitamin angels doesis they go into these countries
that have an underdevelopedpopulation and provides these
(17:26):
life-changing vitamins andsupplements.
So we've been a part of VitaminAngels for my gosh, I think,
shortly after launch, becausethat was really really important
to us to start giving backright away, even when there
really weren't any profits inthe beginning.
Tina Smith (17:44):
So yeah, that's so interesting that you talk about
like the profitability andthinking through can I give at a
certain point, even when you'renot bringing money into the
business, that's enough to coverall the expenses.
So how did you guys decide like, hey, we're just going to do
(18:04):
this from sacrifice versuswaiting until you had money to
really give away?
Tina Anderson (18:12):
You know, if there wasn't really much of a
decision, because the decisionwas made from the beginning.
When my husband and I startedthis company.
That's part of we wanted tolike have a company that gave
back.
We wanted a company that had areally great culture.
That was super important to usand it was like fun.
We wanted to like really havefun with it and make a
(18:32):
difference.
So it was just there reallywasn't a big decision.
It was like we just wanted todo this from the beginning and
it was just kind of part of ourlike cost basically.
Amanda Ballard (18:41):
I love that.
Yeah, definitely not the norm,so that's really cool.
I love that.
Yeah, definitely not the norm,so that's really cool.
So another question that wehave for you, tina, is you know,
you obviously started in thegut health space and that's
still kind of like your maincategory.
It's not as researched as faras you know other nutrients like
(19:03):
vitamin D and magnesium andthings like that.
So what have you found to betrending in the gut health space
?
And then what?
What do you think we could seenext in this space as far as new
products and innovations?
Tina Anderson (19:18):
Yeah, I think the big thing is in the gut health
space.
People have always associated,you know, digestive issues with
gut health.
So gas and bloating, diarrhea,constipation and, you know, acid
reflux, all those types ofthings.
People are like, oh, I've gotsome gut issues going on.
But I think the big trend isnow seeing that the gut is
responsible for all aspects ofour health and especially the
(19:40):
gut-brain connection.
I think there's a lot of talkout there about the gut-brain
connection.
You know all of our importantneurotransmitters like serotonin
, gaba, dopamine, are allproduced in our gut, where we
were always focusing on thebrain.
So I think there's a lot.
I think that's a big trend.
You're seeing people talkingabout brain health when they're
talking about gut health andreally I think people are now
(20:03):
starting to understand that it'sjust it's our gut that is
foundational for our health.
I mean, we're not going to beabsorbing nutrients if our gut
is not absorbed, if our gut isinflamed, it's our gut's job to
assimilate those nutrients.
So I think that the trend nowis that people are understanding
it, because for so long it'slike oh, I don't need a
probiotic, I don't need aprobiotic, my gut is fine.
(20:23):
I go to the bathroom regularlyand I think now people are
really starting to understandlike, even if you do feel like
you don't have any gut issues,you need to be taking a high
quality probiotic because youneed to be making sure that you
are.
You know, your immune system isin your gut.
All of your neurotransmittersare in your gut.
Your hormones are being detoxedand absorbed in your gut, so we
(20:43):
need to be focusing on our guthealth when you're talking about
any aspect of our overallhealth.
Tina Smith (20:49):
Yeah, I've been noticing the trend of, as I'm
getting older myself, that thedoctors are talking to me about
hormone changes and they're likeokay, you have to have a good
probiotic.
Even the medical community isstarting to steer people in that
direction, which is reallyexciting for me.
Tina Anderson (21:06):
Yes, it is so nice to see that.
Yeah, and you're hearing solittle of it out there, but I'm
glad that people now are finallystarting to talk about it.
Especially, every hormoneexpert you hear about is like
you need to take care of yourgut.
I mean, that is it's likeundisputed in the hormone space
we need to be taking care of ourgut undisputed in the hormone
(21:26):
space, we need to be taking careof our gut.
Amanda Ballard (21:32):
So what advice would you give, particularly to
retailers, about how to kind oftake hold of that trend and
implement that in their businessto give them some marketing
wins?
Tina Anderson (21:39):
Oh, I think anybody that walks in the store
should be leaving with a focuson gut health.
I mean, like I said, you couldbe taking all these other
supplements, but if you have aleaky gut, we know that you're
not going to be absorbing thenutrients and toxins are going
to be seeping into yourbloodstream.
So you need to, first andforemost, be taking care of the
gut and I just think you feellike, oh, you don't want to
(22:04):
upsell somebody, but it's likethat's where somebody needs to
start is their gut.
I'm always so careful about nottrying to like sell all these
different products to people,even when I'm on podcasts.
I'll say start with theprobiotic, like foundationally,
we have lots of other productsthat are very well-researched
and really thought out, butstart with the probiotic,
because I think once they startto have that trust in you and I
(22:24):
mean if a retailer were to, youknow, hand out any old probiotic
, then someone's not going tocome back for it because it
doesn't work.
You know when what we'venoticed with Just Thrive is that
they start on Just Thrive andthey see the difference, so they
come to trust our brand so much.
I mean, we have such amazingcustomers and just raving fans
of our product because it worksso well.
(22:47):
I mean, the comment always islike life changing.
It's just it has been lifechanging because then when you
start taking some othersupplement that you, you know,
somebody has recommended it'sabsorbed.
It's absorbing that much better.
All the nutrients, the healthyfoods you're eating are being
absorbed that much better.
So I guess I would recommendthat just retailers have every
person that walks in should bestarting with their gut health,
because that's whatever thingthey're walking in for.
(23:09):
You know, maybe you're taking amulti.
They just want to stay healthy.
They're taking a multivitamin.
Well, I don't know whyeverybody's so easily persuaded
to take a multivitamin, but thenthey won't take a probiotic
because, like I said this, yourgut is really dictating.
80% of your immune systemsfound in your gut lining.
We need to be focusing on ourgut when we're talking about all
of our health.
I get a little passionate aboutthat, sorry.
Tina Smith (23:33):
No, that's great.
We love the passion and talkingabout like helping these
retailers.
I think it's great Like startwith the gut and I know that you
guys started in you knownatural product stores, so I'm
curious are there other thingsthat natural product stores can
do to with your brand that canhelp create some more
(23:56):
profitability for them?
Longer customer relationships?
What did you find worked reallywell in those stores from the
beginning?
Tina Anderson (24:04):
The biggest thing I would say is education.
We are so big on education, wehave trainings.
We would always, I know, in thebeginning we would say you
could get this discountedproduct or this discount off of
your order if you will agree totrainings, because it was really
important for us to dotrainings.
Most stores are really intotrainings anyway, but that has
(24:25):
really been a huge.
Huge factor is we do expertvoice.
I know a lot of retailers usethat platform, but then we also
do like in-person trainings atthe, you know, at the smaller
level, mid-size level.
So that's really been our focuson.
Education has really beenhugely helpful and just
empowering them to empower theircustomers.
Amanda Ballard (24:49):
So I'm assuming it's the stores that say yes to
the trainings that do betterwith you guys and they're
probably thriving in theirbusiness as well.
Yes absolutely.
Tina Anderson (24:58):
And then also we are on a lot of podcasts, I mean
on all different genres, and Ithink that that has really
helped our stores have a lot ofsuccess because we are doing so
much marketing out there.
The podcasts are so beneficialbecause we're able to tell the
story, we're able to explain thescience and why this is so
different and why ours surviveand most are not, and so that
(25:22):
has really been a huge help tothe stores because they're
seeing people now walk into thestores hearing about, you know,
hearing about Just Thrive.
So that's also the trainingsand then just the other
marketing that we're doingnationally has been super
helpful.
Tina Smith (25:39):
Yeah, well, look, this has been an amazing
interview, tina.
I know it's going to be sohelpful for the retailers and
the other manufacturers that wesupport in the market, and
they're going to be excited tohear your story and all this
good marketing advice as well.
We usually end our podcast witha few standard questions and we
(26:03):
try to call them rapid fire,but it never works out that way.
Tina Anderson (26:07):
I'll try to be brief.
Tina Smith (26:08):
I'll try to be brief .
Okay, amanda, do you have thosepulled up?
I do.
Amanda Ballard (26:12):
Yeah, so what do you like to listen, to read?
Um, who are you following tokind of keep up with what's next
in the natural productsindustry?
Tina Anderson (26:26):
Oh gosh, I feel like that all the podcasts I
listened to are like ones thatI'm going to be on, so I get
like I listened to so manydifferent ones.
Um, listen to some of the bigones like Peter Attia and Andrew
Huberman, and then, as far asthe industry, I feel like I get
a lot of that just from talkingto our customers.
Really, that's where I'mlearning mostly from our
(26:48):
customers that are online, aswell as our customers that are
our store customers.
Tina Smith (26:53):
I love that you're finding out industry information
from customers.
That is the place that wealways tell people to start is
talk to the people that you'reserving, because they will give
you more information than anyoneelse.
Tina Anderson (27:06):
Yeah, it's amazing how much you get from
the stores as well as youractual customers, and we are so
committed to customer serviceand we have health coaches on
our team, product coaches andthese women are amazing.
I mean they are everyone's like.
I mean they're the customersatisfaction rate is so great
because I mean we are, they're apart of our weekly calls.
(27:26):
I don't look at like a lot ofcompanies will be like oh your,
our CS team is off on thisIsland and like, no, like
they're the ones that aretalking to the customers.
They are on every call with usto try.
So we want to, because we wantto hear what they have to say.
So I would encourage you knowcompanies to really listen to
their CS team.
Amanda Ballard (27:43):
So what do you think is the biggest challenge
that our industry is going toface over the next three to five
years?
Is there anything that'skeeping you up at night?
Tina Anderson (27:54):
Yeah, you know I think, well, the counterfeiters
is really, um, that keeps me upat night.
We've had several umcounterfeiters put our product
on amazon and they were not ourproduct.
Um, so that's a huge productproblem we've.
You know, amazon will handle it, but it takes a long time.
There's a process involved thatpeople are getting the product.
So, um, I also, of course, theincreased competition with
(28:18):
people who are, you know,jumping on the bandwagon my
husband had just seen.
He saw a, a like, a onlinecourse of like how to start a
supplement brand in you knowwhatever 10 days or something
like that.
It was like I mean, yeah, it's.
There's a lot of junky productsout there and I and I think a
lot of products that are beingfunded by investment groups that
(28:42):
there's no passion behind it.
We are bootstrapped.
We have never taken a penny ofinvestor money Not that there's
anything wrong with companiesthat do that.
That's a way that people couldbring good quality products to
market.
But we answer to ourselves atnight, you know, and we don't
have to, and I think there's somany companies out there that
(29:02):
are getting a ton of money andjust marketing the you know what
out of the products and puttingfancy, you know, I would say,
like lipstick on a pig.
Really they're taking like acrappy product and putting you
know some research behind it,but it's not real research or
it's borrowed science.
And that's what keeps me up atnight is seeing the industry
(29:23):
standards go down.
When we came into this market,we wanted to elevate the
standards because we believe somuch in supplements that we
started doing double-blind humanclinical trials.
We elevated the standard and Ihate know we're not and I hate
seeing that like some companiesare bringing it down.
There's lots of still reallygood companies doing the right
thing, but unfortunately there'salways bad players.
Amanda Ballard (29:45):
Yeah, that's so.
It's so true.
I've had so many encounterswith just friends and family.
And it's so funny like myhusband and I we've been in the
industry for a decade now andit's like, why don't you ask us,
like whether or not this is acredible brand?
Like and they just buy randomcrap on Amazon.
I'm like this is literalgarbage.
Like you just wasted $13 onthis.
(30:07):
And it's like, just ask like orgo to a store, please.
Tina Anderson (30:12):
I know, I know it's like.
Oh, I have the same problemwith family members.
Amanda Ballard (30:18):
So what do you think would be?
Some low-hanging fruit and Ithink we already kind of
addressed this, you know,starting with the gut but just
some low-hanging fruit, quickwins that natural products
marketers or retailers, rather,could grab a hold of and start
implementing in their businesstoday.
Tina Anderson (30:47):
Gosh some quick wins for them.
Again, what has worked for ushas been education.
So I think doing like seminarsI think people are hungry for
knowledge about health andwellness, and maybe doing like
seminars or some type know sometype of educational email,
something like that, that couldjust educate them, cause the
more education that you provideyour customers, the more they're
going to trust you and comeback to you and the more the
healthier they're going to be.
(31:08):
And and I think that that wouldbe huge even maybe if they did
email newsletters, which I knowmany of them already do that but
those kinds of things, I thinkwould be helpful.
Amanda Ballard (31:23):
And then lastly, Tina, if anyone's listening
that wants to get in touch withyou or learn more about your
company, how can they do that?
Tina Anderson (31:28):
The easiest thing would be just going to
justthrivehealthcom.
So obviously you guys have seenthe website.
We put a lot into the researchon our blogs, but you could
always reach out to our CS team.
Like I said, they're amazing.
You could call them or emailthem, but going to
justthrivehealthcom wouldprobably be the best spot for
people to go.
Tina Smith (31:49):
Perfect.
Well, I hope that everyone doesgo visit your website.
It's got a lot of marketingtactics that we support and
think that other people shouldbe deploying on their websites.
If you've got a good product oryou have a fabulous store, take
a look at this website and getsome great ideas to put on your
(32:09):
own website.
It's there and it sounds great.
You guys are very supportive ofthe local retailers and I know
that they'll be excited to getin touch with your team so that
they can research your brand andfind out even more about gut
health.
Tina Anderson (32:26):
Well, thank you so much for the opportunity.
I really appreciate it and justlove to share our story.
Amanda Ballard (32:32):
Thanks so much for listening to the Natural
Products Marketer podcast.
We hope you found this episodeto be super helpful.
Make sure you check out theshow notes for any of those
valuable resources that wementioned on today's episode.
Tina Smith (32:43):
And, before you go, we would love for you to give us
a review.
Follow, like and subscribe onApple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube
or wherever you're listeningtoday, and make sure you join us
for our next episode, where wegive you more marketing tips so
that you can reach more peopleand change more lives.
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