Once, “wellness” was presumed to be the absence of a particular health concern. But, in contemporary times, entrepreneurs are found shifting this perspective and enabling the community to consider individual well-being as a symbiotic relationship between their surroundings and the associated care consciousness.
Taking this into account, Rae Wellness, a well-being company launched in 2020, takes a holistic approach, encouraging its customers to take responsibility for their health and well-being. Being an inclusive and socially conscious company, it is dedicated to providing affordable and powerful solutions that nourish the mind and body from the inside.
In addition, Angie Tebbe, the CEO and Co-founder of Rae Wellness – has been overseeing the company’s product development and innovation, community-building efforts, and fulfilling the vision for Rae Wellness successfully.
Under her leadership, this value-based company has meaningfully grown to more than two million customers in less than two years, with more than 20 wellness products, widespread customer enthusiasm, and thousands of five-star ratings.
Taking note of Angie’s wellness enthusiasm that stands at the foundation of the company’s operations, below are the highlights of the interview.
Please brief us about your company. What has been your source of inspiration for venturing into the nutrition industry?
At Rae, we stand for the well-being of all. We believe wellness shouldn’t have to be a full-time job, it shouldn’t be expensive, and it should inspire everyone wherever they are on their journey. We always say that whether you’re conquering the day or just making it through the week, we are here to help our customers shine.
Emerging science continues to show a deeper relationship between the body and mind. This has been our sole reason for venturing into the nutrition industry. We create products that have an impact on both mind and body through a holistic universe of pure and powerful supplements that support various wellness needs – stress, libido, hormones, digestion, skin, sleep, and more.
Kindly tell us about yourself and shed some light on your journey so far.
A few years ago, I had a wonderful corporate career as a key retail executive, two beautiful kids (and now three, as of a few months ago!), and a very full life. However, my well-being continued to decrease on the priority list. I had an opportunity to think about what that meant to me personally and professionally and how I could bring that together as my next chapter.
You see, I grew up in a very holistic household – my mom was a nurse, and my father was into reiki, and homeopathy, and we were the weird family meditating on the lawn in Fargo, North Dakota.
Hence, to honor what I knew so well, I left my corporate life in pursuit of my own well-being, where I discovered two things.
First, for the quality of product women deserve, there was nothing on the market for the price I was willing to pay – it was all expensive. Secondly, the products that did exist at the price point I was willing to pay were either not made for women or were not holistic in approach. So, I had this idea to create holistic and accessible products that did not exist.
Because of my 13-year retail career, I had an incredible toolkit for creating consumer-led brands, developing worldwide sourcing and supply chain strategies, and managing large P&L’s and teams. Hence, I used this toolkit to accelerate the creation and development of a community-led brand and products.
What are the core values that the company operates on? What is its mission and vision statement?
Our company has four core values that help support our mission and vision.
At Rae, we are:
- Brave: We talk about the things that are hard to talk about. We help remove barriers for our community.
- Transparent: We are real, earnest, and have nothing to hide.
- Fresh: We are a voice, not an echo, and we keep our eyes forward for our community.
- Advocates: We are customer-obsessed and create safe spaces for our community.
What are the key products and services of the company, and what is its impact on the demographic concerned?
So much of the wellness industry is targeted at affluent consumers that have unlimited time and money to take care of themselves. At Rae, we support consumers that are typically underserved — through an inclusive ethos and accessible products.
Our community loves Rae because our product universe and approach are solution-oriented and dedicated to fitting into their existing life. Customers understand our evidence-based approach and how we holistically serve all her needs under one brand. For these reasons, retailers have recognized our value proposition as we have scaled from zero to over 7,000 stores in just over two years.
What measures are involved for the company to identify clients’ unique production requirements?
Having a digitally-led community allows us to have conversations directly about our brand, products, content, and more. For example, as we entered unprecedented times with COVID-19, it was ever more important to ensure the consumer was leading our decision-making around products. We saw needs like stress trend during the year of the pandemic; as we entered the second year of the pandemic, we saw needs like digestion and sexual wellness trend.
This direct feedback allowed us to gain nearly two million customers within our first couple of years as a company. This large customer base has allowed us to evaluate DTC data to understand our customers’ omnichannel behavior, gaps in our product assortment, and how they are personalizing their routine with us.
What challenges do you face in the nutrition industry and how do you turn them into opportunities for your company’s growth?
The nutrition industry is constantly evolving to follow the consumer. Whether it is precision nutrition, personalization, or other solutions that consumers demand, our collective responsibility is to create platforms to help support these needs.
As a company, we dedicate ourselves to being multiple things to one customer instead of one thing to everyone, offering our people products that holistically support multiple sides of their wellness journey. This inclusive and accessible approach embeds us and creates long-term value for both the company and our customers.
What advice would you like to give to budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the nutrition industry?
To be successful as a founder, leader, or within any career, you must love the process and be motivated by the challenges and building blocks. You will not always know the answers or get the results you expected when leading a company, so you must enjoy the process and learning experiences that come with it.
When entering the nutrition industry specifically, there is a tremendous responsibility behind quality, efficacy, and transparency. Hence, it is critical to have the right chemists, quality and regulatory, supply chain, and sourcing teams to deliver the highest quality products.
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