Decoding Wellness: How HUM Nutrition is Changing the Game

Michael Mendenhall:

Welcome to PeopleForce Podcast. I'm Michael Mendenhall. TriNet is a full-service HR solutions company committed to empowering small and medium sized businesses. We work with amazing small and medium sized businesses and I'm excited to bring their voices to life here. You can catch new episodes of PeopleForce Podcast every month on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and rise.trinet.com

Joining us today is Walter Faulstroh. Walter is a true pioneer in the world of personalized nutrition and wellness. He is the Co-founder and CEO of HUM Nutrition, a company that has revolutionized the way we think about beauty and health from within.

HUM Nutrition offers a wide range of products designed to support skin, hair, body and mood health. Their supplements are formulated with clinically tested clean ingredients and are personalized to meet your individual health goals. With a background in finance and marketing and a personal journey that led him to discover the profound impact of nutrition on skin health, he has built a brand that combines science backed research with clean and natural ingredients. Today, Walter is joining us to share his inspiring story. From personal health challenges to founding a successful wellness company. We'll explore the challenges he faced, the lessons he's learned and his vision for the future of personalized nutrition.

Walter, welcome. I'd love to have you here at PeopleForce. This is going to be an awesome interview.

Walter Faulstroh:

Thanks for having me Michael.

Michael Mendenhall:

It's terrific. So you know, I want to go back because it's always interesting to find out like where your passions were when you were in high school, influences by your parents or friends, like, oh, it's all about the economic advantage that you'll have if you take a certain career and where was your head? What influenced you and then where did you go and did that change?

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, very good question. So how far do you want to go back? All the way to the beginning.

Michael Mendenhall:

Go all the way back.

Walter Faulstroh:

I was always inspired by entrepreneurs, I must say. My godfather was an entrepreneur. He launched a retail chain in women's underwear lingerie. My dad was an entrepreneur on my mother's side as well. So I was always inspired by those people who just see the world in a different way, try to make it better and then launch products in order to do so.

Michael Mendenhall:

And was that all in Austria?

Walter Faulstroh:

I grew up near Frankfurt in the little village or like town. I would say 20,000 people, fairly small. And that's where I grew up and my parents had a company there and they now live in Austria and I spent some time in Vienna afterwards and then I moved to France and then to New York and then back To France and then to London and now in Los Angeles. There's a lot going on here.

Michael Mendenhall:

We're going to get into that because there are a lot of businesses in there too.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, totally.

Michael Mendenhall:

Very much like the entrepreneurial spirit that was in your family. So after Frankfurt you went to school to study what?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, I went to high school first, right. And I majored in math and languages, like German. And then I decided that that wasn't really for me. For some reason I was very drawn to living somewhere else. The best thing I thought about living in Frankfurt was the airport to get away. And then I spent some time in Vienna afterwards. And then I decided to enroll in university in France. So my grandfather used to live in France and near Paris. And I was always drawn to the French culture. I didn't speak a word of French. I just decided one day to next that I will live in Paris, moved there, enrolled in school to learn the language, loved it so much that like a couple of months later I decided to go to university. I ended up in a program in a communications program where I was the only foreigner in the program. So this was me like 12 months in, into the French language in a communications program in French. Everything was in French basically. So that's what happened right there.

Michael Mendenhall:

How did you do?

Walter Faulstroh:

You know, but I can tell you exactly how I did. So this was a two year program. They have what's called like a BAC plus 2 in French and they give you a ranking. We're 120 students in the program. And in year one I ranked 115 out of 120. And in year two when I finished, I was about, I think number five or 120 people. So I made a bit of a, you know, progress.

Michael Mendenhall:

Are you competitive?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, I just like to know where I am in life, I suppose, you know, it's nice to get that and like it's just the way things work, you know, they give you a ranking now.

Michael Mendenhall:

Did you work at any point?

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, I worked in advertising in Paris. I worked for Omnicom, a big advertising group there for Ketchum, which had an advertising agency. So I worked on the site while I was doing my program there.

Michael Mendenhall:

So a big background in marketing Advertising?

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, well, I just was, you know, I always thought communications was really interesting and I just loved the French language and I just thought like, if you throw yourself into it, like there's no better way of going into like full throttle and like telling the story, you know, in your non-native language. So I was really fascinated by that.

Michael Mendenhall:

So then you get out of.

Walter Faulstroh:

Out of college and well, I started unto years there. And then what happened is like a lot of people were telling me, well, when you finish this program, your bosses will come from this and this school. And it's like, what do you mean my bosses? I don't. I want to be my own boss one day. That wasn't really what I signed up for. So I transferred to NYU to continue my studies. I always loved New York. From the first day I visited New York in my sort of like teens. I was 16 or 17. I went out for the first time and I was just like, this is city. I just want to live in the city one day. So I transferred to NYU a couple of years later after being in Paris and then continued my studies there. And I just wanted to be in New York. And you know, I was like, okay, what is this school good at? Finance was one of their top disciplines, if you will. So I graduated with a degree in finance there. So I enrolled into the stern undergrad program and majored in finance.

Michael Mendenhall:

And then.

Walter Faulstroh:

And then. So the whole.com?

Michael Mendenhall:

We're going around the world.

Walter Faulstroh:

I know.

Michael Mendenhall:

So around the world with Walter.

Walter Faulstroh:

I really wanted to, you know, work in technology because that was sort of emerging at the time. I was always interested in new ideas, new emerging ideas and communication as well. It's obviously interesting to me. And I saw this whole Internet. This was in the 90s, right? Getting bigger and bigger. So I got a job post my studies. You can do that, you know, like when you have like a student here, you can work for like a year or two with a company on a visa. So I did that in the dot com space. And I just loved working in technology. It was so fascinating. Worked went so fast, you know, like anybody who was raising money.

Michael Mendenhall:

How far back is this? Back with the World Wide Web www. Pretty much like.

Walter Faulstroh:

So this was. I graduated. I have to get my numbers right. And then I believe in 99. And then I worked there in technology. And then I, you know, worked there for a couple of years and I really loved it. And then of course, you know, things happened and then this, you know, we went from like I believe 15 employees to suddenly 150 because we raised so much money for the company. Then the whole cycle happen. Everything collapsed, if you will.

Michael Mendenhall:

And then you were what, at zero?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, I think we went back to 15 or something like this. It's fascinating that they kept me during that time. I mean, I really enjoyed my job and I was really helping them now.

Michael Mendenhall:

Were you in, what part of that were you in?

Walter Faulstroh:

Product. Product. So digital product. And like I started business development then I did digital product and I led some of these initiatives and like building, you know, the future for the company. And then you know, all of this.

Michael Mendenhall:

Is, by the way, all of these experiences are going to play out here and we're going to get to that. Yes, yes. So after that you went to another country?

Walter Faulstroh:

I believe I did. So basically what happened was I lived in New York during 911 and then let's just say.

Michael Mendenhall:

So we've been to what? Germany.

Walter Faulstroh:

Germany, Austria, Paris and us.

Michael Mendenhall:

And now we're going. Is it London?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well no, we're going back to Paris actually.

Michael Mendenhall:

Oh, then we're going to get there. Okay, great.

Walter Faulstroh:

We're going back to Paris. So we'll get to London in a second. And I know this podcast is like, I don't know how long it is but like we have time.

Michael Mendenhall:

Good, I'm glad we're going to get to your businesses.

Walter Faulstroh:

So I went back to Paris and well, basically 911 happened and it was a very challenging environment like you know, for foreigners like myself to be in the US in general, but also like the economy was kind of challenging and I just wanted to take a step back. I really enjoyed working in technology but I ultimately always wanted to create my own business. Coming back to your original question and I said like, why don't I take a year, do my MBA, think it through, what I can do in the space. And then, you know, I felt like with an MBA I may have a better proposition to raise money afterwards. So I applied to a few business schools including INSEAD, which is just outside of Paris. It's a one-year program. Loved it. It's a very international program. You have to speak three languages in order to apply and you know, it was just this incredible environment of like, like-minded people. I got accepted and so I suddenly find myself in 2003 at INSEAD Business School.

Michael Mendenhall:

That's awesome. And then you graduate. We're going to get to the first business because I think wasn't that, was it in London?

Walter Faulstroh:

Correct. But I think the important part is like I'm the kind of person like I'm very like, I think long term, but when it comes to things like, you know, finding a flat or a house, etc. I'm quite a sort of, I do this like, you know, when needed, if you will. But for the first time in my life when I went to INSEAD, I said I really want to like stay in A certain place. There are all these houses around the countryside of, you know, near the campus. And I went like six months beforehand to find a place to stay. And then they told me, well, the house you wanted, this Englishman just rented it five minutes ago. And I was so upset about that. But I was like, for once I was really organized about housing and like, you know, figure this part out. So I took a house not far from there with like two other classmates. But what happened? And the reason I tell this story is like, the person who actually got this house, who I dislike to begin with, if you will, because he sort of like stole the house. In my mind, he became one of my best friends and my first business partner in my venture. And he was English and, well, I lived in New York. I was always very inspired by the rise of functional waters, vitamin waters specifically. And I thought, why is no one doing this in Europe? And I always wanted to. As much as I love technology, I always loved this idea of having a product that you can actually touch and can put it on a shelf and, you know, really, you know, speak to the consumer with. So I had no experience in FMCG, fast moving consumer care, but I had this idea of like building the first vitamin enhanced water brand for the European market.

Michael Mendenhall:

Which you did.

Walter Faulstroh:

Which I did, yeah.

Michael Mendenhall:

Yeah, I'll talk about that.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah.

Michael Mendenhall:

I mean, did you have to raise capital?

Walter Faulstroh:

And I did, yeah. So basically what I did. And again, I had no experience in any of this and like, you just have to improvise. I thought, okay, where do we find our sort of like friends and family money, if you will? And what we did end up doing was like, you know, we wrote to about 100 alumni who went to the same business school and we thought, okay, people like to be close to their investment. So we narrowed it down to people living in London, and we also narrow it down to people who had graduated, say, 10 years beforehand. That's smart, because we felt like they have maybe some extra money at this point, right? So they're done paying off their student debt at this point and they're successful in their career. So I think we wrote about 130 letters handwritten to them individually and asked them whether they'd be interested in this concept. Because what happened was I saw some VCs beforehand and they told us, prove the concept and then come back, right? So it's this typical story. It's like, okay, yeah, be successful, then we'll give you money. But like, okay, to be successful, I need money. So it's this circle of like, how do you even start? Right. So we're like, okay. It's just, you know, and it's not like that my parents had money lying around and neither did my business partner's parents have that. So we had to be really creative about it. And we were like, okay, let's just reach out to this community and see whether they can help us. So we wrote about 120, 30 letters. And out of the 100 letters or 130 letters, I think 30 people replied. They were interested to learn more. We had a really good business plan for the business.

Michael Mendenhall:

How much did you raise?

Walter Faulstroh:

I think we raised, like, how much was it? £200,000, £250,000.

Michael Mendenhall:

Not bad.

Walter Faulstroh:

Not much, right?

Michael Mendenhall:

It's not bad, though.

Walter Faulstroh:

It was about half a million dollars at the time. I have to check those numbers. I forgot what it was, basically. Maybe it was half a million. I think something like that. Maybe it was a bit more.

Michael Mendenhall:

Well, now you gotta find the water source.

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, that's another question. Right. Because again, remember, this wasn't really my background.

Michael Mendenhall:

So tell us that story. I'm sure that became very interesting.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah. So what happened? 30 people wanted to invest, but then we cut it because we had too many people who were interested anyway. So we had to find, of course, somebody to manufacture the product. We had the recipes developed with nutritionists in the UK that we sort of like partnered with and we looked at a few. I just want to have really good quality water. I'm like, you know, as you know, I'm half Austrian and to me, good quality water was like, really important. Right. Because I think one thing that we looked at for vitamin water, for example, they didn't. They use like, purified tap water, if you will. But for the European market, we felt we wanted, like a proper spring water. Yeah, pure spring water. It's just nice.

Michael Mendenhall:

And I'm sure that there's regulations by country around all of that.

Walter Faulstroh:

There is a lot. Yeah, a lot of different regulations. So anyway, we found this bottler in Ireland who could make our recipes in the bottle we wanted. Because it's also important, like finding somebody who can actually put the bottle you want on the line. And was it artificially flavored or. Well, naturally flavored. Right. So we infused the drinks with like, you know, fruit juices. Well, vitamins, but also, like fruit juices. There was one.

Michael Mendenhall:

Was it carbonated? Non-carbonated?

Walter Faulstroh:

Non-carbonated.

Michael Mendenhall:

So it's an early version of vitamin water?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, it was sort of like. Yes, exactly. It was like vitamin water. But Vitamin Water was first. Right. Just to be clear, like, they happened in New York first, and the brand became massive. So we had the recipes, we had a design, we partnered with a design agency. I wanted to work with the best, but again, we didn't have any money. So we said, okay, we're like.

Michael Mendenhall:

And you didn't have ChatGPT?

Walter Faulstroh:

No, I didn't have that either at the time. So I said to them, look, we'll pay you more if we raise the money. So they took a bit of a risk there, but thankfully we'd raise the money that we could pay them once we had the.

Michael Mendenhall:

But you had a successful exit?

Walter Faulstroh:

We did, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what happened was we proved the concept of the strength. I mean, I can tell you endless stories of how we got there. Basically, like, you know, going from, like, zero to, like, having a product on shelf takes a lot of time. There are, like, lots of good anecdotes that happened. But my favorite was, like, for us, you know, we wanted to test the product, actually. Consumers picking up this product. Right. So when we developed the drink, we were on the street literally handing out random samples. And I was shocked how many people try your product and give you feedback. It was amazing, right? Just going in front of the consumer and getting that honest feedback because we had to develop the flavors and all that kind of stuff. And they now do that at all these grocery stores. Yeah, well, and then, you know, we really learned to be in front of the consumer. And I'm a huge fan of doing that. Right. Because when you have a company and like specifically in this space, people always have these ideas in meeting rooms, but I always am really interested with the actual consumer who's really time constrained, thinks about you. They have zero bias with their own personal.

Michael Mendenhall:

Well, what did they say?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, they told us what they loved, what they didn't like, and, you know, what I learned was like, you always offer them two options, you know, and then you tell them which one you prefer and why. And then it was a very, you know, straightforward conversation. And we took a similar approach when it came to packaging because I really wanted to get into this retailer called. It wasn't Tesco, it was Sainsbury's. It's a big retailer in the UK. But again, it's very different to test packaging in an office or in isolation than in a retail environment where the consumer has five seconds. Maybe she's a young mom and she has kids that she needs to look after and doesn't have that attention span that you want them to Have. So we actually rented in a real store, put our product that wasn't there yet on the shelf, and just monitored behavior of the consumer if they picked it up. We asked them, what do you like about it? What, you don't like it? Any suggestions, et cetera. So after that test, we grabbed the product, left the store, and then we got stopped by security. Because they thought you were stealing. We were stealing the product. And it's like, yeah, it's not here yet. So you can't, you know, you can't steal it yet. But hopefully one day someone can steal them. Someone can steal them, because that's really the whole plan here. So they laughed and that was really funny. That allowed us to become a very successful brand. And then we became the number one brand in the UK in the space. And then we were approached a few years later by PepsiCo International, who wanted to acquire the business.

Michael Mendenhall:

That's awesome. Now, how did you go from the vitamin water to a fitness. You went in and established a whole fitness program that was at. These are. What is it? Not a spa, but you created. Yeah, so I was trying to understand the Fit for Free idea.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah. Let me tell you about this. So I'm a huge fan in wellness that is accessible to everyone. Right. I think what people often forget, it's like a lot of consumers are being priced out of trends.

Michael Mendenhall:

So this isn't a fitness.

Walter Faulstroh:

It was a gym chain.

Michael Mendenhall:

Oh, it was a gym chain.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. But I just like this idea of like, you know, for me, health and wellness is like the three components. There's a physical wellness, the nutritional wellness, and the mental wellness. Right. So I covered the nutritional wellness with my first brand. I was interested in fitness and health and wellness from that perspective because I just thought, you know, a lot of people can't participate in this. There were a lot of like luxurious gym chains, but there weren't any gym chains in the UK at the time that catered to a wider demographic. And then I looked at a magazine and I read an article about this gym chain which was called Fit for Free in the. In the Netherlands, basically. And they were very successful. And I was like, okay, that's interesting. And their price point was $9.95 a month.

Michael Mendenhall:

Wow. Which was it profitable?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, this is the interesting part. They were extremely profitable. And they had a completely different business model. It's a little bit like the Southwest airline model, where you just take out away everything that costs you money, doesn't really deliver value to the consumer. You strip that away you run really big spaces and you offer membership with top notch machines, by the way. So the service was great. So I was really interested in that company and so I flew over to Holland to meet them and we decided to partner and so I brought that idea and concept over to the UK.

Michael Mendenhall:

And how long were you involved in that?

Walter Faulstroh:

A couple of years. So it's like from the, like, you know, getting this over. I opened for them the first few clubs and I learned a lot about retail because like the gym business is really a retail business. You have to understand local communities, catchments, find the right space, pay the right rent, of course, negotiate contracts that are for 20 years, if you will, and really understand, you know, what's exciting is.

Michael Mendenhall:

As you think about your path from Frankfurt all the way through and the experiences that you're having, it all leads up to what you're doing. Yes. And it's giving you that experience to be able to launch what you're into now. You know, this is a huge field that you're in, this nutritional field. I think it's like $1.8 trillion go into this. Globally, it's crowded, you know, with the Internet and certainly social media, there's somebody telling you how healthy you can be and you know, creams and makeup on the beauty side and also the supplement side, like, you know, this whole thing, testosterone and this and then they're just plastering all this, you know, this is the best. This is what it's going to do. You've come into this field in a very different way and I want to talk about that because it's a crowded market and you've carved out a niche and I think it's an important niche. Talk to us about that.

Walter Faulstroh:

So the way the idea was born to HUM Nutrition, which is my current venture and my latest venture was I had really struggled with skin for like years. So I had acne in my 20s, even my 30s. And it was an Accutane, which is a very strong drug. Three times during the time. This was during the time I started V Water as well. And one of our nutritionists helped me figure out my skin by changing my diet and incorporating certain supplements which help you with acne. And these results were so powerful that I thought, you know, this is really, really helpful to people. And that's the nutrition angle again. Maybe there are other people like myself out there who could benefit from a similar approach. So once I was done with the gym chain, with the fitness chain, and I moved on from that vent, I convinced my first business partner, Christopher from the vitamin water brand to come with me to Los Angeles to start this venture. So why LA? Because I thought this is the biggest, you know, it's the epicenter of health and wellness. That's where the trends are starting. It's also access to the biggest market, if you will, within the space. But it's a highly competitive space. And when we launched the brand, the idea was to really bring beauty out from within, if you will, with solutions that truly work for the individuals and with a big component of education. So what I did do is similar to my own journey where I had like a nutritionist advise me what's right for me. We built this platform that allowed consumers to interact directly with RD nutritionists. Why RDs? Because they're the most highly trained and I would say the most proficient in the space of nutrition. So a doctor would actually seek the advice of an RD when it comes to nutrition questions. So I wanted to build this platform first and then I realized there weren't any formulas out there that met my personal standards, like clean ingredients, for example, very limited of clinicals, specifically on end formulas. So we launched our own brand within the space. I had some learnings from the vitamin water brand from V Water on, like how you make a nice packaging appeal to the consumer. I also had experience like on building a membership, if you will, from the gym chain. And I understood of course working with RDs, what that looks like. So all these things came together. And because my very first job right out of college was in technology, I was able to build a digital experience that translated all of these things. And this is, I think to your question, it comes all together. When I did launch HUM, and what.

Michael Mendenhall:

I like about that is most people think, oh, you know, your careers are all like very vertical and you just grow up in industry and you do different things and keep even with mine and with yours. There's a lot of zigzagging and it's the experiences that get collected that enable you to do what you're doing. And people tend to forget that, that those experiences in life become important. And it's not all very vertical.

Walter Faulstroh:

No, it's not. And it's literally like all roads lead to Rome as they say. Right. And I think life is like a big train station where you board a train and then it ends up somewhere. But like, okay, that's really where I didn't want to go. But let's see what happens here and then go back to where we originally wanted to go. And I think to your point, it is all about Being curious, really loving what you do, but also really learning. And then at one point those experiences come together.

Michael Mendenhall:

So the interesting piece was the nutritionist, but it was also the ingredients. So you were very specific on where these resources were coming from in the supply chain, how you were manufacturing them. Talk a bit about that.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, what I learned was like there were a lot of ingredients which really shouldn't be in supplements for various reasons, like either. You know, there's something called titanium dioxide that people put. I mean just the name doesn't sort.

Michael Mendenhall:

Of sounds like metal.

Walter Faulstroh:

Doesn't sound really healthy, does it?

Michael Mendenhall:

No, no.

Walter Faulstroh:

But what it allows brands to do is like they make the pills look brighter and then they could put color on top. And in marketing your product just appears nicer. But there are zero health benefits to the consumer. Quite the opposite. Right. And they're even like, there are studies that suggest in rats, so not in humans, that it's a cancer-causing ingredient. So why is clearly metal, why is this in a supplement? Right. And the list goes on. We call it the ick list. I mean it's pretty long. And so we developed this ick list and decided, okay, let's just make sure we don't formulate with any of these ingredients. But on top of that, let's work with third parties to test, test, test, test. And it's not just the manufacturer because.

Michael Mendenhall:

There is of course, so do you have control groups?

Walter Faulstroh:

So the way it works, almost like pharmaceutical. So the way it works is like the manufacturer tests the product for you, but then we also test the product independently. But then what we also do is we have a partnership with the cleanable project. They go around stores and pick up the product randomly from shelves, send that to a lab and make sure the ingredients are there, it's clean, you know, nothing harmful is in there for the product. So like everything we do is like literally triple checked from the manufacturing process. When it comes to the sourcing the ingredients, where they sourced. I pay a lot of attention to that as well. Like for example, within the fish.

Michael Mendenhall:

I think that's. I'll let you, I want you to finish that. I think that is so important right now is sustainable supply chains that are eco-friendly.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, well, you know, I feel very strongly about that. And again, why? Because, you know, I grew up in a household that really focused on like not, you know, throwing things away over consuming things we don't need, you know, all that kind of stuff. And then also like being really thoughtful about the environment. My parents live in a town in the forests and you know, we have clean water and clean air. And I think everybody should have that, right? Not just like a select few who can live in the mountains somewhere. But I think like clean air and clean water is really like, I'd say a basic human. Right. So when we source ingredients, again, the devil's in the detail here. Let's say a fish oil, right? A fish oil sounds like a very simple product. You take fish and make an oil out of it. But the reality is like, you want to make sure that the fish that is caught is sustainably sourced because overfishing is a real problem. Right. So number one, number two, you want to only use small fish, sardines, anchovies and mackerel, which eat the plankton, metabolize the plankton and then store that as EPA and DHA in their fat cells. And that's what you're really after when you want to have a fish oil. But it's those small fish you want because the larger fish, like salmon, etcetera, they're predators, they need everything that's in the ocean. And the level of heavy metals is much, much higher in those fish, if you will. Right. So all these details you have to get right. You don't know as a consumer, but I pay attention to that because I'm a very.

Michael Mendenhall:

But do the consumers know this? I mean, this is like a selling feature, honestly.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah. I don't want to come across a salesman. I'm sorry.

Michael Mendenhall:

No.

Walter Faulstroh:

Nobody passionate about this.

Michael Mendenhall:

No, but, no, but I'm saying I think that's important because there's so many studies around all the metal we consume and your body can't dissipate it and that's what starts to cause cancer. I mean, that's an important selling feature.

Walter Faulstroh:

I think it's important.

Michael Mendenhall:

I didn't know that.

Walter Faulstroh:

I know. And I think it comes down to. I know because we only have so few seconds to tell what the product does, how you source it. There's a lot going on basically and I have an incredible science team as well. So that's the clean part, but also the clinical part is important to us. We're one of the few companies that actually study their formulas in double blind, placebo-controlled studies. So it's like the highest level, if you will. We have published a few papers in peer reviewed journals as well about the work that we have done. And again, it comes down to the efficacy.

Michael Mendenhall:

Okay. So I want to.

Walter Faulstroh:

There's lots going on.

Michael Mendenhall:

Anyway, I want to get back to that because, you know, you've been in Beauty categories in stores, at retail. And so then is it just a fad or is this real? And it's real product that has science behind it. You've done the studies almost like they do with the placebo, almost like they do with the trials that they do for pharmaceuticals. And many of these supplement companies do not do that, do not follow the supply chain, don't track it, and it's all for the quick buck. That's not what this is. You know, how do you place your product to where people understand that it is going to help the beauty piece, but it's going to help your health.

Walter Faulstroh:

Correct.

Michael Mendenhall:

And I think that's a balance. How do you manage that?

Walter Faulstroh:

I think you attract people with the beauty and then once they're attracted and then you tell the deeper story. Right. I think it's more thumb stopping if you talk about, you know, the benefits you can get from this product. And by the way, it's good for your skin, but it's also good for your heart or your brain, et cetera. Right. Or digestive health is a big topic for us. Again, the gut can do so much for you, whether it's your skin health, but also your mental health. Again, I think it's really where you focus on your story. And you're a great storyteller yourself. So you probably understand where I'm coming from. Here you're like, you have probably one, if on a good day, three seconds to cut through in this really crowded space. So the question is like, what is that moment you choose to make the consumer stop and wanting to look at your product? And then once you. It's like peeling the onion, if you will. Right. Like once they're like, oh, this looks interesting. Tell me more.

Michael Mendenhall:

Do you see more success online in e-commerce than you do at retail?

Walter Faulstroh:

We are digitally native brand, so we're really good at like digital marketing and I would say digital storytelling. And we recently launched nationwide in Target. So we're in every Target now, which is like obviously the big question is like, can your brand translate the online success where you have the ability to story tell in a much deeper way to retail success? And we're really lucky that one of our best sellers, which is called Flatter Me, it's digestive enzyme again, double blind placebo controlled. We're the only brand that can make the claim it works in 30 minutes. It's a deep load supplement, very popular and because it works so fast, it's a great way into the brand.

Michael Mendenhall:

Did you bring any of that?

Walter Faulstroh:

Yes, I have some Here, of course.

Michael Mendenhall:

Yeah, my family could use that.

Walter Faulstroh:

But I don't travel without my product. You have to understand I'm a consumer first and I love the product.

Michael Mendenhall:

Well, I thought it was a recourse you had shown me pictures of you when you had the acne and what the issues were. And it was amazing what just this product did. And I know I actually have used it for family members who had the same issue, and it really does work. So that's exciting. Where do you go from here? I mean, you're in Target now, you're online. You know, you participated in the subscription economy. You know, people have subscribed. Where does it go?

Walter Faulstroh:

Two areas I'm really interested in. So number one, and this is like going back to the roots really, that education piece. I'm really excited by empowering consumers with science-based information so they can up their wellness journey, if you will. We're about to launch an AI feature which we had 10 years of conversations between RDs and consumers that ask questions and all that. So we've now taken all this data and trained an LLM, a large language model to build a solid and science based AI nutritionist, if you will. What's so powerful about this?

Michael Mendenhall:

Oh, wow.

Walter Faulstroh:

Is really.

Michael Mendenhall:

So you don't need people?

Walter Faulstroh:

No, but I mean of course we make sure that people supervise it, their guardrails in place. But it's so powerful because suddenly I can serve any language on the planet with science-based information with this AI tool. It's launching this week on Friday.

Michael Mendenhall:

Is that why you're here in New York?

Walter Faulstroh:

No, no, no, no. It's like, you know, it's like this is like it just, you know, just timed and like, well, this. But like I'm really excited about that because there's a lot of misinformation out there and often people, I would say, follow a trend or somebody with influence purely based on their visual appeal and I want to really bring it back to like true scientific and evidence-based information that's important. So that is really important. And I think like really like. And everybody's like, oh, well, there's nothing you can do. You know, there's a lot. It's just the way it is. It's like, no, I think we can do this. And I think this tool which again will give everyone for free access to nutritionist, it's gonna be really powerful because.

Michael Mendenhall:

You love technology too.

Walter Faulstroh:

I like it. Yeah, exactly. So going back to my first job.

Michael Mendenhall:

Okay, so.

Walter Faulstroh:

And my dad is an engineer by the way, so it's like we like to problem solve.

Michael Mendenhall:

How does that work in your household? I'm curious, how does that work?

Walter Faulstroh:

That's definitely for another episode.

Michael Mendenhall:

How does that work? So here you are. HUM, you have the idea, we've talked a little bit about what it is. How did you find investors who would say, you know what, this is a $1.8 trillion business. How are you going to carve this out? Why don't you go get started, we'll see if you actually can make it and then we'll decide. How did that happen?

Walter Faulstroh:

I think I was fortunate that I made money to my first investors. And I think once you build that track record, you know, people invest in business plans and people. But it's like, you know, if you have a good team and a sort of mediocre business plan, you have a better outcome than having a great business plan and a mediocre team, if you will. Right. So it's like, I think it's really important that you have that trust from investors. And like, if you've done it before, the fundraising becomes a little bit more, I would say, straightforward. And because I had a successful exit with my first venture that I sold to Pepsi, I was able to.

Michael Mendenhall:

But with those, the first ventures, it was sort of friends and family and.

Walter Faulstroh:

You know, no, because what happened after Unilever Ventures invested. So remember I asked the VCs, what do you want to like prove success? So I did prove success with the friends and family around and then, you know, I had like a venture capital firm invest in us afterwards.

Michael Mendenhall:

Okay.

Walter Faulstroh:

So that was that. And then I think also because the story was so unique and we brought like a really different, you know, there are a lot of pain points in the industry. It was very like different to what anyone else did. Very disruptive, if you will, from the digital experience to the education to the products to the formulas, to the ingredients.

Michael Mendenhall:

The idea of subscription.

Walter Faulstroh:

So like a lot of that and subscription, et cetera, I think all these things were very unique. That they were unique enough to get a competitive advantage in a very crowded space.

Michael Mendenhall:

So now tell us like where some of the big issues and, or mistakes you may have made through your career with these companies that people who are small businesses who struggle. It's hard. Small businesses are hard. They take time. Yeah, right. It's not like overnight success.

Walter Faulstroh:

No.

Michael Mendenhall:

And give us an example of just something that would benefit them. That I did this. That was probably a mistake. I should have done that.

Walter Faulstroh:

I think we took maybe a bit too much time to go into retail. We should have been more aggressive there and really think that piece through and cracking that nut as well. It takes time to figure that out. And then when we originally launched in retail, I think the execution, the brand was sort of taken apart and the storytelling was all over the place. We just wanted to get on with it so we just said yes to that. But it was the wrong plan, if you will. Of course that didn't translate into success. We had to take a step back and like really think through, okay, how are we going to do retail properly and how we are like working with the right buyer to make it a success. And then we found, you know, a way forward which is now very successful. I think the other piece is like of advice, I would say there are so many knockback. I mean you, I mean I cannot tell you like every day it's like, you know, from the outside people see, oh, you're successful, you've done all these businesses and this and that. Like every day it's like a sitcom almost where it's like something new lands on your desk and like you're like, okay, do we really need more stress right now or can we just focus on the execution? So my big advice to other entrepreneurs is like just to really celebrate those milestones when you achieve them and take a step back and celebrate those moments. Because there's going to be plenty of hurdles to jump over as you're going through a day to day. And there's never enough resources, there's never enough time in the day and it's just really important to take a step back once in a while and like just reset.

Michael Mendenhall:

And you know what has become very important is climate change sustainability and you actually build that in. And I thought it was fascinating when I was reading about the bottles. Yeah, talk about that.

Walter Faulstroh:

So during COVID Well, this was a project we had like in the making for a long time. But I personally feel again coming back to my origins, clean air, clean water, really important for us today, but also for future generations. And given that our consumer are mainly younger consumers, so in their 20s and 30s and these are future generations, we felt a real obligation to do something for the future of the planet. And what always bothered me is like the amount of packaging that is generated within FMCG. Like, you know, people consume a product and then just get thrown away. And so we made all our products recyclable and I thought that was fantastic. But then I hired a consultant based in the Netherlands and to really give us a grade around sustainability. And I thought we're going to Get a good grade. And I was expecting an A minus, maybe a B plus, right? And I came back with a D minus. Like, what's happening here? Like, well, you can do much better. Let's eliminate these single use components. The product cannot be recycled unless you have a certain way of the label coming off. So the bottles had to be a certain color. And why even using virgin plastic for your pet bottles? Why not use upcycled plastic that has been used before? It's a great material, et cetera. It's like, okay, let's do it. And that was back in 2019. So we had this big program about, like, transitioning all of our supply chain into that also. What I remember, I went to this conference and a CEO of a huge multinational, one of the biggest consumer goods companies on the planet stood there. I'm not going to mention any names, so you're not going to get that out of me. But that person who was it said, that person said, it's like, because they were asked about sustainability and they said, like, you know what, we're too big of an organization. We have to lean on the entrepreneurs in the room so they will put pressure on us to turn the ships around and then we can follow suit. Which I thought was a really. I was like, okay, challenge accepted, right? You do your thing. You keep making more packaging than people need, you know, that kind of stuff. So I was like, let's do it, right? I felt very inspired, you know, very excited about that, that we can have that impact. So we transitioned all of our supply chain to eliminate, you know, the single use components, but also use that, you know, upcycled plastic. And we came across this material. It's called, like, prevented ocean plastic. So, you know, a lot of countries didn't have, like, recycling infrastructures, and you can take this plastic before it reaches rivers and oceans, et cetera, and then, you know, clean that, of course, upcycle it and make beautiful new bottles out of it. So we partnered with a few organizations there. And then COVID happened, right? I mean, for those of you running a business during COVID you understand, supply chain was a nightmare already. And here we are transitioning, transitioning into like, our supply chain, right? I was like, okay, all right. So, like, you know, like, I think God has a good sense of humor sometimes. You know, it's like they say, like, you know, like, every good deed doesn't get unpunished or something like that. So, like, anyway, so what we did was, let's keep pushing. We can do this. And then we transitioned during the pandemic, our entire supply chain with this new material. And the impact is that to date we have prevented the equivalent of over 30 million water bottles from reaching the ocean. I mean, if you think about that, it's a huge impact, right?

Michael Mendenhall:

It's massive.

Walter Faulstroh:

It's really nice that. And I feel so proud of this.

Michael Mendenhall:

Did you get a new grade from the guy in Netherlands?

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, of course. It moved up. Now you're not saying, are you a.

Michael Mendenhall:

B at least a B.

Walter Faulstroh:

Generous there. I guess, you know, there's always you can do better. But I think we're like in the A minus range right now, so. And I want to continue to do more and there's always opportunities.

Michael Mendenhall:

That's fantastic.

Walter Faulstroh:

But I think it's really made me feel good. It made the team feel good. And I think it's just like a nice thing to do is like, and you have a product that's good for you, that shouldn't harm the planet. Because I do think ultimately everything is connected. Our wellness, your wellness, my wellness depends on the wellness of the planet. And I think being in sync with that and understanding that and investing behind that is really, really powerful.

Michael Mendenhall:

That's awesome. So how many I want to get to TriNet and how we actually help you, I mean, we co employ, we're a part of your company. Hopefully you.

Walter Faulstroh:

I think technically I work for you, right? Is that how it works?

Michael Mendenhall:

Yes, I work for you. Yes, it's true. But you know, how important are the people in your organization to its success? I think more than just the employment piece, which we help you with, it's the importance of them, the retention of those key people. How important is that and how focused are you on that?

Walter Faulstroh:

To me, culture is huge. And as I said early on, like, you have a great team and a mediocre business plan, you'll still have success. If you have a mediocre team and a great business plan, you won't have success. And I think building a strong culture, having that clearly defined and hiring accordingly and aligning those people with your mission is really, really critical. And the last thing you want is processes to get in the way and you also want to attract the right talent. And what TriNet has allowed us to do is not only to make our processes so much more efficient, but we're also very competitive when it comes to the benefits that we can offer. Something we couldn't have done without TriNet. So I think that people piece is so critical to your success because obviously I'm sitting here representing the company, but the Success is really the people behind me. Right. There's an incredible team that lives and breathes our mission, gets out there, transitions the supply chain during a pandemic, if you will. Right. Goes out there making sure we find the best ingredients, does the clinical research. Attracting these people in a full employment environment, if you will, is tough, Right. Because you have to really stand out. And I think TriNet has been a really great asset for us as a company to attract the right talent and keep them.

Michael Mendenhall:

And is your attrition very good? I mean, do you look at that?

Walter Faulstroh:

Sometimes too good, I would say.

Michael Mendenhall:

So many people are probably wondering why you and I are in spacesuits.

Walter Faulstroh:

We should have said at the beginning of the.

Michael Mendenhall:

No, I wanted to do it at the end because it is Halloween. And we decided. Well, you decided. You came up with a clever idea that we could be in costumes today and that we would be the two astronauts who got stuck in space and we couldn't bring them home. We're only, by the way, you can see us. We're only part of the outfit. The rest will be for this evening. But we're lost in space. Do you want to talk about the idea?

Walter Faulstroh:

Well, I just thought it was. I thought it was just such a memorable image. I think it comes. It's like when you do your job, right? I mean, these astronauts, they do their job as well, right? And they probably said, on a Monday, honey, I'll be back for the weekend. I'm just gonna get the groceries at the local space station, if you will. So then off they go. And then things went awfully wrong and then they're stuck up there. And I felt like, this is such. It must be so interesting to be.

Michael Mendenhall:

Like, when will we come home?

Walter Faulstroh:

And I was thinking it takes this resilience as well to stay calm and think big picture at some point. I think they're back now, aren't they?

Michael Mendenhall:

Yes, they are.

Walter Faulstroh:

Yeah, as of this week, actually. So it's really. It's a really. It's a really current theme. And I just thought Lost in Space was such a good theme for Halloween this year.

Michael Mendenhall:

Yes, there are aliens involved in our Karastums later. Yeah. What an amazing product. You know, I've learned something actually, relative to the contents and what is good about it. And not only are the bottles sustainable and that you're now an A minus in sustainability, but that it's just an amazing product backed by science that really does help you. And it's not something that's just topical. It's something that is really helpful to your health. So it's such a great product. Everybody should check this out. Why don't you give the URL backslash? I don't think he has a discount.

Walter Faulstroh:

For you, but I may have one. Actually, I think I have. I have a code. It's W30, which takes 30% off your first order. So you go to humnutrition.com.

Michael Mendenhall:

Well, let's spell that out.

Walter Faulstroh:

H U M. Nutrition. Like HUM Nutrition.

Michael Mendenhall:

All one. All one word.

Walter Faulstroh:

All one word. No dashes, nothing.

Michael Mendenhall:

Well, you heard it here. W30. So off your first order, 30%. Check it out. Walter, awesome to have you here. Always a delight and very fascinating. You've had a great career, a very sort of storied career, and very interesting. And it's interesting to see how all the pieces come together in the puzzle that. That created home.

Walter Faulstroh:

Thank you for having me. And by the way, I’ve seen all these great questions which I didn't have beforehand, so I didn't know we were gonna go back all the way to my childhood to begin with. I thought it was very exciting.

Michael Mendenhall:

Yeah. All right, well, thank you.

Walter Faulstroh:

Thank you, Michael.

Michael Mendenhall:

I want to remind everybody that our PeopleForce podcast by TriNet is committed to helping small businesses and their leaders with timely and relevant business content. The PeopleForce Podcast drops new episodes every month, and we hope you continue catching our new episodes on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and rise.trinet.com to get relevant SMB news and info. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast and to our newsletter@trinet.com insights.