Some entrepreneurs spend years sitting on an idea before taking it to market–not​​ Leslie Danford. In less than 10 months, she launched her clean-label food and beverage brand, with products now being sold online and in stores across the Midwest.

​​Leslie is the Founder and CEO of Vitaminis. Previously, she worked in beverages and consumer products at large corporations. She earned her MBA from Harvard University and her BA from the University of Chicago. In 2020, she combined her interest in nutrition with her formal business training to launch Vitaminis.

From Idea to Product

The idea for Vitaminis was born out of the pandemic when ​​Leslie was looking for a nutritional supplement for her family that wasn’t a pill or gummy. She moved quickly to develop her shelf-stable, beverage product alongside a food scientist. From there, she decided on a company name, started building the brand, and secured packaging and distribution–all while expecting her fourth child.

Leslie says one of the best things she did early on was join a group of food founders to connect with others in the industry. That network was critical for finding the right food scientist and distributor for her product.

Bridging E-commerce with Retail

While Leslie originally conceived of Vitaminis as an e-commerce brand, she realized growing online wasn’t scalable. Social media ads are expensive and consumers need to see the product multiple times before purchasing. So Vitaminis entered the retail market.

Leslie found that being in big-name stores added credibility to the brand. Her current strategy is to use retail as a pipeline for e-commerce: people buy a single bottle of Vitaminis in stores (rather than the 12-pack that’s available online) or taste it as a sample. Once they’ve bought the product and are on the company mailing list, they’re converted into a subscription model.

Enjoy this episode with CEO and Founder Leslie Danford…

Quotes

“Once she can tell me what those desires are and I can close my eyes and envision it and she can tell me how she feels, I can see what she’s wearing and what she looks like. And then from there, we start to formulate a wardrobe that aligns with that woman she desires to be.”

“Fashion and beauty isn’t superficial at all. There’s actually a transformative power in it for women.”

“Many people are operating their lives just replaying their past over and over again. And a lot of people don’t exercise the muscle of imagination.”

“Everyday I put myself into situations that scare me. I want to stretch myself to serve the women I’m working with deeper.”

“Once you truly step into your power, you’re able to share with others deeply, and they can then make an impact.”

“At the end of the day, it’s not about how much money you made. What you hear people say when they come to the ending portion of their lives, it’s about those relationships.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit the Vitaminis website: https://vitaminisbrand.com 

Connect with Leslie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-danford/ 

Podcast Resources

Visit Jessica’s website which was made with love by The brandiD: https://csjstyling.com/ 

Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-papineau-45482725/ 

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