The Startup CPG Podcast

01:12 Jessi: Hi, Gita. Welcome to the show today. So excited to have you here.

01:16 Gita: Hi, Jessi. I am so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

01:20 Jessi: Awesome. Well, I have been really enjoying your products, especially the spread. Really love it. So excited to learn more, hear the story behind it. But I'm wondering if to start us off, you could tell us just a little bit about yourself and Neeshi, and then we'll dig in from there.

01:36 Gita: Yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts now that you've tried as well. So I am actually new to the world of CPG. So I launched Neeshi last year in the beginning of 2022, and we make naturally nourishing treats for menstruation through menopausal issues.

01:52 Jessi: OK, excellent. And can you give a few examples of some of your products? You have a lot of different products, which is amazing, but maybe some of your top products so far.

02:00 Gita: Yeah, absolutely. So as you said, our dark cocoa spread, it's also lower in sugar, has been really popular since we launched a couple months ago. We have dark chocolate mini cakes, different muffins that are made with a banana bread base. We have high protein mix and powders, brownie batter. And I know people sometimes get scared when they hear cake or muffins, but they're all very well balanced.

02:22 Jessi: Awesome. And you were one of our backpack brand winners at Expo East recently, which is amazing. And we will get into talking about your experience there. But I'm wondering if first you can take us back in time and tell us about what inspired you to found Neeshi. What did the early days look like?
Gita: Absolutely. So I never had the intention of launching a CPG brand. I actually developed these products for my daughter. I have three girls. And the oldest one was really struggling with her menstrual cycle, really long, really heavy, really painful cramps. And when I was a teenager, my cycle was like that. And back then, my mom's only option was to take me to the doctor and put me on birth control. And it left me with terrible side effects of, you know, GI issues, headaches, things like that, that I didn't want her to deal with if we didn't have to. So I set out and did a lot of research on functional food healing, the benefits of Ayurveda. And I realized how many of these products are in our pantries at home. And when put together in the right ratios, they're really supporting your body, your balanced hormones and helping you feel better.
Jessi: Yeah. Wow. And what were you doing before you founded this? Like what's your background and how did you kind of get started like packaging up the product and sharing it with people?

03:38 Gita: So my background before Neeshi was working in high tech, I have a background doing M&A integration, management consulting, and running sales operations teams. When I set out on this adventure, it was really with the goal of helping people in that next phase of my career, as much as I've been able to help myself and my own family.

03:58 Jessi: So when you were experimenting to help your daughter, what did that look like? Were you trying to find recipes online and then were you sharing them with friends and family? And did they tell you, hey, you're on to something here? Like, I'm curious how it kind of turned into a brand.

04:14 Gita: So when I was looking at ways to help her, I really channeled a lot of my grandmother and my mom, right? When we were kids and we would go visit her in the village of India, anytime something was wrong, she would head to the kitchen. versus the drugstore because she really believed that the power of food and its medicinal properties were so important. And my mom, you know, always make sure you have a salad every day before your dinner, just trying to add this nutrient and balance into our lives. And I always bake a lot for the kids and they are not big medicine takers. I think it just runs in the family. They run away if it's time to take your cold medicine or whatever. So I thought, why not formulate this in a way that they would want to eat it into a brownie, into a muffin. But given that it was something they would most likely be eating every day or on a regular basis, it needed to be nutritionally balanced as well. And so I started playing around with different recipes for what are now our budgie cakes. So it's a five-bite cake. five grams of protein. I only use a little bit of coconut sugar. So I didn't feel guilty for them having what they saw as a treat or a snack every day.

05:18 Jessi: Yeah. And how long did it take to try different formulations before you landed on the formulas that like we can order now?

05:25 Gita: It took us about a year and a half. My older daughter, when she was also struggling with her cycle, she had a lot of hormonal acne. So with her, we could see a little bit quicker what was working and what wasn't. or what wasn't working as well. And so once I felt like we had a formulation down where her mood was a little bit more balanced, her skin was starting to clear up, we stuck to that. And within the first cycle where we were consistent with a certain set of ingredients, she very quickly noticed how much better she was feeling. She wasn't hugging her Ibuprofen anymore. She wasn't struggling with getting out of bed in the morning or having to have her heating pad next to her. And I at the same time realized I was supporting my hormones. And now that I'm older, entering perimenopause, my hot flashes and my night sweats and my exhaustion and all these things started fading away as well. So it was so cool to see how our symptoms that we both were experiencing yet very different parts of that spectrum were becoming unnoticeable.

06:22 Jessi: Yeah, that's really interesting. And I'm glad you mentioned perimenopause as well. I feel like a lot more people are talking about perimenopause now and sharing about it and helping raise awareness. And so it's great that your products can support people wherever they're at throughout being people who menstruate and where they're at in their journey.
That's really cool.

06:40 Gita: Absolutely. Yeah, it's interesting to see customers who are latching on. I mean, we have customers as young as 11 up into their 70s. And I love seeing the growth in that perimenopause menopausal community because you realize how much they're struggling and how little support they have. But they're also the ones who once they find something that works are such powerful advocates. So it's wonderful to see the growth in that area really spreading a lot through word of mouth of just people feeling better and wanting to share with their friends. Yeah.

07:11 Jessi: So how did the products first get into the hands of other people? How did you first start to get feedback from people outside your family?

07:18 Gita: So once we felt like we had a really good set of products where we were noticeably feeling better, that was when I sat down and I thought to myself, My goal has always been to help people in the next phase of my career, whether that's a nonprofit or other entities I worked with before, I realized I had something here that can help people. So before I committed, I needed to know that it was working and people were seeing a benefit. So we actually did a three-month trial and we enlisted women of all ages, all ethnicities, just to know that it wasn't just my DNA that was benefiting, but everybody was. And I honestly had some reservations around the timeline. I thought if you're asking a customer to commit for three or more months before they see a difference, you're asking way too much. And it was phenomenal to see how in everybody's first cycle, I was getting texts outside of our data collection system. Gita, I never thought I could feel this great on my period. Gita, my hair loss has stopped. You know, I'm like back to what phase they were dealing with like pre-perimenopausal exhaustion and I'm getting back to the gym and it's been so exciting to see like people are going back to the doctor and having blood tests done, levels that they were concerned with say their iron or different things are looking really good, A1C levels are going up. mainly because they have energy and they can focus on themselves again. Yeah, that's incredible.

08:38 Jessi: How did you enlist people to take part? Was it people that you knew? Had you started to spread awareness? I'm always curious about how people kind of gathered their first group of people to try a product and curious about how you did that.

08:51 Gita: I reached out to a lot of people in my network, either folks who had mentioned their own personal struggles with their period or their perimenopause before, or if I reached out to them and they didn't have concerns, it seemed like every single person knew someone who did and would be interested. So we were able to enlist people pretty quickly just through our network of other women and teenagers out there that are struggling.

09:13 Jessi: Yeah, that's very cool. How did you land on the name and you have a really beautiful logo and branding? So I'm curious about when that came into the picture.

09:23 Gita: We were playing around a lot with names, and some names were very direct and to the point, and other names were a bit more general. And to stay in age with so many websites and so many companies, it's honestly hard to find something that's available. And we made a really long list, almost like we did when we would name our girls. You start with 50 and you whittle it down. And Neeshi is actually my middle daughter's nickname. Her name is Anisha. And when I started looking into the meaning of the word, it's really not letting things get in your way, like your period or like your life stage, right? So it just seems so fitting. And that's what stuck.

09:58 Jessi: Oh, I love that. And then did you work with an agency or anything on the design or was that you as well?

10:04 Gita: No. So I was actually taking a class at the time and I met somebody who part of our class was to present our business at the end of the session. And we had a couple of days before we would meet in little partner groups to go through our presentation. And within two days, she produced this gorgeous slide deck. So I reached out to her on the side. I was like, how did you do this? I love your eye. You have such a way with, you know, words and branding. So that's what I do for a living. So I hired her right away. And so she helped me come up with the initial website, the logo. And then I've always been a big advocate of bringing the girls in the community along with me. So the photos on our website, a lot of our social media wording, everything's actually done by high schoolers. They took the photos and it's nice to see how proud they are of their work. And they did a great job.

10:50 Jessi: That's so cool. I love that. Are you able to share more about the class that you mentioned? That sounds interesting that you took a class and were able to like, you know, then present. Did you find that helpful?

11:00 Gita: So I actually took Self-Made by Brit & Co. And I think for me, it's definitely a helpful program. I think it's better geared towards people who don't have a business background and are trying to figure out what they want to do. A lot of that information I already knew, but for me, the power of that program was the network. I met some amazing other founders who have been able to help me along this journey.

11:21 Jessi: That's awesome. At what point did you apply for, I believe you also have been in SKU and that may still be ongoing, but when did you apply for SKU and how has that process been so far?

11:33 Gita: So the SKU application process, everything was all this year. We're currently in the cohort right now. And I actually found out about SKU the week I found out about getting the Backpack Brand Award. So that was an amazing week for us. SKU has been fantastic. It is such a supportive, vested group of mentors who so genuinely want to help and give back and see you move forward. I think between the folks that I've met at Startup CPG and Skew, this is probably the best part of my network I've made since starting Neeshi. It's just, it's been such a wonderful experience to be able to learn from them and have them along for the ride, right, as you're learning how to do these different things. Because at the end of the day, once you figure out the product, it's not about the product anymore, right? It's packaging and labels and shipping. Just all these things that you never thought you'd be focusing so much of your time on. Yeah, absolutely.

12:26 Jessi: That's, that's really great to hear. We've had the folks from SKU on the show and everything. So I always love hearing when people have are having a good experience. So I'm excited for you to continue through the through the cohort. Going back again, how did you land on your packaging? You have you pack the products in these beautiful boxes. And did it take you a while to find the right packaging that you're going to do? Tell me about that process, because it's all so gorgeous. And if you look, if you go to your Instagram and website, people can see the gorgeous packaging that you have.

12:56 Gita: Thank you. So the boxes, yes, it it took a long time to find the design and a manufacturer who could make them. I had a package designer that was helping me for a little bit through that process. And what I explained to her was I really want people to have that elevated experience because I think so much of what Neeshi brings to the table, you know, it's all real food, but it's well made. It doesn't taste like a supplement, right? When you're eating one of our chocolate mini cakes, it tastes like a fudgy brownie. And so I want people to have that self-care moment where they know that they're taking care of themselves and there shouldn't be guilt associated with it, right? It's healthy, but I know cake is a reservation for some people. And so I wanted that little me time as well. And so that experience of opening the box, the floret liners, having your cake there waiting for you was very planned. I should say. And as we scale, what I've learned is cold shipping is very, very difficult. And so we are looking at ways to get around that, but maintain that experience that our customers are going through and that little moment where they're taking care of themselves on a regular basis.

14:02 Jessi: Yeah, that's very cool. And are you making the products yourself in a commercial kitchen or using a co-manufacturer? How are you making the products currently?

14:10 Gita: So we have a commercial kitchen we rent time from today, and I'm in the process of interviewing co-manufacturers because that's actually what's slowing us down right now from scaling is how much product we can produce with the time we have. So my goal is really to find that next level of co-manufacturer that can work with us through some of these different products we have on our roadmap and also offer flexibility to our customers. Because we see the gamut of, you know, somebody says, I just want a cake and I want to eat that cake every day because I love it and I know it's doing good for me, whereas others want variety. And so I'm hoping we can find a partner that can help make that variety and fulfill those orders so that people have the flexibility to order what they want.

14:51 Jessi: Yeah, yeah. You have on your website, you have a lot of doctors that have put up information expressing their support of the products and of Neeshi. How did you form relationships with doctors? Like I know a lot of brands in the community have tried to partner with doctors or registered dietitians, and you have such an amazing list of people endorsing the products. How did you go about that and form those relationships?

15:15 Gita: A lot of that was through network. So whether it's people in the community that others have introduced us to or doctors we know throughout our growth and walks of life, the part that I love most about our doctors is they've tried the product and they've seen a benefit. It's not just a doctor saying, you know, I understand the benefits of functional food, but it's I've tried Neeshi and I see the value. And that's what I think is so much more powerful to me. It's definitely a challenge to partner with a lot of these doctors or dieticians. They're so busy and they're so focused on patient care. It's hard to get them out of that mindset and thinking about a product that, you know, of course, a lot goes into it. They have to test it, they have to understand what it is before they recommend something like that, which is hopefully the way that profession stays. It is a challenge, but it's one of those things where just like a lot of networking, you have to stick to it and keep following up and don't let your own thoughts of the fact that you're bothering them get in the way, which I do very often.

16:12 Jessi: Yes, we all have to push through that challenge, right? That can be it can be difficult. Do you plan to continue to try to reach out to more doctors? Is that a strategy that you plan to continue on that path of?

16:23 Gita: I think for me, the focus, if we went down that path, would be doctors with that integrative health focus. I think that's where we see a lot of openness beyond something that's a prescription or something that the American Medical Association has tested or sanctioned, we are looking at doing efficacy trials. So I think that will help us reach out to those doctors and have them open to trying the products. But I think the biggest benefit we see is actually through other service providers. So estheticians, hairdressers, local gyms, where somebody is in front of them or in that chair for a long time, you end up sharing things you're struggling with. And that's actually where we've seen the biggest growth.

17:01 Jessi: Yeah, that's really interesting thinking about people spending a lot of time in the chair. Did you start locally talking to people about that or how did you? Yes. Yeah, OK, great. That's very interesting.

17:13 Gita: Yeah. So I just started locally with, you know, when I'm in that chair, I'm talking to my hairdresser or I'm talking to, you know, other people that I know in the community. We've seen a lot of interest from people who do like makeup, hair for special events, occasions, things like that as well. So I think they really tend to get more personal the longer someone sitting in that chair. And it makes for a great way to introduce Neeshi or products like that.

17:37 Jessi: Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to hear about your experience at Expo East. Like we mentioned, you were one of our backpack brand winners, which is incredible. But what was it like being a backpack brand, being at the party? What was the experience like for you?

17:49 Gita: The experience was fantastic. I think I got way more out of it than I had even expected. So that was really nice. I didn't have a booth at the Expo, but I had a couple of friends. who did. And so I offered to help them just to experience what an expo was like. This was my first time going to a food expo at all or a food show. So it was great to see that side of it and what they were going through and then translating that into Mike Knight. I loved the environment of how focused it was on buyers and, you know, distributors and press and just people in that community. But at the same time, those are also potential customers. So in that smaller environment, getting them to really try the product, ask their questions. It's funny because, you know, a lot of people will come up if I'm doing a pop-up event or at Mike Knight and say, I hope this isn't TMI, but at this point there is no TMI. People tell me what they tell their doctors, right? And so I think the fact that I'm very open about my experience and when my daughters are with me, they are too. People let their guard down because they've been told so long to just suck it up and deal with it. And now we're here to tell you, you don't have to anymore. So I love that they can try the product and then really hear me once they taste it and they see how wonderful it does taste. It doesn't have that chalky supplement type taste that you might think it does when it's something that's good for you. And so it was great to have people try it, really ask their questions, and then talk through with some of the buyers and the analytics people and people that were there just to understand like, where is the market headed? Where do you see this product? And get feedback from them. It was a nice environment where I didn't feel like the pressure was on and I had to have all the answers, but I could ask them back and have that open dialogue so that they can also help us get to that point of growth. into retail or other markets that we want to see ourselves in at the future.

19:36 Jessi: That's really awesome. I'm so glad you had such a good experience. The Mic Drop parties are so cool. Venues so awesome. The energy is just really great and so focused on and like you said, less pressure than if you've spent ten thousand dollars on a booth and tens of thousand dollars of prepping and everything. Right. You're able to it just adds a lot of pressure to exhibiting at the actual expo. So to get a taste of it without that, that is really awesome to get to chat with everyone. And to have the experience, again, like you said, to reduce the stigma around talking about menstruation and hormone balance and health. These are things that have often not been talked about. And so to be able to just talk about them and acknowledge that they're part of life is really powerful. So that's really cool.

20:21 Gita: Absolutely. And I think the most powerful moment was when I saw the email that Neeshi had been picked as a top three brand at Mike Knight because half of that room was men. And so a lot of the conversations I will have with people are, you know, as a father or a brother or somebody doing what you can to spread the word that these products exist to support those women in your lives is so important. And so the fact that so many men saw value in it as well was just that was an awesome, like, heartwarming moment for me.

20:49 Jessi: Yeah, that's so cool. I also believe that you are doing your first kind of retail experiment right now with Celery Retail. Can you tell us about that? How did you find that? How is it going? I'm super curious.

21:04 Gita: Yes, so Celery Retail is a chain in the Bay Area that does multi-vendor stores and they have a store called The Collective, which is spread throughout the Bay Area and it's doing well. They just launched a new store they're testing out called The Showroom. So it's a more curated, elevated shopping experience with some higher-end clothing and jewelry brands. And so they had reached out because they thought Neeshi might be an interesting new product to add to their store. And, you know, I've never been rushing into retail because for me, from a woman's perspective, going to the freezer aisle to buy a cake or the menstrual health aisle or the supplement aisle to buy a spread or a mix-in powder. It's just not top of mind yet. And I hope this category grows with all the new amazing companies coming out. And so I've always been focused on our direct-to-consumer business. But when they reached out, I thought it's a great opportunity to try. It's a new store, so we're able to educate their curators on the products. They have more of an opportunity to ask questions. And we had our first sale this week, which was so exciting because, honestly, I wasn't expecting anything. But I think it's just, it's great to know that there are so many people in that store who see the product, they pick it up, they want to learn more, they're going to, you know, our website and those QR codes, and they're asking the questions. And so it's, it's exciting to see that some of that messaging is resonating, even when I'm not there. Yeah, that's very cool.

22:25 Jessi: Congratulations on the first sale. That is so exciting. And what a great way to test out and learn and in a small way. That's very cool. And speaking of your subscriber base, because you have focused on direct to consumer, like you mentioned, it seems like your products really lend themselves to folks being on a subscription plan or, and having this long-term relationship with you. So I'm curious if you can share a little bit about how you've built that subscriber base and how you've set up your website to help educate people and get them in the habit of using the products.

22:58 Gita: Yeah, you know, what we recommend is for the first month of your cycle, or if you're not menstruating, you know, as soon as you get the product, have one niche treat of your choice every day for a couple of weeks, or if you are menstruating for your first full cycle. And by that point, a lot of customers have reported that they see those struggles starting to fade away. And after that, just a couple treats a week to keep your body nourished works really well. Some customers, they love them and they want to have it every day. Some customers are like, I need a little break. And so I love that our subscriptions allow them that flexibility. So what a lot of customers will do is they'll start out with a one month subscription for one, two, three months. And at that point, then they'll subscribe a one-month box every six to eight weeks just to give them some time to get through the product. And so I think it gives a nice balance, allowing customers to, even if they started, say, with our cakes, now they're moving more towards the spread and the mix-ins and the brownie batter just to give them some variety. But also, I love that the spread is sort of multi-purpose because you're not having to eat the same thing every day. It's great on, say, banana toast or a bowl of berries, or it's a fantastic addition into a protein shake. Or if you're running short on time, you literally can grab a spoon of it. So what I see a lot of our subscribers doing is keeping the Neeshi spread at their desk, and that serves their afternoon pick-me-up and their self-care moment kind of all in one. So it's been really exciting to see how our repeat customers are coming back and subscribing. And I think a lot of them, they would forget to buy and then they would notice their symptoms were getting worse or their next period would be worse. And so nobody wants to go back to feeling bad once you've felt better, especially if it's a delicious way to feel better. And so they've come back and our subscriber count has been growing. And it's nice to see that we don't lose a lot of people once they're subscribers because they are seeing that benefit ongoing.

24:52 Jessi: Yeah. And are a lot of people finding you from word of mouth of someone subscribes and then they tell a friend? Is that what you're seeing a lot of people come in from?

25:00 Gita: Yes. A lot of people come in from friends and word of mouth or they've met us at pop-ups or different markets will do. We have a couple of key influencers who have mentioned our product a few times. And so the other nice part of that is because people are seeing a benefit, they're actually sending gift orders to their friends, which was so cool to see. good to see that like women are finding new ways to take care of themselves and they're wanting to share that, whether it's word of mouth, gift orders or other ways that they're spreading that message.

25:29 Jessi: Yeah, that's really cool. I'm curious about your event strategy of going, you mentioned events and pop ups. What kind of events and pop ups have you been going to? And how has that been received?

25:39 Gita: So we have a couple of different organizations that we work with. There is an event organizer that does a lot of businesses focused on South Asian brands. That's done really well for us. And then we have other like doctors, gyms or women who run pop ups, whether it's catered towards like women of children at a certain age or women at a certain stage of their life. And they really will cater to bringing in vendors that suit that. And so that's been that's been great for us just because then we're able to sort of tailor our messaging around the other vendors and the environment that we're in. We've also done a couple of different charity events and raffle prizes, things like that where it's focused on women who are dealing with postpartum depression or different organizations that people are raising funds for and so they bring in a lot of beauty and health brands to participate. So I think when people are in that moment of a little bit of time to think about themselves and the rush of our daily lives, that's a great time to then have them really try the product, think through it, ask questions, and just have that face-to-face conversation of something that is so personal.

26:47 Jessi: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the products are, I think they're all plant-based and many are gluten-free. Can you talk a little bit about deciding to, you know, have those kind of inclusive labels and what that process has been like? Yeah, absolutely.

27:01 Gita: So I am plant-based. And so for me, that was a natural progression. But I think just moving towards that balance of using really natural, functional superfoods, most of what you find is plant-based. And I wanted to have that option for people because people who are not plant-based will happily eat it. But people who are, you want to give them something that they can enjoy at the same time. And just keeping with those very clean ingredients, it was able to do that with a lot of plant-based ingredients. And then just from a gluten perspective and also just looking at our mix-ins and different offerings, I wanted to give people with diet sensitivities options as well. So many people can't have gluten. So many people are allergic to nuts. And so that way they can go one direction or the other based on what their preferences or their intolerances are.

27:49 Jessi: Yeah, I love that. As regular listeners know, we're a gluten-free household. So I was excited to see that you had options there. And I love that everything's plant-based. So that's so cool. And what has it been like for you based on your past career and transitioning into this? What does it look like for you to kind of set up your week? And because you're producing at the Commercial Kitchen and then you've got marketing and sales and managing this retail and events, like I'm curious what it is look like for you. Do you have any tips about how you've structured everything or I just how I'm curious how it's been going to kind of be in a different phase of in a CPG business?
Gita: Because I'm figuring out so much of this, and it's new to me, I think for me, structuring my week has helped a lot. So there are specific days where, you know, I'm in the kitchen, there's specific days where I'll try to schedule calls, specific days where I'll focus on some of the social media or the branding or whatever projects I need to take on. And, you know, that With three kids, that doesn't always go as planned, but that's definitely helped a lot. And I think also, we can't do it all ourselves, right? So finding people who are very good at what they do and letting them take over without micromanaging is essential, but at the same time, Those people are hard to find. So I think putting a little time and effort there so that you have the help that you need is also very powerful to making progress.

29:13 Jessi: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that makes sense. I see a lot of people find success with kind of blocking their time into or their days into different activities, because otherwise there's just so many different things you can work on at any given time. It can be difficult to find a way forward. Absolutely. What's coming up next for Neeshi? What's on your list for the rest of this year and early next year? I'm curious what you're thinking about for growth in the future.

29:38 Gita: So much of that has changed with my amazing SKU mentors. I'm definitely putting an effort on finding a co-manufacturer quickly. The goal is really to move towards shelf-stable products so that when you get a box a monthly supply of cakes, for example. There's gel packs and insulated liners. And when you get your first one or two orders, you're like, oh, cool. I've got some gel packs. I can take them to the beach with me on a hot day. But when you're getting that every month or two, it's a lot. And so my goal is really to reduce waste there. and thinking about our shipping process and our packaging process. So our roadmap will hopefully be a lot more shelf stable, but still prioritize that taste and that experience. I think that's really important. And then we're looking at our trials I was talking about, and then just expanding from there, you know, looking at Amazon, some different marketplaces with a wider reach, and then looking at a lot of specialty stores. I think stores where customers they may have that education or their outlook on doing self-care, balancing their hormones, whatever it may be versus like a Walmart or a Target, I think make a lot of sense for us right now just based on what we're seeing at celery retail or what we're seeing just talking to customers in some of these specialty stores. So I think that's going to definitely be a focus area for next year. And then looking at doing some pop-ups and markets markets in different areas. I think LA is a great market for us, San Diego, New York, and then a couple of other cities that we have on our radar.

31:09 Jessi: Oh, that's so exciting. For the efficacy trial, how does that work? What will that look like for you to do a trial on the efficacy?

31:17 Gita: So there is so many ways you can structure a trial. There are companies that run this process. We're actually talking to a couple of other folks at educational institutions. And so we have to see what's going to be that best partner for us. But really looking at the quality of life impact. you know, women's hormones are changing, not just on a daily basis, but an hourly basis or more often. And so getting a true scientific baseline is more of a challenge. But from, you know, a lot of the doctors we've spoken to, their approach is really look at the way it's impacting and benefiting your customers quality of life, because we all experience cramps. And if we look at a pain scale of zero to 10, there's some consistency there. So showing that, you know, maybe you're cramps average an eight and a half and then moving down to a two or a one or even a zero. And we're showing that progress is really the goal just so if people aren't sure that, you know, how do functional foods do this or are people really seeing benefits that'll give them that additional data point. And just with those uncertain potential customers, what's interesting is I actually just put a trial pack on the website today that's also TSA friendly. I took it with me through Newark airport on the way back. the least because I know they're very specific of what passes through those TSA lanes and it survived. People actually started ordering before I even had the entire product page built out. So I understand that this is a new product and people aren't ready to commit. They may want to try first. So I love that we can do that for them and give them a couple of samples.

32:47 Jessi: Yeah, that's very cool. I'm also curious. I've asked a lot of guests this question over the last couple of years, but are there any kind of guiding questions that you come back to that you ask yourself when you're faced with tough decisions? I love hearing different people's answers on it can be a question, it can be a saying, but I'm curious what you come back to when deciding between two things or deciding what's next. And is there anything that helps you navigate decisions?

33:13 Gita: I mean, for me with Neeshi, I think a lot of it is that end goal. of impacting people's lives in a better way. Whether it's 100 people or 10 million people, if we're able to give them a week back of every month where they're not suffering, I think a lot of these hard decisions become a lot easier. But as you're growing a small business, it's where do you focus that effort? And so for me, I've really been trying to find people who can help versus trying to do it all myself, because I can't do everything myself. That's not my skill set. But even if it were, there's just not enough time in the day. And so I think a lot of it is making those smarter investments as well to help scale in an allocated portion of time.

33:54 Jessi: Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Coming back to your mission and your values each time, it sounds like so that you stay focused on on what's important to you. Absolutely. Well, I really encourage everyone to go to your beautiful website. So it's Neeshi.com, N-E-E-S-H-I.com. So you can go there to check out all the products. I encourage everyone to do so. They can follow you on Instagram. And is it okay for people to connect with you on LinkedIn? What's the best way to connect with you?

34:25 Gita: Yeah, absolutely. They can send an email or a chat through the website, LinkedIn, for startup CPG folks, I'm on Slack. I would love to help guide people and answer their questions. That's actually a couple of different folks that have come through us through, you know, winning some of these charity raffle prizes or things like that. I realize there is a lot of decision fatigue. And so if we can help make that easier, just to understand, like, these products are great, but what about me? Because everybody's dealing with something different. Happy to help with that as well.

34:57 Jessi: Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Awesome. Well, I'll put everything in the show notes so people can find that. Thank you so much for sharing time with us today, sharing your story. I'm so glad that you were a backpack brand and one of our winners is so incredible and Startup CPG community is all cheering for you, as you know. So I'm just so glad that we got to take the time to sit down and chat today. So thank you.

35:18 Gita: Thank you so much for having me.

35:24 Jessi: If you enjoyed today's episode, the best way you can say thank you is by leaving a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We seriously appreciate it so much, and it helps new people find the show. I'm Jessi Freytag, your host and producer. I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn, or you can reach out anytime to podcast at startupcbg.com with your feedback, ideas, or just to say hi. Special thanks to our podcast assistant, Stephanie Roberts, Also, be sure to check out more free resources from Startup CPG, our Slack community, webinars, databases, the blog, the magazine, virtual and in-person events, and more. All available at StartupCPG.com. Our intro and outro music for today's episode is by the Super Fantastics, the band of our Startup CPG founder, Daniel Scharff, which you can find on Spotify for more great tunes. On behalf of the whole team at Startup CPG, thank you so much for being here and see you next week.