We know how daunting it can be to start a new business, especially if you’re disrupting an industry or creating an entirely new one. When there is no path to follow, the biggest question is, where do I start? There is so much to do, but before you get ahead of yourself, let’s start at the beginning. To kick-start the process, and ease some of those first-time founder nerves, we’re asking successful entrepreneurs to share their stories in our new series, From Scratch. But this isn’t your typical day in the life profile. We’re getting into the nitty-gritty details—from writing a business plan (or not) to sourcing manufacturers and how much they pay themselves—we’re not holding back.
Photo: Courtesy of Perelel
Did you know that one out of every 33 babies in the United States is born with a birth defect? In fact, birth defects are the leading cause of infant deaths, accounting for 20% of all infant deaths, according to the CDC.
So, when Tori Thain Gioia’s daughter was born with a cleft lip despite not having any risk factors or genetic link, “it really knocked me off my feet” she told Create & Cultivate. “I started looking for answers.” she continued. “I did a lot of research with my OB/GYN and learned that the type of cleft my daughter was born with is often associated with a folate deficiency.”
Shocked is an understatement because Gioia had been taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid which she thought was the same thing as folate. “I later learned that folic acid is the synthetic version of the nutrient folate and some 60% of women cannot transform it into the absorbable format, known as folate.” What’s more, she learned that folate levels during the first nine weeks of pregnancy are crucial to development. “I was frustrated to find that so many prenatals had poor quality ingredients like folic acid and saddened that there was so little education out there about what and when you really in need your prenatal.”
So, she partnered up with friend and fellow frustrated mama, Alex Taylor to change the statistics. When they first met, they had both just given birth and as two people with a lot of startup experience, they were equally disappointed by the current offering for millennial moms.
Today, they’re taking on the $61.8 Billion supplements industry—it’s predicted to reach a value of $349 billion by 2026—with their own prenatal line, Perelel vitamins to be parallel to where our woman is in her journey, there to support her when she needs it most. These supplements have been designed to adapt to your body’s changing needs throughout your motherhood journey. Using only bioavailable, high-quality ingredients at doctor-recommended doses, their formulations offer targeted nutrients for each phase.
Read on to hear more about how Gioia and Taylor are disrupting the supplements space and sparking connection and community with new moms along the way.
On the lightbulb moment…
Alex Taylor: I had also recently given birth to my first child and felt frustrated with my prenatal vitamin experience. I’ve always been incredibly health-conscious, which was only magnified when I was diagnosed with a thyroid disease about seven years ago. I’ve been fortunate to have access to incredible practitioners over the years, so when it came to pregnancy I was especially privy to the nutritional nuances associated with each phase. In a nutshell, I learned that the timing of certain nutrients was paramount.
When I began my pregnancy journey, I supplemented my prenatal vitamin with CoQ10 and additional folate while we were trying to conceive. Once I finally got pregnant, I supplemented with added calcium and iron and tracked down a separate Omega that offered both high-quality DHA and EPA, and so on. I was chasing down vitamins from Amazon, Whole Foods, your name it, piecing together what I understood to be the optimal mix of vitamins. It was a haphazard experience, to say the least. Each morning, I’d line up my various pill bottles and sort out my daily dose, which my husband found very amusing.
What made things all the more confusing was the fact that there was very little credible information online about prenatal vitamin nutrition—nothing was standardized and most of the resources I found were on community forums, which just didn’t cut it. After putting together the puzzle pieces of our challenges, Tori and I knew there had to be a better way.
What we found were three major issues with the current one-size-fits-all prenatal vitamin market:
1. Poor quality ingredients
2. Timing the introduction of certain ingredients was vital
3. Lack of information from credible sources
Appreciating we weren’t MDs, we teamed up with Tori’s OB/GYN, Dr. Banafsheh Bayati, who eagerly validated our concept (and joined as a Medical Co-Founder). Along with Dr. Bayati, we also ran the idea by a handful of other leading OB/GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine doctors who were equally enthusiastic about the need for a more targeted prenatal vitamin with a holistic approach.
From there, we knew we were onto something special, and so, Perelel was born.
“There was very little credible information online about prenatal vitamin nutrition—nothing was standardized.”
—Alex Taylor, Co-Founder, Perelel
On writing a business plan…
AT: In our own way, yes! Instead of writing a memo, we used the exercise of creating a full presentation as a way to crystalize the brand, our product assortment, our mission, and what we hoped to accomplish. We used the deck as a roadmap for the concept, how we’d get it off the ground, and what the financial architecture would be. We built a financial model that contemplates a number of scenarios and strives to ensure a path to profitability. Both exercises have been invaluable tools for us and served as compasses that we often reference and discuss.
On coming up with the name…
AT: Naming was probably the toughest part! We created endless lists of ideas but never seemed to pull the trigger. Finally, Tori called me one evening as I was driving down the 405 and said that we had to pick a name so we could incorporate the business. As luck would have it, we both gravitated toward the same name on our long list of options: Perelel. We chose this name because our goal is to always be parallel to where our woman is in her journey, there to support her when she needs it most. Plus, we loved that our version of the spelling used the root word “pere-” which means “to produce”—a nice wink to the goal of taking our products: to produce a healthy pregnancy.
As soon as we locked in the name, we secured the web domain, social handles, and applied for the trademark. From there, jumped into the formulation process with our doctors while also interviewing manufacturers that met our high quality and production standards.
On finding a trustworthy manufacturer…
TTG: While the FDA does not approve dietary supplements, we manufacture our products in accordance with the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) to ensure quality and safety. And for good measure, we test all of our products for heavy metals, microbes, allergens, and contaminants. To find our manufacturers, we teamed up with a supplement consultant who has 20 years of experience in the space to help us find the right partners while also working hand-in-hand with our team of doctors and Medical Co-Founder, Dr. Bayati, to formulate the perfect product.
Due to COVID-19, we encountered some hurdles as many supply chains were disrupted and manufacturing lines were backed up due to the shutdowns. Eventually, we found an amazing partner who met our long list of requirements. We did many reference checks and Zoom interviews. If you’re looking for a manufacturer, we suggest pulling in a consultant with a deep category experience. There are so many nuances you need to be aware of, and unless you’re an expert yourself, it helps to have the reassurance an insider can offer.
On funding the company…
TTG: We raised a small friends-and-family round, but because we’re focused on proving our concept and establishing the brand, we decided to primarily bootstrap through launch. We have plans to raise a small institutional seed round in early 2021 from the right partners who believe in the mission of the brand and an efficient path to break-even.
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We chose this name because our goal is to always be parallel to where our woman is in her journey—there to support her when she needs it most.”
—Alex Taylor, Co-founder, Perelel
On paying themselves a wage…
TTG: Right now we’re not paying ourselves, but hope to someday soon! When we reach an appropriate scale, we will both look to take a salary, but as we bootstrap through launch, we’re not.
On the building a team…
AT: We have two primary co-founders along with an OB/GYN who is our medical co-founder. Additionally, we have two full-time employees, an amazing intern, and we have a panel of 9 experts and advisors who support us with content, community building, product review, and development.
Both Tori and I have managed larger operations and teams in the past, so hiring and building out the infrastructure came second nature to us.
On staying on top of the financials…
AT: Tori has a finance background, which spans investment banking, investing, and operations. She also has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a lot of experience building financial plans for very early-stage businesses, so we’ve leaned heavily on her savvy there for sure. That said, strategic finance and operations are a different beast than accounting, so we’ve onboarded a great partner to help us there. We want to be buttoned up and organized from the start so we don’t have to undo (or redo) a lot of work there.
On the biggest learning curve…
AT: There’s never a dull moment, especially when you’re dealing with third-party operators and have supply-chain dependencies. We’ve had to block-and-tackle as we go, making tough decisions. But honestly, the process has helped us build a strong foundation as partners. We trust one another implicitly and deeply respect each other, too.
There are so many nuances you need to be aware of, and unless you’re an expert yourself, it helps to have the reassurance an insider can offer.
—Tori Thain Gioia, Co-founder, Perelel
On having a business coach…
AT: I’ve worked with an incredible coach on-and-off for the past five years or so. He’s helped me build a resilient mindset, grow as a leader, make leaps in my career to better align with my personal values, and has equipped me with tools to not only make better decisions but also insights that have helped me become a better person, too. I am deeply grateful to him. If you can, I highly recommend finding a coach or a mentor you can regularly check in with.
On creating buzz around the brand…
AT: I come from a content, marketing, and strategy background where I’ve built many brands you might know and love today, so building Perelel came second nature to me. Part of it was pulling the more obvious levers such as social media and building our email list ahead of launch through compelling programming, but what’s been especially fun are all of the new and unconventional strategies we’ve been pursuing! Consumer habits are shifting a mile-a-minute so we’ve been focused on understanding fresh ways to engage our customers and pull her into our universe. Think outside the box!
On advice for small business owners…
AT: In the very early days of starting Perelel, I was chatting with a mentor of mine and he shared a story with me: He told me about a dinner he had with Elon Musk, who said being an entrepreneur is like waking up every morning and chewing glass. I laughed it off at the time, but it’s true. You have to be prepared to deal with a whole new set of challenges each day. And these challenges don’t ever go away, no matter how successful your business. Starting and running your own company is not a cakewalk. And it’s definitely nothing like the “girl boss” fantasy you often see portrayed in the media or founder press out there.
On the #1 piece of financial advice for new business owners…
AT: Loaded question! The first is spending the time upfront to do an honest assessment about what capital is required to break-even, even if it’s a range. Forming a point of view as to what your cash needs are in the near and long-term is crucial given there is no business if there isn’t cash. The second piece is being thoughtful about what KPIs you’re targeting to determine what success looks like. We’re trying to identify the metrics that we’ll need to achieve and not fall into the trap of cherry-picking data points to make strategic choices.
On developing a solid working relationship as co-founders…
TTG & AT: We are launching this business while also expanding our families (Tori just had a new baby and Alex is due in December). Fortunately, we are not first-time moms and fully understand what is involved in coming home with a newborn. We have great respect and understanding of what each other is experiencing, and because we are a small, nimble team, we can flex when the other needs to retreat to be with family, but we still feel fully supported by each other. We also knew we would need to have some support, so we brought on two full-time team members to Perelel to help keep the day-to-day rolling when we need to focus on family.
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