Kristina Hall: 0:00

We haven't ever spent money on social media, social media advertising, but now this year, we're really putting a focus on that to drive people into the stores. And you stated it perfectly the 40 and older. They're coming in the stores, they're shopping in the supplement department, but what we're targeting on social media to get people into the stores is the new mom or someone that's thinking about becoming pregnant, or someone that has become pregnant, or someone that has young kids.

Tina Smith: 0:35

Welcome to the Natural Products Marketer Podcast.

Amanda Ballard: 0:38

I'm Tina and I'm Amanda, and we're here to make marketing easier for natural products businesses so you can reach more people and change more lives. Welcome back to the Natural Products Marketer podcast. We are so excited to be joined today by Christina Hall with True Grace. It's been a pleasure having seen the growth of True Grace in the industry over the last few years, and so we're really excited to just pick Christina's brain and learn all about True Grace and her story and where the brand is going, and so thank you so much for being with us today, christina.

Kristina Hall: 1:18

Yes, thank you for having me. I've been looking forward to this.

Tina Smith: 1:22

Okay, first question that we always ask is how in the world did you get into this business? Because it's not usually one of those things that you ask kindergartners and they talk about.

Kristina Hall: 1:32

So true, and you know it's funny. I've kind of found that a lot of people get into the industry, unfortunately, with like sad health stories. And that's how I got in the industry, Really. You know, my dad was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer when I was in college. It was my senior year and at the time they only gave him six months to live. So I graduated and kind of put my life on hold and moved home. But I also really wanted a job.

Kristina Hall: 2:01

I had just graduated and so I ended up getting a job right out of college with Standard Process, which is a practitioner supplement line that's headquartered here in Wisconsin where we live, and so that was kind of my first introduction into the whole supplement world. And in tandem through my dad's cancer journey, it was really eye-opening how much what you put in your body, including food and supplements and nutrients, really could affect the quality of someone's life when they're on chemo, when they're on radiation, and so not only was I building my knowledge in the whole supplement world but also learning so much about how to improve your diet and be less inflammatory and eat organic and all of those things through his cancer journey. So that was really my kind of introduction into this whole supplement world, and I've been in it ever since.

Tina Smith: 3:04

Yeah, thanks for sharing that. It's interesting. I saw that on your bio and I feel a kindred spirit with you. We're going through that right now and we've always known this has been part of my journey for a long time, this health industry but we've always known what goes in affects everything, and it just becomes so much more important now whenever you have a loved one who's facing a critical illness. Um, that I think you just get a lot more attention put on it for sure.

Kristina Hall: 3:38

Yeah, exactly, and you know, like I said, it's it's not that we were ever people that ate unhealthy. Even my dad was super fit and in shape and you know we I said it's not that we were ever people that ate unhealthy Even my dad was super fit and in shape and you know we ate a lot of home-cooked meals so I feel like we were all just really blindsided when we got that news. It was like, how could this be? We're healthy people and so that, too, just made us really aware of this can happen to anyone, of this can happen to anyone. And it's even more important you know, especially me as his daughter and my brother to really focus on our health now, forever, and make it a priority. And so you know I've done that, of course, with a lot of supplements. We always have taken a lot of supplements but also just in what we eat at home and how we feed our kids.

Amanda Ballard: 4:24

Yeah, and I'm curious I would. I would imagine going through what you went through with your dad and then gaining all of this knowledge along the way that, that you know having kids yourself, that that's kind of transformed the way that you raise them and parent them and how you, you know, live your life on a day-to-day basis. Did that kind of prompt you to start True Grace? Like what was that kind of origin story?

Kristina Hall: 4:50

Yeah. So I feel like you know, with all of the knowledge and networks through the various companies in the industry that both Brian, my husband, who also has been in the industry forever, and I worked with, we just felt like there was a need for a long time for a brand to come into the industry. That kind of was back to the roots of what the industry was founded upon, that really was supporting the retailers. That was really mission driven. And a lot of the companies just prior to us starting True Grace had been sold or bought by bigger companies, and so that was really kind of where we saw an opportunity. But I also have to say, when we had our first child, I could not believe how overwhelmed I was in that space. Walking into the kids supplement section was eye-opening for me because I had actually not sold kids supplements before and so I had never really been in that section. And I thought to myself this is how most people feel when they walk into a health food store, into the supplement section in general, and it's very overwhelming and it's very confusing and there's so many options, and so I really then after you know, having our baby at like six months old standing there in the aisle thought, gosh, we have, this is our chance. Like we should really start a line that, of course you know encompasses the whole family kids and adults and focuses on foundational health for the family. So it was kind of twofold.

Kristina Hall: 6:25

What really got us excited about starting a brand? Of course, it was not the best time. We quit our jobs in February of 2020. And I mean people are like, are you crazy? And you know we had no idea. When we quit our jobs, it was right before anyone had even known what COVID was, literally two weeks later, was when they were saying they were going to shut the world down and we were here with no jobs and I believe our kids at the time were two and four and starting a business. So it was very scary for us.

Tina Smith: 7:00

But you made it look at you now we did.

Kristina Hall: 7:03

I always say I think there was a silver.

Kristina Hall: 7:05

I mean, everything happens for a reason.

Kristina Hall: 7:06

I think there was a little bit of a silver lining in all of it that we were really forced to take our time and go slow.

Kristina Hall: 7:14

So Brian and I are typically like, our personalities are like let's get it done, let's go, and we had no choice but to really slow down, and so we really thoughtfully worked through every stage of the business. So I think in the end, that's why everything when we launched as a brand, felt so cohesive. And then also a lot of people were just at home, bored and didn't have much to do, and so we use that time to pick up our phone and call all of our networks in the industry and pick their brain and ask what we should be doing, what we shouldn't be doing. And so I think if we would have launched, started the brand at any other time, there's no way we would have gotten half these people on their cell phones know a few things that worked in our favor, but it did take us until October of 2021 to get products on shelf in stores, and that's because of supply chain and all of the issues due to COVID.

Amanda Ballard: 8:12

Yeah, well, you know you mentioning that you were on the phone with all of these different people in your network. I don't know if I've ever met a group of people quite like those of us in the natural products industry, that everyone is so supportive of each other, and I just love just how uplifting this community is, and so I that's exciting that you had that experience kind of just starting starting out and you know, potentially even talking to competitors about what they're doing, and people are like like there's room for everybody.

Kristina Hall: 8:46

It's so true. I always say it's a funny industry, even with just like reps that I've known through the years. We're all recycled in this industry, like we've all worked for multiple companies, um, and the biggest thing in this industry is to never burn a bridge, for that reason that you know you're always going to come back years later and meet someone that you worked with, you know, 20 years ago, um, but yes, I agree, we actually were quite blown away by, like you said, even competitors who picked up their phone that were cheering us on. There is room for everybody. And uh, we, we felt that too when we went into retailers. I was like, how are retailers going to take this? Are they going to say, oh, another multivitamin, another fish oil? And they didn't. We really had good success getting into stores right out of the gate.

Tina Smith: 9:38

Well, and I have to say, just picking up your phone. This industry is very personal. So if you're a natural products retail store, you know the products that you're bringing into your store. You pride yourself on knowing the products, the people where the manufacturers are sourcing ingredients. It's something that you feel really protective about. So I bet picking up the phone give you guys a unique advantage over some other people who might try to come in digitally.

Kristina Hall: 10:06

Yeah, yeah, that's so true, and it helps to have people's numbers too, so that definitely played in our favor.

Amanda Ballard: 10:13

For sure. So tell me a little bit more about the kids line, because I know that's kind of a newer thing, like you kind of had that in the back of your mind as you were starting to mine. Um, but I've had that exact same experience and I've been in the industry before. I even had kids. So, like the first time my daughter got an ear infection, I was like, okay, whatever the doctor says. And then it was like here we are, ear infection after ear infection. I'm like can I just talk to my, the people that I actually work with, and them tell me what to do? And that was like, oh, like there's natural remedies, we don't have to do all of this silly stuff anyway. Um, but I would love to just hear more about the kids supplement market and what you're seeing as opportunities there. Um, not only just for for you guys as guys, as creating a new line, but just for stores, like should they be looking at expanding in children's health? And you know what are some things that they should be looking for?

Kristina Hall: 11:17

Yeah, it's interesting. I always wanted to start a kids line and it took us. Our actual intent was to launch the kid's line when we launched our adult products, and then we came to find out kids' products are extremely, extremely hard to formulate, and we know why because if kids aren't going to take it because they don't like the taste, it's parents aren't going to buy it. So you know, the first thing that you know has to come to mind is it has to taste good and it has to be a good texture, regardless of the ingredients, because if they're not going to take it, it's you know it's not going to do anyone any good. So we actually pulled some online data and found out that the number one selling multivitamin online is a kid's multivitamin out of all my multivitamins, and so that was really what triggered us and gave us the push. Like this is a good audience that we should be targeting, and when you look at the kids line in general or kids category in general, I think oftentimes a lot of these new and innovative ingredients are always marketed towards adults, and so that's something that we're trying to take into consideration when we're launching kids products is what ingredients have been clinically studied for children that they're not getting in their diet, that they should be getting. That would really benefit their health and wellness. That we could include, and so that's what we did with our Kids Multi that just launched. We're really, really proud of that one. It's the only Kids Multi in the country that has clinically studied Lutamax kids. So it's lutein and zeaxanthin that's been clinically studied in kids for blue light protection, which is amazing for all of us parents that are concerned, which is everyone with their kids' screen time. I mean, they get it at school, it's unavoidable but also it has been studied to help with focus and concentration, which also is a concern for parents. So not only is it a really nutrient dense multivitamin, of course, with the zinc and the D3 and everything else, but you're also getting that blue light protection and we can make the claim right on the front. So that's really what we're trying to do. And then also, as a parent and I'm sure you feel this too I was so tired of giving our kids gummy after gummy after gummy, and so I said we've got to come out with something that's a true two in one product so that we're eliminating the need for kids to get, you know, 12 gummies in a day, and that's why we launched our probiotic plus D3. So it's a true two in one a three strain probiotic and 800 IUs of D3. And I call that our no excuse probiotic for moms because it's in a stick pack, so our kids love just opening it and pouring it right in their mouth.

Kristina Hall: 14:23

Probiotics are naturally sweet. It has a little bit of xylitol, which helps with oral health. Anyways, it's not flavored, but our kids love it. And should kids not love it and or they don't like pouring something in their mouth, you can mix it in anything and they don't even know it's there. So I'm always like I get when parents are like our kids don't like this or our kids don't like this, but there's no excuse. With this one you can hide it in anything and they don't even know they're getting it. So, yeah, we were really happy that we were able to do the two in one and now I'm like, oh my gosh, we're only giving our kids like two or three gummies a day. We've dwindled it down. That's awesome. Well, and I'm sure it's like a great. Sorry, that sounds like a great one for a product demo. It is a great product demo.

Amanda Ballard: 15:08

For sure, yes, yeah, yeah. Well and I was just about to say that it's you can tell that this was clearly formulated by a mom that all of the struggle of trying to get your kids to actually take the supplements that you want, and, yes, so I love that.

Tina Smith: 15:23

I know, as you were talking about like flavor and texture, I was like did they make it taste like mac and cheese or dinosaur chicken nuggets?

Kristina Hall: 15:31

Because that's usually the only thing that kids will be like yeah, I'll have you know what's funny, we test piloted the gummies because we just we needed to nail the flavor. We knew it. And so we went around and we found the pickiest of picky kids, and you know a lot of kids. Their pickiness, I actually learned, is not necessarily about flavor, it's a texture thing. And so a lot of the moms I had talked to said, well, they don't like this gummy that you know, whatever. And it's because of the texture gummy that you know, whatever. And it's because of the texture, it's actually not the flavor. And so it was an interesting experiment for us and we really that's what took us so long is we did multiple runs of this to get the texture to where we wanted it and actually we always got feedback that it tasted amazing. So what most kids say is they love our gummies because they taste like a fruit roll-up, so they taste like real fruit. They don't actually taste like a gummy and they're kind of more of that type of texture too.

Kristina Hall: 16:35

And in fact, I had a parent come up to me. I was in my workout class the other day and she came up to me and she said, oh, I ordered your kids multi and and I said, oh good, how did your kids like it. And she was like well, now my kids are ruined for life. And I said why? Oh my gosh? And she said because I have other things in the cabinet that I want them to take, and they will now only take the True Grace gummies and they won't take anything else. I said, well, that's a good problem to have.

Tina Smith: 17:06

So they're going to demand that you come out with other things as well, huh.

Kristina Hall: 17:10

Yeah, so they're going to demand that you come out with other things as well. Huh, yes, yes, I mean I would love to. I think it's. It's such a great, uh, target audience. I'm passionate about it and, um, I think it's kind of a an audience that goes missed often, because it is difficult. You know, you're trying to launch products that are fully based around taste and texture, so it's challenging to have a really clean product that still tastes good and isn't loaded with sugar.

Tina Smith: 17:37

Yeah that kind of makes brings me to. I mean, that's great that you got the kids part right, that they're ready to take it and love it, and yet some of the things, the feedback that we hear from our retailers is man, we've got the 45, 55 year old plus people, no problems, they're coming in for their regular supplements and health products. What they struggle to get are some of those younger people, especially young moms, coming in the doors. So what attracts that kind of foot traffic into retail stores like the ones that are going to have the products that you carry?

Kristina Hall: 18:15

Yeah, so we've actually put a focus on that this year, in 2025.

Kristina Hall: 18:21

We haven't ever spent money on social media, social media advertising, but now this year we're really putting a focus on that to drive people into the stores.

Kristina Hall: 18:32

And you stated it perfectly the 40 and older.

Kristina Hall: 18:37

They're coming in the stores, they're shopping in the supplement department, but what we're targeting on social media to get people into the stores is the new mom or the someone that's thinking about becoming pregnant, or someone that has become pregnant, or someone that has young kids.

Kristina Hall: 18:54

So we are partnering with an agency to really work on, like, what is compelling to these moms to get them to come in the store and not only just by true grace, but just to enter into that overwhelming section and ask questions. And that's the whole reason that people come to the store versus, you know, getting it elsewhere is they come for the knowledge of the store staff and I think if younger moms realize that and knew that they could get that, it's just a matter of getting them to get in the store and enter the section, and then I feel like people. There's a reason customers, you have loyal customers and they continue coming back because they appreciate the education and knowledge, and so we put a big, big focus on educating our retailers so that, when you get the people into the store, they're able to say, well, this is what makes this product unique and this is what's different between you know this product and other products.

Tina Smith: 19:56

Yeah, that's awesome. So if anyone's trying to attract younger moms into your store, follow True Grace on social media.

Amanda Ballard: 20:04

Well, this makes me think too. You know we talk a lot about being the health influencer in your community and I think that stores should be thinking about are they even staffed with people that can resonate with that audience? Because I know for me as much as I will appreciate the wisdom of moms that are significantly older than I am and lived it and done it and all of that. The supplement availability has changed so much over the years and there's so many new things and I would love to have someone that's more my age that can totally get like oh, I'm right there in the trenches with you and this is what I use for my kids. I think that's something that if you don't have a person that's in those shoes right now on staff, it might be something worth looking into bringing on to your team just so you can attract that audience.

Kristina Hall: 20:58

That's such a great point, I agree. Yeah, I think people always want to hear and that's what they often ask. The staff is well, what do you take? You know that's that's the reason why brands give, give store staff samples is that they haven't taken your product. How are they going to speak about how it made them feel and when they took it and their experience? And so again to your point. Like having someone who has kids and who has tasted and tried the products on shelf goes a really long way with people, versus just saying like well, I've heard it tastes good, but you know, I don't have kids or I haven't tried it myself is not as compelling.

Tina Smith: 21:37

Yeah, and you know, you were talking about the ingredients that combat blue light and I thought, man, maybe we need to take the kids and multivitamins.

Kristina Hall: 21:50

Well, I'm like a little. I use them as like a little snack, like a little sweet treat after I eat. They are so tasty. But I agree, I was like I want this ingredient too. I need this, like I'm down to like wearing my blue light glasses all day, because by the end of the day my eyes just feel fried.

Tina Smith: 22:08

Yeah, 100%. I'm using red filters all over lights at night. So, yeah, we all need it probably.

Kristina Hall: 22:15

We all need it, for sure, yeah.

Amanda Ballard: 22:18

So tell me a little bit more, Christina, about True Grace and your commitment to sustainability and regenerative agriculture, Because I think you mentioned earlier how you wanted to create a brand that was mission driven and that was kind of lacking in the industry. So I'd love to just learn more about your mission and how that kind of just informs your decision making as a as a business.

Kristina Hall: 22:41

Yeah. So regenerative agriculture was really at the forefront of our mission when we started and that even goes way back before we had even thought about starting True Grace. We had a family foundation. My dad died at 50 and he was a successful entrepreneur and we used the funds from the sale of his company and part of them went into a foundation. And every year we get together as a family and say, ok, what is it this year that you know we really want to support and get behind.

Kristina Hall: 23:13

And it just so happens that one year it happened to be this thing that none of us had heard about called regenerative agriculture, and at the time they wanted to create a standard. There was no ROC standard, there was no ROA standard, there was no ROC standard, there was no ROA. And so Rodale was working on getting the funding for the white paper for writing, you know, regenerative agriculture, and our family actually donated to the writing of that white paper and we kind of then started kind of building the groundwork with Rodale and different relationships and partnerships in that community that we're all really passionate about. There are other companies too that were really passionate about this movement, and so when we started True Grace, we thought this is a perfect opportunity to give it more of a spotlight. Still, at the time I'd say in 2020, you know, not a ton of people had heard about regenerative agriculture, but our company really had a focus on nutrient density. So our tagline is meaningful ingredients at effective doses. So when you think about it, when you're using whole food ingredients and you're concentrating them, it's important as a supplement brand that those ingredients are the most nutrient dense that you can find, and studies have shown that regenerative and organic ingredients are way more nutrient dense than conventional.

Kristina Hall: 24:42

And so we set out to really help build and grow the supply chain, because that's really the challenge, especially in our industry, is, it's great to want to source regenerative ingredients, but there's not a ton of them available and it's hard for farms to make that transition. So True Grace actually partnered with Rodale and we provided consultancy hours for free to farmers in the Midwest region that wanted to transition their land from either conventional or some of them were already organic but wanted to get the ROC certification, and so a Midwest consultant would go out to their farm, they would walk them through the process and they would help them get that certification, because it's not only timely but it's also costly to a farmer and they don't have often the time to figure all of this out on their own, so they really need a consultant to help them do that for us, because we actually had the first ROC farm in the state of Wisconsin get certified using the consultancy hours that True Grace had donated, and they're not too far down the street from us and now he's actually growing ingredients ROC for our industry. So Simple Mills, for example, he's growing ingredients for and eventually he'll be growing ingredients for us. So yeah, so that was really a fun project and we continue every year now as a company to get together and say you know, what do we want to do next year?

Kristina Hall: 26:20

This year, in 2025, we're partnering with Kiss the Ground and SCI. So in every aspect of the business we're always looking for how does this support soil health, how can we source a regenerative ingredient and how can we help farmers along the way? So you'll see, like even in our multivitamins, we have regenerative, organic, certified ashwagandha and holy basil in the 50 plus, it's the copa. So we're always looking to source what we can and as the supply chain grows and builds, obviously things will become. Even our kids multi has ROC sugar in it, which we were really proud of.

Tina Smith: 27:02

Yeah, that's amazing. We hear a lot of especially these small local farms that supply some of the food goods to some of our local retailers. They have said look, we follow all the practices. It's just too expensive and too much legal red tape for us to get organic certified or regenerative farm certification. So that's amazing that you guys would help provide that.

Kristina Hall: 27:28

Yeah, thank you, and it is true, there's a beautiful farm down the road here that we get some of our veggies from and they do everything regenerative, organic, and we presented the opportunity to them and they said the same thing. They were like you know, it's really it is it's time consuming and it's expensive and it's scary for a lot of people because they don't have the time often. So, yeah, it's been fun to see some actually big farmers that were able to use the consultancy and transition their land over.

Tina Smith: 28:00

Wow, that's great. Well, I remember when I first saw you guys' products in one of our local stores. When I first saw you guys products in one of our local stores, it was just even the branding felt so clean and refreshing. There was something about it that I just felt drawn to. It felt really nice and fresh and new and clean. So we talked to the stores a lot of times about, like, what's the first thing you do for marketing clean your store, reorganize yourselves but there's something about like just visually coming in a place and having a feeling and I think you guys did a great job whenever you're doing your branding, for sure.

Kristina Hall: 28:44

Thank you. Yeah, we always say we definitely did not take the easy route in many aspects of the business, packaging being one of them, but it was something we were really passionate about. Of course, we wanted to be unique and different, but also there was a huge sustainability piece around packaging that we really put our foot down and said we're not launching in certain packaging types and we will wait until we can get what we want. And we did, and that was really a huge part of the delay at launch. When I talk about supply chain issues, it was mainly packaging supply chain issues.

Kristina Hall: 29:20

That was the challenge, and there were times where we could have said, okay, well, let's just go with a 100% virgin plastic bottle. We could have launched probably six months to a year earlier, but we said, no, we're really going to stand our ground on this, and we felt confident that eventually we would be able to get the packaging that we wanted, which we did, and I think it's paid off because, to your point, it is, you know, unique, it's custom to True Grace, no one else has our beautiful bottles and, on top of it, we have such a cool story, a sustainability story, behind all of our packaging that we're really proud of and you know kind of we have our tracker. I've actually yesterday it got updated to today True Grace has pulled 13,000 pounds of plastic out of oceans and waterways in Jakarta, indonesia, which is where those big, you know plastic islands are.

Tina Smith: 30:16

That's amazing, and I will tell you that that is something that is attractive to these younger moms. They are looking for businesses like that, for sure.

Kristina Hall: 30:26

Yeah, yeah, 100%, like that for sure. Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. I think people in general that are shopping in health food stores to some degree varying degrees care, and I think for some people they feel like if they could just do something to feel like they're doing their part, they may not have time to volunteer or they may not have money to donate, but that's part of why consumers want to get behind brands that have sustainability at the core of their mission, because they know by purchasing that brand, they're at least doing their part in contributing to helping the planet. And that's kind of the whole story with our packaging. People can feel good about their purchase. Every purchase makes an impact on the planet, regardless of how sustainable you are, but to purchase from a company that has the least harmful impact on the planet really makes people feel good about their purchase.

Amanda Ballard: 31:26

Yeah, well, and I've always thought that it was such a great marketing move on your part to have the refill package packages because all and so they're just like well, it has to go on the top shelf because it only really works if you put it here. I mean you could rearrange, but I thought that that was brilliant.

Kristina Hall: 31:46

Yeah, I love those pouches and you know we were really I don't know if we were the first, but one of the first companies to come out with a refill pouch. And you know we always joke because Brian was super skeptical. He's like there's a reason. No one is doing these. I don't think it's going to work. And now our pouches outsell the bottles three to one Really. It was successful and it outsell the bottles three to one Really. So it was successful and it did.

Kristina Hall: 32:17

You know it took people a little while to grasp the concept and it's been fun for us to actually now survey our customers to find out how are you using the pouch? And we actually found out. A lot of people do love refilling their bottle with the pouch, but also a lot of people prefer the pouch over bottle because they do their supplements for the week Right with the pouch. But also a lot of people prefer the pouch over bottle because they do their supplements for the week and the pouch is really easy to reach in and get what you need and do your Monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday and it's resealable. So that was interesting to hear.

Kristina Hall: 32:43

I was like we actually changed our whole like marketing tagline on our pouches after we heard that. You know it's like, yes, it's great to refill your bottle, but it's also really convenient to fill your supplement case for the week or fill your case that you're traveling with. And then other people just find it easier again to get their supplements out because it's wider and softer and they're just using that as their their basically you know package to get their supplements out every day and just reseal it. So people use it in all different ways but over, you know, I'd say most people really are loving the concept of the refill pouch.

Tina Smith: 33:21

Yeah. So if you want more consumer feedback, I'll just tell you I use the pouch because I travel a lot and it's so easy. I mean, I do carry around some bottles because I travel for more than a week at a time sometimes, so the containers just won't do it, but the pouch you can squish it down, it just doesn't take us up as much room, it can move around and change form, so I love it.

Kristina Hall: 33:47

Same. I travel a lot and I'm like I love these couches yeah for sure.

Amanda Ballard: 33:54

So, christina, we'd love to know you know you guys are doing really, really well in retail and growing what are some of the things that your top retail accounts are doing with True Grace that other listeners of ours could learn from.

Kristina Hall: 34:10

I'd say the biggest thing is storytelling and education. And again, you know, just because there are so many brands in stores and we really do have a unique story behind everything from our ingredients to our packaging to our mission, everything from our ingredients to our packaging to our mission I think we spend a lot of time and money traveling the country, going into retailers and educating staff and our hope is that our passion and excitement and love for the brand translates to the, the staff in retail stores, and then they can retell the story and that will be told to the consumer, which then makes them brand advocates and fall in love with our brand. So that I people always say like what's your, you know, biggest marketing opportunity and what's your biggest marketing expense? And I'm like it's really staff and travel, uh to to get out their boots on the ground.

Kristina Hall: 35:13

We have, you know, have direct sales reps that are going in and servicing accounts and the biggest thing for them is getting in front of the correct people in the store that either are decision makers or are the people that are going to be talking to consumers and really getting them to understand the unique differences and kind of the love, you know, and passion that's behind the brand, and if they can, you know, translate that, which a lot of people that have been working in health food stores for a long time are already super passionate about what they do, and they can really easily retell stories in the aisle, and they know how to do that.

Kristina Hall: 35:55

They just have to be armed with the information, and so that's really what we've been, how we've been able to do it and how we've been able to open new stores, and for us, it's like it's one thing to get product on the shelf in a store that's great, but the bigger challenge is to get it to turn now and to get people buying a new brand, and if someone's already taking a multi that they like, it's hard to get them to switch to what's this new? You know, true grace multi, and so that's where the education and training and storytelling becomes so important for a brand like us.

Tina Smith: 36:30

Yeah, it's interesting. Amanda just finished putting together a brand replacement guide for some of our clients, so there are a lot of people who are interested in partnering with a brand like yours that supports the independent retail channel, and there's plenty of opportunity to do brand replacements, whether it's slowly but surely or, you know, just tearing off the bandaid.

Tina Smith: 36:56

We've seen both work, Um, but there are ways to do it. Part of that is definitely storytelling and getting your team on board, Like you're talking about that education it should be a priority, but there are definitely ways to do it. It to move people from a brand they might be used to seeing around to a brand that they, as the store owners, feel more confident in the sourcing of the product or how the packaging is done. There's so many reasons to love brands like True Grace.

Kristina Hall: 37:27

Yeah, exactly, and that's why we want people trying our products too, and that's why we want people trying our products too. So you know we have samples, that we staff samples, I should say, that are not just like two tablets in a pouch. You know it's players in the stores that are, you know, going to be in the aisle training so that they have tried our products and they can tell the consumer what their experience was in taking the product.

Amanda Ballard: 38:03

Have you found that there's a a cadence in which you have to hit those stores over and over again for them to really be successful?

Kristina Hall: 38:13

Yeah, yeah, I'd say, you know, thank God for Zoom. Yeah, we can't be everywhere at once, and so, you know, when we initially started, we really were just exhausted traveling the country because we felt like we were so new that we really needed to be in person to you know, get across our mission and our vision and all that. But now we've actually found it's just as effective to get staff in, you know spurts of trainings throughout the day where they'll say, like you know, we'll have six people at this time and six people at this time and six people at this time, we'll do three trainings of one day on Zoom. It's hugely effective. And then we mail them the samples.

Kristina Hall: 38:56

So, yeah, I think it's really important when you do a training that we then focus on just a follow-up training with just not overwhelming with too much information, but just the quick points of I'm in the aisle, I'm selling a multivitamin.

Kristina Hall: 39:13

What are the three bullet points about the True Grace Multi? That makes it different and unique from some of the other multis on shelf, because that's really what they're going to remember. It's great to like, dive into the science and all of that, but really what they need to remember and want to know is how to sell it in the aisle, and so oftentimes we'll do, you know, the more in-depth training. And then I always close with like fish oil, probiotic multivitamin. I give them like the three quick bullets and I also love to give them the top three things that consumers are saying about our products, not what I'm saying when you go and read our reviews. This is what comes, the top three things consumers love about our fish oil. And on down the line, and I think that's really gone a long way with the staff, because they love telling consumers what their experience is going to be, not just what the brand is saying about their products.

Tina Smith: 40:11

Yeah, and if we're thinking about, like, attracting some of those younger moms into the stores, think about some of those, whether it's sending out an email campaign, creating a postcard, doing some digital media or social media that would be great to use in all of those products is what are kids saying when they use this product, or how are moms getting this into their kids? Like, maybe it's in the applesauce or whatever it is. There's something, um, there's something that's just feels more reliable about another mom saying it or watching a kid get excited about something.

Kristina Hall: 40:48

Yes, exactly that's so funny. We were just kind of brainstorming. You know, kids products are so different in what you would do on social media, exactly what you said. I was like we should just do this like open casting call for friends and family and say like come between two and four on X day with your kids and we're going to film them trying our products and we just want like the raw footage of cause. It will be funny. You know, and I know most kids I mean 99% of kids love the taste and the texture. So anyways, it is one of our social media ideas to just do this like blitz of kid after kid after kid trying our vitamins and just getting their you know, kind of raw response of what they think of it.

Tina Smith: 41:34

Hey, so that's a great idea, like demo days in store. You have an iPhone guys, you can film it as with their permission and the permission of the parents, for sure. But yes, you can film the kids, like giving it the first try and seeing their facial reactions, because it will be a lot of fun for your audience to see that.

Kristina Hall: 41:52

That is a fantastic idea. I'm actually going to share that with the team. I love that idea.

Amanda Ballard: 41:58

I've totally used my children as models and had them be in videos specifically about kids' vitamins. We did a back to school campaign a couple of years ago and they all love the back to school campaign a couple of years ago and they all love the gummies that they take. And so you're cute and you are now. Give them a big thumbs up and show up if you love it.

Kristina Hall: 42:26

So yeah, you're cute and you're free right now, that's I'm always like you guys. We don't need to hire talent. We have kids, many people that work for us as kids, it's free talent and they all have their own little personalities, some of them like our son's super silly and our daughter's shy, which just adds to the fun of it, because you can tell we didn't tell them what to say. It's you know, they all say something totally different.

Tina Smith: 42:47

Yeah, and if you followed that up with a question to the mom about whether or not they normally take vitamins and how they react, that can be a lot of fun too, because I bet you're going to hear some stories about their worst times of trying to get their kids to take medicine or vitamins or anything like that, because every parent has those stories.

Kristina Hall: 43:06

Exactly yeah, so true, I love that.

Amanda Ballard: 43:11

I love that, yeah. So, Christina, if stores are interested in True Grace, how could they get in touch with you and you know what would be their next steps into bringing your products into their stores?

Kristina Hall: 43:26

Yeah, so they can actually contact us. Care at truegracehealthcom. That's just like our general email. They can go to our website and look up our number. You can email direct from our website but we, you know, are continually checking that and monitoring and we can give a call back.

Kristina Hall: 43:46

We have a great sales team to service retailers and always happy to get on the phone. You know we're also a small team so I always say it's not like you're gonna have to jump through a million hoops to get to Brian or I. Brian's our CEO, but he also manages sales, so we see everything that comes in. I'm happy to get on the phone with people at any time. I do it often, as does Brian, and then of course we have our team out in the field. So we're always here to help and we love feedback from stores and, yeah, we just love partnering together. I mean, we've been in the industry for so long, we know a lot of the great retailers and it's just so fun to be able to have our own brand now and see it on shelf and be able to partner with these great people.

Tina Smith: 44:35

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being with us today. This has been great, giving the stores a lot of fun ideas to implement in their store and to help them grow their business and really, in the end, do what they feel like they were born to do, which is help more people and change more lives. So appreciate your time today.

Kristina Hall: 44:54

Thank you so much for having me have a great day.

Amanda Ballard: 44:58

Thanks so much for listening to the Natural Products Marketer Podcast. We hope you found this episode to be super helpful. Make sure you check out the show notes for any of those valuable resources that we mentioned on today's episode.

Tina Smith: 45:08

And, before you go, we would love for you to give us a review. Follow, like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you're listening today, and make sure you join us for our next episode, where we give you more marketing tips so that you can reach more people and change more lives.