295. Meet the Introvert Behind The UK's Top Women's Wellbeing Brand w/ Rohini Sofat | Free Soul

0:00Amardeep Parmar:Great to have you here today Rohini. Thank you so much. And we've had Arjun here before, but you can tell a whole different side of Free Soul. And for those of you who are listening who don't know what Free Soul is already, could you tell us what does Free Soul do and what are you most proud of? I think Free Soul is a women's wellness brand for women's well-being. And I think what I'm most proud of today, well, it's been eight years now, and we've touched the lives of three million women. And that's something I think which we're very proud of. and let's see how the next few years plan out. But we hope to be the one-stop brand for female wellness.

0:35Amardeep Parmar:Three million is incredible. And I remember when I heard about Freesale because obviously at the beginning I wasn't a target customer and I know you're expanding your lines and things like that now. But so many people kept saying, oh, you should get the Freesale founders on. And that brand and that trust you have built with all of your customers is so incredible. And I know that's a huge part of your role and what you do. And the reviews are so high. Tell us about that. How did you contribute to that? Well, my role essentially now is more customer focused. I mean, I can still say till today, I read every Trustpilot review that we get.

1:07I work with our customer service team as well. And it's the one-to-one feedback that we get from our customers, which keeps us, I think, evolving, keeps us very grounded when we hear what our product has done for them. And I think we are very customer focused and they are what drives us.

1:24Amardeep Parmar:And how did that come about? So obviously when you're setting the company up and you're having this focus on customers, what did you do to build that relationship with them? I think from day one, we were very customer focused. It was an industry that was new to both Arjun and myself. And I think with our ideas, plus the feedback we got, that's where the company evolved. I mean, we still have customers coming to who've been with us eight years, who still buy a product. They send us emails, what new products they'd like to see, how the products have influenced their lives, what they'd like to see more in the future.

1:57And then I think we get to know what people are looking for. Obviously, as a woman, I think I was one of, I was a first person, the target audience, as you would call it, what I was looking for and what needs I needed for wellness. And I think the customers form a big, big part of our business, actually.

2:15Amardeep Parmar:And as you said, so it's been eight years now, right? Eight years, that's true. And obviously at the beginning, now you've got a huge brand that's doing incredibly well. But at the earlier stages, there was these tough times and Arjun talks about a bit as well. How did you get through those moments and have that resilience to keep going and keep pushing forwards? You know, I read somewhere where they say when you harness your stress, it brings resilience. And I think the first few years was a lot of stress because we were venturing into something that was very new to both of us. I mean, Arjun was into banking and I was into doing quite a few things, just keeping busy.

2:47and it was a dream we both had and we had to work towards this dream. And I did find in the beginning, you know, like as you know, Asian families, you're like, I don't know what they're up to and I don't know what they're doing and why did he give up his job in banking and why am I trying to, you know, create something that nobody had ever heard of before. And I think it was a lot of hard work, but one thing we both had was focus and we just concentrated on the end, I mean, getting there. And I think that's what it was. It was hard. because we used to literally get up at four every morning, go sampling around all the gyms of London, speak about the product.

3:23And I wouldn't say it was easy because we had a lot of people probably laughing behind our backs and things like that. But we just focused on what we had to do. And I think when you have passion and perseverance, opportunities present themselves. And we were lucky on the way. And I think that that's what built momentum and got us to where we are today.

3:44Amardeep Parmar:And you mentioned that you were doing a few different things before, Fris. What do you think about your experience meant that you could be the person who made these customers so happy? Like what, from your history, you was able to come in? Well, I did an economics degree from India. This was going back many, many years. And then I was actually going to go to Boston University to do an MBA. But I always remember one thing. My mother was a nutritionist. She did her degree in nutrition 50 years ago. And she always was dabbling in doing things and keeping busy. and she always had this one word of advice to me.

4:17She's like, whatever you do, keep yourself busy. Don't be dependent on anyone. Don't ask anybody for anything. Whatever you do, keep busy. So I think I've always dabbled in something or the other. I've done Indian art, which I used to sell. Then I got into interiors because a friend of mine liked how I did my house and she's like, here's the key. Do whatever you want. So I've always had that thing to do something new. and I think but I would say free soul has been my favorite favorite journey because it really was a

4:47Amardeep Parmar:dream that turned into reality I think it's what so many people think about entrepreneurship it's like a set path you have to take yeah I think so much about it is experimenting right is that you did different things and as you find out what you enjoy you do it more yeah and that experience I think can really benefit so many people because there's a lot of people you look at this they're like oh I've got to do this this and this and I need to do that yeah but then your journey is about like you've done different things you've learned from each of them and then you've been able to do what you do today as well and with the origin of free soul as well because arjun told us it was you were the first customer right yeah can you tell us a bit more about that so free soul essentially started when actually from a very personal experience my husband wasn't very well i mean thank god he's all okay now but it was a stressful time where to deal with the stress and everything i started exercising a lot and i was doing all the right things exercising eating well, but yet I wasn't feeling my best.

5:40And like I said, my mom was a nutritionist. I've always grown up, you know, knowing that, oh, if you're not feeling well, have this, have ginger, have turmeric, have ashwagandha, have, I saw the almonds on your desk. You're having that for memory probably from, you know, so it's, it's things that, you know, I've grown up with. So it, I think it was, it was that that made me realize that I need to supplement my nutrition with something else. So I went around looking for things that, you know, I was feeling low in energy, something that would help me there. I was feeling low in mood, something that would help me there.

6:14We went down the aisles and there was actually nothing available focusing on female wellness and, you know, the nutritional needs of women, which are very different to men. Everything you went around was actually diet focused, which was women for weight loss and men for bulking and shredding. So there was really nothing, nothing that catered to female wellness. And I think it was the desire or the passion to do something for female wellness that brought about this whole thing. He gave up his job and I gave up and we just spent every moment since the last eight years in developing the brand.

6:48Amardeep Parmar:And with that journey as well, you said how earlier where there are some people who are doubting you and there are some people who maybe didn't believe me at the beginning. How did you get those initial customers to believe in you and to really get them on board where your new company? Well, I think because we were building the brand, I am a woman, so I actually tried and tested so many, so many products. I mean, it was amazing what all I tried. I used to joke with Arjuna and say, if I have hair coming out of my ears, you've had it. But I think in point, I mean, I know as a woman what you need.

7:22So at least I think that was a head start. And then, of course, we developed the brand. It was an area that was completely new. And so it was quite scary because, you know, we developed our first product was the protein blend, which is our Haver product. And I remember when it went to production and all that, I was just so nervous. And I was like thinking, what if nobody buys it and who's going to buy it? And, you know, you have that self-doubt about everything. And it was something that was completely new. But, you know, it took us, I remember when we launched the website and, you know, it took three weeks for the first order to come through.

7:57So it was hard. It was hard. But, you know, when I look at the company today, it's like there was a lot of hard work behind that. And I'm so glad and happy to see where it is today. More than sales and anything, it's the lives of the women we impact. And I think that that's the most important to both of us.

8:15Amardeep Parmar:And obviously, right at the beginning, you mentioned about three million women, but each of them has their own story, right? Yes. And obviously, by reading the reviews, you'll get to see some of those stories and the impact you're having. Are there any stories that you'd love to share about people who really stood out to you recently? I think, you know, because like I said, I've read every email since the last six years, every single one. And now, of course, we've got a customer service team of, you know, three lovely women. And, you know, I think it was the stories where we had stories of women who had irregular cycles and have been told that they could never conceive.

8:50We've actually got eight free soul babies today. So I think, you know. Yeah. So when you hear things like that, I mean, of course, you feel so happy about it, but it keeps you so grounded and humbled as well because, you know, you feel responsible for women's health. And then there are lots of stories where we get, you know, people just yesterday, I read an email from someone saying that she had breast cancer and she had surgery. And when she had a two week checkup, the nurse said, I've never seen someone recover like that. What are you having? And she goes, I, you know, mentioned I was having your greens, as having your protein.

9:24And the nurse just said, just carry on with it. You know, things like that, where we find that, you know, products really help. And I remember a funny one was actually someone who sent us an email saying that the grandfather, she had a grandfather who, you know, was in the hospital for a long time, and she gave him one of our greens to taste. And she goes, oh, my God, this is something he looks forward to every morning. So, I mean, it's stories like that, that, you know, and I think there's so many, so many, like I said, if you have 3 million customers, You can imagine how many emails we get. It's just amazing to see we've got people who have, what, eight or nine of our products every single day.

10:01So I think it's amazing.

10:03Amardeep Parmar:And what's really great, too, is that you've kept so close to customers. Yeah. And as you've built out that customer service team as well, I imagine it's been really important to you to get the right people into place, too. Yeah, absolutely. It's something I don't think, you know, it's something I've held close to my heart. And even when we had people coming in, you know, I was like, oh, do you? But you can't manage it beyond a certain point. But I still overlook it. I still can look at every single email on my phone till today. And it's just keeping a check on the customers and what they want and what they need.

10:34And I think that's what helps us even develop new products as well, because we're listening first-hand information. We've got a platform called Designed by Her, which is actually the customer feedback, where they tell us how products have influenced them, what products they would like to see, what they would like to see more of. So it's really helpful because we actually know the way forward. And then we've got a strong community as well where people have brand loyalty. They come to the events. And, you know, when you see how many lives you've touched and how committed people are to the brand, it's very humbling, that's all I can say.

11:09And you just feel so happy about it.

11:11Amardeep Parmar:And when you were hiring this people in a customer service team, what was it you were looking for? Because imagine you have really high standards to make sure that they're serving the women the way you want them to be served? We've got something called a customer service bible, which actually lays down the rules of, you know, how we should deal with customers, what we should do. And I think that that's the most important. I think, you know, when you have somebody trusting their health and coming to you, I think the least you can do is make them feel safe, you know. So we do have an amazing, amazing rapport with our customers.

11:39I mean, I know customers who've been with us eight years who just drop me an email to find out how I'm doing and, you know, they keep me updated. I think that makes you feel quite responsible as well.

11:49Amardeep Parmar:And with your journey as well. So I think even with both of you, right, you both were quite behind the scenes for a long time and you work with so many influencers and other people who promote the brand. And part of that too is your personalities. Yeah. And how have you found it when you're growing and maybe not being that extroverted to begin with, but as you're growing a team and you're talking to so many people, you obviously have maintained so many relationships. Yeah. And as somebody who's maybe naturally introverted, can you tell us about that? Like, have you been able to do your job so effectively and how has an introversion been a superpower?

12:20Well, I think, you know, I do not enjoy public speaking. It's not something I really love. But then I guess, you know, when you reach a certain stage, you feel responsible for people. You want to share your story. You want to talk about it. And I think what helped me was probably, you know, being behind the scenes and actually answering emails where I could say what I wanted without really shouting about it. So I think that's helped me personally as a person. It's helped me grow as well because, you know, it just makes you want to share with, you know, like people. There's so many things you can share.

12:50It's like first about wellness, about what products women can take at different stages in their life. And another thing is about building a brand. You know, where do you start off when you have an idea and where do you take it? So I think it's a lot. I mean, it's like you love to share people, share your story, and you never know who it might help. I mean, I have so many stories I've read, and I think that's what's helped me. In fact, I still, every time I meet Arjun, it's something I've done for many, many years. I have something called a fun fact. So every time I see him, I give him some story or the other.

13:22So whether it's a story of Estee Lauder, why it's Pat McGrath, why the company failed and what they've done, or how Five Guys started, or Montclair, how they changed their whole. So I've got these loads of stories. You can ask me anyone and I know it. So it just shows that to build anything, you have to have passion and perseverance. and I think when you have that in mind, it's amazing what the world gives you.

13:46Amardeep Parmar:Hello, hello. I hope you've enjoyed the show so far. I'm Amiri Parma, co-founder of BayHQ and the host of this show. For those of you who don't know, BayHQ is the community for high growth, Asian heritage, founders and investors in the UK. Over 7 ,500 people have attended our events, 200 people have been for our impact programs and obviously there's been over 250 episodes of this podcast. If you want to join us and take part in the program when it comes to the event, go to www.fahihq.com forward slash join. We also just released our first ever book called Startups for Outsiders, which you can get on Amazon now and the link is in the bio.

14:27Amardeep Parmar:Hope to see you soon at our event. Hope you enjoy the rest of the episode. And I always say so, my favorite podcast guests are the ones who sometimes maybe don't want to come order. They're not always out all the time because there's so much power in those stories that people don't hear right and there'll be people now who maybe think that they're too introverted to start a company or they don't have that because everyone sees elon musk or jeff bezos yeah but they're such a small subset of the successful founders yeah but the problem is you mostly see the founders the most experts yeah and the people are more introverted didn't hear their stories but then hopefully today some people listening yeah who can relate to your story and can see themselves in your shoes and if there's someone listening today who's maybe thinking okay they're very introverted and they're not sure if they could do it what advice would you give them I would just say follow your dream I think like I said you know any hard work and you know like resilience will get you there in the end and I think that's what it is we had a dream we worked hard for it I mean it was just two of us sitting across the kitchen table that was a boardroom and now we've got such an amazing team of 58 amazing amazing people that you know sometimes I go in there and I see them I mean a lot of them are a lot younger but I think the youth of today is is so amazing you know they've got so much to offer and there's so much to learn from them and I think that's what it is it's like you have this team but the the main goal behind the whole business is actually to get women's wellness out there and I think every single person you know It's not that one team doesn't help the other team.

16:02Everybody has that mission in mind. And I think that's what's probably got us here today. It's an amazing team. I'm so, so grateful for them. There's a stage where Arjun and I wore all the caps. He would do one thing, I would do one thing. I mean, not one thing, many things. But it's amazing now we've got the best of the best leading it forward.

16:21Amardeep Parmar:And what do you enjoy the most today? So obviously you've got the emails and the feedback that you're getting. Within the internal team and the work you're doing behind the scenes, what else do you enjoy? what are the bits that really lines up your day? I think, honestly, it's to see free soul where it is. In the beginning, it was, you know, so much doubt that who's going to go for it and will this product do well or will that product do well? And it's a funny story I should tell you is, you know, when in the first few early years, I was going back home and I saw the postman walking with one of our free soul boxes.

16:50It was this pink colour that was very noticeable. I actually followed the poor chap all around the close to see whose house was he going to so I could send some goodies the next day. Or, you know, I see someone crossing the road with a free soul bottle. You know, it just gives you so much satisfaction that you've reached out there and there's so much, you know, thought that has gone into this brand to get it out there. And I think, yeah, with Arjun's support and, of course, like I said, the intelligence of the youth of today, I mean, we've managed to do so many things. But it's like a pinch me moment.

17:22I mean, eight years hence and, of course, hopefully getting bigger and better. So onwards and upwards for Free Soul.

17:29Amardeep Parmar:And then as well, like recently you've been doing more and more in the community in person and things like this too. Yeah. What's some of the things you've done in the last couple of years that now you've been able to scale and grow that have now been possible that you've really enjoyed or areas which you think are new and really exciting? I think we've got a really good community. And, you know, every time we have events, you know, to see the actual people come up or the tickets sell out in like five minutes and things like that, I think there's a big thing about brand loyalty. and to see that and so many people come together.

17:59And, you know, normally when you want to go to something, you want a friend to come along. But here we have people who come all by themselves and they actually make friends and they all have the FreeSoul group on their WhatsApp and they get together. And I think it's also, you know, health-wise, I mean, if someone's suffering from a PCOS issue or they're suffering from something else or stress or they want some people to talk to, I think it gives them, like, their comfort space. like with you know they're not alone and you know people are so busy today to give time you know when you have people coming together and they learn so much from each other and they can support each other i think that's amazing so i think the community is a big part of the company as well

18:37Amardeep Parmar:one of the things we always say our events is that we get people who've never been to an event before to put up their hands at the beginning yeah and then what we try to do is that people who have been to events like make sure you go and chat to them yeah because it's that whole thing as you said it's not just about you it's also about all the people you've curated yeah because all the people who believe in your ethos they're then following on right which is i think one of the really lovely parts about it is that it's not just about we want to meet you or want to meet arjun because people know that you people who all follow freesol it's a similar kind of mentality about how they help each other and how they support each other too yeah and i know that freesol kind of recently rebranded and they had so many things going on is there anything coming up in the future that you're really excited about that we can look forward to as well well obviously it's it's a new products and I'm not allowed to say much about them, but it's exciting.

19:26I mean, we have quite a few things in mind and, you know, events, of course. And yeah, it's, like I said, my dream would be FreeSoul to be the one-stop shop for women's wellness, that if anybody's going through an issue, whether they're at whatever stage in their life, as women, you have different stages in your life, you know, and, you know, pre-menopause, post-menopause, PCOS, other issues, hair, skin, nails, you know, where you're feeling down and out and tired. So I think if somebody trusts the health with you, then, you know, and if they're looking for a product that can help them, they just come to us.

20:01And we've got a great support system as well through email. People can email us and say, you know, I'm a bit confused, what can I start off with? On our website, we have something like a quiz where they put in what they're looking for and then we suggest a couple of products. So I think, yeah, so I would like it to be like if anybody's looking for help on women's wellness come to us and we'll sort you out