790 Darren Litt: Co-Founder & CEO of Hiya

0:00Kara Goldin:I am unwilling to give up, but I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. You just want to make sure you will get knocked down, but just make sure you don't get knocked out. So your only choice should be, go focus on what you can control. Hi everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world's greatest leaders. We'll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can't wait to get started. Let's go. This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Daily Look.

0:45Kara Goldin:The new year hits and suddenly I want to clean everything, organize everything, and upgrade everything, including my wardrobe. And that's exactly why I'm excited about our next sponsor, Daily Look. Between hosting this podcast and honestly just living life, I do not have time to go shopping. I'm done with the I have nothing to wear mornings. And in 2026, I'm officially stepping into my stylish era, thanks to Daily Look. I'm also pretty particular about what I wear. So trusting some random algorithm just isn't for me. What I love about Daily Look is that you're paired with a real personal stylist who actually gets your style.

1:31Kara Goldin:And when sweater weather hits, somehow they send exactly what I want before I even realize I need it. Daily Look is the number one highest rated premium personal styling service for women. And it's easy to see why. You're matched with your own dedicated stylist who curates a box based on your body type, personal style, and lifestyle. You can try up to 12 premium pieces at home on your schedule without the hassle of shopping. Whether you need something effortlessly polished for work or you're finally ready to retire last year's stretched out sweaters, Daily Look has you covered. Getting started is simple.

2:14Kara Goldin:Fill out a quick style quiz, receive hand-selected pieces, keep what you love, and send back the rest. Shipping is free both ways, so it couldn't be easier. I can't stop talking about Daily Look. The quality is amazing, the styles are so, so good, and my stylist finally got me out of my black t-shirt everyday routine. I open my closet now, and I actually feel excited about what to wear. It's time to get your own personal stylist with Daily Look. Head to dailylook.com to take your style quiz and use code Kara Golden for 50 % off your first order. Once again, that's dailylook.com and use code Kara Golden for 50 % off your first order.

3:06Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're building a business, every hire matters. The right people in the right roles can change the trajectory of your company. And as you look ahead to 2026, whether you're expanding your team or being more strategic about growth, hiring with intention is essential. That's where LinkedIn Jobs comes in. LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant helps you find qualified candidates faster and with more confidence. So you're not just filling roles, you're building a team that lasts. In fact, LinkedIn hires are 30 % more likely to stay at least a year compared to the leading competitor.

3:52Kara Goldin:That kind of retention has real impact. And finding the right hire doesn't have to feel overwhelming. With LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant, you can skip the guesswork and jargon. It filters candidates based on your role's specific criteria and highlights top matches. So you're not wasting time digging through endless resumes. When you're running a business, you need a hiring process that's fast and focused. LinkedIn's AI assistant delivers 25 strong candidate suggestions each day, giving you the chance to invite the right people to apply and keep the process moving. It's a smarter, faster way to hire, and it's why I rely on LinkedIn jobs.

4:36Kara Goldin:Hire right the first time. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash Kara Golden. Then promote it to use LinkedIn Jobs new AI assistant, making it easier and faster to find top candidates. That's linkedin.com slash Kara Golden to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Daily Look. The new year hits and suddenly I want to clean everything, organize everything and upgrade everything, including my wardrobe. And that's exactly why I'm excited about our next sponsor, Daily Look. Between hosting this podcast and honestly just living life, I do not have time to go shopping.

5:24I'm

5:25Kara Goldin:done with the I have nothing to wear mornings. And in 2026, I'm officially stepping into my stylish era. Thanks to daily look. I'm also pretty particular about what I wear. So trusting some random algorithm just isn't for me. What I love about daily look is that you're paired with a real personal stylist who actually gets your style. And when sweater weather hits, Somehow they send exactly what I want before I even realize I need it. Daily Look is the number one highest rated premium personal styling service for women. And it's easy to see why. You're matched with your own dedicated stylist who curates a box based on your body type, personal style, and lifestyle.

6:12Kara Goldin:You can try up to 12 premium pieces at home on your schedule without the hassle of shopping. Whether you need something effortlessly polished for work or you're finally ready to retire, last year's stretched out sweaters, Daily Look has you covered. Getting started is simple. Fill out a quick style quiz, receive hand-selected pieces, keep what you love, and send back the rest. Shipping is free both ways, so it couldn't be easier. I can't stop talking about Daily Look. The quality is amazing. The styles are so, so good. And my stylist finally got me out of my black t-shirt everyday routine. I open my closet now and I actually feel excited about what to wear.

7:01Kara Goldin:It's time to get your own personal stylist with Daily Look. Head to dailylook.com to take your style quiz and use code CARAGOLDEN for 50 % off your first order. Once again, that's dailylook.com dot com and use code Kara Golden for 50 % off your first order. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Kara Golden Show. Today, I'm so excited to be joined by Darren Litt, who is the co-founder and CEO of an incredible brand that hopefully you have tried. And if you haven't, you definitely will after our episode. It's called Haya and the children's wellness brand reimagining kids' vitamins with science-backed formulas, transparent ingredients, and absolutely no sugar or artificial additives.

7:57Darren's journey is a powerful example of how a very simple personal frustration can turn into a category-defining business.

8:06Kara Goldin:What started as a concern about what most kids' vitamins are really made of becoming Haya, a profitable, fast-growing, mission-driven brand that recently sold a majority stake in a deal that was pretty, pretty nice. So we'll get Darren to talk about that a bit. And I'm excited to dive into how Darren built trust with parents from day one, how he scaled Haya in a very crowded and regulated category and what he's learned about leadership, focus, and long-term vision along the way. So Darren, welcome to the Kara Golden Show. So excited to meet you and congratulations on everything. Thank you so much.

8:55Excited to be here.

8:56Kara Goldin:Very excited to have you here. So Darren, for our listeners just discovering Haya, if you can give a short snippet of the brand. What is the brand and what was the personal moment, I guess, that led you to start it? Yeah, so we're a kids health company. I'll give you kind of a spiel and the background of why I started it. My background was personally in tech. I actually went to law school in a very, very, very brief career as a lawyer, but I ended up as a tech entrepreneur. And when I had kids, I started thinking a little bit more about health and wellness for my kids. I was not thinking about starting a business.

9:32But I was thinking, how do I be healthier for my two daughters? I asked our pediatrician, should I be giving our kids vitamins, probiotics? She suggested a brand. I buy the brand off Amazon that comes in a plastic tub. I see all these gummies stuck together, bright colored, layer of sugar at the bottom. And I say, this seems a little weird. So I asked my friends, is this what you do? Do you give them these gummy vitamins? Everybody said, yeah, we do. Our kids like the taste. I don't really know if it does anything. And so for me as a dad, but also an entrepreneur, I said, this seems a little weird.

10:05So I basically got to work talking to everybody. My background was not in the vitamins, minerals, supplements space. But I said, I'm going to become an expert on this. I talked to scientists and nutritionists and manufacturers, obviously a million parents. And I said, what is it that I would want to create for myself, for my wife, for our friends, for our kids and for our friends' kids? And so that's really the genesis of Haya was let's make something that I think I want, which would be kind of the healthiest possible ingredients. Transparency. We want it to look fun and exciting. We do not want to cut corners when it comes to what we actually put in the vitamin itself.

10:43And that was the beginning of it.

10:45Kara Goldin:So you've said that most kids' vitamins are essentially candy. So can you describe a little bit about some of the ingredients and what you were seeing? And really, what did you think? Like, I've thought about this many, many times and had this frustration as well. But I think a lot of people don't really understand what are the ingredients in so much food, but also vitamins overall. I think, so again, I wasn't an expert in the space, but I think intuitively all parents realize that something isn't right in that kid's vitamin world, right? You buy a brand off Amazon or you walk down the hall and you could just look at the brand.

11:36Brands have personality and they speak to you. And sometimes you'll see the actual vitamin. And when you see all these gummies stuck together and you see the bright colors and you see a layer of sugar on the back and you turn around and you read the ingredients. And there's 15 ingredients that you don't really know the name of. And the purpose of kids vitamins is truly to promote health. and you ask yourself a question as a parent you say wait a minute am i doing the opposite here am i being told this is supposed to be something healthy for my kids and i'm actually giving them five five grams of sugar every morning or i'm giving them artificial dyes or i'm giving them you know some fillers that they don't need or gummy additives that promote cavities there's just a lot that's intuitively backwards from the space i think that's one of the reasons the brand resonated because we kind of poked at that a little bit.

12:31And we say to parents, in a transparent way, is this what you're doing? This isn't what we do anymore. We think there's a...

12:38Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by Daily Look. The new year hits and suddenly I want to clean everything, organize everything, and upgrade everything, including my wardrobe. And that's exactly why I'm excited about our next sponsor, Daily Look. Between hosting this podcast and honestly just living life, I do not have time to go shopping. I'm done with the I have nothing to wear mornings. And in 2026, I'm officially stepping into my stylish era thanks to Daily Look. I'm also pretty particular about what I wear. So trusting some random algorithm just isn't for me. What I love about Daily Look is that you're paired with a real personal stylist who actually gets your style.

13:28Kara Goldin:And when sweater weather hits, somehow they send exactly what I want before I even realize I need it. Daily Look is the number one highest rated premium personal styling service for women. And it's easy to see why. You're matched with your own dedicated stylist who curates a box based on your body type, personal style, and lifestyle. You can try up to 12 premium pieces at home on your schedule without the hassle of shopping. Whether you need something effortlessly polished for work or you're finally ready to retire last year's stretched out sweaters, Daily Look has you covered. Getting started is simple.

14:11Kara Goldin:Fill out a quick style quiz, receive hand-selected pieces, keep what you love, and send back the rest. Shipping is free both ways, so it couldn't be easier. I can't stop talking about Daily Look. The quality is amazing, the styles are so, so good, and my stylist finally got me out of my black t-shirt everyday routine. I open my closet now, and I actually feel excited about what to wear. It's time to get your own personal stylist with Daily Look. Head to dailylook.com to take your style quiz and use code CARAGolden for 50 % off your first order. Once again, that's dailylook.com and use code CARAGolden for 50 % off your first order.

15:03Kara Goldin:This episode of the Cara Golden Show is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're building a business, every hire matters. The right people in the right roles can change the trajectory of your company. And as you look ahead to 2026, whether you're expanding your team or being more strategic about growth, hiring with intention is essential. That's where LinkedIn Jobs comes in. LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant helps you find qualified candidates faster and with more confidence. So you're not just filling roles, you're building a team that lasts. In fact, LinkedIn hires are 30 % more likely to stay at least a year compared to the leading competitor.

15:49Kara Goldin:That kind of retention has real impact. And finding the right hire doesn't have to feel overwhelming. With LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant, you can skip the guesswork and jargon. It filters candidates based on your role's specific criteria and highlights top matches. So you're not wasting time digging through endless resumes. When you're running a business, you need a hiring process that's fast and focused. LinkedIn's AI assistant delivers 25 strong candidate suggestions each day, giving you the chance to invite the right people to apply and keep the process moving. It's a smarter, faster way to hire, and it's why I rely on LinkedIn jobs.

16:34Kara Goldin:Hire right the first time. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash Kara Golden. Then promote it to use LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant, making it easier and faster to find top candidates. That's linkedin.com slash Kara Golden to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. So you came from the tech industry. You did not come from the vitamin industry or consumer products industry. So what did you do first like to figure this out? I don't think it matters if you come from the tech industry or you come from the vitamin industry or what industry. I think if you're an entrepreneur, you got to just get going.

17:17Right. And so you just start talking to people and nobody's really that much of an expert on a new space they enter. So you just have conversation after conversation. So for me, it was talking to nutritionists. Right. It was talking to scientists. It was talking to vitamin manufacturers about what it is that you can make. It was talking to branding experts. It was talking to a lot of parents to say, hey, is this, you know, what do you like about this? What do you not like about this? Fortunately for me, I'm a parent myself. My wife is a parent. A lot of our friends are parents. We deal with a ton of kids.

17:52And so we were right in the thick of things of understanding, you know, what it is that parents want because we're the target market.

18:00Kara Goldin:Definitely. So transparency and trust were non-negotiable, it sounds like, from day one. I remember when we were starting Hint, many of the manufacturers were like, well, you just have to put this ingredient in the product in order to produce it. And I asked why, and many people didn't have an answer. And so I thought the minute they didn't have an answer, I realized that, you know, it's probably they're just going along with it. And we need to dig deeper and keep making phone calls. I'm curious what your experience was as well as you were trying to do something so different. Exact same experience, right?

18:43In our space, there's a lot of contract manufacturers. The contract manufacturers are really the ones that manufacture the product. And so when you have conversations with them, you know, I came at it from a parent's perspective, not a, you know, a tech person's perspective or a scientist's perspective, a parent's perspective. And I'd say, well, why does it have to be brightly colored? Why do we need five grams of sugar? And they would answer those and similar questions with, well, that's because what kids want. And I'm thinking to myself, well, that's not what parents want. And I'm telling you that maybe kids like that stuff, but they like it because that's what's presented to them.

19:22Of course, if you're going to present to them two products, one's super bright colors and has five grams of sugar, probably going to want that the same way that they're going to probably grab, you know, candy from the stores of, you know, CVS or Walgreens, you know, that's what they might grab, but you don't present it to them. And so our thesis was, let's have the vitamin itself or all the vitamins that we make be as healthy as we possibly can. And let's dress it up around the actual vitamin. So let's make really cool refillable bottles. We're going to make those bottles brightly colored. We're going to send it with stickers.

20:02So you and your kid decorate your product with sticker. And then every month, we're going to send you a little game. You're going to play that game. And so it's a very fun brand, but the fun and the excitement isn't in the ingredients. The fun and the excitement isn't in the bright colors on the vitamin itself. So nothing you put in your body is designed to be fun. That's designed to be healthy. The fun is wrapped around it.

20:26Kara Goldin:So the minute that you had this idea and you're doing the research, but then you actually get it off the ground, how long did that process take? I'd say that process took a couple of years, a couple of years of like a million questions. Half of those million questions were probably seen as dumb questions. But I think that's, you know, the old no dumb questions. I think you got to just power through and become an expert on the space. So the go-to-market strategy, how did you figure that out, what you were going to do? I'm sure there was many decisions. Do you launch on your own website, Amazon, in drugstores like a CVS, Target?

21:15Kara Goldin:What were some of the decisions? Or Whole Foods or some of the other natural stores. How did you think about that and how did you make those decisions? My thinking with this brand in this space is we have to have some type of a conversation. Do you have retail packaging? We all claim there's a little conversation, but there's only so much you could say on, you know, a package. In this industry, we need 30, 60 seconds of conversation to say, this is what's happening in the kids' vitamin space. Does this sound right for you? So to us, the logical way to do that was on our website and start as a D2C brand where we can really kind of communicate back and forth.

21:55We could talk to our customers directly. We could have a ton of educational ads. We can have emails that we sent. So we launched basically March of 2020, right around COVID, is when we launched. And it was all, you know, it was 100 % on our website. And we grew the brand 100 % on websites. So we didn't even launch Amazon until a few months ago. We were just a rocket ship brand where we controlled the message. And that really happened direct to consumer.

22:27Kara Goldin:So you almost have two audiences. You have the parents that you have to kind of hook who have the credit cards. And then you have the kids who are not only tasting the product, but your packaging is so great. And, you know, there's activities and really a kid experience that goes along. Kidsperience, I guess you call it, that goes along with it. So, first of all, how did you think about that? Like, how do you really engage to consumers in that process? And I guess subscription was always such a great driver as well in sort of forming the habit in order to have that growth strategy. But I'm just curious what advice you'd give to others about that.

23:20You're dead on. We have two customers. And not only do we have two customers and parents and kids, they are the pickiest customers ever, right? So a parent of a little toddler, they have their antennas up and then you have a toddler himself or herself, right? They're especially picky. So I think what that teaches you is you can't cut corners here on product or messaging. You got to really execute well. I think that's why in our space in particular, there really hasn't been a standout brand. And, you know, since, you know, Flintstones gave way to some of these gummy brands, but, but since then there really hasn't been a standout brand.

24:02Like we see Haya as that like true standout kids brands. And when you do have two audiences like that, you do have to kind of like bifurcate a little bit, like the way that you talk to customers. So in our advertisements, like our Facebook ads, TikTok ads, podcast ads, Google ads, what have you, we're really talking to parents, right? They're the ones, as you mentioned, they're the ones taking out their credit card. And we're talking about ingredients and we're talking about trust. And we're talking about how this is, you know, are you sure that kind of these gummy vitamins filled with sugar? Is that what you want?

24:36Then when the package arrives, we flip it a little bit, right? And so the package itself, yes, it's meant to appeal to parents in the sense we want to be trusted. But our messaging and most of what we do at that point, it flips to kids. So the colors that we choose, we're not choosing those colors because we think a 40-year-old mom wants those colors. We're choosing it because we think it appeals to kids. We did a bunch of really cool collabs with Disney where we have Disney branded bottles. we did a collab with Mattel where we have uh Barbie and Hot Wheels branded bottles again is that for the parents no that's for that's for the the kids so I think it's a pretty hard industry to crack because of that but I think we did a pretty good job thinking about it in those two ways and then as you mentioned kind of subscription subscription is a fantastic business model if it works for your business our products in the kids category we have a number of products now we have vitamins, probiotics, greens, powders.