816 Sunny Beutler: CEO of Sunrider

0:00I 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.

0:09Kara Goldin: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. Today's episode is brought to you by Jones Road Beauty. I have to say, before I found Jones Road Beauty, my makeup routine felt way too complicated. Too many products, too many steps, and sometimes the result just felt heavy.

0:56Kara Goldin:That's why I love Jones Road Beauty. The brand was created by legendary makeup artist Bobby Brown, whose philosophy has always been about makeup that enhances your skin instead of covering it up. One product I'm obsessed with is Miracle Balm. I just tap it on with my fingers, no brushes, no complicated routine, and it instantly gives my skin that effortless glow. You can use it as a highlighter, bronzer, blush, or even a lip tint, So it replaces multiple steps and gives you that your skin but better look in under a minute. I've also been using their Just Enough Tinted Moisturizer. It evens out skin tone and hides redness, but still feels incredibly lightweight and natural.

1:42Kara Goldin:And Jones Road just launched their Shadow Stick, a creamy eyeshadow stick you swipe on and blend with your fingers. No brushes, no fuss, and the neutral shades are perfect for everyday looks. What I love most is that all Jones Road formulas are clean and packed with skin-loving ingredients, so your makeup actually feels good on your skin. Modern-day makeup that's clean, strategic, and multifunctional for effortless routines. For a limited time, our listeners are getting a free shimmer face oil on their first purchase when they use code CARAGolden at checkout. Just head to jonesroadbeauty.com and use code CARAGolden at checkout.

2:26Kara Goldin:After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Cara Golden Show. Have you ever stopped to think about where your wellness products actually come from? The sourcing, the philosophy, the intention behind the formulas? our next guest has, well, actually, she grew up in the business. What started over 40 years ago as a family vision, blending ancient Eastern herbal traditions with modern Western science, has grown into a global wellness company operating in nearly 50 countries. But carrying forward a legacy brand in today's fast-changing marketplace takes more than history.

3:13Kara Goldin:It takes great products, reinvention, courage, and clarity. So today, I cannot wait to hear how stepping into leadership of a family-founded, 40-year-old, family-owned company requires both honoring tradition and challenging it and why holistic health, entrepreneurship, and cultural heritage matters more than ever. So today, I'm excited to be joined by Sunny Butler, who is the CEO of Sunrider International, the original herbal wellness and beauty expert. So excited and honored to have you here. I love, love, love Sunrider. So very excited. Sunny, nice to meet you. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

3:59Kara Goldin:I'm excited to be here. Today's episode is brought to you by Jones Road Beauty. I have to say before I found Jones Road Beauty, my makeup routine felt way too complicated. Too many products, too many steps, and sometimes the result just felt heavy. That's why I love Jones Road Beauty. The brand was created by legendary makeup artist Bobby Brown, whose philosophy has always been about makeup that enhances your skin instead of covering it up. One product I'm obsessed with is Miracle Balm. I just tap it on with my fingers, no brushes, no complicated routine, and it instantly gives my skin that effortless glow.

4:39Kara Goldin:You can use it as a highlighter, bronzer, blush, or even a lip tint. So it replaces multiple steps and gives you that your skin but better look in under a minute. I've also been using their Just Enough Tinted Moisturizer. It evens out skin tone and hides redness, but still feels incredibly lightweight and natural. And Jones Road just launched their shadow stick, a creamy eyeshadow stick you swipe on and blend with your fingers. No brushes, no fuss, and the neutral shades are perfect for everyday looks. What I love most is that all Jones Road formulas are clean and packed with skin-loving ingredients, so your makeup actually feels good on your skin.

5:26Kara Goldin:Modern-day makeup that's clean, strategic, and multifunctional for effortless routines. For a limited time, our listeners are getting a free shimmer face oil on their first purchase when they use code CARAGolden at checkout. Just head to jonesroadbeauty.com and use code CARAGolden at checkout. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you. Absolutely. So for listeners who have been hiding under a rock for 40 years, just discovering Sunrider. How do you describe the brand? And then we'll get into the history. Like you said, we're definitely a mix of East meets West.

6:09My parents have a traditional medical background. My mother's a medical doctor, but my dad is a pharmacist and also an herbalist. He's probably one of the most well-known herbalists in the world. So he grew up making these herbal concoctions for himself because he had a really weak immune system. So I'd say our brand is very much a holistic blend of East meets West in order to heal your body naturally from within.

6:35Kara Goldin:I love it. Well, Sunrider was founded by your parents in the early 80s. So the earliest memory you have of the company? I love that question because I think about it a lot and it really grounds me. When I think about the company, my first thought is a smell because our first product is probably one of the first essential oils on the market. It's called Sunbreeze Oil, and it has this really beautiful menthol and cinnamon smell. And my dad would make it in our basement. He used it for himself because he was a competitive judo player. So every time I opened the basement door, it's that smell, you know, just it was so strong, but that's like the smell of home.

7:16Kara Goldin:And what does that product in particular do for the patient consumer? Yeah, he made it because he was a competitive judo player. He was one of the national champions in Taiwan when he was in college. And so he used it to heal his joints because he was so sore. He dislocated his elbow like three times, his shoulder a couple times. And he was really lucky that my mom's a medical doctor and just popped everything right back in for him. But he was really sore all the time. So he would rub this Sun Breeze oil all over his body. Wow, that's awesome. Well, I love that product. It's so good. So you originally built a career in law before stepping into Sunrider.

7:57Kara Goldin:Did you always know that you were going to be stepping into this business? No, I think probably different from a lot of traditional Chinese families, because my parents are from Taiwan to Hong Kong. They never forced us. So they always wanted us to join and they made it known, but they always gave us a choice. So I studied law, my sister studied law, my brother's a medical doctor, another one who's really into IT, another one who's really into biochemistry. So we were all given a choice, you know, you can do your own career, you can come back. And I actually, I had to pray about it a lot because I wasn't sure, but I finally decided that doing a little work is good.

8:37I can help people doing that, but doing Sunrider, I could help thousands and thousands of people with their wellness and with their financial health. So I decided to come back to Sunrider and my parents were happy that I chose it on my own, but they were also told me this is a 24-7 job and you just have to do whatever I say whenever I want. So I said, okay, I can do it. So from that point, I just went 100 % into Sunrider.

9:05Kara Goldin:So I would imagine stepping into a company that has been run by somebody else and your parents, they had ideas about the business. And, you know, you obviously want to carry that on, but also want to expand and help grow the company. And so do you remember one example where maybe that was something that you had to face challenge in those early days? Yeah, I worked for my parents for 15 years before I became CEO. And I worked in a lot of different departments. And we have kind of a split business model. So part of it is retail sales with franchises throughout Asia. And then we also have a direct selling model.

9:53and so a lot of decisions were made between those two because I had to decide in which market we wanted to really push retail in which market we want to push direct selling and I often did not agree with my parents and and there are a lot of times we had to work on our communication but I think we work really well together actually and I learned so much from them and so we went through the transition we still disagree on things it's a given because I'm not them and they're not me but as long as we communicate about it and we really express ourselves well, I think we avoid a lot of the conflict.

10:30So it's just a lot of mutual respect and I respect my parents a lot.

10:34Kara Goldin:So for anybody growing up in a family business, you know, as you mentioned, you made a decision. Your parents encouraged you to do what was right for you, but going outside of a company and not just having the experience of working for parents. And obviously, you went into law, very probably process-oriented that you were able to bring back it into the company. For any new founder listening, we actually have a lot, in addition to many other people, we have a lot of college students who are thinking about this, maybe some of them who have a family business that they think maybe one day I'll go and join.

11:19Kara Goldin:But what would you say about going outside and getting that experience and then coming back in? What did that bring you? I think that it's very valuable because when we're so self-insulated in our company, we can often roll ideas in circles in our head and all of us are like same thing, right? So we think about the same thing the same way. And that's really great to get outside perspective. and I always like to ask our board members too who were not with us from the very beginning what their perspective is too because it's super important for me to know what other people are thinking and not just get stuck inside my own head.

11:53So when my kids, we wanna keep this a family business for many generations so I'm the second generation in it and my parents have 20 grandkids and so we're thinking these kids cannot all work in Sunrider. So whoever wants to can but we want them to get outside experience for sure. So we already have kind of like a family constitution, a plan written out. We'll introduce Sunrider to them, but we want them to get outside experience for at least like five years so that they can have outside ideas, have outside think, so that when they come back into Sunrider, we're not so insulated.

12:26Kara Goldin:So Sunrider is blending ancient Eastern herbal traditions with Western science. So I would imagine 40 years ago when your parents were working on this, it was, you know, herbs was just this woo-woo kind of funky thing today. Today, I think it's much more respected. But why is that synergy so important, the Eastern herbal traditions with Western science, to you knowing what you know? Well, if you've ever tasted traditional Chinese medicine, you know how horrible it is. It's probably something that you cannot swallow. I mean, when I was younger, my aunt would make things for me. I'm like, I can't even swallow this down.

13:14And she'd say, you have to have three whole cups of this. so I think it's really important that we combine the two not only for the taste and flavor but for the efficacy of the product a lot of herbs are just ground up and they're not concentrated they're not cleansed properly they just take the dried herb or any part of it and they grind it up and put in a capsule but for us we really want to make sure that it's effective because people expect something that works and they want to feel it you know pretty quickly especially nowadays Everyone has that immediate gratification. And so we try to make sure that all of our products are very highly concentrated and that they're cleaned very well.

13:52Our facilities are spotless. We get our GMP certification every year. And the person who inspects is always like, this is one of the cleanest facilities we've ever been in. And that's important to us because I feed this to my children. We trust everything on ourselves. So I want to make sure that everything is as clean as possible and that it's highly concentrated and really effective. So that's where the Western comes in to make sure that the standards are there and that we get everything as effective and as efficient as possible. So Sunrider manufactures its own products and vertical integration has been so important, maintaining quality and trust.

14:32Kara Goldin:It's not what most companies do, but you all have done there. You talked about quality assurance, etc. Can you talk to the consumer about why that's so important? I mean, why, like, is it all regulated? Is it not? I mean, I know the answer, but I'm just curious what your response is to that. I would say it depends on the product. Some of it is regulated, some of it's not. It depends on the country, too. So every country has their own regulations. EU is very strict. And so we have to be really careful about all of our testing and we make sure we adhere to all the standards. And so when we go through the process, I'm always thinking, how do we make it as bulletproof as possible?

15:17Something that can't fail. So when we're doing, we do lots of testing. We make everything ourselves because we know that this is a legacy company. I want this to last generations. But the only way I can secure that is if I have my own manufacturing. Because if you've ever gone to manufacture, if you don't buy in large quantities, they discontinue something, right? So everything gets discontinued all the time. Fashion changes all the time as well. They don't keep the same cloth and stuff. So we're just trying to secure the future. So I want something that my dad made 45 years ago today. And the only way I can do that is if we made it ourselves.

15:54Because we don't make everything in huge, huge batches. A lot of it is small batch. So we just have to make sure that we have all the materials that we need, all the processes so that everything maintains its quality from day one to what now, you know, 40 plus years later.

16:11Kara Goldin:I love it. So the company is operating in nearly 50 countries. How do you do that? I mean, how do you maintain? There's so many different, as you mentioned, regulations that exist in all of these different countries. How do you do that while kind of honoring the products? Is it as complicated as it seems? I would say it's complicated, But I also think that you're only as strong as the people who surround you. So we have a really great legal team. We hired a really great chief legal officer, Janet. And under her direction, a lot of it has smoothed out. We have really good production people also, QC people who look into all these regulations for us.

16:57And we also hire consultants because we don't know everything and every country is very different. So we just have to make sure we have the right people with us. And I think having a strong team really sets the foundation for everything.

17:10Kara Goldin:So let's talk about some of the products. You and I were chatting about some of your favorites. I'd love to hear maybe some of your favorites, but then also what are kind of the, are there any runaway kind of bestsellers? People look to you for certain products. and I'm curious also if that differs by country. Well, we look at everything globally because we produce for every country. But my favorite, like I said before, was Alpha-20C. It's an immune booster because I have a lot of allergies just like my dad did when he was growing up. And so I need something to help me get through the day. And so Alpha-20C really helps boost my immune system and also helps prevent me from getting sick because I have four kids, they get sick all the time.

17:57So just trying to keep that immunity up so I don't have to skip work or be out. And my kid's favorite is Vita Dophilus. This is a product that's a probiotic. And it's also one of the very first products as well. And it has apple pectin in it that protects the lactobacillus as it goes through your gut. And so it's very natural. It tastes so good. I remember when you were little, my youngest brother, he used to rip put it in like 10 packets at a time and just take them by himself when he was like two. And my mom would come in like yelling. She's like, what did you do? He just ate all of this, you know, Vitadophilus because it tastes so good.

18:37One of our top sellers worldwide is a product called Fortune Delight. It's a cleansing beverage based off of Camellia Sinensis. And it really, but we take out the caffeine. So it's non-addictive. So it's good. It's safe for little kids to drink. It's safe for adults to drink. And so it's a really great cleansing beverage. And when you drink it, it breaks up all the fat in your system and it helps you kind of get it out of your system without digesting it. And so we often do this demo where we pour like oil on our hands and then we pour Fortune Delight and it just, you can see it cut through the oil.

19:15So that's probably our top seller worldwide. And it comes in a few different flavors. It tastes really good, but it definitely has that cleansing effect, but it's non-addictive to your body. So I think that's one of our top sellers everywhere. And for me now, as I get older, I love the skincare. So my dad has a real focus on skincare too, because he said he wants his skin to look beautiful as he ages, and my mother as well. So we've really put a lot into skincare lately, just natural botanicals.

19:49Kara Goldin:And what was this, or what is the skincare kind of runaway bestseller? Most recently we, well, okay, it's called Candescent. My dad made the name because he said it wanted, he wanted to make you feel incandescent. So we love the name Candescent. And one of our top sellers is our deep moisture lotion. And it's just a really light moisturizer, but it works really well. So it can keep that moisture in all day. And most recently we have what we call a biocellulose mask and it's made out of coconut. And so it's biodegradable and it adheres to your, like it's like a second skin on you. It feels like it just, when you put it on, it just adheres completely and it's super hydrating.

20:36It has a beautiful rose scent to it, but it's very hydrating and you put it on after your skincare at night. So I love that one because it gives you a real glow.

20:45Kara Goldin:That one's terrific too. And the eye patches as well are super great. Are those coconut? Yeah, my husband likes those. Are those coconut as well? Yeah, it's coconut based. Yeah, it's coconut based. My husband loves those, yeah. So when you're making these decisions for products in the company, I mean, everybody talks about innovation. So how do you make these decisions? You have over 400 SKUs now. How do you make these decisions to develop more products, discontinue products? I mean, is there some metric that you've used in the past that you've thought we've got to go here or we've got to discontinue some products as well?

21:27I think creating products is the fun part. The discontinuing is like the sad part because, you know, you love a product, but it just didn't sell very well. So you have to stop it. So but for discontinuing, we just look at sales globally. because we make everything, you know, ourselves. So we just look at it globally, say, you know, what hasn't been selling very well. We communicate with the markets first and say, you know, if you can sell this to a certain point, we'll keep it. But if you can't, then we're going to discontinue it next year. And so we keep people informed and let them know about that.

21:56But it's really sad. And I often have people emailing me, like personally, you know, messaging me online. They're like, don't discontinue this, please. I love it. I'm like, well, you got to sell it, share with more people, tell them about it. But for creating products, I think we often give our R &D team like a little heart attack because we're coming up with so many ideas and want to make so many different kinds of products. So we, you know, we start off with maybe like 50 different products that we want to make. And then we have to whittle it down. We talk to a lot of people, we do a lot of market research.

22:28I ask all the different markets too, because every market is very different on what they want. And we want to make sure that our top selling markets really want a product before we actually introduce it. So the whole process takes about three years for us from like concept inception until final launch, because we're constantly testing. We go through lots of iterations. And my daughter, who's 14, helps me test a lot of products, including the skincare. And she's always looking for the new little boxes from our manufacturing, because like every month we sample products together. And, you know, we go through all the, I asked for her opinions.

23:05I asked my husband. I mean, we just, we go through this and it's really fun for them to try it out. But that's the very much the fun part is creating something new. But we get a lot of input from a lot of different people.

23:17Kara Goldin:I love it. So when you think back on building what you and your family have done, but you, since you've become CEO, is there kind of a hard moment where you just thought, But gosh, I don't know how we're going to get through this, but you did. That's happened a lot. I think businesses have a lot of ups and downs. And often I wonder, why did this happen? I mean, when the pandemic happened, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. We are very much an in-person business. We hold lots of meetings in person. We go to lots of shows. And it was, you know, kind of surprising when that happened. But we quickly switched over to hybrid or we switched over to fully remote in certain locations.