Founder Feature: Linda Xu of Huā Wellness

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0:58I honestly thought there was something wrong with me. And in the middle of night, I was just like, I can't sleep. I told my boyfriend, I think I need to go to urgent care. And the ER did a bunch of tests on me. They couldn't really find anything. But at the end, they were like, yeah, you're just extremely stressed out. And that was when I really realized how physical symptoms could manifest from just stress. Hey, everybody, this is Caitlin Bricker, editor at Startup CPG. We are back with another founder feature. Stress got you down? Well, we might have a solution for you. Today we're talking with Linda Hsu, founder of Hwa Wellness.

1:43Hwa Wellness is an NYC-based brand with a mission to reconnect people to nature through targeted natural stress relief products, green space advocacy, and embodying the urban wellness lifestyle. Born out of Linda's own battle with burnout, Hwa's goal is to help people manage stress so that they can live their best lives. I think we all need a little bit of that. After you listen to this episode, we invite you to chill out and go touch some grass. Enjoy.

2:14Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin, and today I'm here with Linda Hsu, founder of Huawei Wellness. Linda, welcome to the show. Hi, it's so nice to be here. I'm really excited. I am very excited to have you here. We got samples of your products during the shelfies and then we got to cross paths out in Expo West. I was so excited to meet you in person. Now I am equally excited to have you here on the show. Yeah, it was such a coincidence. We just like bumped each other in that bathroom at Expo West. I love how things work out that way. It's such a large community, but the world seems to get smaller and smaller within CPG and it worked out beautifully.

2:53So I want to get started and I'd love for you to introduce Hwa Wellness to our listeners. For anyone not familiar with your brand, can you tell us what Hwa Wellness is? Yeah, definitely. So Hwa Wellness, we are a natural supplement brand focused on stress relief among other health areas. And our mission is to really reconnect people back with nature through our targeted natural ingredients, green space advocacy, and just embodying that like urban wellness lifestyle. And our ultimate goal is to provide better solutions for stress management so people can really live their best lives. I love that.

3:31I think even people who are super chill can still use a little bit of stress management in their lives. So tell me about your star ingredients that makes this a stress management product. Yeah, sure. So our hero product is called Chill Switch. It has ashwagandha, alfini, gaba, holy basil, leet, and cacao seed. And a lot of people take those ingredients individually, but you kind of get this like power formula with all of it together. And we don't just use any, you know, ashwagandha, alfini out there. We use patented forms that have been clinically studied in human trials. We think the landscape out there, there's a lot of ashwagandha out there, but you don't know the potency, the efficacy, and how strong it is and we really make sure to take the best ingredients.

4:19I feel like cacao seed is not something that I typically see in supplements or honestly like cacao seed on an ingredient label. So how did you land on using cacao seed in your products? Yeah, cacao seed, it's rich in tryptophan, which is actually a precursor to making serotonin. So it's a mood booster. We pick these ingredients because some are you know good with just decreasing kind of like hyper neuroactivity in the brain but then there's also ingredients that complements with like mood and serotonin and there's a lot of connections once you get into the space to learn about it between like your mood and your focus and like cognitive ability as well so when you're feeling stressed obviously you're not happy but you're also not like you can't perform from like a mental performance perspective as well so they all really complement each other really well.

5:18I have to ask did you create this product out of a personal need or did you just simply see a need for it in the market? Definitely it was inspired by a personal need so my background is in like the healthcare space. I studied engineering, I went into corporate healthcare. And then I was on the health tech side for many years working as a product manager for a lot of health tech startups. And the ironic thing of working in healthcare, which I don't know if I hear enough about is like, it's actually kind of bad for your health in that it's a very stressful and oftentimes toxic environment and work environment.

5:59And I just got deeply burnt out and stressed. And I really wanted to find a solution that could help me every day handle such like a stress intensive job. And I really couldn't find one that really worked for me. Was there a moment in your career where you said, okay, this is it? Like, did you reach a certain point of burnout where you said, no more, no more of the health tech and I need this product in my life? Yeah, I think I can pinpoint a time when I really wasn't sleeping very much during my last corporate startup job. And everything felt right. Like, oh, the mission is to help people with their health care.

6:46But I couldn't really do that when I couldn't take care of my own health. And I got to a point where my heart was racing every day. They're like heart palpitations and I couldn't sleep. And I honestly thought there was like something wrong with me. And in the middle of night, I was just like, I can't sleep. I told like my boyfriend, let's just like, I don't know, I think I need to go to urgent care or like check this out. And the urgent care at the time was like, Oh, you know, we don't have like the right tools here. And I want you to make sure this is not like a pulmonary embolism. I think it's that what they said, they like referred me to the ER.

7:24And it was just like a really scary experience because I never experienced physical symptoms of stress. And I didn't know what it was and what it could manifest. And the ER did a bunch of tests on me, they couldn't really find anything. But at the end, they were like, yeah, you're just like, extremely stressed out that your heart from a physical standpoint, as far as we can see is like fine but you're just really stressed and there wasn't really anything that they said they could do for me and that was when I really realized like how physical symptoms could manifest from just stress you think it's like not this like tangible thing right you think it's like more of a mental thing but then it started impacting me like that and I was like life is not worth like this level of stress in my life.

8:17So aside from creating your own product, did you then take a step away from your career? Or how did that transpire? At that time, I didn't quit then and there. But it really got me thinking seriously about it. It was a very crazy whirlwind experience to that company no longer exists, like they ran out of funding and it was a very dramatic experience but I started laying the groundwork of like kind of dissociating myself a little bit because I've always been this person who had really high expectations of myself like I wasn't capable of just like coasting you know like I was always giving 110 but then I just reached a point where it's like I just really need to be in a self preservation mode and just like do what I needed to get done.

9:11But if this company like I didn't feel value, like it's not worth putting in that extra effort that would harm my own mental and emotional stress. So I try to like learn, lay those groundwork and then figure out like what I want to do and also just take that time to reinvest in my own self care and redoing a lot of that damage. So I did that for a couple of months before I fully decided to quit. Good for you. I feel like that is such a big move, not only to make that move in your career, but also while you're experiencing those issues personally, like burnout is no joke. It feels like this ambiguous thing until you're in it and then it's life or death.

9:57That's what it feels like. You and I have talked before about the gender stress gap. Do you want to speak to that at all? Yeah, the gender stress gap is a real thing. It's basically that women experience twice as amount of stress compared to men on average. And yeah, I don't feel like people talk about it enough. it's this idea of women have to be this like super woman in the modern world where you're balancing career but also you're still expected to do a lot of like the child care the taking care of like elderly parents just maintaining the home and women tend to internalize the stress a lot of times whereas men can externalize it a lot better and like dissociate it from themselves so yeah, if you look it up, there's like an article in New York Times about it and there's many research article about it.

10:51So it's definitely a real phenomenon that I don't think enough people are talking about. It's definitely worth the discussion. That is for sure. Again, it sounds like something that's so ambiguous and so just out there until it's happening to you and then it becomes so real, so similar to burnout. So are you targeting your products towards women? or are they made for anybody? So the formula anyone can take, but definitely from like a messaging standpoint of what we see as a gap in the market is addressing women, young women dealing with corporate jobs at the beginning of their career that have that core like stress issue.

11:35But yeah, anyone can technically take it. But I think from a messaging, marketing, and branding perspective, that is like what the target audience we're focusing on. I'd love to hear more about your other products outside of Chill Switch and how those are addressing stress in our lives too. Yeah, definitely. So our other bestseller is our Whole Foods Marine Magnesium Powder. So it's marine based. We source it from red algae and seawater. So that one is very popular and it's very related with stress because it helps with sleep, as well as like muscle recovery, headaches, like muscle cramping. But yeah, it's one of the most versatile minerals that your body needs.

12:18Every cell in your body requires it to function. And it's one of the most common deficiencies. So very related with stress. If you're stressed, you're not sleeping. And then vice versa, if you're not sleeping, you can be more likely to be stressed out. So that's one of our very popular products as well. Magnesium is such a magical ingredient. I had no idea what it could do for me until I started taking it. And then when I tried your product, it tasted good too. So there's always that added bonus of it not tasting overly salty or like seawater, but having that like nice little fizz when it goes into the glass.

12:57It really is an all-star ingredient, and I think it's not talked about enough. We hear a lot about adaptogens, but I think magnesium needs to be in the spotlight more. Definitely. Yeah, yeah. It's just like a very versatile ingredient that if anyone is like super new to supplements as a whole, I would say like magnesium is a great first one to start with. I would agree with that. We're not doctors or pharmacists. We can't diagnose or prescribe, but speaking from personal experience. So I'm really curious about the transition from going to corporate to being a solopreneur, because correct me if I'm wrong, but you're building this business on your own, right?

13:38How did that look for you? And what was that transition like going from it sounds like a very high powered, very high stress job working on a team of people to then taking this idea for your own business and hitting the ground running, bootstrapping and all? Yeah, it's definitely a very different environment. And I think for me, there's a lot of confidence. Product management world is what I knew I was comfortable in it. And in that role, whatever new job I get, like in the beginning, I might feel a little less confident, but I quickly become the expert on an area of that product. and I advise the engineering team, the design team, marketing teams, and work with all these stakeholders.

14:22And you really build up the confidence because you know what you're talking about. You're like an expert on that product and people go to you for questions. In the startup world and bootstrapping, it's like you're kind of starting over in a sense. Like you have to learn not just like one area. You are exposed to all the functions. so there's definitely that you know I've always experienced imposter syndrome to an extent but I think it's even more pronounced when you're in this like bootstrapped solopreneur journey because suddenly it's like okay I don't necessarily know what I'm doing day-to-day and you kind of just have to figure that out and like be okay with it and continue to go with it so I think that's the Biggest difference in a corporate role, there is a lot more structured.

15:11You have a role description, you know what you're doing. And then in the entrepreneurial world, you're just like anything, you know, like you do everything. Yeah. We'll be right back. Are you going to crush it on Amazon this year? It's such an important channel, but it's so hard to do alone. And most agencies are a total ripoff. We can't afford$5 ,000 a month and a commission on our sales. They just don't get it. That's why I love our partners at Daybreak. They are full service, meaning they do the creative work, the listings, the logistics, and of course, all the ads, all with the most reasonable retainer out there.

15:44I work with them personally. I'm so grateful we have such a good partner to recommend out to you, our community. They do evaluate your product first to see if it might be a fit. So if you want them to have a look, email them, startupcpg at daybreak.agency, and they'll do a free audit for you. Good luck, everyone.

16:03so how do you prioritize what's best for your brand or what next steps you should take when you wake up in the morning what's the first thing that's on your mind and then what do you have for long-term goals for your business great question i'm still like grappling with that from time to time but i think having reflection moments are really key i try to do what i call like a dump list. And I do that either every evening or sometimes when I first wake up in the morning, just basically get everything in my brain out on paper where I can see it. And then I can kind of think about, okay, what I prioritize for this week or this day.

16:47What's also useful that I've been doing now is like kind of quarterly planning which is what's like one or two overarching goal for the quarter because I think as a solopreneur you can be very lost on what to focus on like things are changing every day and you can technically spend time doing anything but yeah I think having a couple like high level goals for the quarter and then you can focus on like smaller concrete actions that support those goals. And that has helped me keep focus. It's so funny that you mentioned the dump list because I'm looking right at my computer right now. And one of my bookmark tabs is my own personal brain dump.

17:33So I do the same thing. It's just like the best way to not forget anything that's going on in your head, because it might seem like a very fleeting thought, but it might be groundbreaking once you actually execute on it. Right, right. I love that similarity between us. I wish more people would have dump lists. And it helped just feel better. Otherwise, it just feels like there's so much things just like swimming around my brain and I like need to just like get it out somewhere. Exactly. Like we have these things in our head and if we don't say it, we need to write it down. Otherwise, it's giving it a space in our head and a place to live instead of an exit.

18:07Figure it out. So you're still figuring things out day by day. What would you say the biggest challenge is that you're wrestling with right now? I think there's a lot of distractions. There's a lot of, you know, when you go meet other founders and learn about their stories, you get a lot of good advice. But sometimes you get like, oh, you have to do this or you have to do that. So I think the challenge right now is staying on like, okay, this is what I'm focused on right now. And this is going to move the needle the most. and while I have all these systems to try to remain grounded and focus on it I think it's so easy to be pulled in different directions and when you get tons of inbound emails all the time that say they're gonna like do xyz for your business I think that is like one of the hardest and you know when you're a solopreneur you're often get lonely and like easily discouraging when you like hit a wall or have an issue that you need to figure out.

19:05So I think it's like remaining grounded despite all the different distractions and like comparisons and what everyone else is doing. Unfortunately, I'm glad that you brought up the loneliness aspect of being a solopreneur. I feel like that's something that I hear too often. But this is a good segue into my next question. So how did the pandemic reinforce your connection to nature and how does that translate into your urban wellness approach for your brand? Yeah, it's funny you ask that when COVID hit, I was in LA and I was still working at the medical device company I was at and we were all working remotely.

19:46And in LA, a lot of times the activity you do is you drive from one place to another place and like it's a very driving car-based city and for the first time I think LA really discovered like walking around your neighborhood and like going to parks like I think the park culture that New York City has and other cities like it didn't really exist in LA before the pandemic of like people actually discovering this space and appreciating it and I was one of those people where that was really helpful in getting me through the pandemic. And I also still had a very high stress job. All my jobs have coincidentally been like very insane.

20:28So just like the daily habit of going out for a walk really helped me get through that time. And I just fell in love with the idea of like urban wellness and parks. And I think there's a time where everybody escaped all the cities and like went to Utah and Colorado and like much more like remote areas but honestly I think there's not enough love for like urban parks and how cities like New York have prioritized building these dream spaces that you can still be in the city and also be in nature at the same time and I think areas like Central Park is areas where you're so deep in Central Park you have no idea you're in the middle of New York City and I think that's like a really magical thing.

21:12So I'm assuming the phrase go touch grass holds a lot of truth to you. Whenever I'm getting too in my head about it or like, yeah, just go touch grass, like just get in touch with reality, go outside. And then our ethos of our brand is like, well, if you can't physically do that, then we try to bring that nature to you in the form of our ingredients. I really love that. I feel like I hear a lot about brands who are doing 1 % for the planet or other initiatives like that but urban wellness is not something that I hear about at all really so it's very refreshing to hear that that is a pillar for your brand yeah we're really excited about it we're so early in like the projects that we want to do but we definitely want to partner with community gardens and local parks we just did our first community event on last month where we did like a community picnic in Central Park, invited all of our customers and community in New York to have a picnic together.

22:10I saw on Instagram, it looked like a really good time. I wish I had more of a CPG community in my local community south of Boston, but hopefully we'll establish it here because we have some good parks. So I would love to know, what advice would you give to any other founders considering entering the wellness space? I would say for the wellness space, it's so, it's oftentimes feels very saturated and a lot of celebrity and influencer brands. And I would really focus on like, what would make you different as a brand? What is like the health area that you think is not focused enough? Or what is the particular messaging that even if that health area is being played out, what is like the particular messaging or group of people you want to target.

23:03And overall, I think another advice I have for just anyone starting out, like not even in wellness, I think is just start. There's always something you could get started on, even if it's, you know, only on weekends, or if you still have like a, you know, nine to five job, there's always something you could get started on and it doesn't have to be perfect. And I think a lot of times that holds us back of like wanting to be perfect when you actually learn so much faster when you're like, if you just start and make mistakes, but then you learn from those mistakes. Like there's oftentimes I would say like going back, oh, I wish I like did X, Y, Z when I was still in my corporate world, that would have given me the foundation as a solopreneur.

23:51Really good advice. Hindsight is always 20-20, right? As they say. So I've got a fun little question that I like to ask brands when they come on the show, and that is about your brand name. What does Hua mean and what's the origin? Yeah, Hua means flower in Mandarin Chinese, and it just symbolizes our natural connection to nature and parks and all the ethos that we've been talking about. It also symbolizes my personal heritage as Chinese American and it also reflects kind of the identity that I grew up with. I grew up with a doctor mom who, even though she's a medical doctor who was trained on Western practices because of our Chinese heritage, also had a lot of those principles of holistic health.

24:46She was always very, like, always emphasized nutrition and prevention from the get-go. Like, growing up, it was like, drink more water, you know, early on the hydration trend, I think. So that just kind of points to my background growing up. I assume your mom is a big fan of what you're doing. Oh yeah she is normally pretty shy socially but there's something about like what I'm doing where she will literally talk to strangers and be like follow Kwa Wellness on Instagram. She'll just like approach random people like tell them to follow us on Instagram. I don't know like how she gets like the courage or anything to do that.

25:29Yeah, it's so fascinating. That is so cool. You have just like a built-in influencer and brand ambassador and it just so happens to be your mom. I love that. And another question I really love to ask all the brands that are on are how did you find Startup CPG? I honestly, I feel like I just Googled and I found you guys and I think maybe talking to other founders, they recommended the group. I can't remember to be honest, but I think it's a solo founder, it is so important to find community and people that are doing what you're doing. Otherwise, it could feel so isolating. So that was one of the first things that I did was like, how do I find other people that I can learn from and really connect with?

26:13Amazing. So our mission is accomplished. We love that. And I'd also love for you to share with the listeners, how can they find you, whether it's online, in person, what's your handles? Are you in retail? What's the deal? So you can find us online, wildwellness.com. That's H-U-A wellness.com. Our Instagram handle is the same. Instagram and TikTok is the same, just H-U-A wellness. We are in a few different like independent grocery stores and like niche food stores. We're hoping to expand out more in the coming months. And yeah, if any founder struggles with stress management, I'm like, give us a try.

26:55We'd love to hear your thoughts. We are pretty confident in our formula. We even have a money back guarantee on the first order. So love to hear anyone's thoughts. That is quite the proposition for new customers. Well, it's been really fun talking to you. I'm a big fan of your products. I hope that you find some new fans through this episode. And I'm really excited to see where the next year takes you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. I had a blast talking to you. and just being part of the Startup CPG community. Thank you so much, Linda. See you later. All right, everyone. Thank you so much for listening.

27:33If you enjoyed this episode, do us a solid and leave us a five-star review on ratethispodcast.com slash Startup CPG. I'm Caitlin Bricker, the host of the Founder Feature Series and editor at Startup CPG. Feel free to find me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on Slack and get on my radar. I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for new and emerging brands to spotlight. If you're a potential sponsor who would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnerships at startupcpg.com. And finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our free CPG community on Slack.

28:10You can sign up via our website at startupcpg.com. See you around.