"The pandemic was everybody's chief digital officer accelerant.”
This week on the Gooder Podcast I had the pleasure of talking with April Siler, the CEO at 8Greens. We discuss the history about 8Greens and how their product first entered into consumer’s visibility. We also learn about the trends that have come up in the supplements industry, accelerated due to the pandemic. Along the way we learn the story of an experienced brand builder who incorporates the lessons that she learned as a professional athlete into the corporate world and running a business.
In this episode we learn:
- The legacy of 8Greens and the taste innovation of their first product.
- How the supplements industry has shifted and been impacted by the pandemic.
- How, as a supplement brand, 8Greens leveraged an alt-channel strategy on the front end of the beauty supplement trend to become a dominant player in this growing consumer category.
- About April’s emphasis on diversity, inclusion and the importance of creating a collaborative culture.
- How marketing and creative experience in a CEO role produces a different
organization growth mindset than that of a traditional MBA approach.
- The advice she finds herself consistently giving Gen Z mentees.
About April Siler:
April Siler, the CEO of 8Greens, is a globally experienced brand builder specializing in driving health and wellness innovation. 8Greens, a digitally native brand, is experiencing triple digit growth by delivering exactly what consumers are seeking in this moment, an easy and convenient way to build immunity and boost overall health.
Prior to joining 8Greens April was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Global Development for Califia Farms. During Califia’s most intensive 3- year growth period April spearheaded all USA marketing in addition to executing all operational aspects of the brand’s internationalization. April previously led marketing and sales at The Chia Co. From the brand’s creative inception through to development of a world first innovation-Chia Pod, where April partnered with world champion surfer Kelly Slater for brand communications.
April also led marketing initiatives for Australia’s largest food and beverage packaging manufacturer, Visy, a $6.7bn privately held company. At Visy, she developed packaging innovation for the top ten accounts—including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Fosters, Diageo—and developed the company’s consumer insights platform. April has a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing and Economics, from Monash University in Melbourne. April played professional basketball in Australia and Europe, rowed for Melbourne University Boat Club and has a passion for nutritious foods.
Guests Social Media Links:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-siler-b8790711/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/april_siler/?hl=en
Website: https://8greens.com/;https://thechiaco.com/au/
Show Resources:
At Califia Farms, we're all about creating delicious, plant-powered foods with natural ingredients. Because we believe the world needs a healthier food system.
8Greens is an effervescent dietary supplement tablet, packed with enough superfoods to give your healthy diet a green boost.
The Chia Co are the largest producers of Chia seed in the world. Founder and CEO John Foss, discovered the benefits of Chia while researching natural solutions to modern diet related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol.
Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle,Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com, is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website on the World Wide Web that uses the popular top-level domain ".com".
Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain. Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, it originated as a shoe store and evolved into a full-line retailer with departments for clothing, footwear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances.
Bluemercury.com is a leading luxury beauty retailer offering the best cosmetics, skin care, makeup, perfume, hair, and bath and body.
Goop is a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Launched in September 2008, Goop started out as a weekly e-mail newsletter providing new age advice, such as "police your thoughts" and "eliminate white foods", and the slogan "Nourish the Inner Aspect."
Target Corporation is an American retail corporation. The eighth-largest retailer in the United States, it is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Its largest competitors, Walmart and Amazon.com, are the first and second largest retailers, respectively.
Slack is a proprietary business communication platform developed by American software company Slack Technologies. Slack offers many IRC-style features, including persistent chat rooms organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging
Bluestone Lane is an Australian cafe lifestyle in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, D.C., Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Toronto.
Rosé Water is a refreshing combination of pure, sparkling water blended with dry rosé wine, produced in the heart of Bordeaux, France. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Produced by Boutique Beverage Company, LLC.
SodaStream International Ltd. is an Israel-based manufacturing company best known as the maker of the consumer home carbonation product of the same name. The soda machine, like a soda syphon, carbonates water by adding carbon dioxide from a pressurized cylinder to create soda water to drink.
Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
2:21 April talks about how the pandemic has impacted people in the one year period in New York where she is
3:10 April shares a little bit of history about her brand 8Greens, what it is about and why it exists
5:45 April talks about entry and how their product first entered into consumer’s visibility or market and how they leveraged that
8:00 April talks about the makeup category versus the skin care category and their presence in the market and what the consumer is preferring more
9:27 April shares her journey of becoming a CEO of their company especially during the pandemic and how it has been
12:48 April talks about how the supplements industries are communicating with each other now that the supplements industry has shifted and increased the sales due to the pandemic
15:15 April also talks about the benefits of people being more tapped into supply chains and understanding how brands do their sourcing
16:45 April also explains how she is using the lessons that she learned while doing her sports in the corporate world and running a business
20:32 April talks about how the society used to view women back in the days like 20 years ago and how they were not allowed to be in the C-suite level as compared to now
22:38 April also talks about how her entering into the CEO role from a marketing background, creative and the strategic side helped her run the business perfectly
27:00 April explains why marketers know how to drive growth and create growth opportunities with the consumer that translates that into product offering more
30:16 April also shares some tips to people who want to be in the natural industry to do better than those that are conventional
33:00 April talks about equity and diversity in a company and why people especially the ones in the C-suite level know that all lives matter
34:20 April talks about retailers that are really doing a good job in regards to diversity, inclusion and equality
35:46 April shares the guidance and advice that she always finds herself giving to the Gen Z in regards to business
39:40 April talks about feedback and communication and why CEOs and leaders need to use the tools that younger people are more comfortable with such as Slack
43:18 April talks about Slack and how it has changed the business world and why businesses need to adapt to this platform as compared to emails
46:04 April talks about working remotely and how this change due to the pandemic is positively impacting the business world
47:39 April shares what she feels is a very interesting tidbit in her industry that people would be amazed when they hear it
48:36 April talks about other women that she would like to elevate in this podcast and that she admires for the work that they are doing
50:59 April talks about the brands and trends that she has her eyes on and why
52:29 April also shares the tips that are helping her to be sane and centered especially during the pandemic
This week on the Gooder Podcast I had the pleasure of talking with April Siler, the CEO at 8Greens. We discuss the history about 8Greens and how their product first entered into consumer’s visibility. We also learn about the trends that have come up in the supplements industry, accelerated due to the pandemic. Along the way we learn the story of an experienced brand builder who incorporates the lessons that she learned as a professional athlete into the corporate world and running a business.
In this episode we learn:
- The legacy of 8Greens and the taste innovation of their first product.
- How the supplements industry has shifted and been impacted by the pandemic.
- How, as a supplement brand, 8Greens leveraged an alt-channel strategy on the front end of the beauty supplement trend to become a dominant player in this growing consumer category.
- About April’s emphasis on diversity, inclusion and the importance of creating a collaborative culture.
- How marketing and creative experience in a CEO role produces a different
organization growth mindset than that of a traditional MBA approach.
- The advice she finds herself consistently giving Gen Z mentees.
About April Siler:
April Siler, the CEO of 8Greens, is a globally experienced brand builder specializing in driving health and wellness innovation. 8Greens, a digitally native brand, is experiencing triple digit growth by delivering exactly what consumers are seeking in this moment, an easy and convenient way to build immunity and boost overall health.
Prior to joining 8Greens April was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Global Development for Califia Farms. During Califia’s most intensive 3- year growth period April spearheaded all USA marketing in addition to executing all operational aspects of the brand’s internationalization. April previously led marketing and sales at The Chia Co. From the brand’s creative inception through to development of a world first innovation-Chia Pod, where April partnered with world champion surfer Kelly Slater for brand communications.
April also led marketing initiatives for Australia’s largest food and beverage packaging manufacturer, Visy, a $6.7bn privately held company. At Visy, she developed packaging innovation for the top ten accounts—including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Fosters, Diageo—and developed the company’s consumer insights platform. April has a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing and Economics, from Monash University in Melbourne. April played professional basketball in Australia and Europe, rowed for Melbourne University Boat Club and has a passion for nutritious foods.
Guests Social Media Links:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-siler-b8790711/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/april_siler/?hl=en
Website: https://8greens.com/;https://thechiaco.com/au/
Show Resources:
At Califia Farms, we're all about creating delicious, plant-powered foods with natural ingredients. Because we believe the world needs a healthier food system.
8Greens is an effervescent dietary supplement tablet, packed with enough superfoods to give your healthy diet a green boost.
The Chia Co are the largest producers of Chia seed in the world. Founder and CEO John Foss, discovered the benefits of Chia while researching natural solutions to modern diet related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol.
Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle,Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com, is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website on the World Wide Web that uses the popular top-level domain ".com".
Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain. Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, it originated as a shoe store and evolved into a full-line retailer with departments for clothing, footwear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances.
Bluemercury.com is a leading luxury beauty retailer offering the best cosmetics, skin care, makeup, perfume, hair, and bath and body.
Goop is a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Launched in September 2008, Goop started out as a weekly e-mail newsletter providing new age advice, such as "police your thoughts" and "eliminate white foods", and the slogan "Nourish the Inner Aspect."
Target Corporation is an American retail corporation. The eighth-largest retailer in the United States, it is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Its largest competitors, Walmart and Amazon.com, are the first and second largest retailers, respectively.
Slack is a proprietary business communication platform developed by American software company Slack Technologies. Slack offers many IRC-style features, including persistent chat rooms organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging
Bluestone Lane is an Australian cafe lifestyle in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, D.C., Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Toronto.
Rosé Water is a refreshing combination of pure, sparkling water blended with dry rosé wine, produced in the heart of Bordeaux, France. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Produced by Boutique Beverage Company, LLC.
SodaStream International Ltd. is an Israel-based manufacturing company best known as the maker of the consumer home carbonation product of the same name. The soda machine, like a soda syphon, carbonates water by adding carbon dioxide from a pressurized cylinder to create soda water to drink.
Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
2:21 April talks about how the pandemic has impacted people in the one year period in New York where she is
3:10 April shares a little bit of history about her brand 8Greens, what it is about and why it exists
5:45 April talks about entry and how their product first entered into consumer’s visibility or market and how they leveraged that
8:00 April talks about the makeup category versus the skin care category and their presence in the market and what the consumer is preferring more
9:27 April shares her journey of becoming a CEO of their company especially during the pandemic and how it has been
12:48 April talks about how the supplements industries are communicating with each other now that the supplements industry has shifted and increased the sales due to the pandemic
15:15 April also talks about the benefits of people being more tapped into supply chains and understanding how brands do their sourcing
16:45 April also explains how she is using the lessons that she learned while doing her sports in the corporate world and running a business
20:32 April talks about how the society used to view women back in the days like 20 years ago and how they were not allowed to be in the C-suite level as compared to now
22:38 April also talks about how her entering into the CEO role from a marketing background, creative and the strategic side helped her run the business perfectly
27:00 April explains why marketers know how to drive growth and create growth opportunities with the consumer that translates that into product offering more
30:16 April also shares some tips to people who want to be in the natural industry to do better than those that are conventional
33:00 April talks about equity and diversity in a company and why people especially the ones in the C-suite level know that all lives matter
34:20 April talks about retailers that are really doing a good job in regards to diversity, inclusion and equality
35:46 April shares the guidance and advice that she always finds herself giving to the Gen Z in regards to business
39:40 April talks about feedback and communication and why CEOs and leaders need to use the tools that younger people are more comfortable with such as Slack
43:18 April talks about Slack and how it has changed the business world and why businesses need to adapt to this platform as compared to emails
46:04 April talks about working remotely and how this change due to the pandemic is positively impacting the business world
47:39 April shares what she feels is a very interesting tidbit in her industry that people would be amazed when they hear it
48:36 April talks about other women that she would like to elevate in this podcast and that she admires for the work that they are doing
50:59 April talks about the brands and trends that she has her eyes on and why
52:29 April also shares the tips that are helping her to be sane and centered especially during the pandemic
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