Krysta Francoeur gives you the most potent natural antioxidant source available
I’m a wellness-junky brand-builder who stumbled upon a game changing superfood that I believe will be the next matcha... it’s called Chaga. Gram for gram, the chaga mushroom contains the highest amount of antioxidants ON EARTH. Forget goji berries and cocoa – this is THE superfood folks – and I’ve sourced the highest quality, ridiculously easy to use instant tea product and made it both delicious, beautiful, and versatile.
What is your proudest accomplishment so far when it comes to your business? What helped you get there? Was this accomplishment a clear goal or did it happen by chance?
I’m really proud of what I’ve created, on my own, in such a short period of time. I started sourcing the product from Siberia in February 2016, sourced, designed, and assembled all the packaging from China and Malaysia by March, and took my first 166 pieces to Bali Spirit festival to test the product in April (which were almost confiscated at the airport in Indonesia – rookie mistake. Always courier large amounts of suspicious brown powder– especially to developing countries with super strict import and laws... duh!).
I was going to do this just for fun but so many people have just loved the concept and product and encouraged me to go big with it. The feedback has been really incredible and touching and now I’m extremely motivated to see how far I can go with it. I have a whole product line I’d love to implement and beautiful new packaging and tea / drink mix flavors to I’m just dying to produce!
Who/What inspires you?
I’m inspired by all the kick-ass #girlbosses out there killing it right now. It’s so amazing to see stories of women like myself, striving for excellence and going big with innovative products and ideas.
Women have the majority purchasing power so why the heck are there not more women founders creating the products that we really want? As I’m currently researching funding sources, I’m totally digging some of these women-focused venture firms and accelerators that harness the power of what we do best – support and collaborate.
Do you believe that there is one specific formula for success? What does it mean to be a successful business owner?
Gratitude and the art of allowing – recognizing the opportunities that are given to you by the universe and exploring each and every one of those avenues.
Positive mindset is everything in my opinion (yes I’m also one of those woo-woo spirit junkies :P).
I’m still very cautious in many of my business decisions because in these early stages, each one can really affect the survival of my business and eat up my precious time.
I’m learning to use my intuition more to follow what I feel is right and use my past experiences to guide my decisions.
What does it mean to have competition/competitors? Do you compete/collaborate or just observe? What is the best practice to approach your competition?
I’m a firm believer of “there’s enough business to go around”. Competition is a good thing, and if you build your brand correctly with a proper tribe that loves your product / service / message, then you’re golden.
Of course you always need to stay on your toes and innovate, but I believe in making your brand untouchable with something that no one else can steal – your story.
In my case, I have a product that not a lot of people have heard about yet, so I really appreciate my competition educating people on it and breaking ground in the market – it just helps my cause.
I’m big on collaboration and partnerships but in the case of a product being very similar to mine, I just like to observe and see how they’re doing things.
I have reached out to a competitor in the past regarding a collaboration and didn’t hear back even though I know they read my message. It actually made me feel proud that they might consider my new little business a threat!
What is the scariest thing that happened to you while being an entrepreneur (that you can share)? How did you overcome it? What did you learn?
Putting myself out there and sharing my story. I think everyone is worried about rejection at some level and sharing my story of illness, substance abuse, and being overweight was tough in the beginning.
I’m also open about not being perfect. I have some bad habits that I’m still working on. I probably work too much. I’m just an average woman who had a remarkable health change by using food as medicine. I know what it’s like to be constantly sick, and I know so many others are suffering and I just want to help.
Vulnerability and authenticity are so important when building a tribe and I’ve learned that people resonate with my story and connect to my brand and mission because I put myself out there.
Why do you think it is that women get less funding than men? What can we do to change that and close the gender gap?
Ah the good ‘ol “boys club”. Honestly, I just don’t understand this BS. We’re all just people and should be treated the SAME.
I’ve experienced this type of discrimination a few times and although it pissed me off or made me sad at the time – it also made me sure of the kind of people I DON’T want to surround myself with.
If the boys won’t let us in, we’ll just form our own clubs and succeed in our own way. There is power in numbers and the more women support each other, the more we succeed, and the more we succeed, the more we dominate the market. Let’s create numbers that can’t be ignored or marginalized.
What is one thing you find to be true that most people would disagree with?
There’s ALWAYS a way to get something done. In this day and age, there is zero excuse for not being able to find the answer for something or build what you want. If someone says they can’t do something it’s because they don’t really want to.