We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anna Cobb a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Anna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
During the summer of my 20th birthday I went to GNC to find an energy supplement to help me tackle my exhaustion of studying long hours and being your average sleep deprived college student. After taking what I thought was a normal women’s energy vitamin I suddenly felt my throat closing. As my life flashed before my eyes I briefly remember seeing the fear on my grandmothers face as 911 was rushing epinephrin through my veins. After being on a ventilator and in a coma for 1 week, I knew that my life was spared because my purpose was greater. I spent countless amounts of hours researching the harsh chemicals that are placed in energy supplements and beverages that almost took my life. During my matriculation at Tuskegee University I noticed that my student body, faculty and staff was suffering from lack of healthful food and beverage education. I took the time my senior year to turn what was just a personal research study into a campus wide plant-based catering company. Providing students, faculty, and the neighboring community with healthy soul food alternatives. Sadly, Covid-19 took all that away. I had to return home my senior year and finish school virtually. Right after my virtual graduation is when I decided to launch my newest plant-based product. Rejuvenation. Rejuvenation is the 100% plant-based energy drink alternative that provides high energy with ingredients everyone can pronounce and without the negative effects of jitters or crashes. Turning my tribulations into triumphs has been the goal of my company this far. We are currently thriving in thirteen grocery stores across the Washington, D.C metropolitan area and are growing rapidly. We want to Rejuvenation everyones Groove with Rejuvenation.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Anna Cobb I am the Founder+CEO of Rejuvenation, a plant-based energy drink alternative brand based out of Washington, D.C. Rejuvenation is the most efficient energy drink that provides consumers with high energy without the negative effects of jitters or crashes. The goal of Rejuvenation was to provide a healthier alternative to energy drinks and supplements that have ingredients that are not easily pronounced. After almost dying due to lack of ingredient knowledge, I turned what tried to kill me into my biggest success story. In the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry it is very hard to manufacture, and scale a product without external funding. Trying to fund a business has created some very tough times for me and my family. Working 4 jobs just to afford my everyday bills and business bills has been extremely stressful, but God has continuously given me strength to make everything work. There are so many young people that do not take allergies seriously and do not read labels and are cutting their lifespan in half. We just want to bring more awareness to this topic and provide alternatives without all the extra additives and sweeteners. Unfortunately, there are not many minority women in the energy drink field. By scaling our company to be as large as our chemically enhanced competition like Red Bull and Monster, this will pave the way for more minorities and women to enter these fields.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Growing up I used to hear people talk about “supply chain” and I never really understood what it meant until I tackled becoming a licensed manufacturer. All of our products are hand made by an amazing team of women. We sing, we laugh, we talk. I will never forget how God has blessed us over the years, We started manufacturing out of my Mom’s townhome in a tiny kitchen with a spoon, a tea bag strainer, and a small crock pot. Not only did we not have any real utensils, we were selling Rejuvenation in gallon water jugs and water bottles that we would wash and slap our label on it. Everyday I look at my bottles now in awe. We went from a staff of 3 to a staff of 8 women! Manufacturing a product is hard, but I will always make time to do it. I listened to an interview one time from the owner of slutty vegan (Pinky Cole) and she said that only her and her brother knew the recipe for the slutty secret sauce. Hearing someone who is on a national scale say that she still does her own manufacturing was inspiring to me. Which is why I will forever have a job within my company.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source for new clients has always and forever been POP-UP shops. We love doing pop-up shops and meeting new business owners and making new clients. I think its because we started with pop-up shops that it feels like home for us when we get the chance to do them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rejuvenationbyvqc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rejuvenationbyvqc/
Image Credits
BrandedCreative