Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassie Sobelton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cassie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers
Many people underestimate what it takes to start a business. Just to begin, before any sales are realized, things like concept, research, target market, branding, naming, creative assets, product formulation, compliance, labeling, manufacturing, vendors, trademark, and so much more, all need to be addressed and considered.
Wellness Collection took about a year from initial thought to launch, which occurred in December 2021. We had a great launch, including a party, shared our new baby with friends, family, and the public. We were getting positive feedback and were ready to take on the first year of selling. As the founder, I was so excited and proud, it truly was a dream come true.
Now the real work began. All our preparations were paying off. Our marketing strategy was carefully considered, finally developed and ready to launch. We focused on making an impact and community change in our local area, so first began focusing on grass roots marketing techniques. We became a vendor at our local farmer’s market, contracted with the city to rent out a local park where we scheduled pop up fitness, yoga, and wellness classes for the public, created partnerships with local media outlets, formulated a speaking tour for myself as the founder of Wellness Collection, at various businesses, wellness centers and conferences.
This type of research and planning, not to mention purchases to support the guerilla marketing plan (tents, signs, tables, product giveaways, sample size products, etc.) were costly, of both time and money, but we believed it was necessary and doubled down on this marketing plan. We knew our products worked. All our products are made with the best and of the highest quality ingredients, but CBD is very new and there are a lot of snake oil salesmen in the space, so we knew people would have hesitancy, thus a grassroots marketing campaign to gain trust from the community and consumer was necessary.
Because of the cross currents in the very new CBD industry, and the supplement industry in general, we knew giving out samples so people could try the products and feel the benefits was our best strategy and chose this as a fundamental element of our customer acquisition strategy. So, we doubled down on finding a manufacturer to help us make sample sizes. This is a shockingly difficult thing to do, but we spent the time and money to do it and started handing out samples at our events.
Everything seemed to be coming together perfectly as the summer rolled around. The Farmer’s Markets were starting, Wellness Collection started to gain traction and sales were increasing. We were getting fantastic feedback about products (both CBD and other supplements). We started seeing the same faces come visit us weekly and luckily, with friends to whom they wanted to expose our products, in tow. We felt grateful, even slightly relieved, that things were progressing as we hoped. We were excited and hopeful.
Most of our events were scheduled from July to September. While we knew it was going to be a busy summer for our small staff, we also knew it would help us gain the exposure we needed. And luckily, I have a strong background as a spokesperson, speaker, and teacher, so we did not have to hire much help for these grassroots efforts. While I knew I had a busy few months ahead of me, I also knew this was the perfect way for Wellness Collection to kick off our summer marketing plan.
The mid-summer holiday, July 4th rolled around and during this holiday weekend we took the time to relax and unwind, filling our cups before the craziness hit us. We were so excited to start three series of classes in the community, had a long list of sign ups and doubled down on another round of sample ordering to distribute to attendees. We had very big plans and knew we were sitting in the calm before the storm.
The last day of the holiday weekend, I decided to go for a bike ride. I love biking and had not been able to bike as much this year as I like and was missing it. I knew it might continue this way since the summer was looking so busy and decided to set out for a late afternoon ride, to enjoy some movement and beautiful weather.
Only two blocks from my house and I found myself on the concrete, alone and terrified. I had flipped over my bike in the middle of the street. As I came to, I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I knew it was extremely bad. For those of us who have been in serious accidents, the full body shock is a feeling unlike any other. While I could not identify what exactly was wrong, I knew something major had occurred. I could barely move. I was pinned to the street, under my bike, looking at a hill just beyond me, concerned a car would come up over that hill and hit me. Luckily, I heard a teenage boy coming up on me, asking if I was ok.
As it turns out, that teenage boy was the son of a friend, Caryn. Caryn and her son were angels to me in that moment. They helped me up, took me to the hospital, returned my bike home and notified my boyfriend of the situation. I will spare you the details of the horror that awaited me in the Emergency Room, but it turned out that in addition to all the cuts, bruises, and sprains, I shattered my elbow and needed reconstructive surgery.
I was casted from my fingers to my shoulder and sent home. The pain was excruciating. All I did was cry the pain was so intense. The opioid epidemic had taken its toll on the hospital system and physicians, and I was given ibuprofen only for my shattered elbow. Bones start healing and it took weeks to get in for surgery. After a 4.5-hour surgery, 12 screws and 2 plates, the healing and recovery started all over again.
It was the longest few months of my life. I was not able to work. I was barely able to move without help. I could not feed myself, bathe myself or care for myself in any way. I had to cancel all community events, speaking engagements and projects. I had to put everything on hold, including the business. Nothing mattered except healing. There was nothing else to do but wait.
I was devastated, for so many reasons. I was depressed about the seriousness of my injury and concerned I would never get my arm movement back. (The prognosis was not favorable.) I knew I was looking at months or years of hard recovery and physical therapy. I was so very sad that Wellness Collection and all our hard work was halted so quickly. And I was in more pain than I had ever experienced.
While the surgeon was telling me to alternate between ibuprofen and Tylenol, I started managing the situation with CBD, both orally and topically. I started mixing new products and finding relief with new formulas.
Slowly, I healed and as I type this, I continue to heal. I have been going to Physical Therapy for 6 to 9 hours a week for nearly 6 months. It is expected I will be in PT for another 4 – 6 months. In this time, Wellness Collection has reformulated some of our products (due to this injury) and I have learned so much on a personal level about how I found relief from this horrible accident and surgery. If there was ever a silver lining, it would be that I am a true testament to our products’ efficacy and the reformulation of our products to better serve our customers in the long run.
I am currently picking up the pieces of this situation and looking forward to being further along in my healing journey in summer of 2023 to spread the word and regain some traction with Wellness Collection.
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
Wellness Collection launched in December 2021 with 2 lines of products: CBD and reVITAlize supplements, by me, Cassie Sobelton. I am a health and wellness expert, author of two best-selling books on health and wellbeing (Back to Balance and The Employee Wellbeing Handbook), a regular contributor to multiple media outlets, a national brand spokesperson and keynote speaker, health and wellness podcast host, certified yoga instructor, fitness instructor, health coach and nutritionist.
Wellness Collection was born out my desire for natural, ethically derived, and wholesome health products. As a health and wellbeing expert who focuses on not only utilizing such products for myself and my family, but also teaching others how to make realistic health upgrades by way of more natural products and lifestyle shifts, finding products to recommend was not always the easiest.
Wanting ingredients that were equally natural as supported by science, I set a mission to develop a line of products that has the same integrity and honesty I desired and expected in products I used to invest in my own health.
Wellness Collection is intended to support mind, body, and spirit wellbeing in a natural, effective, and science-backed manner. This is achieved through a combination of products, education, and community building. The main intent is to help make health goals attainable by way of small health upgrades over time that lead to big results.
Knowing that we live very busy, very hectic lives in the United States, Wellness Collection products have been carefully crafted to support overall health but specifically as it relates to busy lifestyles and on-the-go individuals. We know everyone has the best intentions around their health but are usually unable to prioritize their health, due to heavy demands and chaotic schedules. Our goal is to help our customers find balance amidst that, not to avoid it.
I began this journey after years of spokesperson roles in the health industry and learning about products that were intended for health but weren’t always healthy. I realized how much of health product promotion was simply marketing gimmicks and wished there were more quality companies I could trust for myself and my community.
I had a long background in manufacturing before entering the health and wellness industry. I am from Detroit and had spent over a decade in the manufacturing industry. I oversaw manufacturing, quality, purchasing, maintenance, distribution, employee hiring, training, and management, and so many other areas of industry. I learned the importance of quality and how to track it; processes and procedures; vendor vetting and onboarding; employee direction and morale.
Being able to combine my dual backgrounds in healthcare and wellness with manufacturing was a dream come true. Very rarely do two such different passions intersect, and this was an incredible opportunity to combine the two. Melding my knowledge of manufacturing and health / wellness together was the perfect mix to launch a new type of wellness company, founded and backed in scientific research with pristine quality and with the consumer’s health and happiness top of mind.
Our products are something that I and my team can truly be proud of. Each product has been carefully crafted to meet the needs of the consumer and based in scientific research and extreme vendor (ingredient and manufacturing) vetting. We used only the best ingredients and only the best processes to keep the ingredients intact and avoid any filler ingredients. Most people do not even realize how big of a difference that is to other products and supplement lines. So many ingredients are added in the manufacturing process to make the manufacturing process easier or cheaper, but have questionable, or simply unknown, effects on the human body.
We believe that an educated consumer would pay slightly more for a guarantee to always put their health before the ease of manufacturing. We believe our consumers will appreciate and understand with this guarantee comes a slightly more expensive product, but it pays health dividends on the backend.
This is a strong commitment from us to our consumer and quite honestly, us to our higher selves. We believe that doing the right thing will always trump profit calculation and if we are unable to make a profit while doing the right thing, we are in the wrong business. My internal compass is clear and my dharma in this lifetime will not be compromised to make money. First and foremost, my intention in life is to make the lives of those around me better. Second to that, is to make a living. I will always run this company and manufacture our products fiercely honest to this principle, guaranteeing the health of our consumers is considered above all else.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Our products are manufactured exclusively in the United States, utilizing only the highest quality and most natural ingredients possible, stacking scientifically proven ingredients with ample research of proven benefits, to effortlessly create balance, wellbeing, health, and happiness.
As noted already, I have a background in manufacturing and understand manufacturing processes thoroughly. I worked in manufacturing for over a decade, not to mention have toured more food and supplement manufacturing facilities than I can count. I have traveled as far as Greece to learn about olive oil and olive production and manufacturing.
With this background and knowledge, comes the ability to perform virtual and onsite inspections and audits easily. I attended University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business for Operations Management and through this education, learned how to ask the proper questions, survey facilities, identify non-compliance issues, check SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) against actual procedures, review quality and corrective actions, safety concerns and procedures, training documentation, and so much more.
It is easy to identify a sub-par manufacturer when you know exactly what to look for.
I started my search for manufacturing partners, with this knowledge, and immediately removed the most popular 15 vendors in the market. The search for a quality vendor took me so much longer than it would have to just get started with the first smooth talking salesperson or lowest priced manufacturer. But I knew, that would be a penny-wise, pound-foolish mistake. While I could get to market faster with some of these mediocre vendors, our quality would not be what we expected and demanded from these vendors, and we would have to start over anyhow.
So, we took the long route and found the greatest manufacturing vendors on the market. We found manufacturers who had the same values and appreciation of quality that we do. We found manufacturing partners who have the capabilities and expertise necessary to do the job as we desired. We found manufacturers that have the quality and track record we insisted upon. We found partners that had the communication ability, flexibility, and leadership we could rely upon.
I feel so blessed with our manufacturing partners and my background and ability to find and vet them.
Any advice for managing a team?
Hands down, without question, Wellness Collection’s biggest win has been finding quality contractors, partners, and employees.
It is never easy to build a team, let alone a winning team. And that difficulty is expounded upon when starting a business during a global pandemic, not to mention an unprecedented labor shortage in the United States.
Finding team members who are aligned with Wellness Collection’s vision and growth goals, are committed to our business for more than just a paycheck, match the company culture we are striving to create, and have the skill sets necessary to thrive in their role has been the most wonderful and satisfying element of the startup.
From branding and marketing experts to trademark attorneys and compliance experts; inventory management and shipping specialists to operations and ingredient formulators; photographers and graphic designers to retail and customer service workers, we had many roles to fill and were brand new to the industry. It took longer than expected but holding out to find the golden unicorns was and continues to be an integral strategy of our hiring process.
Starting a business is lonely, difficult, and expensive. Every day, those of us embarking on this journey are faced with challenges, forced to swim upstream, and lack the momentum of an already successful and thriving business to pull us through.
Roadblocks, self-doubt, uncertainty, financial constraints, distractions, emergencies, unexpected life situations and obligations, all play a significant role in the tribulations experienced by a startup founder.
Staying stoic in the face of disappointment, tough in the times of adversity, consistent when lacking motivation and working hard no matter how deflated, is our only hope for success and longevity at Wellness Collection.
Without the most stable, caring, giving, passionate, and supporting staff, there is no way that Wellness Collection could have come this far. I am nothing more than the team behind me and I am so very lucky to have a team of the best and brightest holding me, and Wellness Collection, up.
To them, I am forever grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://wellnesscollection.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesscollectionofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WellnessCollectionOfficial
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellness-collection/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cassiesobelton
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Cassiesobelton
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/cassiesobelton/ https://www.facebook.com/cassiesobelton https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassiesobelton/ https://www.cassiesobelton.com/