We were lucky to catch up with Cherissa Kell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cherissa, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I had the idea for Neotein in 2019, we were living in Japan at the time, my boys, who are Irish twins, were under two, and I was training 30+ hrs a week in triathlon and traveling, often solo, with my kids. I really needed a better protein drink than what was on the market. After extensive research to find what I needed, I decided to make it!

Honestly, I thought it would be simple, but it was anything but. I spent the next 2 years mixing and testing different recipes on myself, friends and family, professional athletes, military special operators, anyone who would try it and give me feedback.

Once I had my product developed, and vetted by potential customers and nutritionists and dietician’s, I thought I’d just get the product made and be off to the races.

But it was a bit more complicated than that. I spent the next year trying to find a manufacturer in the US who met my high quality standards, and who would work with a startup. I called every single manufacturer in the US who could make my product.

After months, I eventually found one that I knew was the right fit— but he thought it was a terrible idea. I was a bit frustrated, but decided I would pursue him intentionally until I could convince him I had something. That took nearly six weeks of me calling and emailing daily. It worked! He hopped on a call with me and a guy from R&D, and after a longer, more in depth call, he better understood the product and my vision and agreed to work with me!

I thought we were good to go! Little did I know that there is a lot more involved before I could go to market. I had to register a trademark, get a LLC (and determine which type of business I wanted to start and where), get insurance, which for a new business in consumables was a bit challenging. Then I needed to secure and SBA because, frankly, I didn’t have the liquid capital to fund the high MOQs required, and then I needed and attorney, package design, a website, a strategy, etc..

This was all a bit more daunting than, in truth, I imaged. Bringing a product to life, especially a new product no one else has created, from idea to market is a bit of an undertaking. I think it was my unwavering belief in the potential of Neotein that allowed me to push through to bring the product to market.

From initial idea to product launch it was just over 3 years. My boys just turned 5 & 6 this past month, and it is crazy to watch them grow and realize when I had the initial idea they were 1 & 2 years old. I have physically seen the business grow from idea to product launch to a business with their growth, which is surreal.

Cherissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Meet Cherissa Kell, a remarkable mom, entrepreneur, inventor, and globetrotting visionary. In her twenties, she chased waves across continents, blending her passions for surfing, sailing, and scuba diving while exploring the world’s hidden gems.

In her thirties, Cherissa embraced the culture of Japan, calling it home, as she continued to seek new horizons. But her journey didn’t end there – fueled by ambition and a relentless pursuit of excellence, she trained rigorously in triathlon, aspiring to compete at the Olympics. However, her destiny had other plans.

During her intense training, Cherissa identified a void in the protein
supplement market – a gap she knew she could fill with her innovative spirit.
With determination and ingenuity, she brought to life a whole new category of protein supplement, revolutionizing the health industry.

Her creation not only met the needs of athletes like herself but also
provided busy individuals, including fellow moms, with a powerful
on-the-go solution.

Today, Cherissa’s vision and dedication have transformed the lives of countless people, empowering them to stay fit, healthy, and energized. Her adventurous spirit continues to drive her, as she inspires others to explore the world while chasing their dreams.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I launched Neotein in May of 2022, at the time DTC was still thriving (or so I thought!). I was not aware that it was actually no longer viable, because it wasn’t being talked about at the time. We were just coming out of the pandemic, a time when DTC businesses saw unusually high success. So, armed with what I had been seeing in DTC, that was my go-to-market strategy. I, naively, didn’t think I needed an omnichannel strategy.

For the launch of Neotein I decided to go to Boulder, CO and have a booth at the BolderBoulder. As a Coloradian this was an iconic race for me growing up, and was the perfect place to showcase the company I was building and loved.

Within the first five minutes of being there, I realized that I needed to sell in more places than just our website. I had been asked by everyone who tried Neotein where they could buy it, they wanted to know which retailers vetted me. Honestly, I was a little stunned, I thought having a great, high quality product that consumers loved and filled a void was enough. But with so many new brands flooding the market consumers wanted to know who they could trust, and they saw a big brand they have trusted for years supporting me as credibility for what I was doing.

Immediately after that race I worked out a new strategy, I worked diligently to determine who would be the right partners for us, and set out to create these relationships and create more ways consumers could engage Neotein and buy Neotein.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Before we started Neotein I didn’t realize how high the MOQs for my company would be. I, naively, thought I could find this with a few thousand dollars, but protein drinks are a bit different than other products. I can’t make it in my garage (perhaps you can but you should not), I needed more money than I expected. I had spent a lot of cash on R&D and trademarks and other businesses necessities that I didn’t expect, and I had no reputation with my manufacturer so I could t negotiate better terms, so I was left to figure out how to fund my product launch.

I did this a few ways: I took advantage of my banks offering of 0% interest on purchases for the first 18mos, and then, as a spouse of a veteran, I was able to qualify for an SBA loan with incredibly low interest. This SBA loan is probably one of the must under utilized resources, in my opinion. It was a lot of work to find someone who would fund my business, post pandemic funding for SBAs became more complicated, but the work of finding a lender paid off when I got funding 6 weeks after I started the application process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://neotein.com/collections/all
• Instagram: @neotein
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherissakell

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