How to Test, Validate & Launch Your Next Dream Business with Sara Cullen, Founder of GEM

Sara Cullen is the Founder and CEO of GEM. GEM VItamins are
bite-sized vitamin chews made from whole foods that contain over
20 whole plant-derived ingredients, including key vitamins,
minerals, herbs, prebiotics, and probiotics.


The inspiration for GEM stemmed from Sara’s health journey. When
she got sick in her late 20s, she was shocked to find out that
she was nutrient deficient. She was taking all her supplements
and eating the rainbow, yet she suffered from inflammation,
extreme fatigue, digestion issues, acne, and so much more. With a
ton of research and determination, she realized that the answer
is in food, not pills or gummies made with synthetic fillers and
isolated nutrients. She was experimenting in her kitchen and
created the product that she needed to support her own health.
Fast forward to today, Sara has raised of $16 million in venture
capital and has sold over 20M bites and counting.


In this week’s podcast, we talk to Sara about her entrepreneurial
journey from growing up on a farm in Oregon to working with
start-ups and building things that mattered. She shares the
biggest lessons she had from her first start-up, why it couldn’t
scale despite being an innovative idea, and how that business
failure was the biggest gift in her journey. Sara walks us
through how she proved the concept for GEM before putting too
much money behind it, how she built a community on Facebook to
test out her prototypes, and the steps she took to find the right
investors to back her. We also talked to Sara about how the
company has expanded its product line, how she thought about her
subscription-based model, and the common practices she implements
daily to help her reset and recharge from the day and so much
more! 


In this episode, we’ll talk to Sara about:


* Growing up on a farm significantly shaped Sara's
upbringing. [02:55]


* Nature's impact on Sara and its integration into her life.
[04:31]


* Creating her first business and lessons from "failing”.
[09:45]


* Sara's journey in launching her second business after
setbacks.[16:43]


* Navigating health challenges and identifying market
potential.[20:01]


* Consulting experience and funding journey for her
company.[24:25]


* Strategic considerations for building a scalable business.
[27:00] 


* Significance of word-of-mouth and online communities.
[30:09]


* Sara's approach to educating customers about GEM
vitamins.[34:16]


* Exploring product taste and challenges faced. [36:51]


* Generating awareness and gaining traction. [39:57]


* Challenges Sara conquered on her entrepreneurial journey.
[43:51]


* Sara's daily routine and practices for nurturing her mind.
[47:25]


This episode is brought to you by beeya: 


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Follow Sara: 


* GEM Website: https://dailygem.co/


* GEM Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daily_gem/


* Sara's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cullensara/


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