Food Is Medicine

Speaker 1: [Music] Diet is really one of the foundational pieces in traditional Chinese medicine. And so it was so fun to really look at food as medicine and understand it in a different way. Meaning the way that we make an herbal formula is so beautiful cuz all these herbs work together synergistically to create a formula. Whereas more in western medicine, you'll use singular herbs, but you make this formula that really is balanced. So if something's like really too hot and toxic, you can add a herb that's like cooling and creates a non-toxic reaction when you add this herb. And so you could do the same thing with food. You can make medicinal healing soups. And all these foods, every single food that we eat has a medicinal property to it and it relates to a specific organ and function.

Podcast introduction

Speaker 1: I'm Melanie Bar. Welcome back to the Sheila Tip podcast, your go-to place to empower you to live the life and business that you crave. I'm here to talk about everything from having the courage to make life and career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively, create successful teams, implement strategies for growth, and infuse tech innovation. I'm here to celebrate your wins and navigate through your challenges. I live in the city now, but I grew up in a town of a thousand people. I've navigated major life leaps, a senior level corporate career, worked in professional sports, and now as a successful entrepreneur who loves business, technology, family, and making meaningful connections with you and the She Built It Community. I also love a good workout and dose of self-care. Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy. So, turn up the audio, open your favorite notes app, grab your favorite drink, and here we go.

Interview

Speaker 1: Welcome to the Shibila podcast. Thank you for joining us. Na, share with us who you are and tell us about the moment that you knew urban remedy had to exist.

Guest background

Speaker 1: My background is in traditional Chinese medicine. I'm an acupuncturist and herbalist. And so I had a private practice for almost 11 years. And I've always loved food and loved cooking. And so as I was studying Chinese medicine, diet is really one of the foundational pieces in traditional Chinese medicine. And so it was so fun to really look at food as medicine and understand it in a different way. Meaning the way that we make an herbal formula is so beautiful because all these herbs work together synergistically to create a formula.

Speaker 1: Whereas more in western medicine, you'll use singular herbs, but you make this formula that really is balanced. So if something's like really too hot and toxic, you can add a herb that's like cooling and creates a non-toxic reaction when you add this herb. And so you could do the same thing with food. You can make medicinal healing soups and all these foods. Every single food that we eat has a medicinal property to it and it relates to a specific organ and function. And so I just thought that was so interesting. And I started using that with my patients and really using some dietary therapy. And then I started studying some functional medicine and detoxification. And then I really started to notice probably halfway through my practice when I really started to get going that a lot of people that I was seeing that had chronic health issues like the itises, arthritis and different pains and weren't really getting a lot of help from the western medical treatment they were doing and other chronic things like pre-diabetes and other kind of autoimmune issues. how a lot of those people were eating the standard American diet and they were eating highly processed foods. I started putting that together and as I was studying a little bit more about functional medicine, I was also understanding the implications of eating GMOs and pesticides and the toxic burden and how that affected health. And so I started using that with patients. I started doing retreats. It was just all of my patients and we'd go away for about five days. And the first one that I did, I had a gamut of different people dealing with different issues. Like some people just wanted to lose weight or look younger and other people were like in serious pain and

Speaker 1: intention work. And after just that 5 days, the change that I saw in people from changing their diet and also giving their bodies a chance to just have a little relaxation and detoxification was just incredible. And so it just really inspired me that people can really change the state of their health in not too long of a period of time, especially to see people that have been in a chronic illness state for many years and not be able to work. And so I started incorporating that more into my practice and really trying to educate people about health and what they eat. And it was interesting cuz some people were like, I don't really care. I'd rather take a drug because I don't want to change the way that I eat. And the other people that were willing to change their diet saw really big gains in their healing process along with the acupuncture and the other things that we were doing. And then I started doing a lot more research on just our whole farming system and the difference between organic. And I just went like down some deep rabbit holes and I was really passionate and excited about learning about that. Urban remedy grew out of that and my love of like food and using food as healing and everything that I learned while I was studying Chinese medicine and in my practice. And so I started making food like these snacks in the beginning and I would just sell them at my practice where the people that came to the retreats would buy them and they would sell out in two days and people still love the food and the drinks and then I continued to do the retreats and it just turned into its own thing. I never was like oh I'm going to start a food company and it was probably 2011 where I had my practice doing it for 11 years. I had a really busy practice and I was treating a lot of pretty sick people and I got pregnant with my son and I thought to myself, I think I'm going to take a break because when you're doing something where you're treating people one-on-one, it's a a big responsibility to be there and show up and you've been treating people for a long time. And then the Urban Remedy thing just started happening. So I said, you know what, I'm just going to take a break while I'm pregnant and not take in because when especially when you're treating people, you are listening to a lot of people's problems. I'm like, I don't want to do that when I'm pregnant. Urban Revenue just took off. The first thing that happened was someone in San Francisco from Guilt had called me and they were like, "We heard about you. Can you do a juice sale?" This was like when they first started and I was like, "Yeah, sure." And I had no idea even what it really was. And then my phone just started ringing off the hook and it sold out in 2 minutes. And that's when I got my first taste into really going beyond just this local thing. And I had many nights where I was pregnant and I was juicing at 1:00 in the morning and like trying to figure out everybody's orders. But I did open my first storefront. It was in 2012 and that I had grown out of all these commercial kitchens and kept getting kicked out of the commercial kitchens cuz we'd make such a mess and the juice would be everywhere and we had all these bags. And finally, I was like, I'm busy enough now that I really need my own space and I want to be able to store my own produce. And I was so excited. I had raised a million dollars just very serendipitously and thought to myself, this is so cool. like now I have a million dollar fund for Urban Remedy and I just thought we were going to be in this one store and within six months we grew out of that location and it was just so busy and insane and then grew pretty much 100% every year for a few years. So it was really a very crazy time because I basically did everything.

Speaker 1: I had a few employees but it's fun to think about that now with where we're at. It was like a much different time. Yeah. I love your story for so many reasons. Growing it as a mom, looking at food in all the ways that we should know more about how food fuels us and can heal us. And I know that when I have a sickness or something, the first thing I do is try to find a natural remedy before I take anything else. And there's so much going on now with looking at what is in our food. Yeah. So, great. And I which I love. There's so many things about your story and how it happened organically.

Organic certification

Speaker 1: Yeah. And when you say organically, I did one of the first things I knew that I wanted to do when I started Urban Remedy was to be a certified organic company. And so I called like the organic certification company. I was like, "Oh, can I have your paperwork?" And I thought I might just have to fill out a form. It was probably more difficult than buying a house. And so it was really interesting to go through that whole process and really understand what it takes to become organic and how much documentation you need. And it's very expensive and timeconuming. you need extra employees just to be able to be certified organic. And I'm very proud that we've been certified organic all these years and work directly with lots of different organic farms and purveyors. And you think about farms and what they need to do in order to be organic. My family came over from Norway and we own a farm in Iowa and it's been passed down in generations. I think about how can we grow healthy food? How can you make those shifts within the country? That is something that is so critical and so important. And if you look at the state of our soil and how many more seasons we have until that soil is not usable anymore, it's not very many seasons. And it's funny that you even brought that up. I'm involved in a situation out here where I live in Point Rays where they're trying to close 12 organic dairies where we live that are very small multi-generational farms.

Supporting small farms

Speaker 1: I've really been working from where I can to try to support them because small farms and farming is so important to our food security and just the local economy and we've systemically for the last I would say 10 years have really not made it easy for small farmers and a lot of small farmers have gone out of business which is really pretty scary and aren't they providing most of the healthy food?

Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely. And that's the thing a lot of people don't understand. We're talking about these dairies and because they're dairy farmers, but they're organic and they are incorporating regenerative practices. It's interesting. They're trying to work with the National Park Service to use regenerative practices, use manure in a certain way to regenerate the soil and really create a healthier ecosystem of the soil. And the National Park Service has said no, they're not allowed to do it. It just makes no sense cuz you think to yourself, why wouldn't we want to heal the soil and sequester carbon? Why is that a no? And why is organic regenerative farming not subsidized but the farms that are subsidized are like the corn, soy, wheat, all of the things that are highly inflammatory and a lot of them are jamma crops. There is a movement and there are a lot of farmers that are moving and wanting to transition into organic farming. I was just in Indiana where my boyfriend lives and we went to a farmers market and I was asking this guy, he had some meat or something and I was asking him and he's really want to be organic but and my stuff is grass-fed but I have to spray pesticides on it and I have to feed it GMO corn and he's like but I don't want to but I just can't afford it and I wish there was a way that I could have help so that I can transition into this. So that's something to look at as a country really is if we shut down all these small dairies then people that drink milk and these dairies supply the local school for example that my son goes to. If we shut down these dairies and these local dairies aren't open where are we getting our milk from really then we have to get our milk from the central valley that's not organic that's probably going to be from a factory farm a larger farm that doesn't treat their animals as well and doesn't use all of the organic and regenerative practices.

Speaker 1: So yeah, there's implications. Yeah, it would be great if we could move the needle as a country in the right direction. Yeah. And I think a lot of people don't understand, they think that just eating things like corn and soy and like highly processed vegan food is healthier for them and the planet, but in reality that food is usually highly inflammatory because it's not a whole colorful antioxidantfilled meal. And so education around that is always really good, too. Yeah, it's so true. And when I look at your products, they're so full of color. Your salads, all of the bars, and everything that you offer. And you just launched a new shake. What makes your protein collagen shake different than anything else that's out there? I think it's the only certified organic collagen shake. So, it's from grass-fed pastured beef is where the collagen comes from. And so that's one of the things. And it's really high protein. We have 30 gram of protein. It's very low in sugar. There's no added sugar to it. And we're all looking at we're all looking at all of our sugar and our protein. Yeah. And I try to create everything to be as low glycemic as possible. We don't use any white sugar in any of our products at all. We have a lot of low glycemic offerings, but these shakes, there's a chocolate and vanilla, and we're going to probably come out with a fruity one.

Speaker 1: Are really great for your skin and your hair and your nails. Collagen is just really good for so many different systems in the body. And the high protein is really great. So, if somebody's going to go work out or is working on more lean muscle mass, it's a great addition to your diet. And it tastes really good, too. I can't wait to try it. I love your products. You are sold in 370 Whole Food locations and other retailers and you're launching in Texas. What does that mean to you personally? When I started Urban Remedy, like I said, I really thought we were just going to be a local Northern California brand. And when we initially went into Whole Foods for the kiosk, I thought it was just going to be in California. And once we got out of California and we started in New York, because now we're pretty much national and we are, like you said, we're launching next week in Texas, which is so exciting because that's a huge market for me. It's so exciting because my goal was really to create healing, nutritious, organic, low glycemic, anti-inflammatory food to people that really either didn't know how or people that were like on a healing journey, whether it's like weight loss, inflammation, or low glycemic that there was a ready to eat healthy food for people that would really support their health and wellness and support the health of the planet. And so the fact that we've grown and expanded has been great because we're just able to offer that to more people, which is really a dream cuz I thought we were just going to be in California. And I was so excited after we moved out of California because I was like, "Oh, this isn't just like everybody in California is tends to be more health consscious than other states." I was just in Indiana and we opened to kiosk there and and we're in Chicago and Ohio. And so it's really been exciting to offer this kind of food, especially in states like that where it's just not offered very much.

Speaker 1: I'm from Missouri and I joke that I had to move to California to meet someone from Missouri, but so is my husband. We're all of our Yes. All of our families in the St. Louis area, so we spend a lot of time in Missouri and the food is definitely different than the food that we have in California. So adding healthy options and having more things available is great. Yeah. One of the things that brings me so much joy is we have a meeting every couple weeks that's voice of the customer and I love hearing people will write in and be like I'm going through my cancer treatment or my mom's going through her cancer treatment. We're so grateful for Urban Remedy because we can drink these juices and eat this anti-inflammatory food and we are also in a couple hospitals and just that people are able to use the food in that way in the true food as medicine way is really makes me happy and that's why I do what I do. How was scaling a business to this size for you? What are some challenges that you remember along the way and what did you learn? Because 370 locations plus it's a lot of locations. Yeah, we're still learning and there's still a lot of challenges. The biggest challenge is really when you are offering products that have a shorter shelf life. It's really easy when you create a product that has like a four-ear shelf life, right? Because you can make enough for a year or whatever and it doesn't go bad and so you don't have to throw it out.

Speaker 1: But our products like if you've seen our salads and our fresh food and even the food that has a longer shelf life is a very short shelf life for going into grocery. And so the biggest challenge is how do we keep the kiosk stocked with the products and not have to purge and throw it away right if it doesn't get sold. And so that's a very tricky balance and keeping the kiosk stocked.

Speaker 1: would say the most complaints that we get are just like I went to the kiosk and you're out of the shake or you don't have the bars or you don't have and that really drives me nuts cuz I feel so bad cuz people be like I went to two Whole Foods and I can't find my favorite product. And so that's definitely the biggest challenge when you scale nationwide is figuring out how to keep the kiosk full and how to forecast and and not purge because if you purge too much then you lose money then you can't have a kiosk. So that is a very delicate balancing act that we're still trying to figure out. That's very challenging.

Speaker 1: That's true because it's hard with any product and especially with something that moves so much. Yeah. Yeah. Scaling. There's not a lot of companies that have scaled nationally with fresh low shelf life food because it's just not easy to do. And you were so smart to do the kiosk because that's what catches attention. I mean it's what caught my attention. Yeah. We're really blessed and so grateful to be working with Whole Foods as one of our partners because they've been so supportive of us having these kiosks and expanding the kiosk.

Speaker 1: And yeah, we just started it on a whim. We had talked to one of the heads of Whole Foods in California. We were like, let's just try this. And the goal was $800 a week or something. And we did it in Northern California. And we did our first kiosk and it did triple that. And we were like, oh my god. Say I had to do more than that. Yeah. And went to Southern California. and we're like, "Nobody knows about Urban Remedy there, but let's just try it." And we sold even more in Southern California. And so it was that was super exciting just seeing that people were excited to to eat that kind of foods. Yeah. So I think we still have a lot of the same challenges, but growing from where I was, the most important thing is having people that are really good at what they do in terms of procurement and forecasting and finance. And there's so many different pieces of the business. That's a very complicated business. So, it's great to have a good team. We talk a lot about routines. What is a routine as a busy founder that you don't ever skip? That is a good question. I really try to meditate every day just to keep myself balanced and focused. I've been traveling a lot and I'm going to Texas next week. So, I really try to get in some quiet time, some time just to connect to myself, just to stay centered. So that's something honestly that I try to do every single day. Yeah, I'm the same way. I'm a twin mom and I try to do five minutes of meditation in the morning because even five minutes will set your day because I used to think I can't meditate or I'm doing it wrong or there's a certain way to do it.

Speaker 1: But even five minutes can in the morning or even at night and you think of everything we do in five minutes. We all have five minutes. It's just totally helpful. Yeah. No, that's so great. I try to do if I can I try to do a minimum of 30 minutes because my brain I need like more time but even Yeah. If you could even get in five minutes it's so great. I can't imagine having twins and even having five minutes. It's busy. They're 11 so it's getting easier. Yeah.

Speaker 1: But they're great. It changes every year all the stuff that you deal with. But yeah, but being a single mom and I started this business when I had my son.

Speaker 1: So I always look I'm like my son's 13. So, I've been doing this for 13 years and it's been fun to have him grow at the company and watch the whole process and be a part of it. Yeah. And I love that you did that when your son was little because that's not an easy time. Yeah. It was really hard. My initial investors were in Southern California and I used to have to go there sometimes once a week and my son I was still breastfeeding and so I would just bring him with me everywhere I went and bring him on the plane and it was definitely a challenging time but so fun and exciting. I think back to that I'm like I don't even know how I got all that stuff done. I wrote a book during that time and just started the company and sometimes I think I probably need a vacation after doing this for 13 years. And yeah, hopefully you take one. When you're passionate about it though, it doesn't feel like work. It feels like just part of a forward movement. Yes, it's true. And I think doing it this long that I've been doing it, there's just like es and tides of things that happen where sometimes you feel like super overwhelmed. Oh my god, how are we going to get this done? and other times where it's just all creativity which is really fun creating new products and doing that part of the business. So, it's really interesting as an acupuncturist. I'm I am definitely more of a creative person and I don't love being on the meetings 5 days a week, but that's kind of part of what I have to do. So, true to think about the rhythm.

Speaker 1: Am I happy with the rhythm? Not am I happy with all of the outcomes every time necessarily. Yeah. Yeah. And just really important to find that balance.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I always think if I'm 80% and there's always going to be that 20% where you're like not thrilled about doing it but something that needs to be done. Totally. But I think that's like a critical thing like making sure you're doing something that you love. It's a blessing. Yeah. Magic happens when we focus on the part of our business and ourel that brings us joy. What is one thing that you do to make sure that you're finding and living your joy? That sounds almost like a poem. I ask it at the end of every episode. Oh, you do?

Speaker 1: Because because all every woman I talk to is so busy running their business, everyone needs that little reminder that we got to take time for ourselves and take time to do the things that make us who we are. I love that. I would say the more time that I spend with my son doing fun things and enjoying life and recently I've done some really fun things with my boyfriend and gotten away and just had a great time with him traveling and doing stuff. That to me has brought me so much joy. Just getting out of my normal routine and being able to be present and just enjoy life has been really wonderful outside of the joy that I do get from Urban Remedy and seeing people use it in a way that really enhances their life. Yeah. And you can definitely tell that you're passionate about what you do. Yes, I am. I'm really lucky and excited and I always try to share that with people. Make sure whatever you're going to do, don't do anything for money. Really do what you're passionate about. When I started Urban Remedy, I really thought it was going to be this really small company, but I was so excited and loved what I was doing. And I feel the universe guides you in a way when you're doing what you love. And it might not even be what you think it is, but you keep going down the path and things change and merge, but just following that joy of life or whatever brings you happiness usually will bring you success as well. So true. Thank you so much for joining us today, sharing your story. You're such an inspiration and I so much about your story is so wonderful about how it grew organically, how you're helping make the world a better place and people to be more healthy. So, thank you. Thank you so much. And thanks so much for having me on. It was so wonderful. I appreciate it. Can you share with us how and where we can find you? You can find us at urbanreddy.com and urbanity on Instagram and we're at urbanreddy on LinkedIn. where we share different promotions we're doing or different stories and new locations that we're opening.

Stay in Touch

Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us today. I'd love to hear from you. Reach out to me at hello@sh shebuiltit.com on our shebuilt website or at she built it on social.

Closing Thanks

Speaker 1: Thank you to my editor rich duffelino who always makes us sound good. Until next time, let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that