Beauty Gourmet is a women owned functional food and beverage company dedicated to making self-care easier so women can stay healthy and always look and feel their best with the least amount of effort. The demands being placed on the modern woman are nearly impossible to meet and women’s wellness is something we need to be addressing.
By placing “beauty nutrients” in foods and beverages women already eat and drink, we help women create an effortless foundation of wellness without having to do more than the too much they are already doing. It’s just that simple…
‘’We Believe Beauty Is Simply Inner Health Radiating Out’’
After using natural remedies to recover from an illness, Co-founder Kris Ravenscroft was inspired to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and looked forward to a lifetime of looking and feeling her best. However, once her health crisis was over, she stopped taking care of herself simply because there was no time to do it. She was barely on her own priority list let alone at the top of it and she became unwell once again. This made her realize that if someone like herself, who understood the consequences of taking her health for granted was unable to consistently take care of themselves, then other women must be having the same issue. She decided to dedicate her life to making self-care more convenient so that no women would ever have to live without the benefits of something so critical simply because of a lack of time.
As a busy mom of three, Mary Corwin, Kris’s best friend, completely related to this issue and was equally passionate about being a part of the solution. She joined the team and together they drive the company forward hoping to create a portfolio of products to make self-care a fool proof part of every busy modern woman’s life.
In your own words, what do you do?
I am Co-Founder and CEO of Beauty Gourmet, a women’s functional food and beverage company on a mission to keep women healthy by making self-care easier. We place “beauty” nutrients into foods and beverages that women are already eating and drinking, allowing them to create an effortless foundation of wellness so they can look and feel their best with the least amount of effort.
How did you come up with the idea to start Beauty Gourmet?
After using natural remedies to recover from an illness, I thought I would be healthy forever. However, once my health crisis was over, life got in the way and I stopped taking care of myself once more. Not surprisingly, I became sick again. It then occurred to me that if someone like me, who understood the consequences of taking my health for granted could let their health go by the wayside, then other women must be struggling with this same issue. Knowing that my life was not going to slow down anytime soon, I decided to dedicate my time and energy to making self-care more convenient, so that no woman would ever have to live without the benefits of something so critical, simply because of a lack of time.
What was needed in order to start Beauty Gourmet?
From a financial point of view, I was lucky that I had a successful exit from a previous company I owned at the time I started Beauty Gourmet. Therefore, I had the capital to do what I needed to get started. This is not the case for most women, and that is why we created Glam Leaders, a program that provides fundraising grants to female founders, so they too have a chance to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. From a personal point of view, I needed to have trust in my vision so I could keep moving forward. Those early days are very hard and lonely in a way. Having amazing support from people, like my best friend Mary, who is now my partner, made a huge difference.
What would you say makes Beauty Gourmet different than other beverages available today?
Our Beauty Gourmet Glitter Tea collection is designed by women for women. We recognized that women were starving for “better for you” alternatives to flavored sparkling water that were still low calorie, low sugar and low caffeine. Our sparkling teas are ayurvedic, adaptogenic, antioxidant, antiaging and support full body wellness, as well as collagen synthesis. We are the first US-based company to commercialize a beverage with Saberry, a powerful “beauty from within” amla extract. Finally, unlike most functional beverages, which typically overly sweeten and flavor their beverages to hide the taste of their functional ingredients, our sparkling teas are refreshing and lightly flavored and sweetened, the way most women prefer.
What is your next big goal following launch? How do you think you can achieve this one?
Our next goal will be to concentrate on generating more brand awareness, and making our products available in as many channels as possible so they can do the most good. We believe can achieve this by working hard, networking and listening. But we are women, so these things come naturally to us!
What is the one piece of advice that has impacted you the most?
Someone once told me that my perception about my own worth was only as good as my last review. If someone thought I was doing something amazing, than I was on top of the world. If someone didn’t like what I was doing, then it made me doubtful and sad. So, the best advice I was given was to block out all of the noise, both good and bad, keep my eye on the prize and never waiver. This has kept me steady, productive and moving toward my goals without meaningless distractions.
How do you think modern women can be more fulfilled in their lives?
I think we can be more fulfilled in our lives by just asking this important question every day. The very act of acknowledging that we should be fulfilled is healing and inspiring in and of itself. More tangibly, women can be more fulfilled in their lives by treating themselves even a quarter as good as they treat their partners, kids or their dogs (guilty on the last one for sure!).
Tell us about your proudest achievement?
My proudest achievement is healing my body when I became sick. I read everything I could find on my illness, which at that time wasn’t much, and was 100% dedicated to getting better. It fortunately worked. It is my proudest achievement and also that which I am most grateful for.
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
My greatest failures have always been placing myself so low on my own priority list that I allowed myself to become sick in the first place. If I had been paying attention or placing any importance on the many symptoms I was experiencing along the way, I could have prevented myself from becoming so depleted. This has had such a profound effect on me, I have literally devoted my life to trying to prevent it from ever happening again to myself or any other woman.
What is it like to start your own food and beverage company?
Starting your own food and beverage company is both daunting and exciting. Daunting in that the capital requirements are enormous and there is a frighteningly high 98% chance of failure. Exciting because you get to join a diverse tight-knit community of super nice people in a hot category.
What has been the single most important entrepreneurial skill that you’ve learned and why?
As an entrepreneur in a small company, I have had to develop many diverse skills simply because I couldn’t afford outside help early on. However, I would say the most important skill I have learned is how to differentiate when a skill is worth learning in house, or when we need to do whatever it takes to get outside help (interns, complementary co-founders, equity sharing etc.). You never want to lose precious time extending projects that should take days or weeks into projects that end up taking months or years.
Who have been your biggest mentors in this industry and what is the best advice they have ever given you?
Tracey Noonan, Founder and CEO of Wicked Good cupcakes has been amazing to us. She has taught me the power of perseverance, the strength of family in business (she shares her business with her daughter) and how to formulate lemon flavors without having your product taste like pledge. Thank you, Tracey!
Who are your customers? Who’s it made for?
At first I thought our customers would only be women between the ages of 25-45. I knew they would resonate with our mission as the demands being placed on women at that age are nearly impossible to meet with family, career and household obligations. But then we found that our packaging and message resonated with women of all ages. College students are burdened more than ever and older women also want to take better care of themselves. One thing is for certain, we are 100% dedicated to women.
What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?
As superficial as this may seem, the toughest decision I had to make in the last few months would be the color of our cans. What a silly struggle this has been. We like muted colors, but experts tell us people like to drink brighter drinks. The expected consumer color of our flavor profiles all look pretty similar, which posed an additional challenge. The amount of hours that have gone into this would blow your mind!
What has been your key to success?
My greatest key to success I learned from my husband. There were times in our last business that I thought we were sunk for sure. But each time, he powered through and made it work. I now practice that at the helm of my own company. Obstacles will come and you can go through them, over them or around them, but no matter what – if the passion is there, you make it work.
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