Building a Business Around Health - with Savanna Elliott, Allergy Defender

Artwork for podcast Bring Your Product Idea to Life

Episode 276 • 20th June 2025 • Bring Your Product Idea to Life • Vicki Weinberg

Vicki Weinburg: 00:00:25

Welcome to the Bring Your Product Idea to Life podcast. This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling products or if you'd like to create your own product to sell.

I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product creation coach and Amazon expert. Every week I share friendly practical advice as well as inspirational stories from small businesses. Let's get started. Hi.

So today on the podcast I'm speaking to Savanna Elliot, the co founder of Allergy Defender.

Savanna helps families breathe easier by providing science backed solutions to protect against indoor allergens, creating healthier homes and improving quality of life. This is a really jam packed episode.

We cover such a lot from what it means and what it takes to be a founder, to creating a product in the scientific space, to selling your products on Amazon. There is a lot to go over here. Savanna has some great experience.

She has been a co founder of her company for 10 years now and she has an awful lot to share with us and some fantastic advice. So I am going to stop talking and I would love now to introduce you to Savanna. So hi Savanna. Thank you so much for being here.

Savanna Elliott: 00:01:38

Thanks Vicki. It's a pleasure. I'm really, really looking forward to this.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:01:43

Can we please start with you giving instructions yourself, your business and what you sell?

Savanna Elliott: 00:01:47

My name is Savanna Elliott. I am the co founder of Allergy Defender and we help people live more healthier, comfortable lives.

And that all started with our Allergen spray and we're the number one bestseller in our category on Amazon.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:02:01

Amazing. Thank you. So can you tell us a little bit about Allergy Defender and what it is, please?

Savanna Elliott: 00:02:07

Yes. Allergy Defender is our company that really started when I was about five years old and I almost died from an allergy induced asthma attack.

And that, that sent my father and really my mother on this journey to try to treat the source of my allergens, not just the symptoms. So we launched allergen spray and that targets allergens in the air and on surfaces. And it, it truly changed my world.

So now we get to offer that to hundreds of thousands of people.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:02:39

That's amazing. Thank you. And how, how did it work exactly? So you said it sort of targets the source of the allergen rather than treating the symptoms, right?

Savanna Elliott: 00:02:48

Yeah, it's, it's a little bit different than what you would expect. There's, you know, air purifiers that you can run in your house that target allergens in the air, but they're not controlling the surfaces.

And the problem is when you only control half the source, you're Only treating half the problem. So what we kind of do is we're really truly the only one of its kind. It's a all in one solution.

And what you do with our allergen spray is you spray it in the air or on surfaces throughout your house, bedding, couches, you know, carpet, furniture, whatever it is, and then it surrounds the allergen, drops it to the ground and then renders it inactive, meaning it's essentially neutralized. So now you can enjoy a happy, healthier home without treating just half the problem. It's, it's the full solution.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:03:36

Thank you. And that sounds incredibly complex in terms of a, like from a scientific process.

And we'll talk a moment in it, if you don't mind, about the development process. I'm really fascinated in how you can create a product that can do that. But I'd like to go back a bit first, if that's okay, and talk about.

You mentioned when you were five, your parents were looking for a solution for your allergies. So was that the point at which they started to develop Allergy Defender? Was it a company, you know, all that time ago?

Or is this something that's developed over time?

Savanna Elliott: 00:04:10

It actually wasn't a company way back then. It was, it was truly. I, I was at my grandmother's house, it was Christmas Eve and she had two hypoallergenic poodles in the family Christmas tree.

And I went into an allergic asthma attack that transformed the rest of my life. It was, I spent three days in the hospital, maxed out on medication, you know, barrel chested, just unable to really cope with everything.

You know, I was five years old at that moment. I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to make it or not, truly. So after I got out, it set both my parents on this journey.

My mom was trying to find healthier food and chiropractors and acupuncturists and anything to truly help me.

And my father, you know, essentially said this is, this is working, but it's not solving the real problem, which was the allergens in the home that was triggering my attack in the first place. So he started working, I think maybe it was a few years later, maybe when I was like 8 or 9.

He started working with a team of dedicated chemists to develop something that really at that time just wasn't done. No one thought of anything like this. You didn't, you didn't, you know, spray something in the air to control allergens.

You just buy an air purifier or you know, back then, cleaning products that were mineral based were popular, but you also never, you know, thought about spraying that in the air.

So he really, truly pioneered the idea and all he heard all the time was, no, no, it's not going to work, no, it's not how we do it, no, just buy an air purifier, you know, do it the old school way that everyone else is doing it. But thankfully he didn't listen because if, if he had, the product wouldn't be here today.

So it's a, it's a product that's been 20 years in the making really. So when I was about 18, 19, I, I came to him and I said, hey, this, this product changed my life and so much that I can't keep it a secret.

I can't let anyone suffer anymore.

I especially can't let kids suffer because being a kid and living in your bedroom and not going to family events or gatherings or sleeping over at your best friend's house, it's hard. You know, you want to be included. So I said to him, I, I need to share this with the world.

by the time we launched it in: 2015

But the idea before that, you know, it was way, when I was a kid, it was five, eight. That's when he decided, hey, this something needs to change for my daughter.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:07:08

Well, thank you for sharing that and I'm so sorry for what you went through because that sounds really traumatic and it sounds like your parents did just an amazing job of looking for something that can help you and now lots of other people as well.

Savanna Elliott: 00:07:21

Yeah, exactly. It was traumatic. But you know, without it, I wouldn't be able to have this business.

So as much as it was traumatic, I'm also very thankful for it because now I get to help, you know, thousands of people every day or every week. And it's, it's changing people's lives and that's why I do it.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:07:39

And that's wonderful because it must be having such a positive impact on so many people. So I know that your products are designed to be gentle and natural, but of course they have to be backed up by science.

They have to work, they have to be safe. So what was the development process like once you started thinking okay, this is going to be a business.

This is something we're going to share with people. Because I'm assuming that's slightly different from creating something you use with your own child in your own home.

Savanna Elliott: 00:08:06

My dad really wanted to make sure one thing it was, it was truly safe for his daughter who has, you know, allergic asthma. And when you have allergic asthma, many things can trigger you.

Fragrances, proteins, plant based, you know, cleaning products, pollen, pretty much everything could trigger me. At that point I was so reactive that, you know, going just to someone's house, I would light off and have to take my inhaler.

So he wanted to make sure that the product didn't have any proteins. And by proteins, I mean things that organic, like plant based ingredients.

Because when it's plant based ingredients, it contains a protein that could cause an allergic reaction for me. So that's why we went with 100 minerals, because they don't contain proteins.

It's the safest, most natural option for someone who has allergies and asthma. So it was only minerals. We would not compromise on that. It could not contain a plant anything. It could contain any proteins.

So it, it had to be safe for me. You know, being a young kid, you don't want to harm your daughter. So it was only minerals. And that formulation was hard.

I mean, doing the research, trying to find out, you know, what products were already in use that you could in industrial complexes that you sprayed in the air. And that was a thing back then.

People would, you know, spray minerals in an industrial complex and it would remove allergens or VOCs or chemicals from the air.

And so he kind of took that knowledge and said, hey, how can I apply that to someone's home that's also safe and gentle and effective using, you know, food grade and FDA gras minerals. And that was truly the formulation that started on.

It's not, it's not easy when everyone else is telling you no and you're like, I need to do this for my daughter. So that's what he did. And we would not compromise on safety. We would not compromise on making sure it was natural and effective for people.

So thankfully, we got the best of both worlds.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:10:10

Yeah, that's. And it sounds like such a process.

I mean, even just the timescales you're outlining, it obviously took a long time to get formulation that, you know, your family was happy with. But did you face then any further challenges when you were turning this product into something available for people to buy?

Because I'm assuming there's regulations and different things in place to make sure that, I mean, your family obviously done so much testing. You knew the product was safe. What did you need to do to satisfy consumers and regulators that the product was safe?

Savanna Elliott: 00:10:42

It's, I mean, obviously it started with our 100% minerals, but we, we wanted to make sure that was third party verified. That was very, very important to us. Not just in terms of safety, but also, you know, science backed it.

We were not willing to compromise on a product that say, hey, it's you know, 55% effective or 99% effective. But we have no science. That's not how we do it. So we, we wanted to make sure that our science was, you know, credible, validate.

They're the world leader in your allergen assessment testing. You could not get a better lab. And that set us on the path of what else can we do for our customer? Can we make sure, you know, it's 100% natural? Yes.

Can we tell them, you know, it's, it's minerals that are found in the food that you eat every day. You know, that that's amazing.

There's not many products out there that can claim that or really truly, there's no product in our category that could claim that. So it wasn't just about science. It wasn't just about, you know, the minerals and the safety. It was the whole product.

Because it, it, our product does require a bit of an explanation. But we're also trying to show our customers, hey, this is the best, safest natural form for you and we have credibility to back it.

You know, we have food grade ingredients. There's the science. It's, it's a whole process.

But I'm so thankful we did it because it, it gives our product, but also the customers the satisfaction and the safety knowing that we are here to help them. So it was a process for sure.

I mean, it took, you know, a really long time, but it's something I would do again and again and again for the safety and effectiveness and the help of, you know, helping our customers.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:12:28

Absolutely. And I guess as well, because it is, it's original and it's new. I guess you also need to go through all these steps to give customers reassurance.

This is something that's safe for them to use with their families. It's something that's going to work. You know, they obviously need to know that as well.

Savanna Elliott: 00:12:43

Exactly. Yeah. And it wasn't just something we're like, oh, we're going to, you know, pop it up and see what happens. We've tested it.

You know, I have pets, we've tested it with pets. We've sold to over 250,000 families at this time. So we're not willing to compromise on anything for our customers.

We want to make sure we had everything in a row. And like here, this is the best option for you.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:13:06

Yeah, that makes sense.

And I guess now I think we're 10 years on, I guess you've got lots of reviews and case studies and you know, you can share how it's working for people.

But back when you first launched a product, particularly as it does need a bit of explanation, what did you find helped you reach new customers, explain to them what the product was because I guess that was that a challenge in the beginning.

Savanna Elliott: 00:13:29

You know, it's, it's still always a challenge. We're still always adjusting and you know, how can we best serve our customer? And it's never something we're stopping.

We're always going, oh, okay, let's look at our reviews, let's look at our feedback, let's adjust from here. But when we first started, you know, we didn't have UCG images, we didn't have explaining videos, we didn't have, you know, amazing A plus content.

You're, you're starting out a little bit rough when you first start. Sure we had the science and the safety and you know, 100% minerals.

But I, from the very beginning we've always been advertising on Amazon and I think that has been helpful. But you know, even advertising doesn't magically convert to sales. So I think it's a full package.

When you launch on Amazon you need to have some advertising, maybe some budget set aside for it. You need to have some videos explaining how to use the product.

And even if it's just your friend, you know, doing it, just, just a little simple something A plus content's amazing. I love using A plus content to help explain a little bit better.

We started out pretty text heavy and I think we've really transformed a little bit more into user generated content, some images.

But the easiest thing was setting up the advertising and then giving the customer kind of the experience as soon as they land on our Amazon product page. It's text is there, we're explaining what it is but the full experience is what we want our customers to have.

So when you see our product images, when you see UCG images, the how to use the A content, the videos, you're telling this story that you want your customers to experience when they get your product. This is before they've even used it. So how do you tell that story?

The best and the easiest way you can do that is images, a plus content and then advertising. But it's telling them really what they're going to experience with your product.

Not so much the features which, which when we first started we were all feature based, you know, 33 ounce bottle, just add your own water, safe minerals, like, that's great, that's perfect.

But now we're trying to more sell the experience of what they're going to, you know, use and how to, how to really experience the best version of the product and what the benefits they're going to get after using the product. So thankfully now it's, it's much more intuitive and easy for our customer to understand. But when we first started, it was rough.

You're going to start and it's going to be a little rough at first, but it's gotten better over time.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:16:10

So when you first started, because you mentioned user generated content and obviously that's great to have, whether that's reviews or whether that's videos, whatever form that takes. And you obviously didn't have that. So were you relying on your own story then?

Because obviously you were a great example of someone who'd used a product and benefited from the product.

Savanna Elliott: 00:16:29

Yes, from the very beginning, it was always around my story because that I'm essentially telling our customers, hey, you're not alone in this. You know, this is, this is something I've experienced, I still experience to this day. And you're not alone on this journey. I am right here with you.

I've, I've done the chiropractors, the doctors, the special diets, all the asthma medication, all the allergy medication. You know, I've done it all. And when I've done it all, I'm trying to convey that to my customer, like, hey, you're not alone in this.

I understand what you're going through. And my story was the pinnacle of that. It was essentially telling my customers, I'm right there with you every step of the way.

So we've, we've always really relied on that pretty heavily and now we're, we're helping our customers more be the hero of the story instead of me be the hero for them, because that's what we first relied on. But now I'd say it's more, hey, the customer's the hero of the story. I'm just here to support them.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:17:30

That makes a lot of sense.

But I think it is also so powerful though that as the founder, people can See that you are using your own product because I mean that what a powerful endorsement is something that I presume you're still using. I don't know how often you need to use the spray, but you're still using it regularly, let's say.

I think that's such a powerful endorsement that you've created something and you're still using it 10, 15 years later.

Savanna Elliott: 00:17:54

Yes. No, I still use it every day. You know, I have cats. I'm allergic to cats, and I still spray it.

You know, she's an indoor outdoor cat, but I use it every day when I go to my friends. You know, one of my friends has three dogs, so I spray it there. Another one has another dog. So I do. I use it every day. And it's.

It's not something I'm willing to compromise on. It's. It's part of my daily routine, and I just love it, and I would not change anything about it for the world.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:18:19

And has the formulation had to change at all over time, or are you still using the same formulation that you kept originally?

Savanna Elliott: 00:18:26

No, actually, it has changed. And therefore, when we change it, we always go back and retest. And, you know, we've. We've actually gotten better over time. When we first.

First launched, it was about 93% effective on surfaces. And since our formulation has changed, we're always trying to improve. We are never a company that stands still.

We are always in competition with ourselves. So our formulation has changed, but it's. It's gotten better. So now we're, you know, 95 on surfaces, or 99 on surfaces. 95 in the air. But it's. We're.

We're always improving. And I think as a company, that's. That's really one thing you have to do. It's. You're not really truly in competition with your competitors.

You are always in competition with yourself. How can you better yourself, better your product, better your company for your customer?

Vicki Weinburg: 00:19:16

That makes a lot of sense. And I think you're right that it would be very easy to say, okay, we've got a great product. It works great. Let's just carry on selling it.

But I think to constantly look at it and say, can we improve this? Could it perform better? Whatever it is, I think is a great thing to do.

Savanna Elliott: 00:19:32

Exactly. Yeah. It's. I mean, we're. We're just revamping everything. We're always adjusting our A plus content. I.

I think on Amazon, it's so easy to just set it and forget it.

But I think one of the Things you have to realize is by doing that, you're essentially just saying, oh, you know, someone's going to come, they're going to buy it, it's going to be fine. But it's. How can you always improve?

It is the real step is improve the A plus content, improve the images, your product, your packaging, the whole customer experience. Always improve. Never just sit there and be like, oh, it's fine, just keep going.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:20:09

Now, you know, I love talking about Amazon, so I do have a couple of questions, if that's okay. So I've seen you are a best seller in your category, which is amazing. Congratulations. So what do you think it's taken for you to get there?

Other than, of course, you've been selling there for 10 years, which does give. And this isn't taken away from anything you've done, but it also does give a slight advantage.

Because we were discussing before we recorded, weren't we, that getting set UP on Amazon 10 years ago was in some ways easier. But then again, you didn't have A plus content, you didn't have a store. There was a lot you didn't have as well.

So perhaps in some ways it was easier, but actually maybe not, because your product listing, your text and your images had to work so much harder because that was literally all you had.

Savanna Elliott: 00:20:49

Yes.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:20:49

I would be really interested to know what do you think you've done that's helped you get to that place on Amazon?

Savanna Elliott: 00:20:56

There's been a lot of different things.

I'd say the first thing is when we first started, we were, you know, fulfilled by Merchant, which was great, but it was also pretty tough because back then people still wanted, you know, their product shipped ASAP and delivered asap. And now it's just more consistent, hey, I ordered it, I want it now kind of thing. So even back then, Fulfilled by Merchant was a little bit tougher.

And, you know, it takes seven, maybe eight days for something to be delivered. So I think switching to Fulfilled by Amazon was very helpful for us. But truly the most pivotal thing was hiring an Amazon consultant.

That was probably the best and easiest investment we ever made because he knew how to take our listing from, you know, 50 to 100. He's like, oh, we need to implement this, this and this.

Let's get some better content, let's get some helpful videos, let's focus more on these specific keywords and advertising. So that was probably the best thing we did for our business at the time, because you're essentially going in blind.

You're going, oh, I can do this, you know, I can figure it out, but why not hire someone who knows how to do it 10 times better than you do so you can expand and fast forward 10 times faster than everyone else. And there was competitors in our category, they weren't doing the exact same things we were.

You know, they didn't have refills, it wasn't a hundred percent minerals, you couldn't spray it in the air. But there were competitors who did dominate at the time.

So when we hired our Amazon consultant, he kind of did a full analysis of our competitors and said, hey, this is what we can do to truly outperform them. And switching to fulfilled by Amazon and that Amazon consultant was pivotal for us and that transformed everything.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:22:48

Well, thank you. I mean, it won't surprise you for me to say that I completely agree with you on hiring an Amazon consultant.

And I'm not just saying that because that's what I do. Because I would actually, actually say if you're going to sell on Etsy, get an Etsy consultant or wherever you're going to sell.

Because let's face it, as business owners, we can't be the expert in everything. We can't spread ourselves too thin.

And so if you want to do really well on specific marketplace, I don't think it's viable for, for most of us to really get to know that marketplace, how it works, how to best optimize it while still doing all the other things that we have to be doing. It's just not feasible. Where was someone who works on Amazon every day? They already know exactly. They know what you need to, what you need to do.

And actually quite my experience when I speak to clients is quite often they're surprised at how simple. I find a lot of things that need to be done and it's just kind of, it's my everyday, it's kind of, it's normal.

Whereas to others who aren't as familiar with it, it can feel like a really big daunting task.

Savanna Elliott: 00:23:53

Mm, exactly. Yes. And I mean we sell on other platforms such as Amazon, we did ebay and Etsy or sorry, Walmart, ebay and Etsy.

But that Amazon consultant was the best thing because again, as you said earlier, it's, as business owners, we love to do it all. And, and I'm, I'm a bad example of that. I will love to do it all, all the time. Like, no, I can handle it myself, it's not a problem.

But hiring the right person for that job is so important. It will transform that section because you need Outside help.

If you don't truly know what you're doing and that that is the best thing you can do, it's easy to do it all, but it's not easy to do it right.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:24:37

Definitely. I can totally relate to that. I mean, I've gone through the same in my business.

You know, when I started out this podcast, for example, I did everything. I edited every episode and I, yeah, I did all the things. I'm not a sound engineer.

I don't, you know, all those things I was doing, which I think when you start out and you less budget and you have to do this, but over time, I think it's great to outsource what you can to someone who absolutely knows what they're doing, whether that's your taxes or any part of your business, I think it's worth getting someone in who is an expert in that area because you, you see better results.

Savanna Elliott: 00:25:13

You do, you really do.

And I, I think if you can, you know, kind of set aside a budget for that and maybe, I don't really want to say compromise, but possibly compromise on one or two other things.

Like maybe you don't for go for, you know, the, the five dollar extra package deal or you know, that extra cloth that you might want to add or, or maybe that little extra something. Go for the person with the experience over the little extra something.

Now the little extra something is very important, but if you can, you know, afford to go for that consultant, I would go for that anytime. Over the little something.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:25:51

oned you started on Amazon in: 2015

Did you launch on various channels at once? How did that work for you?

Savanna Elliott: 00:26:05

We had our own website. I had built it myself because I was trying to do everything and it was not great.

But at that time, I'm not 100% sure if you still have to have the requirement, but at that time you needed to have a website to show Amazon, hey, this is like what we do. This is how we do it. And so I had built it myself. It was a little rough. I was still shipping everything myself at the time.

So it was really important for us to get on Amazon because so many people see Amazon every day. It's a huge platform. There's. There's endless amount of opportunities there for sellers.

But we also wanted to have that little extra safety with our own.

You know, we had, I think it was Shopify at the time, might be another platform, but we just were selling on our website and Amazon at the time later we launched on ebay, Etsy and Walmart. But it's, it's not really the same. They're not comparable platforms. I would say Amazon is, is very much a league of their own.

The data that you have there, the search terms, the advertising opportunities, you know, the listing flexibility is a lot different than what you have on other platforms. I always encourage people to have their own website. I think that's very, very important.

imes, you know, selling since: 2015

Vicki Weinburg: 00:27:43

Oh, absolutely. I give people the same advice as well.

Even if you intend to get 90% of your sales or more through Amazon, I think having your own website is essential. And I was going to say it also helps with sort of your sharing your brand and your story.

But actually I would say on Amazon now compared to 10 years ago, that isn't actually the case because there were so many more ways on Amazon where you can talk about your brand and your product and get more of your brand identity across. So I don't think that's so much an issue now.

It's, as you say, if something goes wrong on Amazon, which it will, let's be honest, over 10, something will go wrong. Having that website as backup is. Yeah, absolutely vital.

Savanna Elliott: 00:28:24

Yeah, exactly. And you do have A plus content. You have brand stories, you know, you have images and texts where you can share your story.

But if you want a more in depth, if you know, you want to share everything like we on our website, we have a learning center so you can go there and learn about all your allergens and fragrances and you know, different ways of allergy medication, air purifiers versus allergen spray. But you can't, you can't have that on Amazon.

But that's more a learning center for customers versus Amazon is, you know, I'm not 100% sure how long they look at your listing now. I think it's maybe five seconds.

ince we've been selling since: 2010

You know, we've gotten violations, our listings been removed for sometimes up to two weeks. Having that website has really Been helpful for us. And I would say another thing is if you can, an Amazon lawyer is very, very important.

We have an entire law firm just, you know, that we're a part of just for Amazon. Because things do happen, you know, and they, you send them the information, be like, okay, this is a violation.

We're willing, you know, we can craft up a reply, this is how we do it and then, you know, we submit it.

But if you can, I'd say that would be another investment that would be really helpful if, if you're truly going to work on Amazon as a full time business and this is what you want to do. I would invest in a consultant and a lawyer if you could, specifically an Amazon one.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:30:12

That's really good advice. Thank you. Because you're right.

I mean a lot of issues and violations that happen on Amazon, you can fix yourself or maybe you need an Amazon consultant to step in. But you're absolutely right. There are certain things that can happen and I've known it's happened to fortunately very few people.

But I do know of people where they've had issues, where they have had to get some sort of legal help. And this doesn't happen all the time just to reassure everyone, it's not that common.

But if you do get into a situation where you're like, I absolutely don't know how to handle this, definitely get some help.

Savanna Elliott: 00:30:43

Yes. Yeah, as you said, it doesn't really happen that often. We've only been taken down, you know, a few times.

Our listings were taken down, our account was not in trouble. But definitely, if you can, an Amazon consultant is great. I mean, ours helps us all the time. So the other steps, you know, would be an Amazon lawyer.

But anything to just give you that extra protection and that peace of mind is really important as an Amazon seller.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:31:08

Thank you.

So what I'd like to ask now if it's okay, Savannah, is that you are, obviously you're running this business, you're selling on lots of platforms, you're working hard to sell a product that really, truly improves people's lives. How do you look after yourself? Because you are doing an awful lot.

So do you have any advice for someone else running a business doing a lot of things like how you keep yourself happy, sane, all the rest of it healthy?

Savanna Elliott: 00:31:38

I would say when I first started there was no work life balance. It was a hundred percent work a hundred percent of the time. And that's, that's exactly what I wanted to do at that time.

And it wasn't, you know, something I really ever thought of, of, oh, let's have a work life balance? No, I want to work on this business all the time, every moment of my life. And this is what I want to do.

And I, I did, I for the first, oh, I want to say maybe six years even. That's all I did. I, all I wanted to do is work on the business 24 7.

And now as I've become a slightly more seasoned founder, I've really focused in on the fact that if I don't take care of myself first, it does show up in my business and it does affect my business. If I'm only at 5% that day, I can only give, you know, maybe 3 or 2% to my business. And that, that affects everything. It affects your bottom line.

It, you know, affects your customers and the experience and the product that you're creating. So now it's, it's much more for me, about a 70, 30.

So I spend 70% of the time on the business and about 30% of myself, you know, of my time working on myself. So it's, you know, I, I wake up, I try to lift weights in the morning.

I try to eat, you know, high protein, 30 grams of protein per meal, you know, no sugar, no wheat, as much as I can, you know, no chocolate. That one's hard. But it's, you know, now it's much more about how can I put more into myself so I can put more into my business for my customers.

So I also love swimming.

But truly the best thing I do to recharge is spend time with my family, you know, spend time with my husband and my parents and, you know, my sister and my nephews. So it's, that's how I recharge. For me, it's not going to be the same for everyone. And I think the idea of work life balance is kind of inaccurate.

It's not really work life balance, it's what works for you balance. And if that means you want to work on your business 100% of the time, you know, for years, go for it.

If that, what, if that works for you, if you want to do a 70, 30 split like what I do now, great. But it's all about how it's best for you and what can work for you and not, oh, I need to fit into this little box.

You know, that's, that's what everyone's telling me to do. It's no, figure out what your plan is and go for it.

And you know, eventually for me it was, I need to spend some time on myself to be able to truly work on my business, and that's where I am today.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:34:16

Thank you.

I think that's really, really interesting to hear because I speak to lots of founders, but I think you were one of more experienced founders that I spoke to recently as your business is focused on keeping people healthy. I did want to just touch on that, because I think it can be.

I think a lot of us, especially in the early days of our business, do fall into the thing of. That's all we do. We just focus, focus, focus on our businesses, and we can get burnt out, we can get tired, we can get ill. We can also not.

We can also push through, and everything can be fine. But I thought that is something worth talking about, because I think it's a natural thing that we all do.

But at some point, I think you do need to think, okay, it's still working me, and it's all parts of my life getting the best from me.

Savanna Elliott: 00:34:59

Yes. Yeah. And it definitely. It gets hard when you're the founder and you get sick. That is something that's difficult.

And, you know, being the kind of sick kid growing up and. And still, you know, I still struggle with allergies and asthma.

If I'm in a situation where, you know, I went to Paris and everyone was smoking, and it. It got difficult for me. So as a founder, you. You definitely have to kind of step back and realize, oh, okay, this is. I can't do both at this time.

Right now, I cannot run a company and recover from something. So then you kind of have to prioritize a little bit. But definitely, you have to be more aware of both.

It's not just, you know, it's not just, oh, I have to do this to the extent of this is going to make me suffer. It's what works best for you at that time and kind of adjust from there.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:35:46

That makes a lot of sense. And do you have a team around you now, Savannah?

Savanna Elliott: 00:35:51

My team is actually my family. You know, I have my husband. He's amazing at everything he does. He helps so much with the numbers and the accounting and, you know, customer service.

If I can't handle something, and, you know, my parents. My mom's an amazing writer, and my dad's the big idea guy, and it's truly a family business when I say that it is our family.

We have, you know, manufacturing and warehouses and stuff, but it is a family business at that core.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:36:20

That's amazing, especially given the origins of the business and how it started. I think it's wonderful that you all involved still?

Savanna Elliott: 00:36:26

Yeah, no, it's great. We, we get to work together every day and it's amazing. I love it.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:36:31

So Sapana, what advice would you give to anyone else? So perhaps someone's listening who's thinking about launching their own product in an area that's science based or highly regulated.

Do you have any advice specifically for those people?

Savanna Elliott: 00:36:46

I would say be patient and be prepared.

It takes a lot of time to launch something that you want to get, you know, backed by science or it's regulated and maybe it's safe or natural or it just takes much longer than you expect. It really does it? You know, it took 20 years for us to get to the absolute best version of our product.

And you know, we obviously had science before that, but it's not something that's going to happen overnight. You're going to have to find, you know, the right lab or the right company or the right process that works for you.

But it will take time and you have to be prepared for, you know, things that maybe you didn't think of or steps or processes that are a little bit complicated or you can't, you're like, man, this, this time, right now, I can't figure out a solution for this. Just give it a little bit of time and you're like, oh wait, this is it, I got it.

It's going to take much longer than you expect and you're going to have to problem solve your way through it. It's not something that's going to come easy. I mean we, we had to problem solve really.

My father had to problem solve everything all the time because all he heard was, no, this is not how you do it. And if you want to launch something in that space that, that's all you hear. That's the perfect reason to continue.

Because no is, is just a, it's just a word. It's, you know, something like no. You might say no, but I'm gonna find a solution that's gonna work.

So it's, it's gonna take much longer than you expect and be ready and willing to problem solve and pivot if you have to.

Because if you want to launch something that's truly safe and effective for, you know, your customers, you're going to want to make sure that it's the science, the process.

It's a non negotiable, just figure it out and go from there because the customers are going to want to know that safety and that security is there and that's really important. So keep going, be patient. And problem solve.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:38:53

Thank you.

Thank you for being so honest, because I actually feel like that's really reassuring to hear that it will be hard and it will take a long time because I don't know if you experienced this in the early days. Savannah. It can be really frustrating as a founder because you kind of want everything to happen quickly. You just want it to happen.

And every delay is like, why is this happening? And every setback just feels enormous.

And I think just knowing, just bracing yourself for the fact that that will likely be the case really, really help.

Savanna Elliott: 00:39:21

Yes. I think as founders or sellers or owners, you will have your best days and you will have your worst days.

And the best days are great, but it's the worst days that make you as a founder, because if. If you cannot get through those worst days and those low times and all the problems and everything, you're going to have to pivot. You.

You will not have the resilience to continue, because those days are. Are where you make it up as a founder. The good days, amazing. It feels like you're on top of the world, but you will have the lowest of the lows.

And you have to be like, what is in me that is deep enough that I will get through this? And how can I better serve my company and my. My people and my employees and do that with the best that I can, knowing that it.

It is hard, but it will get better. So look within and figure out what passion, what drive do I have that will make me continue? And that will truly save you. It really will.

It's if you're doing it, and if you're selling a product or, you know, just to do it, be like, oh, I, you know, I think I could do it, but I. You don't have that drive or passion. That's when it gets harder. If you have that drive and passion, you're like, this is.

This is what wakes me up every day. That will make it a lot easier when. When everything gets tough.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:40:46

Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you for everything you've shared.

Now, this next question is going to be hard because you've shared a lot of advice with us, but I ask everyone this question, so I'm not going to skip it. What would your number one piece of advice be for other product sellers? And it's fine if it's something you said already.

Savanna Elliott: 00:41:06

No, all good. Fall in love with the problem you're solving, not the product you're selling. And this. This seems counterintuitive, right? Because it's.

It's all about the product. And obviously you want to have the most amazing product, the best science, you know, the, the best quality, everything you can.

I'm not saying do not skip any of that. You know, have the full customer experience, have the packaging, have, have everything you can, the best that you can.

But when you're so obsessed with the product, you lose sight of solving the problem for the customer. And this is something I struggle with, I still struggle with this to the day. So I'm not saying, hey, I'm amazing, I've solved all of this.

It's when you're obsessed with the problem, then you are wanting to make sure that the customer has the best experience. And you're saying, hey, by using my product, you're going to solve X.

You're going to maybe feel better, have more energy, you know, sleep better, have more comfortable, healthier air. You are solving the problem for the customer. You're not giving them the features of the product. It's easy to sell features.

It's, you know, this is a large bottle, this is 100% cotton. But that does not help the customer with the problem. If you're helping the customer with the problem, then you are obsessed with the problem.

And for us, one of that, you know, the ways that it looks like that is sure, we have our amazing allergen spray, but we also have other products that can help them with the overall objective.

So if you have allergies and asthma, then you know, your body's struggling, you're inflamed, you're not sleeping that well, you're, you know, sneezy, itchy, watery eyes. It's, it's a struggle for you to get through the day, which I completely understand.

But if you're only selling a product for them, then you're not maybe helping them with the full solution.

So for us, that is, you know, other products, that's supplements, that's our allergen spray, that's a magnesium, so you can sleep, so your body can recover. Because we are obsessed with the problem, not just the product.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:43:21

That makes a lot of sense.

I was reflecting as you say that, but I think as well, if you are thinking about the benefits and the problem that your product solved, it's not so much about the product. So the product, I don't say it becomes less important, but I think when you think of your messaging, I.

It almost does become less, less important, if you see what I mean.

Savanna Elliott: 00:43:40

Yes, it, I think when it's a product only, then the customer can't really see themselves. They can they can't see themselves using the product.

It's, oh, I, I, I see the features of it, but I'm not seeing myself using it and getting the benefits of it. So if it's, if it's a problem you're solving, then the customer is like, oh, I understand how this fits into my life and how this helps me.

And it's easy to sell features and it is because it's like, oh, you as a seller want to list every feature that your product has. And I've fallen into this, you know, pitfall multiple times.

I want to give them a whole, you know, list of all these things that my amazing product does because it is, you know, we are so proud of our product and we find it so amazing that we want to list everything. But in the end, the customer wants to know what solves their problem. They don't care so much about the features.

Sure, it's important, but they want to solve their problem first and foremost.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:44:38

Definitely.

And this is actually something I talk to a lot of Amazon sellers about because you've probably seen this yourself on Amazon's panel where you'll go to look at a product listing and it'll be a bullet pointed list of all of the features. But actually what you want to know is how will this work for me? That's what I want to know.

If I'm looking at it, I want to know is this a product for me? Yes or no. But it's really hard to gauge that when you're just looking at this got 100 mil capacity or the bottles made of whatever it is.

Savanna Elliott: 00:45:05

Exactly.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:45:06

It doesn't actually answer my question, which is, especially if I'm looking for something in particular, is this what I'm looking for? Will it do what I need it to do? Whereas when you spell out this will solve this problem if I've used those.

But you know, you can spell it out that bluntly on Amazon in particular. And I think that just helps so much more with conversions because people go, oh, I'm looking for something that does this, this product does that.

Savanna Elliott: 00:45:27

Exactly.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:45:28

It's just removing all those questions that people have.

Savanna Elliott: 00:45:31

Exactly. It gets a little bit harder in our category because you can't exactly spell it out that easy. I wish we could.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:45:39

Because of the category you're in, your bike, there are lots of restrictions, aren't there, on what you can and can't say and the language you can and can't use.

Savanna Elliott: 00:45:46

Exactly, exactly. So we, we've had to kind of work around it.

But I think if you are in a category that's not as restricted as ours, then it would definitely be a lot easier to sell the problem you're solving instead of just the features. And it would make it definitely a lot easier than our category, for sure.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:46:06

And so for anyone who's not aware, sitting in the healthcare category, you can't make claims.

So even if you're backed by science and even if you can prove your product does what it says it does, Amazon won't allow you to actually say that it does what it said it does, which makes it really, really difficult, because what people want to know is, will this do whatever it is they're looking for? Will this help with my allergies? Will this help my asthma? If you can't use those words, that is really, really tricky.

Savanna Elliott: 00:46:31

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

There's, there's a lot more regulations, especially now, than there was back when we first launched and now it's, it's a lot more restricted and there's definitely keywords we can't say. And like, even the word eco friendly has now been removed, not just in our cate through all. So it's, it's more restricted in ours.

But if you are in a category that is a little bit more unrestricted, definitely sell the problem you are solving over the features.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:46:57

Thank you. Well, thank you so much for absolutely everything you've shared. It's been amazing talking to you. I've loved hearing your story.

I've loved all of your advice and thank you.

Savanna Elliott: 00:47:06

Thank you. I really appreciate it. It's been a pleasure talking with you as well.

Vicki Weinburg: 00:47:11

Thank you so much for listening.

Right to the end of this episode, do remember that you can get the full back catalogue and lots of free resources on my website, vickyweinberg.com Please do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it, and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful. Thank you again and see you next week.

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