[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, friends. I'm Ray Latif, and you're listening to the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage, Taste Radio. This episode features an interview with bestselling author and podcast host, Jay Shetty, who is also the co-founder of fast-growing adaptogenic tea brand, Juni. Former monk, wellness influencer, podcaster, beverage entrepreneur. Jay Shetty, who is one of the most well-known and respected names in the field of self-improvement, is all of these things. But it's an emphasis on clarity in everything he does that best defines him. Jay is the author of two New York Times best-selling books, including Think Like a Monk and host of On Purpose, one of the most popular podcasts in the United States. He's also known as a life coach to the stars, praised by the likes of Gwenyth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. He has a vast social media following, with over 15 million followers on Instagram and nearly 5 million subscribers on YouTube. In 2021, Jay and his wife Radhi Devlukia-Shetty, herself a popular fitness and plant-based foods influencer, launched Sama, a brand of tea sachets made with natural and adaptogenic ingredients. That concept evolved into Juni, a four-skew line of ready-to-drink sparkling teas made with a super-five blend of adaptogens and nootropics, including green tea, lion's mane, acerola cherry, reishi mushroom, and ashwagandha. The beverages, which contain no sugar and only 5 calories per 12-ounce can, recently landed chain-wide distribution at Sprouts. In this interview, I spoke with Jay about how Juni fits into his purview for mental health and physical wellness, the criteria he uses to identify alignment with potential business partners, and how the intersection of human behavior and evolution of social media impacts consumer habits and their motivation to try new things. He also explained why three Fs are key to Juni's positioning and marketing strategy, and what he means when he says that happiness is overrated. Hey, folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now, I'm honored to be sitting down with the one and only Jay Shetty. Jay, great to see you.
[00:02:43] Jay Shetty: Hey, Ray, it's great to see you as well. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm really looking forward to it.
[00:02:47] Ray Latif: Yeah, me too as well. I don't typically record on Friday afternoons. We're here on the East Coast. You're on the West Coast Pacific time. So it's still the morning for you. And when I was driving over here, I was thinking to myself, geez, you know, does everyone look at a Friday as being like the best day of the week because we're coming up on the weekend? And I know so many people are just like, can't wait to get to the end of the week. But I would think for someone like yourself, every day is like a Friday.
[00:03:11] Jay Shetty: I am very grateful and fortunate to do what I love every day. So there's definitely a joy and a passion and a sense of happiness that comes with every day. And at the same time I'd be honest and say I work extremely hard. So I also look forward to having some time off taking a break. And I see them as the same thing. I was saying this to a team member a couple of months ago probably just before the holidays. And I was saying that to me, rest is as much a part of work as work is a part of rest, in that I like to use my weekend to refuel, to renew, to refine my mind, to give my brain some time off so that I can actually be productive, effective, and creative next week. Because if I don't do that, then there's only so far you can get with continuing to push your brain and push your mind and push your body. Even though I do love what I do every day, and I am fortunate to have that set up, I still genuinely do look forward to seeing my friends this weekend, playing a bit more extra pickleball, which I'm in love with right now, and just being able to sleep in. My weekends, I definitely allow myself to get a bit of extra rest, and I value all of that. I'm the same as everyone, too.
[00:04:21] Ray Latif: Do you appreciate boredom? I had a colleague once who told me, Ray, don't underestimate the benefits of boredom. Boredom is totally underrated. And I think folks might misunderstand it as being, well, you know, being bored means like just being a lazy slug on the couch. No, I think it's like what you said, it's a time to rest, reflect, and refuel. But I don't know. What are your thoughts?
[00:04:42] Jay Shetty: Yeah, it's so funny you asked that because years ago, this might have been like 2019 now, I think Yuval Noah Harari, the author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, if you know the two books, he came on my podcast On Purpose. And we literally recorded a whole episode about why boredom is one of the best things that the world to do. And to me, boredom is the idea of being able to sit alone with my thoughts without having an external form of trying to entertain myself. So whether that's scrolling, whether it's trying to flick through streaming platforms, but actually saying, well, wait a minute, let me just not have something external entertain me, but let me find a way to make this time meaningful, useful and powerful. And so I've always enjoyed that. I feel I find it harder to hear my own intuition and my clarity of voice if I'm too surrounded by external noise. And so I count boredom is that's how I define boredom. And I think everyone has their own definition and is allowed to have their own definition of what that means as well.
[00:05:40] Ray Latif: Yeah, there's typically a negative connotation associated with boredom, but if you think about it in a positive light, it could be a good thing.
[00:05:47] Jay Shetty: For sure, for sure. I can agree.
[00:05:50] Ray Latif: I mentioned to your team that I wanted to kick off the interview, even though we've already kicked off the interview, with a little bit of word association. And you mentioned your podcast, On Purpose. I'd love to hear what you think of when you hear the On Purpose.
[00:06:04] Jay Shetty: Oh, wow. What a great question. You want them to be quick, right? You want, like, quick responses.
[00:06:08] Ray Latif: I would say if you can say something in under 10 seconds, that would be ideal.
[00:06:12] Jay Shetty: And a word or a sentence, if you don't mind.
[00:06:14] Ray Latif: Word or sentence is fine.
[00:06:17] Jay Shetty: When I think of the On Purpose, I think of using your gifts and talents in the service of others. That's what I think of when I think On Purpose. How about love? I think of love being heartfelt and genuine.
[00:06:31] Ray Latif: Authenticity.
[00:06:33] Jay Shetty: Being who you are with everyone is different.
[00:06:40] Ray Latif: Leadership.
[00:06:43] Jay Shetty: Learning from others and allowing them to lead when they have better ideas.
[00:06:48] Ray Latif: Happiness.
[00:06:51] Jay Shetty: Overrated.
[00:06:52] Ray Latif: I'll let you off the hook here. Entrepreneurship.
[00:06:58] Jay Shetty: I can explain it if you want. Entrepreneurship A new passion, new passion.
[00:07:05] Ray Latif: Can I go back to happiness for a second? Why is happiness overrated?
[00:07:08] Jay Shetty: The reason why I think happiness is overrated, and I know that hopefully, I don't want to say that to upset people, I think it's more that I found happiness to be a difficult thing to look for in life when you look at the natural course of events that most people are going through. So you lose a loved one. Hard to find happiness. you have a miscarriage, hard to find happiness. you turn on the news, hard to find happiness. And I find that the search for happiness almost creates a unhealthy experience of, well, I'll never be happy. Where can I find it? I don't see it anywhere. And I feel that looking On Purpose, looking for meaning, looking for service, looking for peace, looking for the ability to support and care, I feel like those are far more worthy pursuits that actually lead to a feeling of happiness. But if happiness becomes the billboard sign and the neon sign that we're chasing, it can become a really painful experience. And so I've found looking On Purpose, service, meaning to be far healthier pursuits that actually do lead to happiness. And that happiness is a happiness you can always hold on to and keep and it's yours. Whereas I think the way we've talked about happiness generally in the world is pleasure or moments of fleeting happiness, which I think we all are kind of tired of and, and don't want to settle for. So that's, that's kind of why I use that word. And, but hopefully it was, yeah, hopefully something more surprising too.
[00:08:42] Ray Latif: Yeah, it's wonderful. And thank you very much for expanding on that. Let's tie the last few words together, happiness and entrepreneurship. I hope that becoming an entrepreneur has given you happiness, particularly as an entrepreneur in the beverage industry. You are the co-founder of Juni, which is a fantastic brand, a very exciting brand, and very exciting to hear that you just recently got into all Sprout stores across the United States. So congratulations on that. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's wonderful. Tell us a bit about the origins of Juni and why get into the tea business.
[00:09:18] Jay Shetty: Yeah, absolutely. No, and we're so excited about the 400 plus fraud stores that Juni's now in and, you know, so grateful for that partnership. But yeah, going back, It's really interesting to me that from a very basic point of view, my wife and I are both British Indians, and tea is so British and so Indian, and in so many ways. But on a very deep level, when I was growing up, one of my fondest memories is time that I spent with my mom. And both my parents were immigrants to England, and they both worked. And my mom especially, she was the sole breadwinner of the house at times. She used to make us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She'd pick us up from school. She'd drop us to school. She'd do our homework with us, me and my younger sister. And I didn't always get a lot of time with my mom. But I do remember still feeling very loved and her being very present. And that all came down to when she'd pick me up from school or pick me up from daycare, we'd sit down together and we'd have a cup of tea together. And it'd usually be an herbal tea, like a lemon ginger, good for my immunity to protect me from the cold of London. And we'd sit down and she'd say, how was your day? How was school? How did it go? What did you learn today? And even though she was out meeting clients in the evening and busy during the day, I remember that that time with her made me feel her presence. And so I started to equate tea with care and with love and with presence. And that took me years to realize. And then when I met my wife and we started dating before she was my wife, Her family has a ritual that after every meal, they will all sit together, have a cup of tea and talk and share stories and laugh and put the TV on Amanda Huang out. And it became a ritual for me and her when we came together. And then during the pandemic, my wife would literally mix herbs and spices and make teas for digestion, make teas for stress, make teas for immunity so that we could protect ourselves to be healthy. And she just had this art and this gift of finding flavors and finding things that were really beneficial to us. And so tea's been a part of both of our lives since we were young, before we knew each other. It's been a big part of our relationship. And we wanted to create a product and create a brand that could introduce people to things that tasted good, to things that were good, and things that felt good for them. And we thought, what better way than to introduce people to herbs and spices and plant extracts in a way that's very easy. I think all of us think, oh gosh, I forgot to take my supplements today. I think we all think, oh God, I've got to like take that thing and I've got to take that thing. And I was like, I feel that stress too, by the way. I'm not perfect. I miss out on so many little things that I'm trying to get into my routine. But what if you could put really good things into one product that would make it easy? You could just take that and you'd automatically feel better and it'd be good for you. That's where it all came from. And I think that was one of the biggest reasons why we went into do a ready to drink or RTD as I've learned and learning more about the industry. But the reason why we did that was because we felt we had to be even more accessible. Not everyone loves tea. People may be coffee drinkers and I don't think they need to stop that. I think we wanted to find something that. you know, has a little bit of taste of tea, but it doesn't even taste like tea. You don't even have to be a tea lover to approach this and find the benefits of the adaptogens. And the reason why we called it Juni was it stands for just you and I. And this idea of me and my mom, it's like just about me and my mom, it's about me and my wife, it's about her and her sister. And so how could this be a reminder to share moments with the people that you love and connect deeply with the people that you love?
[00:12:57] Ray Latif: Absolutely. I love the idea of offering consumers sort of a one-stop solution or all-in-one solution that they can drink on a regular basis to make it easy for them. But it's definitely not easy to start a beverage company. And as you mentioned, an RTD, a ready-to-drink beverage company is just loaded with challenges. What were your initial expectations when you thought about starting this business and what's the reality of being in it right now?
[00:13:25] Jay Shetty: Definitely. I mean, I obviously come from a world where we create content, majority of which is online. I do live events and I've published two books, but generally my work's online. And so we can edit a podcast or update a website and it takes two seconds. Whereas when you're reformulating something to get it to taste better and have the right proportions and reduce the calories and reduce the sugar intake, because we didn't want that. I mean, you start recognizing that an update online which took you three minutes now takes three months and that that sounds bizarre to someone who's like obviously it does but as someone who's been in the digital space in the online space it's it's a completely different patience and renewal program i think we saw during the pandemic how the prices of tin cans went up how export import prices went up and you start to recognize just how the global economy impacts a product that you're making locally and how much that can have. I think one of the things that we found exciting though and by the way all of these are great learning experiences is that you recognize a lot of things. The first thing you put out is never the best thing. first formulation we put out of our drink was not the best one. The one we have right now is the best we've ever had and we'll continue to improve it. For us it was really important to make sure that it had ashwagandha, that it had lion's mane, that it had reishi mushroom, but that you wouldn't even know that those are in there and that it would still taste good. But we also wanted zero grams of sugar because that was a big priority to us. We wanted people to have a sweetness without having that. So I think For me what I've learned through this process and what I get excited about is that there's so much great feedback from our consumers. There's so much great feedback from our audience. It's a really exciting time to be in this space. If you know what you're doing uniquely and I think we've always known that I think we were always a team. We always wanted to be adaptogenic. We wanted to have adaptogens, and for people who don't know, adaptogens are plant extracts and herbs that rebalance your body. So if you're experiencing stress, they'll reduce that stress. If you're feeling tired, they'll bring you back to a sense of energy and balance. And we wanted to introduce the world to adaptogens, which is far more my wife's expertise than it is mine. She's a nutritionist, a dietitian, and our Ayurvedic health counselor, and so that's really her expertise. And our goal was, it's an exciting time because we're very clear, we want people to live a healthy life, we want people to be excited about something they consume every day, and we want it to be easy, we want it to be fun, we want this to be the drink you're having while you're watching a game, we want it to be the drink that you have every weekend, in the morning, as your midday pick-me-up, like, I think it's an exciting time if you have clarity, and I would encourage that for entrepreneurs who are entering the beverage space or any space, is have real clarity on why you're doing what you're doing and what that is because it makes a huge difference in helping you overcome the natural challenges that every entrepreneur is going to have to face.
[00:16:22] Ray Latif: Even if you have clarity though, your approach might need to be tweaked. And it was the case with Juni that before it was called Juni, it was called Joyo and it needed a rebrand. You needed to tweak the branding somehow, some way. But what elicited the rebrand? What made it such that a name change would benefit what we're trying to do here?
[00:16:43] Jay Shetty: Yeah, I think there were a lot of things. I think when we first planned the design of the cans and everything, we had this beautiful, amazing artist in France design the icons for each of our cases. And we were really, really passionate about them. They're beautiful, if anyone hasn't seen them, and I know we're doing videos. So, you know, all of these little icons that to us represent all these really beautiful experiences and hopefully allow people to make memories. And they were really important to us. And when we first printed the cans, we didn't realize that we'd made them too small. The cans had a white background. You couldn't really see them. They didn't pop off the shelf. And like, it's almost like you have this view of what it makes a brand look. wall. And then you actually see it on the shelf when it's real and you go, oh, wait a minute, that doesn't look like anything we wanted it to be. We found that the name Joya was hard to pronounce for a lot of people. They were like, how do you pronounce that? Like, how does that sound? Like it wasn't, it wasn't flowing. It wasn't rolling off the tongue. And I think even that first formulation that we had didn't represent what we wanted. It tasted far too much like tea and we could taste it and then we're like, ah, we're not sure we got it quite right. And so it took two more formulations after that. And as the formulations were improving, we're like, you know what, we actually want our brand presence to really represent what we feel when we drink this and what we want people to feel. So we made the icons bigger. We we added the color that was always there in the art pieces to the background. We brought that imagery back. We we wanted the fruit to be front and center and clear so that you were aware of the flavor profile as well which we didn't have. And these are all things that sound so obvious. But it's so funny that when you're in a new space that you've never done before, and I'm a complete beginner and student in this industry, you start to recognize just that's what the audience needs. The audience needs to know what's the flavor, what's this, what's that. We wanted to call out that it was zero grams of sugar and only five calories, that you could see that clearly. And all of that has made a massive difference in the success of it. I think for us, rebranding and renaming allowed us to represent our values better and connect with our community better. And if we hadn't done that, I think it wouldn't have allowed people to revisit it with enthusiasm and energy. Because, yeah, because it's really challenging to build that relationship with our community.
[00:19:05] Ray Latif: Did you ever think about sort of quitting after the initial brand didn't work, or at least the initial formulation or design for you didn't work? Cause you know, the failure rate's really high in our industry. And I think a lot of people, once they go to market and something doesn't work, that's kind of it.
[00:19:20] Jay Shetty: Yeah, I think for me and my wife, we so deeply believe in the benefits of adaptogens. We so deeply believe in, even for us, by the way, like for us to have something fun to consume that isn't full of sugar, that isn't you know, isn't something that we feel is going to make us feel great and is going to benefit us. I think that was so important to us. And I Think Like've had enough failure and rejection in previous lines of work that I've come to an understanding that often you have to pivot your path, but you don't have to pivot from what you're trying to build, if you really believe in it. And I think for us, we were like, no, we believe in making goodness accessible and fun and practical and tasty. And so if we believe in that, there is a way. And I think, you know, you were mentioning the podcast earlier. I mean, when I first wanted to launch the podcast, I was turned down by every podcast production company who said, we don't think this is going to be a big podcast. People said to me, Jay, people like to listen to you for three minutes. No one wants to listen to you for an hour. I heard that in meeting rooms. And so I've sat there and heard that many, many times and had that. So I Think Like'm at a point in my career where I recognize that that is the way I'm going back to the beautiful old Stoic statement of the obstacle is the way as Ryan Holiday beautifully wrote a book on that. I think you start to recognize, wait a minute. everyone I look up to and everyone I admire, they had this happen to them too. So it happening to me is not a failure, it's feedback, it's a way forward, and it's actually helping me understand how to adapt for the future. And so taking the adaptogenic approach again, it's like, I've got to learn to adapt, I've got to learn to be mobile. And I Think Like've learned that more from consumer products and beverage than I have with anything else where the need to adapt is really high and the challenges that can take a while to adapt.
[00:21:16] Ray Latif: And the need to surround yourself with good, trustworthy people who have the experience, who have the know-how in the industry that you're operating in. It's kind of difficult in food and beverage because there's just so many people who are out there, some of whom might say they have a certain type of experience or can help you in a certain way and really can't for one reason or another. That's not to say they aren't good people, it's just they're not the right fit for you or your brand. How did you find the right people to surround yourself with such that you could develop and scale Juni?
[00:21:49] Jay Shetty: Yeah, I think the good thing for me was that I was approaching this with a lot of humility and, like I said, a student mindset of, I don't know this industry, I don't know this space, I'm here to learn. And I think you have to, for me, there's three things that really make a big difference when I'm making these types of decisions. The first is energy. Do I feel that we're energetically aligned? And what I mean by that is values. Are our values aligned? Do I feel a sense of we believe in the same mission that we want to make the world a happier, healthier and more healed space? These are values that are important to me and my wife. And that's where I look at the first gate or the first door. Then if someone walks through that door and we feel aligned, I look at strategy. Does this person have the right strategic mindset? Do I feel like they have really good ideas and they really understand how to implement it? And do they really recognize what could be our pitfalls? Are they prepared for them? Like, do we strategically get along? And the third one is, do I feel like they're going to get along with other people in the company as we grow? Are they people that people are going to enjoy being managed by as this person's going to lead people? And so energy strategy and management have always been three very big focuses for me whenever I'm evaluating. And by the way, I think people evaluate me too. I think people have different visions and dreams. So it's not that my values are right, but they're right for me. And I think that's always worked for me. And it's something that I've noticed when I ignore it, it doesn't go well. But when I implement it, it seems to work.
[00:23:17] Ray Latif: Well, the good news is that you come from a place of fame and reach that a lot of entrepreneurs don't have. How do you incorporate Juni into, say, your podcast or into your Instagram post where you have 15.3 million followers on Instagram? How do you do it in an authentic way?
[00:23:36] Jay Shetty: Yeah, so we added Juni to our podcast from day one, you know, because I actually use it as my podcast pick-me-up, as I call it, because my podcasts require me to, you know, sometimes I interview, so like two, three hours each, and it's like being present and being focused. And I know that halfway through my day, I need to have a Juni to like just feel focused again. I think a lot of people can relate to that. We all have that energy slump, but we don't always want that sharp sugar high and a fall again. And so Juni has become a great partner for me in that time of the day as well. And I think to me, it's been a natural integration because it's something I'm drinking during it. We make it very candid for our guests. My guests know that it's my wife and I's brand, and it's up to them whether they try it or they don't. There isn't any force. And I think that's the authenticity of the drink, too. It's we want people to try and taste it based on their own choice and freedom. On social media, I think my wife and I have a lot of fun with it because it's in our home. It's what we're drinking. So it's very easy for us to incorporate it in our work because it's part of our daily life. And so, again, it becomes really naturally built into all of our content creation. And my wife and I love creating content together. We enjoy messing around together, being playful together. It's a big part of our relationship. And Juni kind of is that blend. We always said we wanted it to be playful and profound. That's how the yin and yang of like, it's playful, it's fun, it's tasty, it's healthy, it's easy. At the same time, it's really good for you. It has all these other amazing herbs that we want to introduce people to so that they can become more aware of what's good for them and what's available to them. So it has this playful and profound And so we've tried to, I think for me as well, I've been very mindful to only share it when I feel like there's really powerful things that we're doing, moments. We went to Sprouts the other day and had so much fun in store with the staff as well. And then we shared all of that the other day and it got so much love on social. And so I think it's all happening very organically and naturally because it's a part of our life and a part of our day.
[00:25:38] Ray Latif: Can I ask you a bit more of a technical question? You know, there's a lot of different ways to share content, even on a single platform. If you think about just Instagram, you know, stories, reels, just posts. What's been most effective from a social platform standpoint in a very specific way?
[00:25:54] Jay Shetty: That's a great question. Yeah. More than having to share what we've learned. I found that reels provide reach from a strategic social media point of view whereas sometimes static posts have stronger engagement because more people stop and they don't have to stay there for 30 seconds. Right. Like if it's a picture or a quote people get the point. They can leave a comment. They can So, I would argue that they both had their merits and their challenges. What I've found is that when you want to make an announcement and you want people to be aware of something, I've found that a static post is far stronger because you can engage in the comment section, people get it straight away, they don't have to watch something to understand it. It's like we're now in Sprouts, we're in this space, whatever, it's clear, everyone gets it in two seconds. watching a 30-second, one-minute explainer. I find if you're trying to help people understand something fresh that's happened, that is an event or a moment, a static post is really powerful. Reels are really fantastic when you're trying to tell a story. If I'm talking about the benefits of Juni, if I'm talking about when I use Juni, if I'm talking about Juni being a part of my interactive day and how it can be a part of my lifestyle, then I found that to be really, truly powerful to just have a reel. I've also found that Generally, and we don't do a lot of this, but I found that the communication of just what the product is isn't something people like to engage with. It's how it fits into their life. Understanding how someone is going to use this product naturally is such a big part of how people need to connect with any product. Often, I find that we're so excited about telling people about a product. but people don't need to be told people get what it is, but they need to understand why they need to use it, where they can use it, how they can use it. And it's helping your customer understand what time of day is this great for them? Like, you know, why is it perfect for them before or after a workout? You know, what is it a replacement for if it is one? And so I find like that kind of education. I think a lot of people, we expect that people should just understand this is good for them, but it's almost like we have to take the time to educate your community because everyone has very little time. Everyone has a lot of choices now. And so we have to educate people and actually the people that are engaging with you are the ones who are going to choose to use that product.
[00:28:17] Ray Latif: I'm sure at this point you've heard the rule of sixes, I think it's what it's called in the beverage industry in particular. You have to be able to get someone's attention within six seconds and they need to be able to see it from a shelf from six feet away, which is sometimes quite challenging. It's a lot harder than it sounds. It is. Yeah. It's funny. I was just thinking, I'd read something about you where you worked at Accenture, the accounting company, about a decade, a little over a decade ago, and you worked in social media strategy, which I don't know how much of that is applicable 12 years later, but I don't know. It seems like you know what you're doing.
[00:28:53] Jay Shetty: So social media was new in the corporate space at the time. And so I was part of the program at the company that was learning about it so that we could help our clients with it. And it was all part of the digital strategy growth inside of Accenture. So there's two types of understanding, right? There's the social media understanding of the technicalities, as you rightly pointed out, and that changes every three months, if not quicker. And so the technicalities of real stories, comments, views, engagement, that's changing every three to six months. So your brand and everything has to be pliable and moldable and has to pivot consistently. But I think human psychology and human behavior is far more stayed similar, right? You see those old pictures of everyone on the buses with their newspapers out. And now if you look at that today, it'd be everyone with their phones out. And 30 years from now, it'd be everyone wearing VR goggles, right? Whatever it is. The point is, human behavior doesn't change that much. It just changes in format. I would encourage any creators to understand human behavior and human psychology. Because if I want to help someone change their habits, if I want to help someone really improve their life, that isn't about marketing and tactics and technicalities. It's about me understanding how hard it is to change and how difficult it is to break a habit and build a new one and how much pain we all go through when we're trying to transition and become better. So I think we sometimes get lost in the technicalities and lose out on what human transformation requires. And to me, I try and start from there and then understand the technicalities and the strategy.
[00:30:31] Ray Latif: You're trying to figure out how to get more people to drink Juni, more specifically to drink adaptogens and to just make themselves feel better. As you noted, it's really difficult. You expect people to know what this product is, but they don't necessarily do. And for a product like yours, where you kind of sit in this intersection between functionality and refreshment, what is most motivating? What have you found as being most motivating to consumers and how do you dial into that?
[00:30:59] Jay Shetty: Yeah, I think flavor will always trump. everything, and that's been a big priority for us. I think all of us don't want to do something just because it's healthy, right? It's like if the gym is not fun, you're not going to get to the gym. We all know going to the gym is good for us or working out is good for us, but we don't do things just because they're good for us. We do them because they feel good too. And so to me, flavor is really important. We've really prioritized that, making sure that our flavor profiles, our flavor blends, are tasty, they're refreshing. As soon as you take a sip, you're feeling that already. We want that to be a priority. We then look to function. We don't want things to just taste good and not be good. There's plenty of that available. We want it to actually be good. So we've got the ashwagandha, we've got the acerola cherry, we have the reishi muskrum, the lion's mane, we have the adaptogens, which are our core functional benefits. And so that comes second for us. And then the third part is we want the brand to be fun and appealing. And so flavor, function, fun for us has been a really good 3F model and formula in order of our priority. Because I think when you prioritize the flavor, you're saying you're prioritizing the human mind. You know, the human mind wants something to taste good. Function is at the core of who we are. And fun is kind of what me and my wife have with this product and building it and creating it and sharing it with the world. We don't want it to be a serious thing and we don't want it to you know we don't want it to be so serious that it's like you can't have it for fun. We want it to be something that you're engaging with for pleasure as well. And so those three things have been big motivating factors for our community that have really responded. And we've been really happy as well because it sits with our values.
[00:32:32] Ray Latif: Flavor, function, and fun, those are three terms I've heard associated with an up-and-coming segment within a huge category that have better for you sodas. And Juni is a sparkling tea, and I love sparkling teas, but it seems like a bigger opportunity might be trying to tackle that soda business. Have you ever thought about getting into CSDs?
[00:32:51] Jay Shetty: Well I feel like there are amazing sodas out there right now that are doing a great job. And you know it's brilliant to watch. I love seeing the market have so much. There's so much variety and abundance right now in a good way. And I really feel that people can easily drink Juni as a soda replacement. It has the same feeling, it has the same bubbles, it has the same experience. And so if someone wants a healthier soda alternative, Juni, is that for them? I think it's also perfect because it fits in that tea space as well. So it's great for tea lovers and soda lovers. And to me, the tea part is the core function, the core benefit, the core USP that we hold. And therefore, I do really want to win and continue to win in the sparkling tea, iced tea, cold tea space. Because to me, that part of the industry just hasn't been disrupted for decades. And it's about time that there was a T2.0 and a version that is allowing people to have a more fresh, flavorful, unique experience with tea and tea becomes fun. I've always said I want tea to become as hot as coffee, right? Like, how do you make tea that appealing? And I think Juni's doing that and is actually doing that right now. Yes if someone wants a healthy soda alternative Juni totally fills it. If someone wants to use it for mocktails it's fantastic. It already is one of those things but tea is very much the important category for us to win in and play in.
[00:34:11] Ray Latif: Jay, I can tell how passionate you are about your brand and about this business. I don't know if you notice, you're getting slightly closer and closer to the camera and the microphone as we've been talking and particularly as we've been talking about Juni, which is great. That's true passion and entrepreneurship. I can feel it. And folks who watch the video, they can, they'll see it as well.
[00:34:29] Jay Shetty: I apologize, I'm like getting in your face now.
[00:34:31] Ray Latif: No, no. You know what? This, this is not the first time this has happened when I've been recording a podcast where someone's getting so passionate about what they do, they're getting closer and closer to the microphone.
[00:34:40] Jay Shetty: Well, you ask great questions. You ask good questions. And so I think, you know, it's, it's fun because we're, you know, I feel it's really interesting. You do, you do something and I really appreciate you having me on like talking to founders when you're building is really different from talking to founders when you're like at the end of the journey. Right. On my show too, it's like, I'll talk to people when they're, you know, up and coming and they're in that moment. And then I'm talking to people who've, established themselves for decades. But it's really fun to get like, I can't wait to watch this interview back in a few years. be like, Oh, my God, I was so silly that I thought I had that figured out. Oh, my God, I was so confident about that. And I was so wrong. And like, Oh, no, I was right about that little like, I love that, like, to me, I never got to do this with other parts of my career. And so it's really fun. Like there wasn't, you know, no one wanted to have me on an interview show 10 years ago, when I started creating content, eight years ago, when I started creating content. So it's interesting to me that this is a journey I'm also going to get to live in a different way. So I'm appreciating the opportunity to talk about something that I'm learning about rather than I've lived it, if that makes sense.
[00:35:48] Ray Latif: Absolutely. And I sincerely appreciate you once again, taking the time to sit down with me. As I mentioned, it's clear your passion for Juni and it would feel like, right, I would think that you're neck deep in the industry right now because you kind of have to be in order to be successful in beverage. But I don't know, what is your day-to-day role at this point and how do you see your role evolving?
[00:36:10] Jay Shetty: Yeah, absolutely. I trust my wife more than ever with the flavor profiles and figuring that out. She's great at Taste Radio really great at like, I really want this herb. She's the one who's like, we have to be zero grams of sugar. She's really into health and wellness and really prioritizing for herself in her own life and in everything she does. She really leads the company from that point of view, pushing us to get better and better in that way. For me, I really enjoy the habit development part of it. I love the idea of how this can help people in their day-to-day. Why is this useful? When is it useful? Where is it useful? How is it going to help you? Because I'm someone who was addicted to sugar. If I look back at my college days, I was having a 500 milliliter bottle of a sugary Think Like a soda every single day with a bar of chocolate every single day. Like that's how I got through college. Whereas I've, so I've come to the health journey through my wife and had to like find replacements and find healthier alternatives, which is what Juni is, which is why I love it so much because I realized how hard it is to give up these things that we've been conditioned and trained to do. So I come at it more from the storytelling aspect, the habit development aspect, the how do we, explain what the product is, how do we educate, how do we market, how do we promote it so that people recognize that they can let go of some of their vices and find healthier options and alternatives. Then we have an amazing business partner in Kim Perel, who runs the business. She founded it with us since day one, who runs it on a daily basis. She comes from an incredible tech business background, has a deep passion for beverage. Then we have amazing mentors that we found, consultants, board members that we brought on who have deep beverage experience who are guiding us on retailer partnerships, who are guiding us on hiring. These people are invaluable. Yes, I'm deep in it, but I think you can't catch up and you can't accelerate it. You have to have these mentors and wise advisors who are saying, hey, when we did this five years ago, this is what we learned, this is what's changed. this is how it works. And so we wouldn't be anywhere without them. And, you know, I place a lot of faith in them.
[00:38:25] Ray Latif: You know, being an entrepreneur is a pretty unique experience for the entrepreneur. I think, you know, no one has the same type of journey. I think a lot of people can learn from people's experience, can learn from insights, can learn from other people's mistakes. But it's really, really difficult to have the exact same journey. I think it's impossible to have the exact same journey. That being said, you've talked to entrepreneurs in the past and before you became, or at least before you became a consumer brand entrepreneur, I would think that your perspective is pretty different than the one you have today. I could be wrong. I mean, but do you perceive stress, purpose, passion, failure in a different way than before you had become an entrepreneur?
[00:39:12] Jay Shetty: Yeah, that's a great question. I would say that when you're starting out and you haven't had a win, there's still a part of you that may believe it may never happen. So I think when you're starting out, the stress is what if this doesn't work at all? What if this fails miserably? Like, I think we all have this. If anyone's listening or watching right now and they're thinking about starting something or they go back to before, like you said, before they built something, I think there's a part of you that still questions whether it will get anywhere. And I think after you've had a couple of wins and some experience of success, whatever that means for you personally, I think you start to realize that, oh no, there is a way. And the only question is, am I willing to do what it takes? So you recognize that. Yeah I recognize this could take three years this could take five years this could take 10 years. Am I willing to do that. Oh it's going to take recognizing we need this skill set and building this team. Do I want to do that. And now it becomes more of a like. I know it's possible. Before I didn't think it was possible. I know it's possible to make this a success. Am I willing to do what it takes? And so you do develop a different relationship with stress so that it's not that you don't experience stress, it's that you're experiencing it through the lens of, do I want to take on that stress? And I know what kind of stress it requires versus I have a stress of is this going to work at all. And I think that it's not that it's easier than before. It's still as hard because in one sense you have more to lose and all of that. But I think when something's coming from a place of love and joy like Juniors it's it's almost fun for me to try and figure it out. I'm enjoying the challenge of I don't know. And I kind of I revel in the uncertainty. I like the uncertainty because it takes you back to square one and gives you a feeling of, I'm learning, I'm growing, I don't know, it's exciting. Whereas if we all did something that we knew everything about every day, it kind of becomes boring. And boring not in the boredom sense that we discussed earlier, but I think humans are wired for evolution and growth. survival has been at our core. It's why me and you are alive and breathing today. And so I think stagnancy and being stuck and plateauing actually takes away the joy from life. And so for me, when it comes to business, this is exciting because I don't know. It is uncertain. I have no idea, but I've learned to enjoy that stress because it's what makes me feel like I'm growing. Okay, so three things.
[00:41:49] Ray Latif: Number one, this has been a brilliant conversation, and I can honestly say after doing 500 plus episodes of our podcast, this is one of my favorite ones. Thank you so much, Jay. Really, really appreciate your time. Two, for listeners or viewers who have not tried a can of Giuni, you should definitely go out to a Sprout store if you can and get some. It's fantastic. Or if you're going to Expo West, check out their booth, but definitely at Expo West, if you have an opportunity to meet Jay, as I hope I do, I know you'll be at the event. So very excited for that.
[00:42:19] Jay Shetty: Yeah, I'm so excited for Expo West. We did Expo East last year and first time at Expo West. That was my first time at Expo East. Very excited to be keynoting and I'll be at the booth as well. Ray, I'm really excited to meet you. I look forward to that. It's always fun to meet someone in person after you've connected online. But yeah, please come and see me at the booth. Come say hello. Come drink some Juni with us. Come along to the keynote if you can, but it's going to be a great time. So yeah, I look forward to meeting lots of you who are listening. And thank you so much again, Ray, for allowing me to share my passion for Juni.
[00:42:50] Ray Latif: Jay, it's an honor, honestly. Thank you so much again, and look forward to seeing you at Expo.
[00:42:55] Jay Shetty: Thank you, Ray. I appreciate you.
[00:42:56] Ray Latif: Thank you. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is BevNetTasteRadio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:43:50] Jay Shetty: you
