Tell us about Naked Life Beverages / No Nasties Project.
Naked Life Beverages and The No Nasties Project are about taking health to the mainstream and changing the face of food and drink for good. We don’t believe you need to compromise on taste for health and so we work tirelessly to create food and drinks taste as good if not better than their full sugar counterparts.
What inspired you to start both brands (Naked Life Beverages + No Nasties Project)?
After trying to reduce the amount of sugar intake in my own diet, I realised there was a real lack of better-for-you beverages that actually taste good. I had been playing in the kitchen to make my own healthier soft drinks to drink at home and then when I was overseas – I tried one of the commercial naturally sugar free soft drinks and realised that mine tasted better!! That was the start. Since then we have been aggressively creating new products to offer a better-for-you option without compromising on the taste.
Tell us about your career and background.
Have always had a few different business on the go, but my career was more in helping large companies with their own strategy and innovations. This helped to understand how to do things differently and focus on customer need and innovation over just doing the same old same old.
Describe a typical work day for you.
My morning starts with a coffee and getting down my thoughts from the evening. I love this time to myself to think about what’s important and about strategy – all in the confides of my favourite coffee shop. I really struggled when we were in lockdown to get the same perspective. When it hits 9am our entire team comes together to run through a quick same page meeting for the day ahead – and then we are away. After the 9am meeting its anything and everything – from managing our manufacturing partners, through to spreadsheets and NPD and tastings (which is my passion)!
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Don’t think too much about it as you can always find a reason not to do something. Find a large area you’re passionate about and then just get moving. I find that until you are deep in the area you want to focus in – you cant see where the real opportunities are. Then once you’re there – since you’re always covering new ground and there often isn’t a road map – ask yourself – how can i do this in half the time and get double the output.
What’s next for you, and both brands?
We are all about changing the face of food and drink at every consumption opportunity – so you’ll be seeing much more yummy products coming into the market!
