Episode #335: Katie Webb, Founder & CEO, aila
Episode description
Katie Webb was in digital partnerships for 11 years while also working as a fitness trainer and group exercise instructor.
She ending up spending a lot of time at GNC and slowly started to learn the supplement industry. "I couldn't really find any formulas that were leveraging food ingredients over ingredients I've never heard of (never mind the 300 grams of caffine!) and a lot of my female clients felt the same."
That frustration eventually led to her starting Aila, the Scottish/Gaelic word meaning "from the strong place." She's raised a small pre-seed and is now moving to their next stage.
She and Pete discuss the (lack of!) quality control around the (mostly) unregulated supplement industry, which was one of the key reasons Aila is all plant-based, They also supply all their ingredients directly from the US and do multiple rounds of third party testing.
"We're doing everything we can to rebuild across the stigma this industry has. There are only 8 ingredients in all of our formulas, and everything is something you recognize, so we're doing our part in trying to make things a little more transparent," Webb states.
Aila is 85-95% female and women make up about 70% of supplement sales, so she is most certainly in the right place, with the right product, at the right time. This is most definitely a brand to keep your eye on!