Kelly LeVeque (Be Well by Kelly) - Betting Her House on a Protein Powder That Sold Out in a Month
On this episode, Be Well by Kelly founder and bestselling author Kelly LeVeque joins us to unpack:
- Why she refused every paid brand partnership for years, and how that principle turned into stock options in more than 22 companies
- The line of credit against her first home’s down payment that funded the first big manufacturing run of her protein powder, and what it felt like to sell completely out of stock within the first month
- How her son's severe eczema and allergies pushed her to formulate her own grass-fed, EU-sourced beef protein isolate instead of relying on someone else’s
- Selling both of their Volvos for a beat-up Toyota Tacoma to build a year’s worth of savings, all while still working her sales job, before finally going all-in on her nutrition practice in 2015
- The wake-up call from a client who told her no one would take her seriously charging $100 an hour, and why she agreed on the spot to 3x her rate
- Her list of A-list wellness clients, including Chelsea Handler, Molly Sims, Jessica Alba, and Emmy Rossum, and how spending her entire book advance on a celebrity lunch landed her first real press coverage
- Why she’s launching a second brand, Be Well Home, without her face attached and launching their first product at Williams-Sonoma this December
- Running her team of five women with two of her own sisters, and her rule for hiring people she never has to micromanage
- Her “magic wand” wish for the supplement industry and why she’d rather go out of stock than cut corners on ingredients
- The one investment that alone paid back every dollar she’s put into other companies over the last ten years
Learn more about Be Well by Kelly on bewellbykelly.com
