The Next Chapter

Some personal news, purpose-driven modern career moves, and why I love Athletic Greens

Dec 15, 2021

I’m joining a brand I love, a business model I believe in, a mission that inspires me, and a founder, team, and community that make me want to be all-in.

I am so happy to now be President, COO, and Board member of Athletic Greens, one of the fastest-growing nutrition companies in the US (and soon to be the world). After advising the company and its founder and CEO, Chris Ashenden, for a good bit of the year, the opportunity to join the company was just too exciting to pass up.

Athletic Greens (AG), with its core product AG1, was a pioneer in the foundational nutrition movement 10 years ago. It is a movement that has been growing gradually and now seemingly suddenly as many of us look to build and stack simple, healthy habits. This company has been direct to consumer (DTC) since its inception - ahead of the curve in many ways.

Making personal moves

A year ago I wrapped up my 10 years at Focus Brands to take a season off of operating and focus on helping other people build their businesses, ramp up angel investing, and advise early and growth-stage businesses with a focus on wellness, web3, SMB tech, and the future of retail.

I did exactly that - and what a year it has been! My husband and I angel invested almost 3 times the amount we typically do in a year (by August). I advised amazing founders and leadership teams. All in, I’ve invested in over 60 companies in areas such as SMB tech, wellness, web3, and omnichannel consumer products, and I advise many of these companies. I leaned into my board work, extra family time, and health, and am getting close to finishing my book!

There was a point where I thought this “portfolio chapter” of my career would be THE thing, solely advising, investing, and helping others build the future of their industries. But not surprisingly, several of the businesses I became involved with were attractive to “jump in and do more” and one turned out to be the right opportunity at the right time.

I shared this Framework and Exercise for Career and Work Decisions earlier this year. I have used it to help many navigate big personal moves, and I used it myself for this opportunity. As we are still amidst the Great Reshuffling, the Great Resignation, and all the other descriptors for this season of shifts in the world of work, I hope this tool and my story help others on their journey!

Behind the scenes: why jump back into operating and why this?

I’ve run big, scaled brands and businesses, and in addition to many asking about going back to operating, some have asked, why join something smaller, high-growth, and earlier stage? Here are some of the many reasons:

Modern leaders and careers

I love this chapter in my career, and I am proud to demonstrate that bigger is great, but it isn’t always best. And giant scaled companies aren’t the only way to have major meaning and impact. The reality is that leading earlier stage or something “less than huge” with hyper-growth and outsized opportunity for impact is a boss-ass opportunity.

I hope more seasoned leaders of large companies and traditional industries are inspired to see the broader options in front of them as more amazing companies have been built in recent years and are now in early or growth stages.
I miss doing the deepest work that can only be done from inside a company. Helping a business from the sidelines is great, but for me, while I’m so young (43 and mom of two toddlers) and full of energy to create and lead, building is even better.
I’m still an advisor, board member, mom, wife, investor, speaker, creator, and more…AND I get to help lead this amazing business.
I missed leading teams directly, and I am energized every day with this team and the size of the current and potential impact I know they will have.
Most of us want to feel good, proud, and grateful for what we make, sell, and build. As a busy mom, investor, and leader, the focus on strengthening my nutritional foundation, leading a healthier life, and building businesses that help others do the same have become top priorities in recent years.

Mission & impact

Athletic Greens is a wellness rocket ship with a mission-driven founder and passionate team who are leaning in and co-creating a new consumer category of foundational nutrition.

The company supports communities in need, all around the world, and will continue to do more to share its success with those who need support.
It is climate neutral certified, has been planet-loving from the early days, and continues to seek ways for consumer products to not just be “not bad” for the planet but to be a net positive.
The current core product, AG1, represents an epic and effective foundational component of daily nutrition and making fewer things with greater impact. So many companies fall into the trap of making more, yet not always better. At the same time, there is “more” for our nutrition in AG1 that allows us to buy fewer separate things with individual bottles, packages, and other consumption elements.

Changing needs

Many of us eat a little less than we used to thanks to various forms of intermittent fasting or due to being busy and not having full meals until later in the day. That makes it even harder to pack in critical essential nutrients. We also have become more aware that the food we do eat is not as nutrient-packed as it once was.

We are simultaneously pushing ourselves - physically, mentally, and emotionally, and nutrient support is a key part of living more intensely with strength. Of course, that’s in addition to a healthy diet, great sleep, mindfulness, loving relationships, and belonging, and movement.

People are already supplementing with probiotics, multi-vitamins, extra greens, and more, Athletic Greens just puts that all in one scoop and easy to drink nutritional beverage.

Pursuit of evolving and growing excellence

The founder of Athletic Greens has iterated this product 52 (and soon to be 53) times over a decade! Instead of launching more products, Chris and the AG team have obsessed over making this AG1 as high impact as they can. I’m blown away by the constant focus on one thing being as impactful as possible.

The team has continued putting in what creates more nutritional impact and synergy of whole ingredients based on the latest research with the partnership of some of the world’s leading experts on health and nutrition. Look at this label!

Pursuit of evolving and growing excellence…I dig this as a counter-narrative to “more”.

Foundational nutrition

AG is driving the “Foundational Nutrition Movement” and coined their approach “Essentialist Nutrition”. This means building a base layer that helps our other eating, sleeping, and fitness habits have more impact because of a strong nutrient foundation. All while doing less, keeping it simple, yet achieving more. Think of it as the simple habit that is the “base of your nutrition stack”. Thank you Chris Cantino for that line!

I’m a customer first

We all want to be healthier and better for ourselves and our families, yet we have busy lives that can make that challenging. Simple behaviors to improve one’s health will see rapid adoption into 2022.

Habit-stacking will be an “it term” of 2022. Athletic Greens does offer a few other products like high-quality Vitamin D3/K and Omegas, and it has the license and plans to do much more, but AG1 is a mega-product that has allowed me as a customer to throw out multi-vitamins, other probiotics and prebiotics, adaptogens, greens powders, and more and helped me stay consistent with taking all these things in one scoop.

Seems simple, but it’s a big idea to make it easier for people to build healthy habits.

Community & trust

The Athletic Greens community is inspiring. The stories of how customers have been impacted are powerful: improved digestion and energy, supporting their athletic and fitness pursuits through better nutrition, and even getting off of medications they were already on because the AG1 habit led to other healthy habits. We have a ton of opportunities to build and nurture more community in both classic and contemporary ways.

The experts on nutrition, digestion and more were also customers first, then raving fans, and many are now formally involved with the company. The Athletic Greens team knows we trade on trust. People trust us to create what’s best to help them in their work to be the best. I take that community to heart and that responsibility very seriously.

I’m excited to do more in the area of community with this brand that will likely intersect with web3 and NFTs in the near future.

Opportunity

Athletic Greens has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically improve people’s lives through better daily habits centered around simple and effective nutritional products.

Now is the most important time in history for consumers to focus on products that support immunity, gut health, and their overall nutritional foundation.
Getting more humans, especially women, our parents, and a broader community to invest in foundational nutrition, beyond the athlete audience that helped make it popular initially, is a powerful chance to make an impact.
The fan base is already expanding, with 45% of the customers new to AG this year were womxn, and that will grow.

Growth:

Approaching 200% year-over-year growth, exceeding $100M in revenue in 2021.
We aren’t disclosing the latest numbers, but it’s safe to say this is a rocket ship by all definitions of growth.
The retention is best in class. Most customers subscribe and stay. People who use the product are raving fans.

A company built for the future:

We have no HQ and are a fully remote, truly global team. Time zones…oy!
The company is leaning into web3, NFTs, and the future of the internet, the ownership economy, the creator economy.
It is not just a company in the “better for you by old definitions” space, but good for you in a way that will endure in the future.
My role as a crossover creator, sharing knowledge with the world in workshops, newsletters, books, podcasts, Clubhouse, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more are assets and strengths welcomed into this company.

Getting to bring my whole self to a company built for the future (vs one struggling to transition from past to present) fills me with gratitude. A company leaning into modern work and encouraging team members to live their best lives and bring their whole selves to the business is disproportionately inclined to win.

There is much work to do, and while no company is perfect, there is a strong culture and foundation to build upon at AG.

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These needs and changes in our lives and habits are some of the reasons that I have been personally advising and investing in healthy food and wellness companies like Athletic Greens, HumanCo Brands, and more over the last few years. And the broader set of examples shared above is why joining AG is so exciting and important.

I hope you’ll join me in the foundational nutrition movement and have those you love do the same. Gift this to relatives, parents, and significant others - what better gift than a helpful habit for health? Use my special link to get some extra products when you order athleticgreens.com/kat.

PS - when looking at the premium price, remember the many things you can stop buying and taking (talk to your doctor if you have special needs - not medical advice!) and it works out for many of us to be $ saved. I challenge anyone to find $2.70-$3.00 dollars per day (~$20/week) and shift those dollars to something that invests in your health and nutritional foundation.

PPS - If you are already a part of the AG community and have any ideas or suggestions, please DM me!

PPPS - we are hiring for so many roles in innovation, product, marketing, engineering, communications, community, supply chain, international, digital, operations, HR and recruiting, finance, and more!!

Back to building….

Kat