Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sally Kim, founder, and CEO of Crushed Tonic, located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Crushed Tonic is an anti-aging ingestible skincare beverage brand formulated with marine collagen, probiotics, biotin and flavored with popular superfoods like coffee, matcha, turmeric, lucuma, mango, acai, and more. Since its launch in 2018, we have partnered with brands like Sephora, Equinox, Anthropologie, KITH, FabFitFun, Free People, Erewhon, JetBlue, and soon Costco! Our customers are hard-working women and men in their mid 20's who value the health of their skin and hair holistically and not just from the outside.

Tell us about yourself

I am motivated by the reviews and letters customers write to us! It all started when I got burned from a cooking accident. The oil melted the skin off both of my arms instantly. I had to turn to a ton of prescription ointment and silicone patches only to find out none of it really did much for me. Unimpressed by the options out there, I ended up turning to the internet to find ways to heal my skin.

After some research, I discovered that ingesting collagen was extremely beneficial for our skin (and hair, bones, joints, the list goes on). I was super fascinated, especially because I always thought collagen was something that was topically applied or injected— and I started drinking it every day.

After just a couple of weeks, I saw incredible changes not just on my burns but on my entire skin, head to toe, and also my hair. Turns out, collagen is something that's in our own bodies — actually, the most abundant substance in our bodies, second to water—and our bodies stop producing it as much when we are in our mid 20's. Drinking extra collagen, however, offsets that decline, returning your skin and hair to what they used to be.

I then tried to evangelize it to my aging parents and family, and this was where I saw the problem. No one wanted to take collagen as often as I did for how it tasted (and to be fair, most collagen powders do have an unpleasant taste-- it is often gamey tasting like any other protein powders are). Had I not been burned, I probably wouldn't have drank it so regularly either.

But knowing how amazing it was for you, I HAD to have my parents take it. So I began to flavor each mix with specific superfoods that they liked, so they would drink the collagen with the beverages they were already drinking every day anyway (matcha for my mother, coffee for my dad, and hot cacao for my brother).

And after tasting and testing for months, getting it so that the collagen was virtually unrecognizable in the flavor, and seeing my friends and family drink Crushed Tonic raving about how amazing it tasted— that's when Crushed Tonic was born.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

A few customers have let us know that they no longer aspire to get plastic surgery because of the benefits they've seen-- and then those who were injured have also written to us saying their doctors were astonished by their healing rate in comparison to what they had imagined!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Fighting the status quo of being a 20-something female entrepreneur has been extremely difficult for manufacturing and investing. The supply chain during COVID is incredibly painstaking, as well!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Don't be scared to reach out to those who have inspired you, and let them know exactly why you were inspired. They may or may not respond, but if they do, do your best to become absolutely invaluable to them. You will learn so much from simply watching and listening to them, and if they learn anything from you, you're doing something right. There's probably at least one way you can try to help them achieve their next goal, whatever it may be—and who knows—you may become so integral to their company that they ask you to come on board. If that's not the case, you can still garner a great relationship and get to work with your own source of inspiration personally.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I have also written a book, The Collagen Glow (@collagenglow)-- available in Barnes and Nobles, Target, and Amazon!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.crushedtonic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crushedtonic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallsters/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyoliviakim/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.