There were days I went home and and my

husband would fall asleep and I'd put my

head in my pillow and I'd cry quietly,

you know. Um because it was I was

thinking, "What am I doing to my family?

I'm working nonstop. Um I'm eating,

sleeping, breathing, everything debies.

Um and are we going to make it through

financially?" And my husband said, "Are

we going to be on the street? Like how

are we going to get through this?

Howdy y'all. I'm Elizabeth Gore. Welcome

to the big idea from Yahoo Finance. As

the co-founder of the small business

funding platform Hello, it has always

been my mission to ensure entrepreneurs

have the tools they need to succeed. So,

let's cowboy up. Today's big idea

question is, can I successfully pivot

from one profession to a completely

different industry? Our industry focus

will be health focused snacks. The

global better for you snacks market is

valued at 50 billion and is projected to

reach over 70 billion by 2030. Joining

me to talk about it today is the founder

of DB's Organics, Dr. Dion Llo Baker.

DB's Organics is brand known for its

organic frozen popsicles and fruit-based

clean snacks. Dr. BN has grown the

company from a small startup into a

nationally recognized brands, including

major retail distribution collaborations

such as Disney licensing partnerships

with a focus on healthier indulgent

treats for all your families. Here's Dr.

Dion.

All right, Dr. Dion, welcome to the Big

Idea. We're so excited to have you. I am

so excited to be here. Um, I'm obsessed

with your coat. So, let's just start

there. It's so cute. We're so excited to

be surrounded here in the studio with

your absolutely beautiful, tasty,

wonderful products. Tell me how that

started.

Oh my gosh, if you would have told me

years ago I'd be here, I wouldn't

believe you. I was finishing my PhD in

an area of medical science called

maternal fetal toxicology

and uh really didn't know anything about

business, minding my own business, doing

my thing. Um, but our son, we took him

off all artificial ingredients,

everything with added sugars, and it was

really tough to find him treats. One day

I was in the kitchen with my kids and he

was making um pops popsicles and his

sorry, he was making tea and his sister

was making popsicles and all of a sudden

they were arguing over who was going to

do what with mommy and one of them said,

"Mommy, let's make teicles, tea,

popsicles together." And I kind of had

like literally a light bulb go off and I

realized, my god, I've never heard of

this. I could make something that David

could eat and be proud of. Um, and I

could do something with a heart and a

soul and build a company pretty naively

at that time. I really didn't know

anything. And that's how we got started.

You know, the the mind of babes, right?

I mean, you just think about if if if

kids could start being entrepreneurs at

three, we'd all be geniuses, right? I

mean, they always come up with the best

things. And the fact you're such a good

mama and you listened, look at look at

what you've become. It's amazing.

>> Thanks. Yeah, it is out of the mouth of

babes, you know, because they're so

creative sometimes. I think that that

we're held so tight, you know, right?

Their minds are just open, you know.

It's amazing.

>> And I also um I have to thank you for

your former career as a as a mama of a

preeie. And um I it's it's I mean look

at what you've contributed to the world

multiple times now. So how did you go

from your your teicle kitchen to your

first product? I mean that's that's a

heck of a leap. It was a heck of a leap.

Um and it was probably pretty good that

I didn't know how hard it would be. Um

you know so I I I had this light bulb. I

went immediately. I'm a researcher by

training and by heart. And I looked, is

anyone making this kind of thing

anywhere in the world? And nobody was.

And I I'm the type of person, my mom

always said, "Oh my god, I'm giving up

on you." Because if there's a challenge,

I'm like, "Bring it on." And if you tell

me I can't do it, I'm like, "Watch me."

Um, and and that's really kind of where

we got started and how I pushed through.

And you know, I had to figure out how to

make a frozen novelty in Little

Victoria, British Columbia, where I live

be in perfect condition when it arrives

in Florida.

>> You have to think of every step of the

way.

>> I mean, we're we're just crazy enough to

be entrepreneurs, right? I I mean,

that's the whole thing is you got to be

just a little bit crazy to get there.

And you are because the way I think of

your company and when we chatted before,

you weren't just making amazing products

and figuring that out. you were figuring

out cold chain which is insane. I mean I

mean let's jump to that for a second. I

mean how do you even figure that out? I

can't imagine the amount of mistakes and

oh my lord learnings. Tell me. Oh my

gosh. I remember sending out product to

Whole Foods that was frozen and calling

a buyer once and the answer was what do

you want? It actually wasn't hello. He

had no idea who it was and I I was like

I just want to hang up now but is is my

did you receive my product and he said

it was melted too bad for you. Um you

know and so it was it was hard that cold

chain from when you buy the product or

you buy the ingredients from the farm

and it's got to get you know all along

the way and kept frozen and in

meticulous condition. It was very hard

and it's expensive. Um, and you know

there is a big environmental footprint

there. And when we had the opportunity

to get out of Frozen and into the

ambient shelf stable world, we jumped on

it. And you know, you must have had

products that you were in love with.

First of all, how out of all the things

you can create, how did you narrow down

originally? Okay, these are the, you

know, two to three SKs I'm going to go

out with. I mean at because small

business owners they have a lot of

passions and how did you do it and

what's your advice to them on how do you

pick the one

really really good thought uh I I always

tell younger or earlier stage

entrepreneurs

think about skew rationalization like

just go out with a few so we went out

with about four or five um which was

probably too many but I didn't know at

the time and we went out with frozen

novelties which is tough Our velocity

wasn't great and it was tough, really,

really tough. We were self-funded. Um,

and then in 2016 when we came up with

the idea to make the first organic all

fruity,

you know, and we launched it in 2017 and

it went gang busters. We kind of went,

"Ah,

this is how you do it. one skew

with high velocity

um creating a category and the business

really took off. It was just a major

major change in the company and we got

out of Frozen completely. What was the

word? Skew. What did you say?

>> Rationalization. Skewrationalization.

Okay. I I feel like we need t-shirts

that say that because you know we we all

have products that we're in love with

and we want to get them out to market. I

mean, have you had a product that you

just swore that it was going to work and

you had to pull it?

>> Yeah, we we've had a few. I mean, the

frozen was the first and then we also

came out with something called dipums.

Um, which we loved, but it was actually

a fruit stick that you dipped into this

powder and you can lick off the fruit

stick. Um, and we just could not get the

the the pricing right, like in terms of

we couldn't manufacture it at the price

point where we could scale. And you

know, I'm looking at a box of it right

now and and it was painful because I was

like one tier to it.

>> Yeah. Yeah. It was sad, but you know,

you never know in the future what what

you know, maybe we can bring that back.

Absolutely. Now, I want to go back to um

that you bootstrapped. Tell me about

that. What was the risk you took?

Because it was you and your family,

right? Kids and the whole deal.

>> The whole deal. For the first few years,

it was just us. Um, I would say my my

husband is my to this day my biggest

supporter. I have this analogy where you

each put each other's feet on your

shoulders and you help them soar to the

top. And we're both that way. Um, but it

was tough. Um, we put everything we had

into starting DBs. And I can remember a

day in the grocery store, local grocery

store, where I had bought a bunch of

stuff. I was with the kids groceries.

And one credit card, they said, "Oh,

ma'am, it didn't go through." And I'm

trying another one. No. Another one. No.

Another one of my kids. And they can see

there's tears, you know, my eyes are

starting to go red and there's a line up

behind me. And and one of my kids says,

"Mommy, I've got my I've got some

money." And I took I'm like, "Okay, take

away everything just just like the the

the the milk and the and the bread and

we're good, you know." And uh it was

hard bootstrapping. There were days I

went home and and my husband would fall

asleep and I'd put my head in my pillow

and I'd cry quietly, you know. Um

because it was I was thinking, "What am

I doing to my family? I'm working

nonstop. Um I'm eating, sleeping,

breathing, everything. Debbies. Um, and

are we going to make it through

financially? And my husband said, "Are

we going to be on the street?" Like,

"How are we going to get through this?"

>> So, it was tough.

>> That is tough. And I admire you so much.

And And for the those business owners,

cuz everyone, no matter what business

you're in, you're going to have that

moment. What What's your personal advice

to the individual

in that moment when they're crying in

their pillow?

I would say make sure you're surrounded

by people you can talk to. You know,

it's so so important. You know, I

remember calling I have a a a few fellow

entrepreneurs that I go to when things

are really really tough and we talk

through it. You know, know what you're

getting into as much as you can. You're

still going to go through that painoint.

It will happen. Um, but have somebody at

least one person you can reach out to

and cry your head off and it's okay if

it's a coach, if it's a friend, if it's,

you know, probably needs to be someone

in the business world who gets it. Um,

but I think that's really, really

important or a partner that, you know,

like my husband.

>> So, have that good cry, but then reach

out to people you trust to pull you

through or push you through either way.

>> Yeah. or to say, you know what, you need

to know when to say, you know, I think

I've done everything I can here. Let's

move on to the next idea. I'm wiser now.

I mean, sometimes you need to do that.

>> Absolutely. I mean, we learn from our

failures. And and speaking of on our

show, we love to talk about dirty

unicorns. So, which is your mistakes in

business that we can all learn from. Do

you have one you could share with us?

>> Oh my gosh, yes, I do. I remember when

we were in the frozen novelties when I

first started and we had tea popsicles

sweetened with coconut sugar. And I

thought, okay, people want really

healthy. And uh what I discovered when

um a big retailer in the US called me

and said, "Your products not moving.

This frozen novelty tea popsicle not

selling. Bring your trucks, pick it up,

and get it out." O

and I remember thinking, "Oh my god,

we're this is the end of the business.

This is it. We're done." Like, this is

in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I can't even afford to send you a truck,

let alone multiple trucks to all your

DCs. And uh you know, we got through it,

but we it almost took us out. And um

that was part of what made me decide

we're getting out of Frozen. this this

were were and also also the buyer said

one thing to me taste is king. H so you

might think you coconut sugar is what

everybody wants cuz it's it's low

glycemic. It's this and that. Um but

taste is king and that really shifted

and now everything DB's makes is

sweetened only with organic fruit puree

and fruit juice and that's it. And it

has to taste amazing. You should never

have a DB's product that is anything

less than phenomenal.

Well, you told me this story that I love

about um I believe it was your son going

to parties and couldn't eat the things

around him. And you know, as moms, you

know, you you don't want to have the kid

who's not cool and now he's the cool kid

bring in DBs. tell us that story because

I think real world especially moms when

we create products that real world

experience of what people are going

through is is is what guides us. Well, I

think it it's it impacts our heart. You

know, if there's something that leaves

an imprint, I always say like that's the

stuff that's going to stay with you. And

you know, our son would go to birthday

parties. We took him off all artificial

ingredients. you name it. Anything that

wasn't from the earth, no added sugars,

um had to be from fruits, uh or from

nature, and otherwise couldn't eat it.

And so, yeah, he'd go to birthday

parties, they'd have all this colorful

cake and this these treats and these all

these things, and he'd have a brown

piece of fruit leather, and it just

didn't cut it. And he'd come home and be

angry and kick something or hit a sister

or act out. And when he could bring DB's

um it was all of a sudden this product

that he was proud of. It was colorful.

It was delicious. Um and his friends

thought he was awesome. Um and he didn't

have to say I don't eat I can't eat this

and I can't eat that. This was something

that he could eat. He could feel proud

of. Um and and and it's something that

lives today that you know he's still to

this day now he's a lot older. He will

chug back our juice boxes, our freezies,

you name it. He loves them.

>> Well, we also know when when kids don't

like something, they're going to tell

you immediately. So, they're they are

our best focus groups. They're so they

they love their mamas, but they're also

hard on them, right? Um so,

>> Oh, yeah.

>> What What's next? What's the future?

>> Well, the future is very exciting. Part

of the reason I started this was um to

have DBs accessible, have it everywhere

and also at the same time create a

culture where everybody feels like an

owner and so every single person who

joins the DB's team um has that

opportunity for ownership. And so I'd

say it's twofold. It is one is

accessible at a reasonable reasonable

price everywhere like you can get us at

every Target. You can get us at every

Costco and at a reasonable price. I

always wanted organic to be accessible

to everybody. And we work with organic

farms to make sure that we can get the

best product, the highest quality, every

single ingredient is organic. Um, but

it's still accessible to everybody. So,

there's still opportunity for us to get

everywhere. and also to continue

creating this culture because those

lonely moments when you're crying in

your pillow, you just want people around

you. And so every single leader on our

team, our leadership team are investors.

So they're my partners. And then every

person who's been with the company um

for a while has the opportunity for

ownership. And I think of it as like a

warm cozy quilt, you know, with all

those patches. Um and every person is a

patch. and we wrap around each other.

You know, I just went through a hard

time with something medically with my

husband and my my everybody on the team

had my back. Um, so that's what excites

me and that's what I love. The uh

whenever I see or feel a quilt, it makes

me think of my grandma uh who I miss so

much. Um, and I hope your husband is on

the mend to say the least.

One of the things that I just adore

about you is h how much you want this to

be in every store in America and I in in

Canada and I've been thinking about um

how difficult it is to have one customer

set is the store itself and then the

other is the actual consumer. How do you

balance those two?

>> Yeah, I mean and it is a balance. I

always say if people knew, the

consumers, the customers knew what it

actually takes to get that product on

the shelf, um I think they'd be amazed.

I don't think people understand

that from the farm, making the product,

meeting with buyers, getting it into

warehouses, getting it on the store

shelf, you know, there is a it it's

hard. It's a lot of work and it's a lot

of networking. It's a lot of connection.

It's a lot of, you know, connecting with

your consumers in interesting ways so

they also know where you are um in the

store. You know, there's so many layers

of it. Have you ever said no to the

store when you knew it wasn't right for

your end consumer?

>> Yes. When it you know, sometimes we'll

see a a price, a sticker price, and

we're in shock because we know what we

sold to them. We're we're very fair and

equitable across the market. And when we

see this high high sticker and we kind

of, you know, we'll say, "Hey, like

what's going on here?" Um because people

will kind of reach out to us and say,

"Hey, it's so expensive." And we're

like,

>> so that that's tough cuz cuz you don't

really have a say um with the store. But

we've also uh said no when

when we know we also can't survive um at

a price that we have to sell to the

store and they're going to mark it up

anyway. Um so but we need to survive and

I think as entrepreneurs

um we need to know when to say okay we

need we need the financial wherewithal

in order to say no this isn't going to

work because it's not sustainable

>> and then

right I mean that's the whole thing you

want to be able to serve your core

customer in a way that's both fiduciary

appropriate but also the best product in

the world. I get it. So what do you what

do your kids think now? Wow. I mean, um,

you know, this all started with the

teaicles in the kitchen. Are they proud

of their mama? I think they're proud of

their mama. Um, you know, they're it's

very much a family. Every single thing

that happens is we talk about it at the

table. Um, both my kids are in

entrepreneurship now. Um, they both did

a science degree or they're doing a

science degree and they're both young

starting entrepreneurs. So,

>> I love that.

>> It's interesting. And so now they'll

come to me for advice and we'll t chat

through things. Um and I always say I

went to um school to be a PhD and then I

went to the school of hard knocks to be

an entrepreneur.

I think that one that second one's

really a lot even harder, right?

>> Oh gosh. Yeah. Much harder. Yeah.

>> I mean we got to be crazy every single

day. Um so any new products coming out

that you're fired up about?

Yes, we have our juice boxes. They're

actually right above me there.

Yeah. So, they're the first all organic

uh kids prebiotic juice boxes. And so,

those are just coming out all across the

natural market. Were also in uh some of

the Costco regions. Um it's delicious.

Uh David, my son, was one of the biggest

taste testers of this. Um and uh it's

not until David says, "Yep, mom, it's

really good."

that I I think, okay, this is going to

be awesome. So, yeah, we're really

excited about that.

>> I'm so excited. I can't wait. Um, well,

you are a blessing and congratulations

on the growth, on the the roller

coaster. Congrats on being a little bit

crazy. Uh, and most of all, you know,

creating a product that is that warm

quilt makes us all feel healthy and good

about ourselves. Most of all, thanks for

coming on the show, Doc.

Well, thank you and thank you for your

incredible personality and your amazing

show. I just admire you so much. So,

thank you for having me.

>> Appreciate it.

>> At the end of each episode, I like to

give a shout out to a small business

that's doing amazing work. Today, I'd

like to shout out one of Dr. Dion's

favorites, Benny. Benny is a wellness

beverage brand founded by two university

students that creates clean functional

energy drinks made with natural

ingredients like yerba mate and

adaptogens. The company focuses on

providing everyday energy without the

jitters or the crash positioning itself

for a better for you alternative in the

energy drink market. You can check them

out at drinkbenny.com.

Thank you Dr. Dion for coming on the

show and thank all of you for joining

us. We've hoped you've learned a lot.

This has been a big idea from Yahoo

Finance. You can come say hi to me on

any of my social channels at Elizabeth

Gore USA. Also, scan the QR code below

to follow Yahoo Finance podcast or check

us out wherever we get your podcast on

The Big Idea. I'm Elizabeth Gore. As my

grandma always said, hold your head up

high and give them a hell. See you next

time.

This content was not intended to be

financial advice and should not be used

as a substitute for professional

financial services.

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