Daina Trout
Co-Founder and Chief Mission Officer, Health-Ade. On 1 show, 2 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutiveoperatorLinkedIn ↗health-ade.com ↗
In 2012, Daina Trout co-founded the organic fermented beverage company Health-Ade Kombucha, serving as its longtime CEO and scaling the brand to retailers nationwide. Following an acquisition in 2021, she transitioned to the role of Chief Mission Officer to focus on brand strategy and product innovation.
1shows
2appearances
24statements
3resolved
3supported
0contradicted
100%fully supported
Everything Daina Trout said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Trout: Beverage distributors rarely accept brands lacking existing retail store traction
“Yeah, but then the catch-twenty-two is the distributor won't usually take you on unless you have some stores. Like, they don't want to build you from scratch. So they want to know, oh, you've got Gelson's on board? Okay, we'll take you on.”
Trout: Coca-Cola invested in Health-Ade Kombucha
“I was extremely proud and am extremely proud that we've been able to build something literally from nothing from that table to something that the biggest beverage company in the world would want to invest at this level.”
Trout: Beverage distributors demand pre-existing retail accounts before signing brands
“But then the catch-twenty-two is the distributor won't usually take you on unless you have some stores. Like, they don't want to build you from scratch. So they want to know, oh, you've got Gelson's on board? Okay, we'll take you on.”
Trout: Health-Ade made the right choice taking early outside investors
“So I know if I was back in that position, I really still would have no choice. But to be honest, they helped us a lot in the beginning. They helped us build forecasts and get into the right distribution. And so, honestly, I think we did exactly right.”
Trout: Global anecdotal evidence suggested kombucha SCOBYs could regrow hair
“I had reported that basically I found all this anecdotal evidence, like all these People all over the world just talking about using a kombucha SCOBY on their head to regrow hair.”
Trout: Health-Ade originally saw kombucha as temporary placeholder for hair loss product
“When we decided to sell the kombucha, we hadn't given up yet on the hair loss idea. We just kind of realized it was going to be harder to make than we could make in the time that we needed to make it by. So it was like, we still thought the big idea was hair l…”
Trout: Health-Ade still brews kombucha in 2.5-gallon cookie jars
“We were making it in the same jars we make it today. Two and a half gallon cookie jars from Bed Bath & Beyond.”
Trout: Health-Ade exhausted its $2M Series A funding within a year
“I remember when we got the two million bucks, it was like, oh my gosh, we're good. Like, let's build this now, baby. And then it was like, gone a year later.”
Trout: Generic drugs caused widespread pharma layoffs and plummeting morale
“Pharmaceutical companies were all in a transition state because generic medicines were starting to really come out. And there was just a lot of change, a lot of attrition, layoffs every three, four months, productivity went down, engagement went down, morale w…”
Trout: Global anecdotal evidence suggested kombucha SCOBY could regrow hair
“I had reported that basically I found all this anecdotal evidence, like all these people all over the world just talking about using a kombucha SCOBY on their head to regrow hair.”
Health-Ade still brews commercial kombucha in 2.5-gallon glass cookie jars
“We were making it in the same jars we make it today. Two and a half gallon cookie jars from Bed Bath & Beyond.”
Trout: Health-Ade funded its first filling line with $60,000 from parents
“The first time we really needed money, we needed money to buy our first filling line, which already we were past the cake bake shop stage. It was the next stage, but we asked both of our parents for that. Vanessa asked her dad, and I asked my dad, and they gav…”
Health-Ade scaled early retail with 20 part-time, commission-only sales reps
“We had some people that worked hourly for us in the brewery to help us. And then we also had some independent sales reps that got paid a commission. So let's say we had about 20 of those individuals that were working like some five, six hours a week, so not, n…”
Trout: Health-Ade burned through its initial $2M investment in one year
“I remember when we got the two million bucks, it was like, oh my gosh, we're good. Like, let's build this now, baby. And then it was like, gone a year later. And it's not that we were reckless at all. It's just the capital for growth is really intense and imme…”
Trout: Co-founders secured a farmers market stall before developing their product
“Vanessa's friend of a friend, I don't know if she actually ran the farmer's market, but she was one of the leading positions at a farmer's market organization in L.A., one of the biggest. And she had called us to say, listen, one of the farmers is dipping out …”
Trout: Health-Ade made up to $1,500 per day at farmers markets
“There were days in the summer that we were making 1500 bucks in a market.”
Trout: At least half of Health-Ade's early farmers market customers were repeat buyers
“At least half of our customers were repeat. And then the other half were new, which was so cool.”
Health-Ade bartered retail staffing for free production space at Cake Bake Shop
“We found a, it was called Cake Bake Shop in Manhattan Beach, and the owner's name was Laura, and she was closed on Sundays and Mondays. And in exchange for us opening on Sundays and Mondays and manning her shop, she let us use all the extra space she had for f…”
Trout: Health-Ade co-founders split equity equally in thirds from the start
“The three of us were equally devoted, dedicated, put the same amount of work into health aid. So we were, yeah, third, a third all the way and always have been.”
Trout: Health-Ade self-distributed for two years using a van with coolers
“We created a whole self-distribution model for a good two years. We ended up buying a van or, you know, leasing a van, a big white van. It wasn't refrigerated, but we put a bunch of coolers in there.”
Trout: Amex denied Health-Ade's request to extend $50,000 credit limit
“We had a 50,000 dollar credit limit, and we just assumed that Amex would extend our credit because we were good about paying it in full every month, you know, so we were like, oh, it's not going to be a problem. I mean, we've been great customers, you know, an…”
Trout: Health-Ade made up to $1,500 daily at farmers markets in 2012
“There were days in the summer that we were making 1500 bucks in a market.”
Health-Ade bartered weekend shopkeeping labor for free commercial kitchen space
“And in exchange for us opening on Sundays and Mondays and manning her shop, she let us use all the extra space she had for free.”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Daina's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 HOW I BUILT THISLEDGER | Co-Founder and Chief Mission Officer, Health-Ade | 2 | 24 | 100% 3/3 | full record on How I Built This → |