What do you do when you’re six months in to building a new business and things stop looking rosy? You celebrate all the positives, remind yourself of why you do what you do, then throw yourself to the sharks.
Today’s guest is Kate Johansson, the founder of KOJA Health, a real food supplement business. She has a personal passion for health and wellness and is keen to get real food back on the shelves for Australian consumers.
Today I chat with Kate about how to build a healthy brand.
Kate’s inspiration to start KOJA came from her role at a supplement company with one of Australia’s largest sports teams. She realised that synthetic multivitamins and pills were quickly becoming a household item for many Australians who were seeking to improve their health, and she strongly believed that they had nothing to do with living a healthy and happy life. So she developed KOJA as a real food alternative.
KOJA is a range of breakfast toppers and salad toppers that are all nutrient dense mixes of nuts, seeds, and super foods. Expanding the range with new products is just one of the many ways she plans to increase her market share in the next few months.
Kate’s mission is clear; to do whatever it takes to get Australians eating better food.
Join me on Australia’s best marketing podcast as Kate talks about:
- How she’s gone about creating a healthy brand
- The importance of story-telling in her marketing
- What she leant from her appearance on Shark Tank Australia
- And plenty more
Plus I help a listener with some ideas of building his business in Japan.
Yep. You guessed it. It’s another big episode of Australia’s best marketing podcast – so let’s get stuck, right in.
EPISODE TIMELINE
00:32 Welcome & overview
02:58 Today’s guest introduction – Kate Johansson
04:04 Interview with Kate Johansson – Part 1
18:57 Marketing insights in to 99Designs & Netregistry
20:49 Interview with Kate Johansson – Part 2
42:59 My top 3 marketing learnings from my chat with Kate Johansson
44:45 Listener Questions
48:24 Motivational marketing quote of the week
48:40 Wrap-up and insights in to next week’s guests
EPISODE SPONSORS (PLEASE SUPPORT THEM)
Netregistry special offer – Get your online marketing sorted. Websites from $79 / month.
99Designs free coupon – Get a design you’ll love. in 7-days. 100% guaranteed.
RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED
KOJA’s official website
Kate on Twitter
Kate Johansson on Shark Tank
Previous guests who’ve also appeared on Shark Tank:
Scott Boocock from HEGS
Travis Osborne of Mobile Tyre Service
Dean Salakas from The Party People
TWEETABLES
(GO ON, SHARE THE LOVE, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO)
MY TOP 4 MARKETING TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
- Ensure you present your business as well as you can – that includes all your marketing touch points – logo, brochure ware, website, car wrap, uniforms etc. If you need help then this free 99Designs coupon code – that’s a no-brainer.
- Focus on all the positive things that are going on around you.
- Pretend you’re going on Shark Tank in one weeks time – it’s a great opportunity to gather up everything about your business – your numbers, goals, strategies, projections and so on.
- Keep your client communication channels open – always.
INSPIRATIONAL MARKETING QUOTE
“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss, and work twelve hours a day. Or, you could start a business you love, and work will be come a hobby.”
Robert Frost (and Timbo ;0)
OVER TO YOU …
What was your biggest marketing learning or ah-ha moment from this episode?
Leave your comment below.
My guest and I respond to each and every comment.
Grab My 10 Marketing
16 thoughts on “286 – How To Build a Heatlhy Brand With Kate Johannson From KOJA Health”
Timbo great episode – Kate was so open in her answers, with fine detail – e.g. it was Coles, not ‘a large retailer’. And thank you for the book recommendation from an earlier podcast – Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up. Just finished it – a great read. Cheers
Pleasure Steve. Kate was great; and how good is the Steve Martin book?! Now YouTube him – there’s some great stuff there.
This is a great episode. I haven’t finished listening to this episode. But I’ve heard of this company and Kate before. I have a feeling I seen her on Shark Tank in passing.
Correct, Adam. She talks about that experience later in the episode.
I think the biggest marketing learning is that Kate is a mirror image of KOJA Health (and vice versa). Not only was she unwavering in her commitment to natural nutrition (way to throw a Big Mac-or was it a Whopper- into the mix, Timbo!), but to her own persona. I respect the fact that she steers away from subscripton options which I don’t feel would work well with her product or KOJA’s personality.
I love Kate and her beautiful products! I met her at Inspire9 before Shark Tank and am so glad to hear things are so successful as she truly is a leader in her field! Congrats Kate and thank you for sharing her story and learnings Timbo! It did bring a tear to my eye..
A marketing quote book is a great idea! I really enjoy your quotes at the end and was thinking of one the other day – ‘If your not out side your comfort zone, you’re not challenging your self enough in your marketing – be creative and daring!’
From Leena van Raay
Thanks for this episodes – never heard of Koja but as someone active in the bodybuilding & powerlifting space, definitely will check the brand out for my nutrition and keen to see how the business develops.
Our pleasure, Meindert. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks Leena. Kate is doing some great stuff. Tell me, you haven’t got a glass eye by any chance ? ? I’ll do the quote book in the new year … I think!
Great point, S. Kate is truly living her brand. As KOJA expands, her challenge will always be to remain authentic. I think she’s got what it takes, but let’s wait and see. Thanks for tuning in.
I found that to be the most inspirational episode I’ve listened to on your show Tim. I love her start up story. Its something a lot of people can relate to. Her brand is amazing also. I personally love hearing the kind of detail of the struggle you and kate came up with in that interview, particularly with small start ups.
Thanks
Sam
Another great interview here Tim !!!
What a great passionate person Kate is .. Love it,
Her customer engagement with keeping them informed about delivery of orders after the shark tank episode was awesome …
Well done and all the best in a successful business going forward Kate ..
Thanks Lachlan. Kate’s idea of keeping customers informed even if it’s not-so-good news was genius. At least they know that they’ve not been forgotten.
Thanks Sam. Very kind words indeed. Out of struggle often comes great things – whilst Kate is still in the early stages, I can’t help but think she’s got some wonderful business times ahead.
Lots of passion and beautifully designed packages
– you can´t fail with that. I just wonder if Koja is targeting the right customer? Do you
really have to make a healthy salad even more healthy by adding toppers or wouldn´t it
make more sense to offer a healthy sauce for sausage and beef lovers?
I’m liking your lateral thinking, Jorn. Nice work 🙂