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CBD can relieve stress, heart disease, and pain, among other things, and CBD sales are nearly $5 billion in the U.S. alone. Still, people have questions about how to use it and why it works. That’s why, for this episode of the CEO Series, I sat down with Coco Meers, the CEO and co-founder of Equilibria, a women-focused company specializing in CBD products, to get some answers about the products and role to maintain your company’s position in the industry.
“We like to focus on women because CBD helps balance the body,” Meers told me. “And name a woman who balances just one thing? And our job is to demystify it for them and help them live better lives. That’s why Equilibria exists.”
Watch the video above to hear her insights into the company’s mission and growth, and read below for highlights from this conversation, edited for length and clarity.
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Dissolve the business
“Equilibria is a 360-degree wellness platform for women. We combine premium products with wellness goals such as sleep, stress, balance and mood. And more importantly, we pair them with a certified wellness coach to ensure they are using these products.” Accordingly, CBD is an incredibly powerful functional ingredient, rather than being a band-aid solution for the body, but rather addressing the root cause .
Establish corporate culture
“If there’s one thing we do, it’s help our members understand that it’s okay to not be okay. So, as CEO and co-founder, we have the privilege and responsibility to create a culture of support. We built them.” Great systems and processes for asynchronous, highly autonomous work that allow people to do their work in their own way. I’m really proud of that. I’m much more empathetic. When I’m not connected to my kids, I take meaningful tech breaks at bedtime and dinner. I’m present with my kids, and when I have that time, my batteries are full.”
CBD as a lifestyle
“We introduced the idea early on that wellness wasn’t just about products. Wellness is lifestyle. Wellness is education. Wellness means understanding how these ingredients work in the body and why they are important. This will make you feel empowered to create your own.” We take decisions about your wellness journey very, very seriously. We are a data-driven, science-based product company and more and more companies are starting to adopt service platforms like ours that educate their members. In this industry it is important to educate. Should you start with 10 milligrams or 100 milligrams? under your tongue? There are a lot of questions when it comes to adding a functional ingredient to your wellness routine.”
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Advice for CEOs and founders
“Optimize more for the bottom line than your revenue. This isn’t rocket science. Unit economics should be your driving thought morning, afternoon and evening. Can you get a customer for less than what you earn with them the first time? If not, are you sure you will win them back to generate profits? Your heart and head are in harmony and the model you are in love with is one whose unit economics works now and in the future.”
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Advice for her younger self
“I wish I had known when I started in the business to ride the lows a little higher and the highs a little lower. Just when you think everything is going well and you’re experiencing the hockey stick and you’re on top – watch And just when you’re deep in despair and your entire team is huddled in a room in a war room brainstorming because something is terribly wrong running, I promise you will give it your best idea. There are a lot of things that are out of our control is maintaining the culture, aligning everyone around a vision and a mission and being very data-driven to ensure that our precious time and resources are moving the ball forward against that mission.”