GT Dave – Founder & CEO of GT’s Living Foods

Episode 119

Purpose-driven companies. No better example than deciding to start a company based on a product that helped save a family member’s life. That’s GT Dave, Founder, and CEO of GT’s Living Foods story. When his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the homemade kombucha they had been making out of their family kitchen helped her recover, GT knew he needed to make the product easily commercially available. Today, he is the top-selling kombucha in stores nationwide! This was a great episode where GT shares so many of his stories of his journey along the way.

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Transcript

Kara Goldin  00:00

Hi everyone, it’s Kara Goldin from the Kara Goldin Show. Super, super excited to have my next guest here we have GT Dave, the founder, and CEO of GTS living foods. So nice to have you here. How are you?

00:15

I’m doing very well Kara How are you?

Kara Goldin  00:17

I’m good. So we were just catching up that I think we had met either at a founder made Megan ashes shout out to Megan and or somewhere probably Expo or I don’t know, somewhere, one of these places along the way. Really, really thrilled to have you on here to share your story a little bit more about just health and wellness and the category overall, I think I remember when, when I first had the original gt kombucha, and I was like, Wait, how come people hadn’t done this before? I mean, it’s such a great product and I love the fact that you really took a category and put it into the hands of lots of consumers. I mean, maybe people were making it right at home. And, and but you really brought it to the shelf. So, so, so inspiring. So tell me a little bit about your backstory and what you mean, how did this all come to be?

01:18

Yeah, thank you. And first of all, I’m honored to be on I’m a huge fan of yours as well, and certainly your products.

01:23

Thank you.

01:24

So my story begins in Los Angeles. I’m a Los Angeles native. And I was raised by two very spiritual and holistic parents that raised me a vegetarian and in addition to being a vegetarian exposed me to so many different types of unique foods, whether that’s tofu, chia seeds, wheat, grass, Noni, fresh-pressed juices, you name it, we did it. And my parents really raised me with this belief that food can be your medicine, as well as your poison. And so in addition to being plant-based, they incorporate a lot of foods that really were designed to nourish and heal the body. And so kombucha came into my parent’s household in the early 90s. And I remember it like it was yesterday when my father came home from work with a rubbery kind of pancake looking thing known as a kombucha culture that was kind of swishing around in this plastic bag that he said, Hey, I just discovered this thing called a kombucha, I believe it’s called The Manchurian mushroom. And it’s been consumed for a very long time in other parts of the world. And it originated in Manchuria, China, and those that consumed it lived well into their hundreds. And so he said, so I’m gonna start making it tomorrow. And I was just a kid, and my brothers were all very young as well. And so we all were very, you know, eyes wide open that what our father was sharing with us. And, you know, initially, we thought it was very weird. And so I kind of sat on the sidelines and observed, my mother and my father, starting to religiously make and drink this thing called kombucha. And within months, it slowly permeated our entire house with this kind of vinegar smell. Because if you know anything about kombucha, the more you drink, the more you need to ferment, in order to create more of this special, special batch that we call kombucha. And so, again, I thought it was very weird. And so I actually, I wasn’t drinking it right away. But it wasn’t until a few years later, that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which of course really shook the household. And after a few weeks of lots of back and forth with her doctors, and then giving her a very bleak future of perhaps, you know, she wasn’t going to live more than a couple of years at best, to all of a sudden, something unique was going on in her body and something unique had happened recently. And so they actually called my mother into the doctor’s office and asked her very pointedly what she had been doing recently, in the last couple years, because although they believe she had had this breast cancer for about four years, that the tumor itself was mostly precancerous, and had not spread to the lymph nodes. And so they were very curious, they want to know, and they asked her kind of point-blank, are you consuming any Chinese herbs, Chinese medicines, anything out of the ordinary, because your situation is miraculous. And that’s when my mom for the first time shared that for the last couple of years, she had been consuming this pungent tasting tea called kombucha virtually every day, and even multiple times a day, and it made her feel great. So it was a doctor’s that actually instructed her and said, you know, Mr. Save whatever this fermented tea is, we recommend you continue to drink it because again, your situation is miraculous. And that’s really, to be honest, Kara was when my journey began. Because not only did I feel that it helped my mom, but I felt that it could help others. And I was relatively young at the time that was about 15 years old. And it almost gave me a sense of purpose. And I started to lead with my heart. And that was the beginning of my story.

Kara Goldin  04:40

So you were 15 When that happened, and you were so you’re in high school, right? Did you think that you were going to go and become a beverage entrepreneur? Was it even in your vocabulary at this point, or how did you think about it?

04:55

It certainly was not in my vocabulary. To be honest, I was actually in use niQ place at the time when computer kind of came into my life. So I was, you know, in high school, I wasn’t doing well in high school, I was being bullied because I wasn’t out as a gay male, but I think people could tell. And back then this is, you know, the mid-90s. Being gay was not something that was cool. And so I faced a lot of, again, discrimination and a lot of bullying. That started to show up in my grades like you could tell I was very unhappy, and that dovetailing with a lot of the ditching of classes, I was honestly going nowhere fast. And so I was reassessing my life. And I was even starting to consider dropping out of high school and taking my GED, which is your high school equivalency. And I’ve mentioned that to my parents. And surprisingly, they supported my dropping out of high school. And then after I dropped out, kombucha, my mother’s story kind of came to be, and I was like, Alright, maybe this is my moment. And so I really didn’t pursue computer because I thought it was a business opportunity, or any opportunity to get rich or anything like that. It really was, in my mind, a way to find myself, find my purpose, make something out of my life, and do something that I genuinely felt was making the world a better place. And that’s, and to this day, that still is really kind of my heartbeat.

Kara Goldin  06:18

I love that I talk all the time about, you know, it’s always easier to look back on challenging times and try and figure out why they were there. Right, right. Like why it was placed in there. And I just find it really fun to actually connect dots. And one of the things I just launched a book in October and I talked about some of the challenges I’ve had in my life. And again, people would say to me, forget about things that have happened to you in the past, or, you know, if you fail, move on. And I’ve always been the person saying, actually, it’s one thing to hold on to those things. It’s another thing to learn from those things and try and connect dots along the way. And I think that just what you mentioned is just a beautiful piece of, you know, knowing when your mom was sick and eyes wide open to this, and you trying to figure out who you are and own who you are, and all of that. That’s amazing. So did you so the first product, so you decided to make the product? you’d already been making it at home and where and where did you Where was like the first place? And then this is 25 years ago, right?

07:34

Yeah. So yeah, this is 1995. So to give you in the listeners some context, I mean, as you know, Whole Foods didn’t exist in California. The health and wellness space was really limited to tofu, wheatgrass, maybe say 10, which is, as we know, like wheat gluten, and they’re really wasn’t anything else. Plant base wasn’t even a term it was rather vegan, or vegetarian. And even that was somewhat polarizing to a lot of people. And so to answer your question, I mean, I really did just start overnight, as I went at once I set my mind that I was going to start to bottle my kombucha, I designed my label, I found my bottle, I started to brew, ferment, and then ship my hand-bottled, raw kombucha to the local health food store, which at the time was still around Erawan here in Los Angeles, which is actually the health food store that my parents would take me to throughout my childhood. So, it was in many ways an honor to see my product on shelves at Erawan, which I held in such high regard, and still do. And it really was going from one store to two stores to three stores. Because, you know, again, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I wasn’t really pursuing financial success or anything along those lines, I really just wanted to make a great product and make sure that every bottle that I made was perfect. And so that required a lot of protectiveness of the first couple of years and almost doing everything myself. And so for the first two years, I made every batch out of my parent’s kitchen, I would go to sleep at four in the afternoon, I’d get up at midnight, I would, you know brew, ferment bottle and then deliver. And then for the first two years, it was virtually a handful of accounts air one cool opportunity, a couple other natural food stores. And then at a certain point, I decided to get a commercial facility and start to make it quote-unquote, the right way. And that’s when Whole Foods came to be and then that was my first big break.

Kara Goldin  09:25

That’s awesome. And when did you venture out of La like the with the product?

09:31

You know, it’s interesting as it was kind of somewhat of a happy accident because when Whole Foods rang my phone back in I want to say it was like 1998, maybe even 1999 they called me up and they said hey, so you make this product called kombucha. Our customers are requesting it so we want to send you some paperwork to fill out we want to bring it in. And by the way, we need you to sign up with our distributor. And that was the first time that even heard the word distributor Because I was under the impression that if you make your own products, you deliver them. Mm-hmm. So I, of course, had this curiosity and all these questions. And I quickly learned that a distributor is a company that basically’s in between the manufacturer and the retailer. And they deliver a bunch of products to a store like Whole Foods, and they bring everything, usually from eggs to cereal, to milk, to, you know, dry goods to bottled water to whatever. And it really allows these retailers to have a one-stop-shop. And so when I eventually signed up with this distributor, which back then the name of the company was called the stone crest, which was then acquired by nature’s best, which was then acquired by the tree of life. And then I could go on and on. But through Stonecrest is when I had my first exposure to out-of-state distribution. And it really was through Whole Foods, because, as you know, through the Pacific, the Southwest, you’re exposed to New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as California, that whole foods region. So once Whole Foods, Southern Pacific picked me up, my products were little by little in out-of-state whole food stores. And that’s kind of where I got my out-of-state exposure.

Kara Goldin  11:07

Interesting. And we’ve talked a bit about this on the podcast. But the thing that I noticed, when we launched hint, I was smart enough to know that I was launching a new company, thank God. But also, what I realized pretty quickly was that I was launching a new category within the beverage industry, which is unsweetened flavored water. And as I always talk about to entrepreneurs, and people who are not entrepreneurs that are just interested in learning more than to launch a company is like climbing a mountain to launch a category within an industry in any industry is like climbing Everest, right? And that’s what you guys did. I mean, you, you sat there, and I mentioned when did you go outside of La? Because I can only imagine how many people had no idea, right? What kombucha was, I mean, right? Let maybe in some of the health food stores, but there’s a lot of people in the world that have never even entered a health food store. Right? They don’t have access to them. So how did you do that? Then, like, how did you let people know kind of what this was and the benefits?

12:16

Well, you’re absolutely right. And I love what you just said, Because first and foremost, I mean, being the first sounds sexy and sounds great. And a lot of people I think get jealous of companies that are the first but I think they don’t really understand the shots, the discounts, the dismissiveness that can come when you’re the first because people again don’t know this, and they don’t even know if they need it or want it. And so you do have that climbing Mount Everest analogy you gave which I love. And so, to your point or to your question, when I started to expand my distribution into out into other stores, especially out of state, it was really the top of my mind about being concerned about if people were to experience this, without any context, they may not know why this thing called kombucha tastes the way it does, and what is it intended to do, because in the beverage space, at least during the 90s, especially during the 90s beverage was very recreational. And even the term functional didn’t really exist. So if something didn’t taste good, people didn’t really understand it. And especially when something was fermented, I mean, back then fermentation was typically something that was associated when something went bad. So I had that kind of ignorance if you will, to overcome so the way I kind of overcame it is I was so vigilant about in-store demos, I read and I would fly around these different states and these different cities, and they would spend weeks or weekends there. And I would just park myself in you know, the whole foods and Tempe, Arizona or Paradise Valley or wherever. And I would spend the entire day there just sampling. And through that, I was able to establish education, establish awareness and a little by little almost establish like a fan club that wasn’t a fan of mine because my package was cute, or my name was catchy, or anything like that. I established this kind of, you know, a community of brand lovers because they genuinely connected with the culture on their own and slowly became evangelists for and that’s really has been the secret of my success. It is this positive word of mouth that I didn’t buy I almost earned.

Kara Goldin  14:21

Mm-hmm. No, I love that. Yeah, one of the stories that I talked about in my book is when that coke executive that I had been connected to had, you know, and I thought he was gonna wave a magic wand and you know, give me distribution and tell me how to make my product and do all this stuff. And then he said to me, sweetie, Americans love sweet this product isn’t going anywhere. And it was, you know, it’s a whole story that I that has stayed with me for many, many years. But it’s fascinating because I also talk about that I obviously doubted whether or not this could happen. But him saying this to me, I doubted it a little bit more. But I kept thinking back to all of these consumers who were writing to me, and who was seeing me sampling in Whole Foods and saying, Oh my gosh, I love this. You’re helping me drink water. I love water. But I, I know, I should drink it, but it just didn’t taste that great. And so the consumer connection is really, ultimately what allowed me to keep going and keep creating great products. And I can hear it, and in what you’re saying as well. I mean, I’m sure you and I know you have many consumers who, for years have been saying that to you?

15:43

Yeah, it’s true. And I love what you just shared. Because early on, I sat down with a major major broker, right, who was supposed to be had like the Midas touch, like everything he touched turned to gold. And you almost had to listen to every piece of advice he gave, otherwise, you would fail. And within our first sit down, as he was, you know, he, he just brought in my product line to represent and he said, Hey, I just want to give you some advice. He said so you are, you should probably add some sugar to your product because it’s way too sour. And he said those and there’s like gross floaty things in it, I would find a way to get rid of them. And, you know, I looked at him, and I was waiting for him to say Just kidding. Because I was like, I was like, there’s no way that you’re telling me to basically completely changed my product for what it’s supposed to be. And so I just smiled. And you never said, Just kidding. And I said, Thank you, I appreciate that advice. But I want to let you know that there are countless sugary clear beverages out there. And I don’t think the world needs another one. So with all due respect, I’m going to stay on my path. And thank you for the advice. I love. And that was it. And just like you said is it initially it challenged me because I was confident as that statement sounded, when I left that meeting, I was like, Alright, but he, he is kind of a big deal. And he is supposed to know it all. And did I just completely, you know, become deaf to probably the wisest words that I’ve been exposed to. And then I thought, you know, what, I gotta follow my heart. I’ve been making this because it helped my mom, and I’m making it the exact same way that my parents made it, and it helped her and it could help others. And that’s my Northstar, no matter what, and even if I only sell a handful of these, I’m still going to be happy that I’m making something that really can improve people’s lives and not loaded with sugar and not highly processed.

Kara Goldin  17:30

Yeah, and you will always meet people along the way that are going to doubt, and especially if you’re starting a new category, they’ll never own the fact that they don’t get it and they don’t see the vision. But, you know, it’s um, I’ve had so many people from different industries on my podcast, talk about this, and, and, you know, when you actually have a vision for something, and you’re a small percentage of the population, then, you know, Steve Jobs talked about this all the time, that it’s just, it’s something that, you know, people were like, Who needs a computer that looks, you know, nice and is smaller, and now we can’t live without it. So I think that that is such a huge thing. So you talked a lot about food can be your medicine, I’d love to hear a little bit more. I mean, obviously, you talked about it with your mom, how do you think over the last 25 years, what do you think is are some of the key things that consumers are thinking about that. And definitely, we’ve got big stores like Whole Foods, and you know, healthier and better for you. But I’d love to kind of hear where I feel like the consumer has come a long way. And in the last 25 years, they’ve got a little more ways to go. And I think there’s definitely a healthy perception of things out there versus healthy reality. But I’d love to get your take on that.

18:54

Absolutely. So my philosophy on that is that you know, food really is the greatest form of medicine. And what that means is you really should nourish, heal, repair, fuel your body with food, not a drug, not again, a medicine that comes from a lab, and not even things that have taken what food has and manipulated in a way where they’ve isolated certain nutrients or certain vitamins. You know, I do take supplements myself, but I do believe that supplements are intended to supplement your diet, but not be your primary source of nutrition. And so what I’ve learned early on, as I said earlier, being raised vegetarian, I was definitely raised with the philosophy that not only the quality of the food that you eat, plays a huge role in your health, but also the energy of the food, which is why my parents raised me plant-based because there was a lot of philosophies there that really the energy that goes into your food can really dictate how you feel from an energetic standpoint, from a vitality standpoint, even from a mood standpoint, and then I’ll go Further from that is that it’s really important to look to your food and make sure that truly is provided that it’s truly going to support the performance of your body. And so what that means is not just living to eat, but it’s really eating to live. And so making sure that every choice, every food choice that you make, you’re really looking at it as how is this going to nourish me? How is this going to fuel my body? How is this going to make me stronger? How is this going to encourage vitality? And so in my opinion, the simplest way of doing that is eating colorful foods, as we say, eating and drinking the rainbow, and looking for foods that have nutrients in them even nutrients beyond what we are understanding these days of your more traditional vitamins and nutrients and macronutrients with like the proteins, the fats, the carbohydrates, and so forth. It’s really understanding what else is there that will work with my body on a cellular level, to allow me to be the best that I can be. And so an example of that is, of course, fermented foods, right? You take beautiful fresh fruits or vegetables, or other plant ingredients, and you ferment them. And through that you’re allowing nature to be the scientist, you’re allowing nature to be this artist that’s creating these foods that are now rich with other aspects that didn’t originally exist in them, whether it’s probiotics, organic acids, and so forth. What you also have is adaptogens, which I’m a big fan of medicinal mushrooms, because I believe that they have polysaccharides and other nutrients in them that do wonders for your body, especially in this modern-day age, where whether we know it or not, we’re being exposed to so many free radicals and oxidative stress, whether it’s the Wi-Fi EMFs cell signals, pesticides, spraying in the environment, I could go on and on. And so that’s why I think what we need to constantly remind ourselves and something that I’m very proud to continue to further This message is that science and technology belong in our computers and our iPhones and our other devices, they don’t really belong in our food. Our food really should be super simple, and eat super close to the ground and eat things that you can recognize its original source. And so again, if you kind of follows that philosophy, you truly can make sure that food is your medicine and that you will you know live long and thrive as they say.

Kara Goldin  22:26

What outside of mushrooms Do you have a favorite food that is like your go-to every day.

22:32

You know, it’s interesting. I mean, I like to eat seasonally, to be honest. So like right now I’m obsessed with persimmons, I love the fruit persimmon, the Foo percentage because they’re so great. They’re lightly sweet, they’re super crunchy, very crisp. They have almost like a pumpkin quality to them. And because I’m a Scorpio My birthday is around Halloween. So I seem to gravitate to things that look like or tastes like pumpkin. So I love persimmons, I love yams, which are also orange and very rich in certain nutrients. You know, I’m a big believer, of course, getting your greens, so nothing exciting, but eating kale and spinach and arugula and things of that nature. Wonderful. You know, I love to ferment, right? So I think whether it’s fermenting, coconut meats, fermenting, coconut water, fermenting vegetables, you know, waterkeeper, which is a product that we just made recently, or just launched recently, I don’t want to, you know, all this to be a gratuitous plug. But you know, there’s, there’s a lot of things out there, but at the end of the day, if you can make sure that they’re fresh, that they’re unprocessed or have minimal processing to them. That that is again is I think one of the essential kinds of rules to follow.

Kara Goldin  23:40

What do you think are some of the greatest challenges that you see off of coming off of the pandemic for businesses or just in general? I mean, what what, what are you kind of seeing for 2021?

23:56

We know it’s an interesting Kara’s that this year has been riddled with divisiveness, and angst and misinformation, and even anger. And so it’s been really hard personally, as well as professionally to exist in this unique climate that we’re in. Because I almost feel that no good deed goes unpunished. Right? The world is so fragmented, that, you know, you say something and even though it may come from love, or may it come from a good place, there’s these, you know, these hecklers or these trolls out there that will come out of nowhere and just start throwing rocks at you and you’re like, wait, I’m just trying to do something nice and this hater

Kara Goldin  24:33

gonna hate

24:35

ya, haters are gonna hate and it’s such an interesting environment to be in. And I must say it does create some challenges. And so that has been, you know, a big chunk of 2020 and of course with COVID with this invisible enemy, right, this uncertainty this the ups and the downs like I remember when the shutdown first happened like I’m sure you do, which is like oh, this will be gone in a month. Yeah, don’t be gone in two months, no be gone in six months, oh, it’s still here, it might be here. So my legs Well, it might be here for the next year. And so, you know, the part that I’m most sensitive to is, you know, I like to eat, I like to believe I’m an empath, and I’m really empathetic to a lot of people right now. And even going into the new year, even poor people that haven’t been able to leave their homes, some of them don’t have jobs, many of them don’t have jobs. That there’s, there’s, you know, the economy is going to almost certainly change. And I’m just, I’m just scared and, and very sad and compassionate for the people that are going through that, including, you know, people that work for me, I mean, we employ hundreds of people, and they’re part of our family. And so we need to protect them from their health standpoint, but also make sure that we can provide a livelihood, but even as a brand, as I’m sure you know, it’s difficult to be in business during this, this time, because the supply chain model has completely flipped on its head, the way you market or go or go to market is completely changed. So, you know, the name of the game is really agility, and just to be very flexible, and just kind of roll with the punches and also to be rooted in gratitude, because I believe when you count your blessings, the world as dark as it can be, you can still find the light.

Kara Goldin  26:19

Yeah, I totally agree. And I, I think also health for me, when I look at 2020, I think health has, there are a few industries that have definitely been raised in terms of importance in the consumer’s eyes, and you know, definitely connection. I mean, people, there was a small percentage of the population that knew what zoom was right. And yeah, right. And then now I would, I would venture to guess over 90% of the US population and, and the rest of the world. I don’t know, I can’t guess on that estimate. But the US population 90%, knows how to connect to zoom on their phone or whatever they know, they didn’t write in March. Nobody knew how to do that. today. They do. Health, I think started off in March, as being people were joking about drinking a lot. And, you know, Oreos and Cheetos and getting too fat. And then all of a sudden, you know, the state government said, okay, shelter in place, but you can go outside and exercise, and that and then all of a sudden people are like, Okay, well, now I’m exercising, and I’m going to be, you know, I gotta eat better, because I don’t want to get this virus. And so I don’t think that’s going away. I don’t think even with a vaccine tomorrow, and you know, everything opening up, I think people are now believing that they’ve got to think, seriously to take care of themselves. They have to write and no matter how many times you said that message, and I said that message to people. They there were there was a percentage of the population that just couldn’t hear. Right. It didn’t happen to them. But I think this year, I think the materiality of people, they realized why did their neighbor get sick or die? Right? And they didn’t, I mean, not happen pretty much to everyone I know. And they can explain it right. And so I think that the empathy, the all of that too, but I also believe that, you know, 2021 is, is really going to be also a time for, you know, new creations to come out to in all industries.

28:35

Yeah, and positive change. And I love what you said, and I’ll add to it is it in my opinion, I think the face of health has changed. Because if you really think about pre-pandemic health, it really was. And I’m not here to judge, but it really was this somewhat narcissistic play of like, Oh, I eat healthy, because it’s trendy, or I eat healthy because it makes me look great. And my Instagram, you know, the grid looks better, or I look better on camera. But I think what we’re learning with COVID is being healthy doesn’t just mean that you look good, it also means that not only you feel good, that you’re stronger and have a greater sense of vitality. And so, you know, we’re and we’re actually launching a campaign at the beginning of this coming year called health starts inside. So it’s really slightly modifying this conversation because a lot of times, at the beginning of the year people join gyms and they think, Oh, I got to get that six-pack and all of that. Yes, that’s important. But you also have to start with proper nutrition, and, and even just a balanced lifestyle. So you have to eat right, you have to sleep right? You have to exercise, right? You have to take care of your brain. Right. So I think that’s the next kind of wave of awareness is that as we continue to get bombarded with all our devices and the beeping and the buzzing, and all this stuff, and the emails 24 seven, we need to take care of our mental health. And I think even during the pandemic when we’re being emotionally challenged and mentally challenged, that we can’t see our loved ones and connect with our loved ones and we are social creatures. That we need to remember that that takes a toll on your mind, and you need to find ways to heal your mind, whether it’s meditation, whether it’s even proper food, you know, all of that. And so I think it’s very exciting because I think it’s really expanding health. And to be more just this Kwazii superficial thing. It really is. No, this is it’s essential for life.

Kara Goldin  30:20

I love it. Super, super, super important, and absolutely agree. So, what’s next for the company as a whole? Did you mention Keefer water coming and the new campaign? Yep. So have you thought about food? And do going deeper into that?

30:41

Oh, absolutely. I mean, were re renamed the company gt living foods in 2017. And that was really my moment, to kind of confirm and commit to myself as well as my company of who we are and who you’re not. And so, you know, as we’re going to continue down our path, it’s continuing to create these beautiful, healthy offerings that are all rooted in nature, rooted in health, curated and cultivated with, again, honoring Mother Nature is the world’s greatest healer. And so whether it’s our kombucha our water key for our medicinal mushroom teas, our wellness shots, our probiotic yogurts, all these things are really intended to say, hey, being healthy doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to consume this thing. It really can be part of your everyday life, you can replace certain things with healthy products that, you know, hopefully, tastes as good, if not better than what you had, and will be 100 times healthier for you. And so with the health starts inside a conversation that I mentioned a minute ago, it really is bringing people’s attention back to their stomachs, that our stomachs really are the center of our healthy universe, if you will, because that’s where the nutrients happen. That’s where you fight disease, all of it starts in the stomach. And so actually, what we decided to do is do this campaign that will launch at the beginning of the year of photographing all these different stomachs that are not models, they’re actually regular people, many of them are part of the GTS, family. And so they are all these different sizes, all these different colors, and all these different ages to say, listen, we all have guts. And you all have to love your guts. And you all have to fuel your guts. Because if you feel your guts, you feel your vitality, your immunity, your longevity. And so we really want to spearhead and support that conversation. Because during a time where you may not be able to go to the gym, you may not be able to go outside, if it’s too cold, or it’s snowing, whatever. There are still ways to stay healthy.

Kara Goldin  32:35

I love it. That’s awesome. And you guys are still private. Right?

32:39

We are still private believers, or private. We’re proudly private.

Kara Goldin  32:43

Yeah, that’s awesome. You give a lot of us hope so than the private ones out there. That’s I love it. So great. So where can people find you? And also just the company? I mean, you mentioned air one, and yes, some of the others online as well. And where can people find you?

33:08

Yeah, so you can find all our products in the refrigerated beverage section, and your local grocery store, natural food store, even Trader Joe’s Walmart, Target, believe it or not, and you can find us online at GTS, living foods.com. And you can even order direct we sell our products directly in certain parts of the country. Our social media handle is GTS kombucha, and then my social media handle is gt Dave three. And so I’m primarily on Instagram, but I’m also on tik tok and some of this other fun stuff. And yeah, we just love to engage with our community and make ourselves available for anything that anybody needs.

Kara Goldin  33:46

I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming. And if you guys liked this episode, definitely give it five stars and subscribe and all that stuff. And we’re super excited to see you here every Monday and Wednesday. So goodbye, everybody. See you later. Bye. Thank you.

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