In this episode, Roy Koyees, talks about the struggles he faced while launching his healthy snacks company, Freakin Healthy. Roy discusses how healthy snacks often come with an elitist badge and are too expensive for the common person. He talks about how he wants to break this notion and make sure that health is mainstream, affordable and delicious for everyone.





Things we discuss:

• How a corporate job in Johnson & Johnson’s health division helped Roy realize about the importance of clean eating


• Fuelling his entrepreneurial bug with side projects even when he was working full time


• Why it is important to have a safety net and financial security before you start your own business


• Catering to a diverse group with a variety of products instead of sticking to a niche product


• How competition helps you innovate and bring out your best but has also increased the challenge to enter major retailers


• Sticking to a strategy that focuses on building a healthy community around the brand


• How consumer-facing marketing activities helped the brand grow and staying connected with the consumers


• Learning from fellow entrepreneurs and becoming a part of a bigger network


• Dispelling the myth that healthy food is only for the elitist class 


• Creating an affordable and accessible line of premium healthy snacks for everyone

Notable Moments:



28:22 - Do you think it’s become a fad? These expensive healthy snacks. I think diets are one thing. But I think clean eating is another thing. Diets could be fads at some point, like no diet is long term. I think if you eat clean and eat whole, that’s the best way to move forward. It’s more about well being. We’ve been eating a lot of junk. Preservatives. A lot of allergies now, intolerances. So I think people are trying to clean their system.

33:00 - The first year I think I almost did everything. It was very tough and coming from a senior management position in corporate, with everything was at your beck and call, to going to a place where nobody knows you and you’re actually delivering packages. But that, for me, builds the brand in a different way. It builds a character on the brand.



40:00 - We wanted to dispel this myth that healthy food is an elitist category. It's only for those who know. For those who are into yoga. For those who are into superfoods. For those who can afford it. So we wanted to break that. And hence the name. So we also wanted to break that barrier of ‘fluffy’ health food. And resonate with people.



56:54 - I don't really believe in balance. There needs to be a balance in the long term but in the short term, you have to give your 100 percent to something. And you're gonna have to sacrifice something else. It’s just how it works.

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