1. Dear Lea, I am delighted to introduce you as part of our Female Founder Community. Please tell us a little about yourself and your company.
I am Lea, founder of LUNARY. LUNARY is the most important vitamins, minerals and probiotics dosed and formulated specifically for women and developed in close cooperation with scientific experts. We work according to the basis and boost concept: a base with the most important vitamins, minerals and probiotics dosed specifically for women, plus a boost capsule depending on the woman's life phase from natural cycle to pregnancy to menopause. All products are vegan, PETA-certified, produced in Austria and free from unnecessary artificial binding agents, release agents or flavors.
PS At the end of the article you will find a 15% discount code for your order!
2. You are by no means new to the world of female founders! In 2014, you successfully founded the company JUNIQUE - a brand for high-quality wall prints and posters that make our homes more beautiful. What motivated you to start a business again and start from scratch again?
After leaving JUNIQE, I took a break of several months and reflected on which phases of the company had drained me of energy, which had given me energy, what I wanted to do again and what I really didn't want to do. And 10 years later, with two little boys, I came to the same conclusion: I am an entrepreneur with all my heart and I get a lot of energy from building new things and solving problems on a blank sheet of paper. I've been doing it again for almost 1.5 years now and I have to be honest and say that I had forgotten how hard the initial phase is.
3. To what extent have your previous experiences in founding a company helped you now at LUNARY?
I have 10 years of experience in building B2C companies: that means I know the big levers much better and can focus much better. Of course, that doesn't protect you from everything, but it is certainly a completely different starting point. I also have a network, I know who I work with for certain projects, for example for design or SEO. The range of tech infrastructure plug and play solutions also makes a huge difference. Today you can launch a very user-friendly online shop without a big budget and without a lot of know-how. That is a huge difference to 10 years ago. We needed several developers from day one, you have to have the budget first.
4. What specific health needs of women do your products address and how do they differ from conventional dietary supplements?
When it comes to nutrients, women also have different needs than men. Women need different doses because their metabolism, liver and body composition are different. In addition, women go through very specific phases of life, which are usually influenced by their hormones, in which they have a different need for certain micronutrients to support them: for example, during pregnancy, breastfeeding or the menopause.
5. What do you understand by the term "gender health gap" and how does this phenomenon affect women's health?
For decades, medical and health research has been primarily oriented towards the male body. This means that the symptoms, medications and disease courses that we know about are based on data from men. At the same time, hormones and sex chromosomes influence a variety of bodily functions; for example, women have a very different metabolism, cardiovascular system and immune system. The gender health gap therefore results in poor medical care for women, which will certainly affect every woman at some point in her life. Be it because there is little knowledge about PCO or endometriosis, few solutions for severe menopausal symptoms, or completely different symptoms of a heart attack that are often recognized very late; women end up in the emergency room an average of two hours later.
6. How can dietary supplements specifically contribute to hormonal balance, especially during phases such as puberty, pregnancy and menopause?
According to current studies, there are certain micronutrients that are said to alleviate symptoms of the natural cycle or menopause. For example, the right micronutrients are said to have a positive influence on PMS or hot flashes and sleep quality during menopause. Our formulations are based on the current studies on women and can be read on the product pages. On Instagram we present the studies again briefly and concisely. During pregnancy and breastfeeding, it is particularly important to adhere to the recommended, scientific dosage of folic acid and omega-3. All of this can quickly become overwhelming for the end customer, which is why LUNARY offers all-in-one solutions; the customer only needs to know their phase of life.
7. How do I know if I should take supplements and which ones are right for me and my individual needs?
Every woman should actually supplement with vitamin D and omega-3. Vitamin D is produced by the skin when it comes into contact with the sun, which is not the case in our latitudes from October to April at least. Vitamin D is also very important for bone health and is linked to osteoporosis. You should get enough omega-3 if you eat fatty fish 2-3 times a week. But that's where it starts: only fatty fish from free-range farming get enough algae to eat, which contains omega-3; fatty fish from farms no longer contain much omega-3. Vitamin B12 is very important if you eat a plant-based diet.
I also believe in a holistic approach: you should definitely take care of your gut health, consume lots of fiber and probiotics. So there are some no-brainers, in a perfect world we would of course take blood, supplement it and take blood again. Since health insurance companies usually don't cover this service, we are very far from that in reality. Then I always think it's very important to find rituals that can be integrated into everyday life in a simple and long-term way. That's why we have a powder as a basic supply with everything a woman needs.
8. What were the biggest challenges in founding and building LUNARY, especially in such a specialized industry? How did you overcome these challenges?
Finding the right producer was a big challenge. I have more complicated recipes, not just one ingredient, and I wanted vegan products that are produced in Germany or Austria. That's where it starts to get more complicated. To this day, I am convinced that I was only able to get my producer excited about LUNARY and my vision because there were 3 women on the other side who were totally enthusiastic about my approach.
9. As an experienced founder: What are your three tips for a successful start in entrepreneurship?
Especially at the beginning, it is important to keep focusing on the important projects and big levers and not to get distracted. You shouldn't let skeptical feedback from outside get to you too much and mentally push doubts aside and concentrate on the matter at hand. I also recommend getting support, be it a co-founder or freelancers who are experts in certain areas. You don't have to be the best at everything.
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If you want to know more about Lea and LUNARY, please visit here:
To the website: www.lunary.de
To Instagram: @ lunaryofficial
With the code: DEARDARLING15 you get 15% off your order.
