On Today's episode of Brands in Action we talk to Willa's Oat Milk CEO and Co-Founder Christina Dorr Drake. It's not enough that she launched a brand that challenges all the category conventions during a global pandemic, she also did it while facing and beating cancer. If there's a more heroic tale we don't know it. Lots of perspective and good advice in this one.
On Today's episode of Brands in Action we talk to Willa's Oat Milk CEO and Co-Founder Christina Dorr Drake. It's not enough that she launched a brand that challenges all the category conventions during a global pandemic, she also did it while facing and beating cancer. If there's a more heroic tale we don't know it. Lots of perspective and good advice in this one.
00:18 - Christina Intro
00:59 - How did ad agency career lead to entrepreneurship
02:23 - Starting a business requires being somewhat naive
03:01 - Willa’s origin story
04:56 - Food waste and climate change
05:55 - How Willa’s is different from other plant based milks
07:19 - Difference between almond milk processing vs. Willa’s
08:02 - Grandma Willa
09:39 - Taking the handmade recipe to production
12:36 - Purpose of the brand
13:52 - Articulation of the brand
14:58 - Willa’s marketing and pivot with Covid
18:20 - To grocery or not to grocery
19:55 - Iconography of the brand
21:28 - With an ad background, how design was looked at differently
23:18 - Feedback from design
23:58 - How personal health affected conviction of the brand’s purpose
29:41 - Cancer changing how Willa’s is thought of in a broader sense
30:48 - Importance of real vanilla
31:48 - How flavor is accomplished without added sugar
32:46 - Importance of whole grain compared to filler in other products
33:25 - Where you can buy Willa’s
34:06 - What kind of cocktail is Willa’s
35:57 - Outro
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