Meet Yolanda Setiawan of Snacks,Yo! in Beverly Blvd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yolanda Setiawan.

Yolanda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Singapore where food plays a huge part in our culture. There is always so much joy and happiness that surrounds it. Food is our love language! I especially love the depth of people’s connection when good food is shared with each other. I always knew that I wanted to be in the food industry in one way or another. But I just didn’t know where to begin.

Growing up, I was overweight and struggled a lot with food. I was always in a constant love/hate relationship with it. I quickly realized that diets were not sustainable for me because I was an avid snacker. But after educating myself on nutritious foods, I figured that I just needed to eat smarter. When I combined this new habit with regular exercise, I found a healthier lifestyle that worked for me. Through this experience, fitness naturally became an important part of my life.

Later, I moved to California and explored different boutique gyms and fell in love with the Lagree method. It is a high-intensity, low-impact, full-body workout. I was hooked from the very first class. So when an opportunity came to become a Lagree instructor, I jumped on it! Since then, I have been teaching it for nearly four years. I love being able to create, inspire, and coach communities around health and wellness. More importantly, this experience further validated the connection between food and fitness because my clients always asked me about new recipes or healthy snacks that I ate.

One day, out of sheer fate, I received samples of Mount Mayon Premium Pili Nuts from a friend. It blew my mind because I couldn’t believe that I had never heard of the nut. It was the most delicious thing that I had ever tasted in my life! I couldn’t believe that something this good could also be healthy for you! I wanted to share this product with everyone that I knew, so I started doing some research on this superfood and reached out to the manufacturer in the Philippines.

After much persistence, the Mount Mayon team brought me on to help them distribute their products to retailers all over the US, including Erewhon (located all over Los Angeles). But I wanted to share and market this amazing superfood at an even greater scale and realized that the best way to do it would be online. I had an MBA in marketing so I used my background and training to create an online platform to bring delicious and healthy snacks for the health-conscious! That was when Snacks,Yo was born.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely has not been a smooth road and I faced many struggles along the way. At the very beginning, I had a lot of self-doubts and created about five different versions of the Snacks,Yo site. Each time, I kept starting over and over again. It never seemed good enough. I also didn’t know where to even begin operationally or how I wanted to differentiate Snacks,Yo from what was already out there. The only thing I was sure of was that the brand should convey the same joy and fun that one would have when sharing their snacks so I decided to brand the packaging. It undoubtedly became one of the biggest struggles at the beginning.

Figuring out logistics around packaging, shipping, handling, and warehousing, was very difficult to navigate. I had a specific idea of how I wanted the package to look like, however, with the design and quality that I wanted, the box was very expensive to make and it took me several samples to get to the final design. But the problems didn’t stop there. I ran into other issues with the packaging not withstanding the shipment (the box arrived dented and destroyed), shipping costs being set too high by our carrier, and packages getting lost during shipment altogether. Luckily, I had a really good friend who was an expert on logistics. He taught me everything that I needed to know and helped me tremendously throughout the entire process. I am so thankful to have such a great friend and support system!

Today, the biggest challenge that I continue to face is educating people about the products on our website and searching for new products to sell on the site. We offer snacks that people have never heard of…Pili nuts, Biltong, Popped Water Lily seeds, etc. We are also a brand new business and still have a lot of work to do to get our name and products out there. Nevertheless, we are always learning, growing and pivoting as we need to because this is truly my passion! As a business, you will always run into obstacles but the key is to never give up or let it overcome you. You are always capable of finding a solution and should not be afraid to ask for help.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Snacks,Yo! story. Tell us more about the business.
Snacks,Yo is where you can purchase the best, healthy and great tasting snacks! With all the products out there, I know firsthand that it can get overwhelming and expensive to try them all. And that is why I started Snacks,Yo! I wanted my fellow avid snackers to be able to mix-and-match different products to create the perfect snack box for themselves based on their own preferences and dietary needs. This gives snackers the option to try new and different products without having to buy them individually in bulk directly from brands.

What sets us apart from others is that we don’t overwhelm our customers with a lot of products on our site. You will find that the product selection is rather limited and highly curated to give these smaller brands more visibility and my fellow snackers an easy, breezy shopping experience!

What I am most proud of as a company is that we are supporting other small businesses with extraordinary products that people are not familiar with and introducing them to the market. It is especially incredible to hear from customers with dietary restrictions how they have found their new favorite snack, which has brought them so much delight and allowed them to enjoy snacking again! It is truly amazing to see how it fits into their healthy lifestyle at the same time!

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
My proudest moment of my career is that I was able to make my vision become a reality. I did not let the idea of failing hold me back. I was able to make the leap and power through despite so many unknowns. The greatest lesson that I have learned so far is to believe in myself, trust the process, and really lean into every single experience that I had, both good and bad.

Dwelling over problems that you can’t control or giving in to self-doubt can prevent great ideas from being realized. Accept that there are always things that you will not know or prepare for. Just be willing to work hard and consistently learn along the way! Don’t be afraid to take a risk. That is how dreams come to fruition.

I am so thankful that I get to share my love for food, health, and wellness through Snacks,Yo and that I am able to share this journey with my fitness community. Nothing brings me more happiness than inspiring and changing other people’s lives one snack and Lagree class at a time!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.snacksyo.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: snacks.yo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/snacks.yo/
• Other: https://www.snacksyo.com/shop

Image Credit:
Emilie Bers (Professional Fitness photo)

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