Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayvon Jahanbakhsh. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Halfday started after co-founder Kayvon Jahanbakhsh was hospitalized for three months from Ulcerative Colitis and lost over 80 lbs. On a quest for good health, he and Mike Lombardo created Halfday with the mission of making digestive wellness as easy as enjoying your favorite drink. By incorporating prebiotics and plant fiber into a sweet, classic treat – sugar-bomb iced tea – but cutting out the excess sugar, the brand captures the experience of a nostalgic millennial favorite. Halfday reinvents the outdated iced tea category with full-flavor products and functional benefits that 95% of Americans don’t get enough of on a daily basis. Think Snapple or Arizona flavor but with 80-90% less sugar, 8g of plant fiber for gut health, and organic ingredients.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Halfday is a passion project for me – I worked on the company even as I was in the hospital – taking calls between nurses & doctors popping in and out of the room. I’ve experienced, first-hand, the devastating effect that poor digestive health has on the entire body, and I want to make it my mission to be part of the conversation across every single age group – young and old. Predominantly, digestive health has been focused on older demographics with brands like Activia, leaving younger people feeling like they don’t need to pay attention or foster a good microbiome. I certainly fell into this thinking, so we’re bringing gut health to a new generation!
As you know, we’re big fans of Halfday Tonics. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Halfday brand was created by Kayvon Jahanbakhsh and Michael Lombardo, who started the brand while still in college after Kayvon was hospitalized for three months from Ulcerative Colitis – a lifelong digestive disease – and lost 80 lbs from the illness. After lengthy treatment that included pill cocktails, surgeries, and nutrition therapy, Kayvon regained his health and started incorporating more digestive-friendly foods in his diet. One of these foods, inulin – a superfood ingredient known for its prebiotic properties that support microbiome health – was the cornerstone of Kayvon’s daily tea routine. After sharing with his older brother Anthony, who suggested he bottled it as a way to help more people incorporate these incredible ingredients into their everyday diet, Kayvon and Mike got to work and spent the next three years developing the recipe that would eventually become Halfday. We’re available at all Erewhon stores and on our website at www.drinkhalfday.com!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I don’t think I learned the importance of a broad network until starting a business. It’s extremely difficult to make friends, especially when people stick with the same core group most of their lives. It takes a village to grow a business, and we definitely didn’t do it by sticking around the same people – we had to branch out and put ourselves in real social situations. Being vulnerable and humble enough to ask for help has been one of our defining traits as founders.
One of the places we’ve found a lot of success meeting people is on LinkedIn. There are such incredible groups of people from founders to investors, all willing to give their advice to new founders. Before adding people, try to make the outreach as custom as possible because there are, unfortunately, a lot of people that are pretty “spammy”.
Pricing:
- $3.69 per can
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: drinkhalfday.com
- Instagram: @drinkhalfday
- Facebook: @drinkhalfday
- Twitter: @drinkhalfday
Image Credits:
Halfday Tonics
