Check Out Daina Trout’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daina Trout.

Hi Daina, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
On top of being a busy mother of 2 sporty boys, I am an entrepreneur, actor, songwriter, and producer. As co-founder and former CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha, I spent 11 years building and leading the brand from startup to one of the most recognized names in beverage, before exiting the business in 2023 to pursue more creative dreams.

My years in running a company, combined with my experience raising two sons in Palos Verdes, I think have given me a deep well of real-life experience to draw from as a performer and story teller. I am especially drawn to characters and stories that feel honest, funny, and feminine.

Most recently, I teamed up with my BFF and co-producer Sharzad Kiadeh to bring a true(ish) story to life in WHAT NOW?, a feature comedy we produced, financed, and starred in alongside Eliza Coupe, Rhys Darby, Beth Grant, and an ensemble cast. Directed by THE Daniealla Eisman, it premieres October 8 in Beverly Hills, and after that the movie can be directly rented and watched from our website, www.whatnowthefilm.com.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Accomplishing big things never goes smoothly. I learned that SO many times while building and running Health-Ade. At first, the constant problems and set backs got me down, but after being repeatedly pummeled I learned this was just the way of life for anyone trying to do something extra-ordinary. After a while, I started to realize that there is nothing about the climb that’s impossible – it’s just an exercise in problem solving. I am a BIG believer that you can do anything you put hard work to, as long as you don’t give up. Problems arise, and you just have to knock them down 1 by 1.

In the movie world, this was a helpful lesson to take with me, because I didn’t let the non-stop problems get me down THIS time. Some examples of this, but there were and still continue to be COUNTLESS challenges on the daily:
In pre-production, on top of being repeatedly told this was the DUMBEST idea by most people in the industry, we struggled to find someone to agree to produce our film. All the traditional production houses had no interest in a smaller budget, no-name film like ours. We never stopped calling places, and eventually an awesome man named Guy Chachkes and his company ReelArc took on the challenge. This was one of his first feature films too, so we were both betting on each other, and that risk has totally paid off. Glad we kept calling!
In production, at the tail end of our first week of a very intense 3 week shooting schedule, we were “flipped” by the crew and transportation unions. Even though we had totally legal and legitimate contracts with all our contractors, they threatened a strike and forced us into a very difficult decision we had 1 hour to make – pay more than double our budget, or stop production and sink all the costs we’d already invested. We COULD have let this get us down (and trust us, it wasn’t an easy pill to swallow financially/emotionally/logistically), but we chose to keep our heads high and BET on ourselves. This set back just means we have to get that many more people to rent our film. We can do this!
In post-production, I’d say the biggest set backs have been time and team oriented. There are SO many people involved with getting the film polished and complete – from edits, to music licensing, to sound, to mastering. Getting everyone aligned and handing things from one to the next became an exercise in herding cats. We had hoped to complete post production in 3 months and instead it took almost a year! But the important part is we didn’t give up – and now we’re there.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I co-founded a business (Health-Ade) that has successfully entered the mainstream world, and my paw-print in that endeavor was definitely a leadership and creative one. My joy in that work started to shift as my creative input was no longer needed (we built a great team in the end!), and I longed to start something from scratch again. That’s where this movie came in – it’s a world I don’t know, it takes great stamina and leadership, and we’d have to make something GOOD that didn’t exist before…count me IN! I have learned that I do best in exactly that space. I guess you could say I am an artist – but not in the sense that’s traditional (though I do paint with oils every week.) My art is more in the entrepreneurial sense… I like to build new things that bring meaning to people.

Any big plans?
I don’t like to look too far ahead. Funny enough, that tends to paralyze me. I have a current goal with my movie (make our money back so we can do it again), but I don’t like to look too far beyond that. At home, my goal is ALWAYS to be a great mother to my growing wonderful sons, Hendriks (11) and Tavas (7) and loving partner to my husband Justin. But again, I don’t like to look beyond that. I will work until I can’t stand up to make my goals happen, and I think I’m pretty good in general at keeping both in balance (home and work I mean).

I have this strong philosophy that there is no better time than now to make your dreams a reality. Stars NEVER align, and I don’t have the patience for that even if they did. I think a lot about what my 80th birthday would look like…if I think I’d regret NOT doing something, that’s all I need to know to take action today. I’m good at action, for better or worse.

Pricing:

• $15 to rent our film at www.whatnowthefilm.com

Contact Info:

• Website: www.whatnowthefilm.com, www.dainatrout.com
• Instagram: @whatnowthefilm, @dainatrout
• Facebook: @dainatrout