Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Lamb
Taylor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in San Diego where my family’s business was a small nursery called Green Gardens. I grew up working there and have always been surrounded by the beauty and power of plants. My whole family is in the plant industry and to this day my dad is still there and my sister runs our family farms in Borrego Springs. Even with great appreciation of plants, the green thumb didn’t get passed along to me! I went to college and studied design and marketing and have always been drawn to great product packaging, design, and the psychology behind what makes someone buy one product over another.
After years of graphic design, web design, and marketing roles, I moved to LA for a marketing job and started in the fashion industry with helping launch the premium sleepwear brand, Lunya. I’ve worked for over a decade in the fashion and jewelry ecommerce, branding, and marketing space and have led successful growth strategies for women’s wellness and lifestyle brands. I have led marketing initiatives and strategies for Lunya, Gorjana, Cleobella, and more!
My business partner, Jewel Zimmer, and I came together over five years ago with similar frustrations around the reactive nature of our healthcare system. We found that all the women around us, and including us, were struggling with sleep, stress, gut health issues and general schedule overload. The same script played out over and over where they would go to the doctor and a prescription was written instead of getting to the root cause of the issues. We knew there had to be a better option and we found it with the power of plants!
Together, we launched Juna and are dedicated to empowering people to maximize their well-being through the transformative power of plants.
I currently live in South Orange Country where Juna is based and we can be surrounded by the innovative wellness industry. Enthusiastic about optimizing health holistically, I just got my certificate in medicinal plants at Cornell, enriching my own wellness journey and building awareness about holistic women’s health. As a devoted mother of two, I advocate for preventative wellness practices and solutions that proactively lay the foundation for healthy futures for all. In the pas year Juna has expanded to Thrive Market, Amazon, Erewhon, Urban Outfitters and Wholefoods.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This week we are celebrating Juna’s 5 year anniversary and in true transparency, I wanted to share some of the struggles and sacrifices along the way. I think it many can look at brands that have “made it” and think it’s due to big budgets, raising a ton of money, or even luck. For Juna, it’s been none of those things!
Here is more on the post I shared:
Up to 90% of startups fail but that won’t be us! This week we are celebrating our 5 year business anniversary @juna.world by crushing benchmarks, selling at the best retailers, and breaking boundaries… all while being a couple of moms!
▪️The failure rate for new startups is currently 90%.
▪️Women-founded startups received under 2% of venture capital funding.
▪️First-time startup founders have a success rate of 18%.
▪️34% of small businesses that fail lack the proper product-market fit.
▪️22% of startups that fail don’t have a sound marketing strategy.
▪️45% of new business startups don’t survive the fifth year.
▪️Women-owned businesses make up 39%
When people ask how?
〰️ @jewel_zimmer and I have a sacrificed everything … we hustled, hustled, hustled.
〰️ We had conservative growth focused on profitability while all our competitors blew through big budgets. (✔️Yes, we are profitable)
〰️ We worked as a team and divided and conquered leaning into our individual strengths. We definitely took on too much, were way over our heads at times, and only delegated and paid when we couldn’t do it ourselves. Not always the smart option but it saved us a ton of money.
〰️ We heard no from at least 100 potential investors. We heard yes from a handful that then went silent.
〰️ We pivoted the brand at least 3-4 times, worked nights, worked weekends, and had a second job to pay my bills.
〰️ We made some great decisions and we made some bad ones. Learned from both!
〰️ We led staying true to our mission to help people feel better through the power of plants.
〰️We have an amazing support system with our family & friends!
〰️ We hired some amazing people to help us along the way. You know who you are! 🫶🏻
〰️ My maternity leave was like 3 weeks and then I brought Rowe to work with me for the first 4 months. Again, it was a sacrifice I chose.
〰️ I make Juna memes while I’m in the bath and haven’t watched TV in a year (except kid shows).
〰️ We had highs and lows and felt like we were failing so many times only to make it through stronger and better!
So a big chlorophyll cheers to 5 years!! @jewel_zimmer @juna.world
And stay tuned because we have something BIG coming this Q4!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DACn3RRPw7M/
We’ve been impressed with Juna, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We always say, you can’t solve the problems of today with the products of yesterday! Juna is an innovative women’s wellness brand dedicated to promoting natural health and vitality. Juna helps women across the nation feel their best with plant-powered, clinically-formulated products that optimize the body – proving plants can be just as effective as quick-fix pharmaceuticals and provide long lasting, long term benefits. Juna is revolutionizing the wellness industry with plant powered solutions to combat top problems women are facing in the modern world, from detoxifying to deep sleep. With products such as the Juna Detox Drops, Juna Nightcap Sleep Gummies, Juna Detox Enzymes and Juna Gut Therapy, Founders Jewel Zimmer and Taylor Lamb are on a mission to help women everywhere feel their best through science backed, plant powered alternatives. Because you can’t solve the problems of today, with the products of yesterday.
ALL of Juna’s products are 5-star rated and have won numerous awards! They are loved by functional medicine doctors, nutritionists, wellness seekers, and mom’s due to their efficacy and transparency.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
ADHD is my super power! I was diagnosed at a young age and it has truly become my super power as I am able to multitask and run multiple companies, timelines, projects, family activities, 200 tabs on my computer, and somehow stay fairly organized.
My inbox currently has 223,000 unread emails but I’m ok with that!
I also just graduated from Cornell with a certificate in Medicinal Plants.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://juna-world.com/
- Instagram: @juna.world
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@juna.world
