Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Walker
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
(I tried to bullet things out to make it easier to read/follow!)
• I’ve been a believer in the power of fiber for 20+ years, having discovered its gut-saving magic while in college and sustaining myself on a college diet that included lots of pizza and Taco Bell.
• But, after moving to health-conscious LA in 2006, I started to be more thoughtful about what I was putting into my body, and it was incredibly disappointing that a high quality daily fiber supplement that was all-natural and free from ‘garbage ingredients simply did not exist. So, about 8 years ago, I set out with my best friend, Jason Ramin, to create the best fiber supplement on Earth.
• We truly started from scratch, as we both worked in professional services jobs and knew absolutely nothing about manufacturing or e-commerce. We had a lot of learning and experimentation to do.
• So, for a full year, we gathered as much research as we could and partnered with some incredible food scientists and, with the guidance of dietitians and doctors, we custom developed Pinch Magic Fiber.
• This ultimately started the premium/elevated prebiotic fiber movement (before, it was just the old school Metamucil or plain/raw psyllium husk brands), as we set out to educate people about the Fiber Gap (only about 5% of Americans get the recommended daily fiber intake) and the power of high purity fiber blended with all-natural ingredients.
• Pinch was originally made for the ‘everyday pooper’, just to make things a bit better each day, but we’ve been discovered by communities of those with serious digestive health challenges like Crohn’s/IBS/IBD to Special Operation Forces to athletes optimizing their overall health and performance, which has been such an honor for us to be able to help. (The messages we get are extraordinary. We never ever dreamed Pinch would have an impact like this).
• We remain 100% family & friends owned & operated to this day (we are purists, not looking to maximize profits for investors or anything like that), allowing us to be truly customer focused and truly relentless about quality.
• We are only sold on our site, as it’s the best way for us to deliver an exceptional customer experience from the start – and we’re known for our amazing customer service as well.
• And, unlike every other company we are aware of in the supplement space, our reviews/testimonials are 100% genuine and from customers – we haven’t paid or incentivized a single review (and we’re eternally gratefully for our absolutely incredible customers).
• Today, our passion project continues to grow sustainably, with 10’s of thousands of customers and extraordinary feedback/reviews.
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?
Ha! Plenty!
• While our first batch was perfect, and customers quickly swore by Pinch as their saving grace, we received samples of our second batch. We had poured our own money into starting the business and the batch was a huge expense for us. But, we knew just by looking at the powder that something was off before we even tasted it. After a ton of digging, we discovered the manufacturer swapped out certain ingredients for cheaper versions of them and they tried to hide it from us. We were crushed. The batch technically met the health and safety requirements and they pressured us to sell the product, but we ultimately rejected the batch and lost our 50% down payment because the product was simply not up to the high standards we set for ourselves. So, we ended up selling out of our first batch as we scrambled for months to find an even better manufacturing partner. But, we are always extremely transparent with our customers who were unbelievably understanding and grateful we prioritized extreme quality over profits. And now we have one of the best manufacturing teams in the world (and customers have stuck with us for the 8 years since!)
• …then Covid hit. And it was one obstacle after the next. Wild story, but one of our warehouse/logistics partners, unbeknownst to us, was going bankrupt while trying to sell their business to investors. They billed us for shipping and said they shipped out customer orders, but it turns out they were holding our product (and that of a hundred other brands) captive. For almost two months we could not get our product out of the warehouse until finally we shipped donuts and beer to the warehouse until the team palletized everything and put it on a truck to our new warehouse facility. Again, our customers were wildly patient and understanding.
• And, we source an extremely specific, extremely high quality strain of the primary ingredient – psyllium husk powder – that makes our product so effective. But during the pandemic, there was a global shortage of ALL quality psyllium husk, and we had to reject every raw ingredient option that was available globally, causing us to sell out of product for months. Again, our customers were so loyal as we waited until the high quality ingredients were available again. (Now, the supplier – one of the best in the world – has a dedicated SKU for us since we’re the only company that has such strict standards, and we are able to secure much larger quantities to reduce the chances we sell out again).
• As exceptionally stressful as hurdles have been, I really cannot understate the impact letters of encouragement and support from customers made, helping us work through these seemingly impossible situations.
We’ve been impressed with Pinch Magic Fiber, 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?
This might be a bit redundant to one of the earlier questions, but Pinch Magic Fiber is a premium daily prebiotic fiber supplement that is made with high quality, all-natural ingredients.
Pinch makes an extraordinary, easy, enjoyable, and effective way to boost your daily fiber intake, which can has been shown to help with a wide range of digestive events, ranging from constipation to ‘messy stools’ to challenges stemming from IBS and Crohn’s. It comes in two phenomenally delicious flavors, Lemon Ginger and Tropical, that offer a light, “hint-of” flavor profile.
We try to have fun with our marketing (one of our taglines is “Poop like a God”) while offering the absolute best possible fiber supplement.
There are three things that we believe make Pinch the best in the world:
1. We use THE magical ingredient (psyllium husk, which is widely known as being the best at helping with gut-health and bathroom performance), and an especially high quality/high-purity strain.
2. There is no “Fiber Fluff”. A lot of companies are now claim to have two, three, or (hilariously) even 20 fiber sources in a serving, but many of these sources, while technically fiber, are not actually effective, and the quantities are so low it’s meaningless – just fluff ingredients.
3. We avoid the bad stuff. A lot of companies include artificial, junk, or harmful ingredients, like aspartame, silicon dioxide, or inulin (which can actually be harmful for your gut health, especially for those with serious digestive challenges like IBS).
We’re most proud of the feedback we get from customers that have struggled with incredibly debilitating digestive challenges that now say Pinch has meaningfully improved their overall quality of life after having tried everything else that was out there. Jason and I have literally cried so many times from reading the notes customers send us.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Fascinating question.
We take measured risks all the time…on certain aspects of the business. But we take zero risk in other aspects.
The risks we take are largely around the investments we’ve made in the business while we each have families that we are responsible for. It’s a calculated risk (we know customers love the product), but I still have to look at my wife and kids and know that I’m risking our money because I believe so much in the company and the positive impact it is having on tens of thousands of customers. It can be scary, especially as the business grows and the batches get larger/more frequent.
We also take risks with our marketing. Boring ads and boring companies suck. And bathroom health is hard to talk about for many. So we push the limits a bit with our ads, injecting a bit of humor and innuendo to make a category like fiber more interesting, attractive, and easier to talk about.
However, we take absolutely zero risk when it comes to the product quality and safety. It’s simply a non-negotiable. We’ve thrown away tens of thousands of dollars of product because the batch did not live up to our incredibly strict standards. We have every ingredient and every finished batch tested by independent labs to make sure it is perfect.
Pricing:
- $35 for a single jar (28-day supply)
- $27 for the reoccurring subscription option
- $priceless for only having to wipe once
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.PinchMagic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinchmagicfiber/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pinchmagic
