Latest / Skin Anarchy / E.404: Iota Is Treating Body Care Just As Seriously & Science Backed As Expected Of Facial Care

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E.404: Iota Is Treating Body Care Just As Seriously & Science Backed As Expected Of Facial Care · Skin Anarchy

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Diablo 4 has arrived.
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• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hey guys, so it's me.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Before the episode, I just wanted to pop in and say, listen, okay, I have really big news.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like when I say big news, I mean gargantuan level big news.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Skincare anarchy is finally taking the next step in our evolution as a publication, and I'm could not I could not be more thrilled and at the same time scared to death.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: It is a huge leap.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: It is like nothing I've ever seen before.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I didn't want to give you guys anything redundant.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no, it's not a skincare line, but it's something that I have been working on like in my mind, and also of course on paper, and you know, um for a very long time, since the beginning of you know the whole podcast, since the very first episode.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: So to watch this come to life has been the most dreamy, the most amazing moments.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, so yeah, anyways, long story short, this is a project I cannot wait for you to experience.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean that, like, it's an experience, it's not just another, you know, okay, cool, I'll check it out.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's an experience, it's something that gives you the time you have to sit down and experience what I'm about to like put out there for you because it's for you guys.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's for all you magazine girls, all you magazine guys, all of you who appreciate a good book, a good, aesthetically pleasing book, some people who love um photography, people who love editorial photography, good articles.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's for those, those wonderful, wonderful people.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I know a lot of you are there in our listenership, so I can't wait to share it with you.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: It is going to blow your mind.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the art is unreal, the way that it has been set up is unreal.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's so fun to just experience, trust me.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not lying.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So stay tuned for that.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: I could not keep it in any longer.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: It is a magazine, it you know, it classifies under that magazine category, but it's so much more, and I can't wait.
• 3:10
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• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm just I'm not trying to uh nudge you, but I the better, you know, the better ratings, the better more we grow, and I just love it, love it when you uh give us some feedback.
• 3:28
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• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care what they are, just leave us a review, let us know how we're doing, okay?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: And happy holidays still, because I believe that all of January is a holiday month.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: I refuse to go back to reality till January is fully over.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think all of us should.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you're still loving yourself me time, okay?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: So take care.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Huge love for the whole Scoop Caroky family, and we can't wait to show you what's coming.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, guys.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think today was a cool day because we got to start it off with Spotify wrap, which was really, really, really fun to see.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: And in the last year, I'm excited to report we have grown by literally over a hundred percent.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much to everyone who's tunes in and for everyone who uh takes listen in for this episode.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: We have a very awesome brand new brand that has just come out and is phenomenal.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really excited to interview the founders.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to the co-founders of IOTA, Monique and Ray.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the show, guys.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited that we're here and we're doing this.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, Dr.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: Akta.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're so excited to be here.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having us.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for having us.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, it's it's an honor.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I I love your brand.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: As I've told you you guys when we were chatting uh before the episode, I really, really love good body care.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's something I think for me as a consumer, I'm gravitating towards more and more now, even more than facial, you know, skincare, because I realize that's a huge gap.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: We have a huge gap in the body care realm.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I can't wait to talk to you guys about that.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: But I really want to get started by uh learning more about ITA and how it came to be in both of you.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe Ray, maybe you can get us started with a little background.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, sure.
• 5:18
  unknown: Yeah.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I mean, so Monique has uh, you know, a background of you know, for basically her entire career in the in the beauty industry, um, you know, ever since uh she graduated college up until now, uh with our five-year-old daughter.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_04: She's been working in the industry as an editor and then as a consultant for you know a bunch of smaller and bigger brands.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_04: So um, you know, every day at home, I think for the last 20 years or since uh we've been together, I've been hearing about uh um, you know, her thoughts on the industry and the products.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, if you ever looked at our bathroom, there's always like 300 products that she got for free that she's testing out at any given time.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and you know, and I am not um, you know, originally someone who has focused a lot um on uh on beauty products at all.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I'm I'm I guess uh maybe more of like a typical uh guy, maybe where I just uh I just throw whatever on um used to.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: But she has taught me a lot over the years.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um and you know, when we were at our respective jobs, uh, you know, going back a couple years ago, um, she uh even then was talking about you know her ideas um for what was lacking in the space and in particular in body care, as you as you mentioned, um, we just thought um, and she thought especially that there was such a big gap in terms of the quality of products that were out there and what could be done to you know further uh you know the uh the philosophy of skin health, which we you know, um which is a which is a huge backbone of of our company.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_04: And so one day, a couple of years ago, we just decided, um you know, and this was sort of during COVID, and you know, I guess it's sort of uh a little bit cliche um, you know, in hindsight, uh to you know to to be one of the people that sort of had an you know a life epiphany during COVID.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: And um and oh my god, no, no, right.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: It will never be a cliche.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Can I just say that it will never be a cliche?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because guess what?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're the generation that got through COVID.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So you know what?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's never a cliche.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, so we we we we talked a lot about it before we pulled the trigger, and then one day, two years ago, we both um decided uh to uh you know commit um really, really um all in on iota.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_04: Uh and uh Monique had the idea of uh personal care from the beginning, uh and specifically with regard to products that addressed our skin microbiome.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_04: Um and uh I think that's you know that's where the genesis of it was.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_04: And then we spent the last two years uh really just full-time 24-7 developing the products, testing the products, um, going through all the iterations, and then finally bringing it to market in the last two months.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And to add sorry, and to add to Ray's Ray's point, you know, what made everything come full circle and what was the impetus in making us pull the trigger on this was really the series of health scares that I personally faced.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it took me quite a number of years to get pregnant.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um I had infertility issues while I was pregnant.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: They found doctors found a tumor the size of a tennis ball on the on the end of my pancreas.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then after pregnancy, I was diagnosed with health with um high blood pressure.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And in each of these instances, we went through several rounds of um, you know, second opinions, and no doctor could get to the root cause or the underlying issue of any of these health issues.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, hold on.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: You had you had pancreatic cancer?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's so hard to get through.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was a tumor.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: They were 80% sure that it was benign, but because I was in my second trimester, they could not give me a confirmation as to whether it's a considerable size.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to say, wow, you know, that's that's amazing.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I'm you're you're blessed to be here.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's really, really great to hear that.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to say that.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, no, I feel very fortunate and lucky.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it really made me second guess a lot of the lifestyle choices I was making, you know, for the most part, I'm a I'm a healthy person.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I try and eat right.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I do have my cheek days, I try and work out, I try to get enough sleep.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um however, you know, uh it just put everything into question, right?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like what were daily practices I was doing, whether it was, you know, hygiene, the personal care brands I was using.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um it had me looking at health in a totally different way.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I started deep diving into research.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that led me to the skin microbiome and how it is a foundational pillar of health that a lot of us overlook.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean, I I just find it to be so amazing to hear founders such as yourself, Monique, because to survive anything that's, you know, life-altering, in my opinion, it doesn't have to be health, right?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: It could be anything, it could be any life event.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it takes a lot out of a human being and the the vision and the and what comes from that, like that whole experience, I've never in my life ever doubted that whenever it's come across my table, whether it's through a profession or through just meeting somebody, I always like listen to those people.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's uh you when you go through anything that you know makes you realize that there needs a there needs to be a shift that has to occur in my existence to feel better, to you know, it's it's a change, it's gonna change you.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna change everything around you, including the people.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that inspiration is something you can't ever like kind of just come up with.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like a big brand, like a big company can't just come up with this idea.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: So that I really love that, you know, when founders like that, founders like you have this the story because um it makes the products that much better for me at least as a consumer, you know.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it really shows.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, honestly, in the whole line, you know, I don't want to spoil it for anybody, but I wanted to actually tell you guys I'm a huge fan.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: I love your products, they're really good.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the first time I used the serum, I just want to say, like, the first there so everyone listening, if you, you know, you're not familiar with the line, they have amazing products so far.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I tried the body wash and then the body serum.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the serum, I wanted to tell you guys as soon as I applied it, I didn't even know that there were dry patches where there were dry patches on my arm because when I ran my hand over my my skin again, it was like so smooth compared to every you know, every other day.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: So the fact that you've developed something that I can see real results like immediately, like it shows.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's you put your heart into this, you know.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I love I love what you're saying about that.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that really that is part of our mission.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're very much changing the conversation around health.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And also we're humanizing health.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: To your point, um, we're having direct one-to-one conversations with our first customers.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of them, um, you know, we have those, of course, that have normal skin conditions, but those that have more sensitive skin, there was one customer the other day that I was speaking to that we've actually become very good friends with over DM and over email, who was telling me a story about how she was diagnosed with eczema when she was three years old and ever since that day had been terrified, lives in terror of taking showers because she knows that showers trigger flare-ups.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: She's been using our product for about a month now, and she says, quote unquote, she's seeing transformative results.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And this is someone who has pretty severe eczema, has tried pretty much everything on the market.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we're not saying that this is a cure all by any means, but that this is very much a holistic approach to skin health that should be considered and taken into account um when you are planning out your skincare routine, if you do have more sensitive skin.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been really exciting and encouraging and honestly uh amazing to hear that feedback from our from our community.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's I mean, you know, and it's it's not surprising to me.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: I've tried the brand, but I mean that's a huge, huge accomplishment.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know eczema, and you know, I I don't think anyone can ever speak about something until they actually experience it, but I do know this, and that is it's a terrible, terrible thing to go through when you have those flare-ups.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have very good friends that yeah, like they can really relate to what you shared here, you know, through your that the the the journey you just described.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing is it really leaves this uh, you know, um hesitation on a person, you know what I mean?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I think with anything it's like that.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you can cross that like mental barrier of a consumer and you can really develop that level of trust, I mean that's just you can't fake that.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's that's results.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Results do that.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really applaud you.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can definitely see it, even as just a normal consumer.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, um, I apply it to your product and you know, immediately noticed a difference.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And one thing I really wanted to hone in on, and I think Ray, you brought this up earlier was the microbiome aspect.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, Monique, I'd love to talk about that.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what led you to wanting um this presence of you know, the microbiome, understanding the microbiome in your line?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what was the whole journey with that?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, going back to our conversation about the health scares that I faced, that led me down a rabbit hole of research as to what potentially could be triggering all of these larger health issues that no doctor could find the root cause of.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And with my background as being a beauty editor and my interest in skin health in general, that led me to the skin microbiome.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I really dove deep with my research behind that and also understanding the beauty landscape and the way that a lot of brands were or were not talking about the skin microbiome and skin health.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we worked very closely with our lab team and our lead scientific advisor, who has co-authored papers and has done a lot of research herself and is an expert in the skin microbiome to formulate products that had at its very core the purpose of balancing your skin microbiome.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: What I found very interesting in my research was that there are a lot of studies that have recently come out that have linked a compromised skin microbiome, aka poor skin health, to broader health issues like autoimmune disease, increased allergy rates, heart health.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was kind of my aha moment where, you know, we think of the health ecosystem, sleep, nutrition, gut health, you know, mind health, right?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um but very rarely do we put in this puzzle, in this, in this foundational, and in these foundational pillars of health, do we speak about the skin microbiome and skin health?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of of that has to do with just general understanding or lack thereof of the skin microbiome and its implications to broader health in general, to whole to the to whole body health.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that really was how the skin microbiome became such a focus for us.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there are brands, of course, in the beauty space um that have one or two products that include microbiome balancing ingredients.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: However, uh, we are the first personal care brand that's wholeheartedly devoted to helping balance your skin microbiome and having the prebiotics and postbiotics as the foundation of every single one of our formulations.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's really interesting that you guys have approached it.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I was so intrigued when I first really, you know, obviously started learning about the brand, but also like just hearing you guys talk about it.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is something that I think I've been very curious why no one is has addressed, you know, um really in the space is this idea of the the body's microbiome.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like all the other skin on our body.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, facially, yes, we have like, but if you consider like, you know, the surface area with which we're working with, you know, like the whole body, really, guys, you know, we kind of missed it.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember when I first saw your products, I was like, this is brilliant.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, of course we need this, because think about like, you know, just little stuff, right?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like you think about the bacteria on your body's skin, and you think about things like sweating, um, you know, how they're responding to UV, how they're responding to environmental changes, like, you know, how they contribute to us not getting um, you know, diseases through contact, you know, those kind of things.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much going on, like on your entire body that needs to be addressed in terms of like feeding and and, you know, making sure that the good bacteria are flourishing, you know, and the importance of that that I've just always wondered, you know, why it's been taking us so long to really address it, you know, on a on this scale of where it's like skincare now becomes this like, you know, obvious thing you think about when you think about skincare, you think about everywhere skincare.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not just facial skincare.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: You should be applying that same kind of um, you know, I guess heart and enthusiasm to the rest of your body, you know, it's it's skin to skin.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I love it.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's I think it's brilliant to actually, you know, dive in, you know, head first with the microbiome, because that really is, in my opinion, as well, you know, just having researched it, it's the answer to a lot of questions, especially with stuff like uh what you described, uh, Monique, uh, with eczema, you know, even with psoriasis and some other pathologies.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's really important to understand it at this point.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I completely agree.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think one thing people don't know, don't know enough about is that our our skin is our largest living, breathing organ.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think that fact may be surprising to a lot of people.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there are one trillion microorganisms that are living on our body that help protect us.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're our first line of defense against um potential pathogens that can make their way to our immune system.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it is all interconnected, our gut microbiome with our skin microbiome.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: They send, they communicate with each other.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't just, you know, cultivate and take care of your gut microbiome without also thinking of your skin, right?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a two-way street.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And to your point about why there hasn't been a brand that has really addressed this, I think Dr.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Ekta, it really has to do with timing.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think the consumer now is ready to fully understand this messaging.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think there yet has there has yet to be a brand that has spoken about the skin microbiome in a no pun intended, digestible, um entertaining, um, but um in a way that people understand.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think for the longest time the gut the the idea of the gut microbiome may have been very foreign to some, but with brands like poppy and seed now coming into general consciousness, I think we're there with a gut microbiome.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think the next step um is is is the skin microbiome.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I I I kind of call this movement, this is just my this is just me, clean 2.0, right?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: For the longest time, there was just uh this buzz around clean and quote unquote clean.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, that's such a nebulous term.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: It means so many different things to so many different people and brands use it haphazardly in different ways.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: However, um, clean is table stakes now, right?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think the evolution of beauty is really going in the direction of skin health and understanding the skin microbiome and how that can be the root cause of flare-ups, but also enhanced benefits like glow, smoothness, hydration.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: It all starts with that foundation.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: No, absolutely.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think that, you know, it's it's a lot of things really.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, for me, people I have so many like questions when I when I look at just I think, you know, like for example, social media and the understanding of the consumer when it comes to not only, you know, what you said, Monique, which is the microbiome, but also more importantly, the the you know, steps involved in carrying for.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: your body skin, right?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's just not enough information.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think that it's it's a um I don't think that there's any excuse for it anymore.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think that for a long time we as consumers were just like um like you said, you know, kind of feeding back into the COVID thing, which is very relevant.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we didn't have time to focus on body care.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we really didn't.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: We, I mean, all of us have busy lives.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And when we all halted and stopped because of COVID, it made us think, wait a minute, my elbows are a little ashy or wait, I have bumps on my shoulder all of a sudden.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Where did that come from?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, or I have back knee, you know, whatever.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we all had our experiences and then we all of a sudden halted, at least for me, this is what I experienced.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then you all of a sudden notice the white space, right?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: You notice like, oh my gosh, I have 50 moisturizers for my face, but I have one for my body, you know, that may or may not be working because I think I'm addicted to it.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah, there were like certain products I had, I don't know if you guys can relate, but like I had certain products where I'm like, if I don't use it, I get ashier, you know, the next day.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, is this really doing what it should be doing?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I mean there's, you know, there's a huge gap in a lot of places, you know, with body care.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think that the reason I love Iota and I was so attracted to it immediately was because I saw you guys start exactly where we left off with facial skincare.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you just said screw it, we're going straight to the body and I love that because it's a real like that's for me as a scientist, I look at that and say, that's how science is you, you, you know, take whatever someone's done and then build on it.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that by creating a line that's focused for the whole body, but it's still addressing the microbiome, for example, for everyone listening, you know, the if you for example I'm gonna talk to you guys about the body serum real quick and you'll notice very quickly it says it right on the bottle, which by the way I love all the vitamins are there, you know, that we want for our facial skincare vitamin B3, B12, you know, you've got the vitamin C, peptides, the post and uh pre and post you know biotics.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: You've got all of that stuff that you would want to find in your facial skin care.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I really like that you did that, you know, Monique, I wanted to tell you because this is what draws people.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is what's going to get people to understand that okay, okay, okay, this I can put on my body and it's just as good because we've finally gotten there as I think consumers where we now know these are buzzwords to look for, you know, and these are things to look for in a good uh product that's aimed for skin, you know, so I really think it's a brilliant approach overall.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's really my point that I'm trying to make in a very verbose way.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: But really it's it's really really awesome you know yeah I I if I could jump in real quick.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: I mean I one of the other uh I think missions that we have as a company uh wholeheartedly is just this idea again of the body being overlooked and part of that was just when you look at the landscape today so many of the products that are available and are being um you know marketed to consumers they focus on you know superficial things like scent or lather or um you know even just um sort of visibly aesthetic benefits like glow and and you know things like that.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_04: But they don't talk about again to your point um the importance of the role that uh your body skin plays in your overall health and you know when we look at things like when we were doing the research and I've I I was hearing about this from Monique well before we started IOTA but um you know the the when you look at the the rise in things like allergy rates in the United States um the rise in rates of autoimmune diseases um there's just increasing research um more and more about the possible connection between um you know all of our um you know microbiomes uh and and one of the most important ones being you know that of the skin and I think that we what we were interested in was with the body especially um there are a lot of products out on the market that um can not only not benefit you but potentially could do harm in the sense of uh you know you know over stripping your skin um especially when there are you know over uh um overcleansing practices combined with that um that can lead to imbalances um that can form over time uh where your stream where your skin becomes stripped of essential nutrients and it and it becomes um less of that sort of strong barrier that your body needs to protect you from the environmental pathogens.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_04: And so when we were formulating iota it was really really important for us to come up with products that were one easy to use right that people didn't necessarily have to go out of their way out of their daily habits to um put um you know these benefits into into their daily lives.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_04: So that's why we came up um you know and and and launched initially with a body wash and a body serum and um what we wanted to have reflected is that each of our products um have a very comprehensive approach.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: So for for you know the the the skincare industry for especially for someone like me I mean it can be overwhelming.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_04: It's very confusing with the plethora of products out there and with all of the tatted benefits um what one really needs and should be using and in combination with what and it and you know your your head can spin very quickly.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: What we wanted to do was sort of simplify the conversation a bit um and and boil it down to what is at the foundation of skin health, first of all and then what are the sort of the essential ingredients that we can add in the form of the multivitamins and the minerals and actives where uh we can provide to the consumer a comprehensive approach um but one that utilizes ingredients that we know and understand whole food source ingredients quality um nonsynthetics that uh we can trust um in a a very qual you know um sort of holistic uh comprehensive formulation at uh price points that were still approachable um for many consumers right no it makes sense and i think that's a very you know that's it's a great way to go about it honestly Ray I think that you guys have done a great job with that whole you know the the whole package right we as consumers look for sustainability accessibility price points and that's all I think it's all here it's just that you know it's very rare I think what really sets you apart in my eyes also as a consumer is that you have stuck to the science you know you've stuck to the science you don't you're not cutting corners that's one of the biggest things for me because you know with body care that's what's been missing as you said there's been so much like misinformation and skincare in general that for some reason I don't know when this happened or why but we got hyper focused on facial care and we just decided screw it it doesn't apply to the body and I'm just like sitting here and I'm like reflecting on myself and I'm like we've done that for too long.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's time to make a change because your body like Monique was talking about that's where most of that absorption is happening of bad things like bad you know environmental pollutants and chemicals and you know toxins that's where all of the surface area is is your body.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you know if we can have products that are geared towards balancing um you know things like the microbiome or things that are you know more like you know protective measures that our own body has for us you know overall I think the more we can boost that and do it without lying to consumers and pretending like our products are you know doing what they're not which a lot of people I'm sorry in skincare that has to do with body you're doing that you know like the big conglomerate companies there are a lot of them are doing that.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: They're saying oh well you know this is eczema relief but then why is it that somebody comes back and buys your products four times you know the big five gallon jar cream you just know where I'm going with this guy is like it's like a redundant cycle that never ends.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I you know data tells me that your cream is not working, you know, when people are doing that.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's not saying that you shouldn't have people coming back to buy more.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: Of course you should that's good consumerism but when something's clearly not working like there's going to be a space that's very apparent in an industry and that's where I see body care.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I see IOTA and I've used it I've tried it I've put it into my routine now you know it's part of my body care routine I see differences.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know for me I grew up with acne for example I grew up with um you know being a woman of color it was really annoying because you know high school dances right like I couldn't wear the open back.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: I always felt like conscious about that growing up and there were no products like I had no idea where to start you know even as somebody who grew up in mainstream you know 90s early 2000s you know we had all the products but for you know body care there's nothing you know so just look at the industry and see like how far we've come and then um I when I come across brands like yours, it makes me very happy.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like watching the evolution of an entire niche you know in this area.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a huge fan, you know, I really am and I think that um everything you guys are doing is so fundamental and it's so important.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I really applaud you because the first two products you've launched as Ray was telling us about the body uh wash and then the body serum the serum is my favorite.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: By the way I just want to say I love the body serum it's so good.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I um I think this is brilliant.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of a really uh basic place to start you know when it comes to any kind of skincare is you want a good cleanser and you want something really nourishing which is the whole premise of a serum.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I think you guys have done a phenomenal job with just bringing us products that are um you know actually efficaciously you know helping.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I I I really applaud you and I'm a huge fan.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for that.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's so great to hear especially from a scientist like yourself and a doctor and oh no no I honestly I'm just a consumer think of me as an informed consumer which I hope all of us can be and I really want everyone listening to check out the brand you know guys you I I can sit here and rave all day but like until you guys go out there and try these products you're not gonna know what I'm really talking about because I really mean it, you know?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something I I want to really stress to my listeners is that every time I'm raving about a product or a brand, it's because I've tried it myself.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody on my team hasn't tried it.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: No, I've tried it myself and I really believe in it and I love the serum and I love the brightening body wash and they're actually going to be in our body care top pics a little sneak peek for everyone listening because that's still yet to come out.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: So stay tuned for that.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: But for now I want you guys to go check out IOTA by going to Iota body all one word dot com or at iota body on your social media platforms and check them out really dive in.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think you guys are gonna love this brand.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: But Monique and Ray, this has been such a pleasure talking to both of you thank you so much for coming on the show.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: We really appreciate it.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's it's been an honor and everyone listening one more thing before I go please uh do not forget to leave us a rating and a written review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcast wherever you tune in it really helps us out a lot and it um elevates us, you know, and it helps us reach more people who are more intellectually minded when it comes to their wellness and their skin and that's really the audience we're um gearing our episodes towards so I would really love you guys if you could do that.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well I love you anyways but I'd love you more if you could do that.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: But thank you so much.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hey guys so I hope you love that episode please make sure to hit subscribe if you're tuning in to us on any podcast platform.
• 34:33
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• 34:57
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• 35:05
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• 35:11
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• 35:21
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• 35:27
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• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.