Latest / Complex Kids, Simple Solutions / Dara Wax — Reimagining Teen Vitamins as Tools for Mental Wellness

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Dara Wax — Reimagining Teen Vitamins as Tools for Mental Wellness · Complex Kids, Simple Solutions

• speaker-0: Welcome to Complex Kids Simple Solutions, the podcast for parents raising complex and neurodivergent kids who are doing their best in systems that don't always make things easy. I'm Michelle Shoayde, founder of Special Education Concierge, a mom to a complex kid, a speaker, and an advocate. This space isn't about perfection. It's about real life, the hard days, the small wins. the moments where you wonder if you're doing enough, and the moments where you realize you are. Here we talk honestly, share practical insight, and simplify what feels overwhelming, one conversation at a time. You are your child's hero. Welcome to Complex Kids Simple Solutions. Today we have Dara Lacks and she is a seasoned global health strategist and the founder of Sam plus Leo, a brand dedicated to improving teen health, mental health through innovative gummy vitamins. As the mother of two teen boys navigating their own mental health and learning needs, Dara brings a personal touch to her professional expertise. with a robust background in vaccine advocacy and resource mobilization, particularly through her work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dara empowers listeners by sharing actionable insights on public health initiatives and mental wellness. Join her as she explores how small changes can lead to significant health benefits worldwide. If parenting feels heavier than you expected, if the questions keep coming and the answers feeling clear, or if you're caring more than most people see, welcome. This is Complex Kids, Simple Solutions, a podcast for parents raising complex and neurodivergent kids who want clarity, confidence, and support that actually makes sense. I'm Michelle Shoaiti, founder of Special Education Concierge. formerly known as Wisdom for Complex Kids, a speaker, an advocate, a mom who lives this life, and someone who helps parents navigate it. No labels required, no perfect parenting expected, just real conversations, practical perspective, and reminders that you're not alone. Let's get into today's episode. Hi everyone, welcome back to Complex Kids Simple Solutions. Today we have Dara and I'm so excited to have her because I don't think that we've had somebody like her in the podcast yet. So Dara, welcome. speaker-1: Thanks so much for having me. speaker-0: Yes. So I want to hear your story because it sounds like it's really exciting. And I'm excited to hear all about what you're doing and what you've been doing the past few years. So talk to us. speaker-1: It's like, where do I begin? So I'm there, I'm the mom of two teen boys, 18 and 15. ⁓ They're going off, one's going off to college soon. We live in Denver, Colorado by way of East Coast. And for most of my career, I worked in global health, mostly for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and HIV, TB, malaria, vaccine development, lot of international travel. And then as my kids were getting older and more complicated, it was more challenging to do that travel. And so I had to take a step back and did more consulting, but then COVID happened. And I have been sitting on this idea that there was a missing market for clean teen products in particular, and especially focusing on teen mental health. So that was kind of where I felt my life was and what I wanted for my kids. and developed a line of clean gummy vitamins that also support teen mental health. And we just launched in 50 whole food stores and Amazon. That's amazing. Crazy. It's been a crazy couple of years. Wow. And I'm a team of one basically doing it. speaker-0: You've been doing it. ⁓ wow. That's amazing. That's amazing. Well, congratulations on that. Geez, that's a lot of work and especially now to get it out there in the world must be, you must feel so good. speaker-1: Yeah, it's definitely a pinch me moment. Part of it is I went from no stores to Whole Foods, which is very unusual. They have an accelerator that I applied to out of the blue and they choose 10 brands out of 1600. So I'm one of those 10 brands, but also because they wanted to stand behind this support of teen mental health and kind of missing a teen market. So yeah, it's also very aligned for them. speaker-0: That's great. You know, it's funny because we usually hear in Complex Kids Simple Solutions, we talk a lot about the kids like when they're a little bit younger and, and, you know, we have had some that we talked about teenagers, but I don't think that we ever really talked about vitamins and supplements or any of that. But I, know, there, I, 100 % there's a place for it, especially if they're clean and those types of things. And I'm actually excited because I want to learn. I don't have a teenager yet. He's almost 12, but I have a nine year old and an almost 12 year old. So I, I'm, looking forward to learning. So how did you get in this? Like, what are the, tell, tell more. speaker-1: Yes. So probably so much like your listeners and you as a parent. I also target tweens, but my kids are amazing, but complex. have one two-e kid. have, well, there's a lot of anxiety, OCD, ADHD, got all the things. And it was on my own journey to kind of go through that. And I also never, you know, I support all parents and whatever your journey is, medication, not medication. We were in a spot where actually medication was not working for one of my sons. ⁓ And so that's when you start to turn to diet and exercise. What are all the other things you can do to support your kid environment? Yes, we change schools. And it's really hard, right? You're always trying something, whatever. And I always say that like, even if you have the resources and are fortunate to get therapy and all the support, one hour a week is like the tip of the iceberg, right? It's the rest of the week. Yeah. speaker-0: And us parents who just keep suffering every single day besides that one hour that they're with the psychologist speaker-1: Exactly. Or you're waiting for the phone call from the school or all of the things. then, know, mental health is also so umbrella for so many things. It's anxiety, depression, bullying, substance abuse, eating disorders, like OCD. Everything is under that one umbrella. So it's very all encompassing. So that's one nuance of that. The other part of it was I was taking a step back and realizing that, you know, we're all trying to like we were like fixing our kids. then at some point, and as your kids get older, they start to question like, well, what's wrong with me? And I wanted to change that discourse and be more around supporting our kids instead of saying, you're amazing. Things are challenging, but we're not fixing you, we're supporting you. And I was feeling really alone in this and really wanting community. so reaching out and the more I was talking about it, feeling that other parents were opening up about their own journeys and feeling like, lost or alone or something's working and then six months later that thing's not working anymore or whatever it is. And then, I mean, there's so many parts of this. Then you add in screen time and then you add in like, And so is there's so much for us to grapple. And so I developed these vitamins. One, because I was looking for my own kids. Two, because I use them as tools. They're not going to fix you overnight. They're not going to be like the cure and the answer. But they come in a pouch, very ⁓ kid friendly, even teen friendly. They're safe for four and older. But I wanted something that my kids would reach instead of an energy drink. One of them is an energy gummy that's caffeine free, it's a B complex with some biotin. I wanted them to go to that instead of an energy drink. One is a relaxed, gummy, safer for an older, ⁓ instead of them starting to look at vaping or any other thing that might be tempting for some of these kids who we all know are at risk. And so one was what I was looking forward to was this tool that if you leave them on the counter, ⁓ maybe they'll be interested in looking at them or having conversation of like, maybe too much screen time. I do have one that's for eyes for eye health. It's been around forever as a capsule never as a gummy and all of her eyes are aging faster. I take on speaker-0: My reading just keeps getting higher and higher like ⁓ my gosh. So yes, I will take them. speaker-1: all of them. So I'm taking them. ⁓ have, you know, my sister's a family medicine doctor, my niece has, ⁓ is PDA, like we're in it. I see it. I see it all. ⁓ And so we're all trying to find solutions. And so we also found with a lot of the PDA kids or ODD kids that even if you just leave them there, instead of forcing it on them, it's, they're intrigued by it. It's interesting and they taste so good. So two of the things are one, dentists are recommending them because they don't stick to your teeth. as a gummy that's like a clean gummy. And then to they just taste the texture and taste doesn't feel like other gummies. So other kids who are super sensitive about texture, they're really palatable. My kids didn't like other gummies. So that was kind of the why. But even the bigger why behind that is that we support team mental health organizations. ⁓ And that's kind of my give back and the why behind the brand. But ⁓ finding your podcasts and like your community like this is we're in it. And it is. speaker-0: I love it. I love it because this is it right like I don't think that we talk enough about you know, just I mean Daily vitamins or any of that like those things we all know that it's you know It's good for you and we should be taking it I took my daughter just a couple of weeks ago to to her pediatrician She you know, she's a neurotypical child like they're like high-achieving like she You know, she's incredible. And we got there and the doctor was like, hey, does she drink milk? And I'm like, no. And then we started this whole thing about vitamin D and getting that in her body and doing all these things. And I'm thinking, ⁓ my gosh, she eats pasta. ⁓ If she could eat steak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she would. And it has to be medium rare. ⁓ And you know, she just doesn't get like the vegetables and the things that she really needs. And of course, you know, fail. It's a mom fail in a way, but we, we try. I do make vegetables every night. They just really, it's like pulling teeth, trying to get them to eat the vegetables and the fruits and, and the things that are actually going to give them the, you know, Vitamin D, vitamin C, all of that stuff. And so I feel like, and I'm okay with supplementing and I think that we need to. so, ⁓ yeah. So ⁓ tell me, so they're gummies, they come individually packed? Do they come in a container? How, yeah, tell me all about that. speaker-1: that. So they come in a pack of pouch of 60 gummies currently we're launching a 10 count pack just so it's an easier like so your kids can try it. The doses one or two a day kind of depending where you're at like for I have an immunity once we don't get sick. do it two times a day during cold and flu season one a day otherwise but you know and then kind of see but basically to your point I raised my kids in organic and made my own baby food and they want subway and Dr. Pepper now. Right? Like even if you're the parent who's doing the right thing and not in trying to make vegetables, like they're exactly. Me too. speaker-0: If you didn't see if you're just listening just talking about how her kids would dr. Pepper and I have a diet dr Pepper sitting right here next to my computer because yes and even as adults Every day I'm awful speaker-1: Yes. Well, no, but it's like moderate. We know moderation or we know we're going to eat the vegetable at night, but our kids are influenced by what they see. So I was realizing even if you're doing all the right things, they're still going to other choices. And 85 % of tweens and teens don't take a vitamin. So it's because also that there were kid vitamins and adults and nothing really speaking to them in between or that tasted good. that was the other reason. Also, one of my kids definitely is was our fed, right? texture, taste, sensory stuff with eating. And so you add all these other things in, you're trying to get the base level of like, what can we support with supplement? I actually intentionally didn't make a multivitamin because I thought there were a lot of other multis on the market. There are teen girl, teen boy formulas, there's some kids ones, and I thought my teens aren't gonna take a multi. But it turns out a lot of people have been asking me to make one because mine tastes so good and the taste and texture. So I might go rethink that. But right now it's very in the functional space. So sleep, immunity, stress, energy, and eyes for screen time. But it was more in that space. And I think our kids, well, one role modeling, right? They see what we do. But two, ⁓ If you can just find a way to get them a little bit help, like the energy one that'd be complex, we're all be deficient. And if they play sports or athletic, they're even more so. So I'd rather them grab that than an energy drink. Yes. speaker-0: monster or a red bull. Yeah. I, I, so I just got my son back from an NPS, which is kind of a private school into the school district. And the other day I went to pick him up and I couldn't believe all the monsters and like how much of that crap is all over. You know, I shouldn't be talking much because I do drink my diet doctor with her every day. I, I love it. I there's, I don't know. I, and I probably should stop, but right now it's my, it's my coffee cause I don't drink coffee. ⁓ but when I look at kids who are like 10, 12, 13 years old and they're holding these monsters and I mean, they're monsters, right? Cause it's not just, It's not just the small can, like 12 ounce. They're like, you know, 60 ounces or something. I don't know. But they're gigantic. And these kids, that's what they drink. That is what they're going for. I, you know, so I, my past life, I was an athletic trainer. And I did, was an athletic trainer for six years at a high school in Utah out of all the places. And I back, then there weren't so many of these, but at the same time you could see like the dehydration and the things that they would go through with, certain things that they were taking right now. cannot even imagine what it would be like for an athletic trainer out there having these kids, you know, having two a days for, for, for football and they're drinking those energy drinks because they think that they need more energy and they need more of that. But you know, There are so many cases of kids actually getting sick from it and having strokes and having ⁓ heat exhaustion and things like that because that's all they drink. They don't drink enough water. They don't get enough ⁓ vitamins in their system. They are out there eating what they're not supposed to eat and what they're not supposed to drink. And so ⁓ I love it that you're making this into teens. speaker-1: us. speaker-0: Because you can usually control your child, quote unquote control your child when they're younger. But once they get to a certain age, it's like, nope, nope, nope. And you can't force feed them. So I mean. speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. Also, like, it's heart health, but these energy drinks, they're going through puberty, their hormones, like we don't actually know the impact yet, because the data was so new in the data, but their bodies are changing hormones, puberty, then heart health, brain function. And it that just scares me about that point is very short lived. And it's not optimizing them, right, or their bodies. So looking at diet and nutrition is one way to do it. And maybe it's more about moderation. Like if you can't stop the energy drinks, maybe it's one or half and then do something else instead. But it is scary to watch. also, you know, I don't know if you've talked about diet before also, but like, we've known with one of my sons that he's gluten sensitive for his anxiety and things like that. If he reduces gluten, his diet, it's much better. But he's 15 year old boy and like gluten's around him. And because it's not like a serious life threatening allergy, like he's not going to die if he eats gluten. It's really hard for those teen boys to make those decisions that they know it's better for them not to. But there's no way to stop them eating the ramen and the pizza. speaker-0: ⁓ the ramen. The ramen. I'm out of sodium in that thing. It's insane. I just have to close my eyes when my kids go in the pantry and they pull one out and I'm just like, nope, not seeing it. Nope, nope, nope, not seeing it. But it's true. Like, but there is a place for those supplements. There is a place for, you know, these gummies. And I love it that it's B12s, like on your energy one, because we need that anyway. speaker-1: Ramen. speaker-0: So, you know, I mean, why not? Why not do it? So. No, go ahead. speaker-1: Yeah. And launching through Whole Foods, the compliance they put me through, like, everyone my batches is like tested for heavy metals and toxicity. And like, they're all super compliant for age group. Like, I didn't think I even realized that as a Whole Foods shopper that that strictness of it. so, just to know that all that all the supplements there are super high quality too. speaker-0: That's cool. didn't know that. Thanks for sharing that. Cause I think that that's cool too. Like that's interesting. I guarantee you that the stuff that they sell on Amazon is not the stuff that they sell at whole. speaker-1: foods. ⁓ speaker-0: ⁓ Okay, so, okay, so you said that there's an energy one and that's mostly the bees. speaker-1: And then a little biotin for activation, biotin is hair, and nails, but it actually is like a cell activator. And so that's in there as well. It's a strawberry flavor. They can take it actually any time of day. And it's also good for focus, kind of like a switch. So like actually a lot of ADHD kids who need that little bit of focus, it helps, but also pre post workout and alternative to an energy drink. speaker-0: There you go. Okay, then let's go to the next one. What's the you talked about the eye one. speaker-1: That one is lutein and vitamins A and E. Lutein is marigold extract. So I said it's been around forever. And the data shows that it strengthens the muscles around our eyes from fatigue and dry eye. I think we may actually start seeing it in a multivitamin because all of our eyes are aging faster now. But also, so one, it is really protecting our eyes. My kids are gamers and they're on the screens all the time. ⁓ gosh. As much as like, And ⁓ speaker-0: ⁓ my god. speaker-1: I think it's also that discussion point of how much screen time, it just brings awareness to it. speaker-0: Yeah, that is something we've had. had a friend of mine come in and she is really big into talking about kids and screen time. Maybe I should have her back because this is such an important subject for kids. Okay. So yes, I need to take the eyes ones. Okay. And then what, what are the other speaker-1: Then we have a relaxed one. So that's more of a chill that has valerian chamomile lemon balm in it, like putting the three of those teas together. That too is any time of day, like stressed, anxious. Some people are more reactive to valerian than others. You start with one, maybe you can do two, but also before bedtime, especially people who are very aware about melatonin now and not wanting to use melatonin. One of mine does, I do have a sleep one as well that has a tiny bit of melatonin, passionflower and B6. I use that more for like when you're really having a hard time settling kids to sleep, like it's not an everyday thing or for travel. It's really good for time zones and that lag travel. ⁓ But like I said, I have a sister who's a family medicine doctor and gives it to own kids. So I'm not completely anti-melatonin. just don't think you want to be dependent on it. ⁓ Then I have one for immunity. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: which is elderberry, echinacea, C and zinc. That's probably the closest to the multivitamin like is in terms of wellness, keeping everyone healthy. We really don't get sick when we take that every day. ⁓ And then it tastes really good. And then the last one is the, wait, I it all. Energy, immunity, relax, sleep, eyes. I think we hit them all. We hit all of them. Cool. Yeah, so like eyes and immunity is more of like an everyday prevention. Energy, relax, sleep. are kind of as needed, how you're feeling it. Got it. speaker-0: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that. I love that the idea of those separate things too, because you know, I don't think that all multivitamin has enough of certain things. I think that, you know, you look, you look, there's not enough vitamin D in one or there's not enough vitamin C or whatever. So you kind of just kind of bring that together. Quick pause here because if today's conversation feels familiar, you don't have to carry it by yourself. Through my work with Special Education Concierge, I support families navigating the many layers that come with raising a complex kid. School, services, systems, and everything in between. If you ever need guidance, clarity, or just a place to start, you can explore resources or book a free call at www.specialeducationconcierge.com. No pressure, just support. Okay, back to the episode. What kind of difference did you see in your teens when they started taking this? speaker-1: I get this a lot from lots of different people. So one, the basic one is they'll take it. One, it tastes good and texture. like the other ones, they didn't like taste and texture, coated in sugar or sticks to your teeth. So basically one, they'll just take. The second one is, immunity, like I said, we really don't get sick. If we take that every day, the colds, the flu, I'm not anti-vaccine since that's what I used to work in, but still you're not immune to everything. ⁓ ⁓ it's just really good wellness. So we're not getting sick with that. I would say the other biggest one is this energy one. So they know better now than to go for the energy drinks. They know to be aware of their energy levels. ⁓ and so they will grab the energy ones as needed versus some of the other things. I like that they're just accessible there for them and they know, that then when they share with their friends, like everyone just likes the taste and texture of them so that they can be like, accepted versus like, my mom gave me a vitamin to take, know, like, yeah, you have more of those vitamins. They taste really good. So that's the more that I know that they're just willing to take them. And then I guess the relax, you know, they take sleep, sleep and relax kind of as needed to they just aware, it's more of this awareness, how is my physically immensely feeling. And it didn't happen overnight. It's also their mom's company. But other anecdotes I hear from friends who've taken them. is that, he was able to focus for a test. I'm not able to make these health claims. FDA does not allow you to make health claims. But I'm able to tell you what people have said that like, they felt like, he was able to focus or definitely brought some anxiety let down or more chill. Those are the things that I'm hearing. And then the eyes one, ⁓ actually seeing it more in the like, speaker-0: Yes. speaker-1: adults taking it or older, my mind because they're like, all of us have dry eye in our eyes. I think for younger people, it's more of that protect them while they're young so that they age better. speaker-0: Yeah, it's more of a preventative measure than a fixing measure for the teenagers. especially, man, you know, my, my kids have not got into the whole gaming stuff and I'm so grateful for that. But I know so many parents who they do it themselves and the kids will do it too. And I'll just the eye and I don't do it, but I'm on my phone all day long. And that's probably why my eyes are so messed up because I, I'm not gaming, but I am. I am on my phone, trying to read tiny, tiny letters all day long, you know, and emails and text messages and all of that nonstop. So yeah, I, I love the idea. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to bring you on to the show is because I think that there is, we need to talk about supplements and we need to talk about those things. And if it's going to help our kids somehow that we should be doing that. ⁓ You know, the... I will tell you that I am against the monsters for the kids. So anything that can give them a little bit of a woof during the day, I think that that's good. I'm trying to keep my kids away from type of stuff that I am into, but it's hard too, because when we do it, they wanna do it too. And so kudos to you for actually bringing that into the house and for them to learning. And they're old enough now that they can... They know what's going on in their minds. And I think that with the younger kiddos, like my kiddos, ⁓ you probably need to teach them, okay, what are you feeling right now? And then that is also teaching in different ways, right? It's teaching, what are your emotions? What are you feeling right now? And then you can kind of pair that up with the gummies. So that's great. speaker-1: I've talked to lot of therapists who, most therapists see kids in the 3 to 6 PM window every day, right after school. And they're all walking in with energy drinks or they're all walking in with everything they're carrying from the day. getting, because I'm just a team of one still, but my goal and hope would be to get more samples in those waiting rooms, right? Because then they're guessing that's exactly when they're needing a lot of these things or talking about emotions and feelings related to it. So it's not going to fix everything. Sure. Yeah. ⁓ but it's a good awareness about it. speaker-0: Yeah. So, okay. So tell us. So if we, if we had, if my, my people wanted to go and buy this, you said that it's, ⁓ some whole foods, ⁓ where, do you know where they are? Okay. So tell us. speaker-1: So I'm in, we're in 50 Whole Foods stores and you can go to my website, I'll tell you in a second and it will show you the locator, but it's basically Rocky Mountain. So it's Bozeman Jackson all the way down to El Paso, Kansas City, 10 Seattle stores, but ⁓ you can go to shopsamandleo.com, all spelled out. And we have a store locator, but we're also on Amazon, all Amazon shipping. We're on Walmart marketplace. ⁓ speaker-0: There you go. speaker-1: Our own website has a huge discount right now, so you get 50 % off if you go to our website. I'm happy also to always send samples to people if they want to try them before buying. And then we'll be launching a Thrive Market nationally as well in the next month or two. that's kind of the goal. And always open to partnerships with people with their programs or schools or like a lot of friends who have athletic teams or kids are on athletic teams, giving samples out to those groups just to get it out there, but also offering that alternative. And then we do a give back. So we give back to nonprofit organizations supporting teen mental health. speaker-0: Amazing. Yeah, I love speaker-1: And then social media. Follow us social media. the... Yes! ...that shops Sam and Leo all over the place. speaker-0: Well, go find me and I'll find you and then we'll follow each other. So that will be great. Yeah. Okay. So as we're near the end here, I always ask my guests, what is the one thing that you want the parents to know today? Like the most important thing right now. speaker-1: ⁓ I have so many. From my own experience and from what I share a lot is this kind of that theme of we're not fixing our kids, we're supporting them because our kids are amazing and they might test our patience and our livelihood every single day. But really reframing that helps us have compassion, but also helps them feel seen, I think. So reframing that fixing to supporting is super important. speaker-0: Well, thank you, Tara, for being here. I love it. Everyone go to tell me again, what's the website? speaker-1: shop salmonleo.com. speaker-0: question is are those your son's name? speaker-1: Yeah, exactly. Leo is the older one, Sam's the younger one, but yes. speaker-0: It just sounded better, Sam and Leo than you and Sam. Yes, I like that. Well, everyone go over there, give it a try and everything is going to be posted in the show notes. Sarah, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for what you're doing because I think this is very important and everyone, we will see you next week. speaker-1: week. Thanks for having me. Bye bye. Bye. speaker-0: Welcome Before you go, take a deep breath. You don't have to solve everything today. You don't have to have it all figured out. If this episode helped you, you'll seem grounded or a little less alone. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss future conversations. And if you ever want a deeper support, Special education concierge is here when you're ready. One step at a time. One decision at a time. You are your child's hero. I'll see you next time.