Today we’d like to introduce you to Roxanne Kaiser.
Hi Roxanne, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
This may sound wild to some people, but I haven’t ALWAYS known I wanted to be an entrepreneur. What I did know what that I had SO much more to offer the world than just what I could give to the corporate world (if that makes sense). Nothing against the corporate world at all (being in corporate for the first 7 years of my professional career taught me SO much), but I had always felt like I was being kept in a box.
I couldn’t be creative the way I wanted, self-start the way I wanted, and, in all honesty, be who I really was MEANT TO BE (nobody would ever let me wear sweats & platforms or say WTF whenever I wanted, lol). I also always want more, do more, and give more.
I WOULD say I have always innately had the core traits you need to be in entrepreneur – I have always had impeccable time management skills, planning, and an ‘idgaf’ what people think attitude
PROXY specifically started after my first VERY serious panic attack in 2017; it took me a few months before realizing what was going on. I think this is normal/common for a lot of people who experience panic attacks for the first time. Since it was not talked about really at ALL in 2017, I thought I was truly SICK. I had no idea what was going on, but I definitely did not know it was panic disorder. The first few times I went to the hospital, I always thought I had the flu or sometime of bug. After a few months of having ‘clear’ tests at the hospital/doctor (i.e., nothing was wrong with me), I finally had the THOUGHT that it was stress—related and made my first appointment with a psych.
After I posted the first video talking about my first panic attack experience and saw how many people DMed, commented, and reacted – I immediately saw this VISION to create something. At the time, I was eating super sour candy to help distract my mind when the onset of panic would come over me – so I remember thinking, “Hmm, I bet I can create a sour gummy that is not full of BS and sugar.”
That was my initial thought. After that VERY thought, I emailed my marketing team and said – I want to create a better-for-you panic attack gummy that has different branding/messaging than has ever been done and makes people feel COOL for NEEDING to buy it.
From there, we took off like a rocket. We began doing market research and product segmentation; I worked on forecasting for funding, found all my USA-based manufacturers and partners, hired a community manager, and the ball was ROLLING.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think the road can ever be smooth when starting a company – truly. There have been so many bumps, but that is just PART of the journey.
For instance, I REALLY wanted my PROXY gummies to be BEAUTIFULLY colored. Vibrant, bold, and bright. That was my VISION for the gummies. But the reality is I wanted TRUE better-for-you gummies (which, quite frankly, is VERY hard to do while still trying to make a tasteful & BEAUTIFUL gummy).
To make a gummy truly better for you NOT going to look like CANDY because we do NOT add artificial coloring. I ended up having to spend extra $$ for multiple (unforecasted) rounds and rounds of formulations to get the color to where it is now (which I am so proud of).
Natural herbs are not ‘beautiful’ naturally (i.e., Kava Kava is tan/brown, Flowerbomb is dark) – therefore making it VERY hard to get a gummy that is pretty/colorful. It took a lot of ingredient balancing, trials and iterations to find a color and taste that was perfect. I cannot believe my INCREDIBLE team of food scientist landed where they did with the current coloring.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
PROXY wellness is so much more than a gummy for panic. It truly can be used as a daily supplement (especially our Just Chill & Grow Lush). Proxy’s botanicals are all comprised of ingredients that are good for daily use- just helping the mind + body come back to a more relaxed and sound state. I also LOVE the idea of people considering reaching for PROXY & a Xanax in times of need. The goal would be to have anyone with anxiety lean towards natural elements over something that is lab-grown. The mentality that natural herbs ACTUALLY help for stress/panic takes time (because it took time for me as well), but it DOES help the same way lab-grown medicines do.
What does success mean to you?
Recently, I was on a meeting where I was working to solidify a partnership for an upcoming PROXY event. At the end of the call, the owner of the company said, “Oh, by the way, I was telling my friend about this PROXY event, and she mentioned she is obsessed with and has 7 pairs of PastedNip [my other company product].”
I was smiling from ear to ear when she told me this. To me, that is success.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.proxywellness.com
- Instagram: @feelproxy, @rickyrox_
- Youtube: rickyrox_
- Other: www.pastednip.cp
