Why Did I Decide to Launch A Physical Product?

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Getting Started

Chapter 3: Main Content

Chapter 4: Conclusion

00:00:03 Jacqueline Kincer

Hi, I'm Jacqueline Kincer and for the past five years I've been helping families all around the globe to overcome their breastfeeding challenges and this is the first non clinical Breastfeeding podcast which shows you how to rockbreastfeeding and master motherhood through practical tips, mindset shifts and honest conversation to create a confident and empowering breastfeeding journey. This is the Breastfeeding talk podcast.

00:00:37

Welcome back to the Breastfeeding Talk podcast. I'm your host, Jacqueline Kincer, and in today's episode I'm going to be talking about something that I really haven't shared a whole lot of before. But it's going to be me telling you why I decided to launch and create a physical product.

00:01:00

So if you don't know, I have one currently on the market and that is our advanced lactation formula. It is an herbal supplement blend for increasing and supporting milk supply. And then I've got another one that's going to come out in the next month or two, which is called the lactation flow formula. And that is for preventing and treating clogged ducts and mastitis, so I can really speak to a lot of the first one, but some of the reasons why I've created these two products are really similar. So I'll be talking about what makes my products different or unique. Why is my brand different? Why did I choose the ingredients? I chose how did I go about this process? I know a lot of people are really curious and. And I will say owning a company that creates a physical product is definitely not for everybody. There's been some trials and tribulations, and I'll also be sharing those with you on the episode. So before I get into it, I just wanted to mention something really quick is that I posted a ton of content over on our. Instagram account at holistic lactation. And I would love for you to follow us there if you are not already. It's been something that has been just a little passion project of mine and we've grown our following to a pretty decent amount now and it's always sort of sad, but also heartwarming. When I hear Mom say that the content that I post there is more helpful than the lactation consultants they worked with. Ouch. You know, definitely. The profession of lactation consultants is a mixed bag, and there are a lot of people in the profession that could be doing a lot better, and they're not and that's always disappointing. And so I never want someone to think that we're all created equal and that's not to say I'm, you know so much better than anybody else or anything like that. But it's just like any profession, right? It's just like, you know, there's good doctors and there's bad doctors, there's good plumbers and there's bad plumbers, there's good car. Mechanics and there's bad ones and it just is the way it is. But for some reason I feel like our profession gets this special treatment and people think well, anyone who's a lactation consultant should be great. Like their job? That's a bit like saying everyone who is a mental health therapist should be great at their job. They're not always or they're just early on and they don't have that clinical experience. So they might have the training, but they haven't applied what they've learned yet. And so I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt. But if you are struggling with breastfeeding, it's a really great place to come, follow and hang out and maybe learn something new. So just wanted to do a little bit of a shameless plug for our Instagram because I think that it's fun and we put a lot of energy. And effort into creating some incredible content for you there. So let's talk about why I decided to launch this product. You know, it's funny because I've worked with so many clients over the years. I've had a couple of different office spaces. I've collaborated with other providers. I've been doing virtual consults and so really up until the last. Year I would say I was primarily just focused on that client facing work. I wasn't really doing anything else in the business to drive revenue and it was only. Really, you know, really kind of a confluence of circumstances that that sort of made things shift for me. One was that, you know, I could only do so much myself for so long, and that just wasn't sustainable. So that's why we have some other incredible lactation consultants on the team because, Oh my goodness, you know, when someone is struggling with breastfeeding, they just do. Wow. To wait, you know, a week to get help or two weeks. That's just not right. And I could not just keep sacrificing my time time with my family, never taking lunch breaks, that sort of thing just because I wanted to help people. And I just, you know, I knew they needed help and their needs seemed so much greater than mine. But I was ignoring so many of my own needs in my personal life. It was starting to become unhealthy so. Anyway, if you've ever worked with anyone on my team, you know how amazing they are. And I'm so, so grateful to have them because they're like this extension of me, but they also bring this fresh perspective to the table. That is just, you know, by virtue of having a different mind, someone who has seen different things, who lives in a different geographical area. They bring so much to the table.

00:05:10

So anyway, through my years of working with parents and working with low milk supply, which is so common to work with as a lactation consultant, it's definitely not every client but I. And say, you know, even if someone doesn't have low milk supply, they're concerned about, are they making enough? Are they going to continue to make enough and all of those things? And it really took me a long time through reading books on individual herbs, from studying lactation, to looking at studies to working and and asking with colleagues attending conferences. I mean, you name it anywhere that I could have found information on anything that could do a lot for lactation. I was all about it. I can't even believe how many books I've bought on, you know, individual plants and things and just downloaded studies, chapters from old books and and anything about botanical medicine. And and vitamins and, you know, minerals, all that kind of stuff, right. So I won't bore you with the details, but I learned a lot and you learn about what's effective and what's not. And you learn from other cultures about what they're doing and what are their traditions and what's typically worked for them. And I will say there's a lot to be said for some of these cultural tradition. Some of them are not so good, but some of them are great and when you know, like these nourishing postpartum diets that let's say, like Australian Aborigines may have, and you learn that there's some common foods and those diets that happen to be very lactogenic, so meaning supportive of lactation and that they. Recommend. And that, you know, a new mother eats and consumes these foods right after birth. Then there's a reason why. Right. So there is some wisdom there that comes into play as well. And ultimately, through this combination of learning and with all of my patients, I have the benefit of knowing their complete medical history. So, you know from childhood until now, their pregnancy history, their birth history, you know their lactation history up until the time we work together. And I know their diets, and I know their lifestyle and I know their personal beliefs. And I know you know so much about them, all of which is really related to breastfeeding and lactation. And so when I make a clinical recommendation to somebody, it's very much rooted in their particular current health circumstances and how they got to where they are. The day. And that informs my decision about what would I recommend to them. And so it's always very interesting for me when people reach out and say, hey, I just need some tips on XY and Z and you know, I would love to just give you a tip, but I've got to know about you. There is somehow this idea that I think a lot of moms have that. There's some sort of one-size-fits-all, like guide or something like there's the perfect breastfeeding position or there's the perfect food or the perfect bottle, or the perfect pump or. There's not because everyone is different and breastfeeding is so dynamic. There are so many nuances to it. Just because you have breasts and just because you make milk does not mean that you need the same things as another mother who's doing the same and your baby is completely different from her baby. So whenever somebody says, hey, you have some tips on, you know, XY and Z.

00:08:26

And I'm like, yes, but I don't have tips for you because I don't know you, and I don't know anything about you and how you got here and all of that. We need all of that information, which. Really doesn't take a long time to collect because we've got intake forms and then we review those. You know, maybe 5 minutes at the beginning of the appointment and so we can really dial it in and then go from there and and see what's working and what's not. So anyways, that's a little bit more about kind of how appointments work. But through that experience and then I would make recommendations to moms and I would say, well, based on everything you're saying, you know, I think you should try this. Herb for milk supply and then because I had them as a patient, I would keep in close contact with them so I would know day by day. Sometimes they'd contact me multiple times a day and give me updates on. Things and I would have them log. You know how much milk are you pumping or you know your babies, diaper output or other signs of your baby getting enough and and weight checks and all of that. And I would find, you know, sometimes one herb did the trick, but usually a combination of herbs did the trick. And the biggest struggle I had is once I found. You know which herbs worked best for which people, and there were ones that. Just at a baseline level, pretty much worked well for most people, unless they had some odd medical issue going on and those herbs would be, you know, more than one herb. So I'd have like 5 herbs that I was telling people to take. And you know how it is for moms, right? Especially new moms. She's got a newborn or she's sleep deprived or. You know, she's balancing all these things, especially with low supply, right? They're probably nurse. And and pumping and doing all these things and it's a lot. And so you know, I would check in with them and be like so you haven't seen an increase like you know tell me are you taking this, are you taking that and then they would realize, oh, I forgot to take the other thing or I never bought the other thing or it's too hard to find or they be taking the wrong dose and I'm like well how much maringa are you taking and they would be like 1000. Milligrams. And I'm like, yeah, that's not what I told you to take, though. And so not only verbally did I give them the instructions, but written. And I get it. Like I can only do so much, right? But the. The time like you're probably not pulling up those notes or you write it quickly or you just took what it said on the bottle. You didn't listen to my instructions, which were different than the dosing on the bottle or something like that. And it's not to blame anybody. I just very quickly realized it is so confusing for moms to have to try to source different herbs. Take a bunch of different pills, take the right amount and all of that. And so a lot of the times why they wouldn't see results is because that difficulty of of follow through, especially for someone who maybe you know lived in a more rural area and was depending on finding ingredients online and getting them shipped very difficult sometimes to find everything they needed and then not to mention that. If you're buying 1 bottle of of something and that's $20, and then another bottle of something that's $30.00, and I'm asking you to buy maybe three or four of these things and and I would really just. Try to minimize it like. What's the least amount of stuff that I have to recommend to this parent to get the most amount of result?

00:11:31

And so that would add up in cost quite a bit and we'd have to balance that with like how do you get ongoing care from lactation consultants, but how do you also incorporate the things that you need to make breastfeeding successful and just buying products typically isn't the fix right? So you've got to know how to use those products appropriately, how often to use them when you can. Stop using them. All of those things. So. Anyway, it was kind of a mess sometimes, you know, but I definitely was able to see from that patient feedback and tracking and follow up what worked and what didn't. And what was doable and what wasn't. I also learned about where do moms shop, where do they buy things? I cannot tell you how many times someone would be in my office or I'd be at their home doing a home visit. Even online doing telehealth and they would just pull up their phone and start ordering on Amazon. Or if their partner was with them, their partner would get on the phone and say, you know, what's the name of this product? And then show me the listing and you know is this the one? Yes, that's the one. Or sometimes it would be like a pickup order at Target or what have you. So I learned a lot about their buying behavior. I also learned a lot about. The products that they were taking before they came to me, so that's a question on the intake form, what supplements or medications are you taking? And so they would say, you know I'm I'm taking XY and Z and you know and of course my first question is well, have you noticed a difference since you've taken that? No, not really. A lot of the time, I would know that you know, the things that people were taking that they were trying. Really weren't effective. Every now and again I'd have someone taking a really good product or they seem to know a lot about herbs and so they would. Have it pretty dialed in and they'd be taking that and I would be like, Yep, that makes sense. Exactly what you need because based on everything I've learned about you, these would be beneficial things for you to take. And I cannot tell you how many times you know, when clients would would take these herbs that I recommended and they would tell me, you know, Oh my gosh, you know, I have all these bottles on my bathroom counter and it's hard to keep it all straight. I had to write it down on a sticky note or. You know, they'd have some sort of system, right? And they would say you should just make your own supplement. Because I've tried everything else on the market and those things do not work and I'd be like, yeah, yeah. You know, maybe one day, right. And I heard it enough times that I started to think, you know, is that a possibility? Like, could I do that? And I definitely had a lot of limiting beliefs along the way, thinking that, you know, well, I'm a lactation consultant. I see patients. That's what I do. I don't make supplements, and so the first idea that sort of occurred to me. Like could I be a person who consulted with a supplement company and I would tell them what to make and it would be like a product that I endorse store or something, you know, because to me it was just important that moms got what they needed and that they were so frustrated having spent, you know, so much money on trying. All these different things and trialing for for you know however many days, and meanwhile if you're trialing something for like 2 weeks, let's say two weeks is a long time to go without increasing your milk supply and you could lose a lot of grounds during that time. You could absolutely see that it's harder to increase your milk supply. You know, with every week that goes by that it's not addressed. And that was really sad for me is that a lot of the marketing out there would promise something that they really couldn't deliver. And I think moms put a lot of false hope in products sometimes. So when I finally came around to the idea of, you know, maybe this is something I could do.

00:14:54

Maybe I could source these ingredients? And I could make a product that works really effectively for months based on you know, what I've learned, my clinical experience all of these years of research that I've done, I don't actually remember the complete beginning of how I started to look into this, but I had a friend who had started a supplement. Line of his own and he said, yeah, you know, it's totally doable. And I was like, well, how you know you you run a completely different company. His company was and is like a credit card processing company for small businesses. So basically his team of people would cold call local business. And offer competitive card processing rates and get you set up as an account and and you know process your customers credit card transactions for you. And so for him to do a supplement company was kind of funny, but he was you know very into personal growth and all of these things and very into health as well. So I think it became sort of a passion project of his to say hey, I really want to make some high quality. Supplements on the market because these are the things that I enjoy taking in my personal life. So we got to talking and kind of floated this idea around to some other people. My new and in business space and just through my network and whatnot, and I kept hearing that, you know, this would actually be something doable. So I went back to this original friend of mine and said, you know, hey, I've kind of been starting to look at manufacturers and whatnot, and I really want the herbs to be organic and high quality is important to me. And, you know, this is a whole other language. That I really don't understand. And he. Told me that he went in toward personally himself 16 different facilities in the US that were manufactured for supplements. After he had narrowed down his initial list and he ended up choosing one. That makes a lot of popular products that you'll know on the market. I can't name names. Unfortunately, but these were well known brands and I was pretty impressed actually. And so he said, let me connect you with my guy over there and sure enough, got connected with the guy, learned a lot about the company, learned about the ingredients that they had available, the forms that they could make things in. So it. Not just capsules. You can do powders. You can do gummies you could do. You know a lot of different tinctures. You know, a lot of different formats for things. And so I signed an NDA with them. So that way they're not disclosing my, you know, confidential stuff as it's in development. And we got started in the process and I have to say I'm still with that manufacturer. Say what I love about them is they're based in the US. They're headquartered in California and they. Of facilities all around the US where they, you know, manufacture their products and things and they really understand the market and they really understand people that prioritize their health, that care very much about clean ingredients, that they really manufacture high quality things. And that's important to them. And so they went ahead and. Went forth with going through with my first order and I have to say it was really scary because that I had never ever spent that kind of money in my business. It was a lot. Like a lot of lots, it was pretty scary because you're not going to see that money come back to you anytime soon. Like it's out. It's out there and you have to wait for your puppy manufactured and then you have to wait for enough of it to sell for you to even, you know, get back what you invested. So it's a lot to carry. And so I had to work with a label designer, and I had to really. Work with the formulator there to get. The dosage of ingredients that I wanted to fit into the capsules to fit into the bottle. To be well below any sort of federal or state of California thresholds for prop. 65 or heavy metals or anything like that. And if you don't know this, this is something interesting that I learned throughout this process is that, you know, anything that's grown in soil will have heavy metals in it. It will have, you know, some sort of contaminants. Right. You know, fungus or what? What? What have you various things every single thing that is grown in soil will. To have that there is just no way around it. That's just the way it is. The cool part is, though, that through the process of the plant uptaking those things and whatnot is that most of these things aren't readily absorbable through your digestive system. So you're not injecting them into your bloodstream, you're putting them through the stomach, and things are breaking down. And we have. Our liver and our kidneys and other organs in our bodies to detox and process these things out. And so the reason why everything needs to be a little be below a certain limit. Is so that we know those are safe levels of exposure and so you know whether or not you're eating a banana or strawberry, whether or not it's organic, whether or not you grow your own food at home and make your own compost, there are still heavy metals and things in the soil that you ideally wouldn't want to eat, but we all eat them every single day. We all consume these things. And So what I made sure of was that. My products limits everything is tested by a third party and it's like a verified third party. It's not my manufacturer doing the testing, they send it off on my behalf and that it's well below any of those limits because when it comes to pregnancy and breastfeeding. You know, we really want to make sure everything is super duper safe. Anything that could possibly be introduced to your breast milk or your baby, it's got to be super duper safe. So it's funny because I I see a lot of claims out there. You know that the Wellness community, so to speak, has put out putting a lot of fear into people and oh, you need to detox and. And detox heavy metals and you should never consume them. And I'm like, yeah, but you would never be eating like, unless you grew hydroponic everything. Thing you could not avoid ingesting heavy metals or mycotoxins or various other things and and pesticides as well so you know, just because something's organic doesn't mean it doesn't have pesticides, by the way. So I learned a lot, dispelled a lot of myths in terms of diet and and health and all of that.

00:21:00

So it was reassuring for me to learn about that in a broader context because again, quality was the most important thing to me. So anyways got the whole, you know, product going, got the label design picked out, the bottles, all of that. I got set up on my own website for selling and then right away I knew I want to sell on Amazon. Because back to what I said a few moments ago, parents, I would recommend something and they would be on Amazon, like ordering it right then and there. And so I'm like, well, obviously that makes sense, right? And so, my friend that had originally connected me with manufacturer, he had done Amazon himself. And so he kind of helped me set it up and go from there. So Long story short, I finally finally launched the product. I guess it was last year at the end of January or beginning of February somewhere in that time frame at first, you know, people bought it and I was actually really excited for how many people were purchasing it. That was really cool. A lot of people that had just known me and followed me for a long time, a lot of former patients or they would tell their friends, which was really cool. And immediately the testimonials came flooding in and the reviews and people were like this is incredible. I'm making so much more milk in just a matter of days and just sharing their results, which was really cool because I didn't explicitly ask for it or nor did I expect that kind of feedback so quickly. So I was just kind of thinking, you know, it needs to get out there in the world. And then. We'll see what happens, and with Amazon, it's not like I can talk to customers either. So all of a sudden, you know, I'd I'd check every morning. I was so excited to see it and people would be leaving, you know, reviews. And I was like, wow, this is so cool because now I'm impacting a group of people that are not my patients. And I'm getting to hear their stories, and I'm getting to see their results. And I was overjoyed, honestly, and I definitely had a bit of an imposter syndrome as well, because even though I felt like I had really dialed in. And the ingredients and the dosage and all of that, I still felt like, oh, my goodness, is this going to work? Are people going to like this? Is it going to do all the things that I say it's going to? And obviously, it's not going to work for everybody. And I'll talk about that in just a moment as well. But to get that kind of feedback so early on, that was so genuine. It was so unsolicited from people who had never worked with me, and then the cool thing about Amazon was I'm reaching people that have no idea that I have an Instagram account or a podcast or any of that.

00:23:33

They're just on their shopping for something, for their milk supply or or lactation, and they find it, and they buy it, and then to impact those people as well. I mean, it's another level. So anyway, I mean, there are people that have some really sad *** stories, like basically they're like, I make one to two oz a day, you know, I was basically just giving up. And then I tried this, and now I'm up to. You know 16 ounces a day and on my way to a full milk. Apply and those kinds of stories are people who, you know, got their menstrual cycle back and they had that menstrual cycle dip and then they took that the supplement, and they've been able to maintain and even through future mental cycles, they never had the dip again. Or people who got a massive supply dip after having COVID, which is so common. And they would take it to get their supply back or just a mom who's like. I've tried everything, I've tried all of these other brands very well known brands. Nothing worked for me. Finally I tried this product as a last resort and it's the only. Thing that worked, which was exactly the kind of results I was seeing with my clients anyway, it's been quite a journey and that product has been so wildly successful and helped so many families and people that just, you know, like swear by it and buy it over and over again. And I just couldn't be happier for them because, you know, that was my intention, right, was to really give people something that wasn't out there yet. None of these other lactation supplements on the market are created by an I, BCLC, not a single one, and it's always funny to me. Like, where did you decide to get these ingredients from? There's a couple brands out there that are created by moms, but moms are not experts in clinical lactation. They are not scientifically trained to read studies to interpret them, to look at data they have had no clinical experience. They've had no sort of testing or proving grounds for their products. They have an idea and they create something and maybe it's helpful to some people, but for the most part, a lot of these things are not. Or, you know, they may just be minimally helpful and that's all somebody needed and that's great. But I wanted to create a product for people who are really struggling to make milk. And really wants to make more, and they're already doing all the right things they're pumping. They're doing this and that. They've got the right plan size. You know, they they're Googling everything. They've worked with an ibclc and just nothing has helped. And this is it. That's really what I design my product for. And I don't have control over who buys it. So that's always interesting. Like when you work with patients, you have some degree of. Of control and say and and the things that they do not like. Like you know, I tell them what to do and I expect them to follow my instructions to a tee. I don't. They're individuals and they have their own agency, but it's a direct clinical recommendation, right? So I can very clearly state, you know, yes, that will help you. No, that will not other things. You know, you can try it and see. So with this product selling on Amazon. Walmart.com and my own website. I don't get to control who buys it and it's funny to me whenever. Well, I shouldn't say funny. It's like disappointing to me because I understand the hope that people have when they purchase it, right? And there are many people out there who. Don't understand what normal lactation looks like, and they have some misconceptions about their own milk supplies and perceived low milk supply is a very real problem and a great example of this would be a baby who's going to daycare and is exclusively breast milk fed. And because they are being. Inappropriately bottle fed and overfed. They are now taking six or seven or maybe even 8 ounces of milk at a time. And this poor mom is pumping her brains out. And she can't keep up with that because that's not normal. No breast milk fed baby should ever be taking that much at once. Really. Max of five Oz. And that's definitely not going to be for every feeding now. It's funny, whenever I post about this on Instagram, you know, somebody gets all up in arms. Well, my baby drinks 7 oz and still isn't full. Yeah, I get that. But that happened. Because your baby has been fed too quickly and overfed for a long period of time, and that's created this situation.

00:27:32

If you suddenly try to give your baby less than six or less than 7 oz, they aren't gonna be happy. They aren't gonna feel satisfied because their stomach is stretched out, so normal amounts of milk are no longer going to make your child feel full. So I could get into that on a whole other episode. So these moms, will they have full supplies? They probably even have over supplies, and then they'll take my supplement and be like. And work for me. I'm like, well, yeah, because you're already making a full supply. I can't make your body make more milk than it has the capacity to make. That's like me like, that would be like saying that we can, like, get your body to make more blood. Like, no. Like, your body is always trying to maintain some sort of level of homeostasis. Right there is a maximum and everybody's maximum is different. But if you already have a full supply. One, you don't need to take a supplement like mine 2. I mean, you could take it for like maintenance if you felt like you were nutrient deficient or you just, you know, wanted to take something you probably don't need. The full dose. But you know the other point there is well, you don't have a low supply. So I wouldn't expect you to see any changes. And so unfortunately, we see that a lot as well. The other thing I'll say that I see, you know, somewhat frequently on the occasional rare negative review that comes through is you know someone will say it did nothing for me, only making you know half an ounce per pump or something and it's like, well, right, but there's so many things involved in milk production that. But I wouldn't pin all of your hopes on a supplement either, so some people have low supply for medical reasons, and maybe a combination of herbs is not appropriate for you. Maybe you have an underlying health condition that will always prevent you from making enough milk. Or, you know, maybe there's something else going on. Maybe your pump sucks. Maybe you're not pumping appropriately. Maybe you don't have the right size flange. Maybe your baby has a tongue tied. I mean, there are so many things. Maybe your diet is awful. Maybe you lost a lot of blood during birth and that's why you're not making enough. So.

00:29:33

There are so many reasons why and if you're not doing your due diligence before you go and buy a product and you're pinning all your hopes on that product, hoping to make a change in your health without knowing whether or not it's really going to help you without knowing whether or not it's appropriate. Unfortunately, you might be disappointed because there's a disclaimer on every supplement. Out there, including mine that. Please consult with your healthcare provider. Now the tricky part is. When it comes to breastfeeding and lactation, is most healthcare providers and pharmacists for sure are really not informed in terms of what could make a difference for you in terms of milk production or lactation? So you're probably reliant on an I, BCLC, many IB CLC's are also not all knowledgeable on herbs and they don't feel comfortable recommending. Specific herbs or dosages? So unfortunately, a lot of moms are really left to figure this out themselves. So that's a problem I'm trying to solve over on my Instagram and with my podcast, but I definitely would say anytime I see those kind of, you know, experiences where people express that, you know, they have not gotten some sort of improvement. Unfortunately, I can't say that this product would ever work for everybody. I would never say that that's completely unethical. And it's just wrong. So I would never promise promise. But what I can say is you're welcome to try it. You're absolutely welcome to try it out and see if it works for you. The other thing that's always funny to me is, like, you know, just kind of as an aside, right, as an example, an analogy, so to speak, you know, let's say I have, like, a raging headache. OK. And I go and take some ibuprofen. I follow the dosing instructions on the bottle. Have you and my headache doesn't go away? What I don't go and do is blame the ibuprofen for being defective or ineffective or what have you. Immediately my response to that is, well, must be something else like that was not what I needed. I need something else. Maybe I need to drink more water. Maybe I need a stronger medication and it's interesting to me. See. The sort of the perspective of certain customers that will say this product is defective because it didn't work for me and they often mark that on their returns, which is interesting to me. It's the nature of doing business, especially e-commerce. But I would never open and consume a product and then return it unless something was. Actually wrong with it like unless I was like the seal is broken, the product is broken. There's mold inside. Like I just would not, because that's why would I do that. I I don't know. It's it's an interesting mentality that people have where they will just return things. In fact, you know, funny enough, I did get a A returned. I've gotten several return products, right. But I used to have them shipped to my home so that I could examine them and see, like, what's going on. Why are people returning these? And one bottle was returned and when I opened it up there a bunch of capsules inside, but they were all different. So it wasn't my product that was inside the bottle and I think this person who returned it thought maybe if I return a bottle that looks mostly full, then I'll get my money back. Newsflash, Amazon will give you your money back no matter what. Like you don't need to con the system and like it's just very. It's like an odd deceptive practice because. Why? But people also think that they need to choose like a really strong reason to get their money back again with Amazon. Or pretty much any retailer these days.

00:32:54

You don't need to do that. You don't need to exaggerate that. There's like a problem with the product, and unbeknownst to you, the consumer, every time you do that, when you make a return on Amazon and you say item is defective thinking that that's gonna help you get your money back or, you know, and and keep in mind what defective really means. Right. Defective is not the same as ineffective. So something can be ineffective for you, but it doesn't mean that product in and of itself is defective. So please choose your words carefully. If you're listening to this episode and you would like to return the supplements that you ordered off of Amazon, please do not choose item is defective. The reason why is because that hurts me as a seller. So that decreases my ranking because Amazon is like, whoa, what's going on? Why do we have someone who's shipping products to our warehouse that we're sending out on their behalf? And these customers are saying it's defective. They're looking at me going where's your quality control? Well, my quality control is impeccable, but unfortunately, your customers are the ones who are mislabeling their experience with the product. And so anyway, just for future reference, if ever you return anything on Amazon, you do not need a big giant. Reason to do it to get your money back. OK, and also just be aware that a company like mine is a small business and probably a lot of the companies you order from our small businesses. I am not some you know Chinese clothing seller who is selling you discount clothing. I am not some giant corporation where that kind of stuff really doesn't impact my business. So just keep that in mind is all I'm going to say. I have learned a lot being on the receiving end of working with e-commerce customers and you know it's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. People who don't have a face to a name. Can be really brutal. Sometimes it's very, very interesting. So anyways, just thought I would share that tidbit with you though, like if you didn't realize that already, it's very easy to return things to Amazon. Unfortunately, consumable things they also accept as returns, which is just kind of a bummer for me because I can't resell that product, right. And so you essentially got free product. And that's fine.

00:35:05

But it does definitely impact my bottom line more than, let's say, a larger company, but thankfully I don't get a ton of returns because for the majority of people that buy it, it works. They love it, and they're super happy with it. So the ones that I do get really not much sweat off my back, but I just thought I would share that little insight for you in case you were wondering, do I have to really choose? Like a big reason to return something even like if you go to. Target. And let's say you're returning something that doesn't fit you, but you think that you won't get your money back unless you say like there's something wrong with the item. Just say it doesn't fit you. You will get your money back. You actually don't need a reason half the time at customer service at Target. They don't even ask you why you're returning it. So when you say that it's defective or something is wrong with it. They can't put that item back out on the store shelves and resell it. They actually have to discard it and target stores, buy supply from suppliers. So it's not like you're hurting the supplier who created it. You're actually hurting the target store and in the long run, that type of consumer behavior is what actually raises prices. Because Target has to account for a certain return rate on things and a certain rate of destroying property that they've bought or that they've manufactured. And so if you're doing that very frequently, whether it's Costco or Nordstrom, I know they're like infamous for their return policies. But again, any retailer, Walmart, what have you, if you like shopping somewhere where you get a good price. One things just keep that in mind whenever you make a. Turn is obviously, if something is truly broken and defective, let that retailer know. But if it's not, just be honest about your reasons for returning it and they will accept your return and you'll get your money back anyway, so just a little consumer tip for you. But if you didn't know what's in the advanced lactation formula, you know I'll just kind of share this quickly. With you. But you're welcome to just check it out on the website or. Look it up on Amazon. It's funny. A lot of people. I wouldn't say a lot, but like a fair amount of people, reach out to me like, is it safe to buy this on Amazon? Yes, it is, because I ship it to Amazon. And so it's fulfilled by Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free 2 day shipping, depending on where you live and what warehouses it's located in. You know, sometimes you can get same day or overnight. Something which is pretty cool, so you know definitely at least you know, by the one that is sold and fulfilled by Amazon. I have not had anyone on there trying to counterfeit my product as of yet, so hopefully that does not happen. But yes, it's totally safe on there to purchase on Amazon or again walmart.com. I actually have an opportunity coming up here at the end of the month where I'm pitching to Walmart stores. So I have a meeting with a buyer. At Walmart about getting my product into their physical stores, I think that would be incredible. So if you're listening to this and you're like, that would be so convenient for me, I would love to get it there, share what that would do for you. Like if you would be so excited to have this product on shelves at Walmart. I would love to hear from you because any anything I can take to that buyer and say hey, this is what consumers want. These moms are buying their groceries there and they would love to be able to pick up a bottle of this while they're there. They would love to not have to wait for shipping, things like that. So if that would be important to you or or you'd find value in that, let me know. Send me a DM on Instagram. You can always send an e-mail to podcast at holisticlactation.com too.

00:38:22

So anyways, got the product. It's got maringa and it's maringa leaf powder, so the part of the plant is really important. Leaves and roots and seeds all have different bio, active and chemical components. So it's powdered moringa leaf. It is milk Thistle seed extract. So milk Thistle and blessed Thistle often get mixed up, but it's milk Thistle. That's the one that's actually more potent for lactate. Bless Thistle is, you know, one of those sort of nice to have things but generally doesn't make a very large difference in lactation. So milk Thistle is the one that does and silymarin is the extract in milk Thistle that is responsible for milk production. So rather than loading up the capsule with this milk Thistle seed that's crushed in powdered. And most of it you don't need. We actually took the extract, so it's more potent and then it's just minimizing the sort of, you know, fill in the capsule, removing all of the fluff and just including that silymarin extract from milk Thistle. So I'm really excited to have that. That's pretty unique and there's a couple of really great studies out there showing that silymarin increases milk production farm more than placebo. So that's really, you know, one of those great great studies maringa by the way, there are so many studies on maringa, it is across the board the most. Effective ingredient for increasing milk supply and I don't know why more people don't know about it in some ways. It's actually fairly easy to get these days, but I would say that's probably only been true in the last maybe five or six years or so. And the next ingredient is shatavari root powder shot of vari is really asparagus root, and that is a great hormone balancer. It increases prolactin levels, which is the hormone responsible for milk. Construction. And then there's alfalfa leaf powder. Alfalfa is like, I mean, it is so nutritious. It is so full of micronutrients and minerals and vitamins that are really essential to not only restoring, you know, whatever you've lost during pregnancy and birth, but so incredibly helpful for lactation. There's so many little micro nutrients that are really important that. Aren't always available in a multivitamin. You may not be getting enough of in your diet, and alfalfa is like this nutrient powerhouse. This incredible superfood that really boosts. All of those things that you need to have more energy, make more milk, sustain milk production, all of that. And then the last one is fennel seed powder and a lot of people get fennel and fennel seed confused, so fennel does have some safety concerns in large quantities. Yes, it's a food, right? But when you concentrate things, you know it can behave differently. So fennel seed powder is different than fennel, so I want to clarify that and funny. Seed is shown to be very effective for increasing milk supply, for decreasing digestive distress. So a lot of times moms will take supplements and find that it makes them very gassy or they have some digestive symptoms that are uncomfortable. So fennel is really there to combat that, and it's also just a great hormone balancer as well. So all of these things. Work very synergistic.

00:41:39

Magically maringa being the most powerful ingredient is they're in the highest quantity, so we wanted to make sure primarily maringa because you do need a fair amount of maringa to see a difference in your milk supply as well. So a lot of the other products that I've seen on the market are underdosed. Some of them don't even reveal the amounts of the herbs that are in there and I'm. Always shocked by that, because why not be transparent with your product, especially for someone who's lactating, like I just think moms are so vigilant about what they put in their bodies during pregnancy and postpartum, especially when they're breastfeeding that for you to not disclose ingredients just seems really disingenuous. It's very weird to me that they wouldn't, and I guess the concern is that they think someone's going to copy their product. I've got news for you. Yeah. Products get copied all of the time, but if your product works and you have enough brand recognition and you have enough value that your company brings to the consumer, why are you worried about that? You really shouldn't be and also being first to market is kind of a, you know you have an advantage so to speak, so. Anyway, I just would never not be transparent about every single thing that's in my product. That's not cool with me. I would never want to operate that way with my own patients, so I definitely don't want to operate that way with my own customers. So anyway, if anybody ever has any questions about it, you know, feel free to reach out. But pretty much everything is answered either on our website. Or on our Amazon listing, I try to be really comprehensive about everything, and then the next one coming out is the lactation flow formula. I'm super excited for that because most moms end up taking, you know, sunflower less thin or sometimes soy less. Then to clear or prevent clogged ducts, and while that can be effective for a lot of people, it causes a huge amount of GI discomfort. I am one of those people that I cannot tolerate less often to the point that I cannot even eat chocolate that has less than in it. So sometimes people actually think they have a soy allergy when in fact it's a lesson. An allergy. And so if you're buying soy free products but you're having something with sunflower less than you still may experience those digestive symptoms. So just an FYI there, but that alone is not enough. We actually have really good studies and the protocol that just came out two weeks ago from the Academy of Breastfeeding. Their updated protocol on mastitis actually confirms this and talks about this, but there are certain probiotic strands that have been shown to be in studies just as effective as antibiotics and treating mastitis. The other cool thing about probiotics is that they can prevent mastitis as well, and so while it's a very expensive. Strain to get. I did make sure to include that in this product as well as well as a couple of other things that are very well study. Need in terms of calming that inflammation of the breast and clearing mastitis. So it's one of those things that if you are prone to clogged ducts or mastitis and you want to take it to kind of have a baseline level of prevention, it's great for that and then you can up your dosage and increase it if you're having an acute issue and you really need something to combat what's going on with clogs or mastitis. So I'll be talking more about that one, but the reason again why I wanted to create that was really the same reason I created the advanced lactation formula, which is I just did not see a great product on the market or I would constantly have to recommend these combinations of things to people. And so you know, having to buy a probiotic and having to buy this ingredient and then. Going to buy this other one, three things. You're already struggling, right? You need an immediate solution. If you've got a clogged duct or mastitis and so. So you know that one will will again be available on the same marketplaces and whatnot. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to pitch that to be in stores as well, but I won't have that opportunity this go round. So really just wanting to make high quality products that are not currently available, they're special blends. They're based on the latest available scientific evidence. They're based on results that I've seen. With hundreds if not thousands of families clinically and you know, I just really wanna say that. Me. I care so much about like truth and people having accurate, honest information and it drives me nuts when I see moms, especially breastfeeding moms, misled, and they're led to believe, you know, this thing will be the magic fix and it isn't. And it's so disheartening. And it often leads to a lot of disruption with breastfeeding, and it's just. Odd. It's just sad. So I think really my goal with anything I do in my business, whether it's appointments, whether it's our membership, the nurture Collective, whether it's these products. Whether it's my Instagram or even this podcast is to really just say, hey, there's actually some good stuff out there that can help you. And here it is. And I've done the leg work for you. I've it's tried, it's tested and it. True. So anyway, if this is something you're interested in, I've got links in the show notes. In fact, you can find a special discount code there in the show notes. If you order up our website, so feel free to use that if that's something you'd like. If you're listening outside of the US, Unfortunately this is not sold outside of the US just yet. It is available on our website.

00:47:02

If you live in Canada as well as the US, I will warn you that Canadian shipping is pretty pricey. But if it's important to you to have a quality product, you can get it in Canada. If you order on holistic lactation. Com. So a lot of people complain about the shipping prices and like I get it. Look, I complain too, but I can't go into debt just to send you a product and the shipping rates that we have are through our logistics company that has a massively discounted shipping rates. Canada has just made it really, really difficult for people to even get breast pumps. And you know, anything really? Lactation and breastfeeding related, unfortunately. And so I really feel for you when you live in a a geographic area like that. And the only way that I could make it better would be is if I somehow had a distribution facility in in other. Countries that I wanted to sell in, but that is quite a massive expense and really not something I'm in a position to be able to do, so apologies for anyone who is not able to get it just because of where you live. But if you're in the US, it's definitely available. So thank you so much for listening. Stay tuned. We've got some incredible episodes coming up. Next week I will be reviewing Dr. Rebecca Diamond. She is a pediatrician. She's from parent. Like a pediatrician. She has a forthcoming book. She's very active over on Instagram. So we'll be releasing her interview very shortly in the next month. And some other great interviews as well. I've got doctor Martin Rosen coming on. He's an exciting guest and we'll be diving into a bit more about tongue ties. One of my favorite topics as well, so make sure you're subscribed and if you love the show, please, please consider leaving us a review. It helps other listeners like you find and listen to these episodes. And get more help and support on their breastfeeding journeys. Did you know? Most moms stopped breastfeeding in the first month postpartum. I believe succeeding at breastfeeding means having the right mindset. In fact, studies show that the number one factor that determines breastfeeding success is commitment, which is why I've created my incredible audio download of breastfeeding affirmations where I give you. Actionable mantras so you can breastfeed your baby with confidence and Peace of Mind and best of all, it's free to get access to this audio and PDF. Simply visit holisticlactation.com. Slash mantras and you can get started right now.