Black Historical past Month is a devoted time to recollect, replicate and honor African-American historical past and achievements. At BigCommerce, we’re honored to have fun Black entrepreneurship and dive deeper into a few of our clients’ tales year-round, however particularly this month.
With this yr’s Black Historical past Month theme of Black Well being and Wellness, BigCommerce Senior Model Supervisor Leah Spector sat down with Marc Washington, founder and CEO of Muniq, to debate the distinctive challenges and victories of being an African-American entrepreneur.
Have a look look into their dialog and the impactful story behind the Muniq model:
BigCommerce Q&A with Muniq Founder and CEO Marc Washington
Marc Washington is the founder and CEO of Muniq, an organization that produces a proprietary mix of meticulously sourced prebiotic fibers which have been validated by a whole lot of medical research to enhance blood sugar, weight reduction, intestine well being, ldl cholesterol and extra.
Washington is a first-time entrepreneur, however has made his profession as an govt within the house of well being, wellness and all issues better-for-you. Washington was President and Chief Working Officer of Seashore Physique earlier than he threw his hat within the ring and began Muniq in 2020. He says well being empowerment is his private ardour and a profession path he’s been lucky to chart.
Leah Spector: What impressed you to launch this enterprise? Did you’ve got a sure mission or imaginative and prescient?
Marc Washington: “The way in which I describe it’s actually a head-meets-heart second. I’ve all the time been within the house of serving to folks reside more healthy, however I knew there was a greater means. Regardless of all of the developments in expertise and the meals and well being care methods, the basic problems with human well being and underlying situations are getting worse yearly. I knew there needed to be a greater means, a extra evidence-based, science-based means to assist folks remodel their well being, particularly those that want it probably the most.
“However that is additionally a private story tying again to my sister Monica. Monica was an unbelievably colourful character, energetic, vivacious, hilarious. Sadly, she struggled along with her well being, identical to so many others. She struggled along with her weight, and he or she lived with diabetes, hypertension and various continual situations. She tried numerous various things through the years to get higher management of her well being, however nothing ever caught. She tragically handed away six years in the past throughout problems from a high-risk being pregnant, ensnared in all of the completely different well being situations that she was coping with.
“It struck me to my core, and it’s a kind of issues that simply by no means went away. It actually lit a hearth in me to do one thing. I believed, if not me, then whom? And if not now, then when can we really do one thing to assist folks?
“We would have liked extra options about empowerment and hope — the type of options I want Monica had. She’s actually an inspiration for me deciding to start out this enterprise, and he or she’s the inspiration for our model. The model identify Muniq is definitely Monica plus distinctive. Her legacy is all about serving to others chart a path in direction of hope, empowerment and higher well being.”
LS: That’s actually lovely. You and your sister’s tales, and the influence you’re having, are so highly effective.
What targets and aspirations do you’ve got for Muniq in 2022 and past?
MW: “One thing I’m very enthusiastic about is that meals is medication, however it’s tough on this society to really make wholesome choices. Our entire mission is to supply true meals as medication and reintroduce it in a sustainable, accessible, even pleasurable means.
“This yr, it’s all about increasing on this mission. We’ve seen unbelievable success reaching various people and impacting their lives in huge methods. This yr is about scaling so we are able to make a big influence on numerous folks, transferring us nearer in direction of our mission of constructing a basically optimistic influence on public well being.
“The aspiration is to essentially create a motion of parents who resolve to offer this a attempt, after which hopefully share with others and assist construct this motion of individuals which can be feeling empowered and supported, with Muniq as a useful companion.”
LS: Large, noble, price pursuing. I’m listening to lots about training and engagement. How are you activating this sort of advertising and buyer outreach?
MW: “It’s by no means simply been in regards to the merchandise for us — it’s about an expertise. That’s a giant a part of our enterprise mannequin and why we determined to go direct-to-consumer — not simply to promote but additionally to attach with folks.
“Once we launched Muniq we concurrently launched our neighborhood, the Muniq Lifers. When somebody decides to offer Muniq a attempt, we invite them into our non-public on-line neighborhood the place they see they’re not by themselves on this journey. There’s a variety of peer help in our Muniq Lifers neighborhood, and I’m personally there day by day, cheering folks on, offering help, offering training and content material. Engagement, neighborhood and content material — these are all crucial features of the general Muniq Life expertise, as we prefer to name it.”
LS: Switching gears just a little bit. We’re celebrating Black Historical past Month, and we’re actually grateful to listen to from profitable enterprise house owners such as you. What does Black Historical past Month imply to you, particularly as a Black entrepreneur?
MW: “It takes on particular that means for me as a Black founder making an attempt to advance the nice of the neighborhood. This yr’s Black Historical past Month theme is close to and expensive to my coronary heart: Black well being and wellness. That theme is woven into who I’m as an individual, and it’s who we’re as a model.
“One of many advantages of beginning your individual enterprise, and one which brings me a variety of pleasure as an entrepreneur, is constructing a model that has that means, that has soul, and that aligns with your individual private values.
“Our aspiration is to play a task in closing among the vital well being disparity gaps that exist predominantly for Black and brown communities. While you have a look at nearly each continual underlying well being situation, sadly they virtually all considerably disproportionately influence Black and brown communities: diabetes, weight problems, hypertension, and so forth.
“There are a bunch of various the explanation why that’s. As a substitute of simply speaking about it, let’s do one thing about it. I actually consider that if we’re profitable in our mission, we are able to have a optimistic influence on growing well being fairness and shut a few of these well being disparity gaps, particularly for the Black neighborhood.
“Black Historical past Month is a particular time of yr for me to acknowledge every thing that has come earlier than us, all of the trailblazing inside the African American neighborhood, and everybody right this moment that continues to uplift and construct the Black neighborhood. I’m impressed to do our half particularly round this matter of well being fairness. The time is now to start out turning the nook and shutting a few of these well being disparity gaps, and I hope Muniqthe media can play a task in that course of.”
LS: Properly, I do know Muniq is making a distinction, and that was fantastically stated. Thanks for sharing.
Has the Black Lives Matter motion impacted your online business in any respect?
MW: “It has solely precipitated me to double down on our dedication, and it has given us an even bigger platform in some methods. This was already woven into the essence of our enterprise and our model, however the renaissance of the Black Lives Matter motion over the past couple of years has supplied extra of a platform for a Black-owned model like ours to have a megaphone to shine a lightweight on the completely different features of inequality. It begins from the standpoint of police brutality and civil rights, and I do consider that well being care and well being fairness is likely one of the greatest civil rights problems with our occasions. Black Lives Matter has helped elevate a few of these conversations to be a bit extra entrance web page than they’ve been all through historical past.
“These well being points aren’t new, and Covid has undoubtedly accelerated a few of them. You possibly can think about somebody like me launching a model new startup enterprise, like, right here we’re all within the workplace, making an attempt to get this factor off the bottom, and all of the sudden we’ve received Covid, we’ve received Black Lives Matter, and other people have been asking me, ought to we pause? Once I stepped again and thought of it, I spotted there had by no means been a larger want for what we’re doing than proper right here, proper now. Black Lives Matter has solely bolstered our motivation.”
LS: Do you’ve got any recommendation for different Black entrepreneurs seeking to begin or develop their companies?
MW: “The very first thing I counsel to any entrepreneur — the chance concerned in beginning a enterprise is just not for the faint of coronary heart. Take a deep breath and ensure this can be a pool you wish to dive into. If in case you have an thought or an idea, be considerate that you’re fixing an actual downside that impacts various folks. It’s a must to create some good or do one thing completely different than every thing else.
“For Black entrepreneurs, be ready to be in an setting the place you may really feel like the one one. Black professionals are usually underrepresented all through company America, and we’re much more of a minority in relation to entrepreneurship. The founders and traders who’re on this recreation of entrepreneurship usually don’t appear to be us, and as a Black founder, it’s important to be ready for that. You’re most likely not going to appear to be 99 % of the opposite founders that they’ve determined to write down checks to.
“It may be a problem, particularly in an early stage like enterprise capital, the place a variety of it is dependent upon traders who’re used to issues that look a sure means and investing in a sure sort of founder. You’re going to have to interrupt that mould. For Black entrepreneurs, you have to anticipate that upfront so it’s not a shock to enter that setting and never see individuals who appear to be you and never have traders which have invested in different Black entrepreneurs.”
To be taught extra in regards to the Muniq group, click on right here. Muniq additionally options testimonials recurrently on their weblog, social and neighborhood channels.
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LS: What are among the challenges you’ve got confronted or, alternatively, among the greatest wins?
MW: “I’ll begin on the win facet — I are typically an optimist and may’t assist myself in that regard. I get probably the most inspiration once we’re empowering actual well being transformations, even on a tiny scale, like with even one particular person. Many people have felt powerless on this curler coaster of fad diets and drugs, and seeing them have interaction with our product, with our neighborhood, utilizing it recurrently, it’s like a lightweight goes off. I name it shine. Once we assist a person unlock this very private second of well being empowerment, that shine is one of the best feeling on the planet. I’m lucky that on this enterprise, we see that actually every day. We now have direct, shut relationships with our customers whose well being transformations we get to see firsthand.
“Even on a tricky day, I’ll get up figuring out we have now a variety of issues to determine, after which I’ll go into our Fb neighborhood and see a few posts from a Muniq Lifer who has simply reached this private second of shine, and all of the sudden I’m able to assault the day. This simply reinforces our objective of bringing this second of shine to the lots, in order that we are able to obtain a magnitude of influence at scale.
“On the flip facet, it’s a startup, so we have now challenges. Although we have been capable of launch within the midst of all of the Covid craziness, we had actual points really getting our product produced with provide chain and labor shortages. There was a big time frame the place we have been on this development path, proper, I had simply raised a Collection A financing spherical and we have been rising. Then impulsively, we didn’t have any product to promote. We type of needed to cease attracting new clients simply to guard our core clients, as a result of actually we couldn’t produce sufficient product.
“There have additionally been some adjustments with Fb and Instagram, that are major methods we elevate consciousness about Muniq and join with customers, and that has simply basically modified over the previous variety of months. Generally these exterior components can have an effect on your online business a lot, which isn’t enjoyable. However it has been forcing mechanism to be modern and inventive and diversify how we join with customers. You get among the good and among the dangerous — it’s all in a day of being a startup.”
LS: Much like your finest a part of your days whenever you discover the way you’re making somebody’s life higher, that’s my favourite a part of working at BigCommerce — seeing how we are able to actually assist empower our retailers and their companies. Thanks a lot for trusting us with your online business, and thanks for sharing your story.
Comply with Muniq on Fb, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
