Bare Blends
We chat with our good friend Chris Hale, Marketing Director of Bare Blends, about all things business, blends and silliness at work.
How did the brand start?
I love this question! It’s a classic example of how sometimes the best ideas are born without business in mind at all.
After going through high school and playing sports that required a lot of training and recovery, Ryan was well versed in the negative side effects of commercial protein powders (cue: imagine the smell of a changing room of a boys high school...).
Having being brought up in a family where cooking was more of an art than simply the act of stopping hunger (I once found myself at their lunch on Christmas Day where he and his brothers had each prepared a course to compete with one another - it was like a finale of Iron Chef), Ryan had always been baffled as to why these supplements used low-quality whey protein and synthetic flavours. And rightly so - why did we punish ourselves after a workout instead of providing our bodies with the best?
Ryan then decided he would take it upon himself to create his own personal protein powder - blending high-quality whey protein from New Zealand, organic raw cacao from Peru (before it was well known enough to pronounce correctly), vanilla beans and stevia. The result was exactly as he predicted - delicious, easy on the stomach, and more effective than anything he’d had.
It wasn’t long before he decided to share his creation with his closest friends, which included Oscar. Oscar was brought up in a similar foodie household, but with the secret ingredient of a then-considered wacky mum who was serving up spirulina shots and all sorts of healthy and alternate concoctions. Naturally, he was equally as impressed with Ryan’s creation and what it meant for his own health (and digestion).
It was in one of those moments in the kitchen mixing up a batch for friends where the first idea was vocalised - “This is too good to just keep to ourselves”.
What’s your favourite Bare Blends product?
That is a tough question - a bit of a cliche but it really is like choosing a favourite child! Considering shakes and smoothies were the initial foundation of Bare Blends and what hooked me in as one of the first customers, I’m going to have to say the Vanilla Bean WPI. Absolutely delicious in simple smoothies thanks to the delectable yet subtle vanilla beans, it can still be used as a base for any flavour combination. A close second is Bare Greens - there is something so satisfying about smashing out all those nutrients first thing in the morning.
Best thing about working in a wellness business?
The lifestyle and access to the products for sure! We live and breathe the products that we sell, and the proof isn’t in the pudding but the sick leave days taken - I’d say collectively over the last decade we’ve probably accrued at most one year’s worth. The company is super relaxed about taking time out of the working day to exercise which has naturally been ingrained in the culture since day one.
Best thing about working with your mates?
Haha there are certainly pros and cons on this topic, but on a whole, we’ve been really lucky with the dynamics and spread of skills between all of us, including our fourth team member Emily. I think the best thing is that while we might have a defined structure, I wouldn’t say there is an overlord ‘boss’ feeling (Oscar forced me to say this - you can’t silence us forever Sir). We’re all accountable for each of our areas of responsibility and strive to not let each other down. I think in the past we took things to heart if we were approached by our mates about not performing to our best abilities, but now the culture has evolved enough to accept feedback and improve.
Favourite influencer / brand ambassador you’ve been lucky enough to work with?
Hmm, good question. Well to be honest we haven’t been very heavy on influencers/ambassadors other than the earlier years of the company, back when Instagram was a wonderland of organic traffic without any algorithms forcing your hand into advertising. The beauty of our products is that we’ve managed to create a family of influencers that work on a contra basis due to the fact of simply believing in our ethos and wanting access to our nutritious blends for their own health goals. With this in mind, Mimi Elashiry would have to be my favourite influencer/friend to work with. She did a lot for us in the early years (I think since 2014) and all she asked for was a personal supply of blends (especially Bare Greens - she’s crazy for it and IMO it is probably a huge contributor to her success). We have worked with her on some paid campaigns too because why search for someone to promote a product who might not even like it? That’s not the Bare Blends way.
A more recent friend of BB has been Laura Dundovic who connected with us after selflessly promoting our Raw Cacao WPI from her own purchases. Again, we’re now keeping her stocked up for her own health goals and she continues to promote us relentlessly. I look forward to doing a proper campaign with Laura in the near future once the opportunity arises.
Silliest thing you’ve done while working?
Well, I’m not sure if this fits your idea of silly, but the first thing that comes to mind is something I did five or so years ago and that I’m still bullied about. It wasn’t long after Oscar entrusted me with the full email marketing responsibilities that I slipped out an EDM to 30k people with the subject line ‘Top Posts Of Juiy’. Some might say the responsibility of this typo should have been shared across the proofers as well, but to this day a simple spoken ‘Juiy’ can be an effective way to smack me off my grammatical high horse.
Advice for aspiring marketing managers out there?
Work for a company you believe in - I can’t stress that enough. I had no idea what field I wanted to enter into, but as a youngster and upon finishing my studies I felt like the aim was working for an exciting alcohol or energy drink brand (ironic, right?). I was lucky that I found my calling by being one of Ryan and Oscar’s first customers, so my advice would be to follow leads based on your core values, beliefs and interests so that you find a path that makes it all worthwhile. Being truly aligned with a company does wonders for creativity, growth and mental health.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Experiment with every strategy and don’t rule anything out until it’s been tried, tested and evaluated.
Speak your crazy ideas no matter how outlandish they may seem. If an idea doesn’t sound crazy then it’s probably not original nor groundbreaking. I’m not saying initiatives have to be original to be worth actioning - these need to be done too but don’t shy away from sharing crazy ideas.
Grammarly. Download it, use it, live and breathe it. Typos can and will haunt you.
