Beyond the Wellness Hype with Durana Elmi of Cymbiotika

Skin Anarchy

Durana Elmi, co-founder of Cymbiotika, joins Skin Anarchy to discuss building a transparent, science-backed supplement brand inspired by per

Key takeaways

Supplement absorption is more important than dosage—most pills are poorly absorbed due to delivery methods.
Cymbiotika's liposomal pouches offer 300 times greater bioavailability compared to traditional pill forms.

Main topics

Transparency in supplement formulation
Bioavailability and absorption science

Notable quotes

"The inspiration came from losing family members who we couldn't help."

"You should be, your nutrition should come from the foods that you eat. The delivery and the absorption... is so low."

Conclusion

Durana Elmi's journey with Cymbiotika exemplifies how personal loss, scientific rigor, and

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Skin Anarchy. I'm very, very excited about this interview because we're going to be diving into the world of supplements and in the best way possible because the brand that we are hosting today is literally one of my favorite brands in the supplement category. I feel like what they're doing is so beautiful because it's so transparent, it's so science-backed, it's so like you don't have to guess about what you're putting in your body. And so without further ado, please welcome Dorana Elby, who is the co-founder of Symbiotica. Thank you so much, Josh. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for your time. Love your podcast and the platform that you've been able to build for people in terms of education and just community. So it's an honor to be here. Speaker 1 (0:43) Thank you so much. That means a lot coming from you. And I really can't wait to dive into your journey and what you've built and you are building with Symbiotica. I literally, I do not say this lightly, like it's literally one of my favorite supplement brands. And when you agreed to come on my show, I was so hyped about it because I was like, yes, like we get to dive in and we get to learn about this world because there's just so much noise, as you know, in the supplement category. And, you know, so with all that said, I would love to start with your journey and learning more about you. you and like what really got you into like wellness and wanting to build a brand like Symbiotica? Speaker 1 (1:18) So I would say prior to 2018, my husband and I, we've lost a lot of family members to cancer, to health, to being very reactive to their health issues. Once obviously it arises to surface. And we were on our journey of our fourth business together. And we just had this really beautiful, we were really beautiful synergy between us where we know how to come and build businesses together. We're very yin and yang. what we bring to the table. And when we, I lost my father and he lost his grandfather, both in which we were very, very close to. And what we discovered was, although we had means and resources, we were helpless in terms of helping out the people that we loved. And when we turn to really understand what is it that's causing so much health issues today? Well, one, it's that our foods lack. nutrition. Our soil is dead. Speaker 1 (2:20) Secondly, when we were taking a look at just the supplement industry in terms of, you know, most of the time, like I would say in the past, people would take supplements to be very, like I said, reactive to whatever health issues they had. Well, we wanted to, when we took a look at the supplement industry, number one, there was transparency that was lacking. You had a lot of companies doing proprietary blends where you didn't really know what was in it, how much of it was in it, lack of education. Speaker 1 (2:47) So we were really inspired to create a legacy brand, a legacy in how we would transform how health and wellness would be accessed, but also on just doing something that had never been done, just putting education and transparency of how we make our products, what's in our products, in the forefront, educating our community and our customers. And the inspiration came from losing family members who we couldn't help. We wanted to change the way people were living, which is there was a time when people were reactive, but now we live in an era where people are so savvy and so smart and they're so proactive about their health. You know, I have a daughter who's 11 years old and on her wishlist for her birthday was the Whoop Watch. At 11, I was eating Oreos. Like, you know, I'm like, wow, like how much times have changed? I can't tell you how many boxes of... Speaker 1 (3:40) Oreos and colorful cereal I was eating at her age. But like their generation is so savvy and their generation beyond. She wants to like track her sleep. She wants to like know about her movement. And she's so intentional about how she's living at 11. And it's beautiful. So, you know, we entered a space where there was a lot of confusion. are a lot of supplements. There was a time where I was taking like over 20, 30 supplements a day. And my uncle, he is a doctor in Geneva. And I remember going there when I was pregnant with like all these supplements, all these bottles. And my uncle was like, what is all this? And I'm like, well, in America, like we take all this when you're pregnant. He was like, sweetheart, like you should be, your nutrition should come from the foods that you eat. Speaker 1 (4:34) Like the delivery and the absorption and all this that you're taking is so low. And I was like, what? Like I never thought that way. So for us, the meiotica has just the form factor, the liposomal delivery, the pouches, like all of it, it's made health accessible to everyone. And now because of the form factor, because it has the highest bioavailability and absorption. So our products are 300 times more, gives you more absorption than a pill form. Today, you're seeing that our products are becoming more of a daily ritual because people are feeling the impact. Yeah. No, you know what? That's so fascinating to hear that because obviously, like from a science perspective, it totally makes sense to me because that was my biggest question as a consumer for so long. Also, being in the healthcare industry, it was like, how? Speaker 1 (5:27) this doesn't even get absorbed. Now, you know, a great example of that is vitamin D. Like everybody's on vitamin D and no one's getting better, you know? And it like always boggled my mind where it's like we're prescribing 10,000, 50,000 international units of vitamin D and people are chronically low. in this very essential component. And so it really makes you pause and think about what you just explained, where it's like, yeah, you have to mimic the human body when you think about what we're ingesting. And I'll tell you, honestly, John, when I discovered Symbiotica, for me, it was everything, right, about the bread. It was the way the pouches, like they resonated with me. It was like, I can put this in my bag. I don't have to worry about pills. And I think a lot of... Speaker 1 (6:12) just the culture that's been around the supplement industry has been kind of off-putting for a lot of consumers, you know, for a long time. And I want to dive into that from the business side, because what made you guys go in this direction of like, we got to make it, you know, more like, I don't know, relatable for the consumer to be able to use this every day. So I think it started with ourselves. Like we, we are this, we're this company where we do a lot of self reflection and inflection. Speaker 1 (6:39) And when we started making our products, the truth was, I was like, I can't travel with this big bottle. I'm not throwing this big bottle in my purse. And so it was like, how do we create something that can become daily, that can move with you, that can go with you, that tastes good? And so we went through a lot of different evolution before we finalized this pouch form that we've landed on. But it was a lot of trial and error. But the most important thing for us was like, how do we create something that can create consistency? Because the only way something can last and give you results is by consistency. And all the other stuff, it's not consistent. I'm not consistent with anything else that I have that's not in a path form because I forget it. It's not with me. Speaker 1 (7:30) It's like, I'm just like, I'm a hot mess every single day managing like work and my kids and being a wife. Like, so I need something to like throw in my pocket that can go with me. That's in the car with me. Like that can be everywhere. And alongside me, that's the only way that I can be consistent. So first of all, it's like, can we really do this? Like, can we take our own products every single day? And as we were evolving, we're like. this isn't working out. We've got to figure out. So we would keep coming back to the table and like trial and error, keep revamping, keep perfecting our craft until we landed on this packet. And the packet's so unique because again, like you can share it with people. Before early, early days on, we had it and just the liquid form in a Myron bottle. And it was like, in order for you to want to have someone else. Speaker 1 (8:18) pull out another spoon or you'd squirt it in their mouth. And that was kind of weird. So we just, we've evolved to really listening to our community, understanding how our community, how we move as people. And then how do we create, how do we, again, we may have lucked into it, but it was like, ah, this is more consistent. This feels right. Yeah. No, that, I mean, honestly, it shows how much like trial and error you guys probably went through because it's like literally. Speaker 1 (8:46) it's perfect. Like it hits home. And for anybody even trying the brand, I remember when I first tried it, I was like, oh, this is great. I was like, I can put this in my scrub pocket. I got it everywhere I go. And it's like, and you can mix and match supplements too. And that's what I think is so phenomenal about when brands really hit that sweet spot with like your delivery of what you're creating is that it becomes that staple in someone's life, you know? And it's like, I would love for you to speak on that as like a founder and somebody who's had Speaker 1 (9:16) to build this from the ground up is this idea of like, what does it really take or what did it take for you really when like in terms of building something like that, you know, not just building a brand or building a staple for people that they can come back. Yeah. You know, first I'll say long mornings and late nights, a lot of sacrifices away from my kids and the things sometimes that I love to do. But what I would tell you is. A lot of trial and error. Community became very important for us as we started building, listening to our customers, listening to what were their needs. How do we solve for what they keep bringing to the table in terms of being problems or addressing our delivery form? One of the things that we did that was really unique this year, I'm sorry, it was last year, is we created a wellness cafe. Speaker 1 (10:09) And it really taught our customers and our community that you can integrate our supplements into the foods you eat. So we are constantly evolving in terms of innovation and trying to teach our community that there really is no reason why we all can't be healthy today. So, for example, if you go to the Simatica Cafe in the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas, you can order a smoothie, you can order an acai, you can order... wraps, you can order salads. And like when you get into like the wraps and the salads, you can order, which is one of my favorites, like a spicy chicken salad that has vitamin C integrated into the sauce. So you're getting all of your vitamins while you're taking in your sandwich. It's pretty brilliant. So like for us, we're constantly figuring out like, how do we, how do we show up where people are? How do we really kind of Speaker 1 (11:03) create consistency? How do we take the excuses out of you not being able to take your supplements? And so now we're integrating it. We've partnered with great, great retailers like Pura Vida, Joe and the Juice. We did a collab with Coconut Cult. So we're showing you the integration now of like your daily life, what you're eating, your daily habits, and then supplementation. Yeah, no, I really, really love the approach that you're taking because for a long time, and I'm being very honest, I think a lot of listeners can relate to this, like supplements felt like big pharma for a long time for a lot of us, you know, and like it felt like it was just another big pharma type. Speaker 1 (11:48) pushing something that no one needed and that would never work. You know what I mean? Almost like every time you bought that bottle of pills, you were being duped somehow. And so I love what you just explained where it's like you're showing people this is how you incorporate this. It's not just like we're selling you something. It's like we're showing you a lifestyle change, a way to integrate. And I would love your thoughts on this because I know the wellness movement is heavy right now. I think it's booming more than ever, which for me, Speaker 1 (12:17) it's like a double-edged sword personally because as you know for my science side I'm like not everyone's doing the same thing but on the other side I'm like I love people taking more control of their health I love that they want to get involved what do you think like what did it take for you guys to like not compromise right like on the on the wellness side like on the on the real heavy hitting stuff where it's like everything is transparent we know as consumers what we're getting with symbiotica there's no like you know what I mean like Speaker 1 (12:44) gray boxes for us to try to figure out. Cause I know you guys are a very transparent brand. So. Yeah. So for us, I would say first is it's so hard because every single day, I feel like there's a new competitor or new, someone new in the wellness space. The most important thing for us is like keeping our head down and staying true to why we're in this business. And then also staying true to just. our efficacy, which is everything for us. We never follow trends. And I think it's so easy to look up and go, oh my God, we should create that and we should create this. But the truth is, for us, what has worked and what we know to be true is our liposomal delivery. We believe in that form factor. That's what you know symbiotica for. And so we first say, we're going to stay true to our delivery form. And then secondly, Speaker 1 (13:38) We're not going to just create products that are trends, but we're going to really try to solve for real issues. And we're always asking ourselves, what are we trying to solve for? And so for us, we just don't take shortcuts in the efficacy and how we source our raw ingredients and the why behind what we do every single day. And the form factor, no matter how many people pop up, we just continue to stay true to our ethos because it's. Speaker 1 (14:06) It's what we know we're great at. Yeah.