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An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I think that it’s much harder to have a professional career when you’re also a mother. Finding the balance between family and work was particularly challenging because if you don’t support your colleagues at work, then your business won’t grow. At the same time, taking care and watching my children grow is immensely important to me.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Asli Samanci.

Dr. Asli Samanci is the CEO & Founder of BEE & YOU, an innovative provider of natural BEE products. Dr. Asli is a renowned, award-winning food scientist committed to creating natural and healthy products for the educated consumer, and a pioneering advocate for combining science and nature to create safe, effective natural bee products. She has created a business model that contracts beekeepers to prevent bees from becoming extinct, that has allowed her to create Propolis in its healthiest, most natural and safe form, thanks to her innovative, patented extraction process.

As a food scientist, bee enthusiast, and entrepreneur, Dr. Asli’s mission is to make Propolis available to the world and to introduce the world, the natural healing powers of Anatolian Propolis, the highest grade of Propolis that can be harvested by bees because of the 12,500 plants of Anatolia, 3500 of which are endemic.

With Dr. Asli’s mission in mind, she founded BEE & YOU, a now leading, innovative provider of natural bee products, (Propolis, Royal Jelly, Pollen, Pure Raw Honey) that are antiviral, antibacterial, natural immune boosters. BEE & YOU’s powerful, science-backed products are effective in naturally fighting allergy symptoms and support the immune system. All products are 100% natural, gluten free, non-GMO, pesticide free; and free from additives, colorants or preservatives. BEE & YOU products are safe for both children and adults and have creative taste options for kids and adults. In addition to BEE & YOU’s direct website, its products are sold at 3,000 CVS stores nationally, Trader Joe’s, and via Amazon.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My background is in food science, and I have worked with companies in the bee industry for over 15 years. But it wasn’t until I had my first child that I became more involved in exploring natural products’ healing qualities.

My son, who was 5 at the time, was experiencing serious health problems. He was having a recurrent infection problem that was highly resistant to antibiotics. He was prescribed antibiotics to cure his condition, but then he started having adverse reactions to them. An autoimmune disease occurred called Henoch-Schöenlein Vasculitis, described as an acute immunoglobulin A (IgA)–mediated disorder characterized by a generalized vasculitis involving the small vessels of the skin, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the kidneys, the joints, and, rarely, the lungs and the central nervous system (CNS). The doctors were clueless, and his condition was becoming critical. While struggling to find a solution, I reached a medical doctor who was an expert on autoimmune diseases; he recommended trying bee propolis as an alternative treatment. So, I decided to give it a try and supplied raw propolis through one of the beekeepers I knew. But it is not edible in its raw form and has to be extracted before consumption. So I first extracted raw propolis in my lab for my son and started giving him this superfood in drop form. Miraculously, it cured my son’s condition within 6 months by increasing the number of immune cells in his body and he eventually came to a full recovery. This was when I decided to bring this natural superfood to others who need it; the rest is history… This experience motivated me to challenge myself to produce propolis as a natural immune enhancer for all the children and mothers with similar conditions.

Later, I founded my company with the help of my husband, Mr. Taylan Samanci, an agricultural engineer, and my academic advisor, Prof. Dr. Dilek Boyacioglu. We decided to produce propolis and that’s how my entrepreneurship story started. But, since raw propolis is not suitable for human consumption, we developed an extraction method to make propolis suitable for human consumption while at the same time creating innovative, healthy products. Propolis extracted according to our method has at least three times higher biological activity than that of similar products.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

First of all, I pay utmost attention to the purity and sourcing of our products. Every batch is rigorously tested for impurities, and only those with the highest quality pass these tests.

Secondly, our beekeepers are all located in one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Thus, the harvest from this region is exceptional in terms of nutrition and health benefits.

Thirdly, I work with our beekeepers through a unique business model called “Contracted Beekeeping”. Every beekeeper willing to partner with us has to agree to follow strict standards such as never using sugar or derivatives as a feeding method and placing their hives at a specific distance from industrial sites. In return, we promise to purchase their entire harvest at a fair rate.

By enforcing these rules, we ensure that our honeybees are healthy, treated without cruelty, and away from harmful toxins and chemicals. It also gives us full traceability and transparency over our raw materials and products, so we know where they came from, who harvested them, and in what conditions they were produced. Besides we give back to our community of beekeepers additional financial support from every Bee&You product sold on the market as a premium in the form of new hives and beekeeping equipment. We aiming to support them to improve their business so that they can look after more bees. As we all know, bees are crucial to keep the world green and for sustainable agricultural production, by pollinating 80% of all the plants in the world.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I am an expert on bee products and beekeeping and understanding bees is a different expertise. I realized that when we were visiting our beekeepers on the site for the first time, I saw a bee about to die in the entrance of a bee hive and I really felt very sorry, thinking that bees are getting extinct and I asked my husband Taylan, the reason of this. He said that this is normal. I was so surprised to hear that and was really in a funny situation when I learnt that, female bees sting male bees and throw them away from the hive so that they don’t finish the food in the hive. And was in real shock when I learnt that the only role of male bees are to fertilize the queen bee in the hive. And after they complete their task, they are thrown away from the hive. Once again in my life, I realized that not it may not be what it seems and I have a lot more to learn about nature. This was the time when I decided to start my doctoral studies in biology.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

At the beginning of this journey, I was somewhat discouraged. Many people said that trade is a different and challenging game and that I may not have the qualifications to succeed. Others criticized my decision to live a risky entrepreneurial life and move away from the security of a fixed salary.

But I continued to advance my career following my dream. Inevitably, being an entrepreneur creates some financial and moral dilemmas, but they never scared me, and I never gave up even when I faced multiple challenges. I believe that knowledge and hard work are essential when growing your business. I overcame most of the problems with the help of my network and by utilizing my expertise in the beekeeping field.

I’ve convinced my husband and my academic advisor to start a company and be my business partners. Our success is based on teamwork. We have already worked on many projects creating bee products; it was very important to me to have them on this journey.

My biggest mentor was my father, who taught me that I should never give up on my life goals and always work hard. He was a surgeon and I never forgot his word “There is no healing with drugs, they only hide the symptoms. Healing is in your brain and heart.”.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

We began our journey as a start-up company in the technology development area of Istanbul Technical University. We appreciated many of the privileges provided to start-ups, such as business training, allocation of space, and eligibility for project funds from the state resources for a specific period. However, the biggest challenge came with producing propolis. At the time, beekeepers did not harvest propolis from their hives as there was no market for this local product in the country. Therefore, we had to develop a business model to attract their attention to produce this valuable product for us. It was the first time that anyone in our region offered contract-based agreements to the beekeepers with a purchasing warranty of their products at a fixed annual price. Because of this unusual request, it was very challenging to convince beekeepers that this model would work. In the beginning, we organized many seminars and briefings for beekeepers in various locations; eventually, we started working with ten beekeepers who would provide us with good quality propolis. Our business model allows the production agreements to be signed directly by the beekeepers without middlemen or distributors. Today, we are so proud that we have contracts with more than 5,000 beekeepers overseeing 500,00 beehives in Anatolia, Turkey, who are very happy doing business with our company. I believe this is an excellent example of the positive influence of disruptive business, like our company’s BEE & YOU.

However, it’s important to note that customers were only aware of certain bee products such as honey and pollen. Thus, it was a great challenge to introduce propolis, royal jelly and bee bread to people because many of them hadn’t heard of it before. To address this challenge, we focused on using digital communication channels, gave presentations at many national and international conferences, and created interview opportunities on many TV channels. We aimed to provide scientific information about the health benefits of propolis and other valuable bee products. Another significant challenge was to introduce raw honey without the application of any fine-filtering and heat treatment. Because all major honey packaging companies preferred to apply a pasteurization process to honey to stop its natural crystallization, but also harming its natural enzymes and vitamins. We needed to tell customers why raw honey is superior to those products. For example, we explained that pasteurized honey loses its pollens and nutritional compounds and therefore, that decreases its health benefits. Yet at the beginning of our journey, raw honey remained a new concept in the beekeeping sector in our region. So, mass production of heated and filtered honey could be an example of negative disruptive industry.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

The best piece of advice I have ever received was from my father, who taught me that I should never give up on my life goals and always work hard.

Another vital piece of advice that I’ve received was that despite having the technical knowledge to set up my own company, I was told by my mentor and partner, Prof Dilek, to acquire knowledge in management, sales & marketing, so I pursued an MBA at the same time I was setting up my company.

Taylan, my husband and partner, advised me to go on my academic career as well and encouraged me a lot. And that is how I started to develop natural skincare creams and serums during my doctoral studies. Now I am also an expert about skincare and developing new innovative products for skin health from natural bee products.

Lastly, I am always very much inspired by the word of Hippocrates, who is referred to as the father of Medical Science “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”. I definitely believe that we are what we eat and there is a natural medicine in natura for every health problem. The only thing we need is awareness and discovery. We have to be curious enough to look deeper in nature.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We are working on a project to improve the economic conditions of women, particularly those living in the rural areas of Anatolia. Our aim is to support female beekeepers using our “Contract-based Beekeeping Business Model” by providing training on beekeeping practices. That is how we expect to develop small beekeeping entrepreneurs and improve the social and economic status of women in Anatolia.

We also focus on R&D studies and continue to develop new, natural and innovative bee products, such as food supplements and cosmetics. We aim to reach more customers in the US and other countries by showing them the health benefits of propolis and other valuable bee products. We strongly believe that we can grow our brand by increasing costumer awareness for 100% natural and environmentally friendly bee products to improve their health. Our goal is to have a positive environmental impact by supporting bees’ pollination process, helping beekeepers through our contract-based business model and providing healthy and nutritious bee products to our customers.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I am so grateful to my family who supported me with my vision & entrepreneurial endeavors. Of course, when you work at a fast pace, the help you receive from your family becomes even more critical. My husband, Taylan, Beekeeping Expert, Agricultural Engineer, is also my business partner. He’s always been my biggest supporter, helping me overcome any discrimination against woman entrepreneurship. Looking back on what I’ve lived in the last seven years, I accept that it was very challenging for me as a mother of two. But I am so happy to give the miracle of Anatolian propolis to people and help them leave healthier.

I think that it’s much harder to have a professional career when you’re also a mother. Finding the balance between family and work was particularly challenging because if you don’t support your colleagues at work, then your business won’t grow. At the same time, taking care and watching my children grow is immensely important to me.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

One the best books that I love and inspired from is “The End of Illness” from David B. Agus. After the serious health problem of my son and saving him with propolis, I focused my studies on health effects of bee products and other natural remedies. This booked changed my opinion about illness and how to overcome health problems.

Another inspiring book that I love is from Suzanne Doyle-Morris “Beyond The Boys’ Club: Achieving Career Success As A Woman Working In A Male-Dominated Field”. As a woman entrepreneur I am very much inspired by the stories of other woman entrepreneurs. Like most other fields, our sector is also dominated by males. During my journey I learn’t their way of thinking and how to compete and overcome unfair competition.

“Buyology” from Martin Lindstrom is also another very inspiring book for all entrepreneurs, that will change their way of thinking on how to sell their products and services to their target audience.

I am always very impressed by the talk of Steve Jobs at Stanford University “How to Live Before You Die”. I think everybody has to listen and feel his journey in life. There is a reason for everybody to be on earth. I believe that I am helping to spread the word of bees to the world. How important they are for the future of humanity. I own a life to them and now it is time to payback. There is nothing for no reason. The important is how fast you find and understand your own reason. Then you definitely go after it.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The most important movement I wish to inspire is to help the number of bees increase in the world. This will also contribute to sustainable agricultural production and more natural food for everyone. Besides the world will go more green and more clean. Increasing quantity of bee products will also enhance the health of many people struggling with severe diseases. Bees play a critical role in pollination as they provide about 80% of the pollination of all the plants. It’s simple; if bees will extinct, the humanity will be extinct as well. So helping the bees means, helping our planet.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is “Don’t give up your dreams”. At the beginning of my journey, even small obstacles seemed like big problems. Later, I realized that they were common challenges in the journey of entrepreneurship. Of course, at times I became tired and even exhausted from dealing with those problems. I would have been more comfortable and confident if I knew how to handle everything from the beginning. However, I learned to find ways to deal with my weaknesses and improve my abilities. I believe that knowledge is power. Never start a business without gaining all the necessary information first. Your knowledge is what will make you rise to the top.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can follow me on social media @propolisexpert and @beeandyounatural. Also, I want to thank you for your interest and support for women entrepreneurship, Anatolian propolis, and beekeeping. You can find our products at www.beeandyou.com.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Female Disruptors: Asli Samanci of BEE & YOU On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.