Women In Wellness: Carly Stein of Beekeeper’s Naturals on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Resilience is the key to everything. Entrepreneurship is full of ups and downs. The more you flex that muscle of resilience, the more you build a tolerance to hard things. Eventually, the goal is to stay grounded in the face of the discomforts that inevitably come your way.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Meet Carly Stein.
Meet Carly Stein, the founder of Beekeeper’s Naturals, a company that provides wellness remedies that are clean, effective, powered by the beehive, and backed by science.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I grew up in Toronto and spent a lot of my childhood under the weather. I struggled with severe bouts of tonsillitis that kept me home from school, and I was allergic to most antibiotics. My health struggles continued into my college years until one day, while studying abroad, everything changed. In Florence, I came down with a severe case of tonsillitis and wandered into a pharmacy, where I was first introduced to propolis: the medicine of the beehive. After a few days of taking propolis, my tonsillitis cleared up. I became obsessed with the ingredient (and basically everything the bees made.)
When I returned home to the University of Victoria in Canada, my newfound curiosity for propolis, honey, royal jelly, and pollen made me seek an apprenticeship with a local beekeeper. I began formulating my first propolis products in the chemistry lab during my spare time and sharing them with my friends and family. Even as I moved on to pursue a full-time finance career after university, my passion for the bees never really stopped. So, eventually, I quit my job on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs to dedicate myself full-time to Beekeeper’s Naturals.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
When I first had the idea to build the brand, I shared it with some of the smartest people in my life: mentors, my finance colleagues, my family. I was very shy and nervous about it, and people gave me a lot of bad feedback on the idea.
There was one person in particular who I’d really hoped would understand my vision and even join on as an investor. So I put together this pitch deck and went into a meeting with them feeling so ready… and they basically ripped me apart. It was a painful experience at the time, but it was also really transformative. At the end of that meeting, I was left with this question: “Do you still want to do this? This crazy, bad idea?” And I just remember in that moment feeling so much gumption and just thinking: “Oh yeah, I need to do this now.”
It reiterated to me how much of a force of change Beekeeper’s Naturals could be. And it also taught me to look at my company from different angles, see the potential weak points, and account for them in a pitch. After that, I felt more ready to raise my Series A funding than ever before. What I took from that is: When you’re feeling uncomfortable in a situation, get curious. What’s making you uncomfortable? What are you not seeing? What can you take away from it?
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
At the start of Beekeeper’s Naturals, I was casting a wide net trying to get us into stores and making products in my spare time. Finally, a chain of stores expressed interest in carrying Beekeeper’s Naturals, and suddenly I realized: There’s no way I will be able to make the amount of product they need with such a short timeline. I basically had no idea how to bring a product to market, so I went down a Reddit rabbit hole and cold-messaged people on Linkedin. I managed to get them their product on time (well, almost) and salvaged the relationship in the end.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Daniel Millar, who currently works at Beekeeper’s Naturals as our Chief Growth Officer. When I started Beekeeper’s Naturals, Daniel was a successful lawyer. Something that was really important to me when it came to making and marketing my products was scientific validation. I did a ton of research, and I really wanted to make sure that all my formulas had something called an NPN Number: a Canadian certification that basically says you’ve legally validated all the health claims you’re making. I begged Daniel to help me for free, and he did. He saw the science behind all the products and fell in love with them. He believed in my vision, and he did me this insane favor. He’s stuck with me ever since.
When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
So much of modern-day, over-the-counter medicine is reactive and full of ingredients (like sugars, dyes, and unnecessary chemicals) that don’t actually care for your immune system as a whole. At Beekeeper’s Naturals, we’re devoted to making everyday products that support your immune system, brain health, and energy levels so that feeling your best becomes your default setting. Over the next few years, we’ll be working hard to move into new markets so that everyone can experience the power of the hive.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
Propolis: Obvious, but important! I had a really poor immune system growing up, and it was only when I found propolis and started using it on a daily basis that my immune system transformed. Since incorporating propolis into my routine, I rarely get sick.
Engage in exploration: Not everything is right for everyone, so it’s really important to have a healthy level of skepticism and seek out legitimate scientific research when you’re on your health journey.
Meditate: I’m someone who struggles with anxiety, so meditation is key for me. Cortisol can be so damaging, so doing something daily to reduce stress is fundamental to my health.
Vitamin D: About 42% of the US population is vitamin D deficient, which can cause all types of health problems from low energy to skin conditions to chronic diseases. I love taking one of our B.Soothed Honey Lozenges as my daily dose of vitamin D. It’s so convenient, especially as we head into dark winter days here in New York City.
Practicing gratitude: I write a gratitude list every day, even if it’s just three items long. The more you get into the habit of writing gratitude lists, the more accessible positivity becomes when you’re faced with challenging times.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I’m honored to say that Beekeeper’s Naturals is this movement for me. Ever since I discovered propolis, I’ve been committed to sharing it with everyone possible. I truly see it as a vehicle for a healthier world, and I’ll be shouting about it from the rooftops until further notice.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Nobody is good at everything. The beauty of surrounding yourself with a team is understanding your strengths and weaknesses and finding people whose strengths are your weaknesses.
Resilience is the key to everything. Entrepreneurship is full of ups and downs. The more you flex that muscle of resilience, the more you build a tolerance to hard things. Eventually, the goal is to stay grounded in the face of the discomforts that inevitably come your way.
Ask for help. A lesson for me was to just ask. You do yourself a disservice when you walk around pretending you know everything already.
Stick to your vision. A lot of people will come to you with their perspectives on how your company should be. If you’re the creator, it’s your job to stay true to your vision.
Take ownership. Anything bad that happens at your company will come back to you, so you have to be comfortable taking responsibility.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Sustainability is a topic that’s extremely close to my heart — -particularly as it pertains to the bees. Honeybees are a keystone species that are responsible for about one-third of the planet’s food. In the last several decades, bee populations have been declining due to pesticide use and industrialization, so it’s to me as a founder to set a high standard for how these pollinators should be treated. At Beekeeper’s Naturals, we work hard to keep our bees away from pesticides and take care to never overharvest from our hives.
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Carly Stein of Beekeeper’s Naturals on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.