How one couple's bad news turned into a life-changing business

Updated

After Michael Kuech was diagnosed with cancer at just age 24, he knew that he had to make some changes to his life.

At the time he and his partner, Kristel de Groot, were both professional athletes and no strangers to eating healthy, but Michael soon switched to a vegan lifestyle. He also began supplementing his diet with extra superfoods via powders blended up by Kristel. As Michael started to feel better and rebuild his immune system, they both knew that they needed to share these superfood mixes with the world -- and so Your Super was created.

We caught up with the duo behind the brand and got to know more about their seven blends that each target different concerns. Read the full Q&A and shop all of Your Super's products below!

AOL: After Michael regained his health, what made you two want to share your personal blends of superfoods with others?

Michael: Well, I regained my health through the blends. I did a combination of Western medicine and supplemented with the superfood blends that Kristel would mix up for me to strengthen my immune system. I started to feel better, more energized, clearer and more alive. As our friends and family noticed the difference in me, they wanted to have the same experience. The demand grew more then we could supply. Having both gone to business school, we understood that this was a problem that most entrepreneurs strive for. So we realized, this could be a legitimate business. Plus my life was changed by these superfoods, and anyone who has that kind of experience tends to want to share it with the world.

Where did you get the inspiration for your seven very different blends?

Kristel: My mom and my aunt are both orthomolecular nutritionists, so together with them we developed the line of seven organic superfood and plant protein mixes. When our friends and family wanted to try the mixes we asked them and our customers at farmers markets what their needs were and then formulated these 7 blends to function. Everyone will find three to four mixes that they really enjoy incorporating into their daily diet and the names make it easy to understand why you would use the mix. We wanted to make something for everyone, so they could understand how easy eating healthy can be!

How else can these powders be incorporated into food besides being added to a traditional smoothie?

Kristel: Thanks for asking – it can be as simple as stirring them in water, nut milk, yogurt or oatmeal. Many people start their day with putting a scoop of vegan protein and one of the superfood mixes together as a meal replacement. We love making overnight oats, and mix the powders right into our oatmeal!

It’s rare to find superfood and protein powders without sweeteners, Stevia or fillers. As our protein powders are neutral tasting, our customers love to add them to both sweet and savory dishes! You can add Muscle Power to literally anything – hummus, muffins, tofu scramble. The Skinny protein is great in pasta sauces and on top of salads. The options are limitless and we have fun recipes on our site to check out from us and our community.

Why is your giving relationship with Action Against Hunger so important to Your Super's mission?

Michael: Being mission-based is the core value of our company. I’ve been traveling a lot and I’ve come to understand that if we’re living in this world in this way, we need to build a company that is socially responsible. We partnered with Action Against Hunger who designed a bar that is specially developed for malnourished children that has all the macro and micronutrients that a kid in that situation needs. With the purchase of one Your Super product, we donate one bar too. We can help someone here who can afford our product to get healthy, and then someone else in the rest of the world to get healthy too.

Do you have plans to expand your line of products? If so, can you tell us what's coming up next?

Michael: We learned from so many of the companies we respect to stick to one thing and do it well. So for now, we are going to keep going with the powders.

Kristel: But…we will have some limited edition mixes coming out for holiday and to jump start the new year so stay tuned!

Turn your beauty routine natural thanks to these products!

Advertisement