Q & A WITH ASUTRA'S STEPHANIE MORIMOTO

Prosono's Sean VanBerschot sat down with Asutra's Owner and CEO, Stephanie Morimoto, to hear more about how the women-led business is focused on active self-care -- and Purpose. 

Sean:

Tell me about your company and what you're up to?

Stephanie:

At Asutra, our mission is what we call “active self-care.” We help you take care of yourself – on purpose – so you can be your best. We offer natural remedies and products to help with pain relief, sleep, and rejuvenating your mood. We're also really committed to accessibility. We aim to provide our products at accessible price points and in places where everybody can shop. You can buy us online on our website or on Amazon, and in Target, CVS or your local natural grocery store.

We are really lucky to have global tennis champion, Venus Williams, as a part of our team. The craziest part about that story is that she came to us. She was using our menthol pain relief cream as part of her training regimen. Her trainer had found it online and she had her team call us to find out more about the brand.

When Venus found out what our company is about, that our mission is taking care of yourself on purpose – which she does to stay at the top of her game as both a tennis player and an entrepreneur – that we are women owned and led, and that we have a deep commitment to diversity and equity and inclusion, she said, "I love everything you stand for. I'm really excited about what you're doing as a brand. And I'd love to join the team and help you grow the brand and the business." She joined our team in 2019 as a part owner and our chief brand officer and has been an amazing partner.

Sean:

And how did you come to founding this company? 

Stephanie:

I actually bought Asutra from the founders. After about a dozen years in public education, I got a little burned out on both the fundraising and the politics and decided I missed entrepreneurship. Earlier in my career, I helped women of color start small businesses. So I sought a small business that had proof of concept, but one where the leader was ready to move on so I could take it to the next level.

The Asutra coincidence is that I was using the product before buying the company! I have this product in my house. When I realized Asutra was the company I was pursuing, it felt like a bit of fate.

Sean:

So lightning has struck twice for you? You use the product and then Venus calls you.

Stephanie:

I do believe two things as an entrepreneur: luck plays a big role and you have to be prepared to be lucky!

Sean:

Luck definitely favors the well-prepared.

Stephanie:

Yes.

Sean:

Talk to me about being mission driven and purpose driven, what that means for you and how you cultivate that or explore with partners and colleagues?

Stephanie:

My whole life, I've been mission-driven. I only get involved in and become passionate about things where I really care about the mission. That's what led me to work in the nonprofit sphere for so long to help women of color who didn't have access to a lot of resources to build their businesses, and to help school systems provide a much better education to kids who weren't getting it. At Asutra, it's a similar idea. I think we often take care of other people at the expense of ourselves. We don't focus enough time on getting a good night's sleep, getting enough movement, getting enough rest. We feel like we have to go, go, go all the time. But if we do that all the time, we get burned out and we can't be our best selves, or do the things we want to do and care for other people unless we care for ourselves first.

I also think “self-care” has become such a buzzword these days and it can feel like something unattainable. Do I have to spend an hour drawing a bath and lighting candles and putting flower petals in the tub? Or do I have to be on this crazy exercise regimen or this crazy nutrition regimen? Our view at Asutra is: you can do one thing. Pick one thing that you think will help you feel better, rest better, be better, and just stick to that. And then you can always add one other thing down the road, once that becomes a habit or part of your lifestyle. So for us, our mission comes first, and that's how we hire staff.

We have core values we've defined on how we want to live our mission, and what it looks like to work together as a team every day. When we're selecting staff to work for us, we want to see they believe in our mission. We want to see how they have exemplified our core values in other parts of their lives, or in past work. When we work with retail partners, we want to make sure that what they're doing is aligned with us. Target was our holy grail goal to get into. Target is obviously important from a business standpoint because everybody shops at Target and it's the definition of accessible retail, but they're also really committed to giving back to their community.

Target is also committed to giving indie brands and brands owned by women of color a real shot right in their stores. And on the marketing side, when we work with influencers or other partners, we're also looking for people who share our values and are sending out the message that we want to send out about self-care.

Sean:

Is there a difference in your perspective of being purpose driven versus impact driven?

Stephanie:

The purpose is really about the mission. What are we trying to accomplish? What will be different because we exist?

I do think there's a difference between that plan and action. So for me, impact is about bringing that mission to life. Are we preparing the right plan and executing in the right way to live that mission every day and deliver it to our customers and our team?

Sean:

Do you think that we're at a unique moment in time for companies to take on a greater focus and desire to communicate Purpose and impact?

Stephanie:

That is a really deep question that will probably take longer than the next 15 minutes for us to get to the heart of…it's interesting. One thing my husband and I are really interested in is, what are the conditions that need to be in place for people to realize their greatest potential as people, as parents, as workers, as entrepreneurs, whatever it might be? And from a very practical standpoint, how do we create the right conditions and how do we level the playing field so that everyone has a shot to provide a better life for themselves and their kids than maybe they had?

Before we even talk about companies communicating their purpose, there is a basic question: how do we treat our workers in general? What do we believe is important in that regard? As we've developed more of a gig economy where people are contractors instead of employees – driving Uber but also working as contract lawyers or designers – and the cost of housing has risen much faster than wages, I think we have fundamental questions we need to answer as a society. What are we okay with in regards to homelessness, minimum wage, educational access and economic mobility?

When workers are fairly compensated and well treated, when they have access to benefits, when they're not working crazy hours all the time, when you as a company have the right focus on diversity and inclusion;  when you have a clear culture - then I think there is a real opportunity for companies to engage with this question: what is our broader purpose? And how do we deliver on that for our customers, our employees?

Sean:

Has Covid changed the roles and responsibilities of what a company is and does?

Stephanie:

As we all know, COVID accelerated changes in the way people work, and what people are willing to work for or not. So we know the stats about how we’re seeing the highest rate of people leaving their jobs, because they can work remotely or get better pay, conditions or management somewhere else. I think it has accelerated the need for companies to provide a much more appealing setup for employees, particularly in high demand industries or high demand roles.

Also, younger generations are much more inclined to buy brands that have a mission or give back in a way that aligns with their values.

Sean:

Do you think that more companies, as the days, weeks, months, years go by will try to adopt this purpose driven approach?

Stephanie:

I hope so. As we discussed, I think there are still fundamentals that we need to address as a country and society before we even get to the question of purpose.

I think if we define purpose broadly – we want to ensure that Maslow's hierarchy of needs are addressed for all, and that everyone has the conditions to thrive and be their best – then I think we can do so much as a country. This is not just for companies to do, but rather a combination of government, companies and local communities. I think we have a lot of work to do as a country to reach a shared vision of who we can be, and what we can accomplish, together. I think companies do have a role in sparking some of that change. A lot of it starts in the way that companies define their cultures, how they hire people, and how they manage, pay and treat people.