Lauren Lebel

I attribute my success to a relentless commitment to doing what I am truly passionate about and making intentional choices that prioritize happiness and fulfillment. Early on, I realized the immense value of aligning myself with good people and finding exceptional mentors. But the real turning point was actually listening to them and putting their advice into action, which allowed me to navigate complex industries with a strong foundation.

Ultimately, success comes down to how you show up for the people around you. For me, being a great leader means managing from a sincere place—deeply listening to my team, understanding their needs, and helping them grow. When you build a culture rooted in genuine support and shared purpose, driving sustainable results and scaling businesses becomes a natural byproduct.

The best advice I ever received didn’t come from a formal sit-down conversation; it was delivered through my dad’s quiet example. He showed me that you must always do the right thing, even when it is incredibly hard. In a professional sense, that looks like going above and beyond on a project when nobody is watching, or having the courage to walk away from a toxic company culture when it no longer aligns with your values.

Leading by example taught me that professional success means nothing if you compromise your integrity to get there. Ultimately, his example guided me to always be a person—and a leader—that he would be proud of, which is a compass I still use every day when making tough decisions for my business and my team.

My biggest piece of advice for young women entering the broader retail and consumer goods space is to always keep the customer top of mind and never take short-cuts for short-term financial gain. It can be easy to get caught up in margins and spreadsheets, but at the end of the day, retail is a human-to-human business. We are all here to help one another, and building a brand with true longevity requires putting the consumer's trust and well-being ahead of maximum profits.

On a personal level, I encourage you to always follow your heart and make professional choices that genuinely bring you happiness. Don't be afraid to pivot or walk away from opportunities that don't feel right. When you align your career path with your core values and personal fulfillment, you naturally show up as a more authentic, impactful leader.

The biggest challenge in the wellness space right now is the massive influx of supplement brands created purely for profit. Too many companies are launching products strictly as a monetization play, without a foundational understanding of human biology or medicine. To maximize margins, they take shortcuts—loading capsules with unnecessary chemical fillers, synthetic binders, and flow agents, while opting for cheap, wasteful packaging.

This challenge creates our greatest opportunity: a desperate need for absolute integrity. The future of wellness belongs to brands that choose to do right by the people putting these products into their bodies. That means prioritizing clinical efficacy and ingredient purity over maximum profit. It means willingly investing more in clean production methods to eliminate industrial junk, sourcing transparent ingredients, and utilizing sustainable packaging. Consumers are smarter than ever, and the brands that treat their health with genuine respect are the ones that will build lasting trust.

The most important value to me is simply bringing joy and a positive spirit to the people around me. I believe in working incredibly hard, but never taking work so seriously that you lose sight of the humor and human connection that make it worthwhile. Ultimately, it comes down to being a good person and spending your time on things that make you genuinely proud—when you anchor your life in kindness and true integrity, professional success and personal fulfillment naturally follow.