Q. Can you share your journey in how you and your business partner started Tropeaka?

Personal health concerns have been the catalyst. Through trial and error, Blake and I came to realise that many of the health products available on the market at the time were not marketed well to millennials and contained unnatural nasties or products known to exacerbate stomach upsets. We sat at the dining table of our share house, and we hatched a plan to make health foods cool and gym supplements healthy. 

Our goal was simple, but the path to launch was trying. In the early days, we struggled to juggle our passion project with full-time employment. Delays were recurrent due to the natural challenges that came with starting a health food company.

Motivated to go beyond what is simply “good” in the pursuit of excellence, we undertook painstaking measures to ensure we sourced the highest quality ingredients from the best suppliers around the world.

Today, our unwavering commitment to providing exceptional customer service, coupled with efforts to market to a 18-37 year old audience, has resulted in a highly engaged 300,000-strong social media following that use the Tropeaka platforms to research products, seek nutritional advice and share their health updates.

Q. How has COVID and the recent lockdown impacted your business?

My heart goes out to retailers and small business owners during this time, and although I don’t agree with how the government has approached lockdowns, Tropeaka has been fortunate enough to have seen growth during this time, as more people turn to online purchases while stuck at home. We’ve been in the fortunate position of having the largest social media following of any health food company in Australia as well as a focus on spending millions of dollars a year on online advertising which naturally gives us huge brand awareness, during a period where people are spending more time on social media and doing greater amounts of online shopping. We are excited about our partnership with Global by Nature knowing that Tropeaka’s huge brand awareness is something that retailers can leverage, knowing that we have a very large and loyal customer base who are passionate about our products.

Q. You’re a health-conscious guy. What do you do to help you boost your immunity or support your overall health?

Where do I begin! I do so many things, but here’s a few of my solid staples. I firstly ensure I eat a clean diet, avoiding for the most part, gluten, dairy, omega-6 vegetable oils and refined sugars. I believe what we don’t eat is just as important as what we do eat! You wouldn’t go to a petrol station and fill your unleaded car up with diesel, and neither should we fill our bodies up with the wrong fuel!

I prioritise sleep, probably the easiest win you can have for your health and immune system. I supplement with a wide range of products each day, Tropeaka being one of them (I personally love Matcha, Spirulina, Camu Camu, our Herbal Tea Range, our Platinum Vitamin Range and our Protein Energy Bars), along with supplements from other brands like vitamin D/K/A combo, magnesium, zinc, oil of oregano, fish oil, glutathione, NAC, phospholipids and a B complex.

Without making my list too exhaustively long, I also do everything from cryotherapy, photobiomodulation, ozone therapy and HIIT training. I also look after my mental health with meditation, vagus nerve stimulation and daily gratitude affirmations.

Q. What has been the biggest challenge you faced as an entrepreneur?

Managing exponential company growth initially was the biggest challenge, and then as our business has grown it’s been a challenge of becoming a better leader. I co-founded Tropeaka when I was 24 and am now a 30 year old CEO. I have lots to learn when it comes to being a great leader, and I know this is always a never ending journey of becoming better at.

Q. What was your “hell yeah” moment on your Tropeaka journey?

I love seeing us hit new milestones with the amount of 5-Star reviews on our website. We currently have over 17,000 5-Star reviews and it’ll be pretty awesome once we hit 20,000. It’s so special to see all the stories of how Tropeaka has changed people’s lives around the world for the better. It’s our mission to help millions of people in their health, and we’re very passionate as a team to achieve this.

Q. Do you have any productivity tips? Or any hacks that may help those of us who work from home?

I love the pomodoro technique which is all about setting a time frame of maximum attention and focus and then allowing yourself short distraction time before getting back into it. You can do a 25 mins on and 5 mins off combo, but then eventually work up to higher numbers. I often do 1 hour plus blocks followed by the distraction time, maybe scrolling through social media, eating food or going for a walk.

Q. Why did Tropeaka decide to appoint Global by Nature as your distributor?

Global By Nature understood what we were about. That was really important to our brand. We’ve built up an incredibly strong brand reputation in the health food industry in a way that was completely different to the traditional way of doing things. We really wanted to work with a distributor who not only had a great reputation themselves but also knew how to protect and look after our brand and represent it in a way that does the Tropeaka brand justice. We’re excited about what is to come with GBN and seeing great growth in our partnership with them, and are excited that the partnership will provide a lot of convenient options for our large customer base as they start to see our products show up more often in the health food stores, grocers and pharmacies in their local area.