Innovative Wellness Approaches with Virginie Descamps of Alurx Inc

Episode Overview

Episode Topic:

In this episode of NutraPreneur, host Bethany Jolley sits down with Virginie Descamps, the Chief Marketing Officer at Alurx Inc. The conversation gets into how Alurx Inc is pioneering changes in sleep, nutrition, and stress management, particularly during challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic. Virginie shares insights on the inception of Alurx Inc, its strategic vision, and the innovative ways the company has been addressing common wellness issues. This episode is a deep dive into the intersection of wellness and effective brand strategy, showcasing how Alurx Inc Wellness has become a trusted platform in the nutraceutical industry.

Lessons You’ll Learn:                                                                                     

Listeners will gain valuable insights into how a strong strategic vision can guide a company through challenging times. Virginie discusses the importance of reliable information and expert advice in the wellness industry, especially during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, she highlights the role of the Alurx Inc Medical and Expert Council in ensuring that the information provided is trustworthy and scientifically sound. Virginie’s experience in brand strategy and product development offers lessons on how to position a wellness brand effectively in a crowded market, leveraging expertise from luxury and consumer goods sectors.

About Our Guest:

Virginie Descamps is the Chief Marketing Officer at Alurx Inc Wellness, bringing over 25 years of experience in brand strategy, product development, and global retailing. Her career has spanned various sectors, including luxury and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), where she has been at the forefront of transforming daily habits through wellness initiatives. At Alurx Inc Wellness, Virginie has been instrumental in creating a platform that offers expert advice and reliable information to help individuals navigate the complexities of wellness, particularly in times of crisis. Her leadership and vision have positioned Alurx Inc Wellness as a pioneer in the industry.

Topics Covered:

The episode covers a range of topics crucial to understanding the impact of strategic vision in wellness. Virginie talks about the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and how Alaric’s Wellness responded by creating a platform for trusted wellness advice. Key points include the role of the Alurx Inc Medical and Expert Council, the importance of combating misinformation, and the ways in which wellness practices can be integrated into daily life. Additionally, Virginie shares her insights on applying brand strategy from luxury and FMCG sectors to position Alurx Inc Wellness effectively in the market, addressing sleep, nutrition, and stress management needs.

Our Guest:Virginie Descamps-Championing Wellness in the Luxury and FMCG Sectors

Episode Transcript: 

Bethany Jolley : Welcome back to Nutra Preneur. Your trusted platform for diving deep into the innovative world of the nutraceutical industry. I’m your host, Bethany. Today we’re delighted to have , the Chief Marketing Officer at Alurx, Inc wellness  joining us today. With over 25 years in brand strategy, product development and global retailing, Virginie has been at the forefront of transforming daily habits through wellness. So let’s go ahead and explore how Alurx Inc Wellness is pioneering changes in sleep, nutrition and stress management. Welcome, Virginie. It’s so great to have you.

Virginie Descamps: Thank you Bethany, thank you for having me. I’m really excited to have this conversation with you.

Bethany Jolley  : First off, I think it would be great if you could tell us some more about the inception of the lyrics and how the strategic vision guided its development. Yeah.

Virginie Descamps: Lyrics launch actually during Covid, so it was a difficult time for all of us. And,  we needed new ways of coping with this situation as well as feeling better about ourselves and dealing with things like lack of sleep, anxiety,  anything that came our way that was quite unpredictable at that time. So we decided to create a wellness platform where you could find advice from physicians and wellness experts because, you know, during Covid, we all went online looking for information, not knowing what to trust, what was real news, fake news, real science, fake science.   it got very confusing. So we decided to really work with what we call the Amoc, the Alurx Inc Medical and Expert Council.  It’s a group of physicians. Most of them are women.  and they were, as we are committed to make wellness accessible for all of us.

Bethany Jolley  : That’s fantastic. And you also have extensive experience in FMcG and luxury markets. So how have you applied your expertise and brand strategy to position Alurx Inc in the wellness industry?

Virginie Descamps: Well, when I was working in the beauty industry, so and in the with luxury brands, we had  as our foremost priority to make sure that we use the best ingredients, the safest, of course, but we had high quality products and making sure that our consumers, our target consumers or users or loyal,  brand,  ambassadors would enjoy the product for a very long time because they made an investment,  and that we delivered the best quality and the best experience. So these high standards of quality is something that we took, you know, into account in creating the brand, creating the products, creating the content. So anytime you think of luxuries, not just like,  I can splurge on something expensive, for me, it’s really the, you know, part of the DNA of a brand is making sure quality is first and foremost the priority of anybody who is developing the brand and the products associated with it, always thinking about the consumer and understanding that for them, they put significant time, effort and obviously money in, you know,  adopting your brand. It’s, you know, also a high level of respect for the consumer. That’s something that I’ve learned,  over the last 20 years in luxury. So for me, it was an easy transition into Alurx Inc wellness.

Bethany Jolley  : That’s great. And I’m glad that you recognize that product quality is so important in this industry. And it’s important to consumers as well.

Virginie Descamps: Yeah. And it gets very confusing because, you know, it’s not always clear to  understand what is a good ingredient. What is, you know, a mediocre ingredient. What does your body really need?   You know, making wellness simple was our tagline from the beginning, because we understand that it can be a confusing space, just like cosmetics are. You have thousands of brands. Which one is right for me? Which one is the best? Which one can I trust? And we wanted people to trust the lyrics.

Bethany Jolley  : Wellness fantastic and Alaric’s addresses three core aspects of wellness. So sleep nutrition and stress management. So how did you decide on these particular focus areas and what impact have you seen from this approach?

Virginie Descamps: So we did a lot of consumer research. We interviewed people.  We had focus groups. We had  a lot of research around other, I would say health care companies that, you know, also look at what is impacting people’s health.  How do you address prevention? Because that’s what we really are in the business of doing, making sure that you can acquire new, healthier habits. So can you live longer, healthier lives?  so the research that we’ve done, which is proprietary, the research that we had access to. All the academic work that our AMEC members have done really zeroed in on those three basic needs that we have. We all know that sleep is foundational. And, you know, depending on the study that you look at, you know, we know that most Americans and most people in general don’t get enough sleep.  and that’s across the age,  from children to, you know, seniors. Sleeping well is really what you need to be able to function well. But that’s something that seems to be a luxury these days and really hard to acquire as a healthy habit.

Virginie Descamps: We know that the lack of sleep can also give you a lot of stress and stress, all aspects of your physical and emotional health. And then obviously,  we all know we are what we eat.  There’s been a lot more work done around gut health. And gut health does affect everything in your body, including, you know, we call it the second brain.  This is research that is kind of also anecdotal. A lot of cultures that are really centered around food and getting people together,  at the dinner table,  know that what you eat and how you eat and with whom you eat really affects how you go through your day, but it affects every aspect of your health.  and we know that because of the epidemic of diabetes, obesity, all those crazy diet drugs you hear about. So we zeroed in on those three ones because I mean, it’s proven and it’s been researched and extensively researched that they do affect everything else in your life.

Bethany Jolley  : Yes, absolutely. And you offer a range of products like the Relax Cooling Gel and the Nourishing Cell with hemp. Can you walk us through the journey of these products from concept to market?

Virginie Descamps: Yeah. So what we did is really look at ingredients first and that I guess that’s back, you know, from my training in cosmetics, you want to make sure that you work with the best ingredients. You want to make sure they’re effective so that people can see results. Some results are instant. If you use a cooling gel, you’re going to have that cooling effect and that relief right away. But at the same time, there are effects across a couple of hours, a couple of days, a couple of weeks if you use something regularly. So we want to make sure they’re effective number one. So we look at the ingredients first. We look at who’s sourcing the ingredient and taking care of formulating it in the right way. We look at the way you can also deliver those ingredients. You know, in this case you just mentioned topicals.  We also had ingestibles. So make sure that you work with the best suppliers in terms of ingredients, that you have research and you have results that are backed by all the testing that’s been done. You have safe ingredients as well, and then it’s all about formulating them in a way that’s convenient for the consumer to use and enjoy. At the end of the day, you know, we’re here to make sure that you acquire those habits. They have to fit into your lifestyle, and they have to provide you with some kind of relief as well.  and we don’t want to make it hard on you. So that’s why we have those products. And, you know, the feel and touch of those products is also really important.

Bethany Jolley  : Absolutely. And you talked about some supplier qualifications. I think qualifying suppliers is such a huge aspect of this industry, and it’s so important. And I know there have been some supply chain struggles since Covid. So if you dealt with that at all, actually.

Virginie Descamps: We haven’t dealt with it that much because we’re working only with the US suppliers.   You know, all the ingredients that we’ve used are grown. So we’ve, you know, we’ve not we haven’t had those issues. But  qualifying to go back to your point, qualifying vendors is something that takes time, takes resources, but it’s really fundamental to any business. So we really need to,  proper time and care to do that. Adult wellness.

Bethany Jolley  : Yes, absolutely. And how does a lyric ensure that its products not only meet, but exceed industry standards that are set, particularly with the inclusion of ingredients like hemp? This episode is brought to you by Nutra payments. Com if your business needs credit card processing that fully integrates with most major Nutra software platforms, offers the lowest industry prices, and has built in features like recurring billing, $0 trials, and chargeback prevention. Then visit us at nutra. Payments.com for a free online quote.

Virginie Descamps: Oh well. Actually, hemp is a lot more regulated as an ingredient than many others and most ingredients that are used in personal care. So you know everything that’s in your shampoo, your body lotion, your soap,  you know, even your. Foundation on your mascara are things that the FDA does not regulate, but you put them on your body, on your face every day.  and doesn’t work like that.  obviously,  is a plant, a botanical that’s been around for centuries, used for medicinal use. But the way it’s being used today is heavily regulated by the federal government and by the state government. So there are a lot of certifications, a lot of tests that are being done to make sure that is pure, to make sure that we know its origin, who’s growing it, how they’re growing it.  what the percentage of hemp or CBD is. And, you know, it’s a very complex plant. So there are different strains. There are different ingredients,  and types of ingredients that you can extract from hemp. You can extract oil, for example. You have isolates. You have. So all of this is today very transparent and in a way that, you know,  is regulated,  in no like no other plant in, in, in the US. So you can feel actually very safe, not only because it’s been proven over centuries that things like hemp oil are really good for you and have a lot of applicable benefits in terms of healing wounds.

Virginie Descamps:  And I mean, I’m not going to get into the medical field because that’s not my, my area. But it’s been something that in every culture,  has been used as a medicinal remedy, a natural remedy. But today, when it’s being used in personal care products, in wellness products, it’s highly regulated. And,  you can feel really safe about using that versus everything else that you might find in your personal care product.  There are only about 26 ingredients that are regulated in cosmetics, FYI.  So that’s why when you talk about cleaning ingredients,  there are very few that are actually proven to be clean and, and that actually users can,  research and find out who’s making them, where they come from. Hemp is totally different.  you can trust it. And I feel really good about it. I did a lot of learning because I had not used hemp before.  and I was absolutely shocked and delighted because that should be the benchmark for all the other major ingredients that you find in personal care. Absolutely.

Bethany Jolley  : That’s so great to know. That’s excellent information. And hemp is such a versatile ingredient as well. So it’s great that you can trust in that ingredient. And if you see it in a product, you know that it’s being regulated. And I want to talk about a few other unique offerings that you have. So you have the silk eye mask and the travel pouch. So what was the inspiration behind this product and how has it been received by your community?

Virginie Descamps: Well, we’ve worked with the sleep expert. Her name is Sarah Moll.  and she’s done, you know, extensive work researching sleep patterns and sleep disorders. And,  she’s also a lecturer. She works with, you know, corporations, with students in universities. So people you know, that are,  have very different ways of addressing their sleep issues. And she found that there are common routines and tools that you can use to sleep better. And the first thing that she actually recommends is really simple is using an eye mask to make sure that you’re in complete darkness. So you can be in darkness as long as you want to sleep.   yeah, of course you can use blackout curtains. Some of us might have them, but, you know, when you travel, for example.  you might not have access to that when you really have problems sleeping.  and you might be sleeping at different times of the day because, for example, you know, you work at night and you rest during the day. Having a sleep mask, you know, and having it handy can really help you. Darkness really is a signal for your body that it’s time to sleep.  and having that habit is really the most beneficial first step that you can do to improve your sleep. That and turning off your screens. So we all know that. We all know that’s really difficult. But if you can turn off your screens 30 minutes before you plan to either nap or, you know, sleep through the night or whatever time works for you,  these are two things you should be doing.  yeah.  and obviously, you know, natural silks make it a lot more enjoyable. It’s really soft. It’s hypoallergenic.   It’s one size fits all, so you can put it on yourself, your partner, your children, your, you know, whoever’s visiting,  or who has trouble sleeping in your household. Yes.

Bethany Jolley  : Just as you were discussing. Seeing that I was thinking about television and cell phones and iPads and alarm clocks and all of those things that all are lit up. And so just adding in that sleep mask, I think is a simple step, but an effective one for sleep quality.

Virginie Descamps: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, you get to keep it simple. You know, sometimes just going back to, you know, habits that maybe your parents taught you or your grandparents taught you. And going back to, you know, what does your body want to do naturally? I think, you know, because of the hectic lifestyles we have, because technology is great, I love it, I use it, you know, every hour of the day. But at the same time, you know, you got to go back to what your body’s telling you. Your body’s tired, you feel exhausted. You know, you got to go back to really simple ways of addressing those issues. And one of them is just to be in complete darkness and rest. Rest is essential to your health.

Bethany Jolley  : As it truly is. And Alurx Inc operates under core values like authenticity, audacity, and integrity. So how do all of these values influence your leadership and the company’s overall operations?

Virginie Descamps: Well,  Alurx Inc was founded by Julia Stuart, who’s a very well known CEO.  She worked all of her life in the hospitality industry,  which is a really fast pace. And to be able to manage this workload and manage these, you know, stressful environments. She had her own wellness habits. One of them is obviously around food and nutrition, others around daily exercise and other things such as, you know, mentoring. For her, it’s really important to be able to give back and to build those connections, those meaningful connections at work as well as in your family life. So she decided to create the lyrics wellness around those values, which for her were fundamental in her building her own career, building her own life.  as a trailblazing woman in an industry where before there were very few women reaching those heights,  and having a family and raising kids at the same time. So those values are really important to her. They were part of Alurx Inc wellness. They’re also part of everybody who joins the company. And obviously,  we have those conversations as well with our vendors. We like working with vendors, with consultants, with partners, and ambassadors that share those values for us. And that’s why we also work with a couple of independent wellness experts. We work with Joy Ruffin, for example,  who’s a podcaster, a stylist and a speaker we always want to associate with, especially other women who are there to empower the people around them to live better lives, to achieve their best,  to live healthier lives as well, and to give back.

Virginie Descamps: Because at the end of the day, we should feel gratitude every day for our good health or good fortune,  for the work that we have for the people that we meet,  and be able to help each other. And it’s not easy when you’re in the wellness or the health care business because,  there’s a, you know, as I said before, a lot of confusion around what is good for you, but there’s also a lot of health care costs, you know, that come along with trying to,  feel your best. And we’re trying to get people to,  get to a point where they can feel good and not have to go to the doctor.  They can teach themselves good habits, and they can teach their family, their friends, good habits as well. And they can, you know,  motivate each other, inspire each other. And that’s the kind of environment we want to build. And we do build that. Alaric’s Wellness.

Bethany Jolley  : Fantastic. And I do agree, I think having a good health and wellness routine is essential to your quality of life. And, finding partners that have the same core values as you just makes it all more enjoyable when you’re all striving for the same goal. I think it helps a lot.

Virginie Descamps: Business should be, you know, for us it’s about, you know,  very meaningful,  values and principles.  if you don’t have that, I’m not sure you can really find joy in what you do and find purpose, but yeah.  Laura, you know, we say we make wellness simple. We also want to empower people to feel, well, all people to feel well.  and that’s why we want to make it accessible. We also want to give voices to people who don’t necessarily get hurt,  in the health care business today. And that’s why we’ve chosen the members that we have in our council, and we’re working. With a few new ones that are participating in our Lyrics Wellness app programs, which is something we’ve been building for almost a year.

Bethany Jolley  : Very exciting. Yes, and with a bold vision and courageous conversations being central to your approach, can you share how these have played a role in any recent initiatives or campaigns?

Virginie Descamps: Well, we have built a wellness app, so for us, that’s really where all of our focus has been in the last couple of months. So we work with the same lyrics, medical and expert counsel. They have developed programs and personalized them,  for different needs. So again, we work on sleep, on stress management, on nutrition,  and based on the questionnaire that they have built and that they actually use most of the time in their own private practice, we build different programs and we can personalize them to your needs, because at the beginning of the wellness app, when you log in, you’re going to be asked questions. So we want to know about, you know, what bothers you, what you want to do, how you live.  What do you want to improve? And based on all of that information, the experts have personalized programs which you can follow every day starting for 30 days. So this is really a powerful tool for you to stay on track.  number one, because again, you can trust us. Number two, because we make it simple. So we’re very consistent in our message, in the way we work. And number three,  you know, being on track and being consistent is what helps you to acquire new habits.

Virginie Descamps: And we know that it takes you about, I don’t know, a week is the minimum but if you really want to do something different on a daily basis, you know, you’re going to have to fight. You know, those routines that you’ve already built in,  and acquiring new ones usually takes about a month. And it’s also easier if other people around you do the same thing. So we built this app. We give you a score. The experts help you with the weekly assessment. So it’s like having your own personal coach, but you don’t need to pay somebody by the hour every morning to give you this advice. It’s something that’s, you know, really convenient,  and that anyone can do. So that’s what we’ve been building.  We have a great tech team. We have great, great experts who understand what it’s like to personalize advice.  and yeah, it’s our new project we just launched. We have a seven day free trial. And,  we also have a program for people who want to join us. Better users want to help us give their feedback.  I’d be happy to share that with you if you want to join.

Bethany Jolley  :  That’s so exciting. Because I think a lot of us find it difficult to create new habits. It requires a lot of self-discipline. And so having this as a tool, I think will be really helpful to a lot of users.

Virginie Descamps: Yeah. And it’s, you know,  a lot of us get motivated by, you know, scores as well. You want to make sure like, you know, you get some kind of reward. We have an entire system of behavior modification techniques that’s been done with obviously, people who are specialists in that field understand how to help you,  change our behavior works and how to help you change it.   all the tech that’s built behind it is based on those principles. So we can make it easier for you because we understand it. It can be a challenge.  but at the end of the day, what we want is we want you to stick with it and then make it your own so you don’t need the app anymore. But what is great about this app versus others is that you can switch neat states as often as you want once a month. So instead of having to download an app that helps you with, you know, nutrition one month and then another app that does sleep and another app that helps you with mental health and then you know you can. And fitness. I mean, I have lots of apps on my phone.  but I’m trying to simplify my life. So with the wellness app, you can go to one and you can switch programs. So once you feel like, okay, I’ve mastered my sleep protein, I’m sleeping better, I have more energy. What do I do to manage my stress level? Then you switch programs and then you start all over again so you can keep on building on it instead of having to ditch it and try something new so that in the long term, it helps you have a really,  more positive outlook about wellness and health and, and see better results faster.

Bethany Jolley  : Yes. I think there would be a lot more success. If you are already familiar with an app and you can utilize it for different aspects of your life, and like you said, you don’t have to go searching for something else to try.

Virginie Descamps: No, that’s one of the things we found in, you know, in consumer research, there’s. There’s a lot out there that you can access, right, in terms of information or wealthtech tools. But how many of those do you need to feel better every day? I mean, they’re very specialized for a good reason, because you want to be an expert at one thing, but when you’re on the other end as a consumer, as a user, you’re like, okay, how many tools do I need? You know, it just can be very overwhelming. And then again, you could spend so much time and sometimes so much money doing all those different things and they’re not connected. And we want to have a very holistic approach to wellness. We want to make sure it’s easy for you. You can improve one area of your life and then you move on to the next. But you already made it your own. You already know how it works. You don’t have to struggle with a new system, a new app, a new way of doing things.

Bethany Jolley  : Yes, that’s absolutely right.

Virginie Descamps: I get very excited about that.

Bethany Jolley  : No, I’m excited about it as well. It sounds fantastic. It works.

Virginie Descamps: Yeah I.

Virginie Descamps: Don’t know. Well this and we’re you know and we have some beta users as well. We’re like okay that’s great. Now I can delete all of this. Forget all of that. And I don’t need to make a list about oh please don’t do that. I have it all in one place.

Bethany Jolley  : Yes. And I’m.

Bethany Jolley  : Sure you will get really great feedback from the beta users, because it sounds like it’s going to really change things a lot and simplify things as well, which is.

Bethany Jolley  : Great.

Virginie Descamps: It’s already obvious, as you know, if you’ve worked with, you know, tech companies,  it’s already live. So it’s live on the Apple Store and it’s our first version. So every couple of weeks, you know, we are rolling in new features and we do, you know, iterate based on the feedback we get from people as well. So we can build a better product, which is one of the things that’s really exciting about,  well, tech is that we take consumer feedback into consideration and in real time we can make changes and we can add new features.  You know, that’s something you can’t really do in personal products because,  before, I had to work on the product 24 months in advance, you know, for Christmas in two years. At least in this world of technology and wellness, you can make changes really faster. You know, two weeks you’re done and your product is full of new features and new improvements and, and things that, you know, you might have planned for a long time, but you can implement really quickly.  and then, you know, having that dialogue with users is really important. Yes.

Bethany Jolley  : That’s great that you can adapt and make changes so quickly. That is much different than the product innovation side for sure.

Virginie Descamps: No.

Virginie Descamps: I mean, product innovation is something that I’m really passionate about, but they work at two different speeds. I do enjoy both, but at the same time, I get hugely excited when, you know, when I hear,  well, you want to do this? Yeah, give me two weeks and it’s done instead of two years.

Bethany Jolley  : Yeah.

Bethany Jolley : Well, thank you once again, Virginie, for sharing your expertise and the exciting developments at Alurx  Inc. For our listeners who wish to learn more about Alaric’s and this new app or try their innovative products, visit the links provided in our podcast description. Remember to subscribe and share your thoughts on today’s topics on social media. Join us next time on Nutra Preneur as we continue to explore ground breaking innovations in the nutraceutical industry. Until then, stay well and proactive.

Virginie Descamps: They care about beneath. Thank you for having me. Thank you.