Building a Supplement Brand with No Shortcuts and a Lot of Hustle with Zac Curhan

Launching a supplement brand is hard enough but building one around clean ingredients, outdoor performance, and spiritual alignment instead of hype and artificial formulas? That’s a very different approach to wellness.In this episode of Shopify Happy Hour, Dan sits down with Zac Curhan, co-founder of Truwild, a natural supplement brand creating clean hydration, kombucha, and performance products for people who push beyond the gym. From bootstrapping the company with just $5,000 to scaling across Amazon, Shopify, wholesale, and TikTok, Zac shares how intuition, adaptability, and relentless experimentation shaped Truwild into a growing force in the supplement space.You’ll hear how Zac:Built Truwild from scratch with just $5K and reinvested profits to grow the business organically.Created products designed for hikers, surfers, endurance athletes, and outdoor adventurers — not just gym culture.Developed unique formulations using natural caffeine, kombucha powder, electrolytes, amino acids, and functional ingredients.Leveraged customer feedback and surveys to shape future products, flavors, and packaging formats.Pivoted away from underperforming SKUs and learned difficult inventory lessons along the way.Used Amazon as a primary growth engine while strategically narrowing focus across sales channels.Built wholesale relationships through cold calls, product seeding, and direct outreach to independent retailers.Used TikTok seeding campaigns, local events, and brand collaborations to drive organic awareness and traffic.We also get into the bigger picture:Why electrolytes are far more important than most people realize.The realities of building a profitable supplement brand without outside funding.Why customer reviews and social proof are critical in modern e-commerce.How TikTok, Amazon, and organic content now work together in the customer buying journey.Using AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and automation systems to streamline operations and decision-making.Zac’s philosophy around meditation, intuition, spirituality, and connecting to a “higher self” for entrepreneurial growth.🌿 Whether you’re an e-commerce founder, wellness enthusiast, or someone interested in the intersection of business, health, and personal growth, this episode is packed with practical lessons and unconventional insights.Brands & Mentions:TruwildAmazonShopifyWhole FoodsGT's KombuchaRed BullHOKAChatGPTClaudeOpenClawRolflexChapters:00:00 Introduction to Truwild & Its Mission02:45 Why Electrolytes Matter More Than You Think05:20 Reinventing Kombucha as a Powder08:10 Building Truwild with Just $5K11:00 Early Product Development & Scaling Challenges13:30 Why Amazon Became the Core Growth Channel16:20 Organic Marketing, TikTok, & Community Events19:00 Influencer Seeding & Brand Collaborations22:15 The Realities of Paid Ads in Supplements24:00 Wholesale Strategy & Cold Calling Retailers32:30 Customer Feedback, Product Iteration, & SKU Decisions35:40 Meditation, Spirituality, & Entrepreneurial Intuition40:40 Using AI & Automation to Scale E-commerce Operations