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:

• Truwild
• Amazon
• Shopify
• Whole Foods
• GT's Kombucha
• Red Bull
• HOKA
• ChatGPT
• Claude
• OpenClaw
• Rolflex

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Truwild & Its Mission
02:45 Why Electrolytes Matter More Than You Think
05:20 Reinventing Kombucha as a Powder
08:10 Building Truwild with Just $5K
11:00 Early Product Development & Scaling Challenges
13:30 Why Amazon Became the Core Growth Channel
16:20 Organic Marketing, TikTok, & Community Events
19:00 Influencer Seeding & Brand Collaborations
22:15 The Realities of Paid Ads in Supplements
24:00 Wholesale Strategy & Cold Calling Retailers
32:30 Customer Feedback, Product Iteration, & SKU Decisions
35:40 Meditation, Spirituality, & Entrepreneurial Intuition
40:40 Using AI & Automation to Scale E-commerce Operations