Meet Christina Laham Paganelli | CEO & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Laham Paganelli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
We are in a completely new world, a vacuum in a way, in which all conventional advice needs to be thrown out and new systems, which makes absolutely no sense, be brought in. In our new normal, small businesses stay alive by creatively finding unorthodox ways of navigating the current economic landscape. Good old-fashioned ‘Do it yourself’ method kicks in.

Conventional businesspeople have spent their entire lives educating themselves in school and on the street on a one-way trajectory; scale to win, year-over-year growth, an uptick in top-line sales, and profit. Nothing wrong with these critical foundations of Business 101, until one pallet of goods costs $4200 to ship goods to Canada from the USA, which is unsustainable and unaffordable for a small business.

We are witnessing circumstances beyond our control, and common sense and critical thinking is the fight or flight option. The supply chain continues to deliver inflated costs on raw materials, unattainable logistics, ever-changing consumer habits, and delays in payments from core customers.

For the past couple of years, I have driven my own business goods into Canada from the Port of Los Angeles. This seems completely nuts, but everything gets to where they need to be in Canada, and my business carries on as usual. As a comparison, other businesses can wait up to 3-6 months for simple things such as plastic bottles. One of the pieces of conventional advice that I don’t agree with is the idea that what I am doing isn’t sustainable.

I have chosen to keep processes within my control, handle every aspect myself, and deliver closer to profit than I have ever been in 15 years. This discussion goes around in circles with many successful scholars, but unless they write me a check to change my habits, they don’t get a say, and I must continue doing what I have to do to keep my company thriving. There will be a time shortly when my scale=up meets my order demand, and with demand comes better negotiation power in logistics. This is not forever; it is just for now. Does it matter how I deliver on my income statement?

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We have spent 15 years building a brand, understanding our unique selling proposition, delivering product value, and falling in love with who we are and the lives we touch. We view ourselves as one of a kind, and we go to great lengths to deliver our products to the people we serve. To start, we only use top-quality organic ingredients, and blend them into delicious, bottled beverages that are honestly highly addictive. Then we distribute them to people who appreciate our craft just as much as we appreciate their business. Not only do they taste delicious, but the body will appreciate the real-life force nutrition of plants, in every sip. Although our artisan creations are super-premium, we offer variety packs and ways to transform health on a budget. There is a flavor for everyone.

From concept to a commercial international brand, none of the brand-building processes was easy. Ou.r brand was built on a story of resilience in overcoming life-threatening challenges, and this foundation of resilience has persisted over and over again in the lifetime of drinkme. The lessons we’ve learned over time are to remain true to our vision and mission, of quality and best-in-business value, focus on our target market and strengthen our supplier relationships. One of the most important positions we have taken is to tune out the white noise of competition and industry pressures for us to be something that conforms to trends. A daily mantra to focus inward and be our cheerleaders has kept us true to who we are.

We want everyone to know our founder’s story and our brand story. Our founder, Christina developed drinkme for her health while faced with stage IV cancer and MS. After exhausting all medical treatments, Christina turned to food to consume high quantities of nutrition. Drinkme was born from this necessity to health and thrive, and 20 years later Christina’s health is still in check. Our brand story is slightly different. Our products were developed in 2008, and as an early innovator, we had the task of leading the entire retail category through various trials and tribulations, a lot of money, and a lot of sweat equity. In fact, for 4 years we were not even operating due to some disruptions in our supply chain.

Today, our products represent everything we are and shape the decisions we make for the future.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There is a favorite, but it is a return to nature. There is so much beauty in Southern California but the most exciting is our trips North to our production facility. To beat the LA city traffic, sometimes the journey starts off between 4-5 am. The best is traveling up Interstate 5 through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The travel is dark, right up to the junction of the Grapevine, in which daybreak hits. It highlights the best part of California, which is the Central Valley. The Central Valley supplies 50% of the produce sold in the USA and 85% of the produce sold in Canada. It is very important to our supply chain and the food chain in general. Outside of the economic benefit, the way the sunrise appears out of darkness is incredible. Well worth the early rise and the journey north.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think I would like to dedicate this series to myself. It is time to give myself the recognition spotlight. I don’t think I would have been able to navigate these times, plus learn business at the same time. My experience of the supply chain, costing, supplier relationships, and social consciousness has allowed me to take on these new-world challenges while the principles of business were second nature. On top, I have been able to concentrate on what matters most, my customers, our direct suppliers, and people.

Website: https://www.drinkmebeverages.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkmebevco/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drinkmebevco

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgMnv9hpT5Gj5Qq90zh2Fw

Image Credits
Christina Paganelli