Meet Sally Olivia Kim | Founder of Crushed Tonic & Author of The Collagen Glow

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sally Olivia Kim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sally Olivia, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
My Korean roots have been the biggest driving force in the building of Crushed Tonic.

Growing up in Korea, I was surrounded by seas of lotions, creams and moisturizers everywhere I went– so starting from a young age, I never second-guessed the importance of skincare. It seemed like EVERYTHING was about bettering your skin: the ubiquity of topical products after products (with unique ingredients ranging from snail mucus to compounds I couldn’t pronounce), lectures about SPF and sun caps being worn even in the rain, and supplements being the number one preference of gift sets between friends and family with promises of “youthful skin”.

However, in America, I have found that the 10-step Korean skincare regimen was the only craze that became translated and exported, rising to the top as the main source of popularity for Korea’s famous “glass-skin,” when for me, this only tells half of the story.

To me, it’s erasing the Korean Skincare Rituals that my family has passed down to me.
Because the only skincare regimen I’ve strictly ingrained into my lifestyle, is the one spoken about the least, at least here in the states: the Korean diet.

For those of you who have never had Korean food, Korean cuisine is always a balanced meal of barbecued / steamed protein with a serving of bone broth. Both are notable for being packed with collagen, a type of protein found in animal skin and bones.

When ingested, collagen is incredibly beneficial for your skin and hair, acting as gatekeepers of moisture in our cells.
Without this collagen “wall” to keep our cells’ hydration inside, our cells lose structure, leading to weaker, stretchier, and thinner skin. And of course, this is what causes wrinkles, fine lines, dry skin, cellulite, and the loss of structure in your hair follicles (integral to holding on to your hair).

My mother and grandmother never let me forget the power of collagen if I ever decided to be picky with my food.

And some decades later, founding Crushed Tonic was so I can do for my loved ones, what they did for me:
Let them know that the secret to healthy skin and hair has everything to do with what they put IN to their bodies, not just out– and Korean skincare is here thanks to collagen, and the Korean diet, not just the 100’s of topicals we see on Sephora shelves!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Crushed Tonic is an anti-aging ingestible skin-and-hair-care brand formulated with marine collagen, keratin and biotin.

Since its launch in 2018, we have partnered with brands like Sephora, Equinox, Anthropologie, KITH, FabFitFun, Free People, Erewhon and JetBlue.

My love for collagen started when I burned myself in a cooking accident. I did so much to heal my skin. but what made the biggest difference, was when I started drinking collagen. Collagen ingestion helps facilitate new regeneration of skin, muscle, bones, and hair. When I realized how beneficial collagen was for your health, I had to have everyone around me take it!

I then tried to evangelize it to my aging parents and family, and this was where I saw the biggest problem. Even if I educated them on the importance of this miraculous ingredient, no one wanted to deal with how it tasted. And I didn’t blame them: had I not been burned so badly with blood blisters and needed collagen for its medical benefits, I am not sure if I would have stuck it to daily either. Which was why I began to flavor the collagen powder with other delicious ingredients that I knew would mask its gamey taste—and landed on formulations that I knew would get everyone so hooked on it, that they would CRAVE it daily.

As a small business with $0 outside investment, different challenges pop up every day– but the most painstaking one for us is manufacturing.

Manufacturing— as a new brand creating a new product, we had no idea that we would sell out so quickly. We were so focused on what we would have to do if our products didn’t sell, that we had no idea how to solve the problem of when we sold too much. Of course, being out of stock sounds like a great problem to have— but upsetting our customers, or risking a partnership with your dream retailer because you legitimately don’t have product, or having to turn down magazine interviews because there’s nothing you can showcase– was a bit tough to get through.

On top of that, at one point, our manufacturer’s machine had broke— but they didn’t want to relay that to us as they were afraid to lose us as their client. Fortunately, we have since switched to a new manufacturer that was able to keep up, and help us scale quicker, than our former one!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As an obnoxious “foodie,” I have an endless list, so this is a very difficult question–

Of course the basic hikes and venice lunches (Gjusta & Wabi), west hollywood hot spots (Sushi Fumi, Matsuhisa, Dan Tana’s, Craigs, Nice Guy, Chateau Marmont, Delilah’s, Soho & SVB)–

but I would make sure they do a night with me in Ktown, where we head to KBBQ and then bar hopping, ending with karaoke at 뒷골목 (DwitGolMok), or late night speakeasy sushi spot next to Cafe Bleu!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My grandmother— she has escaped from North Korea when she was 19 without her family, and although she had to start all over without even a penny to her name, she kept her head high and persisted through every hardship in life. She started her own restaurant as a way to survive, and has taught me everything there is to know about food and nutrition. Her willingness to treat everyone equally, and with respect, is the life motto I am so grateful to have learned at such a young age.

In addition to my grandmother, I couldn’t be here without my family, who has been there through the thick and thin of it: my brother being my first line of fulfilling when I used to work full time and couldn’t make it before the post offices closed, my aunt who would drive inter-state to pick up my shipments from China, and lastly my partner, who supports me everyday through all of my hurdles behind founding a business, in addition to being my number one– loudest and biggest– cheerleader.

Website: www.crushedtonic.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sallsters

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyoliviakim/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/crushedtonic

Other: tiktok: @sally.crushedtonic / @crushedtonic