Artist, designer, director, educator, entrepreneur, executive, and investor are just a few of Jody Levy‘s titles. She co-founded WTRMLN WTR, launched a digital app NeuroPraxis, and has most recently created a detox cleanse product made for alleviating symptoms associated with biotoxic exposure.
As a serial entrepreneur in the health and wellness space, we asked her what’s next. Her response? Happiness. Read on as we catch up with her about her newest venture The LabElymental Milk Cleanse, how she’s hacking happiness, and more.
ForceBrands: You have a very entrepreneurial background. Tell us what inspired you to create a portfolio of health-minded companies.
Jody Levy: I love making things and bringing them into the world, especially when they can help people find their health and happiness. My passion is creating companies and brands rooted in mission and meaning — creating products that help people take care of themselves and each other.
For a long time, I was struggling with an invisible force that made me work a lot harder than others to feel good. It took a long time to figure out what it was. I had been nibbled on by a tick in college and it took me 18 years to figure it out. And it took me nearly as long to figure out how to get better. But I did. I put all I had toward it and I ‘CEO’d’ my own health, driven by a knowingness that if I could heal myself, I could help others achieve their optimal wellness, too.
This is what led to my newest business and product The LabElymental Milk Cleanse.
FB: The LabElymental Milk Cleanse was inspired by your personal journey with Lyme Disease. How did you go about ideating the concept for this product?
JL: I was on a long, arduous secret journey for years trying to hack my happiness. I knew something wasn’t right in my body but none of the experts could identify what was wrong. So I used nutrition, supplements, and sometimes cutting-edge medicines. I traversed the globe and worked with the most exceptional doctors, scientists, researchers, and healers who all played their part in my epic recovery. Finally, a dear friend introduced me to my now business partner, Dr. Linda Lancaster of The Light Harmonics Institute, who has been using a version of an ancient Ayurvedic Milk Cleanse for decades to help people find balance in their own bodies and brains. Dr. Linda introduced me to The Milk Cleanse. I rolled my eyes ten times over about the possibility of drinking only full-fat goat’s milk for eight full days to alleviate my symptoms. But I was desperate enough to try anything, so I did. And it was incredible! Of all the things I had ever experimented with, it was the simplest, most peaceful, non deprivation-based process and on day eight, I felt like an entirely new person. And I stayed that way! It was so profound I knew that I had to bring this to the world so that people from all walks of life could have access to such a simple, non-invasive process of rebalancing.
FB: You’ve self-funded this new venture. What outside support did you receive in terms of bringing the idea to market?
JL: Well, it truly takes a village. Luckily, my background in product development, brand building, communication, and CPG allows us to do a lot with a little. Our small but mighty team has all had profound personal experiences with The Milk Cleanse. We are all united in the mission to bring this to as many people as possible and to make sure it sticks around for anyone who needs it throughout time.
FB: How does creating the LabElymental Milk Cleanse differ from your other experiences building health-conscious products?
JL: As we all know, creating clean health and wellness products is challenging and expensive. The hardest part of a product like The Milk Cleanse is that we can not make any claims about its function. We are very fortunate that many people have had profound transformative experiences using this protocol and they have stepped up to help us share our story. But it is an uphill battle to convince smart, health-conscious, medically advanced people that drinking milk is the very best wellness hack they will ever imagine. We spend a lot of time sharing stories about how milk haters love The Milk Cleanse.
FB: Speaking of ‘milk haters,’ with the rise of plant-based alternatives, milk has not been the most popular beverage among wellness-centric consumers in the past decade. How are you changing this narrative?
JL: Exactly! This is our biggest challenge. I am not going to sell you on dairy. Especially conventional, non-organic dairy, and certainly not for day-to-day consumption. I do not regularly consume dairy, nor does anyone who is part of The Milk Cleanse. We make an exception two to four times a year to do The Milk Cleanse seasonally because we have all had transformative experiences with it and know how easy it is to keep our health in balance.
The ancient system of Ayurveda is a system of balancing the body. It is all about the relationship of our health in our environment and a specific time. Our world requires that we do more and more to maintain the balance that keeps us healthy.
Organic goat milk is our favorite. We always highly, highly recommend that people purchase organic, grass-fed, local milk whenever possible. Small scale, regenerative farms are not the enemy and actually can help to restore soil and create a positive impact on the environment.
FB: How has launching LabElymental Milk Cleanse at the beginning of a global pandemic shaped the company?
JL: Launching a company in the midst of a global pandemic is unprecedented and incredibly challenging. I have to giggle typing that sentence. But truthfully, this fueled our commitment to helping people feel their best selves. With so many people living at a slower pace than usual, this time has given so many members of our community a chance to focus on strengthening their bodies, bolstering their immune systems, clearing old patterns, and resetting. We have people all over the globe doing The Milk Cleanse right now having profound experiences. This great pause has, in some ways, allowed for the time and space to do a cleanse and reset.
This has also become a very competitive time in the digital space to communicate about products. With all of us online, it has become very challenging and very expensive to get our stories out. That, I would say, is the biggest challenge of launching a direct-to-consumer product, whose claims we can not claim, at this time.
FB: Any kind of cleanse product often requires an educational component for users. What do consumers typically get wrong about the product?
JL: People are always very focused on their preconceived notions about milk, but it is really the purposeful combination of organic milk and powerful plants in our supplements that offer the body and mind a peaceful way to reset.
People are also worried that The Milk Cleanse is a restrictive fast and that they will be hungry. But in fact, people are rarely hungry. The Milk Cleanse is not a deprivation cleanse at all. Full-fat milk is a perfectly balanced food with protein, fat, and carbs, so people feel full, alert, clear, and energized.
Phase Two of The Milk Cleanse — a 14-day follow up with clean food and a continuation of our supplements — focuses on eating clean proteins and lots of green vegetables and actually eliminates dairy, gluten, and sugar. It is not at all restrictive of clean, healthy food. We think that anyone can get behind that!
FB: What excites you most about the journey ahead? What does the 3-5 year growth plan look like?
JL: I started The Milk Cleanse to help people who have been struggling and need an intervention to get back into balance. This is what inspires me every day to keep going, keep pushing, keep begging my friends for favors to help get our story out into the world.
The most satisfying thing is when people I do not yet know reach out to share how The Milk Cleanse has positively impacted their lives. The stories are incredible and they keep me going.
Our growth plan involves working with the people who understand the power of this potent modality. All of our people across the planet who are doctors, naturopaths, nutritionists, wellness centers, biohackers, and more working together so that The Milk Cleanse can be known and available to those who need it when they need it. They use The Milk Cleanse to help people who are foggy, exhausted, and often in pain, find relief and clarity. And they all see it working, so they are working to help us spread the love, so to speak.
FB: As a serial entrepreneur, are there any avenues in the health and wellness space that you’re interested in pursuing?
JL: Happiness. I feel the single most important thing for the planet and our people right now is happiness and it’s hard work to stay in balance and feel that. Happiness often comes with purpose. But there are many biochemical ways we can hack our happiness. I am committed to inspiring more and more people to find their purpose and the meaning of their journey so that they can live their happiest, healthiest life.
Interested in learning more about the dynamic beverage industry? Explore our BevForce division.
