A healthy family business

Youtheory continues to expand and evolve

Darren and Patty Rude’s family-owned business venture started with a conversation Darren had with a grocery store manager. At the time, he was working in sales and operations for his fourth-generation family business, Giuliano Specialty Foods, which sells jarred peppers, olives and vegetables. On a store visit in 1997, he noticed that some shelves were being cleared out.

“The manager told me they were making room for a new category: nutritional supplements,” Darren says. “That’s when I realized that these products might be the way of the future. I already knew the grocery retail industry, and I knew how to formulate and bottle food.”

With the understanding that supplements are a kind of food, and armed with his unique industry expertise, Darren made the leap.

Introducing collagen

He started with collagen, a product that earned immediate attention. “It was already being used in other parts of the world,” Darren says. “We introduced our collagen to the United States and it quickly became a household name.”

Why collagen? “I wanted to sell a product that works and that makes a difference in people’s lives and health. People often tell Patty and me that they see a noticeable difference in their hair, skin and nails in just a few weeks.”

After several years building his business, Darren, along with Patty, founded Youtheory in 2010. Patty left her accounting job to focus on the family business, where she oversees finance and purchasing. “While we have our own expertise, we still tag-team on every- thing, working together as a team,” Patty says.

Since then, its lineup has expanded to include ashwagandha, turmeric, immune support, probiotics and more. The company has kept its focus on producing the highest- quality supplements, backed by science.

“I know that not all supplements are created equal,” Darren says. “Our mission has always been to create a business built on the utmost integrity, authenticity and quality.”

While collagen continues to be a top seller, turmeric is also highly popular. “Our turmeric is made using the most clinically supported curcumin extract in the market,” Darren says.

All under one roof

Their do-it-all approach follows through in production, too. “Most CEOs aren’t able to successfully focus on marketing, sales and manufacturing,” Darren says, explaining that he’s been able to manage multiple business disciplines thanks to his strong foundation in the family business. “We’ve been able to keep the vast majority of everything under one roof, which is rare these days, especially in our industry. We keep an eye on every single bottle that goes out the door.”

The personal touch

One way Darren built his sales and marketing acumen was by accompanying his grandfather on sales calls to grocery buyers. “He had index cards with the name of every single buyer, their kids’ names and their birthdays,” Darren says. “If a buyer’s child had a birthday coming up, they’d receive a gift that day, since he kept gifts already wrapped and ready to go in the trunk of his car. I learned so much about the importance of relationships from him, and whenever I hear the title of that Og Mandino book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, I think of my grandfather.”

As sales have climbed, many of the company’s challenges have been a byproduct of their success.

“We’ve grown about 50% each year, and we had three years in which we doubled our sales,” Darren says. “I’d say that the biggest thing we’ve learned is not to overcomplicate things and to keep our focus on serving the customer at all costs. We haven’t really changed what we’re doing—we’re just doing it at a much larger scale.”

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