In 2019, I started working with a tiny electrolyte startup. The founders had a controversial stance: that most active folks needed more salt to feel and perform their best.
My first job was to build a science library behind that stance. It was the case for salt, published piece by piece.
Another job was substantiating their formula. I lived inside sodium science for weeks as I created the document, stress testing the recommended limits, decoding which populations needed more salt (and which didn’t), calculating sweat sodium losses, and finding out what the brand could say about the dose of salt in their product.
I’m a science nerd, so it was fun. But afterwards I needed some space from my relationship with the PubMed database.
I worked with that electrolyte brand for six years as they scaled to nine figures. By the end, its name was synonymous with salt science. That was the work.
Fast forward to today. In the past month, I’ve heard seven wellness founders and CMOs describe an eerily similar need. One called it a knowledge base. Another a science bible. Another a clear story that explains their science defensibly to consumers and buyers.
I call it the Source of Truth. It’s one document on a brand’s strongest defensible claims and the science behind each. Which science story leads and which supports. Every ingredient, substantiated. What to say and what not to say. The whole team pulls from it, legal signs off, and everyone stays aligned on one strong science story.
I recently built one for a beverage brand ahead of a national retail launch. The founder called it fantastic. The head of marketing said everyone on the team should read it.
It doesn’t take years to build. Three weeks for the foundation, then you build off that.
Without a Source of Truth, wellness brands are navigating without a compass. They either stay uber-cautious or make strong claims at random. Then the founder lies awake at night hoping nothing triggers the FTC. Neither approach wins the long game.
The Source of Truth lets brands stay aggressive with their marketing without getting in trouble. That’s how salt won, and it’s repeatable in other categories.
I help science-backed wellness brands turn science into growth.
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