Making Wellness Sustainable

With prior experience in the renewable energy sector--where she came to understand the importance of sustainability and sustainable business practices--Tumi Miller is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of the California-based wellness supplement brand ONRŪ. Tumi was born in Los Angeles of half-Latina descent and was raised primarily in the United Kingdom. Living in different countries has allowed her to gain a unique insight into different cultures, customs and outlooks on food and nutrition. Tumi is passionate about giving back and helping more people discover the benefits of natural health products.

1. Tell us about yourself. When did you first know you were interested in Supplements / Health?

I first became interested in the world of holistic medicine and supplements when I started to lose a lot of hair in my early teens. As a young female, it was devastating, and it felt like I was stripped of some part of my femininity. Although I don’t believe that to be true anymore and despite the experience being difficult for me, it sparked a new outlook on life and opened my eyes to the incredible healing possibilities of natural remedies that I believe are still so underrated. Through trial and error, I found natural alternatives that helped my condition and most importantly healed me from within. As an adult, I changed my diet, started supplementing with only natural herbs and minerals and changed my environment from a stress-fueled toxic lifestyle to a balanced, natural one. People often forget how much one’s mental health impacts one’s physical health. All of this experience inspired me to start my own supplement brand, so that I can help people discover the benefits of natural health products, just as I did.

2. How do you / your team generate new ideas?

My team and I generate ideas in very different ways. Sometimes it comes down to just sitting in a room bouncing ideas back and forth but other times we find our ideas individually through our various daily interests. For example, when it came to creating the look and feel of ONRŪ, I found inspiration through my love of art and home decor, and I was inspired by perfume and alcohol bottles. It sounds odd but to me it was obvious. I wanted to create beautiful bottles for our products that people would want to reuse or display on their counters, like showcasing interesting bottles on a home bar cart or placing pretty perfumes on one’s vanity.

3. Do you have any specific rituals for resetting creativity?

When I’m feeling uninspired, I tend to venture into the unknown, whether that’s exploring a completely different part of town or trying out a new hobby and usually that does the trick for me, and I feel inspired with new ideas. If I’m stuck on a problem, I also like to distract myself with something like exercise as I feel that my subconscious is working on the problem, while I am focusing on something else.

4. How do you identify trends? What resources do you use to spot trends and consumer insights within your industry?

For me, the quickest way to find trends in the wellness industry is on social media, but I also like to walk around the wellness hubs in the city I live in to see what people are wearing, doing, looking at and talking about. It’s also important to distinguish between trends and fads - I always find it useful to run new ideas by our naturopathic doctor and other experts within the wellness industry so I can get many different perspectives on ideas or trends.

5 What is the biggest challenge you face when innovating within your field?

I believe the biggest challenge in most fields is getting over the hurdle of manufacturing capabilities, so it’s really important to find excellent manufacturing partners that share your brand values or build your own manufacturing capabilities in order to bring your vision to life. The supplement market is very saturated, and most products are filled with toxic and harmful additives that consumers aren’t aware of. This tells us that there is a general lack of quality within the industry, and it shows us the importance of trying to pass this knowledge on to consumers in a way that is transparent and easy to understand.

6. Has there ever been an instance where another industry has influenced your work?

Definitely - sustainability and giving back are two very important things to me, so seeing brands from completely different industries successfully blending consumerism and philanthropy has had a big influence on me. Toms shoes is a brand that has influenced my work and I really admired their charitable efforts in donating shoes for every pair they sold, as well as their ongoing charitable initiatives. Our charitable efforts are a crucial element of our brand, and we will always be looking to expand them. My ultimate goal is to create a charitable foundation connected to the ONRŪ brand.

7. What makes an innovative work culture? How do you create a culture of innovation?

With our team at ONRŪ, we want to live what we preach. As soon as one of us is feeling uninspired, we encourage each other to leave the office, go for a walk, exercise, or visit a place of inspiration. Having done that throughout the past couple of years creating the brand, we’ve found that we always come back with new, more innovative ideas. I think it’s also important to actively encourage team members to share their ideas, as even small ideas can encourage creative thinking and innovation.

8. Looking to the future, how will your brand continue to be a leader in innovation?

We always try to create products that will bring maximum benefit to both our customers and the planet. We’re always looking to create products that we feel are missing in the marketplace, and we’re always looking for the most sustainable and environmentally friendly materials and manufacturing methods possible. Aside from expanding our supplement offering, we're planning to expand our product line beyond supplements to help our customers enhance their other daily rituals in a way that will allow them to feel their best.