VROU
Interview With VROU Co-Founder Kathryn Moos
VROU, a new client, is a New York start-up that produces Water for Women, a convenient and effective way to get an excellent daily source of nutrients for women. CEO and Co-Founder, Kathryn Moos agreed to answer a few questions about VROU and what inspired her to start her own company.
Kathryn Moos
Q: What is your background and what led you to decide to start your own company?
A: I graduated from Brown University with a double major in Community Health and Sociology. Throughout my four years at Brown, I played soccer and ice hockey before going on to play soccer professionally in Europe. At this level, it was extremely important to be on the top of my game at all times – and proper nutrition played a critical role.
After hanging up the cleats, I moved to New York City to work in commercial real estate finance – and dove straight into an unknown territory. I spent four years working a desk job that didn’t offer the same access to healthy foods and a balanced lifestyle that I thrived on during my younger years.
I knew there must be an easier way to get the nutrients I need, but wasn’t getting, and that there were plenty more like me in similar situations.
I was inspired to change and empower – and started VROU with the vision to think differently in Women’s Health.
Q: Who are your partners in this endeavor and what are their roles?
A: I have two awesome co-founders: Jeff Mroz and Josh Rodarmel are college friends that are both extremely smart but are fun people with great attitudes and quirky senses of humor. We are always laughing! Despite being both male, they live and breath the VROU lifestyle – not only from being health-conscious and physically active, but also in that they truly believe in the power of women and the positive impact VROU can have by empowering girls and women across the globe.
Josh is a phenom entrepreneur. After graduating from Yale, Josh co-founded Power Balance with his brother Troy and led the company to $56 million in annual sales in less than five years. Their product can be found all around the globe and was named CNBC Sports Product of the Year in 2010. Josh has extensive experience in growing and building a company out of its infancy. Josh serves as VROU’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Jeff is also very accomplished. He was the quarterback for Yale University prior to signing with the Dallas Cowboys in 2006 and Philadelphia Eagles in 2007. Jeff received his MBA from the Wharton Business School and worked for the private equity firm, VO2 Partners that focuses on companies in the active lifestyle/healthy living sector. Jeff serves as VROU’s Chief Operating Officer.
Target Audience
Q: Describe your target audience. What are the demographics and psychographics? Who is the VROU customer?
A: Our target is active women who are constantly on the go, understand the benefits of proper nutrition, and also have the desire to lead a healthy life. However, a variety of factors make it difficult for these women to maintain that healthy lifestyle they desire, whether it be increased hours at work, a dinner with friends, family obligations, or increased social pressures and expectations that society has planted on them. VROU’s Water for Women is a convenient, accessible, and effective option to get an excellent source of nutrients for women.
Design
Q: I love the VROU logo. Tell me what inspired it and what led you to decide on that design specifically and how important design is to appealing to your target audience?
A: Before we ever started designing VROU’s logo, our brand had a voice. VROU was health-oriented, active, driven, aspirational, trustworthy, nutritious, innovative, and premium. We could verbally tell our story; but we wanted to bring that to life visually. The design process took a long time, going through several iterations to find the ideal shapes, sizes, fonts, and colors.
The subliminal head between two raised arms tells the active, driven, aspirational, and empowerment message—which is a huge aspect of what we’re doing. We want to empower women to make good, healthy choices in every area of their lives and to feel empowered to do whatever it is they can dream!
The colors behind the VROU logo were also thought about in great detail. The green signifies health and a new beginning towards a commitment to healthy choices; and the purple conveys a combined sense of stability and energy with independence, as well as showcasing VROU as a top of the line product and brand.
Our goal in creating our logo, as should be the case with any identity design, was to match VROU’s brand voice with its look and feel.
Water For Women
Q: You are launching with three flavors of “Water for Women” products: Cucumber Lime, Orange Guava and Pineapple Mint. Tell me about VROU’s products and what differentiates them from your competition?
A: VROU’s Water for Women contains an Excellent Source, which is 20%+ of the recommended daily value of twelve essential vitamins and nutrients for women. As you know, women have different nutritional needs than men and we’ve been working with doctors, nutritionists, and food scientists for the past year and a half to design VROU’s formula with women in mind. It has a well thought-out and balanced blend of water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients.
There are nearly no beverages on the market that are formulated with women in mind. Our Water for Women differs from other products not only because women are the focal point, but it is also superior in taste and function. More so, VROU is more than a beverage company; we are a Women’s Health and Lifestyle brand – a brand that women can identify with, rally behind, and be proud to be a part of. Our mission is to improve women’s health.
Community
Q: You’ve spoken with me about your vision for VROU being a company that is about more than selling products. Why is it important to you to build a community of women and how does the Internet facilitate that?
A: Our goal of bringing women together to achieve more is reinforced through the VROU Tribe, our community of women committed to enriching their community while striving to improve women’s health. We are excited to place a large focus on building healthy communities, creating opportunities, and initiating positive change for women. The Internet is a powerful platform that enables us to virtually engage our community to educate, inform, and highlight women making a difference. To me, there is nothing more powerful than a group of like-minded women coming together for a purpose larger than themselves and the Internet and our social media outlets will be great avenues to reach many amazing women.
Product Availability
Q: When and how can people buy VROU products?
A: Soon! VROU will be available this Spring in New York City. We will be in natural grocery stores, gyms, and studios throughout Manhattan and online at our website. Stay tuned and check our website for updates on our launch and a full list of store locations. You can also follow us on Twitter @VROUWomen
