Good afternoon and welcome. We appreciate you joining us for this WTR Insights conference session with LifeVantage Corporation. I'm Doug Lane, Managing Director, Consumer at Water Tower Research, and it's great to be with you. Today, we are joined by Steve Fife, President and CEO, Kristen Cunningham, Chief Sales Officer, and Lisa Barnes, VP of R&D and Regulatory. Thank you all for being here with us today.
Yeah, thanks, Doug.
Just a quick reminder before we start, LifeVantage's safe harbor statements are available in the latest investor presentation that can be found on the presentations page of its investor relations website. Additionally, this discussion may not be reproduced or transcribed without written consent from Water Tower Research. We welcome your questions throughout today's conversation. Please submit them through the chat, and we'll do our best to address them in a follow-up email or in our management series report. If you would like to request a meeting with LifeVantage, you can do so through the conference portal, and we will work to accommodate. With that, let's begin. Steve, 20 years ago, LifeVantage was essentially a single product company selling through traditional resale channels like GNC. Many people probably don't know that. How did you transform that into a network marketing company doing about $200 million in annual sales?
Yeah, thanks, Doug. It is interesting. I don't know that very many people know that we started at GNC. I've heard this story a number of times from our former Chairman of the Board, who was with the company from the very beginning. Some scientists at the University of Colorado, Denver had developed a product and commercialized it in what would become LifeVantage. Initially, it was sold in GNC and vitamin shops, and the Board was super excited about this product, thought they had cracked the code of aging, and was really doing nothing from a revenue standpoint for a couple of years. The Board decided to hire a consultant to come in and look at the business, the product, and what was floundering, what needed to be done.
They hired a consultant, he looked at it, and he said, "Listen, this product is just too complex," really, 20 years ago at the time, for people to just go into a GNC and buy it off the shelf. It needed storytellers.
Mm-hmm.
Through that initial conversation, the Board decided that the best way to get this product out was through a direct sales channel, where we have independent contractors who are really our sales force. They tell the story about our products. It's also more than just a product story. These individuals have the opportunity to earn an income as a sales consultant. It was from that very beginning of just needing to have voices that LifeVantage went into the direct selling channel. As you mentioned, we built a business of about $200 million now, and we operate in just under 20 countries. The US is our dominant country of revenue, but we have a footprint in most countries in Europe and in Asia, and look at continuing to expand in the near future into some LATAM countries.
Mm-hmm.
From a very small beginning became a very successful company built around an amazing product as well as a business opportunity for our sales consultants.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. The storytelling as well as the income opportunity, really two advantages of being in this channel. The product was Protandim Nrf2, and that was being commercialized, again, about 20 years ago, at the same time nutrigenomics was beginning to take shape. How central is nutrigenomics to LifeVantage's positioning, and is it still a true differentiator?
Oh, it's absolutely core to really who we are. Nutrigenomics is the study of how genes and nutrition interact with one another. When you peel that back a bit, it's much more than supplementation. All of our products are 100% natural, and really, what we've coined now is it really activates our bodies to produce what it was originally intended to do. In the case of Protandim, Nrf2 is a pathway in our bodies responsible for the production of antioxidants. We have over 30 clinical studies, peer-reviewed studies, that support the notion that our product, Protandim Nrf2, increases the production of antioxidants in our bodies. In fact, it's 1 million times more effective than anything else you can take to produce or to add antioxidants.
Again, turn back the clocks to 20 years ago, people weren't really talking about antioxidants and oxidative stress, another reason why we needed storytellers. Today, it feels like everything you buy has antioxidants in it, or at least they're advertising them. That nutrigenomics piece of natural substances.
... interacting with our genes is critical. We, about a year and a half ago, launched a GLP-1 product that is, we call MindBody. And it clinically studied, it's proven to increase the production of GLP-1 in our body. So very different than taking an injectable, a synthetic, or something where you're adding it to your body. Again, it actually has been proven to increase the production. So that nutrigenomic story, like I said, is just core, it's critical to who we are as a differentiator.
Right. The idea that you can take these natural ingredients and have your body do the work to create the good stuff, if you will.
That's right.
Now we're beyond Nrf2. You've got dozens of products across multiple platforms. Lisa, what does the product have to prove scientifically and commercially to earn a place in the LifeVantage portfolio?
Yeah. Thanks, Doug. Well, for any product to join our portfolio, we actually have a rigorous five-pillar approach to kind of vetting out different ideas. The first one, it's obvious, it has to be nutrigenomically active. It needs to work through this principle of nutrigenomics to use these natural ingredients to be able to influence the genome. We want to be able to influence gene expression either up or down, but the goal is to bring it into balance. It has to be a product that supports that natural activation. Because not every product is going to be a hero product that activates, but there are plenty of support products that can come alongside and provide complementary benefits to those. That's number one, is that our products need to be nutrigenomically active. Second, which is incredibly important to me, is proven.
We start from the beginning with cell studies. We look at individual ingredients to say, "Hey, what do these ingredients do when we introduce them to cells? How do they influence gene expression?" Once we've found ingredients that we like the expression of, we start combining them into different blends, because when you combine ingredients in different blends, there's three things that can happen. You can get a one plus one equals two effect, where you get the benefit of one ingredient plus the benefit of the other ingredient, no more, no less. You can actually see detrimental, you can see them being able to interact negatively, and you see the benefits go down. Third, which is where we live, is synergies. We want to see a one plus one equals, and the math's not like actually mathing, but one plus one equals four, five, and six.
We want to see those synergies to adding these ingredients together. We do in vitro studies to be able to show that. We don't stop there. Once we understand the mechanism of action, we bring them into double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, human clinicals to show kind of translate the science from the cells to the actual human body, ensure that we see measurable changes within there. First, nutrigenomically active, then proven. Third is demonstrable, which is incredibly important for this space. Because there can be a lot of changes happening on the inside, but if you can't see them or you can't feel them, it's hard to sell a product. We need to ensure that they have a demonstrable benefit that people can talk and share about. It's important for the storytellers to have that. Fourth is delightful.
I mean, sometimes people will kind of plug their nose and take a product if they feel like it'll do good, but we want to make that experience good. We want to make it delightful. We want people to be able to enjoy taking our products and the experience that they have with it. The last one is daily. We want products that you can take daily. First of all, it's just good for habit building to take the same product every day so that you can ensure you have that constant activation in the body. Secondarily, it works really well for subscription, because you have a 30-day supply, and it's very predictable in how consumers will purchase it, so it's easier for building a business. The five are the nutrigenomically active, the proven, the demonstrable, the delightful, and then the daily.
Well, that's a lot of criteria. Certainly, these are rigorous thresholds for the products to make to get into the portfolio. We can come to Kristen, who is the Chief Sales Officer, and help us understand how that goes out to the consultants, and they can make money from this. I know, Steve, under your tenure, you initiated LV360 initiatives, which included a new compensation plan, the Evolve Compensation Plan. Kristen, how did these initiatives strengthen the consultant value proposition, and where have you seen that translate into better recruitment or productivity?
Yeah. Thanks, Doug. LV360, I would say, was foundational to be able to do all of that. It's kind of like you can have the best house in the neighborhood, but if your foundation is shaky, it's probably not actually going to last very long. Making sure that we had the Evolve Compensation Plan, all the things that we had in LV360 solid, is really what provided the groundwork for our consultants to be able to confidently go out and share. You talked a little bit in the beginning about making sure you have the right product story. With LV360, we know we have the right income story. The challenge becomes is how do you tell both of those in a way that is so simple that any consultant can share it with their neighbor, can share it with their friend?
That's where we've taken what Lisa has described, and we have kind of this tagline of take it to make it. Take all this to help your body make what it needs. At our upcoming event, we're going to be talking a lot about a similar approach, but for the income opportunity that's more voices, more choices. That just means as I'm going out and talking to my neighbor Doug or my neighbor Steve or Lisa or whoever, the more people that I can confidently share with to get them telling the same story, that's what's going to provide me kind of that income opportunity or the ability to make some of those choices in life that our consultants have made. We know we have the right product, absolutely. Through LV360, we know we have the right comp plan.
The trick is making sure now that people can tell that story in a simple, in a compelling, and a confident way that they can continue to attract others, which we're seeing. We're seeing those kind of foundational principles that we used with Evolve and with LV360 really be what's driving success with those groups who are continuing to build and grow. It's been really great to watch that happen, to see so many people be rewarded for that. Still, I feel like in the beginning phases, and we're getting more and more momentum every day. It's been great.
I'm always amazed at how you can take all this science, which to me seems very complicated, and be able to boil it down into a way that consultants can understand and go out and sell that to their customers. I was always amazed at your ability to do that. Let's get back to the science. You've done a lot with the gut microbiome. You have MindBody, was basically a gut product, and you bought LoveBiome, which is big into the gut biome. Is this where LifeVantage is going, or are we going to see some new areas of nutrigenomics explored over the next coming years?
Well, one of the strengths of LifeVantage is really the white space, and that's what originally attracted me to this company about four years ago. Because there's a lot of companies out there where there's hundreds or thousands of products, and so coming in to innovate, you're like, "Oh, I'm just going to have to be reformulating products," or just trying to have multiple versions of the same product. LifeVantage had so much white space and so many areas to innovate, and so many areas of the body to still activate. At this point, we're not doubling down on any specific area of health, like the gut microbiome, because we have other areas to explore. In fact, we have about an 18-month cadence for our huge hero launches.
We're coming up on one here this October, so we've been working on our new product for a while. It's in a new area of health. It already has its cell studies complete. It already has its human clinical complete, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and the results are incredibly promising. We already have started our research for our launch 18 months after that, which is in another area of health as well, starting to do some of the cell studies for that and identifying ingredients that will eventually build that robust product. Ultimately, we have so many more areas of the body to still activate that we're going to continue with that approach. After that, we'll look and see if there's any areas we want to double down further on.
Oh, there's a lot out there, that's for sure. That's exciting. I can't wait to hear what the next product is. Steve, step back here and connect all of this. We got product innovation, much more coming, obviously. We got the field engagement and the evolving science. What should shareholders expect that to do for growth and value creation over the coming years?
Yeah, well, I hope the shareholders listening in, and prospective shareholders, are getting a glimpse just through this conversation of just how robust LifeVantage really is as it relates to rigors around our product development. We take our products seriously. Lisa talked about the five pillars that we apply to any new product innovation that we have. Since we've put those pillars in place, we launched a liquid collagen product that checks five of those boxes. I mentioned the launch of MindBody, a GLP-1 product that checks those boxes. I'd put into it, you mentioned the acquisition that we made of LoveBiome in the gut microbiome space.
When we were doing our diligence, the very first thing I did when that opportunity was presented was to go to Lisa and her team and have them look at their hero product and understand, was this going to fit within our product portfolio and check those five boxes? I can say proudly that they do. The team at LoveBiome did an amazing job in terms of the development of that product and other supporting products that they have. That is foundational to who we are, those products. Kristen touched on the Evolve Compensation Plan, and without voices, those products could just still be on the shelf at GNC. 20 years later, we have over 50,000 independent consultants throughout the world that are telling this story around our products.
It also coincides with not just the growth of nutrigenomics from a product standpoint, but if you think about the gig economy and just what has happened over the last 20 years, we provide entrepreneurs an income opportunity stream that really is unparalleled. You think about an entrepreneur that really for a minimal amount of money, an investment, a $50 investment, you can get access to world-class products that are science-based. They have access to a compensation plan, access to a publicly traded company, and everything that comes from a transparency standpoint, and gives them all of the tools really that they need to build their own individual business, and in that process, build the LifeVantage business. It really is a unique opportunity, and one that is really on mark, again, from a product standpoint and the way people are wanting to live their lives today.
From an investor standpoint, when I think about it, you've got amazing products, an amazing sales force opportunity, and then you look at the company itself, and we have an incredibly clean balance sheet, no debt, cash in the bank. We have a very strong capital allocation from first investing internally in terms of growth, but then we also have a dividend in place, a buyback in place, an acquisition, and so we are acquisitive in terms of how to grow even further. The space in front of us is just open. We will be launching in new markets internationally. It's a very low cost of capital for us to go into new markets, so we have a lot of growth opportunities internationally and still yet to come in the US.
A lot of tailwinds right now at LifeVantage with all of the good things that we've got going on, and look forward to what's on the horizon next.
Yeah, I see you just launched in Portugal, so when you have your convention in Portugal, please invite me.
Yeah. It's in May.
All right. Well, thanks, Steve, Kristen, and Lisa, for spending time with us today. Thank you all who joined and contributed. You can find current and future research and insights on LifeVantage at www.watertowerresearch.com. If you have additional questions or would like to request a meeting with the management, please indicate through the conference portal, and we will attempt to accommodate requests. We will be moving directly to our next conference session shortly, so please stay tuned.