“When I started Neuro Brands, I saw a need to address what I thought was lacking in the lifestyle beverage space.”
Diana Jenkins, an extraordinary woman with a fascinating journey. While she now stands tall as the Founder, Chairwoman, and CEO of the highly acclaimed Neuro Brands, her path to success was not always adorned with glamour and luxury.
Born into a challenging upbringing, Diana’s early life was marked by hardships, having to navigate a world of scarcity and adversity.
As the Founder, Chairwoman, and CEO of Neuro Brands, Diana’s entrepreneurial spirit took flight in 2009, propelling her company to soaring heights. Behind the scenes of this privately-owned lifestyle drink company lies a mastermind who has transformed Neuro Brands into a powerhouse, with its products gracing over 65,000 locations nationwide.
The brand’s immense popularity can be attributed to Diana’s visionary leadership and commitment to its success. The Neuro Brands lineup is as diverse as it is purposeful, offering a range of energy drinks and powder packets, each tailored to address specific wellness needs.
Whether it’s NeuroSonic, a refreshing energy drink, NeuroSleep to promote restful sleep, or NeuroBliss to help reduce stress, Diana’s creations cater to the demands of modern life.
Not only are the products readily available at major retailers like Walmart, Publix, and Amazon, but they also carry a message – “Drink with a purpose” – epitomizing the brand’s commitment to well-being.
How do you think your early life experiences have shaped your innovative approach to creating and promoting healthier beverage options?
Diana Jenkins: Growing up in a tiny flat in a communist country, Diana Jenkin’s circumstances were limited, but her family’s love and support made them a tightknit unit. Recalling those days, she said in an interview with Startup Savant, “My parents were loving and supportive, and my incredible brother and I were very close.”
However, their lives took a dramatic turn in 1992 when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia. The declaration led to a devastating siege of Sarajevo, with 18,000 forces shelling the city and causing immense suffering.
These harrowing experiences during the Bosnian War undoubtedly shaped her perspective on life, health, and the importance of wellbeing. Witnessing the hardships faced by her family and community, she developed a deep appreciation for the value of health and sought ways to contribute positively to people’s lives.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind starting Neuro Brands in 2009?
Diana Jenkins: Diana’s journey began when she moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and connected with philanthropic and human rightsminded individuals. Inspired by her new friendships, she gathered 100 friends, including celebrities like George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson, for a coffee table book called “Room 23.”
Sales from the book supported her human rights foundations, reflecting her dedication to making a positive impact. “When I started Neuro Brands, I saw a need to ad- dress what I thought was lacking in the lifestyle beverage space,” Jenkins explained during the interview with Startup Savant. “Most of what I saw on shelves were bottles and cans that had long lists of ingredients, were mostly energy drinks, full of sugar and, quite frankly, didn’t taste very good.
I knew I could create functional drinks that were better in every way to serve customers who might be in nonstop seven-day work cycles and needed to destress, and sleep better.” With an unyielding dedication to craft- ing products that prioritize health, taste, and functionality,
Jenkins set out on a journey to revolutionize the beverage industry. Her vision for Neuro Brands was to provide people with a range of functional drinks that could cater to their hectic lifestyles and help them relax and improve their sleep quality.
Through dedication, innovation, and a passion for making a difference, Diana has successfully transformed Neuro Brands into a leading name in the functional beverage market. Her journey serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to merge their passions with impactful business ventures, all while striving to create a healthier and better world for everyone.
Could you elaborate on the challenges you faced as a woman entrepreneur with a unique background, breaking into a male- dominated market?
Diana Jenkins: In a recent interview with Forbes, she shed light on the challenges she encountered as a woman entrepreneur with a unique background while venturing into a male-dominated market. She recalled, “I always knew that I want- ed to build and run businesses.
When I first started Neuro, the industry was overwhelm- ingly dominated by men. And there I was, a woman with a Bosnian accent, telling them that they’re overlooking major consumer needs in the beverage space.” The hurdles she encountered were multifold.
Firstly, being a woman in a male-dominated sector meant facing stereotypes and biases that often questioned her ability to lead and succeed.
However, she did not let these perceptions deter her from pursuing her entrepreneurial aspirations. Secondly, her unique background and Bosnian accent might have initially posed communication challenges, especially in the business landscape where effective communication is crucial. However, she used this uniqueness to her advantage, leveraging her diverse perspective and experiences to bring fresh ideas to the table.
How did you identify this gap in the market, and what steps did you take to develop, produce, and eventually get your products on the shelves?
Diana Jenkins: “When you’re a content creator, you don’t have to deal with gatekeepers or supply chains. However, as a brand, there are numerous barriers to overcome, including buyer meetings, slotting, logistics, and getting a product developed, produced, and on the shelf,”
Jenkins shared in her Forbes interview. Jenkins and her team at Neuro were determined to make their mark in the market by offering unique and functional products that were not yet available in stores.
Identifying this gap in the market was the catalyst for their journey. Jenkins emphasized, “We identified a gap in the market for unique functional products that didn’t exist in stores at the time.
This realization led us to develop our Neuro products and bring them to the market. Since our inception, we have been fortunate to build a loyal consumer following that recognizes the quality of our products and believes in them.”
Over time, their commitment to innovation led them to establish their own laboratory in California, where they continuously experiment with new functions, flavor combinations, and explore different ingredients. Jenkins proudly shared, “We have built our own lab in California, where we’re constantly developing new functions, flavor combinations, and exploring ingredients.”
Considering Neuro’s strong presence in the retail sector, how do you see the integration of NFTs impacting the brand’s overall growth and market positioning?
Diana Jenkins: In the same interview, when asked about the impact of NFTs on Neuro’s overall growth and market positioning, Jenkin’s response highlighted the brand’s strong presence in the retail sector and its expansion plans.
“The NFT market is scared, and fear affects the market in a negative way. Although [this] world is relatively new, I think that it’s the wave of the future,” Diana stated confidently. Her optimism about NFTs aligns with Neuro’s vision to continue growing and exploring new avenues for their brand.
What inspired you to dedicate your efforts to humanitarian work and advocate for human rights and dignity, particularly after the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Diana Jenkins: Diana Jenkins spoke passionately about the profound impact that the conflict had on her. “You cannot imagine the level of cruelty, in- humanity, and disregard for human life, once the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina began,” she recalled in an interview with Startup Savant. “It changes you. I think it is the duty of every person to do their best to help others and to fight for their human rights and dignity.”
In 2008, Jenkins decided to take concrete action to address these issues and established the Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project at the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. The project focused on legal and political advocacy related to interna- tional war crimes and justice.
This groundbreaking initiative became the first endowed program on international justice at any law school in the western US and was later recognized as one of the “World’s Top Three Justice Innovations” by The Hague’s Institute for Innovation of Law.
Furthermore, Jenkins founded the IrnisCatic Foundation in 2002 to honor her murdered brother, which continues to provide essential funding for medical facilities at the University of Sarajevo.
She emphasized, “The secondary consequences of war last generations. Children grow up in a war suffering from malnutrition, poor educational opportunities, and the loss of family members. Too many then have lowered physical and cognitive abilities, resulting in disadvantages even after the physical infrastructure is rebuilt.”
Her remarkable efforts were acknowledged by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which honored her with the 2012 Enduring Vision award. Sanela Diana Jenkins’ story truly exemplifies the notion that business success is meaningful only when used to positively impact the human condition.
Looking ahead, what are your long-term aspirations for the foundation’s impact on the lives of Bosnian people, and how do you envision the legacy of your work?
Diana Jenkins: Looking ahead, Diana Jenkins envisions a profound and lasting impact for The Sanela Diana Jenkins Foundation for Bosnia and Herzegovina on the lives of Bosnian people.
In her own words, she emphasizes, “My message, and the driving force of The Sanela Diana Jenkins Foundation for Bosnia and Herzegovina, is simple: The world must not forget Bosnia.”
Diana Jenkins acknowledges that the perception of Bosnia by the global community often centers around tragic memories of war and suffering. In her own words, “To much of the world, Bosnia evokes memories of mass graves and urban slaughter in an obscure and long-neglected corner of Europe.
To me, though, Bosnia is a much more complicated and heartbreaking place—a place where memories of idyllic childhood summers collide with brutal images of war and constant reminders of its dehumanizing consequences.”
Her long-term aspirations for the foundation involve sustained efforts to collaborate with the international community, nations, leaders, and individuals who played a role in ending the conflict. In her words, “The nations, leaders and individuals who acted to end the fighting must now help nurture the peace. Peace means more than the absence of war. It means educational opportunities.
It means access to quality healthcare. It means justice for those who were violated.” Through her work and the foundation’s endeavors, she hopes to contribute to a revived and thriving Bosnia—a place where, in her words, “the community of nations can do much more to restore dignity, prosperity, justice and hope to all the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
This interview was originally published on ValiantCEO.
