With our focus of the month being on Wellbeing, we’re excited to highlight Andrew Laloli, CEO of BePure, as our next People of Asuwere. We first met long time member Andrew at our Mackelvie Street store in 2019. With his BePure office just 200 metres away, Andrew became a regular along with his business partner Ben Warren.
BePure is a scientific wellness company that are on a mission to create healthier lives and communities across New Zealand.
We caught up with Andrew, BePure's CEO to hear a little more about their story and vision.
-Tell us the story of how BePure started and how you became involved.
I went along to a Ben Warren seminar in mid 2014 and was amazed by the information shared. We started chatting and I invested November 2014. We created a new website, brand look and feel and and relaunched on July 1st 2015 when I started full time as CEO. We added the BePure Clinic business in October 2015 and Eve Wellness in Feb 2019. We’re humbled by how much people have resonated with our mission, and how much we’ve grown over these short years, and are excited by the growth opportunities ahead of us. It still feels like we are just getting started!
-What have been some of the highs and lows along the way? What was that like for you?
The highs have definitely been the amazing transformational stories we've received over the years from people whose lives we’ve been able to touch. The incredible thing about the work that we do is that here are too many of these to count! But the ones that stick out for me are our ‘BePure babies’! Hearing stories of people conceiving and having healthy babies, when they have been told it wasn't possible for them, is pretty rewarding for the team.
As far as lows go, as all businesses do we’ve spent time and money on things that didn’t land as we’d hoped. Around 3 years ago we poured a huge amount of money into a big project that didn’t eventuate as planned and it took a number of years to clean up the mess!
-What are some of the most effective ways that men can improve their personal health and wellbeing?
It’s honestly the simple things that can make the biggest impact. Find a balance that works for you that takes into account your health, mindfulness, family, work/purpose, friends and fitness/sport. The order or priority will differ from person to person, but prioritising your health/mindfulness will have a powerful trickle down effect on the rest of your life. Physical health is very important, but it's important to balance that with diet, lifestyle and mental health. We all have mental health, and this is something I'd encourage everyone (especially men) to explore and learn how to understand and manage your emotions in a healthy way.
-The importance of mental and physical health and wellbeing seems to be gaining more attention and awareness. How have you seen this evolve and where would you like to see it headed?
In short, I would love to see the government being more bold and progressive when it comes to the prioritisation of food and food quality, lifestyle, mental health and physical health in our society. The health and wellness movement and mental health awareness have progressed into the mainstream over the last 5 years, but this has been driven by industry and public demand, rather than good planning or policy on behalf of the government. People look to authority figures for guidance, and there is no bigger authority than the government.
-What’s next for BePure?
Over the coming years we’re planning to significantly grow the awareness of our BePure and Eve brands and their respective missions, both in NZ and overseas, getting our products and services into the hands of more people who can get value from them. We also have a number of exciting new products and services launching over the next 12 months to address needs we’ve observed in our customer communities that are not currently being met.
-How do you personally like to unwind?
Playing golf, good food, spending time with family/friends and getting out of Auckland on the weekends when I can. I try to meditate at least once a day, twice if I can. I've been doing it on and off for about 5 years and I've found it has really helped with getting a clear head to help with decision making, and managing my thoughts and stress.
-How does Asuwere suit your lifestyle?
Asuwere gives me a great base of clothes throughout the year which is one less thing to think about. It’s all pretty versatile for both work and home; and it's easy, a great price and good quality, so it ticks all the boxes for me. To be honest, my girlfriend wears a lot of it too, so it keeps her happy!
Head over to BePure's website to check out their full collection of products. https://www.bepure.co.nz/