Start with a Problem You’re Passionate About Solving: Interview with Jack Dell’Accio, Founder and CEO of Essentia
I recently went one-on-one with Jack Dell’Accio, founder and CEO of Essentia.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Jack: Thank you, Adam. My journey to becoming CEO of Essentia was driven by a deep-seated passion for wellness, shaped by family health challenges. These challenges inspired me to create products that genuinely benefit people's health. The early days were tough, with skepticism from investors and consumers alike, but these hurdles taught me resilience and the importance of backing our products with solid science.
Failures were numerous, but each one provided a learning opportunity that propelled us forward, particularly in refining our products. Setbacks led to breakthroughs in our technology, highlighting the importance of perseverance and innovation.
Throughout, the support from our team and the community has been crucial. Looking back, every step, setback, and success has been vital in my journey, teaching me the value of staying true to our mission of delivering wellness above all.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea and know it was worth pursuing? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with and test business ideas?
Jack: The idea for Essentia stemmed from a personal need for healthier lifestyle choices, particularly in response to family health issues that highlighted the importance of a restorative sleep environment. Recognizing this gap in the market for health-focused sleep solutions drove me to explore the potential for a product that combined wellness with innovative technology.
My advice for others is to start with a problem you're passionate about solving, one that resonates on a personal level. Validate your idea by talking to potential customers and getting
their feedback early on. Don’t shy away from sharing your idea with others out of fear of criticism or theft; the feedback is invaluable.
Finally, prototype quickly and cheaply to test your concept in the real world. This iterative process of feedback and refinement is key to determining whether your business idea is worth pursuing.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Jack: The key steps to grow Essentia involved focusing on product quality, building a strong team, and listening closely to customer feedback. We continuously innovate our products to meet and exceed customer expectations. Building a strong, passionate team was crucial for driving our vision forward, as was creating a feedback loop with our customers to ensure we were always improving.
For others looking to elevate their business, my advice is to never compromise on the quality of your product or service. Focus on building a team that shares your vision and commitment. Lastly, always listen to your customers—they are your most valuable source of feedback and innovation. Growth is a continuous journey of learning, adapting, and staying true to your core values.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Jack: For sales, understanding your customer's needs and how your product meets those needs is crucial. Build relationships rather than focusing solely on transactions.
For marketing, based on Essentia, share your story that resonates with your audience. Authenticity and consistency in your message. This is why I am passionate about sharing why I started Essentia. Connecting with your audience authentically is what creates the bonds to the brand. When we make that connection, we find our audience is more than happy to share Essentia with their own friends and family.
Adam: What can anyone do to optimize the quality of their sleep?
Jack: Focus on the sleep environment starting with air quality, lighting, temperature, sound, allergens… eliminating these stimulants will substantially impact sleep quality.
I’ve obsessed over the sleep environment and identified the stimulants that directly impact sleep quality. My research has proven that the sleep environment that Essentia provides does in fact result in deeper sleep and more restorative sleep. As we obsess over the benefits of quality sleep provides to one’s life being able to quantify this with Essentia was key.
As a sleep coach, there are 3 easy things in the sleep environment that I would recommend someone look at if they would like to improve their own sleep quality:
Choose an Organic Mattress: This is the single biggest change you can make to the bedroom. There are several components of a traditional mattress that can keep you tossing and turning or activate your central nervous system such as toxic chemicals from glues, synthetic foams, and flame retardants that you breathe in at night, pressure points from springs and too firm mattresses, allergens caused by dust mites that can burrow into springs and wool. You want to prioritize an organic mattress to ensure you are eliminating the toxic chemical stimulants a body can react to. By choosing an organic mattress without springs and wool, you are also eliminating the pockets of areas that can harbor dust mites and trigger allergies.
Eliminate Light Stimulants. Strange lights or blue light can interrupt your sleep cycles at night or make it harder to fall asleep. Apart from blackout curtains, I always suggest using blue light-blocking light bulbs in the lamps on your bedside table or blue light/red lens glasses at night. This ensures when you are winding down for the night you are not being disrupted by the light emitted from traditional bulbs or the lights in the room.
Eliminate Sound Stimulants. Eliminating the noise of outside or simple noises that you in your home that may be bothersome is another big change. Adding a sound machine to your room that offers a number of choices such as ambient music, white noise, or pink noise helps to significantly quiet the brain and help you feel more relaxed when it’s time to go to bed.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Jack: I believe effective leaders are characterized by vision, empathy, resilience, clear communication, and decisiveness. To enhance leadership skills, seek feedback, commit to continuous learning, engage in mentorship, practice regular reflection, and empower team members. These steps can significantly improve leadership effectiveness and contribute to a more dynamic and supportive work environment.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Jack: My best advice is to focus on clear communication, trust, and empowerment. Ensure every team member understands their role and the team's goals. Build trust by being transparent and supportive, and empower your team by delegating responsibilities and encouraging autonomy. Foster an environment where feedback is valued, and mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities. Remember, a strong team is built on mutual respect and shared commitment to success.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Jack:
1. Be adaptable to change.
2. Maintain a clear, inspiring vision.
3. Communicate effectively and openly.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Jack: The best advice I've received is to be patient as time will expose the truths and give direction. This guidance has been invaluable in both personal and professional contexts while navigating challenges and uncertainties.
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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