{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders","title":"Julie Smolyansky, CEO, Lifeway Foods — Go With Your Gut: Behind the exploding global demand for kefir","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1680,"description":"For thousands of years, people in Eastern Europe have been drinking Kefir, a fermented dairy drink. Now, people around the world are waking up to its incredible health benefits, and for one US company, that presents a tremendous opportunity.\n\nJulie Smolyansky is the CEO of Lifeway Foods. When she took over Lifeway in 2002 at just 27 years old, she became the youngest female CEO of a publicly traded company. Since then, Julie has propelled the business forward with innovative product development and marketing, bringing Kefir into the US mainstream.\n\nToday, Julie joins us to recount the history of the company since it was founded by her father, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, back in 1986, and discusses the different market forces working in tandem to drive their recent success.\n\nHighlights:\nHistory of Kefir (2:19)\nHistory of Lifeway (6:52)\nBehind Lifeway's recent success (9:44)\nApproach to Social Media and Marketing (13:43)\nGLP-1s (15:23)\nInternational Distribution (16:41)\nGoals for 2026 (20:19)\nThe Lifeway Team (21:35)\nBrand Authenticity (23:02)\nWhat investors miss about Lifeway (24:37)\n\nLinks:\n\nJulie Smolyansky LinkedIn\nLifeway LinkedIn\nLifeway Website\nICR LinkedIn\nICR Twitter\nICR Website\n\n \nFeedback:\nIf you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/VPbFZOgoHk78hrWlplrfMSrQROUNxI8jcZ2Gv-hyKm4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mYmFh/NWFlNGJjY2Y0NGFk/YmM2NWJiMTI4NmVh/OWQ4Yi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}