Tooktake with Leeanna Gantt feature 52 of Together Talks
- KLS
- Aug 17, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 14
"Together Talks" feature 52: tooktake presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on tooktake
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the privilege to interview Leeanna Gantt, Founder, of tooktake. Invented by, Leeanna, a breast cancer survivor, during treatment. Tooktake is a simple dosage reminder system that lets you know if you took, or still need to take your prescription and over-the-counter medication and supplements. Unlike conventional pillboxes or complicated “smart” solutions, tooktake works for tablets, capsules, liquids, creams, and most other types of packaging, and is available in three formats to cover most dosage requirements. Another reason that tooktake is unique is that it was NOT designed for older adults, it was designed with everyone else in mind.
Their goal is to change the way people look at medication. Instead of medication having the stigma of signaling that you are "sick","old" or something to be ashamed of, they want medication to be a symbol that you are taking care of yourself and doing all you can to get and stay well! After all 4.6 billion prescriptions were written in 2020, that's a lot of people who are taking care of themselves or working to get well, they should be celebrated not made to feel bad. Tooktake is a symbol that will let others know that you are working to stay healthy and that they can help you, by knowing at a glance know if you took or still need to take or use your medication or vitamins. Tooktake is also great for pet owners! Tooktake is a woman-owned company. Made in the USA, FSA/HSA approved, and a plastic neutral company.
Self-Created
Leeanna's journey took a turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her battle, part of her treatment process included taking multiple prescriptions. In order to stay organized Leeanna started using sticky notes to create a reminder system. This was the origin of what she ultimately would create. Leeanna began brainstorming better alternatives for her reminder. Ultimately she created tooktake in 2019. She had found a formula and process that took the questioning and guessing out of the equation. You simply had to look at your tooktake label to know if you took or still need to take your meds.
The name was a creative play on the question and thus tooktake was created.
For the busy
The beauty of tooktake is that it supersedes traditional pill containers or apps on the phone. These tabs can be applied to traditional prescriptions and also liquid which traditional pill organizers don't offer. Tooktake provides multiple options for frequency of days and hours to take the prescribed medicine. Leeanna told us, "we designed this for people who are busy. When I was battling cancer that was my only focus. Since beating it I can relate more to the average person who has prescriptions because we get busy with work, family, life. Our products remove the concern for you if you took your medicine yet, that is the benefit of tooktake."
The products are found in over 2,000 stores for both CVS and Walmart. Also tooktake is partnered with Cardinal Health who distributes to independent pharmacies across the country. Leeanna advised that the pharmacies are the easiest sells for getting a chance to place product, but where the bigger challenge comes in is reaching consumers to show them the benefit of tooktake. The one avenue they take is trying to share their story as often as possible to reach as many eyeballs as they can to expand their reach. Leeanna shared with us that 70% of the population take prescriptions which doesn't even include supplements. "Our products are super simple, easy to use and we are attempting to reach an audience that isn't being addressed", Leeanna told us.
Art School not Business!
Challenges are plenty for tooktake and Leeanna as are in owning any business. Our favorite line from our chat with her was, "I went to art school not business school!" But Leeanna said it presents her the opportunity to constantly learn and grow which she feels is very rewarding. The goal is to help as many people as she can with her company's products. Being able to expand her knowledge and improve the company's operations allows for scaling and reaching more users. Leeanna did tell us that one benefit was her and her husband previously owned a graphic design company, which propelled them to create their website and do their own design work. That allowed for monetary savings for a start-up which can be critical.
Continuous learning is how Leeanna stays on course with constantly challenging herself to improve her leadership, operations, and business acumen. One advantage she shared was the ability to remain nimble. Because tooktake is still small, allows her to address different things and take opportunities that present themselves. Always learning, adjusting, continuing her efforts and then ultimately shifting to be better is the mindset Leeanna operates under. Being able to adapt and utilizing feedback across the board, keeps tooktake growing and reaching their ultimate goal, to help as many people as possible.
Helping People...and pets!
Tooktake was created for one goal in mind, to help people. The same way Leeanna helped herself while battling cancer, she created her company to help others as well. She told us they are not in this to make as much money as possible, instead they are geared towards growing to expand their reach year after year. Some examples of future projects she is interested in is providing the tabs in brail, or other languages. Leeanna told us she keeps a list of suggestions from customers and hopes one day to be able to provide for each request off that list.
The company donates to communities within the breast cancer community, whether individuals or organizations by supplying products. They also procced to contribute by donating a percentage of profits to multiple organizations.
Leeanna is hoping that the remainder of the year improves brand awareness for tooktake. As for any recent company, funding is always an issue which is why tooktake relies on organic reach and word-of-mouth advertising. But Leeanna believes in the message of helping people and will continue to share her story whenever possible. But not just people...last month they opened a pet line as well! Leeanna shared with us, "One of our first customers sent us a review saying how much she loved the product for her cat. It saved her from texting back and forth every day with her Husband about if the cat had it's meds". That started the idea for the line and it was finally released last month!
Joke became reality
Leeanna said she joked with her husband during her treatment, "I'm going to make these and sell them to other people." But she shared she NEVER imagined it would be an entire business. She told us how much it means to her to help people and getting messages from customers brings her so much joy and pride. But there are doubts and fears that can impact the tooktake business. Leeanna explained she almost has more to lose because having cancer is such a tremendous expense, so the pressure to make this business work is a huge gamble. She doesn't have the safety net to fall back on, because that was used during her battle with cancer. But she believes in her company and the product and the impact, ultimately she believes the risk will take off and make it worth it in the end.
Leeanna said one of her greatest strengths is learning to not dwell. As she explained, "I feel all the feels, but at the end of the day I know I have to get it done. So when things aren't working or going wrong, I ask myself how can I figure it out? There is no time for pity parties. Instead we pivot to be better and constantly improve, and no failure will bring us down". Leeanna uses every opportunity as a chance to again learn and grow.
It is imperative to Leeanna that people understand she isn't just intending to help "sick" people. Instead she wants her company to be thought of as a wellness company. There are so many people who aren't ill, just have to monitor or maintain to feel better. She provided a great example, "Allergies. You aren't sick. But if you take your medicine for allergies you won't feel your optimal best. Our goal is to help people stay well". Another aspect of helping people is Leeanna never wants her company to prioritize money over helping provide care for people.
Leeanna said her favorite aspect of her company is being the boss (she said she thinks she is a pretty good one too!). She told us her most special moment was the first run of the product. Around that time, she had also received the patent, combining both and realizing she was holding something she created was so surreal. As she shared, "Even if just a handful of people use these to better their lives, knowing I helped them is so incredible".
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In Closing
KLS wants to thank Leanna Gantt, Founder, of tooktake for today's "Together Talks" feature. Keep up to date with tooktake by following their blog on their website, check it out here. Follow along for the tooktake journey with their social handles below!
Also check out where tooktake has been featured in the following publications below!
And the following Podcasts:
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