The Stormy Stories Show
Building a company isn’t a straight line. It’s messy, unpredictable, and sometimes a little stormy.
On The Stormy Stories Show, Angela Robertson sits down with CEOs, founders, and tech leaders to talk about the moments you don’t usually hear about. The tough decisions, the unexpected pivots, the pressure of leadership, and the lessons that only come from navigating real storms in business.
These are honest conversations about building, scaling, and leading through uncertainty in the world of technology and innovation.
The Stormy Stories Show
Melissa L'Heureux-Hache – Founder, VEGAIN Nutrition
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What does it take to build a category-defining consumer brand in one of the world's most competitive industries?
In this episode of The Stormy Stories Show with Angela Robertson, Angela sits down with Melissa L'Heureux-Hache, Founder of VEGAIN Nutrition, to explore what it really takes to challenge industry giants with innovation, conviction, and relentless execution.
Melissa shares how VEGAIN transformed plant-based sports nutrition by focusing on performance first, why bootstrapping forced smarter decisions, and how investing in technology has created a lasting competitive advantage. From launching breakthrough products to scaling into major retailers like Costco, this conversation is packed with lessons on leadership, product innovation, resilience, and building a business designed for the long game.
Whether you're a founder, CEO, entrepreneur, or product builder, this episode offers practical insights into creating a brand that customers genuinely believe in.
Gone are the days where you can just say, oh, we're better for you. Oh, we have clean ingredients. Oh, our supply chain is really great. That's sort of become the default, right? Everyone expects that of their brands now. Whereas the difference in where we have leveraged tech and what's really uh pigeonholed us into this kind of tech CPG space is because we're using tech to innovate in ways that other people haven't before.
Angela RobertsonWelcome back, everyone, to the Stormy Stories show. I'm your host, Angela Robertson, CEO of Ace Tech. We are BC's premier community for tech founders and CEOs, and we exist so that every CEO and our company can thrive. I'm so delighted to introduce you to today's guest, Melissa LeRoux Acher of Vegain Nutrition, a fast growing, and when I mean fast, I can't wait for you to hear how fast it's happening. A Canadian sports nutrition company redefining performance fuel with plant-powered innovation. She is a serial entrepreneur known for building bold consumer brands. She is pushing boundaries in health, wellness, functional nutrition, and I would say now tech, because we should talk about that too. Welcome to the Stormy Story Show, Melissa. Angela, thanks for having me. Thanks for all the kind words.
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéI'm happy to be here.
Angela RobertsonYeah. We're so grateful to have you. I am dying to have our listeners find out what inspired you to launch V Gain and what problem in the sports nutrition market were you and your co-founder determined to solve?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéSo I guess taking it back, I've been in the CPG space now for over 10 years. And sports nutrition is one where there's a lot of competition and a lot of people doing the same things. And I have heard the feedback time and time again that sports nutrition is saturated, right? There's no more room to grow. Whereas from my perspective, our perspective, we saw that it was a little bit stagnant. 70% of the global population is lactose intolerant to an extent, but whey protein is the number one selling product in sports nutrition. And people weren't choosing plant-based options because they didn't taste the same, right? They tasted a little bit like dirt and not like a milkshake, which is what people want. And from a branding perspective, too, a lot of the plant-based options were really identity first, right? A lot of it being centered around being a plant-based option versus being performance first. So we saw a big opportunity to create products that could resonate with a wider audience that were really performance focused, that were good for the most elite athletes, but also tasted good enough that the everyday consumer actually wanted to drink them. So we launched B Gain about three and a half years ago in 2023. And it has been a nonstop growth journey since then. That's amazing.
Angela RobertsonIt means that you've clearly hit a point in the market where just what you identified, there's white space there. There's people who haven't quite found that space to play in and to design their product around. And you know the market, right? Presumably because you have been this consumer before as well, right?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéOh, absolutely. Yeah. I am a longtime vegan. I like to think I'm the least denying vegan you'll ever meet. But it was uh one of those people that, yeah, no, the products that were available to me just weren't a joy to consume. And when it's not a joy to consume, it does have a really big impact on your health and your well-being. As much as you want to say it's all about the results and it's all about the macros, if you have to pinch your nose to drink something, that's a really big problem and a big roadblock. So we spent a lot of time and energy formulating products that outperformed the competition on every level. So, including taste, texture, macros, convenience is a really big factor that blocks a lot of people from picking up a product and creating new products that nobody else had. So, really getting our elbows out in this space to build a name for ourselves as an independent company that's going up against giants, right? We're a small independent company from West Coast of Canada. We made a promise to ourselves as a brand that we were going to prioritize local. If an ingredient grows in Canada, we source it from Canada, we manufacture locally, we work with local team members, which results in a really premium product and is a really great way to build a business. But it also means that, you know, it can be challenging when you're up against people who have the scale, who have the deeper pockets and who may be willing to either cut corners or use lower quality inputs just for the sake of speed or or the cost associated. Yeah. So it's been a really interesting way to build, but it clearly resonates with customers and where we are today, where it's not just about who can do us biggest, cheapest, and widest. It's about, okay, what are we doing that is actually the best quality product for people? And that's been a good uh system for us. Yeah.
Angela RobertsonI mean, that resonates for sure with me. I'm sure with a lot of our listeners too, having been a triathlete and now a mom who's just trying to work out when I can, uh, if I am going to fuel myself, it better taste good. So I think it's a really telling piece, right? If you know that the market is already there, and then you can create something with quality that's gotta appeal to a wide base. I want to pull on that string of, you know, what you're doing is really remarkable in that you're a small grassroots, mostly bootstrapped company, right? Competing against these giants and industry. What have been the hardest parts of growing without major outside funding to date?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéUh, where do I start? Like everyone, there's challenges, you know, uh never-ending challenges and opportunities. It's a double-edged sword in every way, but um, CPG in particular, consumer packaged goods, it's always a cash flow game, especially when you don't have unlimited funds behind you because of the way that inventory cycles work, production, even retailer uh cash flow cycles, you are often fronting the cost and you have paid for everything 60, 90, 120 days before you ever see that cash coming back to you. So to forecast and to grow can be really challenging when you are limited with how much cash flow you have on hand. The flip side of that, that I think is a really undervalued edge, it's an uncomfortable one, but it does mean that you have to be really, really smart with the way you grow. You can't release vanity skews for the sake of it. You can't be um frivolous with your marketing spend. You can't make a hundred hires hoping that one of them is a gem. You have to be really, really hyper-focused. And so the foundation that we built for our brand was so outsized to the size of our company. And every time that we've reach that next level, we have this really solid base that allows us to keep growing without having this shaky foundation. So, cash flow, you know, just because of those cycles is definitely the ever-present challenge. And I think that's just the case for physical goods in general. But as we grow, especially when we innovate, you know, there's a cost associated with RD as well. But you have to be smart and you have to leverage the programs that are available, which as a Canadian company, we are so fortunate that there are a lot of grants, there's a lot of money available for people who are doing research and development. And so to really utilize that and make sure that we're connected in the ecosystem and using the tools available.
Angela RobertsonYeah, I think a lot of people sometimes don't realize how many different programs there are out there and kind of getting introduced to different people too. But what you've touched on as well, Mel, is this notion of needing to make these pretty big bets, sometimes in the absence of a lot of data, right? How do you build your confidence to take that next decision to put money into sort of that product placement or that SKU that you're so confident in when you know the cash flow might not come back?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah, it's you know, it's an ever-present question. And there is a lot of data that we can draw on. There's a lot of really calculated decisions that we can make, but it's an art as much as it is a science, right? There's also a certain level of um intestinal fortitude you need to have, I think, as a founder, to just like be okay with making that bet and understanding and having the confidence that, you know what, we've seen the product market fit with our consumers. I think there's a really big that of I personally see the need for this. And okay, maybe you shouldn't just build for yourself. But if protein powder became illegal tomorrow, I at least have a lifetime supply of a product I genuinely love. So there is a level of, you know what, if everything goes sideways, I do have a belief in this product. And I think that goes a really long way when we're building and making these big bets. Now, I don't think that's gonna happen. Um, and I do have that faith that there are other people like me who are going to use and resume products, but to have that genuine love and belief goes a really long way.
Angela RobertsonOr we talk about in tech, especially how can you live in your customer's shoes, right? And if you are living loving that product, there's gotta be a market for that out there too, that's consistent and longer term. What other leadership lessons have you learned while scaling both the business and the team at VGain?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéIt's it's a constant learning, and maybe to give more backstory on the way that we built VGain, but um, my co-founder is also my spouse, and this our, I guess, third venture together, technically. We started a CPG company together in 2016. We bootstrapped it all the way to exit as a team of two. So we never had a team around us and we wore all of the hats. Um, we did some time at the public company that acquired our first business. So we did get to work in a team dynamic and learned a lot of lessons that way. And then when we left post-contractual obligation, we started a creative agency. Again, worked in partnership with a lot of people and client-facing, but it's different than building out an internal team. So with VGAin, we also started bootstrapped. We also started as a team of two, leveraging, you know, outside partners and experts. But now that we are scaling as quickly as we are, and that we are growing digitally and online, but we're also entering retail in a big way. We're launching into Costco in one week. I was just telling you pre-recording, I don't know when this comes out, but we may or may not be in Costco right now to the listeners. We are building out a really robust internal team. And that comes with a lot of learnings because the the way that we were running the team six months ago is fundamentally different than the way that we have to run the team now. We're building different systems, we're operating at a different scale. And so to watch the way that our leadership style shifts through all of these different stages has been really interesting. And it's important for us to stay on top of that. But I think a lot of founders, or I myself anyway, have a hard time delegating and moving from that kind of founder operator state to that leader state. Um, so to get comfortable with delegation and understanding, you know what, I don't do everything myself, but I empower other people to own something and do it and encourage and give people that ownership has been a big lesson in leadership that has gone a really long way and I'm still learning every day.
Angela RobertsonWhat would you say you're working on most presently in terms of that sort of delegation? Well, like, what's the next hat that you're trying to remove?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah, it's that's a good question. I think just letting go, and it I was uh I'm fortunate to have a lot of other founders in my network and yourself included and the Ace Tech included. But one thing I was having a really hard time letting go of personally was just customer emails, which is such a funny thing because you would think, oh, it's a relatively simple thing to automate or to delegate. But the connection that we've created with our customer base has been so strong and our voice is so specific. And as a sports nutrition company, I think we appear like quite large. And a lot of sports nutrition companies can be a little faceless. So we've built this really strong personal connection with our customer base. So to let that go and to trust that we've built the system, we've empowered the team to carry that narrative through has been really challenging for me. But at the end of the day, it was such a big time-consuming piece of my day-to-day that now to be able to dip in, make sure everything is good and have that sort of overview rather than be in it and answer customer emails at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday when I should really be doing other things has been a big shift in terms of next hats to remove. I think it's just to continue building those systems and focus more on that relationship management versus uh maybe executing on every single thing.
Angela RobertsonI hear you. And yet, what an empowering thing for your team, right? As soon as they get an opportunity to really touch or talk to their customers, that's where all the learning becomes begins, right? And you being able to empower them to have those conversations, it ties them right into the value of what you said before. I think sometimes, especially, I liked your term of faceless, right? We get so worried about removing ourselves as founders or CEOs from the brand. And yet sometimes the customer really just wants to connect to the team. And almost the more that they can get to know each member of the team, the more they feel connected to the overall brand as a whole. So I think that's it's hard. I know it's hard. I feel like that's the hardest thing for me, too. But uh so definitely empathize there, but it's so valuable for just building that broader team out and getting those connections with the market.
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéDefinitely. Yeah, I think as as founders, a lot of us, the thing is we love it, right? And so it's okay, to what extent do you have to focus elsewhere with all of these things that you really love to build, love to get your hands dirty, love to be in it, but to your point, it to empower the team and to watch how much they can grow and how well they can do and take that off your plate and really run with it and grow it. It's a beautiful thing to see.
Angela RobertsonThat's amazing. I want to also understand, you've talked uh openly about retailers who don't always get the vegan concept, uh, which is surprising to me, especially now that I feel like veganism is a bit more ubiquitous. You know, you don't even typically need to ask if there are vegan options at places because it's kind of expected, I would think, but it sounds like maybe that's not the case. How do you handle resistance while staying true to your vision?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah, it's uh I have spoken openly about it and it did sort of catch me by surprise as well, because it is such a normal thing, right? I don't think about vegan options ever. I just know they're out there, and it's such an easy way for me to live my life. But as we launched, we saw a pushback from people saying, Well, that's not me. You know, I'm not vegan, therefore these products can't be for me. And rather than argue with that and say, no, they are and this is why, or say, you are wrong and this is why, um, to just go, oh, why is that? You know, with uh our flagship product, it was a plant-based mass gainer, which is uh a protein powder that's very high protein, but also very high calorie, high carb, super niche product. Not everybody needs a mass gainer. It's for people who have extremely fast metabolisms, want to put on a lot of muscle mass. And so again, it's not for everybody, especially when weight management is such a big thing in sports nutrition. But we would have people say, you know what, I've never thought about a vegan gainer. I don't think I need that. We would say, okay, well, with your current mass gainer, does it make you bloat? Do you get inflammation in your joints? Does it make you feel bad? And they would say yes. And so that's when you can open the door to saying, okay, well, this might not have all of those side effects. And then they try it and they see, oh, you know what, it tastes just as good, if not better, as what I was using before. The macros, undeniably, and this was a really key piece to the way we formulated all of our products, have to be better than the competition. We have over 50% more protein per gram in our gainer than the next leading gainer, which is whey-based. So it's uh have to create that undeniable system where give it a try. And uh particularly now, we just launched a clear protein product. So we have a clear vegan protein available in a powder and in a ready-to-drink can. It's called Surge. And Surge can looks like a Red Bull. It's a lightly sparkling sports beverage. It drinks like a Gatorade, it has 25 grams of protein. And people still go and they say, Oh, you know what? Vegan, that's not for me. Meanwhile, they're holding a Red Bull or a Mountain Dew in their hand, which is vegan. And so to just either point those things out or deliberately maybe not lead with vegan, because the people who really care are the ones who are going to pick it up, turn it over, check the ingredients list. The people who aren't, who just want that performance-focused lens first, we can lead with the macros, with the benefits, with the story of where it came from and the manufacturing behind it. So to highlight the performance rather than the vegan aspect first is the way that we've really approached that. And from you know, a retail perspective, just highlighting the traction that we have and to show them the undeniable momentum, the product market fit, the consumer demand, there's not really any arguing with that. Whether people get it or not, the people are asking for it. So it's a relatively easy thing to navigate, even though it always does surprise me when people go, oh, vegan, that's that's just not for me.
Angela RobertsonThe framing changes a lot, right? And oftentimes, like I would say, even as an athlete, you know, I just reached for whatever was at the A station, right? You just don't really think about like what is in it or it's what is available to you. And then based on that, you go, okay, how do I feel after that run or after that swim or whatever you're doing in the gym to get a sense of it? But yeah, people do kind of put themselves in a box of I am or I am not. Whereas ultimately, have they really thought about, you know, their how they're fueling themselves for training in that context of like, is this a vegan product or not? They probably don't realize that a lot of the things that they're consuming right now as you know, replacement or even during their workout is maybe already vegan and they've just never considered that.
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéTotally. And I love what you said about the aid station because as a performance nutrition brand, that we do work with a lot of incredible athletes and organizations. And often we are the ones operating that aid station and providing the hydration and the protein and the recovery for these athletes. So many people, to your point, they're running through, they're grabbing whatever's on the table and off they go. However, so many people run up to us and say, Is do you have anything vegan? Do you have anything dairy free? If they're not looking around and seeing the brand name, because of course, as soon as they see the brand name, they know. But they ask because there is a real need for a lot of those people and the look on their faces when we go, oh yeah, everything here is vegan, whether it's because of a way that they like to live their life and a lifestyle or a dairy allergy or whatever else it is, to be able to offer those solutions to people and see them light up that way is so amazing. And I think there are more and more people who are realizing that certain products don't work for them. So for maybe the bulk of the population who don't mind either way, they're very happy to use our products and they're not sacrificing anything. But for those people that we're really solving that problem for, like there's no better feeling in the world.
Angela RobertsonThey feel seen.
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéAmazing.
Angela RobertsonYou've met you've said that there's an intersection now of tech and physical goods, you know, and we've seen that, right? Coming through Ace Tech and even just coming through our broader community, there is this notion that, like, in an AI-powered world, right, there's like everyone is building in tech or in a technology-empowered environment. How has that affected how you're building sort of v-gain as opposed to your other ventures? And then how do you see consumer brands evolving over the next few years?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah, it's there are so many threads to that question. And I love this question because when we launched our first brand in 2016, it was a totally different world than the one that we're operating in now in 2026. And it's funny, we as a consumer brand, right, with physical products, we have been so deeply sucked into the world of tech, right? Uh the fact that we are participating and members at Ace Tech, that we have made it to the finals for the new Ventures BC competition, which is a tech competition and that we keep getting egreg is really fascinating and something that I didn't necessarily anticipate when we launched three and a half years ago. So the way that we leverage tech and that we're able to grow as a small team has been really important and is a key piece to that. But also to your question about how are people going to bend forward. Gone are the days where you can just say, oh, we're better for you. Oh, we have clean ingredients, oh, our supply chain is really great. That's sort of become the default, right? Everyone expects that of their brands now. Whereas the difference in where we have leveraged tech and what's really uh pigeonholed us into this kind of tech CPG space is because we're using tech to innovate in ways that other haven't before. The clear protein that I was talking about before is really the biggest, uh the biggest example of that, where we're first and only, we spent Two and a half years in RD developing this process. And you know, there's a formula piece to that too that we're protecting with trade secrets, but that we've actually developed a process that we filed a provisional patent on and that we are solving these really big problems in terms of solubility and stability and ingredients, foaming, all of that through a tech-based process is where that moat exists because we're not just contract manufacturing the same stuff and putting different branding on it, not to undercut branding. I am the first to say that brand is, I think, the underrated and most important moat that anyone can have. But underneath that, to also have a really stellar product that nobody else can copy or to make it very, very difficult for them to copy is a way that we've leveraged tech. And I think that other people need to be comfortable innovating and pushing those boundaries and doing something different rather than maybe playing in those status quo waters that everybody else.
Angela RobertsonI mean that's right down to the definition of strategy, right? You had create a unique and highly valuable position for your business to operate in. And if you're different enough and valuable enough to your customers, then who else is going to come into your space and play with you? That's so important. Definitely. Yeah.
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah. I heard someone say, I really enjoyed this. They uh said, in the right winds, even a turkey will fly, right? You can have like a relatively subpar product, but if the timing is right and the market's right, your marketing is brand is amazing. You can push that turkey along for a while, but as soon as the winds shift, it's gonna fall flat. You need to build something underneath that that is able to take off and go on its own. So we like to think that we have both, and that that's a big key to the success that we've found in the last three worlds.
Angela RobertsonI love that. So I mean, Mel, I think, you know, what struck me from the first time that we met is that there is a passion and a magnetism to you and how you show up and how much you reflect where you want to take the gain and where it's going. I think that's a very important quality in a founder or CEO, that they are they are living, breathing, and like driven by what they're doing. What else do you think separates those who break through from those who burn out? Because this isn't all, you know, celebrating being in Costco. There's a lot of tough times, a lot of late nights. This is not for the faint of heart, right?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéTotally. And I don't really know how best to communicate this because I feel like I am, I don't think it's for everyone. Um, and I think there's a lot of glorifying hustle culture that can be toxic, where you know what, people do burn out and they do hit a wall. And you have to be so persistent and you have to keep going, but you also have to know, okay, when am I taking this too far? And when do I need to step back and rest and recharge these batteries? So it's a tough line because I am hyper obsessed with my brand and my products and my business. And I'm so lucky that I get to build with my spouse. So, like there is no work-life balance, right? We live, breathe, our whole household is encompassed by our brand building, which again, I wouldn't necessarily recommend to everyone, but for us, it works. And this has been our dynamic since day one, and we absolutely love it. So it does push that line of burnout a little further out than maybe it would for other circumstances and other people. And I also think that there's a level of taking it very seriously, but also like making sure you're having fun along the way is a really big piece to remind yourself, you know, that get-to mentality of I don't have to do any of this. I get to do all of this. I live in a country where we were talking about before a lot of tools and resources to help build. We have a lot of those. I have an incredible community around me, and our brand has an incredible community that supports us. And I think also getting an exit kind of out of my system early on also helps say, okay, well, what are we actually building towards? It's not just running towards an exit for the sake of it. What are we trying to achieve? And having that longer-term, bigger picture thinking really helps keep that fire lit every single day. When you do have, you know what, a day that goes sideways and it's really hard. How do you keep going and make sure that you're building for the next day? And a rule that we uh have cultivated internally is no egos, no assholes. That's a really big one. You know, you gotta make sure that the people that you're working with are really good. And uh an exercise that I take myself through is if I look at my Google Calendar and I'm not excited to see a name in there, I really have to reflect on why that is. Because at the end of the day, there will be bad days. Things will go sideways. That's just a fact of life. But are you building with the people around you that you're comfortable being open and honest with, that you're comfortable building together through those hard times? Or do you think they're gonna drop you like a hot potato and not be there to help you? Or would you be willing to help them when they inevitably make a mistake or do something? So I think that it sounds a little bit kumbaya, but really building with people that you want to be in relationship with for a long time is important and an underrated piece of business that has served us all the way.
Angela RobertsonLike you want to have the best people around you. And everyone has their own role in that, right? So it doesn't mean they're all the same person, but that whole notion of like, can I trust my teammates? Can I really like, are they gonna be there, you know, for the long run? I think that's so important. And it's hard to do also. It's hard to be that discerning and to get check and go, am I excited to meet with this person?
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah. And you know what? The we're lucky that we get to make all the sports analogies and that we live in that space because there are a lot of really good ones. But sportsmanship is a really central concept to what we're building and how we're building, because there's only one number one spot on the podium and we want it. However, how are we gonna get there? What are we gonna do? And how are we gonna interact with the people around us to get that number one spot? We're never gonna kick anyone on our way up. We're gonna help people when they fall, but we're still going to strive to be that number one. So I think it's that just to keep that in the backs of our mind helps us navigate these decisions that might be really hard ones for a business uh or a team. But when everyone understands, okay, you know what? I'm I can gut check. And as long as I feel good that this is aligned with the sportsmanship that we've cultivated in our business culture, then it makes that a lot clearer to us along the way.
Angela RobertsonOh my gosh. Thank you so much, Mel. I'm so grateful to you. Thank you for talking to the Stormy Story show today. And I can't wait to see your products on the shelves at Costco and everywhere that we can possibly see it going forward. Thank you for being such a great part of our community.
Melissa L’Heureux-HachéYeah, thanks for having me. It's what you guys are doing is so important. And again, to that point about building with people around you who get it and who will be there for you through the good times, the celebrations, and the tough times. It's so valuable. And I appreciate you and appreciate the whole thing.
Angela RobertsonAt Ace Tech, we believe one of the most valuable resources a leader can access is another leader's experience. That's why I created the Stormy Stories show to bring you honest conversations about the moments that test us, shape us, and ultimately make us better CEOs and founders. So thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.
