Darian McDaniel is the co-founder of PROBLK Health, a vitamin company that supports and gives back to the Black community. He and his wife, Dr. Kaleena Tuggle-McDaniel, used their skill sets to come together and start a movement promoting Black health, while also promoting the healthy conditions of the body, mind, spirit, and relationship.
Tell us about your business.
We’re promoting Black health in the community. It’s a Black-owned vitamin company, started by me and my wife. We started this business for a couple of reasons, and one is that 92% of African Americans have [a] vitamin deficiency. We wanted to do something about that and we wanted to do something about health disparities. Up to 50% of our net profits go to nonprofits that focus on eradicating health disparities in Black communities. We made it pro-Black health and cool with a vibe. We do everything from gummies to tablets to capsules, but we have cool names that resonate with our community, which is disruptive. We have products called Queen Essentials and King Essentials, superfood tablets called “Not Your Mama’s Greens,” melatonin called “Want To Go Night Night,” and elderberry that’s called “Keep Yo Guard Up.” We’re a brand that breaks through the mold, and we’re not your typical vitamin company because we have bright colors, advertising, branding, cool hats and merch. We’re not just a vitamin company; we’re a movement.
How are you promoting your company?
We want to make health cool. I think a lot of times health is a boring conversation, so how do we make it cool and a vibe and make it resonate with our community? We do messaging through email and text, instead of long newsletters. We’re giving information that resonates with the community that they can understand, breaking it down in a simple way, and showing the importance of health. We say health is wealth, but health is everything. Without health, you have nothing. We’re dying quicker, and we’re getting sick quicker. My wife is a bariatric weight loss surgeon, and that’s how this got started because she was seeing younger brothers and sisters weighing 400 to 500 pounds in their 20s. There’s also diabetes, and high blood pressure, and we must change the narrative. It’s about the movement. The vitamin is just the vehicle but it’s all about the movement and being pro-Black health.
Where can people find you?
We’re at Walmart stores and online at www.problkhealth.com. We’re also on Instagram and Twitter @problk_health.
