Women In Wellness: Anna Chokina of Cellular Goods On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

… Find what makes you tick: This might be bigger than a simple tweak, but I believe that the journey towards better wellbeing begins with people finding what they love and building their life around it. People that carve out time in life to do the things they like and are meaningful to them are happier and feel more fulfilled, especially if they’re lucky like me and find that their job is their passion too.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Chokina, CEO of Cellular Goods.

Anna Chokina is CEO of Cellular Goods, a UK-based wellness company that provides premium products based on lab-made cannabinoids, and has more than 20 years’ experience in senior level roles in the personal care and fast-moving consumer goods industries. Anna was previously Vice President of Global Colour Cosmetics, Global Face Care and Personal Care at Avon and, prior to that, she was General Manager of L’Oreal Paris for Russia. Her other previous senior roles included Marketing Director at PepsiCo Russia and Business Leader for Femcare and Healthcare products at Procter & Gamble in both the US and UK.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I have spent the last 20-plus years working across senior level marketing and executive management roles in the beauty and FMCG sectors.

I love what I do: marketing and business and my work has taken me all over the world; I was born in Russia and have since lived and worked in the US and the UK as well as my home country.

I have a passion for new challenges and for developing strategies to help brands grow and following this passion has taken me to exciting companies such as Avon where I was Vice President of Global Colour Cosmetics, Global Face Care and Personal Care; and also L’Oréal Paris where I was General Manager for Russia. I am now CEO of Cellular Goods, a UK-based wellness brand providing premium consumer products based on lab-made cannabinoids.

I’m a big believer in what cannabinoids have to offer in a wellness context and in the opportunity for a brand in this space that can offer high-quality and high-trust products. I’ve seen this firsthand: as part of my experience at Avon, I actually launched the company’s first-ever line of Cannabis Sativa based products for the personal care and skincare market. This experience introduced me to the world of cannabinoid consumer products and the many benefits they can offer.

My interest in wellness is longstanding. Over my career I’ve found that staying in touch with yourself and having a motivated and fulfilled team are vital factors when it comes to delivering meaningful results, and the bedrock of this is often individual wellness and wellbeing. In fact, it is because of the importance of wellness and maintaining a healthy work-life balance that I always try to make the most of my downtime by doing things that help me recharge. For example, I enjoy shopping solo and I always try to book time in my diary for Pilates and my regular retreat at the beauty salon. I also love travelling and, when possible, I try to book-in trips to remote places like Alaska and Patagonia as they help me recharge and give me energy that I can take back with me to function better in life.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

Whilst working at Avon, I was tasked with overhauling one of the company’s brands. This was a difficult job as the brand’s sales had been declining and there was a lot of skepticism not just among the customers, but also internally that this could be done. To help address this, I teamed-up with colleagues from the company’s Research and Development (R&D) team to find an ingredient that would provide credibility to the refreshed brand’s positioning, messaging and packaging.

For several weeks we looked at ingredients used for skincare until I suggested a component the company came across accidentally while developing another product. The component looked promising, and we had a long-term patent on it, making it unique to the company. So, together with the R&D team, we decided to use science to further our understanding of this ingredient which, to our surprise, turned out to contain an amino acid capable of restoring up to seven years of collagen loss. From this point onwards, it was all hands on-deck until the final product was on the shelves.

Looking back, I would say this project was one of my biggest professional achievements. Not only did we turn around the brand from decline to growth and expanded the use of the ingredient to several product ranges, but this experience also taught me that when marketing and R&D work together from the onset, they can deliver excellent results. This is a lesson I’ve kept close throughout the years and the reason why as CEO of Cellular Goods, I’m committed to ensuring our scientists are working with suppliers and the marketing team at every stage of the product development process.

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Throughout my career I’ve faced many difficult situations that have taught me some valuable lessons, with one of the most important ones being the value of a good working environment.

This did not happen right at the beginning of my career but took place as I began to become responsible for entire teams. As part of one of these teams, I had a direct report who was excellent at her job, but she had a difficult relationship with her colleagues, to the point that some members of the team told me that her attitude was creating a toxic working environment. Notwithstanding these complaints, I decided not to act immediately as the employee, despite the reports of her negative attitude, was over performing so I wanted to wait to see if things would settle down.

Six months later, I let the employee go and that’s when I noticed the change in my team. All my colleagues became less on-edge which helped improve their mental wellbeing and, to my surprise, they also started performing better. Now I’m keen to emphasize the importance of the work environment, take prompt action to address any factors that may be affecting the mental wellbeing of my team and dedicate more time to helping individual team members strike a balance.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

At Cellular our focus on wellness is holistic, it’s about ensuring that people can look, feel and function better by taking a scientific approach to delivering products with one of the most exciting breakout ingredients of our times. Cannabinoid compounds are capable of reducing stress, regulating mood and even helping you get enough sleep. A wealth of anecdotal evidence and a growing basis of scientific studies have shown that cannabinoids can deliver a host of wellness benefits.

Our goal at Cellular Goods is to use these latest scientific findings, alongside our own research, to develop products that can help people take advantage of all the benefits of cannabinoids, including CBD and Cannabigerol (CBG). As part of these efforts, we recently launched the UK’s first CBG-powered skincare products that use the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of CBG to help people maintain a healthy skin and combat the damaging effects of UV-radiation and ‘inflammaging’. This skincare range is supported by scientific research we’ve conducted that bears out these properties.

As well as helping people look better, we’ve also focused on the latest in scientific research into the benefits of CBD to inform the launch of our ultra-pure lab-made CBD ingestibles to reduce stress and improve sleep, helping people feel better throughout the day.

All the CBD and CBG used in our products is lab-made to maintain purity, consistency and quality to a higher degree than can be achieved through traditional field grown cannabinoid production. Our use of lab-made cannabinoids is also helping to make a big impact on the world from an environmental standpoint because lab-made cannabinoids aren’t just purer, they’re greener too and by a huge margin. Lab-made production is the clear future in responsible cannabinoid production on several counts including more efficient land usage, the removal of the need for pesticides in production, and the significantly lower requirements for energy, water and heavy machinery in the production process. All of which also contribute to a much smaller CO2 footprint.

There’s still much more we can do to help improve people’s health and wellbeing which is why we’re committed to continue developing products that are not only environmentally friendly, but that also allow people to take advantage of all the benefits lab-made cannabinoids can offer.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

Every person is different so while some of my top five recommendations may not work for everyone, I hope they can at least help some people with their wellbeing. My top five ‘lifestyle tweaks’ that have helped improve my mental and physical wellbeing by reducing stress and helping me maintain a better work-life balance are:

Find what makes you tick: This might be bigger than a simple tweak, but I believe that the journey towards better wellbeing begins with people finding what they love and building their life around it. People that carve out time in life to do the things they like and are meaningful to them are happier and feel more fulfilled, especially if they’re lucky like me and find that their job is their passion too.

Avoid bad company: Throughout the years I’ve learned that socialising with bad company brings nothing but trouble and stress, which is why it’s important that we try to stay away from bad influences and focus on getting closer to people that challenge and support us. At the end of the day, they’re the ones that will be there during the hard times and that will help us reach whatever goals we set ourselves.

Sleep well: From allowing the body to repair itself, through to enabling the brain to consolidate memories and process information, getting at least seven hours of ‘good quality’ sleep is key for people to improve their wellbeing. However, achieving good and uninterrupted sleep is easier said than done, especially after a long and stressful day. I personally find that, in addition to having a good nighttime routine, lowering my room temperature to 18–19°C and using CBD-based products, which research has demonstrated to help reduce stress and aid sleep, can help me sleep better.

Find the healthcare routine that works for you: While staying active is key for people’s mental and physical wellbeing, maintaining a regular workout routine can be difficult, especially for those of us who don’t enjoy traditional activities like running or going to the gym. This is what happened to me before I started doing Pilates and the reason why I recommend that, instead of committing to any workout plan, people find activities that are not only fun and good for their physical health, but that can also help them relax and recharge — it’s much easier to make a habit of something when you enjoy it.

Get a pet: As a proud dog owner, I can testify that having a pet can have a very positive impact on people’s wellbeing. A pet will not only require people to take it out for walks which can help them stay active, but it can also help reduce stress and, for those who live alone, keep them company!

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would launch the ‘good quality sleep’ movement to raise awareness about the dangers of getting limited and poor-quality sleep while providing advice on habits and innovations designed to help people sleep better.

Getting a good night’s sleep is key for people’s mental and physical health. However, many people, especially parents and working mothers like me, often cut down on their uninterrupted sleep time as part of their efforts to balance their work and personal responsibilities.

While these efforts might work at the beginning, people that don’t get enough sleep will eventually become less productive and will be more prone to getting sick. So, to help people maintain and even improve their wellbeing, we should put sleep at the top of the conversation about healthy lifestyles.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

A career is a marathon, not a sprint: I started my career at 26, much later than some of my peers at the time, so I spent a lot of time worrying about whether I was progressing fast enough. After many years I worked my way up to senior marketing and management executive roles at Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, L’Oréal and Avon, culminating in my current role as CEO of Cellular Goods. Looking back, I wish someone would’ve told me earlier that my time would come and that I should just enjoy the journey.

Don’t obsess about career progression, lateral career moves can be good too: Some people are obsessed with moving up the career ladder as quickly as possible, but the reality is that lateral career moves can help people develop skills and build networks that they will need throughout their careers. Time spent looking for opportunities to develop a range of skills throughout your career is valuable and can be an accompaniment to progression.

If the company culture doesn’t fit, leave or you will burn out: After working at a company that wasn’t the right cultural fit for me, I learned that being in a situation like this affects people’s mental and physical wellbeing until they eventually burn out.

Look for stretching jobs: Sometimes we stay in roles where we’re not learning or being challenged because they’re easy or comfortable. Despite the challenge, I’ve consistently gotten most from stretching roles and opportunities, as those are the ones that forced me to learn new things and pushed my career forward.

Always be open to new possibilities, don’t just stick to the plan: Before embarking on a new personal and professional project, we usually make plans about how we will achieve our goals. I wish someone had told me earlier that while these plans sometimes go awry, the important thing is to be flexible and open to new ideas about how to reach the final goal.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

If I had to choose one from this list, I would say mental health.

From the moment we wake up until (as is all too often) we put down our phones before going to sleep, we’re overwhelmed with information about work, politics, COVID and climate change, to name a few. Access to immediate information in the digital age has in a sense made us all more connected, however, it has also taken a toll on mental health for many by making people more anxious and stressed.

Poor mental health not only harms a person’s wellbeing, but it can also affect those around them and society as a whole. We must take care of ourselves by taking the time to disconnect and relax, helping protect both our own and other people’s mental health.

What is the best way our readers can follow you online?

The best way to follow me is on LinkedIn. I suggest that people interested in learning more about cannabinoids and our products also visit Cellular Goods’ website or follow us on Twitter.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!