Dominating Ecommerce with Sharp Messaging and Strong Hires | Alissa Miky | Aqua Theon Inc and OoMee
Alissa Miky is a Japanese entrepreneur and the founder of OoMee, the first seaweed-based beverage in the U.S. She’s the youngest woman ever recognized on Forbes Japan’s Top 100 list. After running a successful flower business, Alissa created the viral seaweed candy company Misaky.Tokyo, and later launched Aqua Theon, a seaweed tech company.
In spring 2025, Alissa turned her proprietary Seabiotics™ technology into the star ingredient for OoMee -- the functional beverage bringing the wellness benefits of agar-agar to America's beverage aisle.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
- [00:00] Intro
- [01:58] Pioneering a niche in an untapped market
- [03:43] Using cultural roots to drive innovation
- [06:51] Sponsor: Klaviyo
- [08:52] Sizing up categories before committing
- [10:57] Callouts
- [11:07] Using competitor research as winning edge
- [14:25] Sponsor: Intelligems
- [16:23] Letting the product do the talking
- [19:44] Knowing when to launch and building
- [21:51] Sponsor: Electric Eye
- [23:00] Using intellectual property for passive income
- [25:43] Turning disadvantages into entrepreneurial fuel
Resources:
- Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
- Marine plant-based company https://aquatheon.com/en
- Marine-powered functional beverage https://oomee.life/
- Follow Alissa Miky https://www.linkedin.com/in/alissa-miky-21a8673b
- Migrate and grow more https://www.klaviyo.com/honest
- Book a demo today at https://www.intelligems.io/
- Schedule an intro call with one of our experts https://electriceye.io/connect
If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!
Transcript
Alissa Miky
We really focus on the product, development, and communication. And yeah, that pays a lot right now.
Chase Clymer
Oh, I mean, I'm going to just highlight what you said in a different way because it comes up a lot on this show. Something that makes your job a lot easier as an entrepreneur is having a great product.
Alissa Miky
Correct.
Chase Clymer
That is a cheat. That is a cheat. It's just like something that's easily replaceable or doesn't have any differentiation or uniqueness to it. You just have to find these things in whatever niche that you're in.
Honest Ecommerce is a weekly podcast where we interview direct-to-consumer brand founders and leaders to find out what it takes to start, grow and scale an online business today.
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Honest Ecommerce. Today, I'm welcoming to the show Alissa Miky. She is a seaweed tech pioneer and the founder and CEO of Aqua Theon Inc. and OoMee, the marine-powered functional beverage. Alisa, welcome to the show.
Alissa Miky
Hi. Thank you so much for the time. I was so excited to finally talk to you.
Chase Clymer
Yes, yes, yes. So I guess, first and foremost, at the top for the folks that are unaware of the brands that you helm, what are the products that you're bringing to market?
Alissa Miky
Yes. Hi, everybody. My name is Alisa Mickey. And I need to do this. I'm the founder of Aqua Theon and OoMee. OoMee is an American-first red seaweed based power bite Seabiotics. It's made from agar agar, a Japanese red seaweed used in wellness for 400 plus years.
And we launched like about five months ago, but we’re already in 700 locations nationwide in the States right now. We're growing really fast. The velocity is like two times better than the other functional beverage. Yeah, that's what I do now.
Chase Clymer
That's amazing. And we're gonna get into how you found that velocity. But I guess, first and foremost, during your intro, I called you a seaweed tech pioneer. So how do you get that title?
Alissa Miky
So, as a Japanese American, seaweed is a pretty natural thing. Like we eat sushi, nori, furi kake. But it was so challenging to make the seaweed product in an innovative way. Because seaweed, if you boil the seaweed, it's gonna be jello, right? And also seaweed is actually affected by the sea temperature when you harvest. So if you harvest on a cold day, the seaweed fiber is gonna be so squeezed. Boil that, it will have a strong texture.
On the opposite, if you harvest on a warm day, the seaweed’s diamond fiber is going to be gigantic. And if you boil that, there’s no texture. So it's so difficult to make the exact same quality and then make the innovative product without chemical additives. That's why I decided to create all the Seabiotics technology by ourselves.
We can actually make medical cup cell plastic alternatives from the seaweed, but it takes time under the FDA. So we decided to use our technology in food and beverage. So that's why we call ourselves seaweed-tech pioneers. Kind of making that kind of sprinkle communication.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. And so it sounds like there might be some more innovative stuff on the horizon for the brand in the future.
Alissa Miky
Yes. Yes. I wish I could tell all my story to you today, but I know you only have 30 minutes today, so I'm going to post it over there.
Chase Clymer
So let's just talk about the first foray into the market. And that's OoMee. And you mentioned that's the American version of the brand. So did you launch internationally as well?
Alissa Miky
No. Aqua Theon is doing every business in the US. I'm a Japanese-American. Before I explain the details, let me talk about why I started this company because it's really important for me. So as a Japanese American, I was born in the US, grew up in Japan. And, you know, I was already, this is actually my third company.
When I was 21, I started a flower shop business, made it number one in Tokyo. I was the youngest finalist in the Forbes Japan when I was 24. So I did a lot of business there. But at the same time, I was feeling so sad that when I came back to the US, I found that the food and medical industry is kind of broken here.
And I love the US. We are a leader in companies, we can change the world, but that reality was missing. So as a Japanese-American, I thought that let me try to bridge some Japanese secret heritage here in the US to make people more, how to say, like healed and happy. So that's why I moved back to the US six years ago, and started Misaki Tokyo.
It’s a seaweed candy brand that already has 1.4 million followers in TikTok. But again, little by little living in the US, I gained 40 pounds in just three months. And then I ended up in an ER. I am actually a cancer fighter. So little by little, I was feeling like how can I fix my body? I felt that my body, my mental health, and soul was breaking down.
One day I went back to Japan and then I realized that there was so much seaweed stuff there. Like not just Nori chips, but also yogurt, juice, and supplements. There are so many things that are created by seaweed. It's really healthy, really sustainable and it's also affordable. So that’s where I realized that, “Oh, I wanted to do a seaweed product. I wanted to make a more innovative product.”
That's why I created all the technology from scratch again. Bring the OoMee. And yeah, we're doing seaweed business now.
Chase Clymer
Yeah, that's amazing. And it is quite abundant. And if you can make products out of it, I feel like there's probably a good margin there.
Alissa Miky
Well, yeah. The lucky thing is we're not just a technology company. We also cooperate with a lot of small farmers in Chile, Indonesia, Japan and one more secret country. So that's why we have both benefits. Not just talking about the technology, but also we're catching the supply chain itself. So yes, I think our margin is better than the other beverage or the other candies too.
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As you are looking at the market here in the States, how did you settle on a beverage as the first one that you wanted to tackle?
Alissa Miky
That is a good question. So as a startup, I believe that we need to make a rocket success. Like when I was doing Misaki Tokyo, the candy business, it was amazing. We have 1.4 million followers. That's why our revenue went to seven figures immediately without any other advertisement. But the problem was the candy market, it's so small compared with the beverage market.
Like look, the Smartsweets, they're probably doing like $300 million or maybe more. But the biggest startup is around 300 million-ish. To compare with the beverages, like Poppi, Olipop, they're doing 500 million, 600 million just for the beverage brand. So that's why I thought that as a startup, we always need to chase the moon. And we decided to use our technology in the beverage to educate people how to use the seaweed, what is the benefit of seaweed.
And there's not just a huge market, but also a lot of people are curious to try a new product. To compare with the other CPC, they have their own specific favorite brand. Like in tomato sauce. We have a favorite tomato sauce and then they always wanted to stick with it. But in the beverage I thought that there's a lot of people who would love to try new products.
So that means, of course, it's a red ocean, super competitive. But at the same time, people are ready to try it. Even the weird seafood. So we decided to start to heavily invest in the beverage market.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. And I do think you are right. There's something about product discovery in the beverage space. People are always just like, they'll try anything once and if they like it, then you've got a fan of the brand.
Hey everybody, just a quick reminder. Please like this video and subscribe if you haven't. We're releasing interviews like this every week. So don't miss out. Now back to the interview.
So you launch in beverage and then you, as you said earlier, now you're in 700 stores. That's amazing. How'd you do it?
Alissa Miky
Again, how do I say it? We launched our product five months ago officially. So it looks like a really short time. But technology wise, it took four years to make it happen. Because again, seaweed, if you boil it, it's gonna be like a jello. So we created our own technology. Take that jello texture with no fishiness or saltiness. It's just, we tried to make it with just a fresh juice. So it took four years to make it happen. But once when we created the product, we did two things.
First, we hired an amazing sales team, which is super important. Our chief sales officer, his name is Ryan. He was the first sales member of the Honesties, so he knows how to grow the beverage. And he has a lot of connections in retail. So that was like a one win. He's so expensive, but it was worth it.
But the second thing we did was this huge competitor analytics. That means what kind of other companies are communicating, not just talking, not just researching about the function of beverages. But also clean energy, even the tea. How they communicate is a really important thing. And we created two keywords. One is Seabiotics, which is under our trademark. And second, we communicate the OoMee through satiety, to help curve cravings.
So once when we created these two unique short keywords, it blew and the retailer said, “Oh, that's so unique.” And people know that the GLP-1 drug is blooming. So they're looking for alternatives like natural alternatives. That was like a hit on the market. Also, people love the Seabiotics because people know about the prebiotics and probiotics, but they feel bored.
If we communicate about another prebiotic probiotics, they say, “No, we're tired.” But when we just switch just like P to sea, they suddenly become interested in like, “Oh, what is that? That sounds familiar, but that sounds new.” So those kinds of competitor analytics and creating the new keyword was the king to grow so fast.
Chase Clymer
Yeah. The positioning and differentiation of your product really helps you win in the market. And those just sound like buzzwords. But if you think about why people buy and if you're just comparing apples to apples, the Americans saying, it's just like, “Okay, they're the same thing.”
But then if you start talking about things that are inherently unique about your product, it starts to separate you from the competition. And then people want that unique stuff. So obviously, coming up with seabiotics is brilliant and all the other things that you just shared. And that's what helps you get that success.
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You mentioned a bit ago that you hired a salesperson as your attempt to get into the market. You were going traditional. You want to be in retail stores. What made you choose that channel as the first distribution channel?
Alissa Miky
That's a super great question. So how should I say it? The beverage is so difficult to make a sale online. I talked to so many.
Chase Clymer
And it's expensive to ship.
Alissa Miky
Exactly. Exactly. So my background is all about marketing and then also branding and, and new business development. I love data. I love doing a lot, like huge analytics. So when I researched a lot of things about Poppi and Ollipop, their strategy was to win in retail first. Then they went to Amazon. They do a little Halo effect together, little-by-little.
So on that point, starting from the online beverage, it's too difficult. We need some kind of stepstone. And on that point, retail is tough, but I was super confident about our product. The differentiation. The timing. So that's why we decided to heavily invest in retail first. Little-by-little that halo effect comes to our online and then we can send more customers to the retails.
Once the data came, the other retailers wanted to carry our product more. So that kind of halo effect really worked. So for the future entrepreneur who wants to do the beverage, I seriously recommend first to focus on the amazing product. Focus on a sharp enough form of the communication. And then investment to the retails or investment online if that makes sense.
I saw so many entrepreneurs who struggled. Who didn't really make it sharp enough on the product and then spend a lot of money on the other activities. I think that's kind of tough. But we really focus on the product, development, and communication. And yeah, that pays a lot right now.
Chase Clymer
Oh, I mean, I'm going to just highlight what you said in a different way because it comes up a lot on this show. Something that makes your job a lot easier as an entrepreneur is having a great product.
Alissa Miky
Correct.
Chase Clymer
That is a cheat. That is a cheat. If it's just like something that's easily replaceable or doesn't have any differentiation or uniqueness to it. And I had someone challenge me on this once on the podcast where I said clothing was something that was pretty hard to sell. And he was like, “No, taste and being ahead of the fashion curve is a differentiating factor.” And so you just have to find these things in whatever niche that you're in.
So having a good product, first and foremost, just makes your job so much easier as an entrepreneur like you said, spend time on it. But I do want to ask, is there such a thing as spending too much time on it? Should you launch?
Alissa Miky
Wow, that's really hard to say. That question hurt my ear. Again, I spent four years to make this happen. But luckily we succeeded from Misaki Tokyo. That's why we could have a buffer time to continue those R&D. So honestly, I don't know what is the answer. But for my takeaway, Misaki was a super easy lift. The margin is like $$$.
Chase Clymer
That's wild. It's a big number, everybody.
Alissa Miky
Yeah, we know. We made a lot of profit on Misaki. And then also because of that amazing traction, we already fundraised about $8.3 million in the past. That's why we can heavily, you know, we had a run rate to like focus on the product launch. But I don't know. To be really honest with you I don't know what the answer is.
But what we learned was if you wanted to do a beverage or some heavy stuff, I really recommend you tap into the cash. How to get the investment money. But at the same time, you need to be clever about how to spend that money. And our decision was creating the technology. Not creating just a brand, technology is really important. Because once you have the technology, you can have more exit plans in the future.
Right now, I cannot tell the details, but we're actually going to make a white label with one of the huge beverage companies next year. Those kinds of relationships are things we can build. I mean, yes, it takes time. But focus where you want to build it. Then later on, that's to pay a lot.
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I've got a few more questions for you. One, with Misaki, as you alluded to, funded the initial development of OoMee. Do all of these live under the Aqua Theon brand now?
Alissa Miky
Yes, correct. So Aqua Theon is the entire holding company. Then underneath, Misaki, OoMee, and even the medical cup sell patent is also under the same corporation.
Chase Clymer
And I'm so glad you said the word patent because you talked about your seaweed technology. Are you guys trying to get a patent on that process?
Alissa Miky
Yes, we already registered the PCT and are now switching into the individual country patternized system. So we're ready to rock-and-roll in the medical field too.
Chase Clymer
So whenever I travel a lot for work, Shark Tank is on every hotel TV for some reason, and I just watch it religiously. And what excites the sharks without a doubt, is when they say they have something patented. Right? And so I guess for any listeners out there Why does a patent excite the sharks? What makes it so good for your business?
Alissa Miky
Yes. So in the food business, unfortunately, we cannot make patents in general. Because food is a trade secret. Under the food law, people think that it's just a recipe. So the recipe is a common information. Everybody can steal together. We should share together. That is the rule of how it works.
For the OoMee and Misaki, there's a lot of trade secrets too. But in the medical field, it's different. That's why we decided to patentize our technology there. And then under the patent, we actually covered a huge category of the patents. So in the future, if somebody wants to make a medical capsule or like plastic alternatives through the seaweed, I can get the fee.
So it's a huge margin. It's a huge market. Even if you're not going to work hard, that patent is going to make money for us. So that's why protecting your patent is really important. But at the same time, the difficulty of a patent means you need to open that information public. So you need to be really strategic.
You need to really be clever to where, what kind of information do you want it to hide as a trade secret? Versus which information are you okay to share in public and get that as a money resource?
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. Now, is there any question I didn't ask you today that you think would resonate with our audience?
Alissa Miky
I would love to talk about early product development. Because honestly, my background is marketing and branding and PR. My side job is a TV anchor that 50 million people watch the show in Japan. But how to say, I don't have any background in science. But I created this technology by myself. How? I actually purchased a lot of, you know, scientific machinery from Amazon, and put everything in my kitchen.
And I tested 4,000 times to make this OoMee formulation in my kitchen slash I call Lavalazzo. So what I wanted to share with the public is, “Look, I am not an English native speaker and I'm an Asian woman. I didn't graduate from a university in the U.S. and I don't have any science background. I have ADHD. I didn't have any family or friends in the US when I came back to the US.
And yeah, I have a lot of difficulty, but I created this amazing technology and I created this amazing business. So what I really wanted to tell everybody is, “Hey, you have a better position than me. You can speak English more fluently than me. You have a lot of friends and family here. You probably have an amazing connection here.
So you have much more advantage than me. And the difference between me and the other is I just wanted to say that I really, really work hard. So if I wanted to give inspiration for the future entrepreneur, look at me. I’ve built things until here. So you guys have much more advantage than me. Then you can rock more than me.
So always, doing entrepreneurship is tough. We always say, “Oh, you're not gonna succeed. You're not gonna do la-di-ya-di-ya. You're too weak. You're too small. And you're just Asian. You cannot speak English. You are like la-di-ya-di-ya-di-ya.”
There's so many things that people are gonna mention about you to make you feel small. But no. Don't listen to that negative voice. If you believe in yourself, focus on yourself. There's no limitation. This world is so big, but at the same time actually too small. You’ll succeed really well, if you work hard, if you study really hard, and if you are nice. Like today, I have an opportunity to talk to you. Right?
So I just wanted to mention to everybody that early product development is tough, but do it. You can do, you can like, you know. It's an AI society. You can search easily. You can tap into more information quickly. All you have to do is change your mindset and just work hard.
Chase Clymer
Absolutely. And that's an amazing positive message to end things on. But one last question, probably the most important question. I'm excited to try this seaweed beverage. Where do I go? What should I do?
Alissa Miky
Oh, thank you so much for asking. We're on Amazon Prime, so we can ship nationwide. Also, if you're especially living in California, there's so many locations over there like Raleigh's or Bristle Farms, Lassen, and Mothers. If you want to check which retail store you're going to, please check OoMee. You can check the location navigator over there.
Chase Clymer
Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Alissa Miky
Thank you so much for having me.
Transcript
