ABOUT DR. RICHARD BROWN:
Richard Brown is a successful nuclear medicine physician, emeritus professor, and healthcare executive. Now this first- time consumer product founder in Ann Arbor has taken a consumer product idea toward commercialization at 71.
Poka Snack™ is a patent-pending reusable tool that makes it easier to freeze and coat bananas and other fruit. We launched on Kickstarter August 4 and are already over 78% funded.
What started as a simple idea has taken me into a completely new world of product design, patent filings, securing a U.S. manufacturer, crowdfunding, and social media, where Poka Snack has grown to more than 14,000 TikTok followers.
ABOUT ANDY LABARRE:
Andy LaBarre was first elected to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in 2012, representing District 7, located in the eastern half of the City of Ann Arbor. Andy is a proud Democrat. He served as Vice Chair of the Board of Commissioners and previously served as Chair of the Board (2017-18), Chair of the Ways and Means Committee (2015-16), and Chair of the Working Session Committee (2013-14). Andy lives in northern Ann Arbor with his wife Megan (a teacher at Dexter Community Schools), son Declan, daughter Delaney, and dogs, Monster and Frankie.
Andy now serves as Executive Vice President and Director of Government Relations for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber and is David Fair's co-host for "Washtenaw Business Lens."
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TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: This is 89.1 WEMU, and it is time for our monthly look at the business community in Washtenaw County. I'm Caroline MacGregor, and welcome to Washtenaw Business Lens. Each month, we partner with the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber to examine how the news of the day impacts the local business community. Andy LaBarre is Executive Vice President and Director of Government Relations for the Chamber, and we are happy to welcome him back. Thank you for joining us, Andy!
Andy LaBarre: Caroline, I'm happy to be back! Good morning! Happy to be here!
Caroline MacGregor: Today, we are joined by Richard Brown, who has had a successful career as a nuclear medicine physician and a professor of radiology. Now, at the age of 71, he's decided to take on a completely new endeavor as a first-time consumer product founder right here in Ann Arbor. Welcome, Richard!
Dr. Richard Brown: Pleasure to be here!
Caroline MacGregor: First of all, Richard, I have to hear what it was that made you decide to become an entrepreneur at this stage of your life and created something called Poka Snack. And this is a patent pending, reusable kitchen tool, I believe.
Dr. Richard Brown: Yes. So, it sounds very cliche, but it was really accidental. It was solving an ordinary problem that I have. I really enjoy frozen fruit, especially frozen bananas. And I never really liked the way they were made. People usually make them with wooden sticks or popsicle sticks. And I wanted to make something nicer for my family, especially since I have grandkids. I didn't like the idea of using wooden sticks to make frozen bananas. So, what do you do now in 2026? You go to Amazon and say, "What else is available? There's got to be something very cool that's better than that." And there wasn't. And I started thinking, "Well, what are my problems with wooden sticks?" They break easily, they don't hold the fruit well, they absorb freezer odor, they can have splinter and some safety problems there. So then, I went on this problem-solving adventure, if you will, of how can I create something better. And what began as a simple idea gradually evolved into what became Poka Snack, and it was much more complicated than I thought it would be. I thought, "Well, I'll create something that's a simple design, and I'll make it on the arc of the angles of which bananas are shaped." And that didn't turn out very well. And so, I had to decide what type of prototypes I was going to make. I made probably about 40 different prototypes, tested them. Then, once I found the product that I was happy with in terms of the prototype, I wanted to get it manufactured in the United States, and it turns out, even though this is a kitchen utensil, it had to be made almost medical grade. It had to be made in a food safe facility out of food safe material. And then, even though I love the product, the question was, "Would other people like it?" So, it was really an adventure of trying to solve a problem for my family.
Caroline MacGregor: Okay. Andy. I just want to ask you. Are you seeing more seniors getting into the entrepreneurial field at this point?
Andy LaBarre: We are seeing some of that, Caroline. And I think Rich's story is so fantastic because it brings together a confluence of life experiences and sort of situational moments to demonstrate some of the ingenuity that people have, some of the problem-solving skills that we get to in real time, and I think some of accrued wisdom of having had a successful career in one field and learning how to sort of move forward with what you need. And Rich's story is great because it highlights as we think about workforce challenges for businesses and organizations and particularly as we look at older adults. They have a plethora of skill sets. And I find they have, at that stage in life, a good combination of experience and almost a renewed sense of trying new ideas and using iteration to solve what seem like simple, but complex problems at the same time. And so, hearing Rich's story from the minute details of the curvature of how you match the stick to the banana to the real-life questions of, "How do you manufacture this to standard and in a globalized economy?," all that in real time. It's a great story to highlight and to make the broader point about older adults in the workforce and how we tap into those skills.
Caroline MacGregor: Absolutely! And it's no small feat changing career paths. Richard, what surprised you most about going from medicine into consumer product development?
Dr. Richard Brown: Yeah. Before I answer that question, I want to put an exclamation point on what Andy said is that one of the things about being older, and I guess I don't feel older, but in reality, I am, is that when you're a beginner again, you've been there before. You've mastered other fields. And so, when you get into an environment where you know nothing, you kind of know what to do. You have to keep asking the questions, "How do I solve this next problem? What is my today's problem? And how do I go about that?" And I think when you're younger, you have the insecurity, "I'm not going to be able to do that." But as you get older, and you've you've met these challenges, it's a lot easier to say, "Okay, I have this problem. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm going to figure it out." And so I think it's actually a lot easier at my stage of the career to go into the unknown. And I've liked the fact that I was a beginner again, that I knew nothing, which made it a lot of fun.
Caroline MacGregor: Let me ask you this. What skills from your career have surprisingly been useful as a founder of a new product?
Dr. Richard Brown: So, I think one of it is perseverance, is you have to be willing to fail. And you have to also not be fixated on your initial idea. You have to let the data drive you of where you're going to be going. Because if you double down on something that you think is right, but the data is giving you a different information, you're going to fail. And failing is okay, as long as you're willing to change course and change the design or change the marketing, whatever it may be, based on what the data is showing you.
Caroline MacGregor: Andy, have you seen a level of flexibility in older adults who are making a big career jump?
Andy LaBarre: Yeah. It's funny, because, Caroline, I think of that saying, "I'm back again for the very first time." As Rich said, it's a stage in life where you have the accrued wisdom and yet, I think, a new eagerness and openness. Now, how we tap into that collectively as a society and tie that to economic output, that's a challenge. But what Rich is describing is, I think, some of the process joy of small business development where you go into it with an idea, but you're not wedded to the specifics, and you're open to learning. And I think older adults are uniquely positioned for that moment because they have that balance of experience but also a joy for the process that comes with the appreciation that happens only with age and a little bit of context in life. And I think, in small business creation, that's particularly interesting to see, not just from the concept of development of an idea, but also once you've got your idea, how do you market it?
Caroline MacGregor: Right.
Andy LaBarre: How do go out there into a world and sort of bring it to it, particularly if you've never done that before? So, highlighting Rich's experiences is great because it makes the broader point about this talent pool that we're sometimes less than perfect at tapping into.
Dr. Richard Brown: Yeah. Again to highlight that, probably the easiest part is having the idea. And I think when you're younger, you kind of think about one-dimensionally, I have this great idea for a product, but the real work is being willing to keep learning and changing your assumptions.
Caroline MacGregor: Right.
Dr. Richard Brown: You know, I started thinking initially, almost exclusively about the product. But Andy's point over time, I realized that something like where the product is displayed might be just as important in the marketing as the product design itself. Early stage, I didn't know any of that. And so, I think the biggest lesson that I've learned was to stay curious, test your assumptions and be willing to change direction when you learn something new.
Caroline MacGregor: I know that, Richard, you've become interested in how small design changes can impact consumer behavior. What are some examples that influenced your thinking in this area?
Dr. Richard Brown: Great, great question! I will say that, as you get older, I think you can handle more things because you've mastered one area. I mean, I still work as an active physician at the University of Michigan as an Active Emeritus faculty. I'm Chief Health Strategy Officer for a venture-backed startup. So, all those things keep me busy. But, I also have some bandwidth to look at other things. But to your point, yeah, I've always been fascinated by how minor changes in a design of a product can make major impacts on how people perceive it and use it. And a couple examples that kind of come to mind is something as simple as Kit Kat candy bars, the idea that they were segmented, you could break them and easily share them, changed the way people thought about using candy. And it really made it part of that brand is the fact that they're breakable and shareable. Tide pods for doing laundry made it less messy, easy to understand and really changed the ways a lot of people did laundry. One of the most amazing things to me is Kind bars were initially the only candy bars that you could actually see through the package. It was transparent, and that became a billion-dollar business. I'm not comparing Poka Snack, if anything, as grandiose as those products. But I do think that the changes that I've made in the Poka Snack skewer design will perhaps change the way people think about freezing and using bananas. I mean, bananas often go bad very quickly. When you freeze them, you can have them for a long time. The handle makes it so you don't feel the coldness of the banana. It stays on to the handle while it makes it easier to coat and less messy.
Caroline MacGregor: You're still practicing as a successful physician and scientist. How do you get time to do all this entrepreneurial work, but, specifically, for this product where you're investigating patents and a lot of work goes into the marketing, et cetera?
Dr. Richard Brown: You know, I think a lot of people would be stressed by what I do. But I think it's how you allocate your time and where you drive your passion. If you've become passionate and you're curious about something, then you allocate your time appropriately. And then, the other aspect of it is you kind of have to be laser-focused on what you're doing at the time. When I'm working as a physician, I tell my venture-backed startup that I work for, I don't want to be disturbed that day. I'm thinking about patients. I'm thinking about patient care. I'm thinking about radiology. Nights and weekends, my mind is researching something about Poka Snack often and how I can design it, where I can get it manufactured, how I get it designed, what's the best place to market it. And so, I think if people really look at how they utilize their time, there's still a lot of bandwidth that they can clear up.
Caroline MacGregor: We discussed a little bit earlier of older adults either transitioning or becoming entrepreneurs in addition to their current positions. Does the Chamber offer any particular workshops in this area?
Andy LaBarre: We have offered workshops in the past, in terms of workforce engagement in multi-generational settings. That was something we had last fall that was so interesting, in terms of the unique ways that the different generations, there's something like five or six generations right now that are technically in the workforce, how they interact with each other, how they act with the organization, how they socialize, and how they view their relationship as an individual with the work they do. Sort of like Rich's example, you should never stop trying to do new and better and make use of the diversity that exists there. And I think Rich's story is, in many ways, a microcosm for some of why so many small businesses and entrepreneurial folks really love that lifestyle. It's learning. It's iteration. It is on to a challenge day by day that helps you be both in the moment all the time and looking at a broad goal at the end, so getting our older adults fully engaged in our workforce.
Dr. Richard Brown: Yeah, I would say two things. Number one, the word "retire" is not used in my household. It's "rewire". And I think rewiring actually maybe also gives you more bandwidth to do additional things. And then, the other mistake I think people make is when they're looking for people to get things done or partner with, they look for people like them. I don't want to work with anybody like me. I want to work with somebody who has different skill sets, so it's a blind audition in terms of age. I mean, I have a prototyper that I work with. I could have done all that myself, but I wanted to make sure that I focused on the things that I was good at, and I didn't need to be good at everything. And I think that if you can find good people to, I'm not saying to partner with, but even to hire to do things for you, it will make you much more efficient, because time is an issue, and you want to use it most efficiently. I mean, I do some stupid things. I do my own programming for the websites and that type of thing. But I think it is good to find people with different skill sets who can compliment your strengths and weaknesses.
Caroline MacGregor: Quickly in closing, what is the best way for consumers to discover Poka Snack?
Dr. Richard Brown: Yeah. What became clear to me is that if you go to the grocery store or to Target and you look at the kitchen appliance or kitchen utensils portions of the store, what you see is they're all together. Nobody knows how to use any of them. And my epiphany was that something like Poka Snack needs to be in a place where people instantly get what it's about and know why they'd want to use it. And that would be next to the bananas or produce section where it's clear that the item they're buying is going to be used for that product. And the reason that's particularly interesting is that it turns out bananas are the largest selling item in places like Walmart, but it's a high-volume, low-margin product. And so, cross-merchandising that, or putting that together next to bananas, makes it ideal for the grocer to put it there because it actually requires almost no space next to bananas if you put it in sort of blister packaging. I think it's a way for people to think about, "How am I going to use bananas?"
Caroline MacGregor: And just lastly, what is the biggest lesson that you've learned from all of this?
Dr. Richard Brown: So, I think the biggest lesson has been to stay curious, test your assumptions, and be willing to change direction when you learn something new.
Caroline MacGregor: All right! Richard, thank you so much for your time today!
Dr. Richard Brown: My pleasure! And thanks for taking the time to interview me!
Caroline MacGregor: That is Richard Brown. He is a current nuclear medicine physician and professor of radiology. He's taken on a completely new endeavor as a first-time consumer product founder in Ann Arbor, and he's been our guest on Washtenaw Business Lens. This regular conversation series is brought to you in partnership with the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber. And each month, we also hear from the Chamber's Executive Vice President and Director of Government Relations. That's Andy LaBarre.
Andy LaBarre: You bet, Caroline! Thanks!
Caroline MacGregor: I'm Caroline MacGregor. And for more information on Washtenaw Business Lens and today's topic, just stop by our website at WEMU.org. This is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU.
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