How Amu Nutrition built a customer community around Mongolian wellness
Khulan Enkhtaivan is the founder of amu nutrition LLC, which offers traditional Mongolian herbal teas and wellness products. The business grew from sharing knowledge about food, well-being and traditional Mongolian medicine with a Mongolian-American community. This conversation explores how education brought in early customers, unexpected demand for Shilajit shaped the product line, and an expensive agency mistake changed how business decisions are made.
Build trust by educating customers and listening to real market feedback before scaling. Be cautious of promises of rapid growth, and set clear expectations before investing in outside marketing.
What’s the short story of how your business started, and what makes it genuinely different from the other options your customers have?
I started Amu Nutrition in Mongolia 13 years ago, inspired by my daughter’s asthma. Through my journey of exploring food as medicine and seeing how nutrition transformed her health, I became passionate about understanding the connection between food and well-being.
This led me to study Traditional Mongolian Medicine (TMM), which draws on the wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda. My mission became educating other mothers about personalized wellness, because I believe every person has a unique body constitution and different needs.
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach, I help people understand their body types and choose the right foods and herbal teas to support balance, drawing on the principles of Ayurveda, TCM, and traditional Mongolian medicine.
How did you win your first customers, and where does most of your new business come from today?
I won my first customers by starting with my own Mongolian-American community. Instead of trying to sell products, I focused on sharing knowledge about Traditional Mongolian Medicine, Ayurveda, and the connection between food and wellness through a Facebook group.
One of my first initiatives was a Seasonal Detox program. I still remember one woman who believed in what I was teaching and brought eight of her friends to join the first group. That experience was incredibly inspiring. It showed me that people were hungry for this knowledge and that education could bring people together while creating real change in their lives.
That small beginning motivated me to keep going. Through consistent organic content, weekly Facebook Live sessions, and educational programs, I gradually grew the Facebook community to more than 15,000 members.
Today, that community remains an important foundation of Amu Nutrition. Most importantly, I learned that when you educate people, build genuine relationships, and earn their trust, customers follow naturally. Our business continues to grow through community engagement, organic social media, retail partnerships, and online sales.
What’s one decision that changed the direction of your business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
One decision that changed the direction of my business was visiting Expo West in Anaheim in 2019. Seeing the innovation and opportunities in the natural products industry inspired me to build a CPG brand, starting with herbal teas.
In 2022, I began selling through Faire, introducing a few herbal tea products alongside Shilajit. To my surprise, Shilajit quickly gained traction and started outselling my expectations. I recognized the opportunity and decided to expand into a dedicated Shilajit product line, which we introduced to retail stores in 2024. That experience taught me the importance of listening to customers and being willing to evolve your business when the market shows you something unexpected.
My biggest mistake was trusting a marketing agency too quickly. Early in my journey, an agency promised significant growth, and I believed they could deliver. I invested around $70,000 over three to four months, but the promised sales results never materialized.
It was an expensive lesson, but it changed how I make business decisions. I learned to do my due diligence, question big promises, set measurable expectations, and be confident enough to say no, even when someone presents an exciting opportunity. As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned that protecting your resources is just as important as growing your business.
What has changed in your industry or in what your customers expect over the last couple of years, and how have you adapted?
The supplement industry has become increasingly competitive over the last few years, with countless brands entering the market. However, I’ve noticed growing consumer interest in traditional and natural ingredients, and Shilajit is an exciting emerging category. According to industry research, the global Shilajit market is projected to grow from approximately $191 million in 2024 to $320 million by 2030.
At the same time, customers have become more educated and selective. They want to know where ingredients come from, how products are made, and whether they are safe, authentic, and properly tested.
We have adapted by focusing on what makes Amu Nutrition unique: our authentic Mongolian sourcing, particularly Shilajit from the Altai Mountains, our connection to traditional Mongolian wellness knowledge, and our commitment to product quality and transparency.
I’ve also realized that selling a product is no longer enough. Customers want to understand what they are putting into their bodies and why it may be right for them. That’s why education and building trust remain central to our business.
If you were advising someone starting out in your industry today, what would you tell them to do first, and what would you tell them to ignore?
If I were advising someone starting in the supplement industry today, I would tell them to build a community before trying to build a big business. Invest in your personal brand, share your knowledge, educate your audience, and build genuine relationships with customers. In the supplement industry, trust is everything. People want to know who is behind the brand and why they should believe in what you offer.
I would also tell them to start small, understand their customers, and grow based on real market feedback rather than assumptions.
What I would tell them to ignore is the shiny promises of overnight success, quick money, and agencies claiming they can make your business grow to millions. I’ve learned that expensive marketing doesn’t always mean effective marketing. Be careful where you invest, do your homework, and don’t let anyone else’s promises distract you from building something authentic and sustainable.
Thank you to Khulan Enkhtaivan and the team at amu nutrition LLC for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
Want to tell the story behind your business?
Leaders Perception publishes interviews with business owners and leaders every week. Five questions, about ten minutes, no calls. It is free and every completed interview gets published.