The Unforeseen Metamorphosis Sparked by Vertical Integration

By Hans Graubard

When we first launched Happy V, the mission was straightforward — deliver women’s wellness that’s honest, science-driven, and free of stigma. I hadn’t anticipated how tangled that promise would become once production scaled. In the early days, we leaned on third-party manufacturers. On paper, it seemed efficient: fast turnaround, lower overhead, and fewer headaches dealing with the messy side of supply chain management.

 But it didn’t take long before small cracks began to show. Lab data sometimes missed the mark, and ingredient paperwork often arrived late — or incomplete. Even packaging runs would occasionally drift in quality. Each snag seemed minor on its own, but together they chipped away at the one thing we valued most — trust. If we couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was going into each capsule, how could our customers?

 That was the breaking point. We decided to bring the entire chain in-house — formulation, sourcing, encapsulation, testing, packaging. The shift turned into a full pivot, consuming months of planning, new equipment, and a complete retraining of the team. Overnight, we went from coordinating vendors to running our own GMP-certified facility.

 The first few months were a whirlwind. Every day felt like untangling a puzzle we’d built ourselves. But the payoff came quickly: we gained full visibility. We could trace each raw material to its source and confirm results within hours instead of weeks. With R&D and QA teams working side by side, the entire dynamic changed. Communication clicked. Decisions accelerated. We caught formulation quirks before they became problems.

 Transparency reshaped how we spoke to customers. We began sharing batch-level data and explaining the “why” behind each ingredient. Rather than wrapping our message in marketing fluff, we leaned into education. We found that when people understand the science, they naturally trust the product.

 The decision worked because it aligned business logic with real human behavior. Consumers are tired of the mystery that often clouds wellness — they want honesty, clarity, and reliability. By offering those three things, we didn’t just move product; we built relationships. 

The result? Stronger retention. Renewed confidence. And, for once, a genuine blend of consistency and heart — something rare in supplement manufacturing.

 Looking back, that shift touched more than just production. It rewired our culture. My role expanded from operations into broader leadership — building a team that values precision as much as compassion. I found myself pulled into HR and training, asking obsessively how we could grow leaders, not just specialists. We reworked onboarding to tether every new hire to the brand’s mission, not just a job description.

 Our marketing evolved, too. Instead of outsourcing our voice, we began shaping it internally. Campaigns became less about selling and more about storytelling — blending hard-earned lessons, research, and the everyday emotional side of wellness. We quickly realized people respond to transparency as strongly as they do to outcomes.

 The shift nudged me into business development. Once we had control of our systems, we could finally partner with retailers and healthcare providers who demanded rigorous testing and accountability. Those partnerships happened naturally — because what they needed, we were already doing.

 If there’s one lesson to take away, it’s this: growth isn’t about how much you do — it’s about how much you see. Find the moments where quality slips when you step away, and pull those processes closer. Control doesn’t mean rigidity — it means awareness. Each small improvement compounds. When trust becomes your foundation, scaling doesn’t feel like a risk anymore — it feels like progress.

Connect With Hans

www.happyv.com