She Landed in LA With Two Suitcases and Built a Seaweed Empire | Alissa Miky, Founder & CEO of OoMee

Alissa Miky moved to LA at 21 with two suitcases, no English fluency, no U.S. degree, no family or friends, and built a seaweed empire anyway. Her first U.S. company, Misaki Tokyo, turned luxury seaweed candy into a 1.4M-follower TikTok phenomenon with Kim Kardashian collabs and Oscars and Emmys pre-event placements. Now she's the founder and CEO of OoMee, the first marine plant beverage brand in the U.S. and the inventor of an entirely new category: Seabiotics. Made from red seaweed, OoMee curbs your appetite the way a GLP-1 might, only it costs $3.50 a can, has 20 calories, and tastes like strawberry hibiscus. Alissa lost 40 pounds drinking it. She's also a Forbes Japan 100 honoree, a Japanese TV anchor with 15 million viewers, a cancer fighter in remission, and openly ADHD.

In this episode, Alissa breaks down why the pre-biotic trend is already over (and how the hype cycle dictates everything she builds), why she dogeza-bowed her way into exclusive U.S. distribution rights with Japan's largest seaweed company, and why she built OoMee in the Bay Area instead of LA: "find the place where you can bloom." She also gets into the four-year, 4,000-trial product development process, why she refused to spend on CapEx and partnered with a co-man instead, and how she landed in 700+ locations on launch (most beverage brands start with 200). Plus: the Misaki Tokyo to OoMee playbook, building in a category that doesn't exist yet, and why approachable beats authentic when your goal is to heal as many people as possible.

Whether you're an Asian American founder navigating a market that's only 8% of the population, a CPG operator obsessed with white space, or just someone who wants a wellness drink that doesn't taste like the ocean, this one's for you.

🎁 A gift from us + OoMee: Use code WMSPLN15 at checkout on oomee.life for 15% off your order. Valid through end of June. Consider it your sign to finally try them.

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