“The U.S. Market Is a Beast”: Sophie Hood on Scaling Seoul Tonic, Her Growth Tactics & her NEXT business!

🎙️ Sophie Hood on Building Seoul Tonic: From Australia to New York, Amazon, Retail Strategy & Scaling a Wellness Brand
What does it really take to build a modern wellness brand and have the ambition to take it global?
In this episode of Process, Arielle Thomas sits down with Sophie Hood, founder of cult-favourite tonic brand Seoul Tonic, to unpack the creative and commercial decisions behind moving to New York, scaling through retail, navigating Amazon, and positioning a product for international success.
Sophie is one of Australia’s most exciting women-led founders to watch, and in this conversation, she shares the unfiltered reality of entrepreneurship: from winning Food Stars and landing major retail opportunities, to managing inventory pressure, pitching airlines like Qantas, and building a brand that resonates in the hyper-competitive U.S. market.
This episode is a masterclass in creativity meeting commerce. Perfect for founders, brand builders, marketers and anyone curious about what it actually takes to turn an idea into a global consumer brand.
✨ In this episode, Sophie and Arielle cover:

• Moving from Australia to New York and why global ambition changes everything

• The early creative vision behind Seoul Tonic and finding product-market fit

• What winning Food Stars taught Sophie about pressure and opportunity

• How to position a wellness product for premium retail

• Scaling from independent stores to national distribution

• Inventory, supply chains and the realities of cash flow

• Why community and in-store experience matter more than ever

• The brutal truth about launching in the U.S. market

• How Amazon really works. Seller Central, fulfilment and margin games

• Differences between U.S. and Australian e-commerce

• Pitching to major partners like Qantas

• Launching new product lines and beauty brands

• Why financial modelling is a non-negotiable skill for founders

• Her up-and-coming 2nd business, this time in the beauty space!

Find Sophie on Instagram here (instagram.com/sophiehood1).

Find Seoul Tonic on Instagram here. (instagram.com/seoul_tonic)

Find Process the Podcast on Instagram here (instagram.com/processthepodcast).

Find your host Arielle Thomas on Instagram here.

See you next Tuesday!

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