Legacy Brand Growth: Modernizing Natural Foods Through E-Commerce with Mitchell Hagan

In this episode of The Growth Class, host Phil Massiello interviews Mitchell Hagan, CEO and President of Country Life Natural Foods.  Mitchell shares how his background in healthcare administration shaped his approach to leading a legacy natural foods business and discusses the transition from traditional food distribution to a predominantly e-commerce-driven model. The conversation explores how Country Life Natural Foods is modernizing a decades-old brand through e-commerce, AI-powered shopping experiences, and a carefully curated product selection while maintaining its focus on quality, convenience, and customer service.  Phil and Mitchell also examine customer acquisition and retention in an increasingly competitive market, including why word-of-mouth can be one of the most effective growth channels and how delivering an exceptional customer experience can turn existing customers into a source of new business. They also discuss the challenges of expanding from e-commerce into physical retail and how lessons from digital commerce can shape a more engaging, customer-focused retail experience.  Country Life Natural Foods website: https://countrylifefoods.com Support the show There are a lot of  "experts" out there giving advice who’ve never built a thing. They’ve never stayed up all night sweating a product launch. Never had to scale a team. Never had to meet payroll. They’re just regurgitating what they read in someone else’s book. That’s not me.  I’ve built brands. I’ve scaled them. I’ve exited them. I’ve failed, won, and fought through it all. And now, my team and I help brands do it every single day — across eCommerce, retail, and digital.  We don’t just advise — we execute. We write the playbook. So if you’re done with fluff, fake gurus, and marketers who’ve never sold anything outside of a slide deck — you’re in the right place. This show is real strategies, real tactics, and real talk. https://www.facebook.com/philmasiello https://www.instagram.com/philmasiello/ https://www.tiktok.com/@philmasiello https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-masiello/ https://www.youtube.com/@philmasiello #StartupGrowth #EcommerceTips  #ScaleYourBrand #DTCMarketing #PhilMasiello #GrowthClass #BrandStrategy #MarketingPodcast #CrunchGrowth #StartupTips #BusinessGrowth