If you’ve spent more than five minutes online or on social media, chances are you’ve seen #wellness pop up on your feed. Wellness is trending like never before, with everything from exercise and supplements to tongue scraping and grounding sparking conversation. And, with so much going on in the Hudson Valley, is it any surprise that one of the coolest brands in the wellness space happens to call the region home?
Headquartered in Columbia County, Golde is making a big name for itself as a Black-owned wellness brand that’s all about good-for-you ingredients and products. The brand is a passion project with a personal story for founders and husband-wife duo Issey Kobori and Trinity Mouzon Wofford. The pair, who are high school sweethearts who grew up in Saratoga Springs, founded the business together when they were both 23 years old.
“We had both been pre-med in college, and I was really interested in the world of holistic health and wellness,” Mouzon Wofford explains. “Neither of us decided to go to med school in the end, and instead we wound up launching Golde about a year or so after we graduated from college.”
For Mouzon Wofford, her foray into the wellness world stemmed from growing up with a parent who dealt with a severe autoimmune condition and saw significant improvements with the help of holistic health practices. Although she started out working in marketing at a tech firm in NYC post-college, she couldn’t shake her passion for natural well-being. So, in 2017, she and Kobori launched Golde, with little idea of how quickly the brand would take off.
“The idea with Golde was to take this world of wellness and make it easier and more approachable for the everyday consumer, to make it a routine you looked forward to,” she says.
The duo kicked things off with a turmeric-infused superfood powder mix that they hand-blended and packed themselves. They took on all aspects of the business, from packaging design to photoshoots. When it came to crafting the packaging, they intentionally opted for a bright and colorful aesthetic to differentiate the brand from similar products on shelves at the time.
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During the two years after launch, they worked to build awareness as a full-time team of two. They successfully placed their products into specialty shops like Goop, but it wasn’t until 2020, when pandemic-fueled shopping and increased support for Black-owned brands spiked, that they began to see significant growth.
“The pace of it was energizing but also a little overwhelming,” Mouzon Wofford recalls. “In June of 2020 we did more in revenue than in the entire previous year of 2019.”
The northward growth was helped by a number of placements in big-name businesses, including Target stores across the country in 2021 and, more recently, Ulta locations in 2023.
“The expansion is fun,” she adds, “but the most important thing to me is really staying true to our why and our mission. We try to really enjoy the work and create products that we deeply trust and believe in.”
Speaking of products, Golde started with its turmeric blends before expanding into skincare. After that, the founders dug even deeper into the wellness world with the launch of their matcha and vegan collagen. These days, their product line runs the gamut from Coconut Collagen Boost and Pineapple Debloat Ade to Pure Matcha, a Clean Greens Face Mask, and Shroom Shield, the latter which is mushroom cocoa that supports immunity and mood.
The brand sources ingredients globally, from Japan to India and the U.S., to prioritize ingredients that are grown using regenerative agriculture techniques to minimize environmental impact. Additionally, everything is third-party lab-tested to ensure quality and safety.
“Our product ideas are usually driven by a mix of what’s inspiring me and our consumers’ feedback,” she says. “But at the end of the day, we’ll only launch a product if I really, really love it and believe in it.”
When asked what Golde’s top products are, Mouzon Wofford cites a clear winner.
“Matcha is definitely a hero for us!” she enthuses. “Also, our Debloat probiotic mix and our Coconut Collagen Boost.”
Looking ahead, she and Kobori are excited to continue their journey with Golde.
“I’m so proud of what Issey and I built from scratch with no connections and no big budgets,” she says. “I know the reason we were able to do this is due to all of the love and energy we poured into our work. I’m looking forward to continuing to prioritize that. Oh, and we have new products coming this year!”
Interested in trying out Golde for yourself? Find it at Minna in Hudson or at Target or Ulta stores around the Hudson Valley.
