Adam Torres and Diana Stobo discuss The Retreat Costa Rica and Truth Bar.
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Show Notes:
What was the vision behind creating The Retreat Costa Rica and Truth Bar? In this episode, Adam Torres and Diana Stobo, Founder and CEO at Truth Bar and The Retreat Costa Rica, explore Diana’s businesses and entrepreneurial vision.
About Diana Stobo
With a love of Biology and Science, Diana entered her freshman year 1983 at the University of San Diego, California with a Pre-Med curriculum. Working two jobs while attending a full class schedule at University proved unhealthy and she graduated with a BA in Communications and Visual Arts. She enrolled in the master’s program of Hotel Restaurant Management at Cornell University 1989-91 and graduated with an honorary degree specializing in culinary science. For the Next 20 years, Diana raised her 3 children while also raising millions of dollars for community and educational events and having small entrepreneurial side companies to indulge her creative side.
Through all this, Diana’s health was less than stellar, and she hit a pivotal point where she had to heal herself. Immersed in research, she obtained a master’s in Raw Food and came upon a solution to heal her ailments. Diana is one of the original pioneers of the raw food movement, an award-winning author (with 15 books written), a motivational speaker, a leading raw food chef, a health and wellness educator as well as an expert spokesperson for alternative healing. She has coached thousands of people back to good health. Her modest online coaching business grew from 0-$1,000,000 in one year. Diana has created many successful products in health and wellness, and currently continues to innovate while her energies are turned toward an international endeavor, The Retreat Costa Rica, a lifestyle hotel that opened in May 2015 and is already dubbed the #1 Spa in Central and South America and Top 10 Wellness resorts and Spas worldwide by Conde Nast Traveler (peoples choice).
Her acclaim on The Retreat is hitting Internationally as well as Nationally on CNN, Food Network, and Discovery Channel. The truth bar came about while writing a menu plan for a weight loss and muscle-building fitness program for NBC Universal in 2014-15. Diana is the creator and lead formulator of the Truth Bar and is passionately involved with every part of its development. Diving deeply into this project, she recently added an amazing and talented team to help expand this amazing product nationwide
About Truth Bar
Truth Products LLC is a woman-owned nutrition business focused on gut health. Truth Products LLC created Truth Bar, the first functional food bar formulated with one billion CFUs of probiotics supplemented by prebiotics, fiber and Omega 3’s to help digestion and promote regularity, boost immune power, provide sustained energy and soothe tummy troubles.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres. And if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today’s guest is Diana Stobo and she’s a founder and CEO over at Truth Bar and The Retreat.
Costa Rica, Diana. Welcome to the show. Hi, Adam. How are you? Oh, I’m having all kinds of fun. And do you get to do the truth bar and Costa Rica? Like, this is amazing. I want to see how these two, themes intersect as an entrepreneur and how we get to Costa Rica to my listeners are like, what, what is this retreat in Costa Rica?
I already know what they’re thinking. Cause I’m thinking the same thing. But Diana, we’ll start this episode the way that we start them all with what we like to call our Mission Matters Minute. So, Diana, at Mission Matters, our aim and our goal is to amplify stories for entrepreneurs, executives, and experts.
So, that’s what we do. Diana, what mission matters to you? You know, it’s really basic. To heal people through food and love. everything that I do is about helping facilitate places and things that can help people. Thank you. . love bringing mission based individuals on the line.
So I mean, just to get us kicked off here. What came first? A truth bar or the retreat? Which one came first? Well, you’ve heard that women can multitask, right? So they came simultaneously. I can’t. So yes, it’s a superpower. They actually came at the same time., I was doing television.
I was talking about health and wellness. I was doing infomercials and was asked to create this product. But it was 10 years ahead of its time because it was all about gut health. And, you know, 10 years ago, people were still trying to get protein bars into their body. And so I was thinking ahead, and especially as a woman, what’s really important for all the multifunctions of your body.
So I created that, and so that was happening on the sideline while I was flying back and forth to Costa Rica. Building this world class retreat center spa and gym and it’s just an amazing healing center. I probably didn’t sleep much during that time and I think I had a fire in my belly that I just couldn’t stop.
So they kind of happened at the same time. Wow. So truth parlor, let’s kind of tackle Avi liked you separately or at the same time, but truth parlor, , like tell us a little bit more about the company. Well, the company was built on the premise of gut health. , it was actually built for a company that was doing infomercials for exercises.
So they wanted me to make a line of products that were synergistic with weight loss and muscle building and etc, etc, etc. And I went this completely crazy route into gut health. And that’s because it’s my expertise. What year was this roughly? Like this part, this roughly. This was 2013. Wow, that is ahead of the time.
I don’t remember like all the kombucha or all these other like, I don’t remember all those on the market back then. I could be off, but I don’t remember them. This is pretty early. Yeah, kombucha was out. It was definitely out and people were drinking it and they were trying to learn about gut health But I don’t think they really realized the importance of how it is the epicenter of all your other functions So it’s kind of my expertise, you know, I’ve written 15 books about eating right and transitioning your body into a healthier environment.
So this was just sort of an extra thing. And I was really emphasizing all the products were about gut sleep, rest, the opposite of what you would think when you’re doing a workout program which people are like, go, go, go work out harder. You know, exercise, you know, this and that. And I was like, no, no, we need to nurture and take a more somatic approach to healing people, a softer approach.
So I created this bar that was like ridiculously good dipped in dark chocolate, you know, basically a candy bar. And it started to have a profound effect on people. And then the market itself You know, people were really inspired by it. We’ve had a rough patch. We’ve had some different owners, different finance people, COVID hitting that, you know, kind of put us back a little bit, but we’re back in, we’re back on track and it’s very exciting people actually can feel the difference when they eat something.
And that’s huge. You know, there’s so many products out there. So when you have something that’s effective and helpful and delicious, it’s pretty phenomenal. Yeah. And so now the retreat side of things, like let’s go a little bit further into this piece to , the travel component. Yeah, that is, well, the retreat I, I get a little literal sometimes, you know, I’m really not, I’m very esoteric, but sometimes I get a little literal.
And when I created the retreat, it was literally. About retreating not acute. I’m gonna go on a retreat. It was the idea of even in the army You know, you say retreat retreat? It’s like pull back and take a break and have something totally different happen in your life, right? And that’s what retreat is to me It’s about getting out of your norm pulling yourself out of whatever is making you flow and try something new.
And so the retreat Costa Rica, besides the fact that it was brilliant SEOs believe me, I didn’t think that through, you know, I’m going to go to Costa Rica to a retreat. Here we go. but besides that, , it was a labor of love. Really? , I’ve been there blindly not knowing did go to hotel school.
I graduated from Cornell. And my master’s in hotel restaurant, but that was like 9, 000 years ago. Yeah. So all of a sudden jumping into the hotel business was like. Did you have that feeling, though, like it was coming full circle? Yes. Like, it’s weird, like, I didn’t even think this was going to happen, but this was to prepare me for this, huh?
How’d that happen? It’s funny. , everything in our life, we’re like, how did they end up here? And if you look at the backtrack of your entire existence. It’s like, oh, this makes perfect sense. Of course, I’m here. That’s why I had to go through that. That’s why I had to fall off a tree. You know, it’s true.
I really, I really believe that everything is aligned and kind of pushing you. You just have to listen to the signs and open your eyes. , my biggest thing is I say yes to the universe. And, , a lot of people see the signs and they go, no, no, don’t want to do that. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Sometimes you just have no choice. Sometimes there is a. A bigger plan and you have to follow it. about the programming? Like I’ve never been to one of these, I have friends and a lot of people that go to retreats and things like this, but for somebody like me who doesn’t go to many things, don’t get out of the studio much, let’s say , talk about the programming, like , what are the people that visit?
What can they expect? Well a normal retreat, let’s just say you were going on a retreat would have a focus, right? So you might go on a plant journey retreat or you might go on a workout , and healthy eating retreat. You might go on a writing retreat or a emotional support retreat, whatever, a men’s retreat.
There’s so many different avenues. So we try to create retreats within the retreat where people can go pick and choose. Whatever they want. So we have like, we have like emotional healing where we actually have support from the doctors. We use really soothing treatments crystal treatments.
Everything is kind of designed to help emotional healing. We have a sleep cation for those who need rest. I should probably go to that one. We have a detox where you can, lose 10 pounds , in 10 days and literally change , the bio structure of your cells in that time period. We have Ayurveda, deep tissue Ayurveda, which it permeates nature into your body to help the cells turn over heal, , we have different retreats for each person.
And what’s beautiful about it is that most people who go on retreats don’t know the other people going. Right? , let’s say there’s 20 people. We have that same thing, but each person can go on their separate journey. And that’s what’s really cool. You can also just do a luxury spa and say, you know what, I’m just going to hang out and get treatments and go to the bar and have some, you know, sweet handcrafted cocktails.
And you know, that’s also a retreat. Whatever your body desires is what you get. And that’s what’s beauty of it. And yet, people still find each other. Cause , community is such an important part of people’s healing. So when they find each other and they start talking, next thing you know they make best friends.
With some random guest who happen to be there at the same time. It’s really nice. Hmm. That’s amazing. Switching kind of back and forth here, what’s the plan for the tooth bar? Like , the rollout, the continuing to, get it into the market? Like , I’m definitely gonna look for it , when I head to the grocery store next.
, what’s the plan for the rollout? Well, to expand it back into grocery stores at one point. Mm-Hmm. , it was , when Covid hit, I got stuck in Costa Rica. So the company, I just couldn’t get back to the United States for 10 months. So, things started to slip and fall and we, there was other parts, anyway, it was just a, it was a mess.
And so COVID was tricky for everyone. Yeah. It was tricky. Yeah. But people were hounding me. Like we had such goodwill and people wanted the bar and they’re like, , I’ve tried everything afterwards. Please bring it back. And being, you know a slave to my mission to heal people through food and love.
I was like, all right, I’m going to do it. I’m going to get this thing back in the market. You know, come hell or high water, I feel like I’m leading some grand ship back into the market. , that’s how, this thing that us entrepreneurs do., and I, one of my favorite things about hosting this show is getting to bring , these stories to our audience.
Because, , there’s, as entrepreneurs, sometimes we’re up, sometimes it’s going sideways. Sometimes we don’t know what the full plan is, but we’re moving forward. So many different ways to look at this. , what keeps you in the game? What keeps you strong? Like when, we have these detours, we’ll say like, what keeps you strong and what keeps you going?
You know, I’m just discovering that because I’m not sure. , there is definitely something that , is woven into the DNA of entrepreneurs that I cannot explain. You either are or you’re not, right? You just, you either have it in you, a fire in your belly, or you don’t. But definitely the desire to, people please people want it.
They like it. I need to get it out there. I need to get in people’s mouths. And once they taste it, it’s going to be amazing. That kind of thing. There’s that component. But there’s also this, I’ve got a little feisty in me. And if there’s a naysayer, if there’s, I hear that by the way. I hear it a little bit.
I think you got a whole lot. I hear it. Yeah. But if there’s a little bit of I want to nurture the underdog, you know, there’s, and if someone tells me I can’t do it, like when I built the retreat, someone says, no one’s ever going to come down that mountain , to the retreat. And I was like, thank you. You just fueled me for the next year and a half.
No, that’s never going to happen. I’m like, Ooh, thank you very much. So I think it’s a challenge. That I like to meet that, , if someone says it’s going to be tough, , this is a crowded market. I’m like, okay, well, let me squeeze my way in and become the big fish in the big pond.
I don’t know where that comes from. probably back, backstory, lots of trauma, I’m sure, but. Did you grow up like in an entrepreneurial household or did you have influences that were entrepreneurs like that, like growing up in general? I’m just curious. Yes, I did. Now that I think about it, I guess I did.
They just had, yeah, they built their own worlds. Yeah. And I think that’s another thing. It’s like building your own world. It’s something really beautiful about creating your own thing. I mean, it sounds egotistical, but it’s really, , it’s like, you know, I paint, I’m a painter and I’m a, I’m a chef.
So I’m always creating things. I get really excited about a project and getting it to fruition. Yeah, you’re like, you’re a creator. Yeah, I am a creator. And I’m not an operator. At all. Yeah. I mean, there’s different, you know, different people. There’s different components to that. Like, we can’t all, , do it all, right?
Like, nobody can in all reality. I mean, there’s always somebody else behind. There’s always somebody helping, . It takes people to make anything happen, in my opinion. Well, some people they like consistency of day to day. like waking up in the morning knowing what they’re going to do.
Yeah. I mean, I’ve heard I hear it from even people who work for me. They get up, they like to feel secure, sit at their desk, know what they have to do, and they feel safe, and they go home, and they live their life. Entrepreneurs, it’s like, it’s a rollercoaster of pain, excitement, you know, topsy turvy.
not a real interview, Diana, until we bring up the word pain. Entrepreneurs have kind of got a thing for pain. I don’t know. This is a real show, by the way. Like, somebody, a new listener, they come to this and they’re like, Why are Adam and the guests always talking about pain? Like, I thought I was listening to this show to be inspired as an entrepreneur.
Well, that’s what I’m saying. Like, what is that? Is that like, literally, is it trauma? Are entrepreneurs trauma driven? I don’t know. Maybe we need a retreat. Here we go. Well, I do. You know what though, when I go on a retreat, it’s amazing what five to seven days can do for your life. It really is.
You’re like, oh, I remember why I’m doing it now. I remember who I am. You know, you step away from the mucky muck and you go, Oh, I can breathe. Yes. Yes. Oh, well, Diana, this has been so much fun having you on the show. So thank you for coming on. also I want to give you the opportunity to leave some info.
if somebody wants to follow your journey, they want to learn more about the retreat or truth bar or just in general, follow you. How do they do that? Well, there’s always , the websites kind of lead you to where you need to go. But Diana Stobo. dot com, truth bar.com, and then retreat costa rica.com.
each one of those, , and by the way, my story’s on each one of those. Mm-Hmm. Because , as the master brand,, I’m the one up there going, okay, everybody, let’s heal together. Mm-Hmm. Amazing. And for everybody listening, just so you know, we’ll put those links in the show notes so you can just click on the links , and head right on over.
And speaking of the audience. If this is your first time with us and you haven’t done it yet hit that subscribe button this is a daily show each and every day We’re bringing you new entrepreneurs new stories new journeys, and we don’t want you to miss a thing diana again, this is so much fun.
Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for having me