In the wake of Happy Fresh’s launch, we sat down with Mirel Vasile, the CEO of Nextasee, to discuss the challenging journey that led to this point. From unexpected setbacks to personal involvement in content creation, Mirel opens up about the obstacles faced and lessons learned during one of the most difficult periods of his professional and personal life.
Interviewer: Thank you for speaking with us, Mirel. Let’s start at the beginning. What was the initial vision for Happy Fresh?
Mirel: Happy Fresh was born out of a genuine desire to help people eat healthier without sacrificing time or breaking the bank. We saw so many people (including me) struggling to balance healthy eating with busy lives, and we wanted to create a comprehensive solution. Our initial timeline was ambitious, but we were confident in our team and our vision.
Interviewer: But things didn’t go according to plan. Can you walk us through what happened?
Mirel: (sighs) It was a series of unexpected challenges. Several key team members faced personal issues that impacted their ability to contribute as planned. This created a domino effect, pushing back our timelines and forcing us to redistribute work in ways we hadn’t anticipated.
Interviewer: How did you handle the situation with pre-order customers?
Mirel: I’ll be honest, we could have done better with proactive communication. We were so focused on trying to solve the problems and complete the guide that we didn’t reach out as often as we should have. However, we did our best to respond quickly to customers who contacted us with questions or concerns. We offered refunds to anyone who requested them, no questions asked.
Interviewer: We noticed that you continued running pre-order ads even as you faced delays. Can you explain that decision?
Mirel: That was a difficult decision driven by the realities of social media advertising. We were concerned that if we paused our Facebook ads, the algorithm might not favor us when we tried to restart them. It was a balance between maintaining our advertising momentum and managing customer expectations. In hindsight, we should have found a better way to handle this.
Interviewer: We’ve heard that you became personally involved in creating content for the guide. Can you tell us more about that?
Mirel: Yes, as the delays continued, I realized I needed to step in more directly. I ended up writing a significant portion of the content myself. But it went beyond writing – I actually set up a cooking station right in my office to optimize and test recipes. I even shot many of the photos for the guide. It was exhausting, but I felt a deep responsibility to our customers and to the vision of Happy Fresh.
Interviewer: This must have been incredibly stressful. We understand you were also dealing with personal challenges during this time?
Mirel: (pauses) Yes, it was an incredibly difficult period. My father was hospitalized in Germany with a serious illness. I’m based in Italy, so coordinating his care from a distance while trying to manage the Happy Fresh crisis was… well, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Add to that, I have a one-year-old son at home. Balancing all of this was a nightmare, to be honest. Life can give you extremely good things and extremely bad things at the same time. It can get confusing.
Interviewer: How did you manage to keep going through all of this?
Mirel: It wasn’t easy. There were moments when I thought about giving up, about refunding everyone and shutting down the project. But I kept coming back to the messages from customers who were excited about Happy Fresh, who were counting on us to deliver. That, and the support of my business partner Marco, kept me going.
Interviewer: Looking back, what lessons have you learned from this experience?
Mirel: So many. First, the importance of building a more robust and flexible team structure. Second, the critical need for clear, proactive communication with customers, especially when facing delays. And personally, I learned a lot about my own limits and the importance of self-care even in a crisis. Interviewer: Now that Happy Fresh is out, how do you feel about the final product?
Mirel: I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created. The challenges we faced forced us to refine and improve the guide in ways we hadn’t initially envisioned. The feedback we’re getting from customers has been overwhelmingly positive, which makes all the struggles worthwhile. Interviewer: What would you say to customers who were frustrated by the delays?
Mirel: I would say that I understand their frustration completely, and I apologize for the inconvenience we caused. We should have communicated more proactively, and that’s a lesson we’ve taken to heart. I’m deeply grateful for their patience and support. I hope that now they have the guide in their hands, they’ll find it was worth the wait.
Interviewer: Finally, what’s next for Nextasee and Happy Fresh?
Mirel: Right now, we’re focused on supporting our current customers and helping them get the most out of Happy Fresh. But we’re also excited about our next big step: creating a community around Happy Fresh.
We’ve realized that people need more than just information – they need support and motivation, especially when making significant lifestyle changes. Often, the people around us don’t fully understand or support the changes we’re trying to make in our eating habits and overall health.
That’s why we’re building a community platform where Happy Fresh users can connect, share experiences, and motivate each other. This community will be a place where people can navigate the challenges of changing their lifestyle together, share successes, and find encouragement when things get tough.
We’re also exploring ways to expand our offerings, possibly including more personalized coaching within this community framework. But we’ve definitely learned our lesson about overpromising – we’ll take our time to ensure we can deliver excellence in everything we do.
Interviewer: That sounds like an exciting development. How do you think this community aspect will enhance the Happy Fresh experience?
Mirel: I believe it will be transformative. Making lasting changes to our eating habits and lifestyle is challenging, and having a supportive community can make all the difference. Our users will be able to share tips, celebrate victories together, and help each other through difficulties. It’s about creating a ecosystem of support around healthy living.
Plus, this community will be a valuable source of feedback for us. We’ll be able to understand our users’ needs even better and continue improving Happy Fresh based on real-world experiences and challenges.
We are here to stay and evolve.
