The Antidotes For Everyday Life

How The Search For Pain Relief Sparked A Passion For Wellness — And A Booming Business For Swanson Health

Our story begins with the nemesis of every person with a passion for physical activity: joint pain. And, as is fitting for publication in a business magazine, our story also involves just a smidgen of golf.

In the late 1950s, Leland Swanson’s knees hurt, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he’d have to give up his love: playing golf. In a prescient and thoroughly modern move, he searched for pain relief in nutrition, devouring the research of legendary nutritionist Adelle Davis, and the works of Paul Bragg, the founder of America’s health food movement. Impressed by his findings and empowered by the results from the supplements he took to ease his pain, Swanson opened a mail order business selling vitamin E capsules in 1969.

Nearly 50 years later, the company he built is one of the most vibrant and innovative online health products companies in the world. Swanson Health began as a catalog company that, with the dawn of the digital age, morphed into an online enterprise serving millions of health-conscious consumers around the globe.

The rich collection of data amassed by Swanson during its dominance of the catalog sales market provides today’s company with an enviable platform for growth. “Swanson is in the unique position of starting out as a catalog company and making a successful transition to e-commerce, and in doing so we’ve built some incredible analytic and data capabilities that are beyond anything I’ve experienced either at a small or large company,” said Shane Durkee, the firm’s Chief Innovation Officer. “Just being able to leverage the nuggets from that data gives us a leg up on giant multinationals out there that just don’t have that level of data on their customers.” A former executive at Schiff, Durkee knows whereof he speaks.