People think my job is selling.

In reality, it’s interpretation.

I work on the ODM side, positioned between brands that want something exceptional and factories that need something executable. Both sides speak confidently. Both sides assume the other understands what they mean.

Most of the time, they don’t.

Early conversations are usually optimistic. Brands describe the product they want with enthusiasm—fast absorption, clean labels, strong differentiation. Factories respond with technical capability—process ranges, equipment limits, lead times.

On the surface, everything sounds aligned.

The problems begin in the gaps between those statements.

When a brand says “premium,” they might mean sensory experience. When a factory hears “premium,” they might think tighter tolerances. When regulatory hears it, they think claim risk.

My job is to slow those assumptions down.

Working in collagen supplement ODM means navigating conversations where everyone is partially right—and still headed toward conflict.

I’ve learned to listen for what isn’t being said.

Brands often ask, “Can this be done?”
Factories often answer, “It’s possible.”

Neither statement addresses whether it should be done.

That’s where translation matters.

I remember a project where the brand pushed for an aggressive timeline. Marketing commitments had already been made, and delays felt unacceptable. The factory, meanwhile, agreed on feasibility but raised concerns about process stability.

Both sides thought they were being clear.

What the brand heard was reassurance.
What the factory meant was conditional acceptance.

When the first delays appeared, frustration followed. The brand felt misled. The factory felt pressured. Both felt unheard.

That’s when I stepped in—not with a solution, but with a reframing.

I asked the brand what failure would look like after launch. I asked the factory what success would require before production. The answers didn’t match—but they finally became visible.

Sales in ODM is not about pushing deals through.

It’s about aligning risk tolerance.

Every collagen supplement project sits on a spectrum. One end favors speed and flexibility. The other favors control and repeatability. Neither is wrong, but they lead to very different outcomes.

When those preferences aren’t made explicit, problems emerge later—when change is expensive.

I spend a lot of time explaining constraints that don’t feel intuitive.

Why a small formulation change affects production yield.
Why a claim adjustment impacts packaging timelines.
Why “just one more revision” adds weeks, not days.

To brands, these explanations can feel like resistance. To factories, they feel obvious. My role is to make them mutually understandable.

The most successful projects I’ve worked on weren’t the ones with the best ideas. They were the ones with the clearest expectations.

In those cases, brands didn’t see constraints as obstacles. They saw them as design parameters. Factories didn’t feel rushed. They felt trusted to protect the process.

That trust changes everything.

As a salesperson, I don’t win when a deal is signed. I win when a project survives its first year without emergency fixes.

That requires honesty early, even when it slows momentum.

Sometimes that means telling a brand that their idea needs refinement. Sometimes it means telling a factory that their default process won’t support the brand’s positioning. Neither conversation is comfortable—but both are necessary.

I’ve learned that misalignment is rarely intentional.

It usually comes from assuming shared understanding where none exists.

Collagen supplement ODM magnifies this risk because it involves science, regulation, marketing, and manufacturing at once. Each layer has its own logic, timelines, and pressures.

My job is to connect those logics before they collide.

When that translation works, projects move forward smoothly—not because there’s no friction, but because the friction is expected and managed.

When it doesn’t, everyone pays for it later.

That’s why I no longer describe my role as sales.

I describe it as ensuring that when people say “yes,” they’re agreeing to the same thing.