Meet Our Innovator

Meet Molnár Nikoletta, the creative mind behind Basic Lab’s functional shots. Very modestly, she defines herself as an average, modern woman, who tries to maintain the healthy balance between work, family, friends and quality free time. She considers herself lucky, as research is both her work and hobby. Niki completed her studies at the University of Szeged, where she graduated as a research chemist and a chemistry teacher. Afterwards, she immediately started working at the Natural Sciences Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences where she worked for almost 15 years. During these years she attended various conferences, published research papers, participated in grant applications, and built up her own research activity. It was the latter that led her to leave the world of academia behind and start her own business.

Today she answers questions for our post.

 

Where did the idea to develop functional shots come from?

M.N: Our first idea and products were the PARTY BEFORE and PARTY AFTER shots. It’s been an ongoing topic with friends for a while. 😊 As we reach middle age, our body metabolizes alcohol slower, recovery time takes longer. Just because we’re not in our twenties anymore doesn’t mean we want to live as hermits and give up fun nights with friends and enjoy a drink or two. However, we also can’t afford to lose the next day due to a bad hangover. Searching the market, I couldn’t find any product that would adequately solve this problem, whereas today we have a good understanding of how the body breaks down alcohol. We decided to create a product that would let us enjoy a night out, but we could continue with our daily activities the following day.
Although I love coffee, and would often have it later in the afternoon, because I needed that boost, unfortunately, I started to notice that I had a harder time falling asleep and sometimes my heart would pump faster. These were not good signs, and I thought – wouldn’t it be great if I could develop a shot that could be consumed in the afternoons, give me lift, without the harsh side-effects of energy drinks and coffee? This was the concept behind our BRAINPRO shot.

 

What would you highlight for consumers to know about your shots? What makes them special?

M.N: One of our main goals was to make our products liquid based, mainly water based. This made our task more difficult, because a starting active ingredient must be made aqueous first, without losing its potency. We also preferred the liquid formula because it allows only the pure active ingredients to be absorbed, leaving out all additives, fillers and formulants, but achieving the best bioavailability – meaning absorption by the body. Finally, as they are water-based they can be consumed anytime, anywhere, which is not always possible with alcohol extracts.

 

What does it feel like to have your products on the market?

M.N: I’m very excited of course! It reminds me of the first time I took my son to kindergarten, let him go on his own to experience the world, and patiently waited for feedback from him and those around him. 😊 I can only hope I will receive the same positive feedback that my son got. I am proud of all our products, after all, each of them is like a child. During development, I work as if I’m creating something that will benefit my family and loved ones, which I would like to share with all of you now.