In this episode of You Had Me At Eat, Jules and Erica talk with Josh Schieffer of The Guided Buyer, and creator and producer of the annual Gluten-Free Buyer's Guide, along with the Dairy Free Buyer's Guide, Low Carb Buyer's Guide and Plant Based Buyer's Guide. Jules and Erica get to the bottom of what it takes to put together a series of publications like these guides, who they're for, and how a brand can get to the top of the charts.
P.S. You Had Me At Eat took the #1 Gluten-Free Podcast award for the 2024 Gluten Free Buyers Guide! Thank you, listeners!
RESOURCES
The Guided Buyer
Buy the 2024 Gluten Free Buyers Guide on Amazon
Contact/Follow Jules & Erica
Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe!
**some links may be affiliate links; purchasing through these links will not cost you more, but will help to fund the podcast you ❤️
In this episode of You Had Me At Eat, Jules and Erica talk with Josh Schieffer of The Guided Buyer, and creator and producer of the annual Gluten-Free Buyer's Guide, along with the Dairy Free Buyer's Guide, Low Carb Buyer's Guide and Plant Based Buyer's Guide. Jules and Erica get to the bottom of what it takes to put together a series of publications like these guides, who they're for, and how a brand can get to the top of the charts.
P.S. You Had Me At Eat took the #1 Gluten-Free Podcast award for the 2024 Gluten Free Buyers Guide! Thank you, listeners!
RESOURCES
The Guided Buyer
Buy the 2024 Gluten Free Buyers Guide on Amazon
Contact/Follow Jules & Erica
Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe!
**some links may be affiliate links; purchasing through these links will not cost you more, but will help to fund the podcast you ❤️
Erica [00:00:13]:
Hey. I'm Erica.
Jules [00:00:14]:
And I'm Jules. Most people have at least 1 thing that they can't or won't eat.
Erica [00:00:19]:
Now we're definitely like that.
Jules [00:00:21]:
When we started this podcast to talk about the gluten free food industry,
Erica [00:00:25]:
Like new products and some of the stories behind your favorite brands.
Jules [00:00:29]:
And living life with especially diet and also some important health care topics.
Erica [00:00:33]:
Since we're basically both broken inside,
Jules [00:00:36]:
you had me at eat.
Erica [00:00:45]:
Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to another episode of You Had Me Eat. Today, we are joined by Josh Schieffer, the guided buyer. I love it. We have known Josh for a very, very long time in our community. He is one of the pillars of the gluten free community, or should I say old school members, like Jules and I.
Erica [00:01:08]:
Mhmm. He has had many many iterations of his brand and what he's provided to the gluten free community, and we're here to talk about the latest and greatest version of his brand, which is the guided buyer. And you may have seen us talking about the guided buyer. We're, just, received an award for we have been voted number 1 gluten free podcast. Yes. That's right.
Jules [00:01:30]:
Where's mine? I just had to ask. I'm showing it. It's Fine. We don't always No. I can show it. Better.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:01:35]:
Hold on. Hold on.
Erica [00:01:36]:
So much better.
Jules [00:01:36]:
Josh, you hold yours up too. We'll all do it at the same
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:01:39]:
Here.
Jules [00:01:41]:
For those of you listening to the podcast the way you're supposed to actually listen to a podcast, you're not actually seeing it on YouTube. We are holding up are individual copies of the 2024 gluten free buyer's guide. So there you go. You can also get yours On Amazon, you can have your very own buyer's guide. Yay.
Erica [00:02:00]:
Yeah. We will get into that. So, this is basically a community voted, Community source list of the best of things. And, as Jules alluded to, you can buy it on Amazon. Social media, obviously, Josh shares a lot of of the winners in this really cool, like, Olympic podium style, Showcase of who wins best, but Jules and I have both won awards in this amazing thing. For instance, I just turned to sugar cookies, So you can find the list of, like, the top voted one and then some runners up. And I love this guide and have since you started these awards because, it allows people to understand community source. What is the best? X, y, z.
Erica [00:02:46]:
And that's something that is always asked in the gluten free community since we've started 1000000 years ago in the prehistoric era with the dinosaurs. Prehistoric gluten free. Prehistoric gluten free. It was much easier to eat gluten free back then. It was just T rexes. So, Josh, tell us a little bit about Why you started and kind of how the backstory of why you decided to launch, who you were back then, And what gave you this idea and, and why you started a business?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:03:16]:
Sure. Yeah. So thanks for having me on your podcast. I love it. So my son was diagnosed with celiac disease before I even heard that name. When the doctor said celiac disease, like, we literally had to Google it. Like, what are they talking about? And, we were immersed in this community. We're trying to figure out what to do.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:03:42]:
And, we were going to these picnics where we would meet all these other families. And our experience of Converting to gluten free was much different than a lot of them. A lot of them were lower income or maybe lower middle income families and didn't have The same healthcare that we had. And so when my son was diagnosed, we were Originally given like a, a Xerox copy of bananas and bacon and, like, These are the things you can eat. Yes.
Erica [00:04:16]:
We all were. Yeah. Yeah.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:04:17]:
No. Like, okay. This sucks. But then my my wife, God bless her. She's like, hey, we really need to go to a dietitian and figure this out. So she did. She called me. She's like, hey, I want you to go to this dietitian's, appointment with me.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:04:33]:
I'm like, why? Like, you could figure that out. Right? She goes, no. But we're going to her house. I really want you to stay. I'm like, her house? The heck? So come to find out her daughter had celiac disease, and she wanted us, instead of going to, you know, a clinical setting, to go to her house and look what Cross contamination looks like. And here's a different, a toaster, and here's why you do that. And here's all the brands we love, like, Here's the cereal that we love. And, you know, and it was like, wow, that was really cool.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:05:04]:
So we immediately went to, like, whole yeah. Yeah. So we went to Whole Foods, and it was like, oh, yeah. I remember that brand. I remember that cereal box and that whatever, all the different brands. We visually could remember what we saw. And I'm like, man, that is such a different experience than these folks that we're meeting at these, picnics. They got the ditto sheet, but they couldn't afford a dietician or whatever.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:05:27]:
And, I remember meeting 1 family, and they were very depressed. And their son, was severely damaged internally, and it was it was coming out externally. And They were really depressed about the diet, and it was, it was bad. So anyway, on the way home from that, my wife and I are like, why don't We create, basically a consumer driven program that highlights who has the best foods. That way, families like them can just quickly identify and and have essentially that same experience we did without having to go into a dietitian's home. And, we we the vision was just a 1 page website where we had a list of categories, and people can see, and people can vote, and it would be some Simple, and we did that. We were
Jules [00:06:19]:
What year was this,
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:06:20]:
Josh? This was 2010.
Jules [00:06:23]:
Mhmm.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:06:24]:
Yeah. So for those of you who've been gluten free forever, you might remember, G Freek was like The catchy SEO title I thought I had. And, anyway, I, I got sick and tired trying to explain what G Freek was. But anyway, so we started an awards program and we were doing it every year, And then we started to receive requests from, like, folks that were diagnosing people with celiac disease. Like, hey. It'd be great to, like, Give them a book. You know, when they get diagnosed, like, instead of that ditto or that Xerox copy, like, Here's a book and these are all consumer voted products. So we started making books and, been doing that for years.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:07:14]:
And And then we were starting to get hit up, like, hey. I love the gluten free buyers guy, but I'm also dairy free. What's the chances of you doing, like, dairy free awards dairy free books. And I was like, I don't know. And some of the brands I work with, obviously, they you know, they're either, plant based or vegan or dairy free, and they're like, yeah. We we would be totally hip to that. So here we are. Now we've expanded into 4 different Books, and we've been doing it.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:07:42]:
This is gonna be our 15th year doing awards. Is that not crazy?
Erica [00:07:47]:
Yeah. That is crazy.
Jules [00:07:48]:
That's Great.
Erica [00:07:49]:
We've been around for most of those. I am super excited that you talked about the new guide. So you have, We have 4 guides total now, and this is the 2nd year that you've done the the the new guides. You have the dairy free, low carb, and vegan plant based?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:08:06]:
Yep. Yep. Yep. And and the gluten free. Awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
Erica [00:08:09]:
Yep. And the gluten free one. And the categories that you have, These are just kind of the everyday categories on if you were in a grocery store, you would say, what am I looking for? So best chip, best, best bread, obviously, and then you have gluten free mixes and all the different things you're looking for. You sometimes introduce new categories. How do you choose the new categories?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:08:36]:
Well, sometimes People I'll give you a a clear example, communion wafers. Right? A brand hit me up and, like, hey. We are The best communion wafers and and were, you know, approved by this and all, you know, like, okay, I'll I'll try it and and see if, you know, people are interested in that. And so we we basically take categories in and out, and it's really dependent upon, feedback.
Erica [00:09:02]:
So tell us about the process about voting and your audience. Obviously, you've gained a big following after how many ever years, 15 years of doing this. So tell me about kind of how it works. How was your year kind of split up? Because I know you spend a lot of the year actually Cultivating products, working with brands, and then before you send out this giant survey to everyone.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:09:28]:
Yeah. So it it has changed quite a bit over the years, and we always are trying to refine it and, speed up the process because there's only a few of us that work on the book. So year over year, we do have favorites that essentially stay in the book. I mean, it's like, I could tell you Amy's gluten free mac and cheese, the frozen, like it, it's a staple. And everybody that has celiac disease knows what I'm talking about. You probably have some in your freezer right now. And, so there are some brands, and some products That that are pretty solid. They're gonna stay just because we know that they're good.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:10:08]:
And, brands will register. So if they feel like they've got a new product they want People to, vote on or if they have, just, you know, a staple in their kind of portfolio that they wanna, You know, see if it's worthy of a consumer award. They'll, register those. What we've been doing the last couple years Is there's a write in. So when you do vote, when you get you have the ballot, you'll see, like, a list of, It could be anywhere from, like, 1, 2, maybe even 5 products, but then there's always a write in. And when we, pull the results together, we sort by what people are saying. So if there's a long list of people that are saying, hey, this brand and this product is our favorite, We add that to the to the tallies. Mhmm.
Jules [00:10:56]:
For the next year or during that same year? How do you
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:10:59]:
During that same year. Yeah. During that same year.
Jules [00:11:04]:
And when you say you're working with brands throughout the year, are brands coming to you and saying, Hey, We would love to be in your guide, or do they come into you and say, we think you should add this category, or, you know, what does that what does that mean working with brands?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:11:20]:
Yeah. So brands have different ideas and and reasons for working with us. Some want to be in the book Just to get eyeballs on their product. Some, want to be highlighted as award winners and then they use like our award seal to help them Market. So there's a whole host of reasons why, brands wanna be, and it and it it varies from brand to brand. But, yeah. So Throughout the year, the earlier part of the years, we offer discounts to to get them, in the guide early. So we're not inundated at the, You know, right before the ballot goes live with a 1,000 different vendors trying to put their products in.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:12:01]:
So we we entice them to to start early. But yeah. We basically start building the ballot in January by these brands registering their products. And then when we go into to live voting, Of course, we'll have them listed, but then there's always that write in. And I don't wanna over complicate things, but, we do have like Influencers that we work with and and that, we respect. And so we'll reach out to them, and we'll ask them, You know, what are some of your favorite brands that you're being introduced to? And so we give them an opportunity to to put products in in the ballot as well.
Jules [00:12:40]:
Yeah. That's absolutely question because I know,
Erica [00:12:42]:
yeah, that Yeah. I've written in a ton of stuff that is, like, This has blown my mind, you know, and there's so many amazing new products that launch every year, and, obviously, we're the ones going out To every freaking show losing our minds, not sleeping the entire year. But, you know, there's so many great things that it's like, This is so exciting. We absolutely have to, like, have this as a write in for people to know. And I think that gives us to the that lends to kind of the second part of what this book is, which is, yeah, the award winning the awards are great, and you can show off your awards. But the best part is you have a freaking guide in your pocket that is like, okay. If I'm looking for something, ice cream cones. Like, I need ice cream cones for my kid's birthday.
Erica [00:13:35]:
Okay. I'm gonna see probably these 2, and I know that Someone has said that this is their favorite ice cream cone. It's been community sourced and people know. Best candy, Best I mean, people always ask me in these Facebook groups that will be the death of me, like, hey. Have you tried this? Have you have you eaten this yet? Because I don't know if I wanna spend the $8 on it Yep. Or $10 on it. Like, these Ming's bings that I wrote in. Oh my god.
Erica [00:14:05]:
Favorite freaking thing, and I am so happy that it's out there. And I know that so many people asking me about these products saying, is it really worth it? It'll make
Jules [00:14:13]:
we can't, like, taste everything. But we can open this book and say, we didn't taste it, but a bunch of other people did vote for it. So at least that's a starting point. And As we all know, the gluten free diet and and a lot of the plant based other diets too, they're a lot more expensive to than just like a mainstream diet. So if you have a starting point where at least some critical mass of consumers just like you has said, I voted for that, Then at least you're narrowing down the choices to, it's not gonna be so bad, you're gonna throw it in the trash. Yeah. We've all had that experience too, which is why these guys are so valuable.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:14:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting because, you know, the the real heart of what why we do it is to To help those transitioning and speed up that process of acceptance of their diet and and eliminate that depression.
Jules [00:15:03]:
Yeah.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:15:04]:
And we also know that Good quality food cost more, and so we want people to feel comfortable when they do make that purchase. It's like, well, this is, like, Top top 3 products. So there's gotta be something to it. Right.
Jules [00:15:20]:
And
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:15:21]:
so our heart is really For for the new newly diagnosed. But I will tell you, you know, whenever you review the Amazon reviews, it's like, I bought this book, You know, 5 years in a row, and I love it every year. And that's really cool, because a lot of people, you know, they get sick of the same foods, And it's like, I wanna experiment.
Jules [00:15:40]:
Mhmm.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:15:40]:
And these are new products, and that's exciting, and I wanna try that. So, that was kind of a side benefit To the books is like it's introducing new products to people that are sick and tired of eating the same stuff.
Jules [00:15:53]:
Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good point. And, Also, I mean, I would just I'm sure you know this, but we we had somebody call the other day, like a small bakery, and they said, You know, we discovered your pancake mix in the gluten free buyer's guide.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:16:09]:
Right.
Jules [00:16:09]:
Like, you know, it was voted, You know, number 1 pancake mix in the gluten free buyer's gut, and we need a pancake mix. So that's where we're starting.
Erica [00:16:18]:
Are there some people calling you right now on your So yeah.
Jules [00:16:23]:
They're like, you haven't called us back. We need the pancake mix. No. I I mean so I think there's there's a lot. It's not just for the new new newly diagnosed. It's not just for for people who live gluten free individually, but it's also really an important resource for, bakeries, for restaurants, for, you know, Restaurateurs, like, who are needing to know what the best products are, be it dairy free or, you know, plant based or or gluten free. So I think it's It's got a lot of value for a lot of different people.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:16:53]:
So it's pretty
Jules [00:16:54]:
cool that you, you know, conceptualize this so many years ago, and it's it's blossomed into this really useful resource.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:17:00]:
Yeah. I think it just it it's it proves a point that it's really important to listen to your audience and take their feedback because we wouldn't really be doing what we're doing now if we hadn't done that. We would've still had, like, a 1 page website called G Freak. You know? And and nobody would know who the heck we are. But, I I I do wanna point
Jules [00:17:20]:
people are voting. Oh, sorry. Go ahead.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:17:23]:
It ranges every year. So so some years we'll have, you know, in the tens of thousands of people vote, and then some years we'll have way less than that. And and this is the point I was gonna make is that there are larger brands that get engaged, and then there's smaller brands. And oftentimes, smaller brands are reluctant because they they feel like they're going against the the general mills of the world. You know? And, like, how am I gonna beat that audience? Mhmm. And I will tell you and, Jules, you're a a clear example of, like, you have a cult following. You have Raging fans. People absolutely does.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:18:02]:
Love your product. And so So because they love you and your product so much, they will vote for you as opposed to someone going, General Mills just asked me to vote for their product. But if it's a brand that's a small brand that you love, yeah, they're gonna they're gonna vote. So it really depends. Like, We ask our own audience to vote and we, you know, we're building an email list over the years that has grown. But, we ask that the brands that are registering, like, Ask your fans to vote for your products. If they're the best and you you're confident that you have the best products, ask the audience. And so it fluctuates from year to year how many how many both.
Jules [00:18:48]:
Yeah. Well and I think it's a reflection of, you know, how How much people do actually like the product? Like, are they gonna take the time to vote? I mean, because there's a lot it's a long list of things to vote for. Know? So it does take a few minutes to go through and vote. It's not just a I voted. You know? It it does take a little bit of time. But if you do really love a product or a brand, then you're gonna take the time to do it. You're really washy about it, and you're not gonna do it.
Erica [00:19:17]:
I put my thoughts and efforts into it every year. I'm like, okay. Let's go back through through, like, my photos from the food show. Like, what do I really think is the best? Yeah. And, you know, I get so many emails a day from brands that are like, we're in this contest. Vote for us. And I'm like, Yeah. Do I really like, these larger brands, and I'm like Yeah.
Erica [00:19:37]:
I mean, if I was like, this is truly my favorite cake mix of all time, of course, I'm gonna, like, That's fine. But when it's just like, it's an okay cookie mix. Is it the best? No. Not really. You know, like but if Jules is out there and she's like, Obviously, I'm up for this award for my cookie mix. And I'm like, we order, you know, pounds of this mix per quarter, and I'm about to get, like, a freaking massive delivery this week, I think, from you guys. But it's like we put the effort because it's Worth it, and we want people to know. The second that I talk about, like, my god, my sourdough bread, and I'm like, how do I learn more? What did I do? I'm like, the Jep Jules has the sourdough freaking monstrosity blog post that's, like, the longest thing on the planet, but you will know everything that you need to know about, like, Making your own gluten free sourdough bread, and it's stuff like that.
Erica [00:20:28]:
It's like we get all these questions, and it's so nice to have a resource to be like, Look. Other other people other than me also think that this is the best. You know? And I want you to take a look at this.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:20:39]:
So So I
Jules [00:20:40]:
Is this available on Kindle as well?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:20:43]:
Yeah. It is.
Jules [00:20:43]:
Kindle as well as the okay.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:20:45]:
Yeah. In in
Jules [00:20:46]:
because I know a lot of people got Kindles for Christmas.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:20:48]:
Yeah. Well, you know, what's interesting with Kindles is, like, you don't have to physically have a Kindle device because a lot of people are Apple people like myself. And so Yeah. You can download the Kindle app, and it's essentially just a reader. And so you can turn any device. It could be even like an iPhone, And then that's now your Kindle reader. It's just an app. And so you get your Kindle app to talk to your Amazon account, and you can download all those, Kindle books.
Jules [00:21:16]:
So it makes it even handier easier shopping. Yeah. That's great.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:21:20]:
So I do wanna realize that. See? I I wanted to talk about some of the feedback receive because, you know, we get these, like, negative of course, you focus on the negative feedback more than you do
Jules [00:21:30]:
with the
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:21:31]:
1,000 of positives.
Jules [00:21:32]:
I know.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:21:33]:
And it's like, oh my gosh. This is all packaged food. Oh my god. I don't eat that. And it's like, well, you know what? We have kids And, that we kinda
Erica [00:21:42]:
get this right here.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:21:43]:
And we have full time jobs. So, like, we can't garden and pick all of our own stuff and kill our own deer. Like, We're gonna have some packaged food. So so that's one thing.
Jules [00:21:54]:
In a lot of categories. It's not all packaged foods.
Erica [00:21:57]:
But also, like, story of our lives. Right? I mean, god forbid, I also posted about the new Oreo, and I knew that I was cruising for a bruising
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:22:04]:
Yeah.
Erica [00:22:05]:
And that, like, so many people are gonna be, this is gross. I'm like, cool. Then definitely don't buy it. Not here for you.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:22:12]:
Yeah. Yeah. And and so
Jules [00:22:13]:
I mean but people, they have to say something. I mean, they just can't just sit there, Erica. They have to stay
Erica [00:22:18]:
here because good for you. Helps my algorithm comment all you want.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:22:23]:
Yeah. But but that's the other point I was gonna make is that it's not just packaged food that we have in there. We have things like magazines. We have books. We have Cookbooks. We have blogs, websites, nonprofits. I mean, it really
Erica [00:22:38]:
Yes.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:22:39]:
I think we're, like, 50 to 60 different categories. And it's really a game designed for the for the newly diagnosed to really get immersed into the best. I mean, like, if you're newly diagnosed, The best thing you can do is is start listening to, like, this podcast. Right? And because you're gonna really understand the lingo And kind of the culture and I don't know. There's just so much you can learn from a podcast. And that's
Erica [00:23:04]:
Yeah.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:23:05]:
I mean, I don't know if you guys
Jules [00:23:06]:
remember Josh. Listening. Yep. That was
Erica [00:23:09]:
so nice of you to say that.
Jules [00:23:11]:
If somebody's listening and they have an idea, they're like, I I wish that they had a category for whatever. How would they share that with with Josh So that maybe, hopefully, it would be in the 2024 the 2025. 25. Yeah. Your email's on the website.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:23:29]:
Yeah. Just go to the guided buyer. Yeah. TheGuidedBuyer.com will have all of our most up to date Instagram accounts because we only have, like, 6,000 of those. And then,
Jules [00:23:39]:
Okay. Of course. Yeah.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:23:41]:
You know, you could just contact us through our our email on the website. Okay. Yeah.
Jules [00:23:46]:
And then if they is there any crowdsourcing for brands or additions to you know? Like, I wish that this was added or something. Is that the same way that people would would tell you that they want their favorite something to be in there as well?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:24:02]:
Yeah. As far as, you know, we we take feedback from all, whether it be from consumers or from from brands. And, you know, we we try things. If they don't work, we we don't do it the next year. So we're really open to to make it right for for the audience.
Jules [00:24:21]:
Do you have to get a critical number of people saying the same thing before you'll add a category or before you'll add a brand?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:24:28]:
Yes and no. I mean, if if it's just 1 person asking for it, I'm like, that's brilliant. Let's do it. You know? Yeah. Yeah. But if I'm reluctant, you know, like, there was 1 year we did seltzers, you know, and it's like
Jules [00:24:40]:
Mhmm.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:24:41]:
It was like when seltzers were just the rage. You know? And I was like, okay. We'll do seltzers. You know? But
Jules [00:24:48]:
we're not
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:24:48]:
doing seltzers.
Erica [00:24:49]:
I would actually love to know because I'm So tired of trying gross seltzers, but I, I I just I love... if I can point out another thing too. In the back of this book, after the personality awards, you have an amazing thing that you added where you're Asking bloggers to talk about their lives and how things have changed since they've been gluten free and advice. And that, I think, is such a beautiful bonus to this, just like talking about that it's not all packaged foods. Like, that that's truly An insight into things that you wouldn't necessarily get from just, like, looking at someone's blog. I love that you have that in the back. Don't ever change that because I think it's great. And you have the addition to a whole new, round of gluten free personalities like Phil Hates Gluten, Huge. He's taking the world by storm.
Erica [00:25:43]:
He's in there as well. Yeah. You know? And I think that that's, kind of a beautiful addition to it as well. It's not just awards, which is great because I obviously love winning. Winning's fantastic. It fuels the competitive spirit in my life Erica is very competitive. But but, you know, it's also, like, a really just it's a nice gift. It's a nice option for people.
Erica [00:26:05]:
You know? I think you can buy it every year and get benefit out of it even if you're not newly diagnosed.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:26:12]:
Yeah. A few years back, we so I I forgot to tell everybody. I have celiac disease too. So once my son was diagnosed, I was traveling globally for work, and I just didn't wanna know. And my wife got tested for the g. She didn't have the g, and I was like, So, anyway, I I had the endoscopy and all that. And, yeah, I have celiac disease, and so here I am. And, It's lonely.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:26:39]:
You know, it's, if you don't have a community, whether it be through Facebook groups or, You know, podcast. It's it could be a very lonely lifestyle. And, we started a survey a few years ago titled You're Not Alone. And so not only we were asking people for their favorite products, but, you know, like, hey. How many of you have had a nightmare about eating Gluten. And you wake up in a sweat. Like, I know I have. Right? And I'm like
Jules [00:27:08]:
How often have you had that nightmare? It's like, Am I the only one?
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:27:13]:
And so we did this survey, and the results are amazing. Like, you know, we are not alone. Like Yeah. All of us have nightmares of eating Something that they shouldn't it's crazy. Yep.
Erica [00:27:24]:
Yeah. I'm pulling up 1 now, from the You're Not Alone survey that talks about dating. And, obviously, we highlighted, like, scientific studies about quality of life and and dating and the the horrors of dating with celiac disease, which any of us Who have dated with celiac disease know firsthand, but it's always great to have actual clinical research to back you up on the fact that Mhmm. It's Horrible. So I love that you're highlighting this in the guide to be like, oh, yes. I too have had to go through that. Boy, that sucked. Mhmm.
Erica [00:27:57]:
So it's not necessarily trying to fix it. Right? Because with finding products, you know, people are like, oh my god. I miss this so much. And I'm like, let me fix it. Here is this Product for you. But also part of that survey is like, dude, we get it, and we can't fix it. We can't fix the fact that dating with celiac is hard or, like, Some restaurants just don't get it. We're not magic, but we will tell you at least that, like, you're not alone.
Erica [00:28:20]:
And I think that that's it's a it's gorgeous. I love
Jules [00:28:23]:
it. Yeah.
Erica [00:28:24]:
Don't ever change.
Jules [00:28:26]:
Anything that we can do to emphasize that, like, that we're all in a community, that you have others that are just like you and are there for you as a resource. And putting that in the book, being being there on social media, I think all of those things are very valuable, and it's great that you're doing that, through the You Are None Alone as well. Yeah.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:28:45]:
Well, I was just gonna say, you know, the the gluten free book, compared to the others that we offer, the gluten free book is much larger, because we do have some of those surveys and, Some of the feedback from from bloggers. The community, the gluten free community is is like that. You know? We kinda look after our own. And so I have more content. And I was interested when I started the dairy free and plant based And low carb, if if I would see that same community, camaraderie, and I and I haven't yet. Not to say it's not there, But it's different. Like, the gluten free community is special, and, it's evident in in in the book. So if you do pick up a book and you're like, man, this one's skinnier than the other, it's it's because it's just our community is different, And it's it's cool.
Erica [00:29:40]:
Yeah. I mean, medically a medically diagnosed diet is slightly different than people who are like, I would like to find the best dairy free whipped cream. I'm like, well, I would Find that too. I would love to find that. But, you know, this is something that is is definitely different than a choice of a diet that you may have while going plant based, which not to say that those aren't valid because I also am dairy free. So finding plant based anything is fantastic. Jules knows. Obviously, she's queen mushroom over there.
Erica [00:30:06]:
But yeah. Also dairy free. Also dairy free. Also dairy free.
Jules [00:30:10]:
And mushrooms. I like mushrooms.
Erica [00:30:12]:
Josh, is there anything else that you would like to add about your guide and how people can learn more about it, where they can purchase? Give us all the deets.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:30:20]:
Yeah. So, you know, the best thing to do if you if you did wanna pick up a copy, just go to Amazon. You can type in, gluten free buyer's guide, and and it will come up. You'll see all the the years. Our our latest version is 2024. But, you know, really, I just want people to understand that, you know, we did this to help those that are newly diagnosed Get engaged with the community and get engaged with the the right foods as quickly as possible. And so the takeaway from From this conversation, if it goes out to those that are newly diagnosed, we're here to help you. And everybody else who enjoys the book, that's just a plus for us.
Jules [00:31:02]:
That's great. I love it. Thanks for doing it. Thanks. I know it's a labor of love, for you and your family, and, And that comes across, and, you know, when you read your story and the fact you've been doing it for so long, and the community really does appreciate you and what doing so. Thank you.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:31:17]:
Yeah. Thank you, guys. Yeah. Before we go, I just wanna say, you know, there was a a person we haven't seen in a long time in the gluten free industry that probably needs to make a comeback. Her name is What was her name, Erica?
Erica [00:31:37]:
I had a character back in the days
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:31:40]:
when we
Erica [00:31:40]:
first started called the gluten free fairy, and she had beautiful blonde hair that was not mine. She had a fairy dress, And she had a fairy scepter, and she was the one that could tell you all the best gluten free products.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:31:55]:
That's right.
Erica [00:31:55]:
And she made appearances at expos. People took pictures with her, and my mother was a little worried about me
Jules [00:32:03]:
at one point in time.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:32:02]:
So this this should be put in as the the the bonus the the podcast bonus. You get big bonus content? Yes. You get introduced to this Mythical creature.
Erica [00:32:17]:
I posted about I posted about her the other day, and people are like, oh, yeah. We've been following you since that. And I'm like, Wow. I really wonder how, like, the new followers would be like, what did what was this?
Jules [00:32:28]:
I'm like, yeah. Good times. What's been happening?
Erica [00:32:30]:
Oh, good Oh, Josh, we're gonna have to go through
Jules [00:32:32]:
the We
Erica [00:32:32]:
need a picture.
Jules [00:32:33]:
We definitely need a picture.
Erica [00:32:34]:
Videos, and we're gonna put it in this podcast. And that's gonna be super embarrassing For my partner who, like, wishes that she just went away.
Jules [00:32:43]:
The thumbnail for this episode is gonna be Erica's scepter and wings. I certainly hope so.
Erica [00:32:49]:
Oh, Josh, thanks so much for sticking around with us for so many years. I feel like being an OG in here is like a just a, it's it's wild, man. We've seen the community shift so much and for the better, and you definitely have had some stories from the past. Stand out. We're very appreciative that you have stuck around, and you have continued to produce these guides, which have been so helpful And, just so great for the community to be, even further engaged with the products and the things that we love most about the gluten free community.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:33:19]:
Well, thanks for producing the.
Jules [00:33:22]:
Yeah. Well, stay safe.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:33:23]:
Cool. Thank you, guys.
Erica [00:33:25]:
Awesome. Thanks so much, Josh. We appreciate you.
Josh The Guided Buyer [00:33:27]:
Of course. Thank you.
Jules [00:33:28]:
And happy 2024. Thanks for tuning in to You Had Me At Eat, the number one voted gluten free podcast in the country. Remember to like and subscribe, tell all your friends, and we'll talk to you next time.