About Brian | Brian Larsen Advisory

The short version

My path wasn't a straight line, but every step built toward the same place. I started behind a pharmacy counter, became a registered nurse, and spent more than 15 years in healthcare leadership, eventually serving as a Director of Nursing. Then the pull to build got too loud to ignore. I founded RestoraPet, a consumer wellness supplement company, built it from nothing while earning my MBA at the University of Virginia's Darden School, and grew it to No. 218 on the Inc. 5000 and a successful exit.

That combination shapes how I work. The clinician in me takes health and safety seriously. The operator in me knows what it costs to build something real. The two don't usually come together. When they do, founders get advice that's both credible and practical.

Brian Larsen in a blue blazer, arms crossed, standing by a window in his office

What I learned building RestoraPet

I started with unknowns everywhere and figured out what actually moves a wellness brand forward, usually by getting it wrong first.

Along the way, I ran an FDA registered manufacturing facility that produced for dozens of other brands. That gave me a rare vantage point. I didn't just learn what worked for one product. I saw what worked across the category, from formulation and sourcing to positioning and pricing.

RestoraPet wasn't my only build. I co-founded Dermalescent, a natural skincare brand, and personally developed its formulation before it launched and later sold. I also co-founded a healthcare nonprofit, The Apractis Clinic, back in 2012. Different ventures, but the same lesson every time: brands live or die on the decisions they make before launch.

When I exited RestoraPet, I realized the part I loved most wasn't running the company. It was the strategy. The early, foundational decisions that determine whether a brand has a chance are what I'm passionate about. It's an honor to stand side by side with founders as their vision becomes a real brand.

Brian Larsen in a lab coat and safety glasses, holding a pipette in a gloved hand and studying the sample closely

The flavor advantage

Here's a detail most strategy consultants can't offer: I've spent more than twenty years doing hands on flavor development, and I've personally created multiple proprietary flavor systems for consumer wellness products.

This experience runs deep. My co-founder at RestoraPet founded FLAVORx, the world's largest medication flavoring company, and that expertise influenced everything I've developed since.

Why it matters to you: in wellness, taste is where products succeed or fail. A supplement people don't enjoy taking won't get taken, won't get reordered, and won't get five star reviews. Most advisors treat flavor as the manufacturer's problem. I treat it as brand strategy, because it is.

How I think about the work

A few principles guide every engagement I take on.

Strategy before execution

The most expensive mistakes happen early, which is when they're still cheap to fix. Getting the foundation right means everything that comes after it will be on solid ground.

Evidence over instinct

Your instincts got you this far, but consumer data tells you whether the market agrees. I've watched internal favorites lose to the market again and again, so we test before we commit.

Restraint is a skill

Knowing what not to do, and when to stop, is as valuable as knowing what to build. I'll tell you when something isn't worth it, even when it's not what you hoped to hear.

Your brand, not mine

I'm here to sharpen your vision, not replace it. The best outcomes come from founders who own the decisions. My job is to make those decisions easier to own.

A little more

When I'm not working with founders, you'll find me playing a piano or guitar at the request of my two young children as they sing along (they ask for Fleetwood Mac and Talking Heads, and thankfully I've never been asked to play "Baby Shark").

Brian Larsen at home with his two children

Strategy from someone who's actually built it.