She’s a peach. Rosa Li is the CEO and founder of Wildwonder, a line of sparkling drinks packed with prebiotics, probiotics, and oh-so-fruity flavors. She used to work in finance, but when she started having health run-ins, she turned to her family’s home remedies. Now the self-proclaimed foodie is serving that same medicinal magic to shoppers, giving a taste of her Chinese heritage along the way.

We called up the 35-year-old to learn what inspired her soda alternatives, why mothers really need to write down recipes, and how you can beat an authentic origin story (spoiler: you can’t).

What is Wildwonder?
Wildwonder is inspired by these healing tonics my grandma brewed for me growing up. It’s rooted in culture and combines gut-healing superfoods and Eastern herbal wisdom. More importantly, we’re all about uplifting our community, so 5% of profits go to causes that support female and marginalized communities.

Would you and your Grandma make tonics together?
Yeah! She made them almost every day with wild herbs and plants that stunk up the whole house. She instilled in me the philosophy of food as medicine from an early age. She used to ferment vegetables as well, because part of our culture is gut health.

When did gut health become such a big deal to you personally?
I was doing product inventory investing and working super long hours. I was stressed to the point that I had a lot of digestive issues. I [started to] brew ginger lemon tea in the morning. That soothed my stomach, and I would take turmeric, so a lot of it is just herbs and botanicals. That’s why I talk about ancient nutrition and gravitate towards natural remedies whenever I have some sort of sickness.

How did you go from watching your Grandma to making your own drinks? 
Growing up, no one followed recipes. Even when I asked my mom or grandma, she’d be like, “Oh, just a pinch of this and a pinch of that.” But I do remember the general philosophy, so I started brewing concoctions in my kitchen with plants and herbs. I’d add purees and juice to make them taste good, then I’d make all my friends try them. They weren’t the best at first, but through many iterations, we got there.

Many cultures have healthy recipes, but when you sell something, you suddenly have to back up those wellness claims with research. What was that process like for you?
Thankfully, there’s maturing awareness around gut health. Some people might not be aware that 70% of our immune health is actually in our gut and that gut health affects other aspects like brain health and energy level. But they generally know that probiotics are important. For a lot of probiotics, by the time you take them off the shelf, they might not be alive, so we have microbiome experts as our advisors to suggest the best ones to use.

It’s no secret that a lot of brands that aren’t Asian-owned pull inspiration from Asian beauty and wellness culture. How do you feel about that?
Yeah, there are a lot of Caucasian people doing matcha, which is really funny, because matcha is obviously Japanese. I think it’s super important to bring more diverse representation to retail shelves and to have an authentic story to tell. I think people—especially the next generation—care about where ingredients come from and about the story, and hopefully that’ll be an ongoing theme.