Zoe Messinger
From Darkness to Luminosity
Gelée was born out of a period of darkness, which may be why it turned out so luminous. After years of nonstop forward motion, Zoe’s nervous system, body, and spirit came undone. She put her feet in the earth, tracked the moon, and made bone broth every day. Somewhere in that ritual she saw it: bone broth is gelatin, one of the oldest medicines there is. The brand came through her own healing journey.
Zoe is a true multi-hyphenate: chef, comedian, artist, founder. She was deeply involved in shaping Gelée’s branding and creative direction alongside Roanne and the RoAndCo team. Together they talk about how scary it can be to build a brand and trust an agency with your ideas. They go deep: on her healing journey, the self-care practices that keep someone so sensitive in balance, the boundaries she learned the hard way, and following in the footsteps of a mother who’s run her own food company for almost 50 years. Running through all of it is Zoe’s belief that the point of life is to feel good. Feeling good isn’t selfish.
About Zoe Messinger
Founder of Gelée, a fruit-forward, collagen-rich jelly rooted in the ancient medicine of gelatin, sold at Erewhon and other grocers. Before Gelée, she cooked in Los Angeles restaurants, ran a food truck in Europe, and did stand-up comedy. She moves between the food, fashion, and art worlds, and is now launching Gelée's second collection of flavors.
Links:
Gelée
Gelée's Instagram
- A healing crisis, daily bone broth, and the realization that broth is gelatin
- Gelatin as "earth medicine": aspic, collagen, and upcycled bones
- HER LOVE OF jellies, mouthfeel, and building a brand out of texture
- The agency search, the "universal ping" she gets when she knows who she's meant to work with
- The scary branding process that led to a brand she truly feels good about
- Gelée as an extension of her spirit, free to grow and shift as she does
- Her self-care toolkit, from acupuncture and red light to a mini trampoline
- The dark night of the soul: dissociation, losing her instincts, and learning to lean on others
- Coming home through her hands: touch and texture as nervous system repair
- setting Boundaries as the real lesson
- Following in the footsteps of a mother who’s run her company for nearly 50 years
- “I am the healer. It is the healer.” referring to herself and Gelee
- And why the point of life is to feel good
creator & host: Roanne Adams
DIrector: Tommy AgRiodimas
Producer & EDITOR: NICK STUMPF, TEN TEN MEDIA
music: phil aceto
SPECIAL THANKS to:
RACHEL COMEY for wardrobe
johnny wahba for support