Redefining Results-Driven Wellness: Oliwia Romanowska’s Journey from Fashion to Functional Nutrition

From scaling luxury running apparel to launching a science-backed wellness brand, Oliwia Romanowska has built her career on one principle: uncompromising quality rooted in personal necessity. The founder of Loustra created her colostrum-based wellness line after years of battling gut health issues, low energy, and the physical toll of her high-intensity lifestyle. With a decade of experience building D2C brands across fashion, beauty, and wellness, Oliwia knows how to transform personal struggle into commercially viable solutions. Her latest venture combines ancient nutrition with modern bioavailability, targeting ambitious professionals who demand results without the wellness industry's typical smoke and mirrors. Now channeling her playbook into empowering other founders, we sat down with Oliwia to unpack her journey, formulations, and vision for no-nonsense wellness

Oliwia, you've scaled brands in fashion and beauty, what made you pivot into the wellness space with Loustra?

Wellness has been part of my life for as long as I can remember however I dealt with stubborn acne for years. Things escalated after I suddenly lost one of my closest friends, someone who’d always pushed me to go after my ambitions. The grief hit hard. I dropped a lot of weight, my skin flared into cystic acne, and I didn’t recognise myself physically or emotionally.

Trying to manage the symptoms made it clear something deeper was off. My gut was completely out of balance, and none of the products I turned to actually addressed that. At the same time, I’d been wanting to start something of my own. Bringing those two threads together - a personal need and a long-standing ambition - led to Loustra. It wasn’t a planned pivot. It was me building what I couldn’t find.

Your personal health struggles inspired Loustra. Can you share what wasn't working with existing solutions and what that breaking point felt like?

Looking back, my diet played a bigger role than I realised. I was vegetarian for years, but in reality the bulk of what I ate was ultra-processed. It gave the impression of being healthy without offering proper nourishment. When my skin and energy worsened, I kept adding more “solutions” on top of a foundation that wasn’t supporting me. Nothing changed because the basics weren’t there.

Things shifted when I started learning about the power of first foods and moved toward a whole-foods diet. It was the first time I felt my body respond in a meaningful way. Existing products had failed me because they were either too weak, too complicated, or completely detached from how the body actually repairs itself. The breaking point was realising I was doing everything the industry told me to do and still feeling depleted. That’s when I decided to create something that actually delivered — simple, effective, and rooted in real nourishment.

Colostrum has become incredibly trendy, yet you claim most products miss the mark. What makes Loustra different in a market flooding with "liquid gold" supplements?

There aren’t actually that many brands doing colostrum well. The interest has grown, but the quality hasn’t kept pace. A lot of products use colostrum sourced from regions with inconsistent regulations, and the processing methods often strip out the very compounds people buy it for.

For me, sourcing was non-negotiable. We use EU-sourced colostrum because the regulatory standards are higher and the supply chain is transparent. From there, it’s about protecting the ingredient. Our cold-chain process preserves the peptides, growth factors, and immunoglobulins that make colostrum effective in the first place. If you break that chain, you lose most of the benefits.

Loustra is built on the simple idea that if you’re going to take colostrum, you should feel a difference. That only happens when the ingredient is the highest quality.

You're combining colostrum with aronia berries, a pairing most brands haven't explored. What's the science behind this particular formulation?

I didn’t want to create another single-ingredient supplement. Colostrum is incredibly effective on its own, but pairing it with the right ingredient can broaden its impact. Aronia stood out immediately. It’s one of the most potent natural antioxidant sources, but what mattered most was how well it complements colostrum’s role in supporting repair and immunity.

Colostrum helps rebuild and strengthen the gut lining and immune response. Aronia supports the regulatory side by managing inflammation, improving microbial balance, and protecting cells from oxidative stress. When you combine the two, you create a more rounded environment for recovery and resilience.

There’s also a practical benefit: aronia adds a subtle flavour and makes the experience more enjoyable. Wellness doesn’t need to feel medicinal to be effective. Our aim was a clean, purposeful formula that works on multiple levels and still feels good to take.

You've positioned Loustra as "no-nonsense wellness." What does that mean practically, and how does it show up in your product development?

For me, “no-nonsense wellness” means creating products that are built on integrity and evidence, not marketing trends. The category has become crowded with formats that look appealing but deliver very little. Gummies are a good example. They’re often positioned as functional supplements, yet the active ingredients are usually minimal, surrounded by fillers, gums, sweeteners, or even sugar. It’s a format that prioritises taste over efficacy.

Loustra was created to take a different path. Every ingredient in our formulas is chosen for its function, potency, and the way it interacts with the body. If something doesn’t serve a clear purpose or support the overall mechanism of action, it doesn’t make it in. We focus on purity, bioavailability, and scientific relevance-  and we avoid anything that would dilute those standards.

“No-nonsense” also means transparency. We’re clear about sourcing, processing, and why each component is there. The goal isn’t to overwhelm people with routines or complexity. It’s to provide targeted, meaningful support that aligns with how the body actually works.

From Acid Running to Loustra, you've clearly mastered the art of niche audience building. Who is the Loustra customer, and how did you find them?

The Loustra customer is someone who expects measurable results from their wellness routine. They’re driven, selective, and want products that are grounded in science rather than trends. Many of them have already experimented with surface-level solutions and realised they want support that genuinely impacts how they feel and function.

I understood this audience because I’d built for a similar mindset before. Acid Running is all about performance and quality and creating products for people who take their output seriously and value things built with intention. That experience showed me how to speak to consumers who don’t want noise, just excellence.

With Loustra, we didn’t try to cast a wide net. We focused on people who are intentional about their wellbeing, who care about efficacy, and who appreciate transparency. When you build something to solve a real problem with genuine precision, the right audience gravitates toward it naturally.

As a founder juggling high-stakes growth and personal life, what's your non-negotiable daily ritual?

Daily movement is the one thing I never skip. It doesn’t have to be a full workout, even a long walk is enough, but I need that physical reset to stay clear and focused. I also make a point of learning something every day, whether that’s hearing from other founders, diving into a topic I’m curious about, or picking up a few pages from a book. It keeps me progressing rather than just reacting to what the day throws at me.

And of course, Loustra is part of my daily rhythm. I take it in whatever form suits the day - in yoghurt, porridge, or simply with water - because it supports my gut and helps me feel consistent. It’s become a straightforward, reliable part of looking after my health.