From Clean Air to Clear Vision: Leadership, Innovation, and Resilience

From a podcast interview featuring Warb Lee, Founder and CEO of Alen Corp.

Overview

In this episode of CEO Growth Talks, Warb Lee, Founder and CEO of Alen Corp, joins Pete Hayes to explore how cutting-edge air purification and data-driven customer insights are transforming indoor wellness. He traces Alen’s 20-year mission to “help people live healthier lives,” from the birth of the BreatheSmart line and Utopia Air concept to the seamless integration of smart sensors and advanced filtration. Warb also reveals the end-to-end supply-chain strategies and diplomatic leadership style that have fueled Alen’s growth across direct-to-consumer and B2B channels.

Technology, customer experience, and collaborative leadership converge to redefine what it means to breathe easy. Warb’s journey, from digitally native startup to retail powerhouse, provides a blueprint for executives aiming to innovate, partner smartly, and build resilience for the long term.

Key Takeaways

• Alen’s core mission is to help people live healthier lives by creating a cleaner indoor environment through high-quality air purifiers.

• Their BreatheSmart products combine HEPA filtration with activated carbon and catalytic coatings to remove smoke, VOCs, and pathogens, while operating quietly and efficiently.

• As a digitally native brand, Alen has built a robust distribution network across its website, Amazon, major retailers like Lowe’s, and B2B channels including over 100,000 classrooms.

• Alen’s manufacturing strategy involves end-to-end optimization with long-term partners; streamlining hundreds of production steps, managing inventory costs, and ensuring efficient two-day shipping without compromising quality.

• Founder Warb Lee leads with diplomatic, debate-driven collaboration, leveraging trust and natural strengths while continually refining his leadership through active listening and team input.

Follow Warb Lee on LinkedIn

Follow Pete Hayes on LinkedIn

[Episode Transcript]

[00:00:00] Pete Hayes: Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of CEO Growth Talks. I'm your host, Pete Hayes, and I am joined by my friend Warb Lee, Founder and CEO of Alen Corp. You may be familiar with Alen if you've ever gone shopping for air purifiers, as they are a top U.S.-based company with some offshore manufacturing.

[00:00:23] Pete Hayes: We're here today to talk and get to know Warb a little bit. Welcome to the program, Warb.

[00:00:28] Warb Lee: Happy to be here, and thanks for inviting me to your show.

[00:00:31] Pete Hayes: Let's get to know Alen a little bit. I mean, the business has been around for how long?

[00:00:37] Warb Lee: We're rounding 20 years.

[00:00:40] Pete Hayes: Oh my goodness. And you've had this mission for quite a while. I've been following you, and we've been talking for maybe a decade. It's a fascinating business with a very high-quality product. Can you describe your product line?

[00:00:54] Warb Lee: Sure. I'll start with our mission. Our mission is to help people live healthier lives. That is truly how we got started. We see air quality as a major factor in helping people be healthier. Because you can't really control your air — it's just there. You try to limit outdoor pollution as much as you can, but it still comes through your windows and doors. So we see our role as creating a healthier environment for our customers, making it one less thing for them to worry about in their day-to-day lives.

[00:01:32] Pete Hayes: That really came to a head five years ago. I don’t think people were aware that with an Alen air purifier, they could actually remove COVID from the air — whether in a restaurant or their home. How does that work?

[00:01:51] Warb Lee: I’ll break down the air purifier into its basic components. You have a motor, a fan, a printed circuit board that controls the system, and a plastic housing to package everything together. What we focus on is selecting the right motor, optimizing fan design, and implementing advanced filtration.

We use HEPA technology, plus additives like activated carbon or catalytic coatings to reduce smoke and VOCs — volatile organic compounds. For example, when you paint a room and smell that strong odor, those are VOCs. Our filtration technology absorbs those chemicals.

[00:02:49] Pete Hayes: So it’s filtering that before I have to breathe it.

[00:02:54] Warb Lee: Exactly. Customer experience is very important to us. We make sure our units are powerful enough to cover large spaces, but they operate quietly. You and I could sit in the same room and talk without raising our voices over the fan noise. That’s important to us — that these purifiers live with you quietly in the background. We don't want to be intrusive.

What also sets us apart is that our units have sensors and smart chips that constantly monitor your air and adjust automatically to keep your air quality at optimal levels. So your lungs don’t have to do the filtering.

[00:04:00] Pete Hayes: So it's not just a fan pulling air through a HEPA filter. There’s intelligence built in, and that leads to your brand. Most of your products are called BreatheSmart, right?

[00:04:07] Warb Lee: BreatheSmart is the brand of the air purifiers we currently sell. We have more products coming and will be adding new product lines to our portfolio. Alen is the company name. BreatheSmart is the product line for our air purifiers.

[00:04:24] Pete Hayes: What I love — and by the way, if you haven’t already, go to alen.com to see the full portfolio — is the idea that you're not just selling a device. You're delivering something much more: this idea of "Utopia Air." Where did that come from? It's fantastic.

[00:04:48] Warb Lee: I have to give a shout-out to Cindy Montgomery, a good friend and also our CMO. She and her team helped us identify what we're really good at. We're analytical about air quality. We're customer-driven, service-driven, and educational.

When we looked across all of that, we realized that what we’re really doing is creating something like a utopia — the perfection of your air. And everyone’s environment is different. Your home is not the same as mine. So everything we offer is customized to how and where you live.

Utopia Air is the concept we developed to describe a personalized atmosphere that’s optimized for each customer. It's all about creating the perfect air for your life, your family, your needs. And we believe we've struck a good chord with that.

[00:06:00] Pete Hayes: You can buy your products directly from your website, but I believe you also have a strong presence on Amazon and a major retailer. Can you tell us about your distribution?

[00:06:13] Warb Lee: Yes. When I started the company, we were very focused on digital. We were a digitally native brand, which made sense for a new company that nobody knew about. So we emphasized marketing, selling, and communicating online — through media channels and our website.

As Amazon grew, we adapted. Amazon is the giant in the space. We’ve developed a strong relationship with them. They're tough to work with, but having a good direct relationship with Amazon makes all the difference.

[00:07:08] Warb Lee: So Alen.com, Amazon, many of the marketplaces, companies like Homedepot.com, Target.com, Best Buy, Lowe's, etc. All the retailers have Alen, and all at the same prices. A couple years ago, we were able to partner with Lowe's Home Improvement, and now we're in roughly 1800 Lowe's retail stores across the US. We really expanded our business and consumer segment. We're very happy and pleased with the relationships and the partnerships we have.

[00:07:41] Pete Hayes: You also sell into businesses, and I know that may not be the largest part of the business, but what sorts of businesses are most interested in high-quality air purifiers?

[00:07:51] Warb Lee: You mentioned COVID. I think COVID really stepped up our B2B play. Back in 2020, which ironically is five years ago, a lot of schools came to us. We didn't know there could be such a big demand. I think COVID helped us recognize that there’s a big disaster-preparedness segment in the market that we weren't even addressing. That basically pulled us into B2B unexpectedly. From there, we got to really understand schools. We now serve over 100,000 classrooms.

[00:08:28] Warb Lee: During the COVID spike, they were just looking for air purifiers that could cover a large area and remove or mitigate some of the virus and bacteria issues. Out of that, we realized there's a bigger demand for B2B, whether it's schools, government, or office buildings. We're working to make air quality front and center, not just for schools, but for workplaces in general.

[00:08:57] Pete Hayes: It's desired, in some ways expected, and yet not all products have the quality to eliminate, like you mentioned, chemicals, smoke, viruses from the air. That’s a tall order, and you really have to have a high-quality product to do that.

[00:09:12] Warb Lee: One need is capable sensors that can determine what you have, down to these long-winding particle sizes. Every environment is different. You may have pets or young children. That’s one environment. Mine is different. Our sensors are able to determine the composition in your area.

[00:09:41] Warb Lee: What's the percentage of pollen? What's the percentage of dust? What's the percentage of chemicals or smoke or virus? The sensors are very sensitive and can pick up these components in your air.

[00:09:59] Warb Lee: Once we understand what's in your air, we can then have a solution to incorporate. There are various filter technologies. We have at least three to four different types that apply to different environments. If we didn’t have the sensors and the ability to analyze that data, we’d just have to give you a filter and say, "We think this is going to solve it," but we wouldn't know for sure. Now, with these sensors and our ability to analyze needs in the cloud, we know exactly what we can do to solve your problem.

[00:10:31] Pete Hayes: Okay. That's awesome. Congratulations.

[00:10:34] Warb Lee: What I’ll say is this. We're working very extensively with our manufacturing partners. They've been producing our products in their factories. Right now, at their current pace, those factories are running at very low volume. We're working with them to understand all the costs in the equation, whether it's inventory costs, buying components at larger volume for cost reduction, or ways to streamline production and improve quality control. We're looking at every step in the manufacturing process to see where we can reduce cost without impacting product quality.

[00:11:24] Warb Lee: I call it end-to-end. From the moment the components arrive at their factory to when the products get delivered to our warehouse. There are hundreds of steps. We make sure each step along the way is smooth, efficient, and doesn't delay the process. That way, we can optimize pricing. This also includes how we manage logistics here. We're able to provide two-day shipping, similar to Amazon, because they’ve set a new standard.

[00:12:02] Warb Lee: How do you make sure you keep costs low while getting products to your customers as quickly as they want? That comes from examining every part of the supply chain and making sure there are no inefficiencies in the process.

[00:12:16] Pete Hayes: Wow. You've taken steps to ensure your supply chain and distribution are in good shape for the future because of the work you’ve already done.

[00:12:28] Warb Lee: The inventory won't last forever, but we should be in good shape for this year. My advice to other CEOs and business owners listening would be this. Develop strong relationships with your manufacturing partners, whether they're in the US, China, Vietnam, or Southeast Asia. I’ve had relationships with some of these partners for 10 to 15 years. I've seen their kids grow up. I've seen their families change, and they've seen the same with me.

[00:13:10] Warb Lee: That’s how we’re able to partner together to solve for scenarios like this. I would just say, build your relationships. Be smart and figure out how to navigate through these situations. When you collaborate, you realize there are things that are easy for them to accommodate.

[00:13:22] Pete Hayes: Wow. Hopefully, we’ll come out the other side better than when we went through it.

[00:13:26] Pete Hayes: Let me change the topic a bit. You run a successful organization with an impressive set of executives and an amazing level of stability and consistency. What I’m really leading to is, how would you describe your leadership style with your team?

[00:13:44] Warb Lee: I try to be a diplomat. I try because we have roughly 50 people at Alen, but we have 15 highly capable people, so I find that their ideas and suggestions are just as important as mine.

[00:13:57] Warb Lee: But I love to debate. I love to try to find the best solution, and I would say the exec team has learned my style, which is really about caring to make the best decision. To me, it doesn't matter if I'm right or wrong. It doesn't matter if my idea is a good one or a bad one. Of course, I only stick to my idea if it's a good one. But when I hear their ideas, sometimes my mind does change. I go, I didn't consider that. I would say I'm open to ideas and suggestions because my desire is to find the best direction for us. And it may be a combination of several ideas that help us get there.

[00:14:35] Warb Lee: That's one leadership style. The other one is, I think we have a high level of trust. They know that even though I don't like the situation, it's not really against them. It's never a personal issue. It's always around, well, maybe the idea is not a good one, but what if we added this to that?

[00:14:52] Warb Lee: So there's a healthy debate, there's a healthy discussion around how do we find the best solution to the problem. That comes with people's willingness, knowing that there could be plenty of holes in it, but at the end, it really doesn't matter whose idea it is. It's can we solve the problem and can we find the best solution to solving this problem that puts us in a better situation. I think that pretty much defines how we problem solve in the executive team.

[00:15:23] Pete Hayes: Yeah. That's great. You've talked about partnership with your manufacturers. You talked about trust and looking for the right objective solution to things within the business.

[00:15:34] Pete Hayes: If there was one thing. You know a lot of other business leaders. If there's one guiding thing that you think people should be tuning up in their leadership and how they lead their businesses and how they lead their employees and how they work with their partners and their supply chains, is there one thing that you would describe that would be your recommendation to other business leaders at this time?

[00:15:58] Warb Lee: That's a tough question. Everyone has a unique leadership style. You have a certain way of doing things, just like I have a certain way of doing things. I say, always lean on what you do naturally.

[00:16:10] Warb Lee: For instance, I'm not a person that has strong empathy. I'm developing that skill, but I wouldn't say that is forefront to my leadership style. I lead kind of the way I naturally or normally lead, and then over time I add certain things to make me better.

[00:16:29] Warb Lee: But I think it starts with, everyone has God-given talent that's been designed in us, right? We're uniquely made. And guess what? We all have a unique way of doing things.

[00:16:42] Warb Lee: It doesn't mean though that our leadership style can't improve. It doesn't mean that we can't make some adjustments to our leadership that make us unique. I would say it's a way of becoming uniquely designed, but there's always even more improvement or polishing. For me, it's about listening to my team more intently.

[00:17:05] Warb Lee: I think very fast on my feet. I tend to want to speak right away, and one of the things I try to do is speak less. So when the team discusses what they think is best, what their ideas are, I always wait to the very end. And the team knows that I wait to the very end to share my advice because I don't want to over influence. It's not easy. I'm itching to say something. At the end it's like, oh good, I get to speak. There are just things I know about myself that I'm constantly trying to improve and model.

[00:17:38] Pete Hayes: I think that's reassuring. Trust in who you are, it's unique, and then look for ways to improve. But it's not like you don't have what you need. Start with what you've been given and go from there. Wow. I love that. I just want to say to everybody who's listening, if you're not familiar with Alen, they are the quality leader. They are the technology leader, and in many respects are just getting started. Warb has talked about sensors and so forth, and laid the groundwork of where he knows he's taking the business. So congratulations, Warb, on building a great business that's really in a good position, even though you still have a lot of tough roads to travel, especially this year.

[00:18:20] Warb Lee: It's been fun really doing this because it's helped me. I think better by talking, so it's helped me kind of see the areas where I can keep improving as a leader, areas where we can keep improving as a business.

[00:18:34] Pete Hayes: Yeah. Well, great. Thanks everybody for joining us today, and join us next time on CEO Growth Talks.