Allison Ellsworth: Co-Founder & Chief Brand Officer of poppi
Episode 589
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we’re joined by Allison Ellsworth, the Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer of poppi, a prebiotic soda brand that is redefining what soda can be for the next generation. Allison’s journey from working in the oil and gas industry to becoming a health-conscious entrepreneur is nothing short of inspiring. After discovering the health benefits of apple cider vinegar but disliking its taste, she set out to create a beverage that was both delicious and made you feel healthier. What started as a homemade concoction sold at farmers markets quickly turned into a national sensation after she and her husband pitched the product on Shark Tank. Now, poppi is the #1 selling soda on Amazon and is available in major retailers nationwide.
During our conversation, Allison shares the story behind the creation of poppi, the challenges she faced in transitioning from a homemade beverage to a nationally recognized brand, and the impact of their Shark Tank experience. We also dive into how poppi has leveraged social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram, to build a strong community and connect with consumers. Additionally, Allison discusses the importance of innovation, the role of celebrity endorsements, and how poppi balances being a mission-driven brand with the need to scale commercially.
Whether you're interested in health and wellness, entrepreneurship, or the power of branding and social media, this episode is packed with valuable insights and inspiration. Tune in to hear Allison’s incredible story and learn more about the rise of poppi. Now on #TheKaraGoldinShow.
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https://www.drinkpoppi.com/
Transcript
Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. I want to be you. Just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control. Control. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and really, some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi everyone. It’s Kara Goldin from the Kara Goldin show. I am so excited to finally meet this excellent, excellent entrepreneur, but also have her on the show today, we have Allison Ellsworth, who is the co founder and Chief Brand Officer of Poppi. And if you have not seen Poppi, you absolutely need to not only find it, but also try it. And it’s super excellent. It’s in super bright colored cans. And you’ll you’ll definitely see it in the cold box and also in the shelves of many, many retailers throughout the US, but I’m thrilled to have her. She is the co founder and Chief Brand Officer. It’s a prebiotic soda that is really redefining what soda can be for the next generation. And Allison’s journey from working in the oil and gas industry to becoming a health conscious entrepreneur is nothing short of inspiring, and what started as a homemade concoction sold at farmers markets quickly turned into a national sensation after she and her husband pitched the product on that show, Shark Tank. We’ve had many shark tank participants, but I can’t wait to hear more about that experience. Poppi is the number one selling soda on Amazon, and like I said, is available in major retailers as well. So much to say about this, but I’m going to be quiet and let Allison talk about the rest. So welcome Allison.
Allison Ellsworth 2:16
Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to get to be here and, you know, be with another amazing female entrepreneur that paved ways and beverage.
Kara Goldin 2:26
Thank you. Well, super, super excited. So, okay, so before we dive into Poppi, can you share a little bit about your background? I gave a little bit of it away, but in oil and gas and kind of what led to this transition, deciding that you were going to move into this health and wellness beverage space. Yeah.
Allison Ellsworth 2:47
So previous to Poppi, I did work in oil and gas research, and really, it sounds a little bit fancier than it really is, but I would go to small towns across the US, and I would negotiate with landowners and the government and city councils and local Indian reservations and and I would live in these teeny, little towns. I was on the road for almost seven years. And what happened when I was on the road, which, if anyone that travels a lot, you tend to your tummies off, my skin was always a mess. I was tired sleeping hotels, and I just, I don’t know. I didn’t understand what was going on with my body. Nothing major. So I kind of opened my path to health and wellness at that moment of trying to discover, kind of, how can I feel better? And after going to doctors and not having a lot of success, I did what we’re all guilty of, and I started Googling my symptoms. I was like, What’s wrong with me? And really is what I learned is what you can put into your body can really affect the way that you feel. Yeah. So I start, I went gluten free, I started working out. I discovered a product called apple cider vinegar, right? It was, like all of these things, but the problem was that didn’t taste very good, and I wanted to find a way to taste good, so to my kitchen, I went and, honestly, accidentally made Poppi.
Kara Goldin 4:13
That is, that is so crazy. So, I mean, it’s one thing to have in a need and and there’s a million people say, Wow, I wish that product was out there, but it’s an it’s another thing to go and develop not only a product, but a company the size that you have. So what was kind of those, those early days? So you’re in the kitchen, you’re creating this idea turning apple cider, cider vinegar, into something that tasted a lot better. And what, what were those early moments at your memories from those days? Yeah,
Allison Ellsworth 4:51
it’s so funny. Like looking back, I used to be in the kitchen, and when I was creating it, I wanted to find a way to create something that was healthy and tasted good. And I mean, this is something I’m sure you know very well. It’s, it’s usually those two things don’t go together. Usually it’s, you get all the taste, but comes with the bad, or it tastes bad, and then, you know, you sacrifice. So for me, that was really at the forefront with with making the product, because of my journey that I had gone on, and then once I landed on something that I felt like was really obsessed with, I had this crazy obsession with wanting to share it with others. So, you know, I wanted, like, I was pushing on my husband, I was pushing in on my neighbors. It was like, this thing, and it was a full on hobby kind of situation. And at the time, I was, like, had this new lease on life, so we moved to Dallas. We’re like, going to start a family do all this stuff. And I was like, bored, and I was like, I want to actually sell this to the farmer’s market for fun. I really had no thinking. I had the next, you know, beverage or Shark Tank at that time. Wasn’t like our thought process. But after being at the farmer’s market for just three weeks, we sold out every time would make double sell out, sell out, sell out. And then whole foods actually came by with her mom, one of the buyers, not working, and she discovered us, and she was like, Look, this product should be in Whole Foods. There’s nothing like it like this. And it was the first moment we realized, oh, we have a business here. And then the obsession just continued to grow from there, and I never went back to work in oil and gas. And you know how it goes. You spend your life savings, you put everything in it. It’s the whole, you know, rodeo, yeah,
Kara Goldin 6:36
exactly. So how many SKUs did you actually launch with?
Speaker 1 6:39
So back then, our positioning was a little bit different. The name of the beverage was Mother beverage. We had flavors that were more similar to, say, kombucha. So for example, lavender lemon, or, you know, like currently, I think one of our only two flavors that are still around that are originals are our Raspberry rose in our ginger lime. So it’s like seven SKUs. But what we’ve learned through the growth of our process is we are soda and what are those familiar soda flavors? So I think we had like four back then. Now we have like 14 and growing. But it was exciting. We didn’t have nutritional panels on. We were selling them in mason jars, like at this moment at this moment at the farmer’s market. So it was just such, like a moment of, oh, business to then getting on shelf. Was about 10 months later. And in that time, we, you know, opened our own manufacturing facility in Dallas, and we started making it ourselves. We delivered it ourselves. Like the whole thing,
Kara Goldin 7:37
yeah, I totally, totally relate. So Whole Foods was your first customer then, and
Allison Ellsworth 7:43
it’s just so fun, because every year I think that you know you very well. Expo West, we run into that buyer. She’s still at Whole Foods, and we always like take a picture, and we’re and she just has been following our journey. It’s just been such a beautiful relationship.
Kara Goldin 7:58
I love it. That’s so great. So your co founder is your husband, and was he in the beverage industry?
Allison Ellsworth 8:05
No, we both worked together in oil and gas. And a lot of people were like, how is it with, you know, working with your husband, it’s like we kind of knew what we were getting into. He’s mining to my gang type situation, like, I’m the creative. I am the say yes and figure it out. He’s one that, like, kind of figures it out. And so it was just like, natural that we would do this together. And we’re still both very heavily involved in the business and running departments and like, all that fun stuff. But I will say he, you know, I think we had just bought a house. I was three months pregnant and doing all this. And I was like, we’re pretty he’s like, You’re crazy. Like, we have a mortgage now. And I was like, just trust let’s just do this. And we went, like, for it, and he just trusted me and quit his job and went all in, like it was looking back, like I kind of like, I don’t know how or why we did that, but now I’m so glad we did. Yeah,
Kara Goldin 9:00
definitely. So it’s so fun that you guys are working together and and so you were on Shark Tank. How did that come about?
Allison Ellsworth 9:10
I always say our story is living the American dream, where I make something in my kitchen. And I think the natural next step that most people think, as entrepreneurs, as you go on Shark Tank, right? We were eating money. We had done, I think anywhere from, I think it’s 500,000 that year, but like in 18 months, had done 800,000 so it was like proof of concept. Wasn’t, you know, millions and millions, but it wasn’t just like 50,000 and we went to a open casting call, stood in line and just worked our way through the process over a period of six months to get on the show. And looking back, I guess that in itself, is kind of rare. I think a lot of people reach out to the show or apply online, and I think from that stage to get on the show, and then actually having your episode air is like point zero, 2% of P. Know it’s like, it’s wild. So that’s why I truly do feel like it was the American dream of like craziness, doors opening for reasons. I
Kara Goldin 10:09
saw the episode, but for those who have not seen it, can you talk a little bit about what happened? Yeah,
Speaker 1 10:16
and it’s so true all the rumors of you have no idea who your shark is, you don’t know if you’re going to be on until, like, a week before, I was nine months pregnant. After getting the deal, I had the baby 10 days later, and I was like, I’m going, I will literally give birth on this show. Like, I’m going on. Don’t worry, I got my doctor to clear me. And it was like one of those things that the whole process, you get up early, you go on, you know, people yelling at you, you’re in there for an hour. It’s funny, and they all started kind of to drop out. And the producers, it’s a show like, at the end of the day, they do want success for people. They do want people to get deals. Like, it was a wonderful experience with the whole team at Shark Tank. And they match us up with Rohan Oza, who’s our shark who we gotta deal with, and he is like a beverage guy, like he knows the beverage, he knows the industry. He’d worked at a lot of different brands, and at that time now, was an investor, so it kind of worked out great with who we ended up with. And he’s only done like, I think, one or two other deals on Shark Tank, so we get to work with him, not like a team, which I think is a really nice thing as well. Yeah,
Kara Goldin 11:25
I know Rohan from many, many years ago, so that was awesome. So that’s that’s so great that he got involved with you guys, for sure. So, so how did that kind of change the trajectory, I guess, of being on Shark Tank. I mean, I think to your point, not everybody’s episode gets aired, but yours did, and you got a deal, and more and more people got to know about it. Was it kind of at that point? Did that really help? You know, you kind of get known across the US. Did you have retailers calling you. Did you have potential investors calling you?
Speaker 1 12:04
So it was interesting. We decided right after that we were going to change the name, change it to a bottle, to a can, and basically do a whole repositioning of the company. So we were a little bit nervous to then go into, like, a crazy amount of retailers, like, you know, global Whole Foods, seven regions across the US, and then just, like, just kidding, we’re changing our packaging. So we made the strategic decision to actually pull back for about nine months to work through all of that. And I think, honestly, that was one of the biggest lessons as an entrepreneur that I’ve learned is sometimes you just want to get your product out there, and you’re like, building the airplane as it’s flying, type of situation. I’m so happy that we did the brand work and understood We’re revolutionizing soda for the next generation, right? Like this is lightning in a bottle of like, soda, not kombucha, not sparkling water, right? We understood who our consumer was. Do we go with white cans? Do we go with color cans? Well, if you’re a soda you want to be like, juicy and flavorful. So we went with colored cans. We changed our name to Poppi. It was mother to play off of soda pop. And so we took that time. And then we actually, what was wild at the time we decided to launch was March 2020. Literally, the same of covid
Kara Goldin 13:22
crazy, absolutely crazy. So, and it was, I mean, I remember seeing you guys then on social media and on Tiktok and some of the others that were, you know, kind of just starting and really taking off at that point. But social media presence, I think you guys have done a great job on that. I also get your text from you guys have done an awesome job on on that, too. So how much has social media do you think played into, kind of your overall like awareness, I guess, and ultimately your success,
Allison Ellsworth 14:02
I think, since the timing of when we launched, the traditional ways of marketing were off the table, right? Like a lot of times, you launch, and then you do demos and grocery stores, and you do events, and you show up where the consumer is, well, everyone was locked in their house at home. We were lucky through the rebrand. We did a episode of update on Shark Tank, and it aired April 2, month of lockdown, and everyone was at home and saw it, and we saw a huge lift through that. And it kind of dinged in my head like, wow. We just had national commercial. We found a way to digitally connect with a consumer. How else can we do this? So I went to Tiktok, and I was like, Tiktok is the future, you guys. And I’m like, pitching to the board and everyone, I’m like, going crazy, like, Tiktok, Tiktok. And everyone’s like, Allison, it’s Instagram. Like, there’s just the answers over there. Like, they didn’t get it. It’s different. It was different, you know, four years ago, whatever. And I said, Okay, I’m not going to take any resources from the company. I’m going to just focus on my weekends, and I’m going to make tiktoks. And then one day, I just sat down and told my story. It went wildly viral. We did $100,000 on Amazon. We’re sleeping. The grocery store shelves were cleared out, and now that video has 120 million views, and I have over 2 billion views on my face on Tiktok and everyone was like, oh, there’s something here. And and after that, we just, like, leaned in. We’ve built our community on there. It’s so fierce. I mean, it’s such an amazing community we’ve built. It’s authentic, you know? Now it’s like, there’s a ton of brands on there. And I’m always encouraging other entrepreneurs, if there’s one thing that you can do for your business, is to get on and tell your story. Now, do not wait. Take people along for the ride. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Honestly, if it’s not, it’s better, right? Be yourself, and it’s it’s the core of who Poppi is, and it’s social media was a huge piece of, I think, our early success now, we do a lot of media, and have a lot of 360 and we did a Super Bowl commercial this year. So there’s a lot more that gains our awareness, but it was a really key part of our early days.
Kara Goldin 16:08
Yeah, definitely, you guys have also done a great job with influencers, too. So when did that kind of come in to sort of the overall plan that you guys were working on, because I feel like people always, I had a beauty Entrepreneur on yesterday, and she was saying, like, that’s, that’s something that she’s always kind of been challenged by, like, Is it, is it worth it, right? And at what point, what stage in a brand’s development, is it worth it? Is it worth it at all? Right, to do this. And what would you say to that? You know,
Allison Ellsworth 16:44
that was one of the early day things that we did, as well. When it came to influencers, they were all stuck at home during covid, and so we did a lot of gifting. We invested a ton in gifting. People were at home, they wanted to post, they were ready to talk something that was better for you, and that built into that community, that social, first, the authentic consumer. Right nowadays, just slapping a celebrity on something doesn’t work. People see right through that. And it was just, I mean, before we ever did like a paid ad, we were working with influencers. So once again, kind of like the beginning days of it. And one thing that we look at influencers by, it’s not necessarily, it’s not a conversion technique, which a lot, I think a lot of people get really caught up in, like, Well, are they converting? How many units sell? What is their you know, engagement, all these things. It’s like, instead, we find people that really love Poppi one have probably already posted it. Or we find out who’s the next it girl. Who is, you know, the next IT guy? What is it like? That’s a huge part of our strategy. And honestly, in the marketing team, the largest department is our culture team. That’s our social influencer and events team. So it’s just fun. I think people do get caught up in in it working or not working. But I think if you’re not doing it, you’re almost like, less than the times like you kind of gotta get with the Pro. Yeah,
Kara Goldin 18:07
no, I think it’s really interesting too. I feel like too I was it was another conversation I was having yesterday that I thought was really interesting around marketing, that if you’re looking for these new audiences, and it’s sort of, I think Tiktok, and you know, to some extent in Instagram, has sort of skewed where a brand’s core consumer is too, because just because you’re selling in Whole Foods, for example, you may not Be able to to really know how many Gen Zers have tried your product, right? Because you’re thinking, okay, the whole foods consumer is, you know, typically the mother and or the female who’s such and such age. But then the Gen Zers are coming into these different channels and getting excited, and they’ll certainly pick it up from areas that are not necessarily measured, right? And so I think it’s, there’s, there’s a whole lot of benefits, I guess, to to doing sort of the strategy around social media, for sure. So when you think about entrepreneurship, and this isn’t necessarily just for for beverages, but what would you say to you know, especially women who are looking to start their own businesses, but are thinking, Gosh, I don’t know that. I know how to do this. Like, do you think you have to have a partner to do this? You talked about your husband the ying and the yang? I totally get it. I’m in the same situation. I guess is the best way to say it, it’s definitely so many people put so many barriers up in front of them. And here, you didn’t have experience in the beverage industry. I didn’t have experience in the beverage industry before I started. Hint either. But I think it’s, it’s you just went and started right like you’ve went to a farmer’s market. You just started. Started. So what would you say to people thinking about starting a business?
Allison Ellsworth 20:04
Yeah, it’s so funny. I think entrepreneurs are all like, we’re all a little crazy. So you know what I mean, to take risk is already hard and failure, you have to be able to take it, brush it off and move on. Like there’s a lot of failure when it comes to business, like we’ve talked about a lot of the success. Successes here today, but amongst that, I promise you, there’s 20 times more failures, right? And so I think, like, having that ability, I do it really well. Like, I’m one of those people that could just wake up and forget about yesterday and like, what are we doing today and tomorrow? But I do think, especially in beverage, I was so happy. And you probably relate to this is like, I am so glad. I almost didn’t know what it took to start a better company, how capital and, yeah, there’s so many things like, it’s good, the fear, and I didn’t know. I think also, what’s, I think, really interesting is, especially in beverage. And you might have seen this as well. I think we’re the only two female founders in the history of beverage to probably break over two 50 million in revenue, right? Like, it’s like, one of those things that people don’t every time we go to these things, it’s a bunch of men, and look, I don’t, I’m not with people. It’s like, oh my gosh, like us versus but you just like, kind of have to have a little bit harder skin, know that you belong and that you have the right to be there, and that you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. I think that having good money early on, I think as an entrepreneur, can go a long way if you think that you’re going to do it all, and you’re in it for the long run, and you want to do it over a course of, you know, 30 years, you probably don’t need to take on money, but, like, good luck. Like, that’s really hard. So there’s so many just different things to the business that you have to, like, think through. But I’m so glad I did have a partner in this throughout it. And I always say, if it’s not your husband, is it a friend, or is it your first employee, or, like, whatever it is, it’s hard to do it alone. It really is, as an entrepreneur, you need community, you need support. You need people to just, can I bounce an idea off of you? Right? And it totally positive support, like, you can get a lot of naysayers out there that are, like, negative, negative. So I think it’s fun. But I’m sure you felt that like it’s a very male dominated industry. How do we get more females in the beverage industry?
Kara Goldin 22:29
Yeah, well, you also worked, I would imagine that oil and gas was also extremely male. I worked in tech before, and it was very male. So I think that was less of an issue for me, but it’s certainly, it’s, it’s apparent for sure. There aren’t a lot of you know, women at sort of the most senior levels within companies that are that are running it. So it’s a, it’s an interesting, dynamic, for sure. So when I think about consumer feedback, like I remember during those especially during those early days, when I’m like, Okay, should I go back to tech? I don’t know if I’m going to do this. I’ve got, like, you, I had kids, young kids at home, and I’m thinking, I definitely want to work, but this is really hard. And then I would get an email or a phone call from a customer saying, like, Oh my God, you’ve changed my life. Thank you so much for doing this. And that was like, Okay, fine, I’m staying, you know, I’m staying and doing this. But do you remember any of those emails where somebody wrote and said, Oh my gosh, I I love Poppi. I wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t know what it was. And do you remember any of those early day stories?
Allison Ellsworth 23:49
I feel like we still get them in the way of you know, just even from then to now, I remember one person I forget. I think she was it was a tailor. I was getting, like, some pant she was like, oh my goodness, you’re the founder of Poppi. She’s like, my husband got really sick this year and was in the hospital, and the doctors were like, you have to stop drinking traditional soda. You have to change your diet, get it together. So I was being proactive, trying to, like, find things. And I brought Poppi to you, to my husband, and now he’s fully off of traditional soda. He drinks, you guys every day. You know, he feels better. He’s, you know, moving. It’s like, he’s no I think it was like, pre diabetic, like, all of these things like, these are the type of stories I’m like, Oh my gosh, that that literally changed someone’s life. So I think it’s just so cool to be able to make that impact on people, but I think what, what I also love is, as a mom, I have three kids, but I feel like we are soda for the next generation. So like, I’m raising my kids on Poppi, and we’re seeing that across the board. And so I think the impact that we’re going to have, like, on the next generation. Of kids, of like, Poppi is soda to them. And I think that that’s a lot of really fun stories about, you know, my kids, they were drinking soda. Now, I didn’t want it house. And now it’s like poppies at the birthday parties and at the get togethers and the cookouts and and all of that. So I think, like, I get those, those stories all the time, and I’m like, Oh, that’s amazing. I get it because I have kids. And I’m like, That’s what I want. I want Poppi to be 2030, years where traditional soda is and, like, that’s where my head is at. And I’m like, so focused on so
Kara Goldin 25:29
many brands have entered the prebiotic and probiotic space. How do you ensure that Poppi continues to stand out in the market? I mean, you’ve got a ton of different great flavors as well. But I think it, it’s sort of a dual question, because I feel like when somebody gets competition, right, I always say, share with people. Look, I’m not going to lie like it’s a bummer, right? If somebody goes and launches something and you didn’t expect it to launch, and it’s going to go, you know into space that you would love to be in, or some of your space gets taken away, or whatever. It’s not easy, but I think what I’ve learned is you have to focus on you and your brand and continue to do you right. And I think that’s like a life lesson. But I’m curious how you feel about that?
Speaker 1 26:21
Yeah, it’s so interesting. The way we’ve, or I’ve always thought about it is I’m actually glad there are other competition, because we’re building a category. If you have a product and you’re the only product there available at the grocery store, like they actually don’t know where to put you. And I always liken it to what happened within kombucha. One person did kombucha, it was hard, like, where do you put it? And then a bunch of other kombuchas came out, and then they got in cap cold, and there was kombucha sets. Well, we’re seeing that with what we call the modern soda sets in the grocery stores. And it’s these modern sodas that we literally now have four shelves next to the traditional soda versus mitigated to, like, the weird corner that nobody knows where to find you, and we are the leader in the space. So it’s like, it’s a fun place to be, but I’m to your point when I see something or you’re always like, Oh, that sucks. Like, that is such a normal human feeling, and it’s 100% real. But I always look back and it’s like double marketing dollars, like all these things, are bringing a lot of awareness to our category, and at the end of the day, as long as we went, I’m okay with it,
Kara Goldin 27:30
yeah, no, exactly. Well, it’s funny. I always share with people, you know, hindsight is 2020 but when we started, hint, we were starting at an entirely new category, unsweetened flavored water. And Coconut waters were just coming out. And so there was, you know, vitaco and ZICO. And those guys were kind of the two sort of first ones that were out there. And it was interesting because you literally saw them competing against each other on the shelf, and there was this, like, you know, you talked about Expo West, the friendly competition that was going on between the two founders. And then as they started to grow, or they really started to grow, I should say, when they got three and four competitors, then the entire category got huge, and then it got smaller again, and and so. But I think it’s it’s interesting, because part of the reason I think that hint, you know, didn’t grow as quickly, frankly, was that it didn’t really have competitors right for the category. Nobody was really doing it like coconut water was doing. It wasn’t that there was an interest. It was just anyway. So I share that competition is a good thing, and it makes everybody brand awareness. And you guys, even though you’re not necessarily talking to each other and working together, it really is doing a lot for your overall category. So really, really exciting. So fundraising, I know that Rohan came in in the beginning. How have you guys raised capital to date?
Speaker 1 29:08
Yeah, so we have done stuff very specific, and the way of we’ve worked with Rohan and kapu for a lead investor, and have led every realm that we’ve raised, and we’ve been very careful to keep our cap table very slim. The only piece that we brought in is we’ve had fun and bringing in these influencers and celebrities that want to invest in our brand over the years. So for us, it’s rare. We didn’t have to spend a ton of time going out and raising there’s a few times that we tried to go out and then they were like, Nope, we’re going to take the round. And it was like, you know, there was years where you almost feel like you’re raising for like you finish around and then you continue to raise again. Like we did feel that, but we did always have, like, really good support with it, which then allowed us to focus on the business. Right? I’m very aware. I think that’s a rare case. It’s it’s really hot topic for most entrepreneurs, they’re constantly raising and not running the business. So always it’s like, whatever you’re raising probably double it if it’s not going to kill your equity, because you kind of need it, especially in the beverage space.
Kara Goldin 30:17
I love it. So last question, what have you learned that you didn’t know when you started?
Allison Ellsworth 30:24
Oh, my goodness, so many things. So what I didn’t know at the beginning? And it was a it was more of a path for an entrepreneur, and it kind of said something earlier, where we’re so used to doing everything ourselves in the beginning days, you know, I’m manufacturing, sales, you’re delivering it, marketing it, making it literally the process to be, become a good leader and learn how to manage people and build processes and go through that whole thing like that is a huge growth thing that I always recommend entrepreneurs look into sooner and later. Read self help books, understand how being a leader is very different than being an entrepreneur, right? Dealing with people. How do you motivate a team without braiding them, right? There’s so many things I feel like I didn’t know when I first started business. Like that was a huge piece of growing a business that I think a lot of people don’t talk about, where you’re like, hey, we’ve had two employees in March of 2020, we launched, me and Steven. Now there’s over 200 of us, right? And like that growth was like, really fun that I think I personally love, and I always give to other entrepreneurs and advice and learning and growth, and I’ve had coaches over the years, like, those things are all good. They’re not bad. I think we always look at them as like, that’s a bad thing, but, yeah, it’s good personal growth. And then, you know, there’s so many though,
Kara Goldin 31:57
so many lessons I know, and it’s fun to look back on sometimes and really think about everything that you’ve learned. I mean, you didn’t walk into this thinking that you were gonna get your MBA and consumer products and beverages, but when you look back, I mean, I just it, there’s so much information that and so many things that I’ve learned, some the hard way. I mean to your to your point, but it just makes you wiser, more valuable, all of those things and so well. Thank you so much. Allison Ellsworth, co founder and Chief Brand Officer of Poppi. It’s such a pleasure to meet you, and everyone will have all the info in the show notes, but everybody’s gotta try some Poppi and all the latest flavors that you guys have too. We’ll make sure that all the info is in there, but it’s such a pleasure to put a name behind the brand. So thank you again.
Allison Ellsworth 32:51
Thank you so much for having me.
Kara Goldin 32:53
Thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit, and of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast, just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms. At Kara Goldin, I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book, undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building. Hint, we are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening and goodbye for now. You.
