The Aspire Playbook: How Allison Ellsworth Turned a Kitchen Experiment into a Billion-Dollar Brand

Summary

Podcast Summary: Aspire with Emma Grede

Episode Title: The Aspire Playbook: How Alison Ellsworth Turned a Kitchen Experiment into a Billion-Dollar Brand
Release Date: July 22, 2025
Guest: Alison Ellsworth, Founder of Poppy

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Introduction to Alison Ellsworth and Poppy

In this inspiring episode of Aspire with Emma Grede, host Emma Grede sits down with Alison Ellsworth, the formidable entrepreneur behind Poppy—a modern soda brand that skyrocketed from a kitchen experiment to a billion-dollar empire. Alison shares her journey, shedding light on the challenges, strategies, and personal growth that propelled her success.

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The Leap of Faith: Starting Poppy

00:02:30 - Taking the First Step
Alison emphasizes the importance of action over procrastination. “So I think the most basic thing in the world is you just have to do it,” she advises listeners contemplating starting their own business. She reflects on her naive courage, free from fear, which allowed her to dive headfirst into entrepreneurship without waiting for the "perfect moment."

Key Insights:

• No Perfect Moment: The absence of a flawless start is natural in business.
• Embracing Naivety: Lack of fear can be a powerful catalyst for taking significant risks.

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Building from the Ground Up: From Kitchen Table to Farmer's Market

00:05:38 - Identifying a Problem
Driven by personal health issues and the challenge of finding nutritious snacks on the go, Alison began experimenting with apple cider vinegar drinks. Dissatisfied with the taste, she didn’t give up and continued refining her product.

00:07:10 - DIY Beverage Creation
Alison shares her hands-on approach: “I used Google and just ordered ingredients online. We bought huge vats and set up vinegar vats in our guest room.” This grassroots method highlights the resourcefulness required in the early stages of product development.

Notable Quote:
"I have serious protein goals and finding protein-filled snacks is a challenge when you're always on the go." – [00:00:10]

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Scaling the Business: From Local Markets to Whole Foods

00:08:38 - Validation and Scaling
After three weeks of selling at farmer's markets and receiving overwhelming positive feedback, Alison noticed interest from Whole Foods. This pivotal moment convinced her that Poppy had transitioned from a hobby to a legitimate business worth scaling.

00:09:09 - Financial Commitment
At just three months pregnant, Alison and her husband invested $90,000 of their life savings into Poppy. They managed operations themselves, balancing product brewing during the week with weekend sales, even as Alison went into labor on the production line.

Key Insights:

• Personal Investment: Significant financial and personal commitments are often necessary to scale.
• Work-Life Balance: Managing a growing business alongside personal life demands resilience and adaptability.

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Strategic Marketing and Brand Building

00:22:19 - Embracing TikTok Early
Alison discusses how adopting TikTok early was instrumental in Poppy’s growth. By creating authentic and engaging content, Poppy amassed nearly 3 billion views, drastically increasing brand visibility and sales.

Notable Quote:
"We were one of the first brands to get on TikTok. I posted dances, recipes, and just anything to engage with the community." – [00:22:47]

00:25:35 - Brand First Approach
Focusing on authentic storytelling and community engagement, Poppy differentiated itself from traditional soda brands. The brand’s commitment to being “soda for the next generation” resonated deeply with Gen Z consumers.

Key Insights:

• Digital-First Strategy: Leveraging social media platforms can exponentially boost brand awareness.
• Authenticity Matters: Genuine engagement fosters a loyal and ride-or-die community.

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Navigating Investment and Growth

00:29:26 - Partnering with the Right Investor
Alison highlights the significance of partnering with investors who understand the industry and share the brand's vision. Their sole investor, Rohan Hose, brought invaluable expertise from his background in other successful beverage brands, enabling Poppy to focus on growth without the constant pressure of seeking new funding.

00:32:19 - Letting Go and Trusting the Team
As Poppy scaled, Alison discusses the emotional and professional challenges of delegating control. Bringing in a CEO and CMO helped professionalize the business, allowing Alison to focus on her strengths in creative branding.

Notable Quote:
"One of the hardest and best decisions was bringing in a CEO. It professionalized the business and allowed us to scale effectively." – [00:32:06]

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Achieving a Successful Exit: Acquisition by PepsiCo

00:58:43 - The Acquisition Process
Poppy's remarkable growth attracted major players, culminating in a $1.9 billion acquisition by PepsiCo. Alison describes the seamless negotiations and the alignment of visions that made the deal happen swiftly.

00:61:09 - Transitioning Post-Acquisition
Post-acquisition, Alison transitions out of the day-to-day operations but remains involved as an advisor, focusing on creative aspects and maintaining the brand’s authentic voice.

Key Insights:

• Strategic Acquisition: Aligning with the right partner ensures the brand's legacy and vision are preserved.
• Legacy Building: Selling to a global giant like PepsiCo positions Poppy for widespread distribution and long-term success.

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Balancing Personal Life and Business Success

00:37:10 - Prioritizing Family Over Perfection
Alison shares how she and her husband chose to forego conventional romantic gestures to prioritize their marriage, business, and children. This deliberate choice allowed them to create more meaningful and manageable personal moments.

Notable Quote:
"We decided to let go of certain expectations to focus on what truly matters—our kids, marriage, and business." – [00:37:10]

00:78:42 - Navigating Business with a Spouse
Running a business with her husband has its challenges, including managing differing priorities and ensuring both partners feel valued for their unique contributions.

Key Insights:

• Open Communication: Regular feedback and honest conversations strengthen both personal and professional relationships.
• Shared Vision: Aligning on priorities and supporting each other’s strengths fosters a harmonious partnership.

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Lessons Learned and Future Aspirations

00:52:15 - Embracing and Learning from Mistakes
Alison candidly discusses critical mistakes, such as over-investing in sleeved cans, which significantly impacted finances. She underscores the importance of being adaptable and learning quickly from operational missteps.

00:77:00 - Evolving Leadership and Embracing Change
Recognizing the need to grow beyond her initial role, Alison learned to trust her team and embrace new leadership structures, which was pivotal for Poppy’s expansion.

00:63:47 - The Freedom Post-Exit
Post-acquisition, Alison experiences an overwhelming sense of freedom, allowing her to explore new opportunities, spend more time with family, and ponder her next ventures without the constraints of running a rapidly growing company.

Notable Quote:
"The most overwhelming feeling now is freedom. I can do whatever I want, whether it's traveling, starting another company, or simply spending time with my family." – [00:63:47]

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Conclusion: Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

Alison's journey from a kitchen experiment to a billion-dollar brand exemplifies the power of passion, resilience, and strategic thinking. Her insights into authentic marketing, the importance of the right investment partnerships, and balancing personal life with business success offer invaluable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. As she looks forward to new ventures and embracing her newfound freedom, Alison embodies the essence of turning dreams into reality.

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Highlighted Quotes:

• "You just have to do it. There's no magic sauce, it's the entrepreneur, the idea, the passion, the grit." – [00:03:07]

• "We created a category that did not exist in a grocery store five years ago. We are soda for the next generation." – [00:18:16]

• "Culture's key. Invest in your people. It's the people who make or break the company." – [00:55:24]

• "I truly believe it made me a better leader, a better mom, a better wife." – [00:36:35]

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This episode offers a comprehensive look into the making of a successful brand, the personal sacrifices behind the scenes, and the strategic decisions that lead to monumental growth and a successful exit. Alison Ellsworth's story serves as a beacon of inspiration for those daring to turn their innovative ideas into thriving businesses.

Transcript

[Alison Ellsworth]

Foreign.

[Emma Grede]

Ellsworth built Poppy, a modern soda empire from scratch. No roadmap, just hustle, TikTok and sheer grit. Then she sold it for $1.9 billion to Pepsi, a full exit from the company that she started at her kitchen table. Today, Alison shares the steps, the real numbers, and what it actually takes to scale a business only on the Aspire Podcast. I don't know about you, but I have serious protein goals and finding protein filled snacks is a challenge when you're always on the go like me. Life moves fast, work, kids, errands, it never stops. And yet somehow you're supposed to eat well in the middle of all that. That's where great tasting Bavarian meats, little Lanyager snack sticks come in. They're naturally fermented, slow smoked for bold flavor, packed with 9 grams of protein per serving and they have zero sugar and zero carbs. It's a snack that keeps up with your day. Whether you're racing between meetings, school drop off, or just trying to finish your to do list, take a moment to savor something delicious for you. And did I mention they're portable. Toss a few in your gym bag, your glove box or wherever. Pick up a pack today at your local grocer or stock [e-mail] podcast Bavarian meats snack sticks great taste, zero sugar.

[Alison Ellsworth]

With the Venmo Debit card, you can Venmo everything. Your favorite band's merch. You can Venmo this or their next show, you can Venmo that. Visit Venmo Me Debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp bank and a pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated card may be used everywhere. MasterCard is accepted. Venmo purchase restrictions apply.

[Emma Grede]

Welcome to Aspire. Alison, I'm so happy to have you.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Thank you for having me.

[Emma Grede]

I'm really excited to talk to you because I think the audience that listens to this podcast are the type of audience that are noodling about ideas in their head, thinking whether they should start a business. And that's exactly what you did. You took your own issues, created a solution, went out, created a business. You've grown that business, eventually sold that business, which is so impressive. But what would you say to somebody listening right now who's thinking about whether or not to take that leap? What would be your advice given all you've gone through?

[Alison Ellsworth]

So I think the most basic thing in the world is you just have to do it. I think that the rest people always think there's this like, perfect moment or perfect time. There's no such thing when it comes to business. And I look back at those days and I'm sorry. So blessed that I didn't know anything.

[Emma Grede]

Naivety is a really good thing.

[Alison Ellsworth]

It's like, there's no fear. You can just jump off a cliff. There's no risk. You don't care. You're putting your heart and soul into something. And so now it's funny, like, everyone's like, what are you gonna do next? You start another business? And I'm like, yes. But I know too much now. It's almost harder. So you just have to do it and just, like, have no fear.

[Emma Grede]

That's your advice? Just do it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know, and it's so annoying because it's not the best advice, but it's true. People think there's a magic sauce. And honestly, it's the person I feel like. It's the entrepreneur. It's the idea, it's the passion, it's.

[Emma Grede]

The grit, you know? I think your advice is really truthful, though, because I often say the same thing. I'm like, you just gotta do it. It's a bit like having a baby. There's no, like, perfect time. The stars don't align. It's like you just gotta one day decide, this is what I'm doing, and.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Then you forget all the bad, and then you do it again, and then you forget all the bad.

[Emma Grede]

Hopefully, that's what's about to happen to you now. You're gonna forget it all and you're gonna go full circle. So I wanna understand a little bit about your upbringing and growing up. I think that you grew up entrepreneurs. Did you know that you were gonna start a business? Was that always in your path?

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, I just know that I don't like being told what to do. And I think if you have that, you don't wanna be in a cubicle or have a normal boss that's telling you what to do. And even throughout Poppy, that was, like, a really big struggle with me. I think people got to know it, and I definitely grew throughout it. But my dad was an entrepreneur. My sister was an entrepreneur. They're all hustlers doing multiple different things. My dad, at one point was making $30 million a month. Lost everything?

[Emma Grede]

No.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Rebuilt a business.

[Emma Grede]

What is he doing making 30 million a month? Maybe we should do that.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I mean, I know it was like, he worked in oil and gas back in the 80s when it was like the big boom of oil. And it was like, the whole thing. Then the Industry went down and he just rebuilt and he's now doing another business. And he loves the builds. And that's something with me. Like, I love the build of business. I never do it for money. I think if you do it for money, it takes out the passion. Now, money is amazing.

[Emma Grede]

It's amazing. But I'm guessing you didn't need money if your dad was making 30 million a month at some point, did you need it?

[Alison Ellsworth]

He never left us anything or set up a trust or. No, absolutely not. I turned 18 and paid for my car, my rent, my school. I still to this day am paying student loans. It's wild. I know.

[Emma Grede]

You can pay those off now.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know, but the interest isn't it.

[Emma Grede]

She's like, I got a plan. I got a plan.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So for me. So my parents were divorced pretty young. I was raised by a single mom. So I had all this inspiration of entrepreneur around me. But then I saw how hard my mom worked and how hard I had to work. And so it was just, I don't know, learn from the beginning. You got to work hard.

[Emma Grede]

So take me back to that moment because you actually started making what is now poppy, but you were making. Well, actually, even. Let's go back before that. You're actually trying to solve a problem because you had some issues and you decided that you needed to. You figure out a way to do soft drinks better.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, no, I had a bunch of health issues. Anytime you travel, you don't have access to good food. This is before it was kind of the craze and LA was, oh, everything's gluten free and all of that. But I just couldn't find anything that made me feel good. Started drinking apple cider vinegar. Now it tasted disgusting and I was like, okay, this is not sustainable. And I just.

[Emma Grede]

How old are you at this point?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Gosh, this was like eight years ago. So it was around 30 years old. And it was one of those things where I wanted to start a family. I wasn't pregnant yet and I was like, if I don't feel good, you don't want to bring a life into the world. And so I just did that. And then I ended up getting pregnant maybe like three months after that. And I didn't want to go back on the road and kind of go work.

[Emma Grede]

So you were working like a regular corporate job, is that right?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I was working in oil and gas research. So it's very entrepreneurial though. I'd be in the middle of nowhere running huge multimillion dollar projects, and I wouldn't have a boss. And it was just me and the city council or the government are working through contracts, and I didn't want to go back on the road doing that pregnant. And so I took our. Our product. At the time it was called Mother Beverage. And I just started selling it at the farmer's market as a hobby. And it was just a fun hobby that I was just bored. I had no idea. I just wanted to share it with as many people as possible because I was so passionate about it. And yeah, I was just like, why not?

[Emma Grede]

How do you even start to make a drink? Because that's where people falter, right? They're like, I've got this amazing idea. I feel like I can go and sell this at the farmer's market. What did you actually do to get started?

[Alison Ellsworth]

So. So a huge mistake people do is they take all of their money, whether it's in their savings, their credit card, and they bring on some lab or someone to produce a product for you, and you end up spending tens of thousands of dollars to get something that you're not even sure how you made it yourself. So then is it really yours? So for me, I used Google.

[Emma Grede]

Good old Google, good old Google.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And I just googled how you would create a beverage and what kind of ingredients. And you can order anything online nowadays. So I got myself a scale. I got lab gr ingredients and flavors and SodaStream. Hello, sparkling water. I swear, literally. And then we would go to like the local hardware stores and we bought huge vats. We cleared the bed out of our guest room and just put like vinegar vats in our room downstairs.

[Emma Grede]

And this is you and who?

[Alison Ellsworth]

My husband.

[Emma Grede]

No way.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes. So.

[Emma Grede]

So you and your husband, you're googling. You're buying all of the stuff and you're literally like mixing a drink and I'm assuming like tasting until you get to a place where you're like, this is delic.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And I will never forget one Thanksgiving I went home and I'm like, hey, you guys, look at my amazing drink. And my mom is like, you want me to drink vinegar? Like, you are insane. I was like, no, no, no, try it. And I remember my brother in law was the only one that sat down and taste tested with me. And he gave me like, validation. He was like, you're not crazy. This is actually really good. And so we were like three weeks into the farmer's market, and then Whole Foods did come by. Our brothers.

[Emma Grede]

No way.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And they were like, nothing. Like, this is in Whole Foods. And that was the first moment I Knew I had a business versus a hobby. And the light kind of went off. And I was like, oh, okay. And I looked at my husband, I said, we're putting in our life savings into this. We're going to open our own manufacturing facility, and we're going to go all in. And he's like, no, you just bought it. Like, we just bought a house three weeks in. Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

And you're like, how many months pregnant at this point?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I was three months pregnant, yeah.

[Emma Grede]

Oh, my goodness. Okay, so you get yours and your husband's life savings, and you, at this point, plow everything into this company.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. We took about $90,000, which at the time was just so much money for us.

[Emma Grede]

Still so much money.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes. And what I love about that is then we were able to kind of like, upgrade how we made the product. We had a facility. We almost brewed it like beer. We had a brewery friend that was like, I'll help you guys figure this out. We got all of the right certifications. And did it legit? Cause to actually go in a grocery store, you can't make it in your kitchen at home.

[Emma Grede]

So what does that look like from going to. From Farmer's Market to Whole Foods? What do you do from a team perspective? You obviously put in all of your money, you upgrade your equipment. But what does it look like on the business side of the business? Your team, your infrastructure? How did you get to that Whole Foods point?

[Alison Ellsworth]

It was still just me and my husband.

[Emma Grede]

No.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes. And so I will never forget.

[Emma Grede]

No way. You did not have a product in Whole Foods and there's two of you in your company.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes. And we literally. We would brew it during the week and bottle it. Me and my husband, we would sell on farmer's markets on the weekends so that we could pay our mortgage. And then he was working a second job on top of it. We were doing deliveries. I went into labor on the line, had the baby, was back on the line two weeks later with it strapped to me.

[Emma Grede]

I'm not even your first baby.

[Alison Ellsworth]

The first baby. So then we finally, maybe like 10 months in, hired someone to help us in the manufacturing full time. So it was about three of us, about 10 months in. And then it got to the point where we were like, okay, we have something here. Obvious. Next step in the American dream is you go on Shark Tank.

[Emma Grede]

I just love it. Good old Shark Tank.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Good Shark Tank.

[Emma Grede]

So at that kind of 10 month, because I think so many people think, when is the time to go out and raise money? When should I even Think that for you guys, what was it at that 10 month point, sales looked like, what, roughly like, where were you in the kind of timeline of the business?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, I think we had done maybe like 200,000 in revenue. We were like really starting to go into really saturating the Dallas market. So all of the local grocery stores, the local Whole Foods, we, I think, had gotten a medium of sprouts. And then we finally were like inching towards the 500,000 in revenue and we just like had no money. We're still just grinding and you're almost like, we can't scale this. We can't go big if we don't get some real investment. We had someone that was going to give us some investment and he was like, I have money, but I have no connections. And we've always heard, you know, even back then, don't take stupid money that can't work for you.

[Emma Grede]

And actually, really, the connections, not everybody.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Knows that the connections are way more important than the money.

[Emma Grede]

100% money is kind of easy to come by. It's all of the rest of it. Like having a true investor who's got a track record and some understanding of your category and hopefully some relationships. That's the stuff that's really important. So you decide to go on Shark Tank and you apply just like a regular person.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So we didn't know you can just apply online or that they reach out. So I literally. It was the first time I got a babysitter. Spoiler alert. I got pregnant with my second, like, right away. So it's about three months pregnant. There's something about three months. Yeah, there's a lot going on with our second. I remember we went and stood in line at one of those just like open casting calls, actually, Mark Cuban had on his Instagram, we're coming to Dallas. Come by. We did it. It was the first time I ever got like a real babysitter. And we went and stood in line for like eight hours. And once we finally got to the producers, they were like, this is incredible. You guys are gonna sail through. Took about six months. Kept going, kept going. And then I finally was like, you guys, I'm nine months pregnant. I have to go on the show.

[Emma Grede]

Yes.

[Alison Ellsworth]

But I went anyways and I was literally on the show nine months pregnant.

[Emma Grede]

You were nine months.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Had the baby 10 days later.

[Emma Grede]

No, you didn't. All the excitement was that proud?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes. Honestly kept me very calm. I was backstage like, I cannot go in labor. And of course, the producers are probably like, this is gonna make Great tv. If she goes into labor on our.

[Emma Grede]

Show, bring a whole new meaning to the picch.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Totally very calm throughout the whole process.

[Emma Grede]

That's just absolutely wild. So you go in with the mindset that you're going there to get a check and you're not walking out without one.

[Alison Ellsworth]

We were determined. Like, it was either that or we probably would have gone out of business.

[Emma Grede]

Determined and desperate at that point.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Probably, yeah. 100%, a little bit, because you've stretched.

[Emma Grede]

Every part of your resources. So you go in, you do the pitch. I've seen the pitch. It was, like, such a lovely one. I would have definitely invested in you. And you land your investor. What was the deal that you did on Shark Tank?

[Alison Ellsworth]

So we did 400,000 for 25% of the company, which, looking back, I don't even know what we asked for. I don't even think we thought about it. We just yelled deal. Because we were just that excited. And I've always just heard of. And look, we had no idea our shark was roan hose. I had idea. No. No idea who Rohan was.

[Emma Grede]

You didn't?

[Alison Ellsworth]

No. I mean, they don't tell you who your sharks are till the night before.

[Emma Grede]

No, I guess not. But you kind of lucked out, right? I mean, talk about the perfect guest at the perfect time for the perfect pitch.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Exactly.

[Emma Grede]

I mean, the stars aligned for you. Like. Yeah, unbelievably. Unbelievably well. So you didn't know who he was, but you did. You got $400,000 for 25% of the business, and you leave feeling like, that's it. We've made it, We've made it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

But also, literally, he comes and he goes. You. You have a fantastic story of a fantastic product, but your branding's crap. Like, you know what? You're right.

[Emma Grede]

And I knew that's good. I was going to say you understood that.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. I mean, you just hear, like, everything that we'd been doing, and I think this is a really big mistake. Entrepreneurs, or maybe just anyone starting a business does is they focus on the product and not the brand. And so it was one of the first moments that, you know, that you want to focus on the marketing thing. We got out of the kitchen. We. We stopped manufacturing. I always say, like, is it. Should you be putting caps on bottles or should you be talking about your. All of those things were just, like, what we wanted, but we never had really opportunity to do it to that point.

[Emma Grede]

And I would argue that you can transition a brand. The product is what the product is. If customers don't have a love and an appetite for it, the jig's up. Do you know what I mean? Whereas you can take your brand and you can tweak and create new packaging and change names and evolve, and that's typically what happens to even the best brands. Right. When you start with a great brand, you've just got to have a great product. And you guys had an amazing category busting product from the outset. When you think about taking investment, I think it's such an interesting thing. And you mentioned earlier that, you know, you knew you had to find, like, not dumb money. How did you think about the relationship with your investor? What does that look like today? I'm just interested to understand, like, you know, you need money, but did you know that you should be listening to everything that he was saying? Like, how did that, the relationship shape up in the beginning?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Honestly, it started out really amazing. So I truly feel like Rohan invested in us as founders and the product. Right. And at the end of the day, it is his money. So he had a lot of say. But I will say we took about nine months off after our episode. I heard about this rebrand.

[Emma Grede]

Were you nervous doing that, considering you were on such a tear for months? Yeah.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And we were scared even going through the rebrand. So we were called Mother Beverage. And going through that process, we're like, do we need to have, like, a nod to it, or. I think at one point we're going to call ourselves mom and Pop, which I'm like, ugh, so cheesy. Looking back at it, it's cute, but, like, not Gen Z. And then finally we came up with Poppy, which is a playoff of soda pop. And we just really established, like, our mission to revolutionize soda for the next generation. We give people the freedom to love soda again. And it's just such an emotional, bigger message than, like, this drink. Apple cider vinegar drink, like, right. And so we took nine months. We rebranded. Instead of going with white cans, which means healthy, we went with color, which means fun. And we did a lot of that work. And it was me, Rohan, my husband Steven, and this other person we work really closely with, Stevie, and it was just us four that did it. And then we launched it March of 2020, right as Covid hit. And it was still just me, my husband, two employees.

[Emma Grede]

No. Why? And what was the reception?

[Alison Ellsworth]

So it was the first week of COVID which was really stressful, But I will say that it was the first time everybody in the world was thinking about their health and wellness yeah, true. And reading labels and going to the grocery store to look for products that were shelf stable and pantry loading and doing all those things. But we had our update on Shark Tank air the second month in April and it was explosive for us after that. And just sales were insane.

[Emma Grede]

That's great. How insane? I want the details. Give me the tea. Because this is what's been so incredible about your journey.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Our growth is insane. So first year of business we did like 2 million in revenue. Second year we did 20, we did 50, 200, 500. Like we had triple digit growth year over year.

[Emma Grede]

Insane.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Insane. We are the second fastest growing beverage in the history of beverage. And then I'm the only female founder and beverage of an exit of this size ever. So there's just a lot of firsts and it's been pretty exciting.

[Emma Grede]

I mean, can I just tell you, like, I think that you did your exit like the week that we launched this podcast. And I was like, get her on a tv. Because I'm, you know, I just literally look at what you did. I mean, it's so unbelievably impressive because this category, that drink, the fact that you were creating something that was like, you know, didn't really exist, that has opened up like the world and all of our eyes to this category and what's possible. I mean, it's pretty unbelievable.

[Alison Ellsworth]

People don't realize like when you're starting a business. We created a category that did not exist in a grocery store five years ago. There was no thing, what is now called the modern soda set. Even when we first went in, they were like, we're going to put you in the sparkling water, enhanced water. They didn't know where to put put us. And we were like, we are soda. And it took us about four years to convince them. A Super bowl ad helped where we said soda about 17 times in it.

[Emma Grede]

Just a little super bowl ad, casual.

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, it just kind of put our flag down as like, we are soda for the next generation. And all that was so intentional. But I think I always say that is like, even if you're starting a candle, like be the best freaking candle you can ever be. And who knows how you're gonna make it. You gotta make it a little bit better, a little bit different. But at the end of the day, just lean into the brand and the marketing. And it's just been pretty special what we've built. For sure.

[Unknown]

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[Emma Grede]

I feel like you guys have really had such an amazing kind of run when it comes to marketing and owning your space around social media. Can you just talk a little bit about the brand and the marketing and how you've really capitalized on that side of things. Because I think not only do you have a best in class product and a category busting product, but you've also really innovated in the space from a marketing and social media point of view. Right.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So interesting. So I think it goes back to when we started. It was every playbook that any traditional marketer could have done had gone out the window. Because during COVID you couldn't see your consumer in real life. You couldn't do events, you couldn't do sampling. Just even the way you're talking to everyone, I think TikTok just changed the consumer where, you know, they're more authentic, they're real, they put their self out there. And I think that we were kind of bored out of that. So I got onto TikTok really early.

[Emma Grede]

And I'll like TikTok for yourself or for the brand?

[Alison Ellsworth]

For the brand.

[Emma Grede]

Okay.

[Alison Ellsworth]

We were one of the first brands to get on TikTok. I remember I was like, hey, you guys, there's TikTok. And they're like, no, no, no. Brands aren't on there, even at the board. Even like Rohan. And Steve was like, no, Allison, that's silly. Don't do that. And I was like, look, you guys, I will do this on my weekends and on nights. I won't take away from the business or take resources, but I think there's something here. And for three months, I posted on the Poppy account. I did dances, I did recipes, I did talk to cameras. I did anything you could think of. And then finally one night I sat down and I just. I had no makeup on, my hair was wet, and I hit post and then I got calls. The next morning we did $100,000. We were sleeping on Amazon. Grocery store shelves were cleared out and everyone was like, oh my gosh, this is the wild, wild west. And we started moving all of our funds over there. And just for context, we almost have 3 billion views on TikTok on our page. And one third of the platform has seen my face seven times.

[Emma Grede]

That's absolutely inset. One third of the platform has seen your face seven times?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes, including.

[Emma Grede]

That's nuts.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Like, my.

[Emma Grede]

Is that annoying when you go, you know, I'm like, wait a minute, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, excellent for business. But it's so interesting, right? Because I think that when I first started, you know, in business, it was all about Facebook. And then the ARBITRAGE of Facebook. You know, Facebook got really expensive and we all migrated over to Instagram. If you were smart and brands were definitely slow to go to TikTok because it was unplanned. Like, at least with Instagram we could create our beautiful content, we could schedule our beautiful content, we could put it out in a brand appropriate way. Whereas TikTok, all the brands were like, hang about.

[Alison Ellsworth]

They're like those kids. Dancing kids.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. And not even just cute dancing kids, but we were just like the speed at which you needed to be in the mix to create the relevant content felt unsafe for a brand. But seemingly you embraced that and your audience understood it. Did you know that what you were doing was something special or were you just like, I'm just moving the way someone in their 30s who has a brand moves.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I think we were one of the first brands to take it seriously. And by serious, we didn't take ourselves too serious. So I think we were really good at understanding what each platform was for. So Instagram is basically your new website. Facebook is maybe for a little bit older consumer, which we love our older baddies for sure. But TikTok was just somewhere you could post three times a day. You could just be a little bit unhinged and go viral. Nowadays I feel like everybody's on there. And this sounds like really familiar, but those early days is where I feel like we built a community that is ride or die and we were able to move at the speed of culture. We have community, we're really creative and it just established us as just a brand of the community and of the people of Gen Z, which I think is really a big reason and why Pepsi was interested in us like the next generation of soda drinkers. Right.

[Emma Grede]

And I feel like you've completely rewritten the playbook. Like when you think about the future and what's happening, like, are you as boisterous about TikTok and the future of like you guys on that platform as you were like maybe a couple of years ago, or is it moving on?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, I think as you have a business and I'll be real, as you get older comes lawsuits and you have to be careful with music.

[Emma Grede]

Thank you for being. Thank you for being truthful.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes.

[Emma Grede]

And so, like, I think the game has changed. You're not the scratchy little babies anymore.

[Alison Ellsworth]

As where we are, which actually pushes us to be a little bit more creative with our own content. But I always say to new businesses, it's gonna be your best avenue and cheapest. And everyone doesn't wanna be the face of. But I do think that, hey, it's free.

[Emma Grede]

It is free.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Like if you do you wanna be successful, like get on TikTok, you don't have to be it, but hire someone, take it serious. Like it's not going away. Even everyone thinks it's going away.

[Emma Grede]

Even when we really thought it was going away, it didn't go away.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I don't think it's going anywhere.

[Emma Grede]

And it's like, were you in mourning at that moment or was that like something you were concerned about considering it's such a revenue driver for you guys?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, I mean, I think it's a great part of our 360 mix now. If it were to go away, I think the saddest part would be like our community on there more than it impacting the business. For me, when it was doing that, it was like downloading videos. I had a glass of red wine, I'm sitting back and my husband's like, go put the kids to bed. I'm like, I can. It's the last night of TikTok. And then the next day I was like, oh wait, that was dramatic. I think it's fine. And honestly, I think if it goes away, that community will find them somewhere else and someone else will come up with something else for sure.

[Emma Grede]

I've read somewhere that you make somewhere between between 50 and 100 pieces of content every month. Is it, is it that about right? Yes, that's a lot of content. How reliant has the brand become on TikTok to kind of remain relevant? Do you think that if you didn't have that in your business that the brand would have less relevancy?

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, because I think we've kind of moved past it. Right. We've run a lot of linear tv, we've done a couple super bowl ads, we launched our own clothing line with Target. Like what, you know, what kind of soda brands are like doing these type of things. We do these pop ups where we get our community. Like we're doing a lot more than that. But I think nowadays you have to be a digital first brand.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, not only that, but I also think you guys have the distribution at this point, right. I think people have an over reliance on marketing and imagining what that can do. But it's like there's no boring marketing.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Like performance marketing, that everything's tied to an roi. Which I would say for the first four years of business our number one goal was brand awareness. Now we have a pretty high brand awareness. Over 50% of America knows what Poppy is. And so now it's moving maybe a little bit more into, okay, now we.

[Emma Grede]

Need to do a brand recall. Does that make. Do you get so proud when you say things like that.

[Alison Ellsworth]

It's like, well, I'm a businesswoman, so I'm like, wait, I need more.

[Emma Grede]

You're like, wait a minute. I don't want to be like Pencey over here.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know. I never stop and smell the roses. I'm always like, there's still more work to be done.

[Emma Grede]

So you still have a level of ambition for Poppy.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I'm so hungry. Like, it's so hard to turn it off. Right. When you start something, it just excites me. I'm very much a doer. Like, I can get in. I can solve any problem. Still to this day, probably people that shouldn't be calling me or, like, having me call me to, like, solve the. And I'm like, I'm here for it. I still love it. But I do think it's in this point. I've gotten to a point where I have so much trust in the team there because they've been a lot of are like our first, second, third, fourth employee still there.

[Emma Grede]

So that's so amazing. You got to be very proud of that. I want. Before we go into the acquisition from PepsiCo, I want to talk to you a little bit about the investment piece because it's such a key part of your journey and obviously change the trajectory of what you were doing. What is the truth of taking investment? What has that been like for you?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, our story is very different because we've had one investor, and I think there's two things with that is we had a lot of opportunity to focus on the business and not raising money. Money. It's so hard when you have momentum. If you pull back on momentum because you don't have money and you're having to raise to get that momentum again, it's probably one of the most difficult things in business. So we were able to have it pour gas, have the momentum pour gas. Because we had a great partner and always funding us along the way.

[Emma Grede]

So not meaning that you didn't have to keep raising, you just kept raising with the same person.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Correct.

[Emma Grede]

So good. So you could keep your focus and your eyes on the price.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I mean, there was times where we thought about going outside, and we did maybe try a couple rounds where we did that. I think the only outside investment that we took was celebrity investments.

[Emma Grede]

Right. But there were obviously a couple of funds because that's how I got my little inch in.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. Yeah. But there were usually, like, people that were like, more so on. Like the celebrity talent.

[Emma Grede]

We were all connected. Strategic people.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yes.

[Emma Grede]

I mean, I jumped at the opportunity to invest in you guys because. No, because I saw you and I was. That's the girl I believe in, for sure. I think the product is amazing. I think the category is amazing. But it was definitely about you from the outset, that's for sure. Aside from the obvious with equity, what did you give up bringing investment in?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, you give up a lot of control, and we give up control pretty early on. You know, obviously Rohan got a bigger chunk of the company early on. Everyone's diluted. I mean, it's like the way it went. I gave up a lot of control because at the end of the day, like, Poppy is me. I am the vision. Every idea, every little thing, it's just like. It just, like, oozes out of me. But I am not good at process. And I probably shouldn't be the one running a P and L, even though I do know how to read one. Right. I think that's important to know. But it's one of those things that they helped professionalize the business, and that was a huge growth for me personally. And I think as all of us as entrepreneurs, egos can get in the way of growth. They can get in the way of what's good. So that was the biggest lesson for me, is that growth of. Early on, we brought in a CEO. I think it was year two, and then a year later, we brought in a cmo. But the difference is because I was part of that conversation where I think a lot of people resist it and then they get placed and kind of pushed out. I was part of those conversations. Even though I cried, it was hard. There's ups and downs. There's so many things that go with it, but. But I just knew. I've never built. I've never bought a superblad. I've never built a business this fast, and I hadn't opportunity.

[Emma Grede]

Not a lot of people have. Yeah.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So I will say, like, it was one of the hardest and best decisions that I've ever made. And so I just always recommend just, like, be part of that conversation and don't resist it. It's a hard thing. As an entrepreneur, I think that that's.

[Emma Grede]

Really, really good advice. Because, look, one of the most important things that I've learned is, is to know what you don't know. Like, nobody is excellent at everything, and the reason you've been able to build and then able to exit is because you've had focus. Like you've been able to do what you uniquely and nobody else could possibly do. And then you've surrounded yourself with people that knew the stuff that you didn't know. Like, it's really simple when you say it like that. And I get that it can be tough for the ego, but look what you've been able to do in the time you've been able to do it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And you bring in people that value what you're good at. So I'm really good. I ran the creative, all of creative at Poppy face of all the culture, cool social, all those things. I still got to do all of those things and have really big impact there where that was my main focus, which I think was the driver of the brand and the growth. So not easy, but best decision, best decision.

[Emma Grede]

If you could do it all over again, would you do anything differently?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, I think I would have told myself earlier on that I knew what I was doing. I think it's really easy. As you're growing and you have a lot of people coming in, you can kind of get lost a little bit. And it took me, there's a few years in the middle that I kind of lost my voice and I think it hurt the business. There were certain things that we were doing, weird marketing things. So I was like, I'm going to trust. You do need to trust your team, but at some point you got to.

[Emma Grede]

Keep them on the straight and narrow.

[Alison Ellsworth]

The straight and narrow for sure. So looking back, just having a little bit more confidence. And when I do this again.

[Emma Grede]

When you do do it again.

[Alison Ellsworth]

When I do do it again.

[Emma Grede]

When hopefully I'll remember that. Invest again.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, I'll remember that.

[Emma Grede]

I'm here.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I love it.

[Emma Grede]

No, but when you do do it again, will you do something differently, do you think?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, I think that me and my husband, I will 100% do it with him again.

[Emma Grede]

So nice.

[Alison Ellsworth]

He's so good at everything that I'm not. He's good at all the business stuff. I'm great at the creative brand vision. We're a great partner. I think that I will bring in team earlier. I think that's another really big mistake that we probably didn't hire quick enough because maybe we just didn't know. Now I know.

[Emma Grede]

Well, you didn't know, but also, yeah, you didn't have the experience and maybe you didn't have, like the free cash. Now you're Richie Rich Rich. So you will definitely do things and do whatever.

[Alison Ellsworth]

What? Exactly.

[Emma Grede]

There's that part.

[Alison Ellsworth]

There's that part. For sure.

[Emma Grede]

There is that part. Talk to me, because, again, you know, I'm gonna go back to the money. But I'm interested to understand when you lose your voice, which I think think happens a lot when you bring investors in, when you have, you know, more senior management that comes into a company, you can get a bit lost. How did you claw it back? Because being a woman, I can imagine you would. You would have been surrounded by a lot of dudes telling you what was right based on all of their experience. So how did you get back into the driver's seat?

[Alison Ellsworth]

It was really hard. It's almost like you have to, like, let it go to allow them to realize it. And I know that's not, like, maybe the best advice, but I kind of stepped back, and I was like, fine, you guys figure it out. And then when things started getting wonky, certain people were fighting for me to get back involved. If I were to be like, I need to do this, and I want to be involved, that only makes them want to push you aside. And even though it was really hard, I was like, and you know what I always thought to myself, if I do step away and then it's successful, good.

[Emma Grede]

Does that turn?

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know what I mean? And I've had to learn that. If you would've asked me that maybe two years ago, I might not have said the same thing. But I stepped away. I was like, I can't be psycho. I can't be crazy. I got a coach, a business coach.

[Emma Grede]

You did?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I did.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. I love that for you. I've done exactly the same things.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I tried therapy. It didn't work for me. And look, I'm here for it, but I needed someone being like, what do you want in life?

[Emma Grede]

I need a therapist.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Right.

[Emma Grede]

Depending on who you have. I mean, I have a business coach, and. And it's right in the midst of therapy and just traditional coaching and just.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Learning to find my voice, learning to find me again, and all of those things. And honestly, it put me to a better place to be a better leader, to allow us to continue to grow. I wasn't showing up for my kids. I was tired all the time. I was grumpy. I wasn't being a good wife. And even my husband was just like, I don't even know who you are right now. And so I think once I went through that and came out of it, it was almost so good to go through that because. Because I truly believe it made Me a better leader. It made me a better mom, a wife, like, all of those things. And so I wish more people would, like, talk about these things. Cause it's like entrepreneurship and business is not easy.

[Emma Grede]

Awesome. What do you think we're here to do today? We're gonna talk about this shit we have to talk about. Listen, I am never gonna ask you about balance, because I don't believe in it. I wanna. Every time somebody's like, how do you balance it all? I'm like, I wanna retch at the question. But I do wanna ask you how you've been able to build this incredible company, to have your three kids, to hopefully be, like, a good wife. You've now got other things that are happening in your life, and I'm assuming, like, loads and loads of opportunities that are coming your way. So what have you done to be able to get to where you are? And honestly, like, what gives?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Early on, me and my husband had a conversation. It might sound sad. We were like, there's three things we can focus on. Our marriage, business and kids. I said, I'm gonna give you the freedom within our marriage to. I'm not going to guilt you over Valentine's Day. I'm not going to guilt you on my birthday. We don't have to go on date nights. I'm just going to stop. I don't want Valentine's Day. I don't want flowers. Let's just focus on our kids and our business. And then when we had those little moments, it was almost more special. So letting go that expectation in life, because we set those expectations for ourselves, right? Another thing was, I think it's really important to just stay grounded. Yes, I have a lot of money now, but at the end of the day, I still am at soccer on Tuesdays and baseball on Fridays, and my kids are running around without shoes on. And I'm like, where are your shoes? I think it's really important to spend time with your kids and family and just stay grounded and just be like a normal human being.

[Emma Grede]

But I imagine there must have been times when you weren't able to do those things right. There'd be times when the business is a grind. And. Did you make. Did you ever have to make sacrifices?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Oh, I mean, I would say I'm on the road more than my husband traveling, doing these things, but I've always had a good support system with my mom and my husband. He stays home with them way more than I do. And, yes, I look at his sacrifices for, like, a greater thing that at the end of the day is for my kids and for my family. Everyone's like, but they're little. You're never gonna get these years back. So a lot of times we would like, take them with us to events. They've been to a ton of poppy things. Or like, if I know I'm gonna be in New York, we'll go a day earlier, we'll go spend and a week in the Hamptons or something like that. And I just feel like, don't guilt yourself. Like, let the guilt go. That's what I mean. Like, release that guilt of mom. Guilt, guilt. You should do this, whatever. And it's just that expectation and it. Once you kind of let it go, it's kind of nice. It's like, I don't, I don't believe in balance. I don't remember just literally we sold the company and I worked out seven times in like the first two weeks. I don't think I've worked out seven times in the last two years. Like, so that's what gives. There you go. No self care. I don't know what that means. Like, I mean, it's like.

[Emma Grede]

But I love that you made those decisions because I do think it's so much easier to accept the trade offs if they're your trade offs. Right. And they're different for each one of us. But the idea that you decided as a couple to like let some of the. I'm not saying like the romance, but it's like some of those extra things that are maybe unnecessary. It's like, I know that you love me, like, I'm good. This stuff doesn't matter. Let's like double down on our kids. You know, we're going on a work trip. We'll go a couple of days early and look at the sites in New York. Like, those are your choices. And then you can reconcile with them so much easier than if they're happening to you. You know, I feel like when you are suddenly like, I have to go on this trip and you haven't thought about what you're going to sacrifice, it makes it so much harder.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Very self aware. Like, I'm very. I'm a very self aware person of like, I see something happening and I'm pretty blunt and I dress it head on. And I feel like I don't allow things to happen to me. I make things happen. And I do that within my, my business and within my life. And sometimes people are like, allison, you're so blind. I'm like, let's just cut to the chase. Let's not dance around this. And so I don't know, I think that's helped. But no, I agree with you. There's no work life balance. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

[Emma Grede]

Now. I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it.

[Emma Grede]

Turns out that's very illegal.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So there goes my big idea for the commercial.

[Emma Grede]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent.

[D]

To $15 per month required New customer offer for first 3 months only Speed.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Slow after 35 gigabytes of networks Busy taxes and fees extra See mintmobile.com When.

[Unknown]

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[Emma Grede]

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[Emma Grede]

I've been talking to my friends nonstop about our summer plans and all of the incredible places we plan to visit while on vacation, and it got me thinking. I've talked a lot on this show about building wealth in creative ways, but did you know you could actually make some extra income while on vacation? I just learned about Airbnb's co host network and it is genius. If you've ever thought about hosting but felt a little overwhelmed, a co host can actually handle everything for you. We're talking creating your listing, managing reservations, messaging guests, and even taking care of the place while you're away. They can also help with your Styling, too. So your space looks exactly how you'd want it. I love the idea of having someone local who really knows the area, keeping things running smooth while I'm off enjoying the countryside. If you've been curious about hosting, now is the time. You can find a co [e-mail] host. Do you think there's parts of your personality that have allowed you to be super successful? And if so, like, what are they?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know what I want. I'm direct. And I also feel like I have a lot of empathy, and I am kind. And I think if you can and just be a real human, I think if you can combine all those things, like, you get to know people, you get to know how they work. But at the end of the day, it's a business. Something that always kind of bothers me, and this might be controversial, is people are saying, well, my poppy is my poppy. Family. I'm like, we're not family. We work together. We can be friends. We can do stuff outside. We can celebrate, we can vacation together. But we are here to do business. And so I feel like I've always been really good to understand you can have relationships, but we're here to do something.

[Emma Grede]

Well, it's only controversial because you're a girl.

[Alison Ellsworth]

That's totally true.

[Emma Grede]

Nobody thinks that that would be controversial if a man said it. I think it's because you are kind and because you're empathetic and because you're sitting there dressed in pink and you look fabulous, that suddenly when you say something that's seemingly so blunt, I. E. We're not a family. We're here to create a business. It feels really harsh to people. And I. I mean, I feel like I get that all the time, but I believe exactly the same. Right. I look at myself and I'm like, I'm the coach, right? I am here not to go out and score the goals. I'm here to put the team together to play the best players and to set everybody out for a win. Like, that's my job. And sometimes I need to take someone off the field because you're not doing what you need to do. Like, I need to bring somebody else in. I found a new star. Like, you know, it's like all of those things happen. But I think the minute as a woman that you start sounding a way that people find unpalatable, there's a lot of backlash. Have you experienced anything like that? In reaction to things that you've said or an attitude that you've taken or coming back to you from your own staff, for instance.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, I think like, I like to get things done. So if I get a no instead of just allowing it to happen, I'll like call 38 people. I will get that. Yes. I will go around you. I will do this, I will make it get done. And a lot of people are like, well, you're just a bulldozer. You know those things. It's like. And then I'll see like a couple other men do those same things and it's like, oh, they got something done. So like, yes, but I've always been a really big person of like putting like, I don't allow like everyone like, oh, you're such a successful female founder. You have done so many things that so many women want. But I'm like, I also think it can be a mental space that you put yourself in. It's like, I deserve to be here, I deserve to be successful. And I actually feel like, like the time of the female founder is now. Like there's so much happening and beauty and fashion and food and Bev that it's just like it's growing and the confidence is there. So I think we just have to like not put ourselves in that box. And I know easier said than done, but I think it's like a mental state that I've been able to really do a good job at.

[Emma Grede]

Personally, I couldn't agree with you more. I think you've done an amazing job at it. What do you think, like, just in terms of women being able to get out of their own way and the things that you've done, like what do you do uniquely that sets you up to behave differently or differently than what's expected of a typical female founder? If we could even use that language.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know, I don't know. I'm a Capricorn.

[Emma Grede]

How do you say that? I'm a Capricorn.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, it's so funny.

[Emma Grede]

It's so cute.

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, because people ask me this all the time and it goes back to that key thing they want this success. I don't know, magical thing that you can do. And I'm really big on no self pity, like no poor me's. I almost feel like I operate a little bit like a man would. And then I'm very self aware when I'm pushing people too hard in a room. I can read a room. I feel like women are very like, aware of their surroundings. So like, you know where to push, when to not. But I also think at the end of the day, if you know you're right. Stand up for yourself.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, absolutely. So no imposter syndrome.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, No, I know. It's fine.

[Emma Grede]

No, it's not.

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, there is sometimes, like, there. There's certain things where I'm like, everyone, always, like, you're so successful, you've done all these things and I'm like, me. I'm like a mom from Texas. Like me. So I miss you. This you.

[Emma Grede]

Yes, you.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. So I think that does happen quite a bit. But it's. But I 100% believe I deserve this too.

[Emma Grede]

Because you do.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

Or because it was your idea and you worked really hard.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I worked really hard for this.

[Emma Grede]

No doubt.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Like, literally still working really hard for this. It's like been a little bit hard for me to let go of Poppy and I'm still. Still pretty involved. So.

[Emma Grede]

So talk to us about post acquisition. How does that even come about? Were you setting the company up for an acquisition? Had you said, like, I'm ready to tap out now, or. That was just like the trajectory that you went on.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So in beverage, it's really. You have to. There's maybe three people that can buy you. Pepsi was one of them. Because if you really want to become a global brand, it all comes down to distribution.

[Emma Grede]

Will you explain that a little bit for everybody that's listening? Because it's very similar to Beauty in that way. Right. It's like there's a couple of main big players. If you want shelf space, if you want to be in the right fridges, you've got to play the game. You've got to be in it to win it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So currently, for example, we have 180 distributors that distribute probably just in the US. There's more in Mexico, there's more in Canada. If we wanted to go to the uk, it would be a new distributor potentially too in the uk, yet. Well, we're working on people in the uk.

[Emma Grede]

Come on.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I bet within a year we'll be there for sure.

[Emma Grede]

I love it. No doubt. I feel like Pepsi can make that happen for sure.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Well, that's the point, right? And so we are now going to go from 180 to 1. So you have one workforce working towards you. You're managing one customer, then distributing you and putting you on the shelf. Like that alone is a game changer. Also, soda is traditionally has like pretty intense contracts, so we weren't able to get on college campuses. You cannot get on fountain soda. You can't go into a lot of hotels. Fast casual, like the Taco Bells in.

[Emma Grede]

The world is the Big three players own all the shelf space, all the distribution, and you're essentially locked out unless you're part of one of those three. Correct.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And I feel like we did a really good job. And yes, we could have gone ipo, but that still doesn't solve the distribution problem. So. So when you are starting a beverage company, you want that to happen. Right. And so that was always, like, from day one, goals not to sell out. A lot of people are like, you're selling out. But I'm like, no, hon. This is how we are going to get Poppy into more than half of the households in America. We're going to be able to really be. Poppy will be the soda my kids and grandkids drink and know as soda. And without that, we wouldn't have been able to do that. And so it's. Yes. Strategic. It's yes. Yes. People might call it, like, selling out, but it's, to me, the American dream.

[Emma Grede]

It is totally, totally the American dream for you to start something in your kitchen. Go from Farmer's Market to whole foods to $1.9 billion sale with PepsiCo. That is it. That is it. Who taught you about the trajectory and the way the business was gonna go? Did you have advisors who was around you? Like, who even set you up or set you on a path? Or did that all come from your investor?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, no. Rohan was really great with that stuff from day one. He had been part of other incredible beverage brands. Yes. He's an investor, but he'd been working in the industry for years himself. I think that in beverage, it's a really small community. So we hired on great talent really early on. Our second employee is still with us today. He's our chief Growth officer. Senior VP of sales is still with us.

[Emma Grede]

Wow.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Our influencer manager is now a VP of culture. Like. Like, I think we brought in really good people that had been doing it at other brands before.

[Emma Grede]

Clearly hired really well. If those people have been able to stay with you.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. And just had really good advice.

[Emma Grede]

What roles did you hire? Cause you're what, 200 people now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Like, 250.

[Emma Grede]

250. So what roles did you hire too early? And what roles do you feel like you could have you hired too late?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I think one of the best roles, especially and this is specific probably more to cpg, is sales.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Alison Ellsworth]

You have to get into the stores, and at the end of the day, it's all about relationships. If you have a good product, if you don't have a good product, you're probably not gonna get in anyways. And then I think early on for us, it was on the marketing side, so we hired on an influencer manager really, really early. I think a lot of people. I think our first two years, we didn't spend a single dollar on, like, any paid media or anything. So I think a lot of people think you have to bring on a PR agency and do all this stuff really early on, which a good PR agency is going to be north of $20,000 a month, which we don't realize. So I think we maybe run on PR too early. But if you have nothing pressworthy, like, you don't need a PR agency or anyone to even run pr. Now we desperately need a great PR agency. And I'm obsessed with. We have a director of PR and all of that stuff. But I think a lot of people think they need to do that too early on.

[Emma Grede]

And you just eschewed that somehow. Yeah, yeah. Well done. That was like, exactly the thing to do. I just wonder. And again, because I feel like people are loathed to talk about the mistakes and the things that maybe didn't work out. Have you had those moments in this business? And how have you been able to correct them or change them or learn from them?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Oh, gosh. So it's so funny. I'm like. With the mistakes, it's like childbirth. You forget about it. I would say for us, there was one thing that cost us millions and millions and millions of dollars was we were so focused on building the brand that we really wanted our cans to be gorgeous and jump off the shelf. And so we had them in sleeved cans for like two years. Well. Well, a lot of people don't know when it comes to cpg, the packaging is the most expensive part. It's not the stuff inside. Right. And it's pretty fixed. And there's not a lot you can do about it until you get bigger and you scale and then the price comes down. Right. It's simple economics. And it's like one of those things that the sleeved can was the most expensive thing on our can. I think it was like 20 cents a can. And then we knew if we went into printed cans, we would be able to drop it it in half right away. And then I'm sure it's gone down even since then. But we stayed in it for almost 12 months too long, which cost us north of like, probably $15 million because we thought it was cute and that it looked better on the shelf. Like, what? And now we're in printed cans. And honestly, it's so much better.

[Emma Grede]

But you don't know what you don't know. Yeah.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And so it's like those things where it's like you feel like you get into your own world and you're so obsessed and you're not really thinking about the business. And sometimes I'm always wanted to lean into the brand first, like what is best for the brand, what looks best on shelf. And it can be very blinding when you're such a brand forward brand to like, you know, it's okay to be in printed cans or to not have printed trays and like all those, like, little things that used to drive me up the wall because it wasn't cute.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. Well, there you go. You wanted things to be cute. I understand why you make those mistakes. But you live and learn. Are there other things that looking back, you got flat out wrong at Poppy?

[Alison Ellsworth]

No.

[Emma Grede]

That's so nice.

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, really, it's literally. I don't know, it's like it goes back to, I think, the personal stuff, the growth. For me, it's so hard to look back at the mistakes. Because, yes, there's operational mistakes, there's personal mistakes. I think one time we brought in a CMO before our current one. That was probably one of the hardest moments of my career at Poppy, where we brought her in and. And she just was a wrong cultural fit. So I think a lot of people don't understand cultural hires and cultural fits and how you can bring in one bad person and how it literally sent some of our employees into depression and we had people quitting and all those things because of one thing. And so we realized that really quick. There's little things like that that I think a lot of people are like, well, we hired them, we paid a recruiter fee. You keep them in place.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. You're like, no, no.

[Alison Ellsworth]

If they're a culture killer, that that is one of the most toxic things in the company that you can do. And it's hard to realize it.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. And you can only really learn that the hard way. There's no easy way to learn that. You have to have that person. You have to inevitably keep them in the business too long to learn that you should have got them out a lot quicker. It's just. That's it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Culture's key. To invest in culture, invest in your people. And by that, it's not meaning like having a gym in your office or the perks. It's the people.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. It's really the people. Do you look at your life and think there are specific things that you do that allow you to be who you are.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I'm like hyper obsessive, focused on certain things. So someone will give me a task. I can go down like a deep, dark hole. I will figure it out. I will call, I'll do all of these things. And it can be like, even in my personal life, if I'm planning a birthday party for my kids, I think for me it's like that hyper fixation on. On greatness in all aspects of my life while still allowing for chaos. So I love chaos.

[Emma Grede]

I love that important allowing chaos.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Because perfect isn't fun. You know, I'm like, okay with the clothes, like thrown on the floor and not unpacking for three days after a trip. And it drives my.

[Emma Grede]

Don't tell me that.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know. It drives my husband up the wall.

[Emma Grede]

I would kill you.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Literally. He wants to kill me.

[Emma Grede]

It's literally knock up. I want to come to your house and unpack Casey's block right now.

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, no, no. I need help from some. So it's like one of those things. Like, I like chaos. I like moving on to the next. And I love just like, what's the coolest, what's cultural. I also think what's really important is I don't love planning, but I love planning. So I love to plan like 80% and then to leave 20% for pure freedom chaos. Because, like, how are you gonna live life? How are you gonna have special moments if you're so over programmed? So I feel like that's something we've done really well at Poppy that like, kind of brought in from, like me personally that Poppy's allowed us to do. So we'll do like our AOP planning. We're planning like 80% of the calendar in these cultural events. But then I'm like, let's leave 20% up. And just for example, the first year we bought super bowl, we bought it three days before the Super Bowl.

[Emma Grede]

Wow.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. And it was just like a good piece of creative. It was something that I just was so in love with this. And I was like, you guys, we gotta do Super Bowl. We were able to define one. And that was just like a last minute moment thing that I feel like would stress a lot of companies out probably.

[Emma Grede]

Definitely.

[Alison Ellsworth]

But that's like how my personal life, I feel like is really part of the culture of Poppy.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. You've just allowed yourself to be nimble. I also think that suits the way you guys market because you're so like in the moment and in the zeitgeist. Of what's happened. So you're literally like, this is what's, like, moving the culture right now. Great. We're gonna be there. We're gonna be aligned with the trend in the moment.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Can I ask you a question? Because I feel like skims is the same way, but on, like, a way larger scale, so you guys must be so good at it, too.

[Emma Grede]

I think that it's a very, very similar thing. Are reacting to what's happening in the culture all the time, and we're really lucky because the. You know, where I work in the company, you know, it's like, I'm across products, and I work so far out, but our marketeers have the freedom and the flexibility to be able to go. Like, that's working. That's trending. We're loving this show right now. Let's double down on that. And I'm often the one that's kind of sitting there going, wow, that was amazing, because I forgot the product. You know, that happened to me 18 months ago. I'm, like, living in the future somehow. So I think that's.

[Alison Ellsworth]

It's important for you want to be culturally relevant. You want to move at the speed of culture, and it shows that, like, a smaller brand, like, poppy can do that, A big brand, like skimset, like, anyone can do that.

[Emma Grede]

I feel like anyone can do that.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I feel like you have to stick to your plan. And I'm very much like, no, you don't.

[Emma Grede]

No, you can have a little bit of nimbleness. All right, I'm going back to this acquisition. So, you know, from your investor, like, where you're kind of going, where the company's heading, how does it all come together? Talk me through that moment in time.

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, it was interesting. We knew there's three buyers, right? And so you kind of do the dating, and you kind of, like, talk. And the difference with Pepsi is they just really got us.

[Emma Grede]

Was everyone courting you? Was everybody coming after you?

[Alison Ellsworth]

So we never did official process, like, where you, like, hire a banker and you, like, are like, hey, we're for sale. We never kind of did that.

[Emma Grede]

Because there was no official process.

[Alison Ellsworth]

No, there was no official process. Us. Yeah, because we weren't quite ready. We were having crazy growth. I mean, from, like, 200 to 500 in a year. Like, in year four. Like, it was just so much. We're like, how far can we take it? And you don't want to do it too soon, but you don't want to be, like, too big. Like, it's such A balance. And so it was one of those things that, like, just going into this year, we were looking just at our distribution and how we wanted to start going globally. And we were just like, maybe the. This is kind of the right year. So we kind of actually decided it last year instead of working through it. And then it just really sped up this year. And honestly, Pepsi reached out to us and we just started talking to them and it just clicked. Like their senior leadership got it. And their biggest motto, which was really important for me, is they were just like, let's let Poppy be poppy. I think they're obviously getting us for our brand and our people and our product. But that's always someone's biggest fear is they're going to come in and just change your company overnight. And I truly feel like, like they made that promise to us and we're seeing it happen. And so I think that was, you know, made me feel like, oh, my kid can go off to college and now I can like, you know, go to Europe for a month.

[Emma Grede]

Totally. And there was nothing in you that felt obligated to go around and see what else you could get.

[Alison Ellsworth]

You know, I think there's a part of it that if they really wanted it, they would have come. Or you don't want to be curious.

[Emma Grede]

Like, didn't you hear a number and be like, okay, I'm going to shop this around. Like, I'm going to go and see if I could get X, Y or Z.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Well, I think M and A has been finicky the last few years.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, M and A mergers and acquisitions.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And beverage historically hasn't done well. So some of these bigger strategics have made purchases and it's not gone well. And they overpaid by quite a bit. And there was like certain things and they've kind of learned their lesson. So I think the mark, it's like it's timing market and it was one of those things that like, like I said we didn't want to go ipo. It was just like one of those moments that it just felt right. And we could have said maybe it was too soon, but it still felt right. Maybe it was too late, like, I don't know, but just kind of. It came together like, really easy.

[Emma Grede]

It did, Yeah.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I would say it's like one of the fastest M and A's ever. Like, we started talking to them, basically. We talked to them a little last year. We had like a little meet and greet and then we got an offer in February and closed like six weeks later. Yeah, it was really quick and it was just like. Like we just, I don't know, just like connected.

[Emma Grede]

It just can. It just works.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know. And that's how you just know it's right.

[Emma Grede]

Did you have a number in your head where you, like, if I get this, then I'm doing this deal?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. I think like it was 2 billion and. But you know what? If you would ask me four years ago, I would have said 500,000. You know, you asked me before, I would said 200. Like you just. I always thought at least a billion and now it's like you don't know until the goal moves every year kind of post. And I'm just really excited with it and within it. They bought 100% of the company, which is also rare.

[Emma Grede]

Wow. They bought 100%. So what is your role go forward? Are you totally out now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

So I'm totally out.

[Emma Grede]

No. Yeah.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Okay, so.

[Emma Grede]

But how does that feel?

[Alison Ellsworth]

It feels okay. So exciting. Scary. Amazing. Terrified. They're keeping me on as an advisor to still do all the fun, like social media. And then I did run the creative and like all the vision, all that stuff. So it's really hard to be like, okay, bye. So I'm gonna stay on and advise for a few years on that stuff, which is kind of fun. It's like I get to do all the fun stuff, which is my wheelhouse, what I'm good at.

[Emma Grede]

But there's no incentive there for you to remain in the company while it grows. Yeah, it's like, you've sold. You're out.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I'm out. I'm 100% out. But they put some incentive for me to stay. Like some goal posts.

[Emma Grede]

There's a little sweetener in there for.

[Alison Ellsworth]

You somehow, which is fine.

[Emma Grede]

You're not giving creative for nothing.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Exact.

[Emma Grede]

Fair enough. That makes a lot of sense.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I'm a businesswoman.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. As you should be. And do you have, like, restrictions? Are you going to go and start something else now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I don't know. I. Like, it's in my head, like, I'm still so unpoppy. So I've committed to be like, I'm still working 40, 50 hours a week right now. I'm still in it. I'm doing all these things. And then I'm going to take a family vacation, which I've never done. And I think it'll allow me to be with my family, be creative. And then after that, I think I'll have a lot of clarity.

[Emma Grede]

You'll no doubt have clarity. Where have you been left after this last five years of building this incredible company, getting what you quite rightly deserved, at the end, you're left with what type of feeling? Because your kids have watched their mom and dad build a $2 billion brand, you've obviously made a lot of sacrifices in that time. So, like, what is, like, how do you feel about the next couple of years of your life? Have you planned it? Are you doing the 8020 rule like you do in the rest of your business? What does this look like for you right now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Honestly, you might be able to relate to this. The most overwhelming feeling I have right now is freedom. I literally can do whatever I want at this point.

[Emma Grede]

Whatever you want.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And it's such a freeing feeling of I have no boss, I have no one to talk to. My husband could say the same, but he still has me. But I do feel very free to just. If I want to be with my kids, I can. If I want to go on a girls trip, if I want to start another company, I can. And so it's really like, I'm like dreaming for the first time in years and all of these things. It just feels really good.

[Emma Grede]

But I can just tell that you're gonna go on this European vacation.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I know. And come back.

[Emma Grede]

You're gonna see. So you're gonna have like, your notes section of your phone's gonna be full of ideas.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I already have two ideas.

[Emma Grede]

Do you really? Yeah, I love it. Can you see yourself going back into startup mode? Does that feel like part of the future?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I think the number one thing people want for me. Right. Than my money. Right. I think we are going to definitely invest, but my knowledge and what I've built is the most valuable asset that I can give. So in my head, I think I'll pick like a few companies to like, advise and really give, but I. I don't know, for me, it's like, why would I do that when I can just do it myself?

[Emma Grede]

I see that. I mean, I've known you for 20, 20 minutes. I don't know. And I feel like you're already going to start something.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

I mean, listen, of course, needless to say, you have so much to give and you have so much great experience and you've done things in a one of one way. But there's something about that founder energy that gets into your bones and gets under your skin. And it's very difficult when you've had that kind of like unbelievable acceleration for you to kind of go around. And I'm not gonna retire at 38. I just don't feel like you're a lady.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I mean, like, sure, I could be on your board, but I'll just help you spend your marketing budget.

[Emma Grede]

Exactly. That I have no doubt you would. Is there anything like, is there a company that you look at and you're like, I could be so useful to them. Like, I'd be so great.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. There's a lot of probably food and Bev, I would say, traditionally in the cpg, But I think the key things I look for are they digital first, because I think that's one of the hardest things to do, teach people nowadays is to be digital first. Because they get caught in their own ways and they just want to, like, run the business. I'm like, honey, this is the future. So anything I do or anyone I spend any time or invest in, you have to be digital social. And I mean, like, social first.

[Emma Grede]

Social first.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah.

[Emma Grede]

I really want to talk to you about that social first piece because I feel like you guys did it in such an interesting way, is that these kind of tiny, repeatable actions that you just kind of owned, right. They were like things that were uniquely you and uniquely poppy that I guess I feel like the rest of the industry kind of copied in a lot of ways or tried to emulate in a lot of ways, which is really wonderful. But they originated with you guys. Do you think that you could do the same thing again, or do you think that everything's changed?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I think everything's changed. And the people that. I think that's the problem. You have your marketing playbook. You think it works. Then you try to, like, put it into something else versus what is uniquely going to work for this business and what is their story that they need to tell? And I feel like at the end of the day, I'm just a really good storyteller, and that's what marketing is. And so what's going to work best and resonate for that particular business or whatever I do next? Just redoing the same thing I did. Look, TikTok isn't the wild, wild west anymore. It's a pay to play game, Right?

[Emma Grede]

It's a pay to play game.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And so I think, think understanding that with anything is what is the next wild, wild West?

[Emma Grede]

You think there's one coming?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Oh, yeah. There's always something new. Is it AI? I don't know, but there's something, I'm sure, and I'll be the first to learn it and be on it.

[Emma Grede]

So are you, like, obsessed with AI right now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I'm obsessed. I Just, you know, wish that it was more attainable and easier for just like people to understand. Does that make sense? Like, it's like obsessed with it and you're like, okay, but I know I'm.

[Emma Grede]

Feeling like I might send myself to like Harvard. Like, there's a couple of courses I looked at the other day and I thought maybe I actually just need to go to AI school for a month and teach it to myself and like just embed it in my head because I'm using it like a 42 year old lady right now. And I'm like, I really feel like.

[Alison Ellsworth]

There'S more than chatgpt.

[Emma Grede]

Exactly. No, but I think that's like when you only have like four on your phone. I'm like, this feels like I'm going to be left behind. I better get on this.

[Alison Ellsworth]

That's what I'm like, I want to learn. I want to start like I joined like a I cohort. I'm trying to learn about it. But I think, also I think it's what you said is as a leader, you have to learn it. You can't leave it up to your employees. Because I think that strategy has to come from the top down and understanding. I think that was a big piece of our success on TikTok. Like, I got it, I get it.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. And that is the big thing. Because if the founder isn't there with that behavior, you can't expect everybody else to just pick up the slack for you. It's either ingrained in the culture and it's coming from the top, or it's not. And it's never actually gonna be a real part of the business.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Or a priority.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, or a priority. Exactly. That is the absolute truth. I want you to talk to me a little bit more about, like, your kids and how you're, you know, because now you're an extremely wealthy, rich family, you've had this amazing business success. What are you teaching your kids right now about what it takes? You know, who your family are. How are you gonna raise them with this like unbelievable wealth that you have now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

It's like such an overwhelming feeling. More so than having the money. But just like, how do you make your kids not be little turds? You know what I mean? Because they're already trying.

[Emma Grede]

I know what you mean.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And I have three boys. They are boys, man.

[Unknown]

How old are your boys?

[Alison Ellsworth]

3, 6 and 8.

[Emma Grede]

You are in it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. Bloody noses and stitches and just like, they're so little right now. So I think the tone that we set so far is wow. Mom and dad created something and they work really hard. Now, to your point, the money comes. So I think the next level is they have to learn to work hard. And that's something. That's a really big thing. Focus. That annoys me sometimes. My husband's like, we have to teach them to do this. So they can't fly first class because this. I'm like, but that means I can't.

[Emma Grede]

I know. I always think about that. The idea of, like, your kids going in the back. I'm like, well, I'm not going back. I did my time in the spinner bus. So what are we doing here? We're splitting up as a family. It's a nice idea, but it's not.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Like, it's not reality. Because my head, you know, everyone's kind of said, like, yes, okay, you're not flying first class, but then you're going and you're staying out at this villa in Tuscany. They get it right. So that can't be the band aid. That can't be the solve. So I think it's foundational hard work. Continue to teach them to be good people. And at the end of the day, we're good people and we're good adults. So I'm. Hopefully it'll rub off at some point. It'll rub off. And then I think that if you instill that, then hopefully the next generations. Because, yeah, we've created generational wealth for them. And it's always, what do they say? Like, the first generation builds the house, the second lives in it, and the third burns it down.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, there you go. Let's hope not.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Not.

[Emma Grede]

Let's hope not. So how are you planning to put this money to work? Are you thinking about investing right now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. So I think that's something that's really important to people just starting out as well, to understand. We started planning for this three and a half, four years ago, between estate planning and trust planning and wills. And just like, how we're going to work through all of our gifting and family. Right. There's so much that goes into that.

[Emma Grede]

There's so much that goes into it.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And we invested really early. So when it did finally happen, we were really set up efforts, success. We have a great wealth management company. We are going to invest and have fun in some things. Of these little things I've kind of told you about today, where I'm like, I don't know, this is interesting business and personally invest my time and money. I think we'll do some traditional, safe. We'll do some risky stuff. And I also think something that's really important is it just happened to not go buck wild. And so we're going to stay in our current house and I just want.

[Emma Grede]

You mean you're not doing a massive, massive splurge moving, building a McMansion somewhere?

[Alison Ellsworth]

We will. But I do think it's like people, I don't want to be like where you get all this money and then you don't know what to do with. You make really dumb decisions. I'm just not that type of a person. But I mean, I do go shopping and we are going to go spend a month in Europe. Like, don't get me wrong, I will spend some money, but I also just don't even know what that reality is yet. And so I don't know, just stay level grounded and then like we'll slowly ease into it and then make those big life decisions.

[Emma Grede]

I'm interested as to how you are even learning about this stuff because I think that I speak to so many female founders that, you know, make a ton of money and then perhaps, you know, that money. I will never forget my meeting with one said founder and she had made an unbelievable exit and all the money was in her regular account. No wealth management, no investment strategy, just like sitting there in a regular interest account. But that happens to people. It happens to people more often than you think. So where did you and how have you started to educate yourself about money? And as a woman, what's the exposure that you've had to understanding how to manage and invest what you've got?

[Alison Ellsworth]

It was advice from another founder early on and we ended up talking to a couple different people and I think it was just, we took that advice early on and we just believed like.

[Emma Grede]

A founder friend or someone that just.

[Alison Ellsworth]

A founder friend that was like, hey, you guys have something special here with Poppy. Like you need to have these conversations now. And I, I think we're only doing like 20 million in revenue. And I was like, yeah. And they're like, no, no, no. Even if you sell the company for 20 million, like that's real money for you guys. Like it doesn't have to be a billion dollar exit for you to think about financial future.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. And so we started tax planning and all that. The really kind of boring part of.

[Alison Ellsworth]

It, the most expensive thing through that process is a lawyer. Because any good finance company is not going to charge you and they're going to help advise you and invest in you. And if they don't, then you need to find Someone else. And so for us, the biggest piece of that was the lawyer fees, which can be really expensive to get all that stuff set up. And that was the main investment. And you know what, we just didn't go on vacation that year early on. Right. Like, pick your battles. And so I think my husband is unfortunate. He's very, very buttoned up in that world. And I do join all the calls because I want to educate myself on it and I'm not like burying my head in the sand. I wouldn't say I'm the strongest in it, but I top level every decision I've been a part of, I understand as much as I need to. I don't need to really understand how the stock market's going in the detail of every little thing. But I have the app on my phone. I can look at everything right now. I can see how much money I had today. I think that's the balance that works for me. Where some people, I think they're like, oh, I lifted up my financial advisor. And you don't want to be in that position either totally.

[Emma Grede]

When you meet other founders now, because I'm sure you're doing a bit of mentoring and you're teaching people everything that you've learned over the last few years. What are the. What advice are you giving and what questions are you asking them?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Oh, gosh, it's the brand first, always. And then I think understanding process. So I used to just be so annoyed if someone was like, I have an agenda and like, we have to do something. You're probably like, no, I love agendas, but I'm a creator.

[Emma Grede]

I never think of myself as a process oriented person, but I guess I am. It's not even that I like an agenda. I just, I'm like, I get in a meeting and I'm looking for the out of the meeting. So I'm like, how can we be the most productive we can be with this time? Because I don't like sitting in meetings. You know, I feel like there's so many things that drain my day and emails and meetings just feel like the worst way for me to spend my time.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I never respond to emails, so I'm.

[Emma Grede]

Like, just don't send me an email. Didn't we just walk past each other in the corridor? Like, ask me.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, that's how I. I don't need 30 minutes. No, I think so. Like, that's like a really big piece of advice that I always give is like, probably get the process in pretty early. You know, for example, I spoke at Target HQ last week. And I had a founder come up to me and she was just so desperate for advice. And she said that someone was telling her to change who she was. They were telling her to change her outfits. They were telling her she needed to be more businesslike. And I said, why? Why, like, does that bring you happiness? She's like, well, I need to come across more professional. And I said, well, I wear pink and I'm professional. That has nothing to do with anything. And so it's just having little moments like that where I can be like, don't lose yourself in your company. Because I think a lot of people feel like they have to change and lose themselves of who they are. You can grow and get better.

[Emma Grede]

Yes, you can.

[Alison Ellsworth]

But you don't have to change who you are. You can get stronger, but don't change because I. That's what you started this company. I told her that. I said, don't lose your confidence. You started a company and you know what that person didn't exactly do.

[Emma Grede]

You feel like you've had to change along the way?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I wouldn't call it change. I would say growth.

[Emma Grede]

You evolved.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I evolved. And I think people that don't want to evolve and don't want to change, that's someone no one wants to work with. I think if you just hold on and you can't change and you can't grow, I don't know, I actually embrace change. I wouldn't say. I mean, I've cried over change. It's not easy. Change is not easy and it's not hard and I hate getting feedback and I hate saying sorry. Ugh. I think I've said sorry, could you take feedback? Ugh. It boils me. But then I usually have to, like, sit back with it. I'm like, okay, fine. I've learned something from that, whether it's good feedback or not. But it's helped me learn to give better feedback. When I get feedback, it's like these things. I don't think you start a company to do like a mid year review, right? So like, as an entrepreneur, you have.

[Emma Grede]

To learn all these things, but you do have to learn it. And then you owe it to the people that work with you. And so sometimes it's just not about you. I feel like that was my biggest learning curve because for so long it was all about me. And then I moved to America and I was like, oh, it's not about me anymore. And as things get bigger and you take on so much responsibility for so many people, you have to change and adapt and do the things that are less comfortable. I always say that I kind of love companies when they're like 20 people. That's like my son, sweet spot. When I know everybody's name and when like that, that's my happy, happy place, you know?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. Because now you get big and everyone knows who you are, but you don't know who they are.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And that's a really hard place to be because it feels uncomfortable, but that's okay, too.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, no, it's a really hard place to be. I wanted to ask you because I work with my husband and you've worked with yours for so long. How has that been on your relationship? Obviously you've had had this major success together, but has it all been what it seems?

[Alison Ellsworth]

No real talk. The one piece that's always been really important is we value what the other person is good at. To the core of my soul, I value what he does, and I know he values what I do. But the difference is because we're so opposite in what we do, sometimes I think mine's probably a little bit more important than him. Or vice versa.

[Emma Grede]

When he's wrong, you mean?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. So, like, for example, he was running our entire operations in our innovation team. So he had PhD scientists reporting into him. We had labs. He had a team of 50, like, huge. And I'm, like, running the brand and the creative and, like, all of this stuff. I'd be like, well, the event's going on. He's like, well, I have an off site. I'm like, well, obviously the event's more important. Like, you have to stay home, like, you know, and all that. He's like, no. So, like, that was a big, big piece that was always, like, a part of contention of, like, just because my work's not as fun doesn't mean it's just as important. I'm like, yeah, maybe supply chain is important.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, like, maybe. Maybe we need to get this product into the hands of the people after I've killed it with the marketing.

[Alison Ellsworth]

And then, like, you're together all the time, so then you forget to have real conversations about life, marriage planning, kids. And we, like, that was something that we had had to physically be like, wait, wait. We haven't actually talked in, like a week.

[Emma Grede]

Actually talked?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah. Because some people would be like, hey, did you talk to Steven about xyz? And he's like, I'd be like, no. They're like, you're with him. You live with him together.

[Emma Grede]

I have people in my office say, that to us all the time. I also think it's difficult when you have a really brilliant, exciting business because you want to talk about the business. So there's no, like, okay, I'm so over this. Like, let's just forget about it. You're like, this is exciting. Like, we've got so many great things to talk about. So. So it does become all about the business. Were you able to, like, I mean, obviously you have a marriage and you're still together, but how did you navigate, like, how did you create a way for you to be happy, married, romantic partners and have this company together?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I think giving mid year reviews and feedback in our marriage. Literally, like, no, I mean, it's like one of those things where it got hard a little bit a few months ago when we were, were like really busy and I was traveling and doing all sorts of press and all of these things. And he was kind of like, you're. And then I would get home and I'd be exhausted and then he'd be like, the kids just want to be around you. All things. I'd be like, I'm tired, I can't, like, whatever. I just need to go to bed. Instead of staying at. He's like, I've been putting the kids down for like a week and all those things. So he finally sat down and he was just like, the kids just want to be around you. Like, do you have to go to these things? And I thought I was like, you know what? No, I don't. And I started kind of clearing my schedule and I was home more and it made me happier, but I didn't think of it. I thought I was grinding, grinding, grinding. And he was like, do you not see what's going on? You need to slow down. And sometimes I need to be checked. That's what I mean with the feedback. And even though I hate to say he was right, but that's kind of how we have a conversation sometimes. We're really open with our feedback and being like, hey, it wasn't like drag down fight. Like, you know, we don't, we don't really fight. And people always think we're like crazy because we don't fight. But like, we were real and we have conversations. And then I found just being home more made me happier. Being around my kids made me happier, made me a happier person. So, yeah, I think it's not easy, but I will 100% do it again. Any business I ever do again, I will do with my husband.

[Emma Grede]

You will?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I can't wait.

[Emma Grede]

Oh, I love that. Do you think he feels the same?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Oh, yeah. He wouldn't do it without me either.

[Emma Grede]

There's no way.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Honestly. Honestly, there's certain things to do. But I will say his biggest fear is if it's not my idea, I won't get behind it. And he's been really honest with me with that. He's like, what if the next business I come up with and I'm like, I don't know how I feel about that.

[Emma Grede]

I'll let you know. Tell me your idea. I'll give you a mid year review on that one.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Yeah, exactly.

[Emma Grede]

That's crazy. I wanna ask you, like, how do you feel? Like, do you walk around like, feeling like so proud? Do you feel a bit sad? Like, what's the, what's the feeling now?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Probably a little bit of both. You know, I think one of the biggest things was when it was finally said and done, you know, the day of me and my husband, all we want to do is like, go to lunch or do something together to kind of celebrate, like the actual day that it funded. And we ended up kids screaming, horrible night, couldn't get into bed. It was like a really to bed. The next day I just cleared my schedule and we went to yoga, we went to lunch. And I was just like, that was so much better. But it was just a good reality check that life's really not that different other than that freedom piece. But it is sad. You know what I mean? It's the end of an era, of something I've been working for for seven plus years. The futures. There's a lot of unknown, which is exciting. And I've never in my entire life felt every emotion all at once within an hour. You're happy, you're sad, you're crying, but you're happy crying. And it's like, it's a lot on a person's, like, body. And so I've been very, like, conscious of taking care of myself. Like, even though there's a lot of really great things going on, there's a lot of loss. And I think, like, anyone that says otherwise is crazy or not truthful. I really want Poppy to be successful. Honestly, if they would have offered me a Pepsi like, badge and, like, kept me, and I probably would have worked another three years. And I stopped.

[Emma Grede]

I'm coming in, I'm coming into the office.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Literally, like, that's just like how much I love Poppy, but I just know that's not sustainable. It has to stand on its own. I really do think the brand is Standing on its own at this point.

[Emma Grede]

So what would be your nightmare to see? Like, what's the one thing that you're like, if I see this, I just die.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I would just die if I saw, like, a really cheesy commercial where people are sitting around a pool and they crack open a coffee and they're dancing and, like, cheersing and smiling at the camera. And like, today, like, we don't use, like, models in any of our stuff. We use real creators or real people or real community or me. It's like hiring on actors to, like, walk around, like a cheesy old soda commercial. So did I think about that all the time? It's so funny. I literally sent it in a message the other day because someone, one of a brand made that, and I was like, this is my worst nightmare.

[Emma Grede]

Please never do this with my brand. What would make you so happy to see? What do you want in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Time to continue seeing poppy everywhere I go. So if I check in my hotel, I see poppy. If I go to Europe, I see poppy. And just anywhere I go, it's within arm's reach. I wanted to see it in every restaurant on fountain. I really, when I say I want poppy to be the soda my kids and grandkids know is soda.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah. I think you have a good chance.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Of that happening too, and not better for you. Soda. I just want them to be like, mom, can I have a soda?

[Emma Grede]

And I just have a soda that to be the poppy benchmark. I'm so happy to meet you and so happy to have this conversation. And, like, I don't want to sound patronizing, but just, like, so proud of you and so happy for you because it's so major. So few women that can say they've started something like this and they've seen it through to fruition. Stacks of cash just sitting there because of it, period. Congratulations, babes. It's amazing. Now we only have the rapid fire to do. Okay, here we go. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Coffee and TikTok together. Scrolling while drinking coffee.

[Emma Grede]

I love that. And what's the last thing you do before you go to bed? End the at night, don't say TikTok.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Oh, wine and TikTok.

[Emma Grede]

No, it's great combinations. These are things I could get with no.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Probably watching reality TV or hanging with my husband.

[Emma Grede]

Yeah, love. What's your reality tv?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I love love island. I love the kardashians.

[Emma Grede]

The English one. Love island.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I haven't watched That I love. No love and blind. No. Love Island America is so.

[Emma Grede]

Oh, Love Island America. Okay, everyone. Everyone in England is obsessed with Love Island.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I'm obsessed with the Only way is Essex. That is the shot I've seen every season.

[Emma Grede]

Basically, I grew up like right there. Yeah. And from East London and Essex is where you go.

[Alison Ellsworth]

Literally. It's been around forever.

[Emma Grede]

I know. It has been around forever. They are having like such a run. It's crazy. Okay, what are you currently aspiring for in your business life?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Normalcy.

[Emma Grede]

What are you currently aspiring for in your personal life?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Normalcy. I'm so boring. It's so boring.

[Emma Grede]

That's amazing. You've done enough. You can take a seat. You're good. What is a book that's changed your life?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Okay, so I love this question, but I don't have time to read books.

[Emma Grede]

I love you. Can I send you a bunch of books just for the vacation?

[Alison Ellsworth]

That's okay. I have been asked. I will just text me what it is. Cause I'll download it and I'll listen to it.

[Emma Grede]

I feel like you're a download girl. I'm gonna totally do that because I just feel like you're gonna have this dreamy vacation and you are going to get.

[Alison Ellsworth]

I love your passion. I love listening to books. Literally.

[Emma Grede]

It's the best. What is something that you valued when you were starting out that you don't value anymore?

[Alison Ellsworth]

I used to really value recognition and the Atta Boys and now I know. I get it. But I don't need to hear it. Even though it's nice to hear. But it's like a lot of people feel like they need it to be successful.

[Emma Grede]

You don't need it anymore. It's wonderful. And what's something that you value now that you didn't when you were starting out?

[Alison Ellsworth]

Honestly, I didn't value others people's thoughts or opinions. I thought mine were the right. Like I was always right. And now I really value other people's opinions and thoughts and collaboration.

[Emma Grede]

That's some real growth right there. Amazing. Thank you so much. This is such a pleasure.

[Alison Ellsworth]

So wonderful.

[Emma Grede]

Thank you, darling. If you're loving this podcast, be sure to click follow on your Facebook favorite listening platform. While you're there, give us a review and a five star rating and share an episode you loved with a friend. We'll be so grateful. Aspire with Emma Greed is presented by Audacy. I'm your host, Emma Greed. Our executive producers are Corrine Gilliatt Fisher, Derek Brown and me. Our executive producers from Audacy are Maddy Sprung Keyser, Leah Reese, Dennis, Asha Salouja and Jenna Weiss Berman. Justine Dom is our Senior Producer. Our producer producer is Kristin Torres. Sound design and engineering by Bill Schultz. Angela Peluso is our booker. Original music by Charles Black Video production by Evan Cox, Kirk Courtney, Andrew Steele, Carlos Delgado and Arnie Agassi Social media by Olivia Homan Special thanks go to Brittany Smith, Sydney Ford My teams at jonesworks and WNE Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchinson, Rose, Tim Meekol, Sean Cherry and Lauren Vieira. If you have questions for me, you could DM me at Aspire with Emma Greed Greed is spelled G R E D E. That's Aspire A S P I R E with Emma Greed or you can submit a question to me on my website Emma Greed Me these.

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