Scale Your Brand Fast: How Adam Kroener Disrupted the Beverage Industry

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Beyond Blind Blaming

Episode: Scale Your Brand Fast: How Adam Kroener Disrupted the Beverage Industry
Host: Kevin D. St.Clergy
Guest: Adam Kroener, Co-Founder & CEO of Carbless
Date: August 26, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Kevin D. St.Clergy explores how Adam Kroener scaled Carbless—a ready-to-drink, low-carb, sugar-free cocktail brand—into the fastest-growing food and beverage company in the country. The conversation dives deep into overcoming entrepreneurial hurdles, challenging old mindsets, and identifying the real (often hidden) problems that can hinder business growth. Adam shares the story behind Carbless’ inception, how he avoids the corporate blame game, the importance of execution and team culture, and his perspective on “common sense” in business.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin Story: From Cheese to Cocktails

Timestamps: 02:46–08:10

• Adam's early career was in co-manufacturing, primarily in the cheese industry in Wisconsin.
• The idea for Carbless sparked from personal experience: Adam and his wife adopted a keto lifestyle post-pregnancy, leading him to experiment with low-carb, low-sugar alcoholic drinks.
• Dissatisfaction with existing seltzers (“a ton of carbonation, pretty much no flavor”—06:02) motivated Adam to create his own vodka lemonades and share them with friends and family.
• “People wondered, how could you saddle your finances on your wife and just jump into this business? I enjoy the hunt, the problem solving. Like that's what makes me tick.”—[00:17], [25:18]
• Adam leveraged his knowledge of contract manufacturing to avoid building costly infrastructure, launching with $100k after selling his real estate.

2. Recognizing and Solving the Right Problem

Timestamps: 11:03–14:04

• Adam and Kevin stress the danger of “solving the wrong problem perfectly.”
• Adam’s background in continuous improvement (Six Sigma Black Belt) ingrained the discipline to focus on accurate problem recognition, not just jumping to solutions:
  • “You can solve the problem really well, but if you solve the wrong problem, it still exists. And I'd say 99% of the work done is solving the wrong problem.”—[11:19]
• The duo discusses how social media and echo chambers reinforce faulty assumptions, making it harder for leaders to see alternative perspectives.

3. The Psychological Trap: Blind Blaming and the Blame Loop

Timestamps: 17:24–18:13

• Kevin explains the “blame loop,” where people or organizations get fixated on defending their innocence rather than owning and resolving actual problems:
  • “It's so rare that anybody goes, what do I have in my control? It's always let me figure out a way to shift it to everybody else.”—Adam, [17:58]
• Adam shares a company anecdote involving a $10,000 manufacturing mishap where each party tried to deflect blame rather than objectively solve the issue, highlighting real-world blind blaming.

4. The Myth of “Common Sense” in Business

Timestamps: 19:33–22:30

• Adam challenges the notion of common sense, arguing it’s shaped by unique experiences:
  • “The idea that common sense isn't so common is probably one of the most ignorant statements a person can make.”—Adam, [21:55]
• The conversation covers how what’s “obvious” to one person may not be to another due to radically different backgrounds and life experiences.

5. Handling Skepticism and Maintaining Focus

Timestamps: 23:50–25:53

• Adam admits he likely compartmentalized or tuned out skepticism when launching Carbless.
• He cites the support of his spouse (an accountant) as a key stabilizer: “I'm a kite floating around in the wind, and she is the rock that...lets me float, but there's a stopping point.”—[25:18]
• Adam’s tendency to block out negativity may have protected his vision and drive.

6. Secrets Behind Scaling Carbless Rapidly

Timestamps: 26:07–28:12

Adam’s “Big Three” for Success:

1. Product Differentiation: Carbless offers something genuinely unique in taste and composition versus competitors.
   • “There’s a lot of great products that sit in warehouses, and there’s a lot of shitty products that get executed really well. Our execution is better than almost everyone in our industry.”—[26:19]
2. Superior Execution: Exceptional strategic execution and operations outperform most in the sector.
3. Passionate Team: Employees love the product and brand so much that “it’s offensive to them to have less than amazing.” Adam mentions their ability to “scale our passion,” which he recognizes will be challenging as the company grows.

7. Building and Retaining an Exceptional Team

Timestamps: 28:12–30:29

• Adam uses the “Ideal Team Player” framework (hungry, humble, smart):
  • “Hungry, humble, smart—and hungry is defines me...humble is treating every buyer the same...and smart is EQ, not IQ.”—[28:34]
• Carbless’ culture revolves around treating employees as “contributing adults,” avoiding the over-processing common in corporate America.
• Adam has blended authentic leadership with pragmatic business acumen.

8. Brand Expansion and Distribution Hurdles

Timestamps: 30:37–33:20

• Carbless is available in 14 (soon to be 19) states, expanding methodically.
• Regulatory and logistical hurdles limit online direct-to-consumer sales, especially in strict-alcohol states.
• Adam is experimenting with retail expansion in new territories, including Houston, Texas.

9. Speaking Engagements and Public Persona

Timestamps: 33:04–33:51

• Adam accepts only paid speaking gigs due to time constraints and focus on scaling Carbless.
• He brings Dale Carnegie leadership training experience to the table, tailoring talks for entrepreneurial and general business audiences.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On product and execution:
  “There's a lot of great products that sit in warehouses, and there's a lot of shitty products that get executed really well.”—Adam, [00:00], [26:19]
• On the danger of consensus and echo chambers:
  “How much we create these chambers for ourself based on what we like and interact with is absolutely insane.”—Adam, [12:27]
• On deflecting blame:
  “It’s so rare that anybody goes, what do I have in my control?...Those type of responses are pretty rinse and repeat.”—Adam, [17:58]
• On myth of common sense:
  “By stating common sense, we're assuming they have all the same inputs that we do. And that's next to impossible.”—Adam, [21:58]
• On personal focus:
  “I do compartmentalize. And if I don't like something or even just negative conversation, I think it's so freaking invaluable that a lot of times I just tune out and don't pay attention.”—Adam, [25:18]
• On leadership and growth:
  “Our culture is great because we treat you like a contributing adult.”—Adam, [30:08]
• Host’s encouragement:
  “What got you here isn't going to get you there, but that particular thing...I think that's one of those things that will get you there. I think you're on your way to $100 million, your company, if you keep the standards in place.”—Kevin, [27:31]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Adam’s Origin Story: 02:46–08:10
• Formulating and Iterating Carbless: 08:10–11:03
• Mindset: Defining the Real Problem: 11:03–14:04
• Blind Blaming Illustrated: 17:24–18:13
• Debate on “Common Sense”: 19:33–22:30
• Handling Skepticism and Negativity: 23:50–25:53
• Three Pillars of Carbless’ Success: 26:07–28:12
• Team & Culture Building: 28:12–30:29
• Distribution Expansion: 30:37–33:20
• Speaking Engagements: 33:04–33:51

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Tone & Style

The episode is candid, energetic, and informal—full of personal anecdotes, playful jibes, and direct business wisdom. Both Adam and Kevin take an unfiltered look at business, mindset, and success, inviting listeners to challenge assumptions and their own “blind blaming” tendencies. The conversation is rich with practical insights for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone looking to scale a purposeful brand.

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Transcript

[A]

There's a lot of great products that sit in warehouses and there's a lot of shitty products that get executed really well.

[B]

Today I'm joined by Adam Cranor. He's the co founder and CEO of Carbless, a rapidly growing ready to drink cocktail brand that is changing the way people enjoy low carb, sugar free premium cocktails.

[A]

People wondered how could you saddle your finances on your wife and just jump into this business? I enjoy the hunt, the problem solving. Like that's what makes me tick. Never anticipated we'd be here. I always wanted to start a business. They say do it with your pass. I love cars and motorcycles. This is booze. But I've found that passion for me was finding a gap in the market that I just really felt needed to be solved. We're growing fast. We are number one in food and beverage in 2023 and I think number seven nationally.

[B]

So what do you think are the key factors of scaling this brand so quickly and successfully?

[A]

I would say foreign.

[B]

Welcome to beyond blind blaming. This is the place where we explore how easily hidden truths can hold us back, trapping us in cycles of frustration and blame, often without even realizing what's truly stopping us. Each week I'm joined by experts and professionals who share their journey of taking back control of their story, overcoming hidden challenges and discover how to stop blind blaming from dictating their outcomes. The insights you're about to gain will help you see beyond your current limitations, find the courage to seek new perspectives and ultimately live a life that's both purposeful and powerful. So if you're ready to break free from blind blaming and discover what's possible, you'll definitely want to listen to my next guest. I'm your host Kevin St. Clergy and today I'm joined by Adam Cranor. He's a co founder and CEO of Carbless, a rapidly growing ready to drink cocktail brand. The that is changing the way people enjoy low carb sugar free premium cocktails. What started as a passion project to create better drinking experience has now become a successful business expanding nationwide and shaking up the beverage industry. His superpowers, his entrepreneurial spirit and his ability to challenge the status quo. He's built Carbilis with a relentless focus on quality customer experience and innovative branding beyond just building a business. He's a leader who understands the importance of resilience, adaptability and and constant improvement. When he's not growing Carbless, Adam enjoys spending time with family, connecting with fellow entrepreneurs and sharing his insights on business growth and overcoming obstacles. Adam, welcome to the Show.

[A]

Thanks Kevin. Appreciate you having me.

[B]

Let's start with your journey. What inspired you to create Carb List and how did you go from an idea to a fast growing brand? And if I'm not mistaken, one of the fastest growing brands out there.

[A]

Yeah. Number one in food and beverage in 2023 and I think number seven nationally. Yeah. So it's the proverbial. Never anticipated we'd be here. I always wanted to start a business. They say do it with your passion. I love cars and motorcycles. This is booze. But I've found that passion for me was finding a gap in the market that I just really felt needed to be solved. So prior to Carbless I was in the co manufacturing world. And the reason that's important is because I think everybody has a grandma who's got an amazing cookie, who makes the best pasta salad. You hear it time and time again and when it's in the area, people ask you to try it. Well, how come none of that stuff ends up on the shelf? I'm a firm believer it doesn't end up on the shelf because most people don't know that you can just pay somebody else to do that. And that's where the co manufacturing world comes in. And that's where I had, I would say, an added benefit out of the gate. So I'm from Wisconsin, as we talked a little bit earlier. So in very stereotypical fashion, from 2008 to 2019, I worked in the cheese industry. Shocker. So in 2018, my wife and I decided we were going to start doing keto. So a little after our firstborn together, I had another child many, many years ago. We both gained weight. She ate. She was pregnant. I ate because she ate. So we decided to do keto together. And we both knew that we had to land on something that worked for both of us. So in January is When we started 2018, most versions of keto will say don't drink alcohol. But I also just told you I'm from Wisconsin, so that was not really part of the agenda. I think a lot of people call that dirty keto, which, whatever, it worked. So I was drinking vodka, water, lemon, lime. Super boring. In fact, I think the copper cap vodka that I was using was probably originated somewhere near you in Texas. I drank that for about five months. And in 2018 in Wisconsin is when seltzer really started taking off. I didn't know what it was before that. So we're standing at a local lake with a bunch of friends and our kids. Again in Wisconsin, everything's pretty much sociable drinking. So a buddy of mine walks up to me with a tall, white, skinny can and he goes, hey, Adam, here you go. Two grams of carbs, two grams of sugar. It's right in line with what you're looking for. And I'm thinking, well, that looks fruity. It looks flavorful and a little more carbs and sugar than what I'm drinking, but great if it's in a can. That seems convenient. So I took a sip and what I was picturing that was going to be based on the label was not at all what I got. It was a ton of carbonation, pretty much no flavor. I actually spit it back out in the lake. My wife drank it. She took a sip and said, hey, Sam, you can have this back. We don't want it. Within about two or three days, I was making a vodka lemonade that was no carbs, no sugar. Now, mind you, I didn't know that those seltzers were malt based rather than vodka. That's a taxation challenge for a different day. But within two or three weeks, all my friends and family were asking, what are you drinking? I have my lemonade. Then I started making pink grapefruit and kiwi strawberry. So it's these colorful, vibrant liquids. I got my vodka and my ice. Well, it's colorful. Adam, you must not be doing keto anymore. Yeah, I'm still doing keto. And then they would try it and there's like, Adam, you're full of crap. This tastes delicious. There's no way you're doing keto that's not low carbo sugar. So after hearing this probably 20 times, went out and bought about $500 worth of low carb, low sugar drinks. In Wisconsin, we selling grocery and convenience. I went to like every store I could. I know in Texas you can only sell in liquor stores for spirits items. So I dumped out about $498 worth of product because in my summary, it was all the same ton of carbonation. Really no flavor. But it hit that low carb, low sugar thing after about another month of me getting sick of honestly dragging my ingredients around, making them at home. Quite often, you know, it turned from somebody should put this in a can discussion with my wife to we should put this in a can. There is an inherent challenge there, as my wife's an amazing woman, but she's an accountant. Accountants don't love to start businesses from a risk mitigation perspective. So she asked me about 20 questions that really did become our business plan. But in that I started going to bars and restaurants and I asked about 350 people. This question, mind you, I didn't know what a minimum viable product was at this point. I didn't bring the liquid with, but all I said was if somebody was drinking a seltzer, I said, why are you drinking that? 350 people? The answer I got pretty much every time was, it's low carb, it's low sugar, it's low calorie. Do you like the taste? The best answer I got was, eh, it's okay. Now fast forward. Those companies have done billions in revenue, run a lot of revenue through retailers and distributors, and it's all based on the taste of meh. It's okay. Do you think a restaurant would survive on that? Probably not. And so literally just getting that, really, you know, I'd follow up and say if I made you a vodka lemonade with no carbs, no sugar, oh yeah, I'd much rather drink that. That was the information I used to start a business. The co hacking piece was the beneficial part because I think most people create something like that and they're like, I gotta build a $20 million facility, I gotta hire 100 people, where do I do that? And so we were able to sell the real estate that we had and basically start the company with about 100 grand. But through co packing, you still have payment term challenges, but I don't have all the upfront cash crunch from a capital requirement. So that allowed us to be able to find a manufacturer and we started got on shelf in Wisconsin September of 2019.

[B]

Well, tell me if I'm wrong. Since you're not having to run the manufacturing, you can focus more on branding and growing the business. And marketing.

[A]

Yeah. So Sargento Foods is a mile away from our house, which is a huge cheese company. They are one of the few. Now that I've seen this a lot, there's companies that are good at building brands, there's companies that are good at building operations. There's a lot of companies that will build a brand and create an operation. There's not many that are good at both. Sargento is one of them. They're one of the few large branded manufacturers. Johnsonville Sausage is also pretty close to our home.

[B]

Well, I always find that's either product marketing or sales. Those are the three big hurdles. But a lot of entrepreneurs start with a vision just like you did. And I think a lot of times they come up with all the reasons why it won't work and why they can't do it, it sounds like you jumped into how we can make it work. And you executed brilliantly. What were the biggest hurdles you faced early on and how did you overcome them?

[A]

It started the thing knowing about CO packing is I knew I had to find somebody to take this little 16 ounce glass I was making and put it into a large scalable batch that I could give it to a co manufacturer. So found somebody who would do that, gave them 2,500 bucks or so, which at the time seemed like a ton of money because this is our first bet on the company. And after about four or five months, the product tastes like crap. These guys were out of California and I remember somewhere beginning in December, I said if I came out there and formulated how long does it take you to make a drink? They're like, oh like 30 seconds now. Mind you, it's just they're sending me samples. I'm not a beverage person, so I'm giving really crappy feedback. I'm sure it was just taking a long time. So I flew out to California, developed the first three flavors that I made and then we developed another three. Then I started asking. I had somebody who's going to help me figure out how to find a co packer because at that time slim can spirits based and carbonation really didn't exist. So the popular shelters are all malt based. That is a different licensing requirement. So finding a co packer was harder than I thought. But this guy who I was talking to gave me a high level, you know, this is how much it's going to cost and I'm like I'm going to need like 750 grand. And it was based on like a certain MOQ and all this stuff. And I had 100. So then we got some friends together, didn't include family, they like us too much. And took the six flavors and brought it down to three. Just from a cash position. Now that I'm a little more experienced, really happy that we didn't launch with six. That would have been bad. And yeah, then after that was supposed to launch in June, our label was revised 17 times. You know, think of that like an English grade. Your English teacher marks it up with red pen and says if you correct everything I just told you is right, you'll get 100. Well, I did that. And then they're revise, revise, revise, crazy stories on that. So we didn't launch until September. And then the challenges began again.

[B]

Have you ever faced a moment in business where you had to stop blaming external factors or even yourself to move forward. I always say a lot of people are solving the wrong problem perfectly.

[A]

This is where I was saying a little earlier, I think we align quite well. I don't have any off the cuff in this current business environment because prior to the business that focus became very well intact. So from, I would say a methodology, we're always looking everywhere. When I was in manufacturing, I was in continuous improvement, had a Sigma black belt. And one of the things that we often preached is exactly what you just said. You can solve the problem really well, but if you solve the wrong problem still exists. And I'd say 99% of the work done is solving the wrong problem. Therefore they think nothing really happened when in reality there was just there should have been more work done on problem recognition rather than solution based at that given time.

[B]

Yeah, clearly defining the problem. I'm finding a challenge in a lot of businesses that I work with. They're using old school tools like, you know, RCA root cause analysis and some things like that. I really believe that when somebody's in their sphere of influence, we've proven this to the psychology that it's almost physiologically impossible for them to see a different way because of the filters that we have that we've developed over time with our experiences and success.

[A]

To compound on that, I will add social media. It's this echo chamber and it's really fun. Me and my wife will once in a while like, hey, look at this post. And then you scroll through a friend of yours, social media. How drastically different it is and how much we create these chambers for ourself based on what we like and interact with is absolutely insane.

[B]

Here's one. I was getting interviewed for my TED Talk and they're like, well, give us an example of blind blaming. I was like, well, I'll give one for your generation because I was actually being interviewed by juniors in college, which was awesome. They were super smart and super sweet. I was like, look, I say something that I hear every day from different coaching clients that I have. Your generation doesn't want to work anymore. And I'm like, oh, okay. I don't think they don't want to work. They just don't want to work for you because you haven't created an environment that they want to work in. And she's like, you know, I'm so glad you said that because it pissed. And she's this little sweet girl. It pisses us off every time somebody says that. I'm like, yeah, I know it's not right. That's That's a good example of solving the wrong problem. But what happens is, what you reminded me of is when somebody goes up on social media and like, this generation doesn't work anymore. And then all these people agree with them. So in their minds, it's solidified that that is the real problem when it's not.

[A]

I actually did a speech at my high school for Veterans Day, and the beginning of it was on that exact notion of. There is one that was called the greatest generation, right? And then there's the baby boomers. But the funny thing is, is the greatest generation, when the baby boomers started coming in, they're like, ah, this next generation sucks. And then the baby boomers are like, ah, this next generation sucks. And it's, I'm a millennial. At some point, the millennials suck. Millennials now to some people are like a 50 year age gap.

[B]

I'm 52. I was a baby boomer kid. So I remember your generation doesn't know what you're doing. I was like, okay, dad, well, we're going to get more successful than you, so have a nice day.

[A]

So I do have an example that is work related and I think will kind of correlate to my mindset that maybe we can go off on the blind. Let's go. One thing I do is I mentally compartmentalized. So when I hear things, a lot of times I just kind of block it out and move on. Because I've realized that the coaching piece, you have to be in the mindset to accept it. Actually, we have a recent issue with one of our co packers. It is only, you know, on the grand scheme of things, from a dollar's perspective, it's a lot of money, but it's a $10,000 problem. And so what happened was hands. We're still working through this, by the way, and we were talking about this problem. Defining the problem is really part of it. But they ran 3, 4 pallets, 5 pallets of product, 2400 cans on a pallet or so, and all of a sudden start seeing this fluid, like a sticky hydraulic type fluid on the cans. And so they pull it off, put it on hold, contact us. So at this point, we have, I'll call it 3, 4, 5 Pallets on hold and immediately blind blaming. They said, hey, go check your supply chain. We think it's hydraulic fluid. We checked ours. There's no indicators of leaking. You had it at a warehouse, you had it at the can, the can ing place that makes the cans warehouse, go check them. And so we Go down that process, and everybody says the same thing. It's not us. Bring in the can guy. They come in. Now, here's the funny thing. So our director of ops is with them at their facility, and then the guy from our can supplier is also there. And one of them, I think it was actually the gentleman from the manufacturer sees hydraulic fluid on the ground and points it out. Now, the point was, hey, like, what's this liquid? And come to find out it was leaky hydraulic. From what I've seen in pictures, 80% of the color of what's on the cans. So now this goes back to about three weeks ago, maybe, so that the can guy says, you know what? We see some of this stuff, we're just going to reimburse you and a great customer. You've never asked for any money back. So they just take these four pallets and scrap them, give us our money back. So the manufacturer is focused on these four pallets, five pallets, whatever. It's 10 grand. So they now are trying to, rather than find the solution or find the right problem, they're proving their innocence. And so they tested their hydraulic fluid, and then they tested the fluid that they found on the floor through a local company. And so then they spend out this analysis. I have a statistical background, so I'm running it through. And from a correlation perspective, doing a sample T test, everything says it's likely the same with some degradation. So we're going back and forth about the 10 grand, right? And so if I were to correlate this to blind blaming, they're saying, well, you need to take some of the ownership because it's your supply chain as a problem, your can needs to blah, blah. And I said, hey, quick question. Let's go back 20 years ago. You buy a Trojan, you have an intimate time with a lady, and then she gets pregnant. Trojan paying for that?

[B]

Nope.

[A]

No, I'm pretty sure it's you and that lady. Right? The ones that did the act. And so we've been focusing on regardless of who did it, because that problem will probably be almost impossible to solve at this point. But from a process perspective, your team inbounded, your team started putting on the line. Your team ran five pallets of stuff that had hydraulic fluid on it. Had there been some indicator in place, this should have been stopped, rather warehouse or whatever, right? There's a lot of failure points. But I think the thing that we see often is as soon as there's a problem, the fingers go out like this. And it's so rare. That anybody goes, what do I have in my control? It's always let me figure out a way to shift it to everybody else. And those type of responses are pretty rinse and repeat.

[B]

Oh yeah. What you're describing is what I call in the book the blame loop. And it's this vicious cycle that we all go through at some point in our lives or our careers or with work. We where we have this behavioral bedrock that builds over time that creates these lenses that distort reality and make us think it's something else. It's like seeing the world in a different way which creates what I call inside invisibility where you can't even see the real problem. And that's when people start to blind blame. So it's this vicious cycle and the more you go through the loop, the worse it gets and the more rigid you get. And you just described it perfectly. Are you tired of feeling stuck in your business, career, relationships or your health? Are you frustrated by problems that just won't go away no matter what you try? After coaching and teaching thousands of people for over 25 years, I've discovered something powerful. Every unresolved problem has a hidden solution you just can't see yet. That's why I created the From Stuck to Breakthrough challenge. A free 5 day live experience where I'll show you exactly how to uncover what's really holding you back and finally break free to the results that you want. Whether it's in your business, your health, your wealth, your relationships. I'll help you discover the real root cause of your challenges and give you the blueprint for permanent change. Join me and a community of like minded people ready to break through. Go to blind blaming.com again that's blind blaming.com to sign up and we'll see you soon.

[A]

Based on everything you're talking about, I have a question for you that there's very few people I'd be comfortable asking this question.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

What do you think about the two words common sense?

[B]

Ooh, I think in business I'll give you a great example. So believe it or not, I own a indoor petting zoo here in town. I've got a million dollar facility. It's 10 acres. It's called Addie's Petting Zoo. And I actually took she's my business partner and I own the real estate and everything else and we built an indoor petting zoo. We have 170 animals. It's an amazing experience for the kids. We can do indoor interactive petting zoos, rain or shine, hot or cold. It's freezing to death up here for us. I told you, we're 17 degrees worst. Have three or four birthday parties this weekend. The kids are going to have a great time. It's been a wonderful experience. But my business partner is a farmer. She is not a business person. And we had an issue with an employee who wasn't doing something correctly. And this goes back to taking personal responsibility, but blind blaming. She's like, Kevin, this person has no common sense. I mean, I asked her to do this. She was filling up the trough and it was filled with dirt and water. And then she was just letting it run over to try to clean it out. And I'm like, lady, I don't think that's common sense. I think that's lack of training. I think you need to look in the mirror. I want you to talk to me about how you trained her to do the trough like you want it done. I would never have known how to do that because I'm a business guy. Which are going to be some pretty funny videos, by the way, of me taking Addie's spot and trying to do the shit that she does. They're going to be pretty epic. But it's a great example of blind blaming and common sense. So I think that more often than not in business, common sense sometimes just lack of knowledge. Something that seems common to us isn't always that way for others. It's like, you probably run into this in your business. What we consider great customer service as owners is not what a $20 an hour person is considered great customer service, nor have they ever thought that way. It's our responsibility to develop playbooks to create that experience that we want to create and give them the common sense we think they should have. Does that answer your question?

[A]

I think that it's ultimately anybody's perception, but I think the widely I hear it more and more, and I'm sure it's been happening since baby boomers anyways, but common sense isn't so common these days. The reason I asked the question based on the blind blaming is my personal belief is that the idea that common sense isn't so common is probably one of the most ignorant statements that a person can make.

[B]

I agree. Totally agree.

[A]

Going back to your situation, I'm 36, so let's say every minute in my day, how many minutes have I lived? Those are drastically different than the minutes you've lived. And so by stating common sense, we're assuming that they have all the same inputs that we do. And that's next to impossible. Even twins would not have the same life experiences. Maybe conjoined twins, that'd be the closest potential. And again, I was just curious because it's not a question. I think most people would tell me that. It's just a deeper conversation.

[B]

I completely agree with you. I mean, I run into it all the time with coaching clients who get angry and respond to negative reviews with negativity. And to me, that's common sense. Like, this is something we all need to live by. Just don't be an asshole. Even if somebody's an asshole to you, don't be an asshole. Be nice. My business partner on some mastermind groups that we own, he says, be kind. The same thing. Just be nice. And so to me, common sense is not going well. If you wouldn't have done this, we wouldn't have this problem. Instead of saying something like, really? We really appreciate the feedback. Thank you so much. Please give me a call personally so we can discuss this and we can talk about it. And that was another just recent example that I've had. So I want to go back to when you first started too, because I can't even imagine what it's like. So when I first started, my first official business was an agency that we recently exited, Life Changing Exit, a couple years ago. Amazing group of people that helped us get there. And they've all kind of grown in their careers. But when I first started, it was a digital marketing company in audiology. And so what I used to get, the skepticism that I received when I first started that business was, Kevin, why are you leaving a quarter million dollar job? I mean, you're a director in a big company. This is stupid. And you're going to fail. And there's no way that old people will ever use the Internet. So how did you handle skepticism? And I'm also interested in what kind of skepticism that you got, because I can't even imagine going to my parents going, hey, I'm going to start a beverage company.

[A]

That has been the most interesting thing for me, Kevin, is. And I don't know if this is, again, my compartmentalization. I don't know if I was blind to it. If you were to go back to podcasts, I did in 2020 or 2021. It talks about how supportive everybody was.

[B]

Oh, really? Okay.

[A]

The interesting piece that I've started to glean is since then, there's just different conversations I've maybe paid different attention to. And so I don't know if people either just didn't share or some of it Was, for example, I was talking to a really good friend of mine, and I'm a firm believer that a lot of times people will project their opinions through others. Like, oh, I was talking to these people, and they said, you know, 99% of the time, it's, I think this, and I just don't want you to know that. So I'm talking to this person. He's like, yeah, you know, it's great to see how this is maybe six months ago. It's great to see how successful you guys are becoming. So many people wondered, how could you saddle your finances on your wife and just jump into this business? Similarly, I was making around the same amount that you're mentioning and, like, went on and on with all these, I can't believe he did this. I can't believe he did this. And I was like, nobody ever fucking said that to me.

[B]

That's good, because you were lucky. Either that or you tuned it out, which I'm super proud of you for doing, especially since you're married to a doctor. No. That's why I call my accountant Dr. No. Can I write this off? No. Are you insane? Can we do this? Absolutely not. No. That's my accountant.

[A]

I mean, she's a good balance to me. I always say I'm a kite floating around in the wind, and she is the rock that, like, let me float. But, like, you know, there's a stopping point. I can only go so far in that floating. But again, I do compartmentalize. And if I don't like something or even just negative conversation, I think it's so freaking invaluable that a lot of times I just tune out and don't pay attention. So I don't know if I was so blind or deaf to it talking to an audiology guy, or if it just wasn't being shared because people didn't want to drag me down. I don't know which one.

[B]

It was probably the first one. Didn't want to hear it, didn't listen to it, phased it out, which is probably why you're growing so quickly. So what do you think are the key factors of scaling this brand so quickly and successfully have been maybe one to three things you can share?

[A]

Yeah, I'll probably give you the three. One, our product is different than anything on the market. Said another way, there's a lot of great products that sit in warehouses, and there's a lot of shitty products that get executed really well. So the next part is, our execution is better than almost everyone in our industry. So we have a really great product that gets executed very well. There's very few of those examples in consumer packaged goods, period. So we got our first angel, the only angel investor left. My job took a huge pay cut very quickly. We hired a executive vice president so he's helped us build out our raw to market. So it's really that strategy execution tied with a great product. Quite frankly, if I was selling a vodka like just a new bottle of vodka to compete against Tito's, what we're doing probably would not work. It's hinged on what the product is. And number three would be passionate team. We're growing fast. We got about 55 people, but we're still blessed that all these people, they come on board because they frickin love Carbless. So regardless of role, operations, finance, hr, they love the product and the brand so much that it's offensive to them to have less than amazing. And so we've been able to not only scale the business, but I'd say scale our passion, which is usually the hardest part. I'm very aware that at some point that's going to degrade and scale is going to cause that to be less existent.

[B]

I'm going to disagree with you there. I think that your passion, your commitment to your brand and what you're trying to create, you're going to have some bumps, we all do. But I think if you stay committed to what you just described, because that was one of my next questions, you'll be just fine. You'll have some bumps in the road, but you seem like a very focused entrepreneur, which is hard to find. So congrats and kudos to you there. But I think what you've created in your commitment to quality, just don't change your core values. What got you here? There's an old saying, you know, what got you here isn't going to get you there, but that particular thing, I think that's one of those things that will get you there. I think you're on your way to $100 million, your company, if you keep the standards in place. So. But now you've got a great team and if that's one of your goals anyway, maybe you want to get to.

[A]

A billion, but we'll hit that trailing 12 in about two weeks.

[B]

Nice work, buddy. Way to go. Well, so let's talk about people for a minute. How do you attract and keep the best people besides your brand? How have you found some of these people that work for you or did they find you?

[A]

Both. They basically find us by posting. Many years ago I read the book Ideal team Player. And so that focuses on hungry, humble, smart and hungry is defines me. I'll wake up at six, I'll go to bed at two in the morning, I'll work all day. Quote unquote, hustle culture that some people don't like. That's what drives me. I enjoy the hunt, the problem solving. Like that's what makes me tick. Humble is when I go in and sell to an account that I'm hoping you bring in a few cases. I'm going to treat that buyer the same way when I'm going for that sale as to when we're selling 1,000 cases a month out of that place and making them money hand over fist. I need to treat that buyer the same at all times. And that's just an example to me of what humility is. But I think another part of humility is also recognizing the value we give to them and working synergistically through that. And then smart is eq, not iq. Just meaning how I treat a liquor store buyer, a bar manager, a bar owner, a 30 bar group owner, a chain store. They're all different. And it's not because I view them different. It's they have different goals, they have different aspirations, they have different desires within their business or business unit. And it's up to me to understand what that is in order to help them achieve their goals. I think the smart IQ person would just be like, look at the data. This brand is doing amazing. You should freaking buy it. So that at the core was at the beginning. We have a lot of weird benefits. I shouldn't say a lot, but just some that just focus on putting our money where our mouth is and betting on hiring these hungry people. And lastly, from a culture perspective, this is going to sound really dumb, but I think our culture is great because we treat you like a contributing adult.

[B]

I don't think that's dumb at all. I think it's incredibly smart. Because how many people do you know that are miserable in corporate America?

[A]

Almost all of them, I think, at a high level. Oh yeah, I'm a contributing adult, of course. But I think that's where a lot of people get hung up. Is really over process. I love process. But too much of it takes this and this out of the human, which is to me the value.

[B]

That's awesome. Well, if somebody wanted to try your. I'm not going to call it a soda. What would you call it? What's the category? What is it called? Your drink?

[A]

A Cocktail in a can.

[B]

A cocktail in a can. All right. I like it with the Wisconsin accent because it really hit home then. But anyway, if people wanted to get a hold of that, and I actually know a couple of bar owners that I'd like to introduce you to that need your drink and I'd actually like to buy some for my girlfriend and possibly me. So how can people get a hold of your drink? Cocktail in a can.

[A]

I'm going to preface with that is challenging with beverage alcohol because there's a lot of laws that Uncle Sam prevents that. Mainly because if he's not getting his tax, ain't nobody getting any booze. So we're available in 14 states. If you look at our website, it's kind of central U.S. north Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Indiana, central US There's a few more. We will be adding on five more states this year. Texas will be one of them. It will not be Austin. That will hopefully be coming starting in the next six weeks. And then we'll scale based on that. We're going to start in the Houston market, scale from there. And it's. For us, it's more of a test. We're very methodical in trying something new in Texas. It's a fourth tier state, so we've done that already in Kansas. But Texas is a bigger beast. So anyways, how else can you find us? We did offer product online and Texas is a place where you could buy it. There's like 36 states that allow it. There are only three SKUs left. We are ending VAPs, quite frankly, not profitable at all. Probably 80% of my customer complaints came from that process and going back to. We don't really have control because I have to send it to California. It's a long story and basically a really big pain in the butt for our entire team.

[B]

Well, stick to what you're good at and what works. And that sounds like distributing, getting distributors and having them handle the, you know, the quality and everything else is better. I just want to try to get some.

[A]

Yep. So there should be a few skus left. Strawberry marg is really good. I think passion fruit is left. And then our cocktail collection which is going to be like instead of flavors, it's Moscow Mule, Mojito, Paloma.

[B]

Well, we are going to retail stuff at the zoo. So hopefully you'll pick a distributor here and we can start selling it at the zoo. We're going back, back and forth on it. I was like, ah, maybe we can have like adult nights and I don't want to do it when the kids are there because I don't want to get in trouble that way. But I think if we have an adult petting zoo time for adults, cocktails and cuddles or something is I think what we're going to go with. We might be able to pull it off. Well, I also understand that you do some speaking and things like that. If people want to get ahold of you for that kind of stuff, are you doing that much or are you too busy with the business?

[A]

I focus on and I know people struggle to understand it, but I'm only doing paid gigs. I get asked maybe 80% of the time. People are looking for paid. But fact of the matter is, because of the growth of the business, if I'm not doing that, I could be growing the business more.

[B]

Sure. You need to get paid for your time. I'm a big fan of that.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. I do not focus on it. Everything is inbound. I previously was a Dale Carnegie leadership instructor, so I think the value ends up being I can deliver the message and the entrepreneurial piece in a way and piecemeal it. If it's other entrepreneurs or if it's a general group of employees, I can piecemeal it to what that person is really looking for on a deliverable. But I don't focus on going out and getting gigs because I'm scalable. My business is a hell of a lot more scalable.

[B]

Yeah, sure. And you're doing well. If you're getting up to that figure that we gave earlier. Nice work. Well, thank you for being here. This was amazing. Adam, great job. Congratulations on your success. You totally deserve it. You took a chance and it paid off. So super proud of you there. And hopefully we'll see you again because we do hire speakers for our mastermind groups and we'd love to have you sometime.

[A]

Awesome. Thanks so much, Kevin. Awesome.

[B]

Have a great day.

[A]

You too. Sa.