EYL #347: Cousins Turn Natural Spring Into the First Black-Owned Bottled Water Brand in Walmart

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Earn Your Leisure #347

Episode Title: Cousins Turn Natural Spring Into the First Black-Owned Bottled Water Brand in Walmart
Hosts: Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings
Guests: Brad Simmons and Terence Walker of Live Alkaline Water
Date: October 30, 2025

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Overview

In this episode of Earn Your Leisure, hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings sit down with Brad Simmons and Terence Walker, two entrepreneurs who—along with their extended family and community—transformed a generations-old natural spring in North Carolina into Live Alkaline Water, the first Black-owned bottled water brand to be sold in Walmart. The conversation uncovers the hustle and mission-minded approach that took them from grassroots bottling to disrupting an industry dominated by large corporations, and underscores their bigger vision of community, health, and generational wealth.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. The Power and Necessity of Water

• (02:01–08:04) The episode opens with the affirmation of water’s primary importance:
  • “Man can’t survive without water… Your body needs water. The world needs water.” (Host, 02:12)
• Importance of hydration, even in celebratory settings like Invest Fest, where alcohol consumption and high temperatures highlight water’s critical role.

2. Networking Through Value-Add

• (08:05–09:09) Simmons recounts how approaching the EYL team with an offer to provide water—rather than just self-promotion—opened doors:
  • “See where you can add value… Don't necessarily make it about you. The law of reciprocity—you’re going to get your blessings later.” (Host, 08:05)

3. Origins: From Soul Society to Natural Spring

• (11:20–17:47) Deep dive into the backstory:
  • Simmons and Walker began with a nonprofit, Soul Society, committed to youth and community empowerment.
  • Pandemic urgency catalyzed the hunt for land, which led serendipitously to a spring owned by a Black Indigenous family for 400+ years.
• “We weren’t looking for water—we were looking for land. The water appeared, and it was a whole new lane.” (Walker, 16:51)

4. Launching Live Alkaline: The Grassroots Grind

• (17:47–21:42)
  • The initial phase involved learning the business, direct action, and reinvesting all earnings.
  • “I spent some of my last money on gas… I took some of that gas and went to the land to just give my labor... They gave me 20 gallons, and by the time I got home, 20 gallons were sold in like an hour.” (Simmons, 14:09)

5. Understanding and Educating on Water Quality

• (21:50–26:23)
  • Alkaline vs. spring water: “More important than it being alkaline water is the fact that it’s coming from a living source.” (Simmons, 22:08)
  • Natural sources vs. artificially induced alkalinity.
  • Ideal pH (7.5–8.0), water “life,” and the limits of high pH: “Batteries are alkaline… you can shock your body.” (Walker, 24:28)
• Importance of glass bottling and avoiding plastics for purity and taste.

6. Production, Logistics & Barriers in the Water Business

• (28:10–32:39)
  • Major challenges include cost of bottling, distribution logistics, and the dominance of giant corporations.
  • Locally-focused distribution was a strategic pivot: “Rather than spending time and energy going everywhere else, let’s double down right here.” (Simmons, 29:29)
  • Shipping and regional expansion hurdles: “It’s 34 pounds per case… to ship to Cali, that’s $50 in shipping.” (Walker, 31:08)

7. Stewarding Generational Land & Heritage

• (32:40–34:27)
  • The spring sits on land owned by Black Indigenous families for centuries—originally 6,000 acres, now a few hundred after generations of loss and struggle.
  • “It’s been different chunks taken out, but this thousand [acres] has been maintained… as far back as they know, over 400 years.” (Simmons, 32:52)

8. Walmart Entry & Brand Philosophy

• (34:27–35:29)
  • Live Alkaline’s Walmart partnership was designed for validation, but the true mission is direct-to-community impact.
  • “His real goal was to keep it grassroots and deal directly with the people…” (Simmons, 33:38)
• White-label opportunities for others: “We encourage it. We’re not in competition… If you want your own water, come holla at the plug.” (Walker, 40:50)

9. Production Process & Community Opportunity

• (35:30–37:08)
  • From spring to bottle: Involves both large-scale factory production and small-scale, labor-intensive bottling on the land, often with youth and entrepreneurs in training.

10. Equity, Ownership, and Community Reinforcement

• (37:21–38:51)
  • The founders’ personal investment led to equity in the company.
  • “He actually gave us some stake in the company… more motivation to go even that much further.” (Simmons, 37:24)
  • The land is increasingly being used for more than water: “We host festivals and retreats… the water, it bloomed into everything the water helps produce.” (Walker, 37:56)

11. Products, Pricing & Subscription Model

• (38:51–40:26)
  • Glass bottles: $4 each or $40/case; plastic bottles: $3 each or $45/case ($40 on subscription); gallons: $7 each or 4 for $20.
  • Five-gallon container specials (“We Are The Gold"): $20, with local delivery.
  • Subscription ambitions: “$20 monthly for five-gallon… 5,000 monthly subscribers for our million-dollar plan.” (Simmons, 47:07)

12. Social Impact, Education, and Expanding the Vision

• (41:41–49:43)
  • Water “crises” often rooted in resource monopolization, environmental pollution, and systemic neglect.
  • Live Alkaline actively donates water to communities in crisis, supported by customer donations.
  • Education is core: “It’s bigger than water. This is about a lifestyle… what you put in your body, how it's going to affect your body.” (Walker, 47:37)
  • Larger vision includes agriculture, STEAM youth camps, farmers markets, festivals, and community programming: “It’s bigger than water—the water is the seed; the harvest is much more grand.” (Walker, 49:43)

13. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “When you see it, you don’t gotta try to believe it. You know it.” (Walker, 21:42)
• “Sometimes people look at it and say, ‘it’s just water.’ We like, nah, it’s bigger than water. You better put premium water in your body.” (Walker, 47:37)
• “He’s denying multi-million dollar deals to keep and protect this land… We see where the fruit of our labor is going.” (Simmons, 51:14)
• “People are waiting for God to come down with a magical voice… Sometimes, he’s speaking in opportunity.” (Walker, 37:56)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:01–08:04: The importance of water and hydration.
• 08:05–09:09: Networking tip—bring value, don’t just seek help.
• 11:20–17:47: Backstory—how searching for land led to a spring and a new model.
• 21:50–26:23: Alkaline vs. spring water—science and health.
• 28:10–32:39: Barriers in the independent water business.
• 32:40–34:27: The legacy of the land and its generational history.
• 35:30–37:08: The bottling process and youth entrepreneurship.
• 37:21–38:51: Equity, growing community involvement, and broader usage of the land.
• 38:51–40:26: Product pricing and subscription models.
• 41:41–49:43: Addressing water crises, education as empowerment, the “Bigger than Water” mission.
• 47:07 onward: Subscription plan and future vision.

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The “Bigger Than Water” Ethos

• Live Alkaline is not simply a water company. It’s a multidimensional community platform providing jobs, education, events, food, youth camps, and a vision of independent, Black-led land stewardship.
• “The water is the seed; the harvest is much more grand than that. You have the food, you have a space where you can come and release, you have the festivals and things—but it all started with the water.” (Walker, 49:43)

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Connect and Support

• Website: heavyenergyuniversity.com/live-alkaline
• Instagram: @livealkalineNC
• Farmer’s Markets, events, and bulk order info online.

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This episode is an inspiring case study on the intersection of entrepreneurship, community reinvestment, legacy, and health—delivered with candor, humor, and hustle.

Transcript

[Reshawn McDonald]

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[Co-host or Guest 2]

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[Host or Moderator]

All right guys, welcome back. EYL. We got a special episode. We're going to be talking about the most essential thing in this world which is water.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

That's a fact.

[Host or Moderator]

Man can't survive without water. You can survive without food for a certain period of time, but it's going to be difficult.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Your body needs water. The world needs water. 70 of the planet is water for sure. An essential necessity for sure.

[Host or Moderator]

Brad Simmons and Terence Walker, they have a company called Live Alkaline Water. This is actually it right here.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host or Moderator]

If you can see glass bottle, be.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

The glass for sure.

[Host or Moderator]

So we gonna, we're gonna be talking about it, you know, it's an interesting journey. As far as Invest Fest, you guys were the water sponsor for VIP night this year, finally.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

That was important.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yes, sir.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Important, man.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Look, we gonna. We gonna talk about it, you know?

[Host or Moderator]

Yeah.

[Reshawn McDonald]

But nah, that was an honor. We grateful to even be brought into the fold. Cause originally, matter of fact, I ran into y' all in Charlotte. Y' all did the event in Charlotte.

[Host or Moderator]

And that's where y'.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

All.

[Host or Moderator]

That's where y' all from. Y' all from Charlotte, right?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Well, we from North Carolina, from down East Carolina, kind of close to Wilmington. We from Wilmington, Onslow County.

[Host or Moderator]

Okay.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And I ended up at A and T, and that's how I ended up start playing the field in that region. So Charlotte only an hour away, hour and a half away. So when I found out y' all was coming, it was a no brainer. Pull right up, pocket full of business cards. Got me a couple waters in the tuck just in case I get to y'.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

All.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And I ended up connecting with y'.

[Host or Moderator]

All.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Y' all was getting up out of there at the end, and I just stopped you real quick. Yo, we got the water. We trying to be the water sponsor, and we just trying to connect and see how we can bring our resource and value to the Invest Fest. And then that next Monday market Mondays or something, y', all, you know, doing y' all thing, and then you get to everybody. The event in Charlotte was great and all of that. We was making good connections and all that, but certain people that was coming a little, you know, sideways a little. But that was this one brother, he came with the water with an offering and bringing value, and that's how y' all need to move. I was like, oh, that's me talking about me. Okay. Respect. And a lot of what we've been doing has been like, trial and error. We haven't necessarily seen no one build no multimillion dollar corporation. So we just be following the soul. That's our nonprofit soul society. But it's really the lifestyle we follow the soul. So that connection. And to wrap that up, I'm sending the emails. I ended up getting the zoom that year with one of the representatives, and it was a astronomical number that they asked for. And it was like, you can pay. And then I'm like, and give the water away. I'm like, nah, we ain't gonna make it this time. But I ended up coming just to be a participant. Matter of fact, I got locked in with keys to do his VIP experience and whatnot.

[Host or Moderator]

Okay.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And Ultimately, fast forward the next year. I was still this. This past year, I was still thinking about that astronomical number that I wasn't gonna have. You feel me? And it took a little bit of time, but whatever time the stars aligned. I came up on y' all website and I seen the email. I'm like, all right, let me just shoot a shot again, see what it do. I'll shoot my shot. You feel me? And next thing I know, they was like, look, we in there. No astronomical number. Just bring the water. And I'm like, we got the water. Easy money. And this the last thing, by the time I talked to that was probably the brother AB, and they were saying, like, okay, we need about 2,000 bottles of water. I'm like, we got that easy. Got off the phone, started calculating. Ooh, okay, that's how much. Okay. Nonetheless, we not stopping. And then as we was trying to get what we needed to fulfill that 2000 bottles and all of that, it was getting close. And we was like, I don't know how we gonna do it. You feel me? And I put a couple call to actions out to our audience. But then the last one, matter of fact, I know the people that watch the pod know about net 30, so in net 30s, you get a chance to get your product with 30 days to pay. So I'm lining up everything to get the bottles and everything lined up, and they told me I had 30 days to pay. But then it was coming up, like, two days out. Like, oh, nah, you actually don't. It ain't all the way situated. You gotta pay.

[Host or Moderator]

What?

[Reshawn McDonald]

You thought you had 30 days to pay. You gotta pay that in, like, two days. I ain't know how I was gonna do it, but I put the call to action out there. I'm telling you. I put a call to action. I made it plain and straight, vulnerable. And within an hour, I had, like, $600 in our crowdfund campaign. By the end of the day, we had, like, 800. And by the end of about three days, we raised, like, $1,500. And that is what made sure we could fulfill the duties. And y' all would never know. You know, it just. Everything happened smooth and presented smooth, and it was a great experience, you know, but it was a great journey that, you know, we had to build some thicker skin and big it up real quick.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

So, yeah, much appreciated. It was. It was definitely a warm night.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

So I was actually under the weather, so the only thing I did have was your water. And I was like, this is it. I can't do anything else. But, you know, a lot of times people underestimate that, especially when you're having a good time and then you obviously have alcohol, they forget the most important component is this.

[Host or Moderator]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

It's something that he always walks around with, like a bottle of water just in case. And it was like, as I got older, I understood, like, I gotta hydrate, I gotta hydrate. Most people don't even realize that even when you're drinking water, sometimes you still can be dehydrated.

[Host or Moderator]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

So this is going to be a powerful episode because I'm. I'm starting to learn a lot about. More about just my personal body, how it reacts, and the impact that water has on it.

[Host or Moderator]

But then also, listen.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Oh, no, go ahead.

[Host or Moderator]

Also, I wanted to just piggyback on that because it is a good story as far as how to network properly. And the reason why that was perfect timing when you came up to me was because that year before we ran out of water and it was like 100 degrees, it was a heat wave, so it was super hot. And that was a major issue where we didn't have enough water. So going into the next year VIP night, that was one of the main things we was like, got to make sure we have enough water for sure. So when you came and you like, yo, I got the water. D. The value. You had a value add. It made sense. I'm like, all right, yeah, that. That's a perfect alignment of what we actually needed. So for people out there that's looking to network, you didn't even know that. But I'm just saying, like, see where you can add value. That's why I always say, see where you can add value. Right. And don't necessarily make it about you. Like, the law of reciprocity. You're going to get your blessings later on. But it's like, you came and you. You had a value add offer that made sense, and we needed it, and now we're here for sure.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Nah, that's love.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

We got a chance to see how much it was needed. We pulled up to the VIP night, and, you know, we were looking for where the water was placed, and we didn't see a place. So we were like, all right. And somebody was like, they gotta go to the bar and ask for it. So we like, all right. You know, and nobody's going to the bar and asking for water because it's open bar, everybody getting lit. So we like, all right, we gonna figure this out. And Bessie from Coco's cookies. You know, she was one of y' all sponsors. That's the homegirl she from Carol. She was there, and she had a booth set up. And we were like, hmm, okay, so how we gonna make sure people get this water? Cause they drinking. They ain't gonna ask for it. So bruh was like, I think we about to go get the water and just start passing it out.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Nah, look. So I hit my couple points of contact. Like, won't really see the presence and activation in here. They like, nah, it's cool. We gonna get it together. Next thing I know, I seen, like, three girls taking handfuls of water. And I'm like, they must be going to the green room or something like that. So I fall right in line. And next thing I know, I see where we had all the water when we had brought it and loaded it in the day before, and that joint was still stacked up. And I'm like, the event coming close to an end. I'm like, ain't no way we leaving here without people getting this water and knowing we was here. And I just went back to the bar and, like, I get a phone.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Call, and, bro, like, meet me at the front door right now. I'm like, all right, bet.

[Reshawn McDonald]

After me being backstage for 45 minutes and whatnot, I'm getting like, the bartender. I'm the water sponsor, Got the water shirt on me. Get one of those boxes. Like, all right, sure. And I couldn't even get nowhere. I'm passing out the water like, oh, thank you. Thank you.

[Host or Moderator]

I needed it.

[Reshawn McDonald]

I needed it. So it was so many people that were appreciative of that water. It was so many people that was, like, lifted by that water that night, you know? So I know they felt the presence. We already given good love and energy. So by the time I flooded the backstage, look, when I first went back there, it was real scarce. By the time I left, it was live alkaline water all through the back stage.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Feel me?

[Reshawn McDonald]

And I got to the front, and we flooded the front area, too, and ran through all that, that stack of water. And the people really received it and appreciated it and needed it.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

That's what you needed.

[Host or Moderator]

That's fine. So. So how do we get here? You guys have a family water supply?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah.

[Host or Moderator]

So how does this happen?

[Reshawn McDonald]

We in connection with the family, so. Foundation is 2015. Me and my brother started our organization, Soul Society. Initially, the idea was Soul Academy, because as I evolve, I realized the importance of the education system. When I left high school and went to college at A and T. And I was going for computer technology. But matter of fact, in high school, we'll do the career analysis test and they will spit out all your recommended jobs. I just scroll down to the end at the salary, so I see technology is a good bubbling field, and you can maybe get an entry at 100k or something like that. But I had that first semester in college, I had like three computer classes, and I realized I was not about to be at no computer desk for the next 20, 30 years. But I had this African American experience class, and it taught me all these deeper parts about our history and who we are, what we overcame, who we were before we were colonized, before we were enslaved. And I started to see more worth and value in myself during the time I was going through a depression, not seeing no worth and value in myself. So I realized how that empowered me. And then that second semester, I had a sociology class and another class that I had to read the Miseducation of a Negro. And at that point, I realized, this is by design. Our conditions are by design. And I can't just free myself of these conditions and not turn back, you know? And another part of that depression was wanting to go back, but I realized I can't go back in time, but I can reach back and put the younger kids on the information that I wish I would have had when I was younger. But so it started at Soul Academy as the organization, and that evolved to Soul Society. The deeper we learn about knowledge itself and the fact that we need our own community for these kids to dwell in. And then fast forward from 2015 to 2020 of us, five years, pushing the idea of one day we gonna have some land in 2020, it was like, we need that now. And I promise you, when the mentality shifted from one day to we need it now in like a month, we found ourselves on this land. Because I just started to reach out to my network, post on Facebook, who, the local farmers, all the essentials being brought off the shelves. You can have a million dollars at that point in time and might not be able to buy no good clean water at the time. So I just started to reach out to who, the local farmers. So it's not just about us getting our own one day. It was about who has it now that we can help and learn from. So we made the connection. I went to the land, we did the tour, I tried the water for the first time, and it was like, I promise you, this is.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

This is spring water.

[Reshawn McDonald]

This is spring water. So right outside Of Winston Salem in Yadkinville. It's a little town called Yadaville. And this is an indigenous family, black indigenous family. So they got records of having the land for over 400 years. So it's like straight sacred land, Rich crystal mineral based land. So it's naturally mineralizing and alkaline in the water. So from there I took a couple months to study and figure out how to express the value of the water. And by the time it was like I had like $7 in my name. Matter of fact, I just hit a win maybe a month before Just dealing with the stock options for the first time. I took that first pandemic check. I put some, pay some bills and the rest I put on some stocks and a couple options. And I was about to cash out my portfolio and I was like, all right, I just bought some food for the crib, got a roof over my head, got some gas. I don't need to like panic right immediately. And I promise you that next day after I was about to cash out my whole portfolio, My stock was up like 800%, you know, and then that next day I was up like a thousand. And I probably made like 2500 off the stock options that week. So that bought me like another month. Fast forward, I'm back down to a few dollars in my name. And I spent some of my last money on gas, food. And I took some of that gas and went to the land to just give my, my labor. I ain't asked what I'm gonna get, what I'm. Nah, I just went and helped them. They had two 2,000 gallon orders that week. I just helped package up, load up. And by that second day they gave me 20 gallons and I'm on the way home thinking I got something like how I'm gonna get these 20 gallons off by the time I got home. I took a couple news clips we had from being the first black owned water company to get into the Walmarts and I reposted them joints. Them 20 gallons was sold in like an hour.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

All right, so hold on real quick. Cause the family that's on the land, are they processing this mineral water?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got the bottling on the land. But then right, like 20 minutes from the land, we got like a mass production factory.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Got you, got you. So yeah, yeah, when you got there, you were, you saw that this was there, right?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

And you asked, how can I help be a part of it.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Right?

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Got you, got you.

[Host or Moderator]

So you're your partners with them? Yeah, they had the water up and running already?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yes.

[Host or Moderator]

And you came in, you be saying, like, I want to help out. I want to add value.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And initially as well, me and him, we were. We got our entity, heavy energy. So we was coming with the water under that umbrella. But it was like the certain processing that it was taking, it was like, I need to jump off now.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

All right, so y' all had a water situation?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Nah, we had an idea.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

We actually, before that, we weren't. When we were looking for the land, we had no idea or vision of water. We were just thinking, land, somewhere where you can farm, somewhere where you can teach young people to be self sustaining. Because as adults, you sometimes got so many more responsibilities that you don't have that time to put in. Get to the land. There's water. Wasn't even thinking of water. Water appeared, and it was like, oh, this is a whole nother lane. And we began plotting and planning on how we was gonna do this, this and that. And it's like, we don't got time to really try to make it perfect, but we got time to make it happen right now. We gotta get it started right now. And, man, it was so crazy. Cause like he said, he came back with those 20 gallons, got those things off, and in that process, I think we were getting ready to move into a whole nother place. So who was it? I think Black Dot has shouted the water out on his podcast or something like that.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Well, Blue Pill did first, and that's how Black Dot found out about it.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

So once Black Dot, I had literally. So I built our website. Because before that, I'm a hip hop artist as well. So before I went on tour, I had money to pay nobody to build the website, so I had to figure it out myself. I just built the site. So we already had a site up. So once I realized, like, all right, these orders about to go crazy, we need to at least go ahead and have somewhere where we ain't trying to contact and communicate with people through the DMs. Cause they was killing my man in the DMs trying to get the water. And so I'm over here trying to figure out the shipping. He communicating with people. I'm like, all right, let's get this site up. Thank God we got the site up. Because by the time it got the Blue Pill and then the Black Dot, we in the middle of moving. And all I know is my man over here on the phone real heavy. I'm like, bruh, we got boxes that need to be moved in. But the order's coming in so crazy that bro just locked in like yo, and communicating with this person and sending them to the site. So it just went crazy from there, you know, not even thinking about the water. But the thing for me was that proper preparation prevents poor performance. We had the site up, we were ready, so we had a space to be able to send people and capture all that. And it was still a little overwhelming, but if we didn't have that particular thing already in place, it would.

[Host or Moderator]

So did the family, the. The family that owns the land, right? Did they have the. The brand already? Yeah, yeah, they had the live alkaline water brand.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Right.

[Host or Moderator]

It just needed more promotion.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, it needed some young ladies. It was like a charge elder, but he's in his 50s, he built the foundation and he constantly working on the actual land. So all the ambassadorship, running around, traveling, the legwork.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah, we were already used to doing that because right before the pandemic, before we got to the water, I was in the middle of a tour, a sold out tour at that. So we were already traveling the country while we were doing music. We had a program.

[Host or Moderator]

What's his name?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Chief.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, Chief. Robert McCray.

[Host or Moderator]

So how do you approach him? Like, how does that work? Like, how do you approach him and say, look, I want to be a partner. I think I can add value. And how does it. What made him buy into that?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

He just gave his time.

[Reshawn McDonald]

So like I said, initially, I made the connection and he was kind of opening it up to some opportunity for some of the youth. And he went through few iterations of young groups coming through. But ultimately, like I said, when I came back and just dedicated them two days, they gave me the 20 gallons and seeing how fast it move. And by the time, like I said, them 20 gallons were sold an hour away from that first post.

[Host or Moderator]

You saw the work.

[Reshawn McDonald]

By the time I got back to the land, I'm like, however much water I could fit in this car, Little black Toyota Corolla, I need it. And we got 80 gallons in there. They were sold in three days and the rest was history. So you just seen the work and.

[Host or Moderator]

The results went to the plug, got the work off.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

That's why I said, you got the work, you came back, I need to re up.

[Reshawn McDonald]

I need everything I can fit.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

So I mean, how is chief and we just call him chief and out. How is chief the first time you come back? Like, what's his reaction? Right. Cause he's looking at it like, you know, this thing's kind of move Slow. Here come y' all with this marketing plan, this grit, this hustle, you move that work quick, you need to re up. How was he reacting to this?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Well, to put respect on it, he was doing well for himself. But when it comes to community building and nation building, it's way more untapped potential, you know. So I was dealing with one of his partners that he had connected me with the run through. And from there it just went from connecting with him to like, nah, directly connect with me. And from there we just continued to build week in, week out, like we about action. So it's like our work, our energy always speak for itself. So it just been an evolving relationship. The further we got into our grind, the more results we brought back, the more leeway. Like we got hundreds of acres that at this point he like, do y'.

[Host or Moderator]

All.

[Reshawn McDonald]

You feel me?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

I did. It wasn't a matter of trying to sell ourself. It was a matter of action. When you see it, you don't gotta try to believe it. You know it.

[Host or Moderator]

So break this down. What's the science behind this? Alkaline. There's spring water, there's tap water, there's alkaline water. I hear everybody's got their own opinion about what's the best, what's not good for you. So this is alkaline water.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Host or Moderator]

Explain the different variations of water.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah. So generally speaking, even more important than it being alkaline water is the fact that it's coming from a living source. So you got a lot of alkaline waters that a lot of times is tap water that they run through an artificial induced process to make it alkaline. This is from a natural living spring with rich crystal mineral based land. So it's got that life source in it packed with living minerals versus synthetic or induced or brought in minerals. You know, you can't beat guys very young. So like I said, the first thing is from a living source, so it's life in the bottle. And then the second thing, far as alkalinity goes, for those who don't know, is based on the pH scale. So 7 is neutral. Anything under 7 is acidic. Above 7 is alkaline. And at first I assumed the higher the alkalinity, the better. But I come to find out that you can get it too high. Our bodies usually resonate around 7. 7.1, 7.2. So you want something that's kind of close to your body levels. So a lot of these waters you see in stores, 9, 9.5 and all of that, good. It's too high. And that's usually a indicator that it's artificially induced. So ours resonates around 7.5, which is a good equalizer for your body.

[Host or Moderator]

What's the difference between alkaline and spring water? Because spring is from a natural source too. It's from a spring, right?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Water source. The alkalinity or the acidity is based on the ph. So a whale could be alkaline, it could be acidic. A spring could be alkaline, it could be acidic. The spring, though, the thing that's great about the spring is it's a moving water source. So it's got that kinetic energy. It's got that. That energetic flow, that electricity in it, you know, versus whales can be good depending on the quality of the land and the water. But it's still. Yeah, the spring is moving, so it's got that electric energy.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

When you said that the ph. If the PH is too high in the alkaline water, what are the effects? Because I was noticing. I'll drink some alkaline water and I've got to go to the bathroom all the time. It's like there's no point even drinking it. This is which I realized was making me dehydrated.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Because I would drink the water and I retain it. My body wouldn't retain it. Then I'll drink other water. And it's not the same effect. I'm actually retaining the water. I'm feeling better. Is it because the PH level was too high? Is that one of the.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

So part of it, is it being too high? Batteries are alkaline, you know, So I mean, you know, you just. Electric. Shocking your body. So think of, you know, what happened now. It's gotta expel, you know, what's not meant to be there, Whether it's the false minerals, whether it's the PH being too high. Because, I mean, it's good for your hair, your skin, your eyes. Right. But once you get too high, same way with acidity, it begins to eat those things up. It begins to go backwards. So your body is naturally gonna begin to reject what isn't needed, what isn't supposed to be there. It's gonna fight, so it's gonna force you to get it up out of there. But some of it is gonna still stay. It's just gonna eat up your insides. It's gonna eat up your organs over time. So when you see something that's alkaline. 9.5. I would leave it on the table. I would. Well, I got. I'M going to anyway. Cause we got live. But the re. That's why it's called live. Cause it's coming from a living source and it's moving, and you want something like that. So anything done with the machines, like when people say they have them in their houses is cool. Cause, I mean, it's better than your tap. But to ingest it, I just wouldn't suggest it, because, again, you're gonna. You're just gonna reject it.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

This dude is really an artist. Every line I'm hearing, I wouldn't.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

It become natural.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yeah. Living source, man.

[Host or Moderator]

Does this have. All right, you have. Do you just put the water from the spring to the bottle? Does it have to get purified? Like, is there a process that the FDA requires to.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Absolutely, yeah.

[Reshawn McDonald]

We do the basic FDA filtrations and all of that. But, yeah, we definitely keep it to a minimum because the water is naturally. Like, you can drink it right out of the spring. But we do go through the processing for the legalities and the corporate lanes that we push into as well. So.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

And of course, you got your people that are, what they call themselves, water snobs and things like that. So to make sure you know what's good for everybody, because you got some people that want to take it home and test it theyself, I encourage it. I just want you to record it and send me that, you know, at the same time. So, yeah, do that. But we do that especially for that.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yeah. The first thing we started the episode by saying was it, be the glass. So talk about the importance of having this in the. I know we grew up. It was like, there's other water brands that came in those water bottles, and you recycle those water bottles, but water surely shouldn't be kept in plastic.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Talk about the importance.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And they were drinking out the hose and sink. Let's be real. Let's be honest. What we talking about?

[Co-host or Guest 1]

I just want to make sure we're from the same generation. Yeah.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Hoes with shit. Some of the best water we had. What you mean?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

But when you get to those plastics. So think about. All right, so there's the BPA free plastic. Right. You know what I mean? Where it's not as soft. If you can crush your plastic, if you can just get that thing in your hand and crush it like that, it ain't no good for you. Because for one, you got the microfibers that's gonna be in your water, too. As the sun is penetrating that thing, the plastic is also gonna be able to begin to melt into your water. So that's why you have that different type of taste. We do also bottle in plastic, but it's BPA free, you know, which is a more cost affordable option, you know, for some of our audience, glass is the way though, you know what I mean? Because you don't have those fibers, you know, being. And there's other ways. Like we do also have like a can option as well. Some people prefer like copper, you know, as well, for the energetic and magnetic feel of it. But glass is really the way to go because you don't have those fibers being bled into your water. Now you do have to, you know, be specific with your glass too, because, you know, there's the lead, you know, thing which I've just began to like get knowledge on as well. But always suggesting the glass, especially for a living water source, so you can keep that liveness into it.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And, and I would say as well, even with the plastic, it's freshly bottled weekly. So like a lot of the other bigger corporations, it might be sitting in the warehouse for three, four, five, six months, breaking down. So I was just freshly bottled, it's not sitting.

[Host or Moderator]

So what's some challenges as far as being like an independent water brand as opposed to multiple waters is owned by like three companies, right? Like, and they kind of have a monopoly on it. So being independent, what's some of the challenges that you face?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

I think one of the challenges that I can think of off top is let's say some of these other companies who are million billion dollar companies, they getting their bottles in mass quantities, so the cost of the bottles is cheaper, so we not getting them in those quantities. So we are paying a different price and working our way into being able to get it in such a mass way that we are also able to bring the price down even for the customer, you know. Cause while the idea is to make money, it isn't to charge astronomical numbers and things of that nature, right? So that's really one of the challenges at this moment, which is becoming a good challenge because we are continuing to increase, you know, so it's like, all right, we need 2,000 bottles. We gotta figure out how we gonna get that 2,000 bottles quick and in mass. But that was good to be able to call on community, you know, with that as well. But that's one of the challenges that I can I think of right off top.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

What's the most cost intensive part? Right? If we have the water which is natural, is it the bottling, is it the trying to manufacture and export.

[Reshawn McDonald]

It balances out between the actual bottles, the labor force, and transportation. So initially, at first, we was trying to go everywhere. We trying to be, you know, worldwide, nationwide. But the more we learned, the more it was like, no, we need to hone in on our backyard right here. And I'm doing certain numbers. Like, I think it was like a study in 2019 said Americans spend an average of $10 per month on bottled water. And then I'm doing my, you know, looking up the census numbers and whatnot. And I'm seeing right here in the county we in, not even the state. The county we in is over a million people, just black people. It's over 200,000. So I'm like $10 per month. That's $2 million monthly.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Right.

[Reshawn McDonald]

In this county. It's a million of us in the state. That's $10 million monthly. That we just as a community value to the water company, the water industry. So at that point, it was like, rather than spending time and energy that we going other places, let's double down right here, you know. So we heavily concentrated on North Carolina, South Carolina, Atlanta, surrounding areas, Florida and Virginia and D.C. so basically the Southeast America. Instead of trying to be everywhere, we just trying to hone in on our backyard.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

With him saying that, it makes me think of another one of our challenges, which is shipping. So we good in our area, but after something like this today or at the other places we've been, you're gonna have people in Cali, Portland, Maine. And that shipping cost, because, I mean, it's 35, 34 pounds per case, you know, of the water.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

So to send that to Cali, you know, that's $50 in shipping if they want to pay it. You know, now, of course, we want to be able to, you know, get it to everybody, but just trying to figure out that, you know, in the same way that one of these other companies like Amazon has a warehouse in these other places and figuring out how to warehouse in these other places so that we can set up distributors that can handle shipping and things like that in these other places. But it's a challenge. But it's still one of those good challenges of like, all right, they want it out there. We really need to figure out how to get it out there at a cost efficient price.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yeah, you said the logistics. That makes a lot of sense. I was thinking when you talked about this is a living product. Right. Obviously. Is there a life expectancy of how long the spring will be running or. Because I know we've Had a water episode before and they were trying to how long that they expected that spring to be live and functioning. Is there a study on that one for y'?

[Host or Moderator]

All?

[Reshawn McDonald]

So generally we know it's like four major water veins that flow into this spring. So to be honest, like the whole state will probably be at a state of emergency for water before we would be, you know, as long as it's raining, it would have to be a serious Sahara Desert drought or something like that. But long as it's raining, you know, it's constant flow of this natural system that's refueling itself.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Cause it's coming from what, like 800ft on the ground. They did the sonic testing. So yeah, they'd have to drain the earth.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, it's on the foothills of the mountains of western North Carolina. So it's like a lot of water is being concentrated to where.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Perfect. That's perfect.

[Host or Moderator]

So how did he get, how did the owner, how did he originally acquire the land?

[Reshawn McDonald]

I mean, it's so far back we don't even really know. But it was an indigenous family there, so they literally got.

[Host or Moderator]

Nobody ever took it.

[Reshawn McDonald]

So he said it was originally like 6,000 acres that they were occupying and it's down to some few hundred or thousand or something, you know. So yeah, it has been different chunks being taken out, you know, but at this point it's been this thousand that's been maintained and there's been generations that it went dormant. But he came back, rebirth the life into it. But yeah, at this point, this corner that we maintain and now they've had far back as they know, you know, over 400 years.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yeah. So one of the things with logistics is you got to get partnerships. So you're the first black owned water company to be inside of Walmart. How did this relationship come about? How did y' all foster that? How are y' all maintaining that?

[Reshawn McDonald]

So that was right before we connected with the actual land and the CEO running it. But he said his actual goal was to use that as a launching pad for validation for certain people and for that promo. But he kept it limited to a few in Florida because his real goal was to keep it grassroots and deal directly with the people. You know. So we are real big on the direct to consumer. Although we do do deals and partnerships with stores and different businesses. But just for example, in the lane we in and what we're doing with it wouldn't even be needed if he went nationwide with Walmart. It would have just been him and Walmart making all the money. So Salute to him. But yeah, he's created a blessing of a lane for a lot of young entrepreneurs, movers and shakers to be able to find our space in this.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

And you find that sometimes our people need that validity. So even though we not into Walmart anymore because of whatever type of clauses they had contractually, it's like you say that to somebody, let's say we've been in somewhere and you say the first black on water company to enter a Walmart and they like, huh. And they stop right there. So sometimes you can still use that, you know, and then you know, they get the rest of the story and everything from there.

[Host or Moderator]

What's the process to actually make the water? Like how many people have had to be employed? Is it like a, like is there a plant like from the spring to the bottle? What's the process?

[Reshawn McDonald]

So it's like a big water tank truck come to the land, plug up to the system.

[Host or Moderator]

How often?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Well, they come. So it's a few different lanes of distribution. So on a mass scale that's probably once a week, once every other week. And it's like 6,000 gallons worth that'll you know, come, plug up and take it to the plant. And then they making all type of other stuff with it. Drinks, juices, we got a protein tea drink that we just released.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Sparkling water with different flavors, blood orange, pineapple, ginger, cucumber, mint and limonada.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Right. And then there's other companies that white label because we got the source. So you could put whatever name on it, you know, so y' all out there, you know, let's partner up, you feel me?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Sure.

[Reshawn McDonald]

But nonetheless. So they got a few people on, on the, on the grounds, at the factory that received the water. Once it comes in, they plug it up to the factory, run the bottles through the system. So I don't know exactly, it's a few people in there. But being that it's mainly machines, you just got a few people doing a mass production and stacking up the boxes on pallets and things of that nature. Then we got the smaller operation on the land where we directly bottling on the land and that's a little more labor intensive where we. Because what equals the machinery at the factory, we got an equal in manpower on the land when we doing our smaller scale things. So I actually started a young entrepreneurs in training program and I got three young brothers that been a monumental help that's been helping us label package like them 2000 bottles we had to bring down there. We had about 4 days to label by hand. 2000 bottles bottle this joint.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Oh. Cause we did a special label to earn your.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did the Invest Fest labels on them and all of that, so we had to do that by hand. But, yeah, that was a grind. We called in everybody just on that order alone. We probably had a good eight to 10 people on labeling, bottling, package, storing, and four of us ran the booth all weekend.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

As y' all have. I mean, obviously turned up for the brand for sure. Has your role inside the brand changed? It feels like you started out as, like, hey, here's how I can add value almost on, like, an internship basis. But now it feels like y'.

[Host or Moderator]

All.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

What is the exact role that y' all have now since y' all didn't turn this thing up?

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah. So again, another situation of us just lending our love and labor without really asking for. All right, what we going? All right, We. We know we doing the sales, and we get our price point for the wholesale price, and we get our profit off the sale, but we doing more than just selling. We promoting. We ambassador in. We doing a lot. So he actually gave us some stake in the company, you know, so that was a beautiful blessing, which gave us more motivation to go even that much further and harder, you know, so the equity plus.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah. But even with that, it's anything we want to do. So we host festivals and retreats and everything on the property. So it's not a matter of overhead. It's like, we are in full control of that long as we just kick something back to the land, which we have a percentage that we discussed. But I tell people all the time, people waiting for God to come down with this magical voice and be like, now is your time to do this. I'm like, nah. Sometimes he's speaking opportunity. So it was the opportunity with the water, and now it's a whole nother opportunity with the land altogether, you know, from the festivals that we host to the farmer's market now that we have open. Because it's not just the water. It's cucumbers, mushrooms, collard greens, kale, carrots, beets. So we started with the water, and it bloomed into everything that the water actually. I mean, helps produce, you know, so it's bigger than water.

[Host or Moderator]

How much is the water?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

The glass bottles are $4. You do them by the case for 40. Our plastic bottles are $3 each. We do a case of 24 for 45 or on subscription. We do it for $40, and we ship and deliver all over the country. We also do gallons as well. So the gallons are $7 each or 4 for 20.

[Host or Moderator]

The gallons come in plastic.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

They come in plastic and we working on that glass, you know, we need more people that need it in glass, you know, because that's a whole different type of logistical thing. And then we do the five gallon containers as well. And we have a special right now called we are the Gold, which is something we started. What Was that, about 10? Yeah. Where we had David Banner host that experience and I was doing something with Ms. Black America. But the We Are the gold special is $20 for the five gallon container and we bring it right to your doorstep. Currently we only really doing that in the southeast area because we drop off your new one and then replace your old one. And so it'll be hard for us to do that in Minnesota or Cali, you know, until we got that infrastructure set up, which is the future. That's part of our plan, you know, moving forward. But yeah, that we are the gold specialist.

[Host or Moderator]

What's the subscription?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Just go to the website. $20 monthly, $20 a month. $20 a month for that five gallon now 40 for the case of the 24 pack. And we ship and deliver that for the five gallon containers, either 25 or 20 on subscription for the We Are the Gold special.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Yep.

[Reshawn McDonald]

You go to heavyenergyuniversity.com live-alkaline or you can go to our Instagram @live alkaline NC go to the link in bio.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

They said that the bottling water business is a 300 billion dollar business.

[Reshawn McDonald]

300 growing every year. Billion every year it's growing.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

It might feel like it's surprising people, but it makes a lot of sense when you talk about these major corporations that do the bottling. I wonder, is the selling of the water as profitable or equally as possible profitable as potentially white labeling for other people in bottling.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

How does that vary right now? Cause we don't do a lot of white labeling, you know, at this second I think. But white labeling is on the way and we encourage it because we like we not in competition with whoever else got water. All these other companies are literally right beside each other. We the source. So come bottle your water. If you got a company somewhere, come bottle it and put your name on it, slap your name on it, bottle it in whatever bottle you want to come holla at the plug. So yeah, right now our most profit is definitely coming from the bottling, you know, ourselves. But if you want your own water.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

See what I just did there?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Holla.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

You see what I just did there.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

We need that.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

It's a trained professional.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah, for sure. I mean you throw the oop. We gotta dunk it from there.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Yeah, facts. So the sky's the limit. We looking for big contracts. We could fulfill any level, you know, all levels. We do thousands of gallons in a day.

[Host or Moderator]

So they saying like it's a water crisis, scarcity in the world. And then some people say that that's not true. It's just that how is being monopolized by corporations is causing scarcity of water. What's your thoughts on this whole water scarcity crisis?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

I think it's definitely a matter of, you know, the monopoly of it. Right. And if you, if you fear always makes people move in emotional ways. Right. So if you talk about it's a water crisis now, you just got random people going out and buying as much water as they can possibly stock. And it's like, oh yeah, if it's a water crisis, then what is that going do? Because you're going to run out of that, you know. But they just forcing people to buy more water at one time, which they can then use that and flip that money and do whatever they going to do with it. I ain't going to say that I don't believe that there's not some sort of crisis because we always have the dumping of trash in the water and oil and things of that nature as well.

[Host or Moderator]

So talk about that. Like how does that impact. Cause that's a big thing. The pollution of our waterways from oceans to rivers to lakes, there's a lot.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Of pollution or even your Flint, Michigan like situations. Right. So we had a situation back home where, I mean it's happening in East Greensboro, it's happening all over the country. So one of our partners, you know, we had a situation where we were going to neighborhoods and literally giving the water away, you know, and making sure people were getting supplied, you know, with the water as well. That increased some of our sales in another way because other people were donating to the cause, you know, so they were essentially paying for the water and then ordering water for themselves, you know, at the same time. So we didn't like use that as a sales tactic. But I mean we recognized that like as we were giving it away, people were also wanting to support because sometimes people all want to be a part of something. It's why they tithe in church, right. You know, they want to feel good about where they money going and it's cool. This is a place to do that. But as those things are beginning to happen. For us, it's a matter of how do we attack that on our end, how do we make sure that people are getting water as well, but also in the same way that people are. Like, every 5 cent of the water that you buy goes towards this. Cause it's a similar situation. We haven't pushed it like that, but it's like letting people know as you buy and as you increase, we are still supplying and giving away water to places where people need the water. So it's really a way to be able to, like, utilize that, unfortunately. But, I mean, it's there y' all have.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

I mean, this is groundbreaking. And it seems like the information is just, like, ready and available. I know people come to y' all for the water, but do people come to y' all for the education part as well? Because absolutely. There's plenty of, I'm sure, natural springs throughout the country. People don't really understand how to tap into that and make that something that could be a business or profitable. How many people are coming to y' all for the education man component of it?

[Reshawn McDonald]

No, let me say the funny thing is, when I said I first made that connection and I took two months to study, that was during the pandemic on the back of the George Floyd situation and the Black Lives Matter and all that in 2020. And I took them two months to study, and by the time I jumped off, the only question was, how much to the point. I'm like, hey, I did all this studying. Like, I wanted some more questions at that point. But furthermore, the further we got along, especially certain spaces and demographics may inquire and have more questions. But some people come with the. The curiosity. And then you got the people that come just to support because they love our mission and movement. So I got this one lady in particular. She came like, look, I despise drinking water. I don't drink water. I'm going to just buy something to support that became one of our best customers that was like, yo, where y' all at? I need my water. And next thing you know, she's telling us about how she's feeling better and she has some kidney issues. And she was saying the doctor was telling her, whatever you doing different, keep doing it, you know? So you got some people who are directly inquiring for the knowledge. Then you got some people that just stumble into the knowledge because we make them a believer, you know, so. But, yeah. You got anything to add to that?

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. So. Because there are other springs where people are like, well, we can go to the water, go there and just get the water. What make it different. And I just, I don't know about that other space. I just let them know and educate them deeply about our water. But there are other people that have land that are like, all right, well how do I go find a spring on my land or I have a spring, you know, how do we, you know, go about doing that? So because we are in this lane, I do get a lot of those different type of questions of people that have land and like, well, how do I discover water? I'm like, dig. I mean, that's what I got.

[Host or Moderator]

So what's the plan to scale?

[Reshawn McDonald]

So in my mind, the next immediate thing, we just drill down like our main concentrated areas. So we got like eight different areas that we want to build hubs at. So locking in our storage and warehousing and locking in our distribution team around that and then up in the ante on the promotion. So we got a goal in our Bigger than water campaign to get 5,000 monthly subscribers spending $20 monthly for our million dollar plan. You know, but ultimately we going to be approaching hotels, grocery stores, all of that. But I'm really trying to crack the code on this direct to consumer model and really locking in our 5,000 loyal subscribers.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

You know, you mentioned it and you mentioned it as well. It's bigger than water. So you kind of mentioned in different ways. Like you said it was a campaign, but yours is more. Felt like it was. This is more than just a water company. This is more of like a lifestyle. I heard a little bit about agriculture as well. Talk to both of y'. All really what the phrase means and how, what the purpose behind it.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Yeah, well. Cause sometimes people look at, when they, when they like, it's just water, all water tastes the same. We like, nah, it's bigger than water. This is about a lifestyle. This is bigger than the taste. This is about what you putting in your body, you know, and how it's gonna affect your body. So what those other waters got going on is not what this has going on. So it's bigger than water. This is. You don't put the same type of gas in this car that you put in this type of car. You a premium car, ain't you? So you better put premium water in your body. But we also, like you said, we own a crystal mineral based body of land. So the minerals in the water is 100% natural pH balanced naturally. But think about what's happening with the crops that are also grown on that same that that water is coming from. So it's bigger than water. Which is why we have a situation called the Bigger than a Farmer's Market. Farmer's Market. Because it ain't just the farmer's market. You're gonna come there and get your mushrooms, you can pick out your collard greens. You're gonna see other type of vendors, but it's also gonna be workshops there. There's also we have a huge fire pit where we do a situation called Fire for Therapy. Where people come, do poetry, share stories and things like that. But the water, bring them there. It's bigger than water. We also have a festival that we do called the Alkaline Festival. It's three days and two nights of live music, yoga, meditation, camping, bonfire, food trucks, vendors and more. But it all started with the water. It's bigger than water, you know, so people come there for that and they get an entirely different holistic experience and all of the inspirational messages and things that we've heard from people that have come and experienced that. Because we build showers out there. Because people gonna be there for three days and two nights. So people need to wash, but they are showering in the alkaline water as well. So they not just drinking it, they showering in it. It's bigger than water. Your skin is your most exposed organ. So what are you putting on your skin as well? It's bigger. So people are starting to really understand what we say when we say that it ain't just a water company. It started there. That was the seed. But the harvest is much more grand than that. You have the food, you have a space where you can come and release. You know, you have the festivals and things. But it all started with the water facts.

[Reshawn McDonald]

And I'll just add to that with, we got this summer program that we do, a steam program where we get the kids out. They learning about agriculture, we building the garden boxes, doing entrepreneurship, arts, financial literacy, and just all things survival skills based, you know, so learning how to operate this land where we can put ourselves in a position to be independent and self sufficient in real life. And then so the youth and the education is the major thing because we're literally building community. So the foundation of where we started with Soul Academy is really coming to life where we got a community for these kids to dwell in. Like to be running through this land free man. They don't be knowing where they iPads and phones are at on this land because it's just endless acreage that they can just run with limitless boundaries, you feel me? And then the last thing I'll say in reference to that, the more we push and move the water, we'll come back to the land. It's 15 fruit trees that we need to plant. It's a new machinery that we got to activate some more of this land. Like we can actually see where the fruit of our labor is going. And it ain't just for the CEO to put in his pocket and do him like he literally protecting this land. He Denying 100 million dollar deal, hundreds of million dollar deals to buy this land. And we see him putting this land in places and spaces that's gonna feed not just him. Like he gonna be able to enjoy some of these fruit trees, but these fruit trees gonna live long past his lifetime, you know. So I see he's actually reinvesting the money into the community, you feel me? And ultimately we don't know what none of these other corporations doing. They probably doing the same thing with their family compound. But we ain't never gonna be at they family compound though. You feel me? But y' all can come to ours though.

[Host or Moderator]

I wanna thank you guys for coming, man. Tell em the website for sure, Instagram, all of that, man.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Well, first off, again, I wanna salute y'. All. Official salute. Appreciate y'.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

All.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Y' all been diligent, locking in, pushing this financial literacy, bringing all type of products and services and resources and information to the people for years on end. You know, I was just telling Rashad about a, a message I stumbled into. I ain't even, I wasn't even looking for it. I was searching in my Instagram messages the other day and I seen a message. I hit him in like 2018 just to say salute. Y' all doing your thing off the beginning, you feel me? But yeah, I'm just honored to be here and get the people to access to the resource. So you can follow us on Instagram at Live Alkaline, North Carolina. You can go to the link in bio to order or you can go to heavyenergyuniversity.com and go to the Live Alkaline tab. Or you can do heavyenergyuniversity.com backslash live-alkaline.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

Man, we appreciate you. I just thought about that. Man, I gotta have an alkaline shower.

[Reshawn McDonald]

I never had that before. Let us be your supplier, you know.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

There you go for.

[Reshawn McDonald]

We know we're gonna have that, that invest fest, earn your leisure water, you know what I'm saying?

[Host or Moderator]

That's the fact, you know the fact.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Sounds I'm all playing.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

Really. I'm the plug.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Power by Live let's get it.

[Co-host or Guest 1]

All right.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Appreciate you.

[Host or Moderator]

Thank you guys for rocking with us. We'll see you next week. Peace.

[Reshawn McDonald]

Peace.

[Co-host or Guest 2]

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[Reshawn McDonald]

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[Co-host or Guest 2]

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[Reshawn McDonald]

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[Reshawn McDonald]

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[Co-host or Guest 2]

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[Reshawn McDonald]

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[Reshawn McDonald]

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[Co-host or Guest 2]

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