Transcript
A (0:00)
You need cash to survive as a business. It's oxygen. But if you have a mission that's sufficiently underserved, good things take time.
B (0:10)
Welcome to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and scaling a business. I'm your host, Serena Smith. Our guest today is making a major splash in the beverage industry with Curious Elixirs. This line of non alcoholic craft cocktails is made with premium ingredients and a mission rooted not just in consumption, but in connection.
A (0:26)
People are getting just more and more tapped into what makes them feel good and we, we just love making options for them to do that.
B (0:33)
Since launching in 2015, Curious Elixirs has earned the New York Times best non alcoholic drink title five years in a row and is sold in more than 2,000 retail locations. As well as showing up on the menus of hospitality heavy hitters like Alinea and the French Laundry. The brand has grown from $176,000 in first year revenue to a thriving eight figure business. And all without raising any outside funding. Founder J.W. wiseman joins me today to talk about bootstrapping a brand, building community through creativity, and why going against the grain can lead to breakout success. Jw, thanks so much for being here today.
A (1:04)
I'm thrilled to be here, Serena.
B (1:06)
It's a pleasure. Take me back to 2015, which in some ways feels like the olden days.
A (1:14)
It was, wasn't it?
B (1:15)
Yeah. Your career had taken you to Thrillist as employee number three for a great many years. You had started your own marketing agency. What was the aha moment that led you to thinking that you wanted to start a non alcoholic beverage brand?
A (1:34)
The aha moment came on a dark winter's night and the morning after. And I had 20 drinks in one night. You know, at this point, I was working at Thrillist. I had opened a whiskey bar with my brother in Brooklyn and had just a crazy amount of alcohol. Just trying to see like what my limit really was. And I didn't even black out, but the next day I didn't really have a hangover. And that's what was scariest. And that was really the aha moment for I should drink less, but I still want to go out and party. Right. And because I love going to restaurants, I love going to bars, I love going to comedy, I love going to theater, I love going to weddings, you know, whatever these moments of celebration are. And every time I was going to one of these and I didn't want to drink, it felt like there was nothing sophisticated for me to have, you know, And I want a flavor experience every Day of my life. You know, it's one of life's great pleasures is to have something delicious and unexpected. And that was kind of the aha moment came from that, that crazy night of 20 drinks and then getting really bored when I was going out, you know. So it was a bunch of aha moments after that first one of like, another club soda? No, thank you. Maybe I should make something in my kitchen, right?
