A decade ago, Allison Ellsworth was drinking apple cider vinegar for health reasons and doctoring it with fruit so she could stand the taste. Her husband Stephen helped her turn it into a business by adding carbonation on a hacked soda line in their Dallas townhouse. They called it “Mother Beverage,” and sold out every week at the farmers market…but then heard the words no founder forgets: “Your branding is…sh*t.”

What happens next is one of the wildest CPG glow-ups of the 2010s: a Shark Tank deal with brand whisperer Rohan Oza, a full rebrand to Poppi, colored cans that jumped off the shelf, a launch derailed by Covid—and finally, an explosion fueled by Amazon, TikTok, and a Super Bowl moment that planted the flag: We’re soda–and we’ve left the farmers market for good.

Five years after its rebrand, Poppi was acquired by Pepsi for nearly $2B. This is the story of the messy bottling line, saying no to “dumb money,” baptism by Shark Tank, and building a generational brand while staying married.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How rebranding can rescue a beverage, and when to avoid early eye-rolls
• The hit-and-miss of carbonating on a small scale (and why co-packers said no).
• How the risky decision to call Poppi “soda” unlocked a new retail set (functional soda).
• What a Shark Tank partner does during a rebrand window.
• How Allison seized on TikTok to spike sales during Covid

Timestamps:

• 0:10:15 Meeting cute at a snowboard shop → engagement in 7 months
• 0:14:00 How apple cider vinegar helped Allison’s health…but tasted terrible (early flavor hacks)
• 0:22:36 DIY carbonation disasters: exploding bottles & the 40°F lesson
• 0:42:28 Selling out at the Dallas Farmers Market
• 0:37:48 Appearing on Shark Tank while nine months pregnant and the deal with Rohan: “your branding is sh*t.”
• 0:47:02 The nail-biting rebrand from “Mother” to Poppi: colored cans vs. white, and winning the shelf
• 0:53:44 Expo West canceled by Covid → a massive turnaround fueled by Amazon, Shark Tank, and TikTok
• 1:05:51 Super Bowl ad– “We’re soda!”--and the road to a ~$2B Pepsi acquisition
• 1:07:58 Growing a business while managing a marriage

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This episode was produced by Rommel Wood with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant with research help from Alex Cheng. Our engineers were Patrick Murray and Jimmy Keeley.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bobbi Brown, founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and Jones Road Beauty, joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage entrepreneurs. Plus, Bobbi shares what drove her to found her new company — Jones Road — at the age of 62.

First we meet Mark in Chicago, an orthopedic surgeon who’s looking to promote his cabbage-based muscle and joint rub beyond the walls of his practice. Then Abby in Dallas, who’s wondering whether her popular social media livestreams are a sustainable way to market her trendy phone cases. And Henry in Charlotte, who wants to turn his mouth rinse for coffee drinkers into a mainstream oral care brand.

Thank you to the founders of Cabbage Labs, AbbyRose, and Tannin Oral Care for being a part of our show.

If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298.

And be sure to listen to Bobbi Brown Cosmetics’ founding story as told by Bobbi on the show in 2018.

This episode was produced by Sam Paulson with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Andrea Bruce. Our audio engineer was Cena Loffredo.

You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram and sign up for Guy’s free newsletter at guyraz.com or on Substack.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many of us don’t know our neighbors anymore — and Nirav Tolia wanted to change that. He walked away from millions in stock options at Yahoo and eventually co-founded Nextdoor, the hyperlocal social network where neighbors share local news and recommendations. Along the way, he learned that for a digital service, Nextdoor demanded a ton of manual work: drawing neighborhood boundaries with Sharpies, sending individual “invite” postcards by snail mail, talking to neighbors about the information they wanted. After 8 years of grind, Nirav stepped away as CEO, only to return 6 years later to spearhead an ambitious rebrand of Nextdoor, which now has 100 million users around the world.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why Nirav walked away from millions in stock options to launch his own business
• How the failure of an early business helped fuel Nextdoor’s success
• How not having an initial vision for your brand can be a superpower.
• Why apps that focus on “local” are so hard to master
• Why Nirav believes” local” is a massive untapped opportunity in tech.

This episode was produced by Casey Herman with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our audio engineers were Kwesi Lee and Jimmy Keeley.

Follow How I Built This:

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.