Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom

EP 72 The WithCo Brand Journey with Cofounder Josh Ellis

• Deb, Mocktail Mom • Season 1 • Episode 72

Share episode

Send me a text message about the show!

I had an absolute blast chatting with the amazing Josh Ellis, the co-founder of WithCo. If you haven’t heard of WithCo yet, you're in for a treat because they’re shaking up the beverage world with their all-natural mixers that are perfect for everyone—whether you're drinking alcohol or not!


Josh's journey is nothing short of inspiring and is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and embracing courage, even when fear is knocking at the door. He shared how a spontaneous birthday party experiment turned into the spark that launched WithCo, proving that sometimes the best ideas come from the most unexpected places. We dove into the ups and downs of growing the company, especially during the pandemic, learn how the one and only Dierks Bentley became a strategic partner of the brand, and discuss their heart for inclusivity—making sure everyone at the party has something delicious to sip on. So, grab your favorite drink (WithCo mixer, perhaps?), sit back, and tune in to hear Josh’s incredible story. 


Learn more about WithCo!
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Order a copy of The Happiest Hour: Delicious Mocktails for a Fabulous Moms' Night In

A huge thank you to the sponsors of the Thriving Alcohol-Free podcast!
Sunnyside | Giesen 0% Wines

You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Deb:

Okay, guys, it's Deb.

Deb:

Before we get started, I just wanted to share a little disclaimer about today's podcast. I had a chat, a wonderful chat, with Josh Ellis. He's an entrepreneur I love, I love. I don't know about you, but I like to read Inc Magazine, entrepreneur Magazine. So hearing his founder story, hearing the backstory of how he and his co-founder started with Co, was really, really fascinating.

Deb:

But I just want to give like a little warning, because not warning or anything, I just want to let you know because there are some people, some of you, in the audience, listen and are very, very much blinders on your sober journey, and so I want to just warn you. Their Instagram handle is WithCoCocktails, so they feature a mixer, a wonderful mixer, cocktail mixer that can be used to make mocktails or be used to make cocktails. I just kind of want to put that out there. A lot of times I'll encourage you, as the listener, to follow on Instagram, but if it would be a trigger to you to follow their account, because he is making drinks behind a bar, he's making regular drinks, typical drinks or whatever you want to call them, full-leaded drinks, as we call them, and so I just want to give a little warning If that's not content, that you want to be consuming, don't follow along. But if you're okay with that, and if you are maybe somebody who's sober-ish, sober-curious, or you're okay watching a mocktail be made with a mixer that could be used for a cocktail or a mocktail, then this is for you. But regardless, I think you'll absolutely love his story. I just love didn't graduate high school and just that entrepreneurial spirit. I love it. Just go jump out of the nest, figure out how to fly, and his products their products are actually now available in 1500 Walmarts around the country. So, with Co coming your way, I hope you enjoy this episode big time cheers and lots and lots of love to you from the great state of Kentucky.

Deb:

Buckle up, friends, and welcome to the thriving alcohol free podcast. I'm your host, deb, otherwise known as Mocktail Mom, a retired wine drinker that finally got sick and tired of spinning on life's broken record called detox. To retox, let this podcast be an encouragement to you. If alcohol is maybe a form of self care for you or you find yourself dragging through the day waiting to pour another glass, I am excited to share with you the fun of discovering new things to drink when you aren't drinking and the joy of waking up each day without a hangover. It is an honor to serve as your sober fun guide, so sit back and relax or keep doing whatever it is you're doing. This show is produced for you with love from the great state of Kentucky. Thanks so much for being here and big time cheers. Okay, hey friends, it's Deb. Welcome back to Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom. I'm so excited. Today my guest is Josh Ellis. He is the founder of. Am I saying that right? He's the founder, yes.

Josh:

Co-founder, co-founder, he's our co-founder.

Deb:

I'm giving you all the credit. You're the one here today. He's the co-founder of With Co. Their Instagram handle is at With Co Cocktails, but we're going to talk today about how he started this brand and a little bit about your mission and your involvement in having something to balance things out. Personally, I am not a drinker, but I know many people who just want to maybe take a break or take a drink off in between drinks, and so I'm really, really excited to have you here today. Your product is delicious, so we'd love to hear about getting started, how you got started.

Josh:

Oh, we got to go way, way back.

Deb:

And Josh is just right down the road. You're just in Nashville, right, you're not very far from me.

Josh:

Nashville Tennessee.

Deb:

Like a Cracker Barrel or a Buc-ee's, you know.

Josh:

What are we doing? Cut, all right, I'll see you in an hour.

Deb:

I'll be on I-65. Yes.

Josh:

Pick the exit. Yeah, I love it. No, excited to be here and you know love, what love what you're doing and you know what you're putting out in the world, and I think it's what a great time to be talking about something that was so misunderstood for so long, and I think it's just great to dedicate a piece of you to creating this community. So I'm excited to be here and play a small role in that movement. So, thank you, Thank you?

Deb:

Yes, thank you. Okay. So tell us your background. Okay, are you a bartender? Were you a bartender? Like the drinks that you make on Instagram? You're looking good there making those drinks. You don't have a bartender background. That's a facade.

Josh:

I have never worked in a bar or restaurant or hospitality, I've never bussed a table, but I owe a lot of that to my co-founder. His name is Bradley Ryan and I honestly think that's a great way to start this off. It's kind of going back to the beginning and go. How did a guy like you, with no experience, build something that is so much needed in the world around beverage? Where's that connection? Born and raised in Nashville, tennessee, one of the rare ones Grew up on a car lot, as my parents own dealerships here.

Josh:

So I kind of saw early on the highs and lows of that and said there's something seductive about that. I kind of want to go into something that scares the heck out of me. I have a banner above my desk that says comfort is a slow death and though it is the most avoidable thing as humans, let's stay away from discomfort. It's actually knowing that I still try to find myself in those moments, so then I can find more of myself. I know, when my back's up against the wall and I have uncertainty, that you figure out a way and I learn more in that season than I do feeling safe on the sidelines. So you know, I kind of saw that early, didn't go to college, was very stubborn in that I was like I don't want to go somewhere where, if I don't know who I want to be in the world, I don't want to go somewhere to learn about something I'm not sure is a part of who I want to be. So I just skipped college and worked in insurance for a little bit and then saw the real estate market in Nashville going crazy and this was in 2015,.

Josh:

I, 14, 10 years licensed Wow, got licensed in real estate and was just kind of like, did really well right out of the gate. I met my wife and, you know, was doing real estate and still do it a little bit, some investing. But at that time I'm like this is it. I love this, I love architecture, I love design, I love so much about real estate. And then I say there was like a moment where what I call like a stirring in my spirit, something going hey, you're not here forever, this is just a pit stop, something's coming. Just be aware, look for that opportunity. And that's all I really knew Met Bradley Ryan, who is a I think calling him a bartender would be very short-sighted.

Josh:

This guy, though he has bartended, he now manages and operates multiple restaurants in Nashville and he is a. This is going to sound hilarious. I said it for the first time last week. I was watching him lead a meeting, making drinks for people in the room, and he's like a composer in his elegance but like a biologist in his understanding for flavors and blends and how they all work together in this beautiful way. Watching him go on his spiel is amazing.

Josh:

So when I met this guy, we went to coffee I honestly didn't think I would see him ever again. It was just like it was great connecting. You know he reached out to me on Instagram, didn't know anybody in Nashville. I was his first friend, was like hey man, love it, love your story and maybe maybe let's you know, see where this goes Right. It was like maybe he and his wife had just moved here. And long story short, a couple months later I called him and said I'm having a birthday party in my backyard. I want to have a bartender with, like, the apron and the bar tools and this experience that, like you don't normally get. This was 2017.

Deb:

So I'm thinking like what am I going to?

Josh:

go buy at the grocery store. Ginger, ale, coke, tonic, soda water In that time better for you wasn't really a big buzzword in beverage. They're better for you. Awareness was out there, but when it comes to going to the store and buying something, it can be relatively challenging. So he batched up some stuff.

Deb:

I gave him a day's notice and he was like dude, I can't be there the way you work, josh, that's my style.

Josh:

Yes, the day before he's like I'm in, when I'm like it's tomorrow.

Deb:

I just had this brilliant idea.

Josh:

He said I can't be there. And right before he hung up, the phone call which it changed literally, when I tell the rest of the story was a life-changing moment. He goes, but I want to do something to make it special. Just give me your address, I'll bring something by. I got you. I was like all right. So I called Nicole now wife and said hey, guy's coming by. I met him once. Just let him in. He's a great dude. I get home the next day and we're having all these people over and there's this.

Josh:

He wheeled out our bar cart and created this self-serve beverage cart in the backyard and at that time it was more so for cocktails and cause. That's what I asked. But he couldn't afford the liquor, so he brought everything in a bottle, a jar, from his recipes behind the bar. And there they were, in these beautiful little handwritten cards that said like pour an ounce and a half of this, pour an ounce and a half of this and stir. Wow.

Josh:

And that night I noticed three things. Number one these are phenomenal. I've never had a drink like this at home, because I'm not a bartender. I'm not. I just don't really know how to do it unless I get on Pinterest and buy all this stuff. These taste great. Everyone's trying each other's. It was like an experiment that just somebody was like put these there and watch how people react. So we're all drinking them like wow, these is floral, I taste like floral notes, I taste like real juice. And then what I noticed is when you make it a two step process, it's actually kind of fun. You're not like building a four or five ingredient, you know product to the number three.

Josh:

I said we hosted tonight and the only drinks we made were ours. This is how hosting should be. You should not be spending time in the kitchen batching up all this stuff. And I was like maybe we should, maybe we should do something here. I called him. I said I know we've met once, but I think that we should take what you've built behind the bar and all your, your mind and your flavor profiles and the way that you approach this with such quality. I think we should build that, because there's a lot of people like me out there that need something like this. So when I'm hosting, I can spend more time with my people and less time in the kitchen. And he's like well, when I'm hosting as a bartender, guess what? I'm in the kitchen all night. I'm watching everybody's drinks. I'm back to the kitchen. He goes. I know how to make drinks and I wish I had something like this and I'm like let's go solve this problem.

Josh:

That was 2017. And we spent the next two or three years trying to figure out how to do it, because our goal was no preservatives, no additives, no concentrates and no natural flavoring. Well, easier said than done, I'm like, let's just do it.

Deb:

I was just about to say that Easier said than done, right, yeah, that all sounds great on paper. Go do it yeah.

Josh:

I was like, just do what you did that night. He goes yeah, but that's like a six day shelf life, Like I used real lime juice and I'm like, all right, well, we'll have to figure that out, but we will later. Over those three years we made one of the first products ever brought to the market with only fresh juice and real botanicals, where it had a one year shelf life. That took over a year to even figure that out. We finally got this product that you can taste fresh cucumber juice, garden mint, fresh lime juice nine months later when you open that bottle, Is that?

Deb:

the hey Girl? Is it the hey Girl that's? What I'm drinking right now.

Josh:

I love it. And you're like how does the cucumber taste like this? Did you use a cucumber syrup? No, we bought hundreds of cucumbers, put them in 100-gallon vaps, let them seep and're doing in that one location. But we're doing it in a warehouse with thousands of bottles at one time. So we've really just taken the bar back process from the bar to the bottle and now it's making its way in our company back to the bar and we can touch on that.

Josh:

So, anyways, I'm selling real estate and he is running restaurants. So at this point we were neither of us were full-time, Nobody had the know-how, the commitment. I don't even think we had the courage to take that step forward at that time, Cause we're like, what are we going to do? Like I don't know how to do this, I've never done this. Have you ever done this? No, and so we sold out of the trunk of the car with a square reader for a couple of years and just sold to our friends and family that heard about it, wanted it, Like we were maybe making like a thousand, a thousand, probably like 200 cases a year.

Deb:

Okay, okay.

Josh:

Beginning of 2020, that whole stirring in the spirit, feeling like something's coming. All of a sudden, after two and a half years of working on this, I go this is it. I watched thousands of people try this at events and I had the same reaction. They go wow, that's actually really good. And I go. That's. All you need to find the courage is having that moment to say there's a lot of beautiful brands out there that are not great experiences, but when you have the experience, you can build something beautiful around it. And I was like we have the golden thing. We have the flavor, the freshness, the quality, that reaction. When you see it over and over, eventually you either have to step away from it because it's going to drive you crazy, or you have to do something about it. I decided to do something about it, so I sold a rental property, put a little bit of money into an account, looked at my wife and said I'm going to. Well, we talked about it.

Deb:

It was along the lines of You're a wise man, josh, you're a wise man. Yes, happy wife.

Josh:

Just celebrated seven years. I had to eventually learn how to get to the result, but in a way that feels like a collective effort, right?

Deb:

In the right way. Yes, okay, I just celebrated 10 years. Yes, good job Amazing.

Josh:

It was something along the lines of we should sell that house, I should quit my job and we should go full time and at the end of six months, when we run out of money, we'll either know we have something or I'll go back to real estate. And she said your ability to go from selling cars to insurance, to real estate. She's like I have no doubts, we will figure this out, let's do it. And we were the first real two employees. So Bradley continued to work in the restaurants. I decided I'm going to take the sleep of faith. That was about January 1 of 2020. I went full time and we all know what was coming, or we didn't know. Now we know what was coming.

Josh:

I got hit in the face with a pandemic and it was the best thing that ever happened to us, and that's hard to say and that's not to say there wasn't loss and challenge that we were affected by. I don't want to understate that it was this great thing, but in many ways, everybody was stuck at home. What I realized? I love the human behavior, kind of noticing it and then being like, hey, there's a lot of money to be made when there's these human swings, these emotional swings, and I go. I think what's going to happen, or what I noticed happening, is we all used to go and spend lots of money on experiences. We will pay like. Many of us will spend more for better food, we'll spend more for a better hotel, we'll spend more for a better beverage Totally Well, when no one's spending money out, they tend to spend more in, and that's what a lot of us did. We bought things to help us feel better about this uncertainty.

Josh:

Totally, some people turned to more alcohol. A lot of people were like I'm going to actually not drink during this time. Some people were like I'm going to quit my job. There's so many things because none of us knew and we were the beneficiary of people wanting to find better ways to enjoy a cocktail at home. And during that time, our company experienced tremendous growth, so much so that it was about 1100% growth and it went from my wife and I to about 11 people. In those first nine months from April to the end of the year, like hit the million dollar plus mark really quickly. No idea what we were doing, lost a lot of money, made a ton of bad decisions, our friends were getting fired from their jobs and we're hiring them the next day, and it was beautiful. One of our closest friends still runs our warehouse.

Deb:

Really.

Josh:

After I called him, I go dude, can you help me tomorrow? My COO still is here and he called me and said if you ever need help with this, I would love to help. I go can you help me build a fulfillment center in the next 48 hours? We built it, we ordered boxes, we produced the product, we shipped and we had a really, really wild year. That's amazing, it was fun and that was kind of like the no-transcript absence of fear, like, oh man, I have this friend that's always killing it. He's just not afraid of failing. You're like, no, he is afraid, but he's choosing to have enough courage to step forward and say, but I want it, despite how scary it is. And I think that was kind of what we went through that year is like man, we everyone's looking like they're killing it. I'm like, honestly, we felt like we were getting killed. At the same time, we're just like too much, too fast. But what a blessing. Let's receive it and then have the discernment to steward it forward, because we've been given this great opportunity.

Deb:

Okay, as you guys know, I love Giesen 0% wines. Their Sauvignon Blanc is my go-to on a regular basis, but they recently launched a delicious sparkling brute 0%, which is quickly becoming a fan favorite. I am so proud to have Giesen as the exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor of the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. Giesen's 0% Wines are created through the magic of advanced spinning cone technology to remove the alcohol from their full-leaded wines. The award-winning winemaker Duncan Shuler and his team have done wonders in Marlborough, New Zealand, by creating an entire family of 0% wines with all the flavor and deliciousness you expect from traditional quote full-leaded wine. Their non-alcoholic wines maintain the aroma and the body to create a low-calorie wine that never contains more than 0.5 ABV.

Deb:

Globally available, look for Giesen 0% wines wherever you shop for your non-alcoholic options. Their family of alcohol-free wines include the most effervescent member of the family, the Sparkling Brut 0%, which is absolutely delicious for any celebration. My personal favorite although I do love them all is the Sauvignon Blanc, coming in at only 100 calories for the entire bottle. And, not to be missed, the other members of their 0% family the Riesling, the Premium Red Blend, the Rosé, the Pinot Gris. With Giesen's 0% wines, there's a de-alcoholized wine for everyone and every occasion. Give Giesen a try and let me know how much you love it, and if you want to meet their winemaker, go back to episode 33 of the podcast, where Duncan Shuler joined me to share about the Giesen story.

Josh:

I'd like to kind of jump a little bit closer to like 2022, 2023, and kind of talk about where the product has kind of found its way.

Deb:

Okay, perfect. Yes, I want to know.

Josh:

So I knew that this e-com world, e-commerce and selling on our website direct to consumer I knew that it was going to correct itself, because I knew we weren't all going to be stuck at home forever. And I go. If we do not figure out how to build a secondary vertical is what I call it we're going to have a major drop when this course correction happens. And if we're not ready for it, I think there's a chance we could. We might go out of business because we have too many employees or too leveraged, because the e-commerce was still working so well.

Josh:

Sure, so we decided let's go into retail, which is a very fine line, and not every brand should be in retail. But in beverage margins can be slim, but we have really great margins and we're like I think that's where our customer is. He or she is spending time like they're going up and down rows in a grocery store to try to find things, new things, things that they would love to try. Right, and we knew that they were. They were going to spend more time doing that than going to a liquor store where it's like overload of bottles.

Deb:

But if we were in a retail?

Josh:

store. Most of us run into a liquor store, and we're there for no more than three minutes. You know what you're getting. I'm having girlfriends over, I'm having family over, I'm having friends over. I'm going to get some whiskey, some red wine, some non-alcohol spirit. When you're in a grocery store, though, you have a different level of patience, because you know that I'm here to fill the cart and leave, and when you have a product like ours, that does have that packaging that almost pulls you in, it has this level of trust that, like I think, I can trust that this is actually going to be a little bit better than the plastic bottle next to it that looks like car coolant, and I go. That is where we need to be, and we had a rare, rare chance of also getting an email from Target in the gifting section, which is a very odd place. It was not even in the beverage section. They wanted to bring us in and, kind of, they change it out every six to 12 months, so we knew it was like a short opportunity, but in 1800 stores, I'm like we're saying yes, because there's no telling what, where that's going to take us. When we go on that road, the things we'll learn the people we'll meet, the experiences we'll have. That's what we signed up for. Let's, let's go all in Love it. So we did that for 12 months that ended last month. It was great. We learned a lot. We made a lot of new customers, a lot of new fans.

Josh:

One thing that's very unique about our product since day one, I oftentimes say we were doing things. We've always done the same thing since the very beginning, but trends have had a way of kind of evolving around. What we've always done Since the very beginning our product on the bottle. We tell you how to build the drink on all of them. Since day one, we've had soda water as an option, because from the very beginning, when we think about that night in the backyard, hosting with co stands for with company. So that aha moment, that mission, that thing that really pulled us to do something bigger than a product, like it was a human experience. Before it was a physical product. That human experience was let's help people gather around a bottle of with co, with company.

Josh:

But what if they don't drink? Well, they should still be able to gather. They don't have to be handed a LaCroix and go hey, you can have something too. Instead, let's all share from the same bottle. And if your preference is gin, do your thing. If your preference is a non-alcoholic tequila, do your thing. If you just want to top it with soda water and have like a botanical forward beverage, do your thing.

Josh:

Well, now we're living in a world where, whether you've had a problem with alcohol, whether you want to balance out your as a choice, to say I want to maybe drink less, awesome. You may also say I've learned enough to know. I'm not putting that in my system. Wherever you are, you're still included when there's a bottle of Withco, because with companies should be for all. And so I love to kind of say we didn't really try to jump on this bandwagon as a host. We've always thought that way, and it is pretty neat that now the market has been like hey, well, here's a really unique product that isn't just for this lifestyle, it's for the lifestyle of gathering.

Josh:

And I love to say Target, I think, was a good platform for people to go. Well, look on the back it says I can do this one with vodka, gin, tequila, rum, non-alcoholic, I can do soda water. It's always been the heart of what we've been trying to do, which is about gathering, so Target was fun. That we've been trying to do, which is about gathering, so Target was fun. That led us into Sprouts, which launched last year in their non-aux section Great, which is awesome. It feels like a lot of these retailers are turning us to say we know we need to represent this category in a better way and we have found you and this other eight or nine amazing brands and we love that people can use spirit, but we also love that people can do it without, and that's a very unique part of our product. There's not a lot of products out there that are trying to play in both, and I wouldn't even say we're trying to play in both, but have a product that can be enjoyed.

Deb:

That it's a product you can use with. Yeah, you can use it whether you're drinking or not drinking, or yeah, I mean, there's people who listen to the podcast. The audience is mostly, you know. Obviously it's called Thriving Alcohol Free, but there are people who are, you know, just sober, curious or sober-ish, you know. Maybe they have you know, a glass of wine during the week rather than you know 10.

Josh:

For sure, and I think on that train. I want to tell something that will kind of personalize this for me and then also talk about an amazing partnership that just happened around this topic.

Deb:

I saw that.

Josh:

I think it's super important. But over the last year and a half I've done a six month non-drinking balance out, if you will, no-transcript. I enjoy cocktails with just a New York for the weekend, like I had my fair share of Negronis, but then when I come back I'm kind of like you know what? It's time to drink lots of water, it's time to go work out and it's just. I love the option. I think what it did is it opened up my awareness that it can be both and there's a community that supports you on the other side. So over Valentine's at the beginning of this year I went about 75 days and when we went out for Valentine's we went to a restaurant that my co-founder happens to run and operate and there I am drinking a non, basically a ginger soda. Okay, that actually is with co.

Deb:

Really.

Josh:

They use on their menu. They have like a ginger cocktail, then an na ginger drink and then our margaritas on both. And all of a sudden, there I am kind of laughing at the table, going this is so good because we use real ginger, real, real ginger, real lime juice. And what they did is they shook with co on ice, poured it in a coll Collins glass and then topped it with fever tree. And I'm going. I will pay $8 all day for my own product because I actually love it, I love it.

Josh:

And then I got another one and there I was going. Oh the irony that here I am back at one of Bradley's places drinking the product. It was like a full circle moment where I was like now he's hosting me tonight and my wife and some family members. So that was awesome. And I just love to say that's how a lot of bars and restaurants are now bringing us in. They're like, hey, we may use it on the cocktail menu, but we have this demand in non-alcohol. We want the cucumber mint drink, we want an NA Paloma, a non-alcoholic espresso martini, all these things that we have. They're fighting their way into this need and demand within the bar and restaurant space. But the last thing I think should be worth noting on this non-alcoholic conversation is it was brought to my attention that a country artist I do not listen to country, now I do.

Deb:

I didn't listen to country.

Josh:

I knew I knew all the country names, right, these household names, you're up seeing them. They all have bars in downtown Nashville now. And um, I had found out that some overnighted product was sent to a stadium out in California and it was sent to Dierks Bentley. I go, okay. Well, I might not be able to name a song, I can name all of them now but I know the name. How neat is that.

Josh:

I did not really take any action on it, but it never left my mind, Like I never wanted to go like partner with a celebrity or somebody with a following, because these days you can't really trust how authentic it is. Sometimes it's a pay to play. But I always thought, man, if somebody loves it that much, I wonder if there's something really unique and organic here. And my curiosity to hear his story, not about who he was, but about how Withco was a part of his life, was enough for me to call his manager, track down her number, called her. She was like I'll stop you right there. We all know Withco, we love Withco. This guy is drinking Withco, not out on his airplane, he's a pilot on stage. He has a little Withco bar backstage. He's a pilot on stage. He has a little with co bar, like backstage, and I'm like this is amazing, Like I couldn't even ask for a better like moment to have, where you connect with somebody you don't know over.

Josh:

I was like this guy's living our mission. He's gathering people around with co and for the last couple of years he and his wife were just not drinking and they were drinking with co, with soda water or with ritual non-alcoholic tequila, and it was like I got to meet this guy. I want to hear his story. And he came into the office and within an hour it was like fast friends and I knew that this is somebody who shares that same vision for what this can be around the at-home bar as well as your neighborhood bar down the street. It was a chilling like goosebump moment where you're like this is what it's about. Like building business is about these human connections that happen along the way.

Josh:

And when you find somebody that does have that, I'm like I think Dierks is one of our biggest Withco fans I've ever met in my entire life and he happens to be a guy that goes. If there's ever anything I can do to help, I would love to, and I said well, matter of fact, there's a lot of things I think we could do together and that led to, a couple months later, us finalizing Dierks as a not just investor but a strategic partner in the company. Wow, More so than just hey, you can use my name. This was like what can I do? And within a few months, we're on an airplane flying to Bentonville, Arkansas, where he's friends with the CEO of Walmart. And, as of last week, we went live in 1,500 Walmarts around the U? S and they're not up section.

Deb:

Seriously, okay, wait, is that every Walmart, like my Walmart here in Crestwood, kentucky?

Josh:

I'm going to have to go look almost every state I go to there's like 90 or a hundred state, like it'll be like Kentucky, and it's this long Florida, it's this long Texas. It's just a list. I know I wouldn't. I could look at the list and confirm, but I haven't even seen it in a store yet, because sometimes these rollouts.

Deb:

Take like yeah, it rolls out by region or whatever. Yeah, okay, so that just came. Congratulations, that's amazing, that's really neat.

Josh:

Really cool. I was on a I'm part of like a non-alc Facebook group and the other day someone's like, well, look at Walmart. And they had all these screenshots of Liars and Ritual and all these amazing brands. And I'm like, oh, there's Withco. And for me, why I got excited is we could be on the shelf next to the same products that have ever been there, and that would be great. What I love is the innovation that's happening to say we're on that shelf but we're with a bunch of friends that all are representing this movement, that these big retailers that could just stay with the Coca-Cola's and Pepsi's of the world are going. Let's go to the emerging brands that are really in touch with what we want to represent as a company, and I am. It's a blessing that our team is continuing to be desired in that space. So it's really amazing how it's kind of morphed into this really inclusive way of enjoying a beverage with company, with company, no matter how you drink.

Deb:

I love that.

Josh:

It's best, best with company. So.

Deb:

I love that. I love that I have a membership. We have a happy half hour on Thursday nights on Zoom, and many of us were wine moms, many of us drank alone during the pandemic, and so to have that with company, even if it's over Zoom, but that connection and enjoying a mocktail together each week is so, it's just so important, so important, it's everything. Yeah, I love that.

Josh:

That's great. Well, we could go on and on. I mean, I think at the end of the day, like you know, we have our battles. We're fighting a lot right now, Just things that you know finding thing. I always will say.

Josh:

There's two things I probably will say, just as you know, that are coming to mind right now is like I think there's a misconception that when you see a brand in retail, they are huge, they are killing it, they must just be making so much money. And I want to speak on behalf of myself as well as all these other founders out there that are committing and sacrificing so much. We are all being given a chance in these opportunities and if they don't go well, really fast, we all lose those opportunities and it's very hard as a company to be able to like bounce back from those. So I will say, if you're listening to this and you do have a Sprouts or a Walmart or a non-op section in your store, most of those are going to be people and brands like us that are like fought to get in but, more importantly, are fighting to stay in, and the only way they sell if you don't have lots of money is to get out and share your story in hopes that a customer or a fan or a listener is like I'm going to support. If I am looking for something, this weekend, as we gather, I'm going to pop by and grab a few things off the shelf.

Josh:

So, whether it's with co or not, it's so important to support the brands that are in these innovation sets, because we're all trying to survive, to be honest. And then the second thing I'll say, which I always will say, is for somebody that kind of jumped out of the nest and figured out how to fly before I hit the ground, Like I think there's a lot of people that do have something, an idea, something that's pulling them, maybe something that they want to make change for, stand up for. Maybe they just want to bring a product into the market. Like I am an advocate for doing that, because that idea will continue to percolate and ruminate and I think the best way to get it out of your system is to bring it to the world of the world response. So I always I'm always an encourager for entrepreneurship, uh, no matter what that looks like for you.

Deb:

So I appreciate that so much. I'm an entrepreneur at heart. You know from shoveling driveways. You know back in Philadelphia when it would be a snow day I'd wake up and I'd be like, oh my gosh, I can make $100 today. You know shovel people's driveways and stuff. So I really appreciate that. I have a brand Authentic Freedom. And just hearing you say that it freedom and just hearing you say that it's like just get it out, put it out there and hold that fear and that courage and just be brave to go forward. Hold both of those. It doesn't mean you're not afraid. Absolutely, josh, thank you so much. This was so great to meet. It was so great to meet you, thank you as well.

Deb:

Thank you for bringing Withco not only to market, but now I'm going to go check my Walmart here in Crestwood, kentucky. I would love to see it and I definitely want to encourage everybody. I agree with you like to support these emerging brands in the non-alcoholic movement. So thank you. Thank you for being here, thank you for sharing your story. I really appreciate it.

Josh:

Thank you, Deb.

Deb:

Big time cheers to you for tuning into the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I hope you will take something from today's episode and make one small change that will help you to thrive and have fun in life without alcohol. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social, send up a flare or leave a rating and a review. I am cheering for you as you discover the world of non-alcoholic drinks and as you journey towards authentic freedom. See you in the next episode.