Elevator Talk: Farmwell, umma juice, Last Rep, Madpop, Afropop

27:07So yeah, it could be something that an angle that you take when you're demoing as well. Definitely. Yeah. Angie, thank you so much for joining us on Elevator Talk today. Really excited for the development of your brand. And I feel like we're going to see some iterations that are going to be really exciting in the near future. And please stay in touch and let us know how the brand is doing, when you're getting new retailers on board, when you're getting new distribution, because we want to write about it on BevNet.com. For sure. Thank you. I'd love to just continue on this conversation. and also Ray and Madeline, just with your, just some kind of mentorship if you're open to it, but I appreciate it.

27:44And just real quick, Ray, I mean, I'm still at Madeline at nutpods.com and it's amazing about with all the podcasts, actually very few entrepreneurs follow up. That is a, that's a pro tip right there. Just follow up because a lot of times, you know, it's an opportunity for you to just continue having the relationship. And so not everyone's meant to be your mentor, but they will help you along the way. We are all here because we want you to succeed. Thank you all. Thanks so much. Thanks so much for that, Madeline. That's great. And I do highly recommend that folks continue this conversation with Madeline and reach out because she's paying it forward.

28:24You know, I'm sure there are people in your life who have helped you along your path and journey. So, you know, if you can offer some of that back to new entrepreneurs, they would appreciate that for sure. And I can tell you're already doing that and you'll continue to do that, which is amazing. Thanks, Ray. Yeah. All right. On to our next guest for this episode of Elevator Talk. We have Jay Ashton, who is the co-founder and CEO of Last Rep. Jay, it's great to see you. Great to see you, Ray. Nice to meet you. Thanks for having me on. Madeline, very nice to meet you. I loved hearing your origin story and your journey.

29:00It was fantastic. I feel like one of the most interesting things about the beverage industry today is that we're seeing a lot of blurring lines, right? And so with Last Rep, I feel like we're seeing three or four different categories in one brand, which is fantastic. Jay, tell us all about Last Rep. Yeah, I feel like he just threw me in a blender. Puns intended with blurring lines too. So I'm Jay Ashton, co-founder and CEO of Last Rep. Last Rep is a, you know, it's the first of its kind athletic recovery cocktail. So our drinks pair Delta 9, MTHC with CBG, electrolytes, adaptogens, zero sugar, and six calories.

29:43My partner and co-founder, Steve Sampson, this was really his idea coming off the sale of his company, realized that the stress that goes, and Madeline can attest to this, when you are being acquired, those are long days and longer nights sometimes. And when you turn to alcohol, it makes for longer mornings and you're not, you know, functioning at a high level in a morning. But what also happens is when you make a decision to slow down the drinking, the text messages, the meet me here, meet me there of the social life starts to slow as well. So Steve and I really talked about how could we bring something to a category that we saw that was split really between indulgent sugary options, you know, really stripped down seltzers that were built around getting high.

30:31No one was building anything for function or recovery. So Last Rep is different because, you know, our drink is purposeful. It's for post-workout, but it's also for a night out with friends, you know, unwinding on a long day. So it's one can with multiple use cases. It's really perfect for anyone who, you know, doesn't want to have to choose between a healthy lifestyle and having a great time. Everyday athletes is what we kind of coined the phrase of, you know, people who are fitness first, you know, those wellness minded individuals that are really looking to train hard, recover without sacrificing a social life.

31:11So our journey, you know, we're brand new. We launched January 3rd in the greater Tampa area, focused primarily in this market. We're self-distributing. We're already in 25 doors, both on-prem and off-prem. Our second SKU, Orange, just dropped April 1st. So our initial SKU lime flavor was January 3rd. So we're doing D2C e-commerce in every state that D9 can ship to, kind of your point, Ray. It's a little bit of a gray market. So that's kind of our origin story. Well, thank you for sharing it. And I'm really excited to talk about your brand because I have a thousand questions. I'm sure Madeline does as well.

31:51Me too. Yeah. The one question I want to lead with, which is about how you describe this brand. I'm looking at my notes here and it says, Last Rep is the first ever THC seltzer for everyday athletes and wellness focused individuals. On your website and on your cans, you describe Last Rep as a cocktail. is one more effective than the other in terms of a descriptor? We're trying to figure all that out, right? Because it's easier when you're having these conversations to slow the conversation down versus just what's in print, what's the first thing that somebody sees. Cocktail kind of came to fruition because we were intending on, you know, being in bars, being in liquor stores, et cetera.

32:32So we wanted to make sure while we weren't broadcasting the THC, get high in a can thing, we wanted to make sure that people knew that we were still about having a good time, putting a smile on your face without being over-indexed for flashy colors or something that might be misconstrued as that, again, get high in a can, if you will. Yeah. And I think athletic recovery cocktail probably speaks to me a little bit more than THC seltzer, specifically because I'm not really a THC consumer, but I do love the idea of something that you can have post-recovery that's kind of fun and social. Something more than like coconut water, right?

33:13Sure, exactly. I liked how he described it online, light euphoria, stress relief, physical and mental recovery. At first I was going to say, Jay, I was a little bit confused because when you go and you have a workout, you already have your endorphins. So there's already the stress relief that you have there. And then I was reading your reviews on your website. And as you saw, they're not all a post workout. Sometimes it's like, this is what we have, you know, watching a sports game. And I think, again, you know, what we had talked about with Angie is you really want to hone like, where is the use education for last rep?

33:51I think it's a great name, by the way. But if people are using it as something that is not, you know, non-alcoholic and something that really is THC, I think being able to be very clear about what is your youth education, because that will help you be so much more efficient with your marketing. And who are the people and what time of the day are they enjoying last rep? I appreciate it. And it's been a challenge because, again, if you look at our social media, for example, we're doing a ton of events, a ton of sampling, and they are wellness focused. But they are about having a good time. There's no mistake.

34:32For sure. But I think you need to, I think I would also encourage you to parse out like when we're talking about wellness, are we talking about Peloton or are we talking about CrossFit? You know, are we talking about like Boston Marathon level or are we talking about, you know, Planet Fitness folks? And so, and again, just being able to have the psychographics of who you're trying to target. I think the other question I'm dying to ask is you have the two different levels. the five milligrams and the 10 milligrams. I know you're early, but I think it would be really curious. It'd be really like, I'm curious about which one is outselling more because which dosage level.

35:17And then also when you go to retailers or convenience stores, or, you know, you have to be careful with those that will take in THC. Is there a preferred level for them as well? So what we're seeing right now is 70 % of all sales are the higher milligram, they're the 10 milligram. And for retail specifically, retail is purchasing 90 % 10 milligram versus 5 milligram. Where we are seeing 5 milligrams be sold more of is actually in the bars. And that's because they want to encourage more volume, right? There are concerns that a 10 milligram, somebody might only have one, maybe two max, whereas a five milligram or even a lower dose could encourage somebody to spend an entire afternoon watching a football game and having more than one or two.

36:11What we're also seeing is, especially through tastings, we do sample five milligrams and we give out five milligram cans. I want to be very clear. Obviously, it's five milligrams for a whole 12 ounce can, not doing a shot. And once it comes time for someone to purchase on the spot, they smile like, well, I'll take the 10 milligram. And it's kind of like a wink. And yeah, I know how to use THC is kind of the vibe they give. That's interesting. I was curious if the 5 milligram is kind of like the tiptoe in, the tiptoe in to see like how you do with THC. And then you can upsize, if you will, to the 10 milligrams.

36:52And so we are seeing that. It is very much for those, you know, this drink, my personal opinion is this isn't for someone who is looking to, you know, alter themselves in an immediate fashion. This is supposed to be social. Crack a can with friends and family and, you know, relax. Have a good time and, you know, be social and get your vibe back, if you will. And that 5 milligram for someone who hasn't experienced THC is a great entry point because it's not going to overpower them. They're going to feel the benefits of the drink and it makes them want to come back for more. The 10 milligram isn't going to be that much more extreme, but it's still, you know, for someone who's inexperienced with the plant, for example, it's going to be a little bit more than just a, oh, this is casual, right?

37:47Jay, in terms of price point and retail, where are you for an MSRP and where do you feel like the brand would best be sold? In what retail channel specifically? Is it grocery? Is it convenience? Is it liquor stores? Yeah, unfortunately, regulations is kind of, you know, making that question probably outside of my ability to answer directly. Where do I see it? I think it's great playing a liquor store. I think it's an amazing play on-prem for bars, restaurants. I think restaurants are a little slow to adapt to it right now for obvious reasons with regulations. Bar owners who are either early to the game have seen quite quickly that from a margin standpoint, they make far more on one of these cans than they do on several beers.

38:37Our retail or what we're seeing in retail is our four packs are going for$24.99 for the 10 milligram,$22.99 for the five milligram. So we are in that premium tier. But we're a premium drink when you look at, you know, the adaptogens, the electrolytes and the other ingredients in there, as well as the THC and CBG. It's hard to equate because when you're kind of innovating a new category, how do you price a product like this? And so your online prices, you know, your 10 milligrams was$40.99 for a 12-pack. So you're pushing like$5.12 per can. But right, like I had a board meeting in West Palm Beach and like a cocktail was like$23.

39:22So, I mean, you know, I partake in a gin and tonic. But then when you take a look at prices like that, then it kind of gets back to like, that's not bad. Because this isn't a regular beverage, right? It's not the same as a spin drift or an Olipop. And so I think it's a very different subset. And how you communicate that value of saying, well, a gin and tonic is going to cost me, or at least in a nice place, it's going to cost me$22. But a post-recovery cocktail, THC seltzer at$5 or$6 or even$8 on-prem is a better value for a lot of different reasons. How you communicate that to consumers, I think, is the big question.

40:06And I think you're on your way, Jay. I think, like I mentioned, this is a really interesting brand that's got a lot of different ways it could go. And certainly it's going to be incumbent upon anyone in this business, that of THC and cannabis, to keep a very close eye on what's going on at the regulatory level and hope for the best. Because there are so many moving pieces at this point. Jay, thank you so much for introducing us to Last Rep. You've got a great brand. I'm really excited to see where it all goes from here. Please let us know if we can help in any way as you continue to build this brand.

40:40Absolutely. I thank you guys for all the insight today and hopefully stay in touch and we'll be back on the show again. For sure. Thank you. Let's keep it going on Elevator Talk with our next guest. That's Greg Mike, who is the founder of MadPop. Greg, it is good to see you. How's it going? Good to see you. It is fantastic because I have been really interested in your brand, Madpop. It has a great name, by the way, right? I mean, I don't know how people come up with brand names and then securing the trademark for your brand name is a whole other process as well. But, you know, for folks who are not familiar with what you're doing, please tell us all about your brand.

41:24Yeah, for sure. I appreciate the time. So Mad Pop has a very interesting story because I've kind of built this brand backwards, but I guess everything I've done with my life, I've done backwards and working outside the box, which I think has kind of got me to where I am today. So formerly and traditionally, I'm an artist. I paint murals all over the world professionally, large scale installations, things of that nature, various all creative projects revolve around the art world. Art and creativity has always been my life. I've dedicated to it now. From the murals all over the world to this gallery that I'm sitting in now that I've built from the ground up 15 years ago, ABV, which is an 8 ,000 square foot gallery here.

42:07We work with 600 artists all over the world to running a design agency. I've always been fully ingrained in creativity and art and the power of art. um oddly enough 15 years ago uh when i was a up-and-coming artist before i you know started painting murals everywhere um i didn't have any money and uh as you probably know art supplies are expensive so at the time i was drinking a ton of sodas beers etc um and i couldn't afford canvases uh because they're super pricey so i started painting on soda cans um and i painted one can and then i painted a few more and then uh i was like wow there's i feel like there's something here.

42:47You know, I was just kind of like using this idea of upcycling to create something new. So that's kind of how it really all started. I knew eventually, you know, down the road, I would want to create a brand out of it. But I really felt important as a creative that I launched my artwork first, I let my art, our career stand on its own, before I start going down the commercial lane, because, you know, the art in the commerce world, you know, is kind of sticky sometimes with fine art, and then the products that you sell on shelves. So I took all these cans, I went to San Francisco, I had an art show and all the cans sold out, 100 cans all sold as fine art pieces of artwork.

43:21They're now in my collector's collections still to this day, which is awesome. Fast forward, you know, 20 years later, I had a partner that's, you know, my partner in the business, Mike, he actually came to me and said, you know, I know I've been in your ear for 20 years about this. I think now's the time. You know, he's like, you got 100 different designs of artwork. And I think it's time that we turn this into an actual brand. You know, me being a true creative and building all these businesses and brands and just loving anything creative, I was all for it and understanding branding and marketing and things of that nature.

43:56So we worked with a flavor house out of Cincinnati and we developed three main core flavors. And one thing we noticed is, you know, how art has the power to build culture and create something fun, unique, original, become a collector's item, and something that you can enjoy. So I think the main thing with Mad Pop, you know, it's a sparkling craft soda. And we've really seen that it just, the power of art really opens people's eyes and we wanted to do it totally different. So that's why our branding is, you know, it's on the side of the can. When you see it on the shelf, you see the character first.

44:31So we wanted to develop a brand that, you know, has branding on the side, is art forward and just flipping it upside down and doing things differently. Where when you buy it, you feel like you're, You're not just buying a brand that's trying to sell you a product, but you're buying a piece of art, a piece of community. And hopefully you're inspired not only by the taste and the flavors and how it looks and feels, but just as a bigger piece of history. I mentioned that for folks who are not familiar with Mad Pop, that Greg could tell us a bit more about that. And I said it that way because Greg is actually quite a well-known artist and quite well-known in social.

45:09You have 223 ,000 followers on Instagram, and I'm sure quite a few more on other social networks as well. And the one thing I didn't see on your social account, or at least on Instagram, is MadPop. I'm not seeing a lot of that on your profile. How are you getting the word out about what you're doing? I'm very strategic in terms of like, I don't want to ever feel like I'm, you know, stuffing something, you know, in someone's face too much, right? And like I said, you have to be careful of the art world and respectful of people that have followed me for a certain reason. You know, I also do, I have a music project and I have the gallery and I have the agency and I'm very strategic when it comes to like what I'm, you know, presenting on social.

45:56You know, it is, it is in my bio. There's a link to the Mad Pop. I'm sharing it on my stories, specific events or engagements or murals that are based around Mad Pop. I will feature those, you know, on the feed and on my socials. But I'm trying to be tasteful with it and make sure, you know, I'm not overselling it to people. You know, I want it to be organic. Everything I've done in my life has been by following like my intuition. So I want to, you know, continue to do the same, be respectful of people. And I just was curious about, I understand about your art that you painted, their original pieces of art, and those are collectibles.

46:33And so, but I'm curious that, you know,$30 for a 12-pack, so that's running$250. What do you think consumers do after they consume one of your very eye-catching designs? But what do you think that they end up doing with it? Well, you know, it's funny you say that because I hear a lot of people that'll buy multiples for the reasons to keep them, to consume them, but then also to keep them as collector's items and put them on display in their house, which we think is really cool and unique. You know, it's very rare to see a CPG brand where someone drinks it and then puts it on display because they want to tell the story about it when their friends come over or they save it.

47:11And then they come to my gallery event or studio or art show and they ask me to sign it. I think it's really like you have to find that. like a print version of you, huh? You have to find the balance, right? I think that's the biggest thing where it's like people are willing to buy more than one and throw it away, but then also willing to save them. And hopefully there's some upsell there. I mean, I think you're onto like a nice variety story, you know, watermelon, haze, blackberry, bisque, pineapple, paradise. I just think like for me, when I'm learning about a brand, I want to learn about the backstory for sure.

47:45But I also want to learn a little bit more about the product. And so great design. I love the art story that you're trying to present. Now tell me about the product. Yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, it's a better for you soda, you know, seven grams of sugar, 30 calories. And I mean, I think that's a big thing. Obviously, the artwork is very catching and eye catching. You know, kids are drawn to it, right? And parents are obviously very concerned about what's in typical sodas. So I think this is a win there. And then I think it's also like, you know, we're selling to the music venues and the festivals.

48:18And I think it's something, you know, it's a great product that tastes incredible that can be mixed as a mixer as well. And then just drink, you know, if you do not want to drink alcohol and you're at a, you know, a show, a concert, things of that nature. So it's one of those things, like you see someone holding one of these cans, you're immediately going to say, what is that? Because that looks like nothing I've ever seen in my entire life, like in terms from a branding and packaging and eye-catching standpoint, which we're seeing that it's kind of like the story starting to tell itself. And I think from an organic standpoint, you know, there's, we have billboards in the marketplace with my art because it's been in multiple cities all over the world.

48:58So it's kind of cool and unique where it's like people know the art and know the brand and know how real it is versing a brand that's just taking out billboards. You know what I mean? There's history, there's emotional connectivity to it. So I think that's where it's really unique. You know, I think a lot of brands are totally opposite. They create a product and they're like, how are we going to market this thing? But we actually have the lifestyle, the culture. And then now we have this extension of that, which is an incredible product. I mean, I think it's an incredible product just based on the packaging.

49:30And again, getting people to sip it and to try it for the first time is going to be the most important first and second step of your brand. I noticed that you recently got picked up by United Distributors out of Georgia, which is great, the largest distributor in the state. And you're also raising a seed round, which should also help get the brand out there or at least use, I'm assuming you'll use some of that money to help get the word out and get those trials and get those samplings going. Just out of curiosity, how much are you trying to raise in your seed round? 500K off the jump, yeah, for this round.

50:06Okay, I think that's reasonable. And I mean, are you reaching out to angel investors at this point? Friends and family and then people that are in my extended network, whether that's collectors or just people that I've met, do business with, clients, et cetera. Outstanding. Well, hopefully we're getting the word out about the seed round in this episode of Elevator Talk. And Greg, thank you so much for taking the time. It's a really exciting brand. And I think there's a long way to go, especially as people are even more aware of what you're doing as an artist. And I think just the differentiation you, you know, you're bringing to the soda category via packaging, which is a different route than I can ever recall seeing, especially in soda, which is really cool.

50:49Yeah, we're, you know, we're just, we want to do things different, unique. And I think there's just like tons of opportunity for collaboration, whether that's, you know, with movie, with films, with music, with, you know, limited edition releases. And, you know, obviously at the end of the day, the product's got to be great. And that's what we're excited about and always trying to, you know, expand on the brand. And, you know, thank you for the time and definitely appreciate all the feedback. And, you know, we're excited to see where it all goes. I'll be in Atlanta in June dropping off my kid for a summer camp at Emory.

51:21Nice. We're five minutes from Emory and I'd love to give you a studio tour and gallery tour and get you to taste the product if you hadn't a chance to get. Love that. Thank you. That would be amazing. Greg, thank you so much again. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. All right. On to our final guest for this episode of Elevator Talk. We have Jamel Stevens of Afropop. He's the founder and CEO. Jamel, great to see you again. Hi. Great to see you again, Ray. Thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it. you know for me afropop started in my kitchen in 2022 it started as a self-discovery journey you know for me i grew up in rural oklahoma and the way that i found my culture was through creativity and um that had became the foundation for everything that we do with afropop you know we focus on black joy black culture and black community through our partnerships with uh emerging artists um and then of course we also create unique products as well you know this one here is Black of the Berry.

52:20It's kind of hard to see there. Black of the Berry. That's our Black Berry Cream Soda. And all of our sodas, 30 calories, seven grams of sugar, pretty on par for what the industry is. But yeah, thank you. Very, very cool brand. When I mentioned, when we talked a while back about Afropop, I think there's just so many things to like about what you're doing between the appreciation of and, you know, discussion of Black culture via a beverage. And then also just the flavors that you have and extremely differentiated. I think a butterscotch soda, maybe Jones soda had something like that once in the past, but I haven't necessarily seen it in this kind of format.

53:02It just sounds so incredible. And before we get to Madeline, I just want to go back to a question I've been asking almost every entrepreneur, which is, what do you talk about first? What's really getting the consumer engaged here? Is it the, you know, your association with artists? Is it the association with Black culture? Is it the flavors? Is it the packaging, which is also so incredible? For a lot of people, what resonates first is kind of like Madeline said, like, I want to go to grandma's house, right? And I think what resonates with people is that they see themselves in the products that we create.

53:35So, you know, sometimes we don't even have to say anything. They walk up and they said, oh my gosh, you know, this reminds me of my grandma when, you know, when we used to go to, you know, go to our grandma's house, you know, as a kid in the South, we would go and get those little butterscotch candies or, you know, with summer nights, it reminds, you know, them of going with their cousins to, you know, to their house and spending a night there and stuff like that. And so I think really for us, what resonates first is the, you know, it almost feels like we've been around forever. It's the nostalgia and the memory of what used to be and what is now, which is Afropop.

54:11I love that you actually scheduled, you know, Jamel after Greg, because both of them have very art forward designs. But one thing that Jamel has on top of that is layering on about the culture, you know, Black history. And so I think it's also in another affinity lane about being able to have great flavors. And one of the things that I wanted to point out about Jamel is that, you know, the convention for sure is to be just upfront about what you are, you know, cucumber, pineapple, hibiscus, mango is what we saw in FarmWell, Spindrift, you know, maybe they might get fancy with the Fuji apple or the green apple, but it's still apple.

54:56So you know what you're getting. I, it was the same for me when I wanted to be Tahitian vanilla because it's fancier than French vanilla. But one of my marketing consultants told me, you got to give them something that is familiar because they're already trying a new brand. So if you have like, I don't know, they might not like Tahitian vanilla, where's Tahiti anyways, right? And so we ended up going with French vanilla, which is our number one bestselling. But Jamela is actually zagging when everyone is zigging. So summer nights, You know, you don't intrinsically know that it's blackberry or lemonade or grandma's house is butterscotch, but it also invites you in to learn a little bit more.

55:39And so I actually really I think it's refreshing. For us, it's been about world building. You know, our blueberry lemonade is very popular flavor. You know, I think it's the most simplistic. You know, you have an idea what that might taste like. Um, but, you know, I, I think whenever we look at, you know, several different like culturally forward, um, beverage brands, um, we, you know, I've really admired that, uh, piece of being forward with, yeah, like even like a lychee soda, um, that's, that's delicious, you know, um, and I think that, you know, um, we are a little disruptive in that, in that space, right?

56:22We're kind of pushing against the grain of, especially in the beverage market, it can be very monotone. There's a lot of colas. There's a lot of lemon-lime sodas. And there's even a lot of root beers. But you don't see a blackberry soda or a blackberry cream soda or a blueberry lemonade or a butterscotch soda. And I think that also can be a layer of actually inviting people in. I think a lot of people are like, what does a black-owned soda company look like, right? We've seen Asian-inspired sparkling water brands, and we've seen a lot of beverage brands, really. And we've seen even in the Mexican soda category, I think one of my personal favorites is actually Delecaille.

57:03It is a personal favorite of mine because I love to see when we actually go deep into who we are and then be able to share that with the world. I think that's so cool. And I'm glad that for the Black community, I've been able to do that. And to see the response from the community has been extremely, you know, rewarding. And to see people outside of the community be able to enjoy the culture and appreciate it, that's also been really rewarding as well. And I think it's beautifully said. And, you know, Jamel, like, you have your favorite brand. You know, obviously, Harito's has really scaled. But bringing forward other flavors that you wouldn't normally.

57:46Like I don't think many people have tried like a tamarind flavored soda. So I think this is a lovely way to share your culture and your roots. And I love that you have a rotating cadre of artists that you work with for the designs. Again, just doubling down on the brand story and the authenticity. Absolutely. I really appreciate that. And we have seen a lot of growth and opportunity. we're in 135 locations, 25 states, and we're continuing to grow. You know, I actually got the opportunity to share with BevNet that we recently signed with RNDC as our beverage distributor. We're starting here in Oklahoma, but I foresee us being able to expand into more states and hopefully we can reach a place close to you so we can try some.

58:34Oh, I already found you. Art and Bar in Seattle. I'm going to find you. Don't worry. Okay. Nice. Nice. Well done, Madeline. I got to find some Afropop here in the Boston area. You know, there's a tangent, there's a bookstore that's right up the street from me that actually has a pretty impressive beverage selection of really independent brands and upstarts. And I feel like it's a really good way to introduce your products to a specialized audience and get a sense of how they're trying the brand, how they're using the products. And before you're going wide and really get that information, get that data that you can share with a larger retailer.

59:16the one question that I have Jamel is about um your sugar count and your calorie count and why you chose to put it on the side of the can versus the front of the can because if I'm looking at your butterscotch soda and you see the front I'm thinking this is a high calorie high sugar soda in reality it's not uh it is a set is a 30 calorie product with only seven grams of sugar So is that something that is intentional in terms of keeping it off the front? Or is that something you could incorporate in the future? You know, I wanted to make sure that we gave as much space to the artists as possible.

59:56And, you know, I think with, for example, like on this can, there's a big Afro Pop logo already on there. with some of the orientation that we started to do. We actually, when we updated our label, we moved it to the bottom right corner. So you can see those 30 calories, seven grams of sugar and all those call outs on there. But it's definitely not as big and bold as you usually see on cans. And I think for, like I said, for me, it was more, how can we make sure that we are prioritizing artistry? Like, you know, I think the value add It's from the culture piece and it's like, oh, this happens to be also a low calorie, low sugar option as well.

1:00:40Jamel, thank you so much for taking the time. It's such an exciting story. All the founders today have such really interesting stories and backgrounds. And I think it's something that consumers want. It's very clear that people want something different, something with a really interesting backstory and something that tastes great. And I think you're delivering on all those fronts. Now it's about really understanding how to tell that story and how to expand your distribution in a really efficient way. And I think you're really onto the right track. So thank you again. Please stay in touch. And if we can help in any way, just say the word.

1:01:15Thank you. Five incredible founders with really interesting brands. And I think when you started out talking about a defensive moat, it's definitely something where these founders are going to try to have to figure out where they do stand out and how they can keep that distance from the next brand or the already existing brands that are out there. But I think they're doing a good job of it. And it definitely helps, as you mentioned, when you can talk to people who have been there and done that, mentors, experienced executives or operators or founders that are willing to talk to you about how to build and successfully scale a brand.

1:01:56I think you were very kind in offering your email address, and there are plenty of people who are willing to talk, but I think the pitch is just as important. How do you advise founders as to what's not just reaching out, but the content in terms of that outreach? You know, if you talk to Mike Bergemeier, he saw me at my most awkward at the very beginning, where it was like, someone told me I needed to meet Mike Bergermeyer. And I was like, so awkward, you know, cause it was a whole new industry. And I'm like, he stopped for a moment to have his food. I'm like, I'm like, I'm at a lead. And it was so awkward.

1:02:38And so, but, you know, I think when you, the way that I, that I have since advised people is that everyone who comes in your path can help you put one piece of your puzzle for your brand in place, you know? And so not everyone is going to sign up to be your mentor, but they can help you in that moment when you're waiting for your car at the valet. It's a great five minute conversation you can have with them. And in little trivia note, sometimes I would be taking an Uber, but pretend to be in the valet line just so I could talk to whoever I needed to talk to, because that was not socially awkward.

1:03:16And you're just chatting about, you know, BevNet live. And so, but being able to keep in touch and so you know i think like for example jamel he could keep in touch with me and say i didn't want to say this on taste radio but i'm really excited about this flavor or you know um or like we can go ahead and talk to you you know angie to be able to say like i'm really curious about how you handled field marketing is it all dirty hands is it all like what what were the favorite ones and so you ask a quick question you give them a quick highlight of what's going on with their brand to keep them interested in your brand.

1:03:54And so, and most people, they feel good when you ask them for advice, you know? And so, and most people in this industry, I've always said, I think, I think our industry is like country music. We're very friendly and we want everyone to succeed. This isn't a dog eat dog world. You know, the market will choose what brands and what products succeed. And so, and it's hard enough. It's hard enough being an entrepreneur. So those of us that have been successful, most of the time I find that we want to help others on their way too. And so those are the ways that I would say is come up to us at industry events, you know, introduce yourself, not as awkwardly as I did to Mike Bergemeier.

1:04:36So, and then keep in touch with us and tell us what's going on with your brand with an easy question, not something that's going to take 20 minutes for me to answer. That's a great answer right there. And I love the fake Uber line conversations. That's a really good one. Madeline, I can't thank you enough for joining us on the show today. You're the best. We've had you on the show once before. We've got to have you back for a third time. Can I count on you to join us again? I will do a hat trick for you anytime. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ray. Always great to see you. You as well. You're the best.

1:05:13And thank you so much to all the founders who joined us today. To everyone who's watching or listening, and to our amazing team at BevNetNosh and Taste Radio, the best in the business. Signing off for everyone, I'm Ray Lateef, and we'll talk to you next time.