How a Pregnant Mom Built $2 Billion Soda Brand Poppi From Her Kitchen (ft. Allison Ellsworth)

0:00I was on Shark Tank nine months pregnant and we got a deal. Alison Ellsworth is the founder of Poppy. Cost is like$17 million. The prebiotic soda brand that went completely viral and sold for just under$2 billion. We sold out in the grocery stores. We did$100 ,000 while we were sleeping on Amazon. It's the American dream. What began as a gut health experiment in her kitchen grew into an empire fueled by a viral TikTok strategy for own determination and a bold rebrand after Shark Tank. Hi, I'm Alison. I'm the founder of Poppy and welcome to the burnout. Well, Allison, we are so excited to have you on.

0:37I mean, it is crazy. We have seen so few women have a successful exit in business, probably sold for$1.95 billion. But you've been working on this for over nine years and you started off in oil and gas. Can you talk to me about that career evolution into building the brand? You know, I think it goes back to when I was in college. Like a lot of people going into college, you don't know what you're going to do. I danced my whole life. I went into college and was like, I'm going to be a dancer. And then I quickly realized when I was there, what am I going to do with this career, right? You don't need a degree in dance to teach it or to be a dancer.

1:12And so I took a year off of college. I went out to the big world and moved to Spain for a year. And I realized that there is a big world. So I came back, graduated college as quickly as possible. And I wanted to make money. I was like, I want to make, you know, just like a name for myself in a place that you can make a lot of money. I'm from Texas is in oil and gas. And so I went on the road, I started traveling for about seven years working in oil and gas research, totally opposite of what I do now on the road is where I kind of discovered and came up with with poppy, you started by taking the shots of apple cider vinegar, right?

1:48And then what happened after that, you know, when you're traveling, you don't have good access to food, you're out of your helmet, your sleep rhythm is off. And I just was feeling sick. So my stomach was always bloated at horrible acne, just a total lack of energy. And so I was googling which i love googling i kept saying i master cleanse apple cider vinegar and i'd heard my grandma tell me i needed to drink it so i started drinking it and i like the way it made me feel but i didn't like the taste have you guys ever taken a shot yes before it tastes so bad my mom always drinks apple cider she puts it in her salad dressing and it i cannot do it you know it's good for you but you're like i'm not gonna do this it's not sustainable so i was like okay i have to figure out a way to make this taste good but i really wanted to make sure it was healthy because I started it because of kind of I had the health issues.

2:32I ended up going gluten free and actually reading labels and learning about food and wellness, which was almost before the times. I know once again, that sounds crazy nowadays. But and I just kind of came up with the first version and it wasn't even in my head of business. It was just something I was really passionate about. And I wanted to share with as many people as possible. When did it actually become a real business? When did you realize, oh, I should be selling this? I wanted to get married. My husband got married. We wanted to start a family. And you can't really travel if you want to start a family.

3:01So we ended up getting pregnant with our first. And I was so bored, you guys. I mean, I'm like, I'm a Capricorn. I cannot sit still. I don't take naps. I'm like, just like a really hardcore, like, do, do, do, do. And so for me, I was like, I'm gonna take this to a local farmer's market. And I just wanted to once again, share with as many people as possible. Whole Foods was there, one of the buyers from Whole Foods and they were like you guys have no idea there's nothing like this in Whole Foods you guys have to be in there I was like wait this is a business okay wait this is amazing Whole Foods wants us I remember looking at my husband and saying we're gonna go all in we're gonna put our life savings into this and he was like you're crazy we just bought a house and you're pregnant and I'm like and like we're doing this he's like I guess we're doing this was there ever a discussion of not working together on it because you're married yeah you know I think there's a part of us that was like, we won't do it unless we do it together.

3:53He worked with me in oil and gas. And so we kind of like knew what we were getting into. And it was like one of those moments that he is so opposite of me. So I'm wild, creative, I'm like jump off a cliff. And he's like, okay, I'm gonna figure out how to like catch you while building the business plan. And it was just it made a recipe for like a really good success to kind of also a partner in life, like in a partner in business, it's really hard as a founder to do it by yourself. So I always give other founders advice. Like if you don't have a co-founder, your first three hires are basically going to be your co-founders.

4:26You're going to be in it. So it's just life is easier doing it together. And then we have like one common goal with kids, family, business, right? It kind of made things easier. Now that we've sold, it's definitely different. But yeah, I wouldn't have changed it for sure. And when you're selling at the farmer's market, you talked about how there was a bit of a rebrand from what it was then to it actually becoming poppy what was that journey like and what was it called when you were selling it at the farmer's market so it was called mother beverage and it was a playoff of the mother of vinegar we'd gotten into whole foods we were about 500 000 um in revenue and obviously the next step in the american dream is you go on shark tank so we decided i remember it's the first time i got a babysitter and i we went and stood in line we pitched ourselves i think it was like eight hours of standing in line i was pregnant with our second at this time.

5:12So we'd kind of been in the market for about a year and a half. This is the American dream. We have to do it. And we kept going on, kept going on. And then we ended up getting on Shark Tank. I was on Shark Tank nine months pregnant and we got a deal. And after getting the deal, we were like, okay, we had a great story. We had a great liquid, but we didn't have a brand or a product. And so that was kind of the aha moment of really our branding was shit. And it was time to really make it like, what were we doing? And so we spent nine months and we did a full rebrand and we looked at what is the personality who is our consumer how do we want to market these things and and then we came up with poppy which is a play on soda pop and we decided to launch it after that what was the name when you guys went on shark tank and why do you think you got the deal i think it was a good story it was a great product so like the liquid was the same so i went from mother beverage to poppy i always say like our shark rohan he invested in us and the product.

6:06And he had been in beverage before as well. And so there's a lot of beverages that go to the graveyard. Like it's a really capital intensive business. You're basically shipping liquid across the United States, right? And so it's just a really hard business versus like beauty. The margins are really high or supplements, right? You're like chipping powder. So it's a tough one to be in. And he just was like, wait, if I'm going to do this, he, I think, believed in us and the story, which I'm actually going back on Shark Tank as a shark. Oh, yeah. So I'm the first person to have gotten a deal to go back and be a shark.

6:43And it's so fun to be like sitting on the other side of the table. And really, it always comes down to the product and the founders with an investment. I think you saw that in us. What would you say is the most underrated decision you've made that led to the sale or success of Poppy? You know, I think there's a lot of underrated decisions that we did along the way. and sometimes it's like the small things that matter. Now, what I'm about to say might not seem so small, but it was literally putting myself out there to be on social media because at the time, brands just weren't doing it. So just to like lay the story, we launched Poppy March of 2020, the first week of COVID.

7:19So all traditional ways of marketing kind of went out the window. You couldn't do anything in real life. You couldn't talk to your consumers the same way. people were all online because you're stuck at home. I mean, it was just like a weird time. We had to just kind of think differently from beginning. And so I remember being like, you guys, there's this thing called TikTok. And at the time, there's no reels. And Instagram was just like a beautiful website. You're just like really high gloss photography. There was no like realism. There's like a little bit of meme culture, of course, kind of starting and going on.

7:49But it was really out of the norm is to go on that. And Poppy now has like 3 billion views on TikTok. It's crazy our growth in our community and I think it's a really big piece of our success on why we just became soda for the next generation was tiktok the dominating force for social media or was it like a mix of instagram and tiktok for you you know we always had a good mix for sure but I definitely think tiktok was just your the algorithm you show up to people that don't follow you right and so it's a great way for new people to discover you whereas on instagram really it's just the people that already kind of know you are it was a lot harder to go viral it's a lot harder to kind of like reach new audiences.

8:26And that's the beauty, I feel like, of virality. And especially on TikTok, in the early days, it was the wild, wild west. Like you could post a video and you'd have like a million views overnight. Now it's like basically impossible to do that unless you were like totally unhinged or you're putting paid behind it. But back then it was crazy. And then I think everyone was looking for community at that time during COVID as well. And so I just think it was such a perfect thing at the right time, right? I think it's a little bit harder now, but I still think it's a really smart move for businesses to take it seriously.

9:08What were some of the videos that you were making back then that ended up going viral? Okay, so I would literally try everything from dancing recipe videos to putting my kids in it. I was doing I remember just like the old school like savage dance. I mean, this is like OG OG stuff. I look back, I made like our chief of sales at the time do it. And I have like video and I like put it in every board deck and everything. It's so funny because it's just that bad. But I think that what really worked finally was just being real and authentic and telling my story. So like I sat down one night, Friday night, my hair was wet.

9:41I don't even think I had makeup on. And I just told my story in one minute or less with a green screen, like old school style. And it went so viral. Like we sold out in the grocery stores. We did like$100 ,000 while we were sleeping on Amazon. And that video, it has 250 million views. It's crazy. And what do you think it was about the video that really got people to want to actually buy the product? You know, I think it was simple. So education wise, I was like, hey, I'm the founder of Poppy. It has five grams of sugar. I got a deal on Shark Tank and I was pregnant while doing it. Like it was just so simple.

10:14I think a lot of people look at advertising and TikTok, especially as brands, and they I think they have to be unhinged and wild rather than just sometimes just talking about your product and being a normal human being. Like I let my kids run around in the videos and our teammates are on there. And it's just I don't know. It's hard. I still have to like tell businesses like do not spend a lot of time on your content. Just post it. It's it's hard. I know I get it. But letting people in to show like the real people behind the business, I think, is is really what broke through. That's honestly really good advice because even for our business, that has been such a huge learning that usually the videos that do the best and actually convert into real downloads are so simple.

10:56Just, oh my God, look at this tool. It helped me save money. And then anything that's too editorial, I feel like people scroll past because it doesn't feel raw and authentic. And part of why I brought that up is I'm really curious. Something I think Poppy did so well is you guys got real people to invest in the company who actually used the product, like celebrities who really loved it. How did you go about finding those people and then inviting them onto the cap table? In their early days, we really just didn't know what we were doing at the end of the day. Like we were like, this is a whole new world with COVID.

11:31And so we thought one day everyone's stuck at home. All of these influencers and creators are desperate for content to post. It's probably better for you. It's fun. It's vibrant. So we invested in sending as much product out to people as possible. And we had like a 90 % open rate. And it really opened our eyes into how much people loved the product when we sent it to them. And for me, it was really big on like actually people liking the product where we paid them. And I know it's easier than done. And I'm all for creators getting that bag. like do what you got to do boo but also like if you really like the product it just comes more authentic off to the audience and so we invested heavy in creator marketing before we ever did a pay dad we ever had a pr agency we were just like creator first from literally year one and i just think that that just started building such an incredible community uh versus being celebrity first so yes we have a couple celebrities that are on our cap table which are amazing which is Olivia Munn, Jared Leto, that we brought in a couple people that had the connections there.

12:33So there's a bunch of like LPs. There's a bunch of people in venture funds and things like where it's like it's just celebrities. And so you can like bring a couple of those people and then it opens up their their whole network with all of their LPs. So there's a couple we got there that we just let in. For example, Electric Phil there, it's Post Malone's manager, right? We let them in really early on. So then when it kind of came time later on for us to do a deal with Post Malone, it was really easy it was he loved the product you know he went on a podcast and he was talking about how much he loved soda but hated the way you know it made him feel and so his manager who's our good friend gave him a poppy and he was like wow I love poppy and so we found out about that I was like oh my gosh we got to do a deal with him and he believed in it so much that it was he invested it was equity it was like this whole thing and it was just such a beautiful partnership the same thing was like Alex Earl right she was drinking us in college I mean she had like no followers at the time which was posting us we were seating her and then she just blew up and we just were like wow let's just do this together so we've been working with her for like almost three years i remember i want to say it was chantelle jeffries i would always see her snapchat stories of her drinking poppy and that's why it came across so authentically to me where i was like wow this girl loves poppy i didn't even realize she was an investor she's amazing like i'm on text with chantelle she would be like hey i'm going to miami i have this event and you poppy at my room like she was a hustler knowing that she'd probably be seen or can go out and get photographed with it and everything and so she was an investor and just like believed in the brand and she reached out to us originally to want to invest as well and so you just you just find passionate people if you have a good product along the way for sure are there any other examples of people where you feel like the collaboration really moved the needle for you guys same same story with like jake shane he had 90 000 followers when he started posting us and now i mean he's just i'm so obsessed with him and his content and he's a kind soul and there's just special people out there right that kind of get it and then i think another one that was just who became a dear friend of mine is olivia munn i mean she's posted us and and just went above beyond put us in her interviews throughout the years just because she invested as well so holistically it's hard as the size poppy is to understand like who moves the needle because i mean we're doing like super bowl ads and stuff.

14:43Right. And so for me, it's the faith of that brand building more than an ROI, if that makes sense. Like I know creator and working with influencers and celebrities like that builds hype, that builds awareness, that brings sizzle. It's culturally relevant. So I always try to tell people like sometimes you can't measure it and that's OK, which is really hard for businesses, by the way. Let's say Poppy's doing a million dollars in marketing a year. How does that break down in the last couple of years of thinking about like, OK, brand building, seeding, gifting, advertisements like a Super Bowl ad, TikTok?

15:14How would you guys like break down spend like that? So I think it's different stages of the business. So in the early years, it was really the social world, right? I don't think we started running TV ads until like year three. And then year four and five is when we did Super Bowl ads. But you don't want to go so far if you don't have the distribution. For example, if people can't find you and you're spending a ton of money on TV and they can't find you or like you're wasting your money. And so Amazon was a really great avenue for us because I think it's in like 90 % of households in America. You can go on Amazon.

15:48We're the number one soda on Amazon. We just kind of leaned in there versus we're not a direct to consumer business. So you cannot buy Poppy on our website. If you go to our website, you go check out on Walmart, Target or Amazon. And so for us, that was like a really good marketing engine for a really long time and so when it comes to budgets we typically in the early years it was about brand building so our working budget was close to like 28 percent of revenue and then as we've like scaled it slowly come down because you don't it's not as efficient right so then it would like go down to like you know 22 percent and then like 20 percent and like 13 i would say maybe is like the lowest just depends like people always say i have a PR agency and by the way PR agencies are like 20 a month like good ones and i'm like but do you have anything that's prable i'm like you're wasting your money like if you're hot you're gonna get in the roundups you're gonna get in all those things already like stop wasting your money i love PR agencies we desperately need them now at the stage of where poppy is but i'll hear someone in year one of business spending money like that and i'm like what are you doing it's we thought the first thing we needed to do was get a PR agency we ended up talking to a bunch we're like oh this is way too expensive so expensive and we also thought we needed design contractors or people to do our branding.

16:59Like that's what we originally thought. Oh, we should raise and spend money on that. And then really quickly realized like, oh, wait, these things don't make sense for us. That canva's amazing. Well, I think it's a really good point because business is ultimately about different stages of the company. And in the beginning, it's really about whether or not you're providing value. And so for you guys, the liquid was what mattered. You had a product people actually wanted to drink that was providing value to them. And then you poured marketing on top to make it really go above and beyond. And so I wanted to talk more about actually the product development itself.

17:30How did that evolve over time of the original kitchen beverage you made to the actual production ready beverage? How did you guys make that evolution happen? In the early days, I think like the first nine original flavors were made by like me and my husband. I remember our cherry limeade. I'm from Texas. I don't know if you guys have Sonics around here, But I grew up with them and I was like, oh, I really want like a cherry limeade from Sonic, but it was so much sugar. So I literally spent the weekend making our cherry limeade flavor. Like that's how we used to do it back in the old days where there's no research, no flavor radar studies, no like PhD scientists, like no food scientists.

18:06It was like all of these things like we didn't have and we were just doing it from the gut of like what tasted good. Now we do have a lab. We do have an incredible innovation team and operations team. And so there's a lot more that goes into that. because it's what we found really early on is some of my original flavors take our raspberry rose rose can be a little bit polarizing for example it was like a gamble but it ended up being like one of our top sellers but we have like a lavender lemon and an orange cinnamon and what we realized is people just want orange soda true you know like they want grape they want orange they want strawberry lemon like they want familiar things that are better for you that remind them of something they grew up with hence why i wanted cherry limeade sonic right and so it just depends now there's a lot more research that goes into what we launched because we have like 20 flavors and we don't want to have too many you want to make sure it's a hit and sometimes we just do fun like ltos like fomo drops and stuff like that what is the best-selling flavor right now i would say like our strawberry lemon it probably it's the data could be skewed though because it also has the largest distribution you know what i mean but but for me it's like grape and strawberry lemon are my favorites, but raspberry roses up there, orange, you know, our cherry cola, which is like one of, it's only been out about a year.

19:22And then we just relaunched our root beer. So we had a root beer that we absolutely hated and we redid the formula and we redid the packaging because our consumers were telling us we needed to and we listened and it, which is really cool. And now it's like crazy selling and it's, you know, it's fun to see. What's a mistake you've made while building the business that's taught you something? Not hiring people quick enough. So we're like one of the fastest growing beverages in the history of beverage. And when you're growing that quick, it's really hard to stop and ask for help. And even though we were hiring, we almost like weren't hiring quick enough.

19:57And I'll say like the number one most secret sauce to Poppy is the team and the people behind just from our influencer to our ops, to our finance, to the operating team. And so I think that's a really big thing is everyone waits for perfect, the perfect hire, the perfect person and the perfect cultural fit. So it's what we did is we did a lot of time and building out like what did we want our culture at Poppy to be. I was like, look, we want people that can keep it real. I'm a pretty real person. I'm pretty blunt. And I'm like, I don't want to go around it. Like I just want to have a conversation.

20:30Like what's wrong? Like everyone's like, oh, Allison, you really get right in there. And I'm like, well, I don't have time for this. I want to build the business. And so it was like, do we have people that are OK with just keeping it real and having good conversations and that will speak up with good ideas? And then another really big important thing was being disruptive and creative. And any department can be creative. And then from finance, right, creative money, if we're selling out to get it on the shelves to get POs made, right? Do we do it better together? So collaboration was key. And then I think one that we didn't have like inner values, it was working really hard.

20:59People were working really hard at Poppy and if certain people weren't, it was hard to fit in. So it's like I will teach you anything if you show up versus like the perfect resume. How did you index for young, hungry talent versus people with industry experience? I would say Poppy's very young, like our employee base, especially more so like I think on the marketing side of things. And it's just a vibe. Like I don't know how to explain it. like our last few hires have just been interns that were insane and incredible people and we're like wow you're a really hard worker you fit the mold let's like hire you so we are hiring people around a college which I hear some people say like that's not good you don't want to have the first hour and I'm like I don't know it keeps us young and fresh and then also I think hiring cross vertical so not always hiring from food and bev we hire from fashion and beauty and I think like our head of ops, he came over from avocados, right?

21:53Like it was just like a totally different landscape and it's just good people. And so kind of like thinking outside the box and doing things differently is kind of just always what we've done at Poppy.

22:13How do you and your husband deal with when you guys have business disagreements? I think like our biggest fight was over the product. So I started obviously because of the health reasons. And when I first started it, it had no sugar in it. And I was like, I can't have sugar in it. We have to be zero sugar. And he was like, Allison, America likes sugar. And so he's like, okay, we're going to add five grams of sugar. And I remember us just fighting. And then finally we did it and our sales like tripled overnight. Oh my gosh. and I was like dang it you were right and so like that was a really good lesson that we learned early on is to not immediately say no just because I was the founder and it was my idea I felt like I knew best and so I had to learn along the way to really like check my ego early on we brought in a CEO to run the business uh you know a few years in we brought in someone marketing I was running marketing so we me and my husband were really good at being like self-aware king and queens of like Like, OK, we don't know.

23:08I've never bought a Super Bowl ad before. You know, like I need someone in here that knows what they're doing. Then it allowed us to do really the things that we were good at. Right. I'm really good on the creative and the brand and the vision. And so, you know, I think a lot of entrepreneurs get to the point of like where they think they're right. And look, I have a great my gut is usually right when it comes to creative things. But like doesn't mean I'm always right within the business, if that makes sense. That makes a ton of sense. And I know you guys had that lawsuit over gut health claims and such.

23:35Do you feel like, honestly, the business wouldn't have been successful if sugar wasn't added because America loves sugar so much? I think so. I think, look, people want to tell you they're healthy and then they'll go home and eat an Oreo. It's just they say one thing and do another. And so I truly feel like Poppy's revolutionizing soda for the next generation. And we give people the freedom to love soda again. And if you are not full flavor, taste like a soda, then you're sparkling water. You know, in which we love sparkling water. We love kombuchas. We love sparkling waters. There's all sorts of things, but we are a soda.

24:08And so, look, we're 89 % less sugar than soda. Like, that's pretty good. Was that your husband's argument? It was. Dang it. Shout out, Steven. I love when me and Sophia disagree and then I come around to her side and I repeat it to people. I'm like, and that's why we're doing this. Literally, but that's a good partnership. She's like, wait, that was my point originally. I'm like, I don't think it was. It's probably mine. Well, I think it's so important also in finding a business partner and something that's worked really well for me and Phoebe is both acknowledging, yes, we're working on these different verticals of the business.

24:38But that doesn't mean that the other person won't have an amazing idea that relates to your vertical of the business as well. And I did want to know more about how did your husband and you kind of divide and conquer? What did you choose to focus on versus what did he choose to focus on? You know, he's obsessed with the product. um so he ran the entire supply chain so he was chief product officer so anything product related so innovation team and operations right so he was just so good and literally I mean I want to say he had almost no the sales force was bigger I was gonna say his team was just like one of the biggest teams in the company and so for me then I did like the brand and the creative side of things and And that's just where my crazy is is.

25:22And, you know, I think we built such an incredible team on the creative side. I mean, some of our hires are still some of our first hires and our retention rate is like through the roof. I mean, for 10 years, almost like building this dream together. And now that chapter has kind of come to an end. And so now we're like, wait, we're doing different things. And I'm like, what are you doing? Who are you talking to? Like, what's going on? Can I help? Can I help? And he's like, Allison, no, like I'm just doing a deal. And same on my, he's like, what are you doing? no idea and so it's um we're having to like relearn that piece of like not working together which is really fun and and kind of exciting really going on dates again and like taking golf lessons together it's interesting oh that's that's adorable we're never gonna like hang out like i don't think we went on a vacation in seven years while building poppy and having kids i of course want to talk about the acquisition we need to know i mean how did that happen how has that change your guys's lives it's the american dream it really is from my kitchen to shark tank to selling to pepsi i mean like a lot of people might say like why did you guys do that you could have kept going or whatever but it was always the goal so a lot of people don't realize distribution when it comes to beverage you need a good distributor and look we had incredible distributors before we went into the pepsi system but that's one distributor they're dealing with versus 180 really just streamlines things um how it came about is we just you just kind of like start dating it's like you'll go to dinners you do stuff um our rohan our shark uh who was our original investor had great relationships and could make phone calls and do stuff like that and then our ceo chris was incredible through the process but we knew we had a good thing poppy's growth and just everything going for it and this whole next generation of soda drinkers so they saw that value in us and what we brought and we saw the value in what they brought and so it's just like right timing in our gut as well because we could have kept going but a lot of people don't understand if you get too big it's almost like you have to either go ipo or it's just like a really like people don't want to pay if you're like doing a billion or two billion in revenue there's not a lot of people can pay multiples on that right so it was just one of the things that was like right time inflection in Poppy.

27:38And now like we're on their trucks and I'm just seeing Poppy even more places than before. And I still giggle and get just as excited. Even walking here, I saw I went in and bought a Poppy. It's just, I don't know, it's just exciting. Tell us a little bit more about how an acquisition works. Do you still stay on with the company after? Do you have any connection with the brand? Like what does that look like? Yeah, I think a really big piece of it was like me working with the team on the on the creative and brand side. So it's been a little bit harder. And obviously, I'm like, kind of quote, unquote, the face of as well.

28:10So I'm staying on and advising and we're working on some big campaigns for 2026. So I'm still super involved in like the planning and the big campaigns. And we're about to go on college tour. So I'm still doing a lot of like really fun things with with the team. And the only really differences is you don't sell your company and then get an employee badge, right? It just doesn't work like that. So or you don't sell your house and then be like, can I tell you where to put the planters? And so it's really advisory. And it's been interesting because I have more time because I used to do a lot of one-on-ones.

28:39I had a team of 30 that were reporting to me that I don't have anymore. So it's kind of nice. It's allowed me to really make impact and be creative. And then on the flip side, it's, I have so much more time to hang out with my kids, go on dates. I'm like getting excited about what I want to do next, right? I definitely feel like I have another business in me. I want to give back all this knowledge that I have and help the next generation of challenger brands. I'm really passionate about that, but it's literally been like three months. What do you want people, young women, to take away from your entrepreneurial journey?