MOCKTAILS + TRIATHLONS

When you are deeply invested in conversation, an hour can feel like a blip - a bittersweet one. 

This has been our latest challenge. We are forever grateful for our guests’ time, but - once given the opportunity to explore their worlds, hear their stories, and learn from them - the end of the one-hour window always comes too soon.

Fortunately, when we sat down with Samantha Stafford, the co-founder of Remix Mixers and Mocktails, that fear melted away. She blended seamlessly into our energetically curious atmosphere. From redefining “risk tolerance” to exploring why so many young people are skipping spirits, we covered a host of topics in our typical ping-pong fashion. For someone as accomplished, intelligent, and confident as a triathlete and former personal assistant to Co-Founder of Paypal Peter Thiel, you might be surprised to learn how down-to-earth Sam is.

In this episode, she graciously walks us through several scenarios where things did not go as planned, but were salvaged by her “psychopathic” persistence and grit. Even more impressively, she turned those challenges into learning moments. Sam also poked fun at how her title doesn't capture the breadth of her workload. While her LinkedIn says CEO and Co-Founder of Remix, she also plays the delivery driver, inventory manager, event coordinator, and creative director.

We appreciate her willingness to open up about the not-so-pretty parts of entrepreneurship because that is what's real, relatable, and reassuring.

Her candid account of Remix’s origin story - the good, the bad, and the unexpected - was a breath of fresh air. It felt like a love letter to likeminded entrepreneurs, showing them they’re not alone and reassuring them that there is a light on the other side of inevitable mistakes.

Starting a grassroots brand is no walk in the park, especially when you're building your own blueprint. The path is rarely linear; it’s often messy, chaotic, and prone to hiccups. It’s a steep and gruesome learning curve tied to a boatload of risk, — but can lead to a wealth of rewards.

 HIGHLIGHTS

+ Balance risk and research. Avoid going in blind by getting honest about what you don’t know and leaning into curiosity.

+ If you launch with the perfect product, you launched too late.

+ In building relationships with suppliers, your trust is something they need to earn.

+ It’s better to spend the extra couple cents on quality assurance than to fix unexpected mistakes.

+ “She’s not drinking because she’s either pregnant or an alcoholic” is an outdated assumption.

+ Save your mini mockups and V1 products. You’ll cherish them later.

+ “Talk to strangers… talk to anyone and everyone willing to listen.”

+ Understand and protect your IP (intellectual property)

WHERE TO TRY

*Now available Nationwide at Sprouts, Starting July 1st

Amazon

drinkremix.co

FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITEA —Listen to the episode on Spotify!

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EMPATHY + OPPORTUNITY