Poppi<\/a> to PepsiCo, she\u2019s now back with a new brand \u2014 called Jetty. It calls itself a \u201cliterally everyday hydration\u201d brand, which sells hydration powders and liquid beverages.<\/p>\nShe and her husband Stephen, who she built Poppi with, are self-funding Jetty with a $2.5 million investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids asked me, \u2018Mom, why are you doing this again?\u2019\u201d says Ellsworth. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Because I want to. I\u2019m really excited to build again.\u2019 And I also think there\u2019s something really important about showing my kids the work ethic of it all. We don\u2019t want them to grow up and think, \u2018Oh, we don\u2019t have to work hard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ellsworths will have their hard work cut out for them: They\u2019re entering a crowded and declining category, and going up directly against juggernauts like Liquid I.V. and Gatorade.<\/p>\n
So, how do they plan to make Jetty a success?<\/p>\n
Here are five things they learned from building Poppi, which Ellsworth says will help along their journey:<\/p>\n
1. Opportunities hide in crowded categories<\/h2>\n
This may sound like counterintuitive advice: If you want to find a huge business opportunity, look where the market is most crowded.<\/p>\n
Ellsworth learned that from building Poppi.<\/p>\n
Poppi originally began as a brand called Mother, and the Ellsworths pitched it as a health tonic that contained apple cider vinegar. This left them chasing a niche consumer in a small market. Then they scored a major investment on Shark Tank<\/em>, rebranded as Poppi, and started competing inside the much larger and noisier soda category \u2014\u00a0just as sales of mainstream sodas were declining.<\/p>\nThe play worked, because Poppi targeted an underserved consumer with a better-for-you offering. Poppi was just different enough to be special, but familiar enough for soda lovers to embrace it.<\/p>\n
This taught Ellsworth something important: If a category is struggling, that doesn\u2019t always mean declining demand. It could just mean that the existing products have stopped meeting people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what she now sees in the hydration space. She says the major players are marketing towards men, and positioning themselves as athletic solutions. But that leaves a large, untapped market of women who just want to stay hydrated and enjoy something flavorful. \u201cThe data shows when people are hydrating \u2014 say, drinking a Gatorade, a BODYARMOR, a Vitaminwater \u2014 it\u2019s morning, lunch, and afternoon. It\u2019s not even at time of sweat,\u201d she says. \u201cSeventy percent of consumers are doing it not while working out.\u201d<\/p>\n
To take advantage of that, Ellsworth is positioning Jetty around the daily ritual of \u201ceveryday hydration\u201d \u2014 something people reach for the way they\u2019d reach for a coffee or a Diet Coke, regardless of whether they\u2019ve broken a sweat.<\/p>\n
2. Lead with personality, not just benefits<\/h2>\n
When most early-stage brands hit the market, their packaging is full of benefit statements: They\u2019ll call out unique ingredients, specific health benefits, or anything else that makes the brand special.<\/p>\n
Ellsworth decided not to do that with Jetty.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople get really caught up on, benefit, benefit, benefit,\u201d she says, \u201cbut they wouldn\u2019t think to make the largest callout just fun<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nJetty has benefit statements, but they\u2019re smaller and more secondary. For example, the bottle notes that it contains electrolytes, real fruit juice, and a variety of nutrients. But the packaging is primarily about vibe: It is colorful, flavor-forward, and full of quirky messages. One of them reads, \u201cHydrating just became your new personality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellsworth wants Jetty to feel like an identity, not a list of reasons to drink it. Her reasoning is rooted in consumer psychology: Data and health claims may inform a purchase, but lasting brands are built on emotional connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time when you\u2019re marketing, and you want to build a long-term sustainable brand that community connects with, you have to find ways to emotionally connect with your consumers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
3. Companies are built on org charts<\/h2>\n
When they first built Mother, the Ellsworths focused heavily on product. As the company grew, they scrambled to build an organization to support it.<\/p>\n
Now they\u2019re doing things in reverse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we decided to do this, our first exercise was to sit down and make an org chart,\u201d Ellsworth says. From there, the couple modeled out costs, funding needs, and staffing projections years into the future\u2026 long before their product even existed.<\/p>\n
Why? Because most entrepreneurs build a business reactively, she says. They grow by trial and error, instead of deliberately planning from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re really going to do this at scale, how do we skip the first two years of business where you\u2019re doing everything yourself and trying to figure it out?\u201d she says, \u201cWhy not surround ourselves with the most incredible team and do it right from the beginning?\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Think of Amazon as a trust signal<\/h2>\n
For early-stage consumer brands, Amazon can be a double-edged sword: It\u2019s a powerful way to reach consumers, but it comes with extra costs that can feel hard to afford.<\/p>\n
But it has a benefit you cannot overlook, Ellsworth says: \u201cPrime is in 90% of households in America,\u201d she says. \u201cWe look at Amazon for the first two to three years as a marketing channel for trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
She lays out a scenario: A shopper encounters the product in Whole Foods, pulls out their phone, and checks the reviews. That validation \u2014 four and a half stars, dozens of comments \u2014 becomes the final nudge toward purchase, regardless of where the actual transaction happens.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s another thing she\u2019s learned about Amazon and other DTC business: To do it right, you may need to redesign your packaging to be mailed. In retail, for example, Jetty\u2019s powders come in a box. That helps it stand out on shelves. But on Amazon, they\u2019ll be sold in a bag. Why? It\u2019s simple, she says: \u201cIf you ship a box, it\u2019ll get dented and you\u2019ll get a bad review.\u201d And the reviews are everything.<\/p>\n
5. Always make it personal<\/h2>\n
Building Poppi was stressful, she says. Because like almost all entrepreneurs, the stakes were extremely high. \u201cIt was like my life was on the line,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was about generational legacy and wealth, and all of these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, she says, the pressure is off. The Ellsworths don\u2019t need to build a company for the money, which means they can focus on the joy of the building.<\/p>\n
But, she says, it\u2019s important not to get complacent \u2014 because you must always have something<\/em> that motivates you, beyond just wanting to build a good product. The stakes must feel personal in some way.<\/p>\nFor her, Jetty is all about pride and self-reliance. When building Mother and Poppi, the Ellsworths received a $400,000 investment on Shark Tank<\/em> from Rohan Oza. He has extensive beverage experience, and was able to help guide their growth. But now the Ellsworths are self-funding, and relying on their own know-how. \u201cIt\u2019s truly 100% percent on our own. It feels almost riskier,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re doing it truly alone, to prove that we can do it alone too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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