Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Allison Ellsworth sold her soda company, Poppi, to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion last year.<\/li>\n
- She started formulating the soda brand in her kitchen six years ago, and made an appearance on Shark Tank where she secured a $400,000 investment from guest Shark Rohan Oza.<\/li>\n
- Ellsworth believes \u201cembarrassment is the most under-explored emotion to success\u201d and credits repeated public discomfort with building her confidence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Poppi soda founder Allison Ellsworth didn\u2019t set out to try to disrupt the soda market; she was just trying to feel better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to doctors for seven years trying to figure out what\u2019s going on with me,\u201d she tells Entrepreneur in a new interview. \u201cI had tummy problems. My skin was a mess. I was tired all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
When traditional medicine fell short, she turned to the Internet, discovered apple cider vinegar and realized, \u201cIf you read labels and you actually look at what you\u2019re putting in your body, you can affect the way you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was just one problem: straight apple cider vinegar was hard to choke down. Ellsworth decided she had to figure out a way to make it taste good without loading it with sugar or additives. She started experimenting with different recipes in her kitchen, mixing fruit juices with prebiotics and sparkling water, and asking people to try her concoctions at local farmers\u2019 markets.\u00a0<\/p>\nAllison Ellsworth. Credit: Ellsworth Crew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWithin three weeks of selling sodas at farmers\u2019 markets, a Whole Foods buyer came to her booth and asked to set up a meeting. By 2017, Ellsworth was selling her apple cider vinegar prebiotic soda, then called Mother Beverage, at Whole Foods. By 2018, the company had made about $500,000 in revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2018, Ellsworth appeared on Shark Tank and secured a $400,000 investment for 25% equity from guest Shark Rohan Oza, who is known for his work<\/a> with major beverage brands, including Vita Coco and Vitaminwater. The company rebranded to Poppi in 2020, swapping its glass bottles for colorful cans, and grew to $500 million in annual revenue by 2025. PepsiCo acquired Poppi for $1.95 billion<\/a> in May 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\nLaunching in the worst week \u2014 and making it an advantage<\/h2>\n
Poppi\u2019s national launch landed on March 3, 2020 \u2014 the first week of Covid lockdowns. Ellsworth says that \u201cevery traditional marketing play was off the table.\u201d The team couldn\u2019t do in-person events or sampling in stores. Grocery stores were more concerned about toilet paper shortages than they were about selling new products.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of freezing, Ellsworth went all-in on TikTok and a digital-first approach from day one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was one of the first entrepreneurs to go online and tell my story on TikTok,\u201d she says, sharing everything from her health problems to being \u201cnine months pregnant on Shark Tank.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That authenticity paid off: \u201cI hit post, and that video went absolutely viral, to the point now where I have over three billion views on my face, and one-third of the platform has seen my face over seven times,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pandemic forced Poppi to \u201cthink differently from the beginning,\u201d and that constraint became an engine for outsized growth.<\/p>\n![\"NEW](\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/poppi-soda-GettyImages-2205568332.jpg?w=1024\")
Cans of Poppi soda. (Photo by Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Three Cs<\/h2>\n
Ellsworth says her secrets to scaling to $500 million in five years are the three Cs: culture, community and creative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being digital-first helped Poppi \u201cmove at the speed of culture,\u201d she says. The company capitalized on TikTok trends and ran Super Bowl ads<\/a> for three years straight to stay relevant.\u00a0<\/p>\nCommunity wasn\u2019t a buzzword; it was a moat around the brand. Poppi fans were \u201cdiehard,\u201d Ellsworth says, pointing to sold-out clothing line drops<\/a> and Target collaborations<\/a> that became cultural moments of their own.<\/p>\nCreative stitched everything together \u2014 from the rebrand from Mother Beverage to Poppi to reframing the product itself. \u201cWe went from apple cider vinegar drink to revolutionizing soda for the next generation,\u201d Ellsworth says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Professionalize faster than feels comfortable<\/h2>\n
Ellsworth is blunt that you can\u2019t scale like Poppi and still behave like a scrappy side hustle. \u201cWe were the fastest growing beverage in the history of beverage,\u201d she says. \u201cWe went from $0 to $500 million in five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
To support that, she focused on \u201cprocess, platform and people.\u201d That meant putting in serious processes, professionalizing early and refusing to hire like a typical startup. For example, she hired HR professionals and a CFO early on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the biggest traps she sees founders fall into is waiting too long to level up and hire enough people. \u201cA lot of entrepreneurs don\u2019t do [this]\u2026 they don\u2019t professionalize and hire fast enough,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellsworth also stresses the importance of finding partners who can keep up with growth, from manufacturing to capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had good manufacturing partners to be able to scale with us that quickly,\u201d she says. \u201cWe had good investors to be able to back us the entire time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mindset shift for success<\/h2>\n
If there\u2019s a single mindset shift Ellsworth wants founders to embrace, it\u2019s this: \u201cembarrassment is the most under-explored emotion for success.\u201d She believes you have to \u201cgo out there and make a fool of yourself\u201d \u2014 posting videos, pitching your idea and standing behind a folding table asking strangers to try your drink.<\/p>\n
Her framework is simple: \u201cConfidence comes from failing over and over again, and then you finally become confident. So really, it starts with embarrassment, then refinement, then clarity, then confidence,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One example is those early farmers\u2019 market days. Ellsworth was standing at a booth for hours, asking people to try her apple cider vinegar beverage. \u201cI was like, well, this is embarrassing,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That moment forced her to refine the message to \u201ctry this better-for-you soda,\u201d which resonated with more people. She grew more confident in her product over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellsworth is frustrated by founders who only dream. Some founders will stop her and ask for a moment of her time with just an idea and no execution behind it. \u201cYou\u2019re dreaming, you\u2019re not doing,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to take some risk to start before people will take you seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is just as adamant about investing in the brand early. To build a product with Poppi-level impact, she advises hiring a branding agency. Too many founders, in her view, get obsessed with returns instead of building a solid brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A result of her branding-focused approach? A product that didn\u2019t even exist on shelves six years ago now sits in a dedicated \u201cmodern soda\u201d set next to legacy names.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no such thing as the modern soda set,\u201d she says. \u201cNow they have a five-foot set in every grocery store next to the big boys. That\u2019s something I created in my kitchen six years ago. I made real change in grocery stores for the American diet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\nKey Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Allison Ellsworth sold her soda company, Poppi, to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion last year.<\/li>\n
- She started formulating the soda brand in her kitchen six years ago, and made an appearance on Shark Tank where she secured a $400,000 investment from guest Shark Rohan Oza.<\/li>\n
- Ellsworth believes \u201cembarrassment is the most under-explored emotion to success\u201d and credits repeated public discomfort with building her confidence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Poppi soda founder Allison Ellsworth didn\u2019t set out to try to disrupt the soda market; she was just trying to feel better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to doctors for seven years trying to figure out what\u2019s going on with me,\u201d she tells Entrepreneur in a new interview. \u201cI had tummy problems. My skin was a mess. I was tired all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
When traditional medicine fell short, she turned to the Internet, discovered apple cider vinegar and realized, \u201cIf you read labels and you actually look at what you\u2019re putting in your body, you can affect the way you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Poppi soda founder Allison Ellsworth didn\u2019t set out to try to disrupt the soda market; she was just trying to feel better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to doctors for seven years trying to figure out what\u2019s going on with me,\u201d she tells Entrepreneur in a new interview. \u201cI had tummy problems. My skin was a mess. I was tired all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
When traditional medicine fell short, she turned to the Internet, discovered apple cider vinegar and realized, \u201cIf you read labels and you actually look at what you\u2019re putting in your body, you can affect the way you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was just one problem: straight apple cider vinegar was hard to choke down. Ellsworth decided she had to figure out a way to make it taste good without loading it with sugar or additives. She started experimenting with different recipes in her kitchen, mixing fruit juices with prebiotics and sparkling water, and asking people to try her concoctions at local farmers\u2019 markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Within three weeks of selling sodas at farmers\u2019 markets, a Whole Foods buyer came to her booth and asked to set up a meeting. By 2017, Ellsworth was selling her apple cider vinegar prebiotic soda, then called Mother Beverage, at Whole Foods. By 2018, the company had made about $500,000 in revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2018, Ellsworth appeared on Shark Tank and secured a $400,000 investment for 25% equity from guest Shark Rohan Oza, who is known for his work<\/a> with major beverage brands, including Vita Coco and Vitaminwater. The company rebranded to Poppi in 2020, swapping its glass bottles for colorful cans, and grew to $500 million in annual revenue by 2025. PepsiCo acquired Poppi for $1.95 billion<\/a> in May 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n Poppi\u2019s national launch landed on March 3, 2020 \u2014 the first week of Covid lockdowns. Ellsworth says that \u201cevery traditional marketing play was off the table.\u201d The team couldn\u2019t do in-person events or sampling in stores. Grocery stores were more concerned about toilet paper shortages than they were about selling new products.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of freezing, Ellsworth went all-in on TikTok and a digital-first approach from day one.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was one of the first entrepreneurs to go online and tell my story on TikTok,\u201d she says, sharing everything from her health problems to being \u201cnine months pregnant on Shark Tank.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That authenticity paid off: \u201cI hit post, and that video went absolutely viral, to the point now where I have over three billion views on my face, and one-third of the platform has seen my face over seven times,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pandemic forced Poppi to \u201cthink differently from the beginning,\u201d and that constraint became an engine for outsized growth.<\/p>\n Ellsworth says her secrets to scaling to $500 million in five years are the three Cs: culture, community and creative.\u00a0<\/p>\n Being digital-first helped Poppi \u201cmove at the speed of culture,\u201d she says. The company capitalized on TikTok trends and ran Super Bowl ads<\/a> for three years straight to stay relevant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Community wasn\u2019t a buzzword; it was a moat around the brand. Poppi fans were \u201cdiehard,\u201d Ellsworth says, pointing to sold-out clothing line drops<\/a> and Target collaborations<\/a> that became cultural moments of their own.<\/p>\n Creative stitched everything together \u2014 from the rebrand from Mother Beverage to Poppi to reframing the product itself. \u201cWe went from apple cider vinegar drink to revolutionizing soda for the next generation,\u201d Ellsworth says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ellsworth is blunt that you can\u2019t scale like Poppi and still behave like a scrappy side hustle. \u201cWe were the fastest growing beverage in the history of beverage,\u201d she says. \u201cWe went from $0 to $500 million in five years.\u201d<\/p>\n To support that, she focused on \u201cprocess, platform and people.\u201d That meant putting in serious processes, professionalizing early and refusing to hire like a typical startup. For example, she hired HR professionals and a CFO early on.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the biggest traps she sees founders fall into is waiting too long to level up and hire enough people. \u201cA lot of entrepreneurs don\u2019t do [this]\u2026 they don\u2019t professionalize and hire fast enough,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ellsworth also stresses the importance of finding partners who can keep up with growth, from manufacturing to capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had good manufacturing partners to be able to scale with us that quickly,\u201d she says. \u201cWe had good investors to be able to back us the entire time.\u201d<\/p>\n If there\u2019s a single mindset shift Ellsworth wants founders to embrace, it\u2019s this: \u201cembarrassment is the most under-explored emotion for success.\u201d She believes you have to \u201cgo out there and make a fool of yourself\u201d \u2014 posting videos, pitching your idea and standing behind a folding table asking strangers to try your drink.<\/p>\n Her framework is simple: \u201cConfidence comes from failing over and over again, and then you finally become confident. So really, it starts with embarrassment, then refinement, then clarity, then confidence,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n One example is those early farmers\u2019 market days. Ellsworth was standing at a booth for hours, asking people to try her apple cider vinegar beverage. \u201cI was like, well, this is embarrassing,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n That moment forced her to refine the message to \u201ctry this better-for-you soda,\u201d which resonated with more people. She grew more confident in her product over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ellsworth is frustrated by founders who only dream. Some founders will stop her and ask for a moment of her time with just an idea and no execution behind it. \u201cYou\u2019re dreaming, you\u2019re not doing,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to take some risk to start before people will take you seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n She is just as adamant about investing in the brand early. To build a product with Poppi-level impact, she advises hiring a branding agency. Too many founders, in her view, get obsessed with returns instead of building a solid brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n A result of her branding-focused approach? A product that didn\u2019t even exist on shelves six years ago now sits in a dedicated \u201cmodern soda\u201d set next to legacy names.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no such thing as the modern soda set,\u201d she says. \u201cNow they have a five-foot set in every grocery store next to the big boys. That\u2019s something I created in my kitchen six years ago. I made real change in grocery stores for the American diet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Poppi soda founder Allison Ellsworth didn\u2019t set out to try to disrupt the soda market; she was just trying to feel better.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was going to doctors for seven years trying to figure out what\u2019s going on with me,\u201d she tells Entrepreneur in a new interview. \u201cI had tummy problems. My skin was a mess. I was tired all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n When traditional medicine fell short, she turned to the Internet, discovered apple cider vinegar and realized, \u201cIf you read labels and you actually look at what you\u2019re putting in your body, you can affect the way you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nLaunching in the worst week \u2014 and making it an advantage<\/h2>\n
The Three Cs<\/h2>\n
Professionalize faster than feels comfortable<\/h2>\n
Mindset shift for success<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
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