By Juliana Casale, Founder of Balloon
I started solidifying the concept for my sparkling water brand, Balloon, when I was pregnant with my second kid in the spring of 2023.
I’m one of those freakish people who enjoys networking and, post-pandemic, I was frequently attending social and professional gatherings to make up for lost time. My options for drinking at these events were typically:
– Alcohol (not something I wanted to drink while expecting)
– The juice that was used to mix with alcohol (so sugary)
– Club soda (meh)
– Water (ugh)
If I was lucky, there would be some cans of Bubly, which I generally like but have had a million times. I thought, “Why aren’t there more fun options for non-alc drinkers?” And then I thought, “Why do we need alcohol at these things, anyway?”
Upon further reflection, I realized most of life’s gatherings, milestones, and celebrations feature alcohol. Engagement dinner? Pop the champagne! Fourth of July barbecue? Break out the beers!
What if special moments could be recognized with another kind of drink?
My daughter, Lily, was born in July of 2023, and Balloon was born in December of 2023 when I produced the first batch with my co-manufacturer. I am the first to admit I am not qualified to be an ecommerce founder. I don’t have a background in CPG or an MBA. I’ve spent my entire career marketing for software companies.
But, the one thing that excited me about all of the above is that I would learn a lot about the industry in a relatively short amount of time—my own personal MBA, as it were. Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
1. Ask for help
Not knowing much, my superpower has been asking dumb questions of smart people. Since I’m in the early stages of building my brand, it’s been most helpful to talk to people who are six months to a couple years ahead of me in the beverage space.
I’ve recently asked other founders for assistance with my Shopify shipping rates, navigating the murky waters of retail distribution, and figuring out what trade shows to attend (if any). I’m fairly confident I’ve dodged several bullets by absorbing the experiences of others.
2. Build in public
In April, I attended a CPG panel with a few Canadian industry folks who were adamant that all of us needed to share our founder stories on LinkedIn. I lacked the motivation, so I found a couple other people at the meetup who wanted to get more active about posting and formed an accountability chat group.
My first test post was extremely confessional and garnered 16,000 impressions. Since then, I’ve posted several times per week and gotten sales, valuable DMs, and podcast interviews as a result. I can’t wait to see what happens once I’ve kept it up for a year.
3. Don’t get distracted
It is so tempting to want to explore every avenue available to grow my brand.
I want to send shiny marketing emails! I want to get active on TikTok! I want to pitch beverage journalists! I want to sponsor music festivals! I want to get my drinks in airplanes (if you’re reading this, Air Canada, drop me a line)!
However, I am a one-person army with finite free time in the evenings. So, I’m trying to focus on the basics: making my website more appealing to potential Balloon buyers, making sure I send status updates to past customers, and populating the @waterballoonco Instagram account so it doesn’t look like a ghost town.
4. No one wins the comparison game
This is a huge battle that I fight on a near-daily basis.
The Internet is full of successful beverage brand founders. They are all standing next to Whole Foods wielding shopping carts full of their products. They are all partnering with massive distributors, getting endorsed by celebrities, being acquired by conglomerates, co-marketing with the Barbie Movie, etc.
Except, the truth is, for every founder who is successful there are far more who struggle. So I try to follow those online, too, for the sake of my sanity.
A balanced breakfast of wins and losses helps me push back on the “everyone is successful but me” narrative.
5. Take time to reflect on what you’ve already achieved
When I start to get sad over my Shopify sales chart, or judge myself for not hitting the next milestone fast enough, I crack open one of the cans in my basement and remember that I started out with an idea, and now I have something people can enjoy at social events.
How cool is that?
About the author
Juliana Casale is a Toronto-based sparkling water solopreneur, tech marketer, messy wife, mother of two young kids, dahlia gardener, Normal Gossip podcast listener, and a whole lot of other things. You can make her day by visiting Balloon’s online store or following her CPG journey on LinkedIn.
Dry Atlas is a media company focused on alcohol alternatives. We deliver non-alcoholic beverage news, insights, and recs to over five million people annually. To stay up to date on all things non-alc, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
