A day in the life of a founder, is a hard one to describe, mainly because each day is different and can involve so many different things. I could be spending the day in the city, visiting bars and restaurants – customers of ours, or I could be catching up with my team, talking about our marketing plans for the months ahead, or chatting to my sister in operations about how many bottles we should be producing over the next couple of month and also looking at our marketing plans for the year ahead. Caleño is a tropical non-alcoholic spirit, which is in quite a new sector of the drinks market, so when I tell people what the company does, they are always quite intrigued.
A Day in the life of on Female First
Consistently my morning starts with a big cup of Colombian coffee and walking my dog, Hardy, who is an energetic German Pointer and often joins me in the office. It’s great to start the morning outdoors, although I definitely prefer the summer months to a windy, rainy day!
Our offices are based in Bristol, and we have a small team, so the week would normally start with a team catch-up, finding out what everyone has got on and how we can help each other achieve what needs to get done that week. Over the past 10 months, we’ve been growing quite quickly, so recently my days have involved interviews and meeting lots of new people, who are looking to join a budding drinks company, on a mission to inspire more joy, when ‘not drinking’!
If I’m not in the office, then I’m usually out visiting customers out in the trade. We sell our non-alcoholic spirit to supermarkets like Sainsbury’s, but we also sell to pubs, bars and restaurants such as Hoxton Hotels, Redemption Bars, and Lost in Brixton, so I might join our on-trade manager at some customers meetings, to tell them more about our brand, and how we would work with them to put together a delicious non-alcoholic offering. We’re finding that people are being more selective over their drinks, and trying to live healthier lifestyles, so selling a drink that’s got bitter, yet complex citrus and tropical botanical flavours, that is produced in the same way as a spirit, isn’t a hard sell. Often, we find there are many occasions in which alcohol is offered, but actually a non-alcoholic drink fits the bill much better, such as; mid-week evenings, lunchtimes, dinner parties, after work etc.
As a new brand, in a busy marketplace, it’s important that we get out there and introduce people to our brand and give them a chance to try it. Across the Summer I spent most of my days out at events, such as Balance Festival, The Mindful Drinking Festival, Taste of London and in supermarkets, running various events and samplings. I always really love events, as you get such a great buzz from talking to new customers, and hearing what people think about your product. I never wanted to start a business and then be stuck in an office all day, I love the variety!
Prior to starting my business, I had worked for a drinks distributor for 4-5 years, so I understood the drinks industry and had also got my Wine & Spirits qualifications, but after trying Dry January for the first time around 3 years ago, I just felt something was missing, the existing offering was so dull, and didn’t feel exciting at all! It didn’t take long for me to start becoming obsessed with creating my own drink to have in place of the usual G&T! A few years later, my ‘hobby’ turned into a business, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Tagged in drink