How Bill Shufelt Built a Non-Alcoholic Movement with Athletic Brewing pt. 1
Welcome to Journey to the Sunnyside. Today, we're kicking off part 1 of a 2 part series with Bill Shufeldt, the co founder and CEO of Athletic Brewing Company. Bill's story is nothing short of inspiring. A personal decision to live a healthier life led to creating a company that's completely redefining non alcoholic beer. In this episode, we'll dive into Bill's journey, how it sparked the idea for athletic brewing, and what it took to turn a garage brewing operation into the number one nonalcoholic beer brand in the US.
Speaker 1:This is where it all began. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2:Okay. Bill, thanks for coming on today.
Speaker 3:For sure. Excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me. Yeah. This has been a long time coming. I've been really excited about this. And, of course, your product is amazing, athletic brewing.
Speaker 2:So let's jump into how all this started. So can you bring us back maybe the early days of when this was just an idea? And maybe even roll into your own personal journey around alcohol at this time that maybe sparked some of these ideas, and how you're leading into exactly where we are today, which is this massive company and movement.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you for the kind words. I think, in many ways, we're still on, like, hopefully, the front end of our learning journey here. And, you know, this movement that we're all a part of is a really exciting place to be and still in its very early days, in many ways. You know, not a alcoholic beer, still only 1 a half percent of beer, and that's an exciting time. I think it's going I I won't say how high I think that's going because I might lose credibility.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, but going back to, like, where that started in my life, I, you know, I I'm not qualified to be in CPG. I'm not, like, a really talented chef or product maker or brewer. I would have never thought I was, like, permission to be in an industry like this, and I I also wasn't entrepreneurial. I didn't have a lot of ideas. I wasn't dying to start my own company or anything.
Speaker 3:It was just something that this idea, the like, the problem it solved in my own life, but then the impact it could have on the world was just so apparent to me, and the fire was burning so hard that I had to do it. But, like, going back to where I was when I got to that realization, it took me a number of years to get to that point where I was, like, quitting a job. I thought I'd never leave. So I I was working in finance. Great job.
Speaker 3:It was at the firm I wanted to be at. I didn't even have a LinkedIn profile. And so, like, that's where I wanted to be. I thought I'd do it the next 20 years. I wouldn't say it was, like, the most fulfilling life's journey.
Speaker 3:I didn't think any adults liked what they did for work. And so, yeah, I was just trying to make money and live for my life outside of work. But I was turning 30. I was about to get married. I was generally living a typical adult life, and that I was trying to I was kind of on, like, the pursuit of progress as I like to frame it.
Speaker 3:Where I'm trying to be a little healthier, sleep a little better, have a little bit better family relationships, be more productive at work, be a little more fit, eat a little better. Like, just be a little bit better on every part of my life, every year as I grow. And I had this realization that alcohol was kind of a ceiling on all those variables. And I was in this, like, very merit based hardworking career, and I was out at 3 or 4 work dinners a week. And coming in even with slightest bit hungover off my game affected my career.
Speaker 3:And then also, like, having a drink or 2 at night, I would very often snooze my workout or eat unhealthy or, like, fall off track, not get as good night of sleep. And so I realized that, like, alcohol was affecting in subtle ways a lot of areas of my life. And I decided to stop drinking for 30 days back in 2013 with also the encouragement of my wife, like, and it was, like, the biggest life hack I'd ever uncovered. Like, I I can't understate it. And, I was sleeping through the night for the first time in my adult life.
Speaker 3:Every like, I was barely missing any workouts, and I was loving those workouts. I was feeling good. I was the most productive I'd ever been at work. And part of that was this intellectual curiosity that I'd been numbing a lot throughout my adult life at the end of stressful days. It was all of a sudden churning well into the night, and that was net net a very positive.
Speaker 3:I went on this, like, learning journey where I was reading all the books. And, so generally, in the next, call it 2 years, I was improving on a number of vectors in my life of health, fitness, happiness, education, growth, career that I cared about. And so I was never going back to drinking, but I, like, I loved being social. I love good beer, love good food, weddings, bachelor parties, barbecues, whatever. And all of a sudden I was the guy not drinking in those occasions.
Speaker 3:There were no options for me. And I had to explain myself in every situation. And in many places, when you're around people who don't know you extremely well, you lose credibility, whether that's in a professional setting, a social setting, like bachelor party or anything. Weddings, forget it. Super weird if you're not drinking and, like, trying to dance and, like, so, it was this real pain point in my life.
Speaker 3:And I kind of looked around at the industry and I I guess I was just in frustrating situation after frustrating situation. I I loved beer, and I loved being a part of those moments. And I was, like, so often the last one to go home in my prior life. And all of a sudden, I just felt like a child in the bar, and I just, like, kinda want to get out of there. Like,
Speaker 2:sneak over and get a soda and a lime without anybody seeing you order it. I remember doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And You know, just I'll come back
Speaker 2:with cocktail. Nobody knows what it is.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And totally embarrassing to, like, inquire about what options I have in a group setting. And and sadly, very often, it was just nothing. And that was like, you know, when you sit down to a nice dinner, like, the beverage is like a very significant part of that experience. And that was frustrating for me.
Speaker 3:And so I had this real pain point in my life for the first time that it was like a totally unmet need in the world. And I started to complain about that to colleagues, friends, my wife. And after a while, like, so I went hunting for these beverages. I was like, oh, like, there's gotta be good nonalcoholic beer out there. And so I I could've told my wife.
Speaker 3:I was like, I'm gonna try to find, like, the best nonalcoholic beer all over the world and stock my fridge with it. And it didn't take me very long to realize that there really just wasn't anything available. And it just blew my mind that there'd been no innovation for such an exciting space full of innovation and like the craft beer world and everything. And so I was complaining to my wife walking to dinner one time at the end of 2014, and I was like, why hasn't anyone fixed this yet? And, like, she, who I I we'd been together for over 10 years at this point.
Speaker 3:She turned to me and said, you should fix it. And I was like, what? Like, I have a job. I like, this is what I do. And she really encouraged me to look into it.
Speaker 3:And, so it started with a thread, but then it turned into this like project I was obsessed with and I did 2 years on it and it was like kind of all encompassing. And I was so excited about it. I was calling people overseas. I was learning about the technology. I was reading every brewing textbook I could get my hands on.
Speaker 3:And, like, I love Microsoft Excel. I love business planning. And so it was, like, such a fun project. And then I was probably here to do nothing with it. I it literally would have sat on the shelf forever until I had the realization that, like, wow.
Speaker 3:Actually, I'm in this career that is sure. It's like a good financial career, but, like, I'm never gonna have a positive impact on anyone in the world. And I had undergone this, like, personal journey where, like, I thought it was so positive and, like, the improvement I've been through. And I was like, if I can just help make moderation more accessible to people and destigmatize it, that could have an untold positive impact on tens of millions of people. And it was when we had that realization, like 2 years in the business planning, all of a sudden my fire was lit.
Speaker 3:I saw a world where my job could have fulfillment and I'd be excited about it. And there I was, like, 3 or 4 days later quitting my job and going full on athletic brewing. And so that that's a long way of saying it, like, emerged, like, really authentically out of my own life, even though there was, like, less than zero interest in this category and no momentum and no one wanted to work on it, I was out the door before I'd even brewed a barrel of beer from my professional career. And me and our co founder, John, have really built this from the ground up brick by brick since then. And it's been really awesome to see, like, so many people when you, like, destigmatize and permission this world, start to have the realization that I had as well.
Speaker 3:So but I'm sure we'll get into that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I I mean, I love your story, first of all. And before I lose the thought, I wanna say, I listened to another interview with you, and you mentioned your wife. And I just wanna give her the credit because Podrenuers, their their life partners are just as much partners in them in this journey because being an entrepreneur is not something you check-in and check out with. So I think it's amazing that she gave you that support.
Speaker 2:She encouraged you probably in times when you really needed it. I think there was a story about you on the kitchen floor or something like that. And For sure. And, you know, when I think about FOA Green, I think about your story. Have you ever read the book, The Star Principle?
Speaker 2:No. I have to, though.
Speaker 3:I So
Speaker 2:The Star Principle yeah. You have to read it. So The Star Principle is about companies and innovators that actually create entire categories that really never existed. So if you think about Red Bull and energy drinks, that never really existed. Kombucha and the probiotics, that never really existed.
Speaker 2:And you have done that as well. You went into I mean, while the product did exist, you actually created the category where it had demand for it. I just thought that was, like, such an incredible feat that you
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. I I definitely cannot take full credit for that. And, we so I have an incredible cofounder in John Walker, who is kind of like our technical cofounder and COO. And John really took it down to the screws and reinvented how non alcoholic beer is made. I guess behind me on the wall, there's a picture of John with Gatorade jugs stacked up in an empty warehouse.
Speaker 3:And we did that for a year basically, brewing hundreds of batches of beer. And John insisted that we are never launching a product unless it's a totally different than what people have known, not alcoholic beer to be before. And, so total credit to John on the product side. And then we also we wanted to, like, reimagine what nonalcoholic beer is and what it is signifies when you're drinking it. And it used to be such a penalty box category.
Speaker 3:And earlier, you referenced, like, sneaking off to the bar and, like, getting thing things in the cup as quick as he could so no one would realize what it is. And, yeah, that's a world I lived in, and I absolutely hated having to explain those choices that were, like, really positive choices. And, you know, people should be able to drink, not drink, and for any and no reason at all. And, so a big part of it too is, like, the marketing and destigmatization, like, permissioning consumers to grab an athletic. And so, it it's been really fun to, like, take this, like, relatively dormant category and really permission people.
Speaker 3:Like, not only permission people, but take it to, like, a total place, like, without compromises where they're super excited that it's the best part of their day type thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think that part of getting into these new categories and do what you've done is gonna a big part of that, and I'm coming from we're gonna do this interview part me being an entrepreneur and also part me, of course, representing the Sunnyside community and their interest in any products and and stories, of course. But I'm just curious, how did you have to educate a market, basically? And so, obviously, you had a lot of skepticism, a lot of, potentially doubters. How did you face that in the early days?
Speaker 2:Did you did it give you a win behind your back, or was it at your
Speaker 3:face? Yeah. And I I love what the sunny side community is doing. It's, there was it's something there was never community around. I'm sure we'll go into that too with, like, how how stigmatized those choices were previously to not drink.
Speaker 3:It was, like, it it was, like, meant to be, like, an anonymous hidden secret where now it's, like, much more proud and accessible. And, yeah. So when I, like, came into the industry, it, probably for the best. Like, I, you know, in many ways, I feel for entrepreneurs who are, like, overfunded, have no friction, and can launch without really, like, learning many lessons, and, like, get big really fast too. Because then you're, like, making mistakes in, like, a big public, like, arena in a way.
Speaker 3:I'm really glad, like, where John and I started was, like, super humble, very small beginnings. And, like, everything we've done has been a 1,000 small steps and new really talented teammates joining us and educating us. And, like, we've done every job in and out of the building ourselves. So but, yeah, it was a hard journey. I'd say every path was blocked to begin with.
Speaker 3:So, like, there's the fundraising path, like, we we didn't have product. The industry basically didn't exist. There was no momentum. Like, investors love to look at big proven industries with momentum, and this was the opposite of that. So fundraising was really tough.
Speaker 3:People really questioned why we would build a brewery instead of just, like, outsourcing. And that was a quality choice also. I did a 120 investor meetings that were very difficult, a lot of nos. And then, yeah, sometimes I'd go out to dinners of, like, 5 or 10 people and get all nos. And, like, yeah, I there's diff all different there's, like, so many bad stories from fundraising.
Speaker 3:It's hard to pinpoint them, but, like, yeah, there was one where, like, all 5 people at the table were just, like, drinking tequila and not really paying attention to me. It was kinda like I was just, like, taking them out to dinner. And, but, like, all sorts of things like that. And probably, like, all of a sudden, we hit our momentum and we found our people, and I learned a lot about how I talked about athletic, my pitch, and everything. And all the rejection really helped.
Speaker 3:And all of a sudden, we had way more momentum in fundraising than I could imagine, and that great group of investors carried us through building 3 breweries, actually. So I'm grateful for those lessons as painful as it was. On the product side, like, John and I were reinventing how this was done. We we didn't have anyone to talk to because no one was working on it. No one cared to talk about it.
Speaker 3:No one in the brewing industry whatsoever wanted to work on nonalcoholic gear. Like, I got over 200 nos in trying to find John even. So that was, like, really discouraging. I I don't come from a sales background, so I'm really not used to, like, putting myself out there at all. And then, yeah, we wanted to contract brewing our original model, and every contract brewer said no.
Speaker 3:Also for good reason. Like, we were not prepared to contract at scale, which I know now. I didn't know then. So that was very frustrating. You know, pivoting to a 100% build it yourself manufacturing business is, like, a totally different business than, like, a contract through the expansion model.
Speaker 3:With all those things oh, and then, yeah, I forgot about selling. Even, like, as hard as fundraising was, it was just as hard to, like, go to consumers and retailers and distributors too, where I I had, like, hand bottled beers that John and I had bottled in his garage, and I was driving all over New England to to get retailers interested in. I was very lucky to get enthusiastic support from both a local distributor in Connecticut and Whole Foods in Connecticut, to take our beer. And and then other retailers like Wegmans and Total Wine followed very quickly and gave us a chance. So, we had pretty good retailer support after, like, a lot of fits and starts.
Speaker 3:But I would, I would spend, like I I went to 75 athletic events to well, I on the selling side, I knew no one was walking up to the non alcoholic beer shop being like, is there anything new over here? Because, like, there hadn't been anything new in 30 years on the shelf, basically. And, so I had to go out to the world to find consumers and get them to shop the shelf. And a big part of that was, like, going to athletic events and going to events and, like, asking if I could bring beer and sample and everything. I had no marketing budgets, essentially.
Speaker 3:So I'd very often run races, bring it cooler, and hand out beers after. And then, like, I did start to team up with, like, Spartan and Ironman. And then I could give out, like, thousands of beers at once, at some of those events. But it's it's really easy to say I'm going to this event. I'm gonna set up a tent.
Speaker 3:I'm bringing a 1,000 beers with me, the 3,000 racers, and I'll give them out. The problem is none of those people wanted to stop at my tent and not wanted a nonalcoholic beer or, like, thought they did. So, like, I some of the early events I would, like, I would go sometimes, like, hours at these events without, like, people really coming up to me. And and that was a good education experience because if someone comes up to you and, like, you have like, you don't sell them on taking a sample and then no one else comes up for a half hour after, you really think about your pitch. Because, like, you wanna convert your once every half hour visitor.
Speaker 3:And, so that was helpful in, like, learning how I talk about the product in a way that relates to the consumer and, like, actually solves the need for them. Like, trying to take, like, what I discovered in my own life about non alcoholic beer. Like, so take a step back. I realized I'm talking a lot. Sorry.
Speaker 3:But take a step back. Like, something in my life that I realized was, like, wow, Alcohol is actually a really specific functional ingredient that only fit in, like, really specific times in my life. Non alcoholic beer could be anywhere. Like, I my favorite beer of the day is my after work beer on the drive home. And, like, that was never a beer occasion.
Speaker 3:And, you know, I have a beer after my son's bath. I have a beer with dinner. I have an afternoon beer on a stressful day. I have a beer while I'm doing projects late at night. I have a beer after workouts.
Speaker 3:Like most of these were not beer occasions. But I had to convey this realization to people in a really succinct I might have had 5 seconds to interact with them. Most of them weren't stopping walking, so you had to, like, catch them in their tracks with words. And it, like so, like, me and our sales team eventually, like, learned how to be really effective in, like, high rejection windows of selling. And, that was a good learning experience also.
Speaker 3:And one of the things I also learned though was once you got a couple people to stop at the booth, people are herd animals, and they wanna see what's going on. Like, what are these other people doing? And, like, and very often, I would just, one of the things I would do to get people to stop at the tent is just go around and stand at the other side like I was a customer, and people would just get in line behind me. And it which is so so, like, all these sorts of things. Like, selling was hard period in all elements of our business, and I'm glad for the learning I did in that, but, like, also is a major education experience.
Speaker 1:That's it for part 1 of our conversation with Bill Shufeld. Today, we got the inside story on how athletic brewing went from an idea to a movement, but there's so much more to cover. In part 2, we'll dig into the challenges athletic faces as a company, the trends shaping the non alcoholic industry, and what's next for the brand. Until then, cheers to your mindful drinking journey. This podcast is brought to you by Sunny Side, the number one alcohol moderation platform.
Speaker 1:And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial.
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