Allison and Stephen Ellsworth built Poppi from nothing and sold it to PepsiCo for just under $2 billion last year.
They told Business Insider this week about the risks they took and sacrifices they made along the way, and shared how they’re stopping their newfound wealth from spoiling their children.
Starting from scratch
Allison was experimenting with home remedies for her stomach pains and skin issues in 2016 when she turned to apple cider vinegar. She couldn’t stand the taste so she tried mixing it with sparkling water and fresh fruit, and Mother Beverage was born.
She enlisted Stephen to help her sell her concoctions at farmers’ markets. Within months, they won over a Whole Foods buyer and the premium grocery chain began stocking her drinks.
Allison’s unwavering belief in her products, positive feedback from customers, and the early Whole Foods endorsement gave the pair the conviction to go all-in on the budding business.
“She was willing to jump off the cliff, knowing that I could help build the plane while we were falling to make sure that we didn’t totally crash and burn,” Stephen said.
The pair maxed out their credit cards, borrowed money, welcomed investment from friends and family, and took out personal loans to support the startup’s growth.
They even sold one of their cars to buy bottles and equipment, leaving Stephen to drive an old truck with no AC in the Texas heat, Allison recalled.
In the early days, they were “begging and pleading” vendors and suppliers to give them more time to pay for ingredients, Stephen said.
The pair’s next big break came in 2018 when they pitched their business on “Shark Tank,” securing a $400,000 investment from marketing whiz Rohan Oza.
The combination of publicity, fresh funding, mentorship, and support in building a team and professionalizing the business was invaluable, the pair told Business Insider.
With Oza’s help, Allison and Stephen rebranded the business in 2020 as Poppi, a seller of prebiotic sodas with a younger, more vibrant image.
But they launched right as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, leading to myriad headaches, including cash crunches and suppliers terminating contracts. Poppi was forced to raise as much as $25 million in extra capital to weather the storm, Stephen said.
At the same time, Poppi was such a hit that even the old hands they’d hired were new to this kind of growth.
“We almost had to throw the playbook out the window and do everything different from the beginning,” Allison said.
They rapidly grew Poppi to over $500 million in yearly sales by 2024, then sold the company to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion last spring.
Leap of faith
Allison was three months pregnant, and they’d just bought a house, when the pair decided to quit their jobs to work full-time on their startup.
She went on to have three children while building the company, which “absolutely made it harder,” she said, even with her mother moving nearby to help with childcare.
The couple put their family’s finances on the line because they could see their startup’s potential, and the opportunity to create a legacy they could pass down to their kids: a beloved national brand.
Their mindset was that while they were young, they would “buckle up” and “do whatever it takes” to succeed, they said.
poppi
There was no work-life balance in Poppi’s early days, Allison said. She recalled not making time to exercise or take care of herself, traveling too much, and struggling to switch off from work.
The pair felt secure enough in their relationship that they agreed to put it on the back burner and focus on their kids and the business, Allison said.
She recalled telling Stephen that she didn’t need to receive flowers for Valentine’s Day, go on date nights, or even celebrate birthdays or anniversaries.
“I think for the level of success that we have, you do have to sacrifice for the short term,” Allison said.
“You have to be willing to do what others won’t, to be able to have what others can’t have,” Stephen said.
At the same time, Allison said that entrepreneurs need to have the self-awareness to know if they’re “dropping the ball” in their marriage or parenting, and to “make sure that nothing gets so far out of balance that it can’t be corrected.”
She said that she feels some “mom guilt” over the hours she poured into Poppi, but she’s proud that her children describe her as a businesswoman, a dealmaker, and a successful entrepreneur.
“The way my kids see me is just really endearing and awesome,” she said.
Stephen said he appreciated their struggles in hindsight. They “really, really sucked in the moment,” he said, but “how boring would it be if we didn’t have those stories?”
Wealth and kids
Allison and Stephen received their windfall a year ago, but they’ve been cautious in spending it and careful to remain grounded. They only recently bought a new house and new cars, they said.
This summer, they’re not flying to Europe or taking some other “extravagant” trip, but instead heading to Wyoming to “fish and sit by a fire” as a family for two weeks, they said.
They said they’re trying to spend their wealth on experiences instead of things, and on ways to remove friction from their lives so they can spend more quality time together as a family.
For example, they’ve hired more help around the house, and have started flying private with their extended family to save time and hassle when traveling, they said.
They’ve also given back by funding mission trips around the world and sponsoring a local school, which they prefer to buying seats at charity galas or starting foundations, as “that stuff’s very cringy for me,” Allison said.
She and Stephen said they’re determined not to let their newfound wealth spoil their three young children.
They may have “lived the American dream,” but they still want to raise “good kids” who “work hard” and are kind to others, she said.
The couple still expect their kids to clean up after themselves, do chores, and have jobs when they’re older.
Stephen said he wants his kids to think differently about dollars than his family did when he was young. He grew up in a “very conservative” household where the mantra was to scrimp and save, and he wants to “flip that script” with his kids and teach them how money can be put to work, he said.
He added that he’ll encourage them to “do hard things.”
“Lean into hard, because that’s where the growth happens, and with that growth, that’s where the fulfillment and purpose really happens,” he said.
Looking ahead
Allison and Stephen said they’ve largely cut ties with Poppi since the PepsiCo acquisition.
They took a few months off after the deal closed to play golf and travel, but soon realized they were “too young to retire, and what we missed more than anything was the team, the grind, the hard work,” Allison said.
In addition to investing their wealth and mentoring other entrepreneurs, they now plan to parlay the knowledge and experience they gained building Poppi into a new idea.
“We are actually starting another company soon,” Allison said.
