E172: How Cannabis Beverages are Disrupting the Alcohol Industry w/Sasha Pieterse

Sasha Pieterse might be best known for her acting career — but behind the scenes, she’s been building a beverage empire. In this episode, we dive deep into how Sasha's personal health journey led her to launch Hippie Water, a hemp-derived THC beverage brand that’s now in 140+ stores across 9 states. We talk about what it takes to transition from Hollywood to the CPG world, why Gen Z is drinking less alcohol, and how Sasha is redefining what it means to be a “celebrity founder.” This conversation goes beyond cannabis — it’s about leadership, authenticity, and building brands with staying power.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06David Weisburd?

  So before we jump into the business and how you're doing, tell me about why are you so passionate about cannabis infused beverages? And why pick this space out of everything you could have done?

• 0:18Speaker 01

  I definitely could have picked an easier space. I'll tell you that. But I think that's kind of the point. So as you know, I've been an actress for many years. And because of that, a lot of my life is on camera. A lot of growing is on camera. And I've had lots of health issues over the years. I've got PCOS and epilepsy and it's really affected my day to day life. I'm so passionate about cannabis because it really has changed my life. I was never a cannabis user. My parents were like meth, cannabis, same thing. Which is so not the case. And you know, you get older and you realize, wow, there's a lot more out there. I was really negatively impacted by alcohol.

• 1:02Speaker 01

  I love it in so many ways, but it's a social ritual that we've all become so accustomed to that it's normal. But it was affecting my sleep, which affected my seizures. It was affecting my hormones, which affected my PCOS. And then I had my son and it was just, you know, I couldn't get up in the middle of the night and then have a hangover the next day when I wanted to work and be functional and be a mom and all of those things. And I didn't have a problem with alcohol, but at the same time I did. It was one of those things where it wasn't a consumption issue. It was the effect that even just two glasses, one glass of wine would have on me. And then I started mourning what it actually was as far as a loss goes, which was the social aspect.

• 1:44Speaker 01

  I missed the connection of let's grab, you know, some cocktails or let's open a bottle of wine and share something together. And that was the aspect that I was truly missing. And some sparkling water wasn't really cutting. And I wanted something different. And so I created Hippie Water because I wanted something different and an option for me. And that passion has fueled everything that we've done with Hippie Water. And I think that makes the best product, something that starts selfish first.

• 2:13David Weisburd?

  And there was this meme on cannabis as it was being legalized that it's really not that bad for you. And now there's some pushback on that and saying it's actually worse than not bad for you. What's the latest science? And tell me where people stand on how bad or not bad cannabis is for you.

• 2:31Speaker 01

  Well, there's a lot of parts to this answer. This has become a very, like so many things now, a very political space versus a science-backed space. If you want to compare it, it's much better than alcohol, just naturally. I mean, alcohol has been scheduled as a carcinogen. It's been now proven to cause cancer of all sorts, affecting males, females, of any age that drink it. So I think that's an interesting thing. If we put that in a box and then we go to the science from cannabis, not only have we been restricted at studying cannabis legally, so that's the first thing. The second is the studies that we do have on it have

• 3:15Speaker 01

  only proven positive things. The negative ones that we've come across are tainted. They were on other substances. There was other medical things involved. It's not really a fair study. And so what you're seeing is because of the decline of alcohol use or consumption, you're seeing a lot of lobbying and a lot of misunderstanding or a lack of education in the space in general, which is a hard thing to face when you have a new company in the industry. I think the biggest part of this is creating another alternative for people that is functional. The non-alcoholic space is huge, but there are not a lot of beverages there that are actually getting you to feel something. And that's where that

• 4:00Speaker 01

  hemp-derived THC beverage comes in. You can have the best of both worlds. You can have this, you can sleep well after having a nice buzz, wake up in the morning feeling refreshed with no hangover. There are not a lot of things in life that give you a no-conformist situation, and cannabis beverages do.

• 4:18David Weisburd?

  And you mentioned the lobbying, basically lobbying from alcohol companies against cannabis as a substitute.

• 4:24Speaker 01

  Ultimately, Gen Z and millennials are drinking far less than previous generations. Alcohol is down at least 30% in consumption in the United States, which affects pockets. But we have amazing brands and businesses that are willing to accept us. Total Mine is a great example. They are an amazing partner. We are in, it'll be nine states with them, and they have just been so supportive and understanding that THC is a really big part of their business now. It's not just this fun additive. It's helping their business. It's helping them grow and sustain their customers.

• 5:07Speaker 01

  Because ultimately, it doesn't have to be an either-or. Giving people an option is ideal when it comes to keeping your business afloat, and they understand that. And so you're seeing a lot of smaller businesses also understand that and follow suit.

• 5:21David Weisburd?

  Alcohol, I also see over time, the large companies are going to start acquiring in the space and just like they've done in other substitute spaces. In terms of Gen Z, I looked this up, Gen Z is drinking significantly less than previous generations. Why is that?

• 5:41Speaker 01

  I think Gen Z are understanding that it's not what's best for them. They're more health-conscious, there's more information for them out there, they can see the after-effects, they aren't necessarily choosing it at college anymore. It's not something that they are partaking in, in that camaraderie style like we even did as younger millennials and previous generations. So I think you're just seeing a shift in mindset and a change of vice, to be honest. And I think that's something that I also want to be clear on when it comes to cannabis beverages. As much as I don't want to say that we are a vice because I think that we are positive in so many ways, all of the good companies and the good people in the hemp industry

• 6:24Speaker 01

  recognize that we are a controlled substance in the sense that you should be 21 and over to consume. This is still an adult product and we want to make sure that consumers are safe. That includes every consumer that's legally able to consume it, like Gen Z. We want to make sure that they are consuming responsibly and that it is a healthy alternative in all aspects. But I think the Gen Z younger, like this generation, this age that they're at, I think they are smarter in so many ways compared to previous generations, just based on access to information.

• 6:56David Weisburd?

  They have AI. They could. Cost of curiosity has gone down. I'm glad that you mentioned the underage use of THC. One of the consensus parts in the science is that a lot of use early on could have pretty significant brain development.

• 7:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, absolutely. And I think that goes for so many different things, alcohol being the easiest thing. I was an underage consumer of alcohol.

• 7:18David Weisburd?

  I wasn't cool enough.

• 7:21Speaker 01

  I was a really good teenager. It is one of those things where there are plenty of things in our life that we shouldn't be doing until technically we're 26, just based on the formation of our brain. So when we classify ourselves as an adult, there's a reason for it. 21 is the safer side to start consuming any product like that. And cannabis falls into that category. And it should be treated as such.

• 7:48David Weisburd?

  When we last chatted, almost a year ago, you were pre-launch. Now you're in 40 stores and growing. Tell me about how you went from launch to 40 stores.

• 7:59Speaker 01

  Have to brag, we're in 140, not 40. It's been an amazing ride. So since we last spoke, we're still a baby company. We've barely been around for nine months. It's just turning nine months, so truly a baby.

• 8:17Speaker 01

  And I think there are a lot of surprises compared to when we first spoke. One of those being we got into distribution way faster than we thought that we would. We thought we would be driven mainly by D to C and only start considering more of a serious brick and mortar push at like six months. We got into Total Wine way faster than anticipated. We got a contact, which we were super excited about. We figured maybe one store they'll test us in, maybe two or three. We sent them samples and then they wanted us in three states, which was incredible and also posed a very interesting problem, a champagne problem, as I like to call it.

• 8:57Speaker 01

  And that being, you know, spoken from Taylor, our CPO and food scientists that made Hippie Water, it's your first run, your first inventory run is in so many ways a practice round. You want to know what the consumers think, you want to make sure that it's, it tastes correct, that the color's perfect, all of those things. And so for us to have this type of success in our, in our technical first inventory run was amazing and we're so thankful for that. So we love our product, the quality is there and it shows now with consumer demand and the fact that Total Wine wanted it then and now have only grown.

• 9:40Speaker 01

  Like I said, we'll be in nine states with them now, which is an incredible achievement in our timeframe.

• 9:46David Weisburd?

  Congrats on the early milestones. As a CEO of a consumer goods company, what does your day to day look like and where do you spend your time?

• 9:54Speaker 01

  That is a loaded question, but it's a question that I love. As you know, I was a little bit late because of a childcare issue. I'm going to be honest, obviously I'm juggling a lot of things. It's not just Hippie Water, it's my acting career, it's our podcast, there's a lot of, a lot of things going on, but that's honestly what I thrive on. I think what we do really well at Hippie Water, if I do say myself, is, is basically our foundation, the culture that we've made for our team and our employees has. Been a huge priority for us. So I'm the co-CEO, Alex is my other co-CEO. And what is so great about the way that we work is that we complement each other.

• 10:37Speaker 01

  Because his background has been in tech mainly, but it's scaling and startups. He has such an amazing foundation for the internal workings and what it means to be active and prioritize the growth of the company. And in tandem, I'm the growth on an everyday sense, but also from outward. I'm talking with you, I'm, you know, thinking of new ideas, ways to expand, ways to utilize my network and my relationships, and we make a really good team. And I told you from the very beginning, I did not want to slap my face on anything unless I was passionate about it. I'm passionate about growing this company every single day.

• 11:17David Weisburd?

  I think it's interesting, a lot of CEOs, they feel like they need to do every task. It's almost like, they almost feel guilty if they're not doing the operations and the management. I think it's more about what the company needs from you. If you could do a podcast and it goes viral, or if you could go on television, talk about Hippie Water, that's much more valuable for the company, even though you might not be doing the technical thing that some CEOs might think you should be doing. But it's more about what's best for the company, not necessarily what you feel compelled to do.

• 11:53Speaker 01

  That's very well said. And yes, I mean, I, just like mom guilt, sometimes I have CEO guilt.

• 11:59David Weisburd?

  Yeah.

• 11:59Speaker 01

  And that needs to be something that I'm reminded of, and my team does a good job with that. But what I will say is that, to your point, it's also about who you hire. I've also said from the beginning, I don't want to be the smartest person in the room. We're making strategic hires based on their experience. I can't do their job better than they can, and if I could, then that's also an issue. We have amazing employees that are so supportive and excellent in what they do.

• 12:30Speaker 01

  And so because of that, I may have my own guilt about maybe not making as many things as I would like to. However, the company is covered, and that is the important thing. So when I am doing something like this, I'm not worried about is that task being done? Is, you know, is, am I missing something in that meeting? It's like, no, my team has got it. If there's anything that happened, they will catch me up. We'll dive into it. And I'm far less worried than I could be. And so that's, that's a relief because ultimately, everything that I do in my career helps Hippie Water, and that balance is essential to making sure that everything is running correctly.

• 13:12David Weisburd?

  It's your unfair distribution advantage.

• 13:14Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 13:16David Weisburd?

  Let me remove some of that guilt. People are very rarely motivated to do something that they're not excellent in, and people are very rarely unmotivated to do something that they're really good at. So people tend to know what they're really good at at some level, and they want to focus on that. That's what they're motivated. That's, that's where they could be their best self. That's where they could keep on doing over and over in order to be the best. So I actually have a contrarian view. I think that companies should align themselves around people's super strengths and focus on really like structuring away the weaknesses versus having these arbitrary boxes. I think it's, Elon Musk had said that CEO is a made up title. There is a lot of these titles when you look, when

• 13:59David Weisburd?

  you become a Delaware C corp, you have the president and you have the secretary. And there might be one other title, but you don't actually have this, the CPO or CEO or any of these titles.

• 14:11Speaker 01

  Very fair.

• 14:12David Weisburd?

  So, there is, there are no rules from corporate state law on what you should be focusing your time on.

• 14:18Speaker 01

  I love that. That's, that's, that's very well said, and, and it's true. I am, I'm actually grateful for that because ultimately the things that I've done in my career and personal life have always been driven by things that excite me and I never want that to stop. I think we, we stop progressing as soon as we are afraid to evolve and try new things. And as much as there are things that scare me about something like this, stepping into this position, it's never boring and I have this desire to always learn more in, in this aspect. I want to be this best CEO that I can.

• 15:00Speaker 01

  I want the company to be the best that it can be and learning on my feet or finding out what those weaknesses are and how to fill them is something that is, that I'm driven by rather than scared of. And I think that's, that's the important thing. It's not necessarily about having that skill, like you're saying. It's about how to overcome those weaknesses successfully. And you're not always going to make the right decision and that's the other thing. It's, it's being willing and able to pivot, being agile in a company is so important. And of course Hippie Water is definitely successful, but that doesn't mean that we haven't made mistakes. That doesn't mean that we haven't learned along the way. One of the easiest things to point to is that we really thought that we would be targeting

• 15:44Speaker 01

  Gen Z mainly and our actual audience, our strongest consumer is 30 to 60 and, and swinging female. The female isn't a surprise. The older age group, not that they're old, is more of a surprise. We have a large Gen Z demographic, but it's actually me. Mike, the consumer is me. It's the, you know, working mom that is really tired, that wants to go and drink with her friends, but knows that it's not in her best interest. So instead she's going to turn to something like Hippie Water that is going to give her that no compromise lifestyle and slowly make her life better, incorporating healthier things. And so I'm literally marketing to myself and that is the best lesson we could have learned, especially this early on in our company.

• 16:30David Weisburd?

  How has being a celebrity founder and what way has that helped you and which way maybe it wasn't as advantageous as you thought before you started?

• 16:40Speaker 01

  I would be doing everybody a disservice by not recognizing the privilege that I have because as much as I face challenges as a female CEO, I also have a foot in the door because of my social presence. What I will say the challenge is, is getting people to see past just the celebrity, right? Because initially followers excite people. Social influence excites people, but it's the-

• 17:06David Weisburd?

  What are you up to follower wise?

• 17:08Speaker 01

  I'm over, I'm around 21 million across all social platforms.

• 17:15David Weisburd?

  Between me and you, we have 21 million followers, so.

• 17:19David Weisburd?

  Great.

• 17:20Speaker 01

  You know, but that's true. It's like, that's exciting. And it's not that it's not exciting. However, there is a bigger picture there and I feel like I'm always fighting the token. I never want to be the token.

• 17:34David Weisburd?

  The token celebrity.

• 17:35Speaker 01

  The token celebrity, the token CEO, the put in that position for face value versus actual value. And I think that is the fight that I'm fighting. And that's okay, because I would rather be underestimated and prove them wrong. You know, that's not a new saying, it's not a new sentiment, but it's the truth. I just feel like ultimately, we have a long way to go, but I have experienced mainly pleasant encounters, other than maybe some condescending remarks, or maybe just not taking me as seriously as I would like them

• 18:16Speaker 01

  to. However, I'm really happy with where we're at. And I think that we will just continue to prove that our team is strong. And our team is actually what makes Hippie Water. So much of fundraising and networking is about believing in our team versus our company. And as much as I feel like our product is really strong, making sure that our team is solid is, in some ways, more important.

• 18:45David Weisburd?

  Certainly on the investing side.

• 18:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:47David Weisburd?

  Up until probably Series B, Series C, it's almost all team.

• 18:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:52David Weisburd?

  In terms of if you were investing into celebrity-backed brand, what would you be looking for outside of obviously that the CEO is actually passionate or the celebrity is passionate about the company? Where do you think is the right place for celebrities to align themselves?

• 19:09Speaker 01

  Ultimately, it just has to be authentic. It doesn't actually really matter what the product is as long as it's something that you actually use and that of course it needs to be like a gap that is being filled in the market. But ultimately, it has to be something that you use on a regular basis or you've talked about or you're passionate about. And so it's less about the celebrity even being like the center of the business. It's more about the celebrity that's attached. Doesn't necessarily have to be on a day-to-day. I'm not judging celebrities that aren't. It just means that the product that you're creating has to go with your brand. It has to be something that makes sense when you talk about it.

• 19:54Speaker 01

  I think that that's the main issue. We see people, we see celebrities either choosing a very oversaturated product because it's worked for a couple of other celebrities or we're seeing a product that doesn't make sense that you can kind of tell is just attached versus authentic. So if you can speak on it authentically and it's not an oversaturated market, I think that that is a plan for success, that that's a route for success. Skims is a great example. Kim literally built her early following on shapewear. It wasn't her own, but that transition to her own company, brilliant. And also the product is great.

• 20:36Speaker 01

  And that's those two ingredients is, I mean, obviously she's gotten so much success from Skims and that product can stand by itself.

• 20:44David Weisburd?

  There's a couple of second-order effects from that. One is if you're not really deeply rooted in the mission, you're just like a tree during a storm. You're going to get uprooted very quickly and the first time there's any issues, which is always every single month, you're going to want to quit. You're not going to have the same level of commitment to it. Thank you for listening. To join our community and to make sure you do not miss any future episodes, please click the follow button above to subscribe.

• 21:10Speaker 01

  You want to be able to see longevity. Because you might have a great product and you might be a very popular celebrity, but you will not be the last to make something like that. You are going to have another product and another celebrity that will combat whatever you're making, and so you need to make sure that you are interesting enough and are constantly developing new things to drive your consumers to have brand loyalty. Because just because your brand and your face is successful does not mean that there's not going to be another brand and another celebrity that's going to rise to the occasion. And how are you going to combat that is, I think, the long-term thought when it comes

• 21:54Speaker 01

  to investing in one and also starting one.

• 21:57David Weisburd?

  If you were an investor taking a look at Hippie Water, what would you say is your competitive advantage? What is your moat?

• 22:04Speaker 01

  Kind of what I just spoke on. I think we have the product, we have the brand, the authentic message. The space itself has so much room to grow, not just our company, but the industry. Our moat is ironically also growth because we're constantly facing new regulation and how to pivot and sidestep and lobby ourselves and all of those things that come with this industry. Our moat is mainly the fact that we are still in a brand-new industry. That's kind of how I see that. So investors investing in us, it's potentially more risky than other industries, but it has so much potential that you're kind of

• 22:47Speaker 01

  silly not to. There are not a lot of industries out there where you can get in this early. We have so many consumer packaged goods that have been around, the categories have been around forever. Alcohol has been around for 9,000 years, probably more. And so that industry is not new. Cannabis beverages are brand new. And we have the opportunity to become the Coca-Cola of cannabis beverages. And that is not an opportunity that comes around often. And in five, 10 years, this industry will look completely different.

• 23:24David Weisburd?

  And in terms of, from regulatory standpoint, you guys are under hemp laws. You have a certain, you're limited, you're limited by the THC you could put in beverage. But basically, that's what makes you legal in all 50 states.

• 23:37Speaker 01

  Well, not all 50. So federally, we are legal under the farm bill, the 2018 farm bill. And so what that means is because we are under a certain dry weight volume of hemp, we have that loophole to use THC. And so there's a couple of things to note on this. States are now making their own laws, which they should be. I think hemp beverages, because we have this angle, you're seeing a couple of things happen. You're seeing, it obviously was a surprise loophole, but what you're seeing is success in the space because of consumer demand and the accessibility. But you're seeing states cap the milligrams, which I personally think is correct.

• 24:22Speaker 01

  I think what we should be seeing is more regulation. And obviously, we don't want like a chokehold around us, but we should be a regulated industry for multiple reasons. Like I said, we are a substance. It should be age gated. We should make sure that there are regulations to keep consumers safe. We should be tested. We should make sure that our dosages are what they say that they are inside the can. There are certain things that bring validity, validity to the industry that are important. So I agree with all of those things. Some of those things can be annoying when they are opinions made into law that are uneducated, when they don't really understand the space.

• 25:04Speaker 01

  But as long as we can manage making sure that the science and common sense laws and regulation come into place, we will be totally fine. So we can ship legally to 39 states directly to your door through USPS, UPS, FedEx.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  And those types of things, those loopholes itself, they might go away. As far as small regulation on a state by state basis, currently that is not the case. And so, you know, you're constantly pivoting, however, the accessibility is great. You're seeing states like Minnesota really leading the way. You can buy it in grocery stores, restaurants, bars. And we're really giving people that alternative option. And I think there are a lot of states following suit. Now you've got a state like California with the hemp ban. It's a perfect example of lobbying and misinformation. So the idea was that hemp beverages were marketing to kids. Simply not the case, we were only sold in liquor stores in California.

• 26:03Speaker 01

  So, you know, the conference that was held about why they're banning hemp, there were certain beverages on the table. And it was there selling in grocery stores right next to the sodas. Completely incorrect. But what you do see is the alcohol infused Warhead popsicles next to the regular popsicles. And so there is a hypocrisy there, but there is pushback and there will continue to be. And I think that type of regulation and that ban will change over time.

• 26:29David Weisburd?

  What's the biggest lesson that you've learned being a first time CEO?

• 26:33Speaker 01

  One, one big one is just where to relinquish control, which we've kind of touched on. But I think I'm so used to having control over almost everything I do in my business. Aside from, you know, maybe direction on set. And so that has been the big one to be like, where should I let go? And where should I stand firm? Those are my biggest lessons. It's, you know, understanding my place in the best way possible. Because ultimately, like we were saying, you know, I don't have to do everything. I am constantly learning, which is great. And I'm not saying I'm ever on a power trip, I really am not. But it's, it is learning though, where am I needed? Where am I not?

• 27:17Speaker 01

  Where can I best be serving the business versus the business serving me? I never want that to be the case. And so because I am a first time CEO, I might not know where that place is. And asking the right questions outside and.

• 27:35Speaker 01

  Outside influence as far as like advice goes helps and internal helps. And so I think just that balance has really shaped me as a CEO and made me better. And I think you can probably relate to this, which is as a founder, your job title shifts and changes and molds. So I think the best example of where I'm at as a first CEO is first understanding where I am as a first founder of a company like this. Because the four of us founded the company and we were all doing everything. We bootstrapped it, we did everything ourselves, we were relying on our own relationships. And as soon as you hire one employee that relieves a job that you have to do,

• 28:17Speaker 01

  you understand, oh, okay, my job has now shifted. I get to relinquish control on that. So what should I focus on now that I have a little bit more free time?

• 28:27David Weisburd?

  I think a lot of people listening to this would love to learn how to relinquish control and when to do that. What are some best practices on that? Like what should you be doing yourself and when is it good to give the task to somebody else?

• 28:39Speaker 01

  It's based on reminding yourself, I hired that person for a reason. And reminding yourself why. I hired that person because their strength is an X, Y, and Z. And they might look at something different than me. Because of that, I hired them, let's trust them, let's see what they do. Even if it's not exactly the way that I would do it, you want them to succeed. So if that works, that works. And you were wrong and you need to be okay with being wrong. You can always pivot later, you can always change your strategy. But remember that you're hiring somebody for a reason. And if they have a different way of doing things, that doesn't mean that it's bad

• 29:21Speaker 01

  and you need to let them do their job and evaluate afterwards. It feels scary to experiment in that way. But I think that is the biggest lesson when you are first starting out is I'm passionate about this person that I hired, but I am... Basically ruining both of our jobs if I'm not letting them do their job that I hired them for.

• 29:44David Weisburd?

  I also think that's the standard to which to hire somebody, somebody that's clearly better at you at the task.

• 29:50Speaker 01

  Right.

• 29:51David Weisburd?

  Somebody that you would never really challenge in doing their domain because that's that much more experience.

• 29:56Speaker 01

  Right.

• 29:57David Weisburd?

  We just hired somebody, fractional CMO, they were doing the advertising that we were looking to do for 15 straight years, so it's gonna be silly for me to interject and, you know, give my two cents.

• 30:07Speaker 01

  Right, and I think there's a balance there, too, you know, all of those things that you just said, all the things that I said, but at the same time, you have founded your brand or your business, and so your vision matters, and if the overall vision gets skewed and goes in the wrong direction, that's when you shift, but yes, relying on experience is so necessary. Our industry is a perfect example. I've never been in the cannabis industry before, and so when is it right to implement certain employees that have been in cannabis and when is it not? I think the thing with our industry is that a lot of people have been in cannabis for a really long time and actually are not structured properly, and that's a big statement and

• 30:50Speaker 01

  it's controversial, but I think bringing in people that have not been in cannabis and have been on the more corporate or the more structured side is actually a positive, and so finding the right blend is super important, and that takes, you know, trial and error and figuring out what works, but, but yes, overall vision, overall brand needs to stay on track, and how you get there is based on the people that you lean on, and yes, hopefully you make the right decision with the person that you hire and let them do their job.

• 31:18David Weisburd?

  Yeah, I almost think that there's some psychological aspect to letting go, and I think the irony is that people that have a hard time letting go are usually very independently successful and have gone very, very far on their own, but kind of to get to the next step, what got you there won't get you to the next step, so you almost have to like work with your left hand and handing it off to people, and still there's this meme in startup world called Founder Mode, which is basically the exact opposite, so basically it's Startups started to get run over with MBAs. I'm kind of both a founder and an MBA, so I have a foot in both camps. But basically, these MBAs with no founder experience would come in and create these hierarchical

• 32:03David Weisburd?

  kind of organizations, and things stalled. It's the reason why startups have always been able to compete with incumbents, because they were able to be scrappy and be more flat. And now, there's this whole trend of founder mode, which started by Brian Chesky, which is basically founders get in the trenches and work with their team on fixing problems. So you could go in one direction too far as well.

• 32:28Speaker 01

  Totally, completely agree.

• 32:29David Weisburd?

  What aspect of entrepreneurship were you not ready for despite, you know, hearing it many times over, but you became a founder, you became a CEO? What weren't you ready for?

• 32:38Speaker 01

  It's a great question. And I'm definitely not saying that I was ready for everything. I think I wasn't ready for how exhausting fundraising is. There's aspects that I love, and it's not because of a lack of traction. It's just constantly asking people for money is not very fun. Even if you deserve it, and you know, your numbers are good, and your company is set up well, it's an awkward dance. And believe me, I'm getting better at it. But it's not something that I had ever done before. So that's a new thing as a CEO, right?

• 33:19Speaker 01

  One of the things that I had to learn is how do you put pressure in the right ways? How do you ask the right questions? And how do you figure out, you know, how to best represent your company? And those meetings can be challenging, and you're not going to get it right every time. It feels like an audition sometimes.

• 33:41David Weisburd?

  Yeah.

• 33:42Speaker 01

  Where, you know, you want to showcase your talent.

• 33:44David Weisburd?

  Probably similar conversion from audition to check.

• 33:49Speaker 01

  What's interesting, though, with that, and maybe this is like, hopefully, some relief to new founders or brand-new CEOs that have never done this before, is that just like an audition, sometimes your worst audition, at least the way that you felt, ends up being the thing that takes you to the next step, for whatever reason. It's, you know, maybe showing a lack of ego, or...

• 34:13Speaker 01

  You know, something silly that you said that made it endearing, who knows what it is. But I have definitely walked out of auditions and gone, that sucked. I didn't do what I wanted to do, or I said the wrong line, or I forgot this, or whatever it is. And then that's the role that you book. And I think this is very similar. And you don't have to always do things perfectly to get a good result. So I think it's, a lot of it is trusting your instincts and understanding that you're still a person. And your story is what matters and your execution is what matters. Sometimes you're gonna have bad meetings, sometimes you're gonna have bad encounters, sometimes you're not gonna relate to anybody. And that's okay.

• 34:57Speaker 01

  It's not the end of the world, even when it feels like it in the moment.

• 35:00David Weisburd?

  One of the counterintuitive things about fundraising is when you come in and the investor's nodding their head and they're like, it was so great to meet you, that's almost 100% no. But when they start asking you tough questions, that's actually when they're interested. It's one of those things you learn first year as CEO.

• 35:16Speaker 01

  That is a really great point, and it's so true. You know, if they're not truly inspecting you, they're not interested.

• 35:22David Weisburd?

  You're back, living in LA after moving from Nashville. What has surprised you most about living in LA this time around?

• 35:30Speaker 01

  That's a great question, because I, in so many ways, have always had a disdain for LA. I grew up here, you know, the majority of my life has been spent in LA. But I feel like because of being in the industry, I did, I think you do one of two things when you're in the industry. You're either all in it, all the time, and that can be exhausting, or you are a recluse and you try and make a different private life outside of the industry. And I think I was raised to pull back when I wasn't working, for better and for worse. And that was when I was growing up, so I think it made sense. And it probably saved me from a lot of bad situations.

• 36:12Speaker 01

  So as an adult, living back here in LA and really understanding all of the pleasant things about it, has been really healthy. I'm coming back to LA with a completely different outlook on life, a completely, completely different family dynamic, you know, with a young kid and, and being able to reconnect with the childhood friends and, and family that still lives here. And creating a different type of community has been really exciting and a pleasant surprise. Because, I'm not gonna lie, I did come back feeling a little jaded. And I'm happy that I have kind of worked on my own self-awareness and broken some of that down. And, you know, it's not all bad and it's not all good and, and that's okay.

• 36:54Speaker 01

  Ultimately, in my industry, I love my job. That is my happy place. It's like summer camp. You're mixed with so many people that you would never come across normally and it's wonderful. And then there are things about the industry that aren't so great. But I think getting better at business in general, being in different circles that aren't just the entertainment industry, has been super healthy. And I understand now how to connect and network better than I did before. And I think it's only served me better in every circle that I've been in.

• 37:26David Weisburd?

  You have your own podcast, Women in the Nude, W I T N. How has podcasting been different than acting and what do you learn from one art to the other?

• 37:36Speaker 01

  First of all, it's been really fun. I've really enjoyed this. I think I've, I felt really free doing this podcast. Ironically, I'm, I'm doing things that are controversial. You know, I've got a cannabis beverage and Women in the Nude is a title that I didn't realize was gonna get flagged so many times, which is why we now use our acronym a lot because Women in the Nude is something that gets flagged on social, which is really funny. And so with that lesson, it's, it's actually, it's been liberating in a lot of ways. Because I've always talked about all the things that I'm talking about on the podcast, but I've always been afraid to share them because naturally there are topics that aren't talked about. In the way that they should be talked about. And so giving myself the outlet, providing

• 38:21Speaker 01

  a community of of women that we can kind of lean on has been really awesome. It's not all about, you know, women's health, as important as women's health is, it's also about women in business and the challenges we face, the cool things about it, you know, climbing up the ladder together, understanding that we don't, it's not a I rise and you don't, it's that we rise together and how to make that possible. So it's been a really beautiful thing. And I started out being super remote with my podcast. I was on the road a lot. I would do it while I was filming, while I was in Tennessee. And so having a headquarters in LA has been really great. And like you're sitting on this couch right

• 39:06Speaker 01

  now, it just feels

• 39:07David Weisburd?

  I feel very privileged as a man on the women in the nude.

• 39:11Speaker 01

  I know. Yeah, you are actually the first man to be sitting on this couch getting interviewed. It's obviously your podcast, but it does, it does feel nice to connect with people on a level. I think just also after COVID, it was, we were out of practice, you know, even just auditions or meetings or that sort of thing have all been over Zoom or meet and that sort of thing. So it's nice to sit down with somebody and connect with them the way that we used to. And it just happens to be that there's cameras on.

• 39:42David Weisburd?

  What do you wish that men understood better about women?

• 39:46Speaker 01

  I can tell you what I wish men did better. I think ultimately what I wish men understood more about women is that communication is an asset, not something to be annoyed by. I think we often see women, when they explain their feelings, being told that they're too emotional, or they're too much, or they're complainers, or they're naggers, or they're overstepping, when in reality, conversation is what moves things forward, even if we don't agree. Ultimately, communication is a strength. And we might express emotions

• 40:28Speaker 01

  differently, but we all feel very strong emotions. And like I say to my toddler, every emotion is okay, it's just how, what you do with it. And I think emotional intelligence is regulating yourself. And figuring out how to use it wisely, and I think we could all use a dose of that.

• 40:47David Weisburd?

  From evolutionary psychology, women developed emotions in order to communicate and influence basically the men of the tribe, where the men would just hit each other with a club. So it certainly has served its evolutionary purpose.

• 41:02Speaker 01

  People grow together, or they grow apart. It's a part of life, friendship, marriage, whatever it is. And ultimately, communication is the ultimate goal. Because if I can tell you how I'm feeling, and you can tell me how you're feeling, and we can work on it together, we're much happier. There's no resentment. We can figure out a path forward. We can help each other, support each other, and fulfill each other in ways that we wouldn't be able to if we weren't talking about it. It's a disservice. It might feel awkward in the moment, but there's no progress in that. So again, communication is my biggest message. Relationship, marriage, you know, business, all of it. Let's get the awkward

• 41:45Speaker 01

  conversations out of the way so that we can build, whether that's in life, or business, or friendship. We can't support each other properly if we don't know what the problem is.

• 41:56David Weisburd?

  What would you like our audience to know about you, about Hippie Water, or anything else you'd like to share?

• 42:01Speaker 01

  I want them to know that our movement is exciting, and it's real. And ultimately, at the end of the day, I think our product has quality first, it has wellness first, it has, you know, our consumers' best interest first. And then about me, I guess I just want them to know that I believe in what I'm doing in every aspect of my life.

• 42:28David Weisburd?

  And where could they see more of Hippie Water? Where could they order?

• 42:33Speaker 01

  HippieWater.com. And if you go to our website, you can find our store locator and see if there's one near you. Another really exciting thing, sorry to sidestep again, but we are seeing companies and businesses like DoorDash get involved. So in Florida is a good example. You can DoorDash Hippie Water right to your door.

• 42:50David Weisburd?

  Well, Sasha, this has been great to catch up and

• 42:53Speaker 01

  Likewise.

• 42:53David Weisburd?

  Look forward to taping here or New York soon.

• 42:57Speaker 01

  Sounds good. Thanks.

• 42:59David Weisburd?

  Thanks for listening to my conversation. If you enjoyed this episode, please share with a friend. This helps us grow. Also provides the very best feedback when we review the episode's analytics. Thank you for your support.