Twenty years building consumer brands. Here’s what I’ve learned.

I’m Sharelle Klaus. I spent twenty years building DRY Soda from my kitchen into a nationally distributed, much-loved independent beverage brand. We grew into one of the fastest-growing CSDs and longest-lasting independent beverage brands in the industry, earned national placements with major retailers, helped create an entirely new beverage category and sold more than 100 million bottles and cans along the way. Those twenty years gave me an education in building and sustaining a consumer brand that I couldn’t have gotten any other way.

Today, I’m applying everything I learned to Second Sip, the spirits company I co-founded, and I’m realizing just how valuable those two decades of experience have been. I know how to work with retailers, distributors, brokers and investors. I know where to spend, where to pull back, how to protect margins and how to recognize opportunities before they pass. More than anything, I know how to turn a good idea into a real business.

Seeing how much that experience is shaping the way we’re building Second Sip has made me want to share it. I’m excited to work with founders, investors and companies who can benefit from all that I’ve learned over the last two decades, helping them make smarter decisions, avoid costly pitfalls and build brands that last.