I met Anika Sawni at the Unstoppable Women’s Conference in October of 2023, where she was an inspiring keynote speaker - in what I learned in this podcast was her very first keynote!  She’d recently been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and I was captivated by her talk and her brand and market and culture-changing opportunity.  At the conference, I was able to sample Gruvi’s Juicy IPA, Rose, and Dry Secco - and I loved them all!  And - none of them have any alcohol!  Whaat?!  Anika joined me for her first in-person podcast recording session during the Christmas season, and I’m happy to share it as our first episode of Season 4 of The LoCo Experience!

Anika was in her fourth year of university in Montreal when the seeds for Grüvi were sowed.  After a healthy lifestyle in her earlier years, she’d drifted into binge drinking (like most of her friends) during her undergraduate, but gave up alcohol when she saw it impacting her mood and performance, and threatened her acceptance at medical school.  She was on a neurosurgery path, but when that path was disrupted - she opted out of medical school and pitched the idea of a cool, countercultural - and non-alcoholic special times beverage to her brother Niki.  Niki had gained strong experience in business and finance at Salesforce, but had an entrepreneurial itch to scratch too, and soon after, Gruvi was born.  

Finding their path to revenue largely blocked in their native Canada, the pair soon moved themselves, their parents (out of retirement), and shortly thereafter, Anika’s boyfriend! - to Denver, Colorado - epicenter of tasty beers and healthy lifestyles in the American West - to work on Gruvi.  This is the story of a young company making its’ mark with fresh and tasty and low-calorie and alcohol-free beverages, and the young lady’s vision that started it all.  It’s a Gruvi episode, and I hope you’ll enjoy, as I did, my conversation with Anika Sawni.  

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Music By: A Brother's Fountain