“The point where we started to accelerate was going outside our comfort zone. You can take that idea, that mentality, and transcribe it into anything.”
– Shayne Labis

“Somebody should write a book on how to grow a product company because it’s just like a needle in a haystack trying to figure out what the hell you’re supposed to be doing.”
– Nicole Barron

This week’s guests likely have the best-stocked home bar you’ll ever see. Nicole Barron, “Pour Director,” boasts a background as a bartender—plus a business education and plenty of Instagram savvy. Shayne Labis, “Chief Shaker,” is also a bartender, as well as Nicole’s partner in crime, life, and business. He credits Nicole as the catalyst behind the transformation of his passion for bitters into a thriving venture.

Born to Shake is a Kelowna-based company that proclaims, “Life's too short to drink sh!tty cocktails.” Through extracted bitters, hand-crafted syrups, and cocktail kits, as well as catering, private events, and mixology classes, they make cocktail-bar quality accessible to everyone, every day.

In this episode, Nicole and Shayne are joined by Vitalis’ Dexter L’Amarca and Jason Laronde. They sip blood orange margaritas and discuss the ups and downs of entrepreneurship in the COVID era, the chemistry and extraction of bitters, and the strategy behind marketing to millennials. Hidden among the business know-how are tips to elevate your own mixology game. And of course, given Vitalis’ expertise as an extraction specialist serving a wide variety of industries, a central theme is the research and development of innovative equipment solutions for Born to Shake’s unique needs. Because after all, a person can only peel so many oranges by hand!