From Budweiser to Bourbon: What It Really Takes to Build a Spirits Brand

Hi Friends!

Today, I’m grateful that our business is growing and is able to ebb and flow. The wine industry is going through one of those cosmic shifts in the larger brands consolidating, selling, or just straight up closing massive parts of their businesses. Under normal circumstances, I would say that is jarring for a newer wine brand, but candidly, I’m less concerned than I’ve ever been.

These larger companies (Gallo, Constellation, Duckhorn, etc.) that I’ve been watching since I joined the outskirts of the alcohol industry years ago had a different type of access that Mom Juice has never had – inherited family businesses, extreme capital availability, and the high-end wine desire. Don’t get me wrong, there’s been many times when I’ve looked at a bill that KT Winery can’t afford to pay and thought “UGH, why can’t we just be funded already or have an uncle at the big companies to give so and so a call” but I think it’s grounded us in the reality that building this business is going to be challenging and that we can’t make our brand like other companies. 

We have to rely on customers being more than that; we have to grow and nurture a community. We can’t rely on expensive ad programs or a celebrity endorsement, but we have to hire real humans, show up to support the PTA’s lunch fund drives, create a great product, and all those real things in between.

I’ve never been more confident that we’re building the right way. We do need funding to continue to grow, and the goal is to get bigger so more women can access wine that’s made better, but our community has to be at the heart of it. 

So you won’t get gloom and doom from me today.

✨👀 We’re hiring for a PT National Sales Manager see more here

What's In This Newsletter -

• A Little Biz News: Ami Cole’s closing their doors, Poppi’s Allison Ellsworth bucking tradition, Fawn Weaver on Shark Tank, and Cod Protein I thought was a joke by DAVE

• 🎙️The Podcast Spotlight: Paige Parker | A founder who went from Anheuser-Busch to building Happenstance Whiskey

• 🎟️ Your Invite to Our Denver Pop-Up (First Dibs!)

🎙️ This Week on the Podcast: How Paige Parker Built Happenstance Whiskey 

Paige Parker isn’t just making whiskey — she’s rewriting what a modern bourbon brand can be. From a marketing career at Budweiser to hand-blending her first batch of Happenstance Whiskey, Paige shares the real behind-the-scenes: the funding hurdles, licensing nightmares, and why the female whiskey drinker deserves more than a dusty bottle from her grandpa’s shelf.

“You can’t build a long-term brand without a great product. The story just brings it to life.” — Paige Parker

Takeaways:

• The stat that made her go all in: 40% of bourbon drinkers are women
  

• How she built Happenstance from scratch without a Co-Founder
  

• Why she’s betting on a “Tuesday bourbon” and not just high-proof hype

🎧 Listen to the episode now
📦 Bonus: Happenstance’s single barrel is dropping soon — and it ships to 40 states.

🎟️ She’s Got the Juice: Quickie Edition in Denver!

She’s Got the Juice: The Quickie is coming to Denver, CO, for one night only. We’re doing a quickie edition with very limited tickets.

She’s not just one thing — she’s everything. At She’s Got the Juice: Quickie Edition, we’re pouring into the powerhouse woman who wears many hats and does it with style, grace, and a little bit of edge.

This day is all about honoring your wholeness — the CEO and the sister-friend, the nurturer and the go-getter, the dreamer and the doer. Expect deep connection, intentional rest, and a bold celebration of who you’ve become (and who you’re still becoming).

🗓️ Date: September 6th, 2025
🎟️ Grab your ticket here

📈 Little Biz + Pop Culture News

🧴 Ami Colé is closing — A reminder that even great brands aren’t immune, but that leaders can arise at the hardest of times. Missed it? See the masterclass in saying Goodbye and now making herself an icon by Ami Colé’s founder, Diarrha N'Diaye-Mbaye, on the CUT.

🥤 Justin Bieber is back, and so is the word SWAG? — I have questions. I’ll give it a listen, but I have a lot of questions…

🦈 Fawn Weaver on Shark Tank — Fawn is joining the tank as a guest Shark this season, and I’m so pumped. She’s a master strategist in brand, storytelling, community building, and selling. I love gaining insights from women like Emma Greede and Fawn Weaver, and now she’ll be on our TVs.

🐟 Cod protein... from Dave Asprey — Yes, the Bulletproof guy. I saw it initially on LinkedIn and thought it was a joke, but it’s actually in stores. It’s pettiness wrapped up in an actually interesting idea. Do you think it’s going to work, or is this a well-thought-out farce?

Thanks for being here for reading, buying, sharing, forwarding, and cheering us on.
Mom Juice is built by women who care, and it only works because of you.

Kristin Taylor