Today we’d like to introduce you to Dee Bryant.
Hi Dee, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Deep down, I think always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but it took me a while to get here. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a theoretical mathematics degree, I was confident that my next step was to pursue a life in Academia. That was until I spent a summer bartending in New Orleans. That summer changed my life. I was immersed in a world that was raw, real, and success existed solely on understanding your customers and solving their problems before they even knew they had one. This is when my love and passion for people, solving consumer needs, and delivering joy and excitement came into existence. Thus I decided to forgo grad school and spent two years serving as a Teach For America corps member, teaching high school mathematics. I then went on to get my MBA in marketing & strategy and began a career in CPG brand management for the fortune 500 powerhouses of ConAgra Foods and Frito – Lay/Pepsico. While at Frito, I had my first chance to lead the innovation, commercialization, and launch of new products, and I got hooked. This is when I knew creating brand new products that solved a need is what I was born to do. I knew one day I would do it for myself but wasn’t sure just what that product would be yet.
During this same time, my best friend asked me to be her maid of honor. While planning her bachelorette party, I was desperate to find a fun, innovative, elevated way to celebrate her. I wanted something boozy that was reminiscent of our younger years (21+ of course), but that had the sophistication and quality of our now adult lives. I searched and searched and searched, and while I found beautiful recipes (that I think only Martha Stewart could honestly pull off), I knew I didn’t have the time or the skill to make them. Despite hours of searching, I failed to find something that was convenient and solved my need. This is when the idea of Boozy Bites first officially took hold.
But starting a business is scary, complicated, and hard. And despite knowing what I wanted to make, I had no idea how to do it. Thus I just marinated on the idea for five years until I finally took the leap and turned my dreams into reality.
Today, I get to work on what I love, create jobs for diverse and wonderful people, and know that I am helping bring excitement and fun to celebrations around the country.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been anything but a smooth road, but the one thing I have learned is that if you keep pushing through, things will work themselves out. Getting Boozy Bites off the ground has absolutely been the hardest thing I have ever done. From pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into the business, to selling everything of value I had in order to bootstrap it, to not knowing if we were going to survive another day and literally having to live in my manufacturing warehouse for a year because I couldn’t afford to pay myself and thus couldn’t afford housing, I won’t lie, it has been tough.
My favorite story from our journey comes early on. I had initially launched the business under another name, Ethyl Ambrosia, just months before the world shut down for COVID, and my revenue fell flat. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pay rent another month. But I refused to quit, and just when I was on the brink of having to shut down, my parked car got hit. This sounds like it would be a terrible thing, but I truly believe it was the universe looking out for me. My car had been paid off, and despite being beat up after it got hit, was still drivable, so I took the insurance check, put it in the business and lived to fight another day. To this day, I still drive around in that same beat up Mini Cooper, and one day hope to have it sitting in our HQ as a symbol of our beginnings.
As you know, we’re big fans of Boozy Bites. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Boozy Bites is on a mission to help people celebrate. Our flagship product is the Boozy Bite – the world’s first premium edible cocktail. You could think of it as a luxury jello shot. They are vegan, 15% alcohol, wine-based, and come in cocktail-inspired flavors such as Margarita, Moscow Mule, and Rosé. While they are delicious, the coolest part of our product is our patented push-up cup! The cup itself looks like a mini champagne glass, giving it an elevated, insta-worthy aesthetic, and then when you want to consumer the Bite, you simply twist the stem, push it up, and enjoy!
We officially launched Boozy Bites Sept. of 2020 and are incredibly proud to report that in our first year, we did over $1 million in online sales. With the early success, we are now entering into the traditional retail channel, and as of this month, are available in Kroger’s throughout the DFW market, with talks to bring more stores online soon.
In addition to Kroger, Boozy Bites can be found at Irene’s in Austin, Aggieland Outfitters, and The Cape Corpus.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Do it! But be ready to work. Don’t wait until everything is perfect because no matter how long you wait and how perfect you think it is, as soon as you launch, you will realize just about everything will have to change. So just get out there and do it. Listen to the market, make the changes, and never give up.
Pricing:
- Boozy Bites range from $60 – $75 per party pack.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@boozybites.com
- Website: https://boozybites.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/boozybitesofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Boozybitesofficial
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@boozybitesofficial
Image Credits:
J Teal Photography Paige Wyzard
