 My favorite sound is a naturally aspirated mid-engine Ferrari exhaust. What's yours? I think with two young kids, it's probably the lack of... Thomas Francis Kelly IV, co-founder of Sound. Are you ready to answer some questions? I'm ready. What is sound? We make tea-based sparkling beverages that are certified organic and completely unsweetened. Why are you called sound? It was inspired by our commitment to sound ingredients, which was unsweetened, organic, and then the mission. We really wanted to be sort of the antithesis of big soda, and felt like sound was a great adjective for all of that. So there's absolutely nothing to do with sonic sound at all? No, we liked the way that it was a little bit abstract and open to interpretation, and sound being vibration saline, my co-founder is much more in the meditation, the vibration and energy space, and was very much into that perspective on it as well, where sound is vibration and energy. How do you go from nuclear energy to CPG beverage founder? Not overnight. I mean, it started as a hobby. It then slowly progressed into, oh, this is an interesting idea. We moonlighted as engineers with product in Whole Foods, and then started to pick up more distribution and jumped fully in. How did two beverage novices get a beverage into Whole Foods? Whole Foods is very much open to new and unique things as long as they align with their core values. Thankfully for us, they didn't care too much about packaging. At the beginning, did you just want to focus on the launch so you consciously put branding on the back burner knowing you'd have to return? Or was it only when you had a full-fledged business that you realized you didn't do the branding right from the get-go? I think we were definitely naive. Out of the gate, we were not beverage entrepreneurs. We knew nothing about food and beverage industry, period. We thought we had a unique concept and we said it's a unique concept. People are going to buy it. Something we learned the hard way is how important brand is, and that was an expensive mistake for sure. How did you know you needed a rebrand? A lot of it, I think, was intuition, and some of it was a little bit more objective, where sales were great, but then we were looking at the disconnect between sales and organic social mentions. Like, people are buying it, but they're not posting pictures of it. It's not inspiring anyone. We knew that there was much more potential from the feedback we were getting as compared to what the Velocity in Stores was saying. What went into the rebranding process? It was very much strategy. It was starting very, very broad with the visual territories. What did we want to own? What felt most familiar? What felt most differentiated? From there, we expanded out into way too many probably design directions and ended up at a great spot. Was it scary scrapping everything and starting over? Yes. Do you cringe looking back at your old stuff? Are you just proud of where you are now? I cringe. Why do you still have your old packaging on the bottom of your Instagram feed? A lot of people have asked that, and I think a lot of it goes back to just the story. We're not trying to hide from anything. If you're that curious about the brand and what we used to be, you'll find it and think that there's a lot of value in telling that story of how far we've come. Your new packaging is the best rebrand I've ever seen. Has the rebrand been instantly transformational to the business? Yes. I'd say it's definitely a little early to tell, but in terms of organic outreach, mentions, just commentary, people picking it up off the shelf, taking a picture, it's certainly been transformational so far. What's been the response like to your rebrand? It's been all positive. I don't think we've gotten one negative reaction that I've heard. All right. Warn our flow code, flow card. So this season, flow code is sponsoring. They are a revolutionary new QR technology that makes a beautiful QR code that allows you to directly connect with your consumers with a whole bus of robust technology. Right now on screen, people will be seeing a customized flow code for your brand and they'll pull their phone out and it will take them to a customized flow page. What would you love flow code to program on your brand's flow page? Our website, Instagram and then a discount code for your first order at week 20. We're in a cartoon on the edge of the cliff is hanging your liquid and your packaging. Who are you saving and who falls to the depth below? I tend to think that the liquid is more important than the packaging long term. One of our friends actually drank sound in its prior form and loved it. Does that prove that the end of the day liquid wins out? I think so. I think packaging inspires the initial purchase, but liquid is what's going to keep customers around. What's your favorite flavor? Grapefruit. Do you sleep with a can under your pillow? I don't. What keeps you up at night and what time do you wake up in the morning? My 11 week old and every day is different. My favorite sound is a naturally aspirated mid-engine Ferrari exhaust. What's yours? I think with two young kids it's probably the lack of... Seltzer is very in right now. Do you ever worry it might go out of style? No. I think for us the macro trend of why Seltzer is in style is because people love carbonation, but they're slowly moving from sugar and soda. So it's only going to continue to grow. We hope that people move from the Seltzer commodity into products like ours that are more flavor forward and built more on ingredients. I saw you donate a portion of sound sales to charity. What's the organization and how do you make sure it stays authentic? It started out as Wellness in the Schools, which is a New York City-based organization really helping to provide education and resources to youth in low-income communities. And then during COVID with schools closing we still supported them, but it shifted towards City Harvest and other organizations around food insecurity and just generally educating and providing resources to the people who need it most. Our industry is a very tough one with margins and every penny matters. How do you justify giving at this point in the company? I think it's really just the fabric of what we're about and if we can be efficient spending elsewhere, I think some organizations go 1% for the planet and this to us is something that we're passionate about, so you can find the money to be able to support it. How do you make sure your brand resonates and doesn't just check boxes? I think a lot of it comes down to culture and the less tangible things of how you talk and the people behind it. I've learned that a lot of brands have a certain tribe that really helps them succeed. Have you found your tribe? Absolutely. It's the nutritionists, registered dietitians, the sort of what we call the well-versed wellness community. What's the best part of the job? Being able to do something you're passionate about and feel comfortable selling. What's the next milestone you're working towards? Wider distribution. What's been harder than you anticipated? Getting people to buy it. What's been the coolest moment so far? Probably standing on a subway car, seeing somebody drink a bottle down the other end. When will you know you've made it? I guess maybe the easy answer is when you're acquired, but I think for us we want to keep owning the business and growing it, so I don't know that you do. Tommy Kelly, co-founder of Sound, thanks so much for coming on here and answering my questions. Thank you, Ian. I'm Ian Wishingrad and I'll see you next time on I'm With the Brand.