Ready To Drink Podcast
The Ready To Drink Podcast is built for founders, operators, and leaders navigating the next era of beverage. Hosted by twenty-year industry veteran Nate Fochtman, the show pulls back the curtain on what actually drives growth - distribution strategy, regulatory navigation, sales velocity, and consumer trust. These are honest conversations with the people doing the work, building brands that last in a crowded and regulated marketplace.
Episodes
45 episodes
Cannabis Beverage Certification, Sober Founders and the Hemp Beverage Revolution | Leigh Gall
Leigh Gall is the co-founder of Cannabis Beverage Certification and host of The Enlightened Buzz on YouTube, the leading education channel for THC beverages. She came up at Boston Beer, spent years in national accounts and distributor training,...
Quick Sips: Don't Apologize for Your Passion
Performance coach, Cannabis Beverage Certified co-founder,and Women in Hemp co-leader Leigh Gall joins Ready To Drink Podcast host Nate Fochtman to talk about what actually keeps founders moving in a market this hard to build in. Pa...
Founder & Sergeant Major Mike Waskewich (Ret.) on Flavor Matching, the Adult Beverage Ecosystem and Building What the Industry Was Missing
Mike Waskewich spent 23 years in the Army, retired as a Sergeant Major and then built two things the adult beverage industry didn't know it needed: The Bar Book, a Spotify-style flavor matching app for spirits, beer, cocktails, NA and THC bever...
Quick Sips: The drink doesn't make the memory. The moment does.
The drink doesn't make the memory. The moment does.Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major and The Bar Book co-founder Mike Waskewich Jr drops something worth sitting with in our upcoming episode - your favorite beverage isn't about what's in t...
Quick Sips: The Hemp Industry Can't Afford to Fight Itself Right Now | Chris Fontes | High Spirits
Chris Fontes, founder of High Spirits, breaks down why the hemp beverage space is still a team sport and why operators who treat it like a competition are hurting everyone, including themselves.Right now the category is sti...
Quick Sips: His boss told him the work was drying up, so he built a brewery instead. | JR Heaps | South County Brewery
The 2008 housing crash didn't end JR Heaps' career - it started one.JR was doing historic restoration and timber frame design-build work when his boss pulled him aside and basically said: the projects are drying up, you might want to cha...
The LEVIA Story with Kristin & Eric Rogers
In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Kristin and Eric Rogers, the husband-and-wife founders who built, sold, and recently bought back their cannabis beverage empire, LEVIA. Transitioning from...
Quick Sips: From "Crazy Idea" to Big Acquisition (and Buying it Back)
In this Quick Sips from tomorrow's episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, LEVIA co-founders Eric and Kristin Rogers share the incredible "boomerang" story of their brand.From spotting a gap in the market for zero-sugar, zero-calor...
Quick Sips: 84% of Americans Want THC Drinks
Pete Olander, founder of Happie Beverages, sits down to discuss the massive gap between what the people want and what politicians are doing. With an 84% approval rating for THC beverages among adults, the data is clear - the "cannabis-curious" ...
Quick Sips: The New Way to Socialize: Why Hemp Hits Different with Goodmellow
It’s not just about what’s in the glass, it’s about how you feel the next morning.Dylan & Brandon, Co-founders of Goodmellow sits down with the Ready To Drink Podcast to discuss the evolving culture of hemp beverages. From coffee sho...
The Science of Terpenes: How Abstrax Tech is Revolutionizing Beer & Cannabis
In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate sits down with Jack Peat, the entrepreneurial force behind Abstrax Tech and Abstrax Hops.Jack shares his journey from selling weed at 15 to running a massive swimming pool automation bu...
Quick Sips: How to get 30% MORE beer from your hops with Abstrax Tech
"Holy Hell."That was the reaction when Jack Peat, founder of Abstrax Tech dropped the numbers on our latest clip. Imagine turning 500 lbs of hop pellets into 2,500 lbs of aroma equivalent while simultaneously increasing your bee...
Quick Sips: The Story Behind Appalachian Girls Cannabis Co
Co-founder Josh Crozier shares the story behind the naming of Appalachian Girls Cannabis Co, how it represents the spirit of Southeastern Ohio and the female cannabis plant.It is about more than just a label, it is about representing a r...
Quick Sips: PR Has a PR Problem & Why the Human Story is the Future of Public Relations
PR has a PR problem.It is something we are all trying to figure out right now: what is the right angle and what can we actually do to stand out? But the truth is, consumers are questioning transparency and authority more than ever...
Quick Sips: The Craft Beer Lesson the Cannabis Industry is Ignoring
Over 32 million Americans walk into a grocery store every single day. Half of the U.S. population conducts a transaction at a convenience store on a daily basis.If we want to build a sustainable, normalized hemp and cannabis industry, this ...
Why Hemp THC Beverages Belong in Bars + Retail, Not Dispensaries | Adam Peabody of Flora + Reddi Beverage
In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Adam Peabody, co-founder of Reddi Beverage and Flora. Like always, there was no script, no prep and no agenda - just two humans with deep roots in the hospitality and a...
Quick Sips: Why Hemp is the "Trojan Horse" for THC Accessibility | Thomas Winstanley, Edibles.com
The hemp-derived THC market is moving fast, but who is actually building the infrastructure to sustain it?In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate sits down with Thomas Winstanley, EVP & General Manager of Edibles....
Why Hemp is the "Trojan Horse" for THC Accessibility | Thomas Winstanley, Edibles.com
The hemp-derived THC market is moving fast, but who is actually building the infrastructure to sustain it?In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate sits down with Thomas Winstanley, EVP & General Manager of Edibles.c...
Quick Sips: Overcoming Addiction & Embracing Failure
I failed at getting sober. A lot.We always tell people, "Don't be afraid to fail," but we rarely talk about what failure actually looks like in practice. On a recent episode of The Leaders' Arena Podcast, I sat down with someone who has ...
Quick Sips: Is Hemp REALLY killing the Bourbon industry? Chris Fontes, Founder of High Spirits
Is the Bourbon industry actually afraid of hemp drinks?Chris Fontes, founder of DrinkHighSpirits.com, joins Nate Fochtman on the Ready To Drink Podcast to dismantle the myth that "fizzy hemp water" is stealing bourbon’s lunch.The ...
Quick Sips: ROAM is proving that "Clean Label" and "High Potency" can live in the same can with co-founder, Shannon Urban-Denise
"I don't know what the hell I'm doing... but I made the drink I wanted to drink."Shannon Urban-Denise, co-founder of ROAM, explains why her family-owned hemp beverage company is ditching chemicals and artificial sugars for real Italian p...
Quick Sips: Why hemp beverage founders are BEGGING to be regulated with Gordon Whelpley, co-founder of Float House CAN-NA-BREWS
Why cannabis beverage founders are BEGGING to be regulatedAre hemp and cannabis beverage companies just a bunch of 'Wild West' bad actors? Gordon Whelpley, co-founder of Float House CAN-NA-BREWS, sits down with Nate Fochtman on the Ready...
Quick Sips: Corporate Ladder to Hemp Founder with Anna Baskin, founder of hightail
Are you looking for a better way to unwind at 5 PM without the hangover?Join us as Anna shares her journey from climbing the corporate ladder to taking a leap into the rapidly growing hemp beverage space. We dive deep into the phi...
Redefining the 5 PM Reset: Low-Dose Hemp & Functional Drinks with Anna Baskin, Founder of hightail
Are you looking for a better way to unwind at 5 PM without the hangover?In this unscripted episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, host Nate Fochtman sits down with Anna Baskin, the CEO and Founder of hightail. After experiencing s...
Quick Sips: Stop Trying To Be Perfect. Fail Faster I Jared Langston, Founder of Good Liar NA Beer
Jared Langston, Founder of Good Liar NA Beer, explains why moving fast and breaking things is always better than waiting for perfection. If you wait six months to figure out how to perfectly open a door, you are already behind. In the early sta...