E172: How Cannabis Beverages are Disrupting the Alcohol Industry w/Sasha Pieterse

So, before we jump into the business and how you're doing, tell me about why exactly, why are you so passionate about cannabis-infused beverages and why pick this space out of everything you could have done?

I definitely could have picked an easier space, I'll tell you that.

But I think that's kind of the point.

So,

as you know, I've been an actress for many years, and because of that, a lot of my life is on camera.

A lot of growing is on camera, and I've had lots of health issues over the years.

I've got PCOS and epilepsy, and it's really affected my day-to-day life.

I'm so passionate about cannabis because it really has changed my life.

I was never a cannabis user.

My parents were like, meth, cannabis, same thing, which is so not the case.

And, you know, you get older and you realize, wow, there's a lot more out there.

I was really negatively impacted by alcohol I love it in so many ways but it's a social ritual that we've all become so accustomed to that it's normal but it was affecting my sleep which affected my seizures it was affecting my hormones which affected my PCOS and then I had my son and it was just

you know I couldn't get up in the middle of the night and then have a hangover the next day when I wanted to work and be functional and be a mom and all of those things.

And I didn't have a problem with alcohol, but at the same time I did.

It was one of those things where it wasn't a consumption issue.

It was the effect that even just two glasses, one glass of wine would have on me.

And then I started mourning what it actually was as far as a loss goes, which was the social aspect.

I missed the connection of, let's grab, you know,

some cocktails or let's open a bottle of wine and share something together.

And that was the aspect that I was truly missing.

And some sparkling water wasn't really cutting it off.

And I wanted something different.

And so I created hippie water because I wanted something different and an option for me.

And that passion has fueled everything that we've done with hippie water.

And I think that makes the best product something that starts selfish first.

And there was this meme on cannabis as it was being legalized that it's really not that bad for you.

And now there's some pushback on that and saying it's actually worse than you, worse than not bad for you.

What's the latest science?

And tell me where people stand on how bad or not bad cannabis is for you?

Well, there's a lot of parts to this answer.

This has become a very, like so many things now, a very political space versus a science-backed space.

If you want to compare it, it's much better than alcohol, just naturally.

I mean, alcohol has been scheduled as a carcinogen.

It's been now proven to cause cancer of all sorts, affecting males, females of any age that drink it.

So I think think that's an interesting thing.

If we put that in a box and then we go to the science from cannabis,

not only have we been restricted at studying cannabis legally, so that's the first thing.

The second is the studies that we do have on it have only proven positive things.

The negative ones that we've come across are

tainted.

They were on other substances, there was other medical things involved.

It's not really a fair study.

And so what you're seeing is because of the decline of alcohol use or consumption, you're seeing a lot of lobbying and a lot of misunderstanding or a lack of education in the space in general, which is a hard thing to face when you have a new company in the industry.

I think the biggest part of this is creating another alternative for people that is functional.

The non-alcoholic space is huge.

But there are not a lot of beverages there that are actually getting you to feel something.

And that's where that hemp-derived THC beverage comes in.

You can have the best of both worlds.

You can have this, you can sleep well after having a nice buzz, wake up in the morning feeling refreshed with no hangover.

There are not a lot of things in life that give you a no-compromise situation, and cannabis beverages do.

And you mentioned the lobbying, basically lobbying from alcohol companies against cannabis as a substitute.

Ultimately, Gen Z and millennials are drinking far less than previous generations.

Alcohol is down at least 30% in consumption in the United States, which affects pockets.

But we have amazing brands and businesses that are willing to accept us.

Total Mine is a great example.

They are an amazing partner.

We are in, it'll be nine states with them,

and they have just been

so supportive and understanding that THC is a really big part of their business now.

It's not just this fun additive.

It's helping their business.

It's helping them grow

and sustain their customers.

Because ultimately, it doesn't have to be an either or.

Giving people an option is ideal when it comes to keeping your business afloat, and they understand that.

And so you're seeing a lot of smaller businesses also understand that and follow suit.

I also see over time the large companies are going to start acquiring in the space

just like they've done in other substitute spaces.

In terms of Gen Z,

I looked this up.

Gen Z is drinking significantly less than previous generations.

Why is that?

At Gen Z, you're understanding that it's not what's best for them.

They're more health conscious.

There's more information for them out there.

They can see the after effects.

They aren't necessarily choosing it at college anymore.

It's not something that they are partaking in in that camaraderie style like we even did as younger millennials and previous generations.

So I think you're just seeing a shift in mindset and a change of vice, to be honest.

And I think that's something that I also want to be clear on when it comes to cannabis beverages.

As much as I don't want to say that we are a vice because I think that we are positive in so many ways,

all of the good companies and the good people in the hemp industry recognize that we are a controlled substance in the sense that you should be 21 and over to consume.

This is still an adult product, and we want to make sure that consumers are safe.

That includes every consumer that's legally able to consume it, like Gen Z.

We want to make sure that they are consuming responsibly and that it is a healthy alternative in all aspects.

But I think the Gen Z younger, like this generation, this age that they're at, I think they are smarter.

in so many ways compared to previous generations just based on access to information.

They have AI.

They could.

They have AI.

The cost of curiosity has gone down.

I'm glad that you mentioned the underage use of THC.

One of the consensus parts in the science is that a lot of use early on could have pretty significant brain development.

Yeah,

absolutely.

And I think that goes for so many different things.

Alcohol being the easiest thing.

I was an underage consumer of alcohol.

I wasn't cool enough.

I was a really good teenager.

It is one of those things where there are plenty of things in our life that we shouldn't be doing until technically we're 26, just based on the formation of our brain.

So when we classify ourselves as an adult, there's a reason for it.

21 is the safer side to start consuming any product like that.

And cannabis falls into that category.

And it should be treated as such.

When we last chatted almost a year ago, you were pre-launch, now you're in 40 stores and growing.

Tell me about how you went from launch to 40 stores.

I have to brag.

We're in 140, not 40.

Okay.

It's been an amazing ride.

So since we last spoke, we're still a baby company.

We've barely been around for nine months.

It's just turning nine months, so truly a baby.

And I think there are a lot of surprises compared to when we first spoke.

One of those being we got into distribution way faster than we thought that we would.

We thought we would be driven mainly by D2C and only start considering more of a serious brick and mortar push at like six months.

We got into total wine way faster than anticipated.

We got a contact, which we were super excited about.

We figured maybe one store they'll test us in, maybe two or three.

We sent them samples and then they wanted us in three states, which was incredible and also posed a very interesting problem, a champagne problem, as I like to call it.

And that being, you know, spoken from Taylor, our CPO, and food scientists that made Hippie Water, it's your first run, your first inventory run is in so many ways a practice round.

You want to know what the consumers think.

You want to make sure that it tastes correct, that the color is perfect, all of those things.

And so for us to have this type of success in our technical first inventory run

was amazing.

And we're so thankful for that.

So

we love our product.

The quality is there and it shows now with consumer demand and the fact that Total Wine wanted it then and now have only grown.

Like I said, we'll be in nine states with them now, which is an incredible achievement in our timeframe.

Congrats on the early milestones.

As a CEO of a consumer goods company, what does your day-to-day look like and where do you spend your time?

That is a loaded question, but it's a question that I love.

As you know, I was a little bit late late because of a child care issue I'm gonna be honest obviously I'm juggling a lot of things it's not just hippie water it's my acting career it's our podcast

there's a lot of a lot of things going on but that's honestly what I thrive on

I think what we do really well at hippie water if I do say myself is is basically our foundation.

The culture that we've made for our team and our employees has been a huge priority for us.

So I'm the co-CEO, Alex is my other co-CEO, and what is so great about the way that we work is that we complement each other.

Because his background has been in tech mainly, but it's scaling and startups, he has such an amazing foundation for the internal workings and what it means to be active and prioritize the growth of the company.

And in tandem, I'm the growth

on an everyday sense, but also from

outward.

I'm talking with you.

I'm thinking of new ideas, ways to expand, ways to utilize my network and my relationships, and we make a really good team.

And I told you from the very beginning, I did not want to slap my face on anything unless I was passionate about it and passionate about growing this company every single day.

I think it's interesting.

A lot of CEOs, they feel like they need to do every task.

It's almost like...

They almost feel guilty if they're not doing the operations and the management.

I think it's more about what the company needs from you.

If you could do a podcast and it goes viral, or if you could go on television, talk about hippie water, that's much more valuable for the company,

even though you might not be doing the technical thing that some CEOs might think you should be doing, but it's more about what's best for the company, not necessarily what you feel compelled to do.

That's very well said.

And yes, I mean, I, just like mom guilt, sometimes I have CEO guilt.

and that needs to be something that I'm reminded of.

And my team does a good job with that.

But what I will say is that to your point,

it's also about who you hire.

I've also said from the beginning, I don't want to be the smartest person in the room.

We're making strategic hires based on their experience.

I can't do their job better than they can.

And if I could, then that's also an issue.

We have amazing employees that are so supportive and excellent in what they do.

And so, because of that, I may have my own guilt about maybe not making as many things as I would like to.

However, the company is covered, and that is the important thing.

So, when I am doing something like this, I'm not worried about is that task being done?

Is, you know,

am I missing something in that meeting?

It's like, no, my team has got it.

If there's anything that happened, they will catch me up, we'll dive into it.

And I'm far less worried than I could be.

And so

that's a relief because ultimately, everything that I do in my career helps hippie water.

And that balance is essential to making sure that everything is running correctly.

It's your unfair distribution advantage.

Exactly.

Let me remove some of that guilt.

People are very rarely motivated to do something that they're not excellent in.

And people are very rarely unmotivated to do something that they're really good at.

So people tend to know what they're really good at at some level, and they want to focus on that.

That's what they're motivated.

That's where they could be their best self.

That's where they could keep on doing over and over in order to be the best.

So I actually have a contrarian view.

I think that companies should align themselves around people's super strengths and focus on really like

structuring away the weaknesses versus having these arbitrary boxes.

I think it's

Elon Musk that said that CEO is a made-up title.

There is a lot of these titles when you look, when you become a Delaware C Corp, you have the president and you have the secretary.

And there might be one other title, but you don't actually have the CPO or CEO or any of these titles.

Very fair.

There are no rules from corporate state law on what you should be focusing your time on.

I love that.

That's very well said.

And it's true.

I'm actually grateful for that because ultimately the things that I've done in my career and personal life have always been driven by things that excite me and I never want that to stop.

I think we

stop progressing as soon as we are afraid to evolve and try new things and as much as there are things that scare me about something like this stepping into this position, it's never boring and I have this desire to always learn more

in this aspect.

I want to be this best CEO that I can.

I want the company to be the best that it can be.

And

learning on my feet or finding out what those weaknesses are and how to fill them is something that

I'm driven by rather than scared of.

And I think that's the important thing.

It's not necessarily about having that skill, like you're saying.

It's about how to overcome those weaknesses successfully.

And you're not always going to make the right decision.

And that's the other thing.

It's being willing and able to pivot.

Being agile in a company is so important.

And of course, hippie water is definitely successful, but that doesn't mean that we haven't made mistakes.

That doesn't mean that we haven't learned along the way.

One of the easiest things to point to is that we really thought that we would be targeting Gen Z mainly.

And our actual audience, our strongest consumer, is 30 to 60 and swinging female.

The female isn't a surprise.

The older age group, not that they're old, is more of a surprise.

We have a large Gen Z demographic, but it's actually

me.

The consumer is me.

It's the,

you know, working mom that is really tired, that wants to go and drink with her friends, but knows that it's not in her best interest.

So instead, she's going to turn to something like hippie water that is going to give her that no-compromise lifestyle and slowly make her life better, incorporating healthier things.

And so I'm literally marketing to myself, and that is the best lesson we could have learned, especially this early on in our company.

How has being a celebrity founder, in what way has that helped you?

In which way maybe it wasn't as advantageous as you thought before you started?

I would be doing everybody a disservice by not recognizing the privilege that I have because, as much as I face challenges as a female CEO, I also have a foot in the door because of my social presence.

What I will say the challenge is

getting people to see past just the celebrity, right?

Because initially, followers excite people.

Social influence excites people.

But it's the.

What are you up to follower-wise?

I'm over,

I'm around 21 million across all social platforms.

Between me and you, we have 21 million followers.

Great.

You know, but that's true.

It's like that's exciting.

And it's not that it's not exciting.

However, there is a bigger picture there.

And I feel like I'm always fighting

the token.

I never want to be the token.

The token celebrity.

The token celebrity, the token CEO,

the put in that position for face value versus actual value.

And I think that is the fight that I'm fighting.

And that's okay, because I would rather be underestimated and prove them wrong.

You know, that's not a new saying.

It's not a new sentiment, but it's the truth.

I just feel like ultimately

we have a long way to go, but I have experienced mainly pleasant encounters other than maybe some condescending remarks or

maybe just not taking me as seriously as I would like them to.

However,

I'm really happy with where we're at, and I think that

we will just continue to prove that our team is strong, and our team is actually what makes hippie water.

So much of fundraising and networking is about believing in our team versus our company.

And as much as I feel like our product is really strong, making sure that our team is solid is in some ways more important.

Certainly on the investing side.

Yeah.

Up until probably Series B, Series C, it's almost all team.

In terms of if you were investing into celebrity-backed brand, what would you be looking for outside of obviously that the the CEO is actually passionate or the celebrity is passionate about the company?

Where do you think is the right place for celebrities to align themselves?

Ultimately, it just has to be authentic.

It doesn't actually really matter what the product is as long as it's something that you actually use.

And that,

of course,

it needs to be like a gap that is being filled in the market.

But ultimately, it has to be something that you

use on a regular basis, or you've talked about, about or you're passionate about.

And so it's less about

the celebrity even being like the center of the business.

It's more about the celebrity that's attached.

Doesn't necessarily have to be on a day-to-day.

I'm not judging celebrities that aren't.

It just means that the product that you're creating has to go with your brand.

It has to be something that makes sense when you talk about it.

I think that that's the main issue.

We see people, we see celebrities either choosing a very oversaturated product

because it's worked for a couple other celebrities, or we're seeing a product that doesn't make sense that you can kind of tell is just attached versus

authentic.

So if you can speak on it authentically,

and

it's not an oversaturated market, I think that that is a plan for success, that that's a route for success.

Skins is a great example.

Kim literally built her early following on Shapewear.

It wasn't her own, but that transition to her own company, brilliant.

And also the product is great.

And that's those two ingredients.

I mean, obviously, she's gotten so much success from Skims.

And that product can stand by itself.

There's a couple second-order effects from that.

One is if you're not really deeply rooted in the mission, you're just like a tree during a storm.

You're going to get uprooted very quickly.

And the first time there's any issues, which is always

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You want to be able to see longevity because you might have a great product and you might be a very popular celebrity, but you will not be the last to make something like that.

You are going to have another product and another celebrity that will combat whatever you're making.

And so you need to make sure that you are interesting enough and are constantly developing new things to drive your consumers to have brand loyalty because just because your brand and your face is successful does not mean that there's not going to be another brand and another celebrity that's going to rise to the occasion and how are you going to combat that is I think the long-term

thought when it comes to investing in one and also starting one.

If you're an investor taking a look at hippie water, what would you say is your competitive advantage?

What is your moat?

Kind of what I just spoke on.

I think we have the product, we have the brand,

the authentic message.

The space itself has so much room to grow, not just our company, but the industry.

Our moat

is ironically also growth because we're constantly facing new regulation and how to pivot and sidestep and lobby ourselves and all of those things that come with this industry.

our moat is mainly the fact that we are still in a brand new industry.

That's kind of how I see that.

So investors investing in us,

it's potentially more risky than other industries, but it has so much potential that you're kind of silly not to.

There are not a lot of industries out there where you can get in this early.

We have so many consumer packaged goods that have been around, the categories have been around forever.

Alcohol has been around for 9,000 years, probably more.

And so

that industry is not new.

Cannabis beverages are brand new.

And we have the opportunity to become the Coca-Cola of cannabis beverages and that is not an opportunity that comes around often.

And in five, ten years, this industry will look completely different.

And in terms of from a regulatory standpoint, you guys are under hemp laws.

You have a certain

you're limited.

you're limited by the THC you could put in beverage, but basically that's what makes you legal in all 50 states.

Well, not all 50.

So, federally, we are legal under the farm bill, the 2018 farm bill.

And so, what that means is because we are under a certain dry weight volume of hemp,

we have that loophole to use THC.

And so, there's a couple of things to note on this.

States are now making their own laws, which they should be.

I think think hemp beverages, because we have this angle, you're seeing a couple of things happen.

You're seeing it obviously was a surprise loophole, but what you're seeing is success in the space because of consumer demand and the accessibility.

But you're seeing states cap the milligrams, which I personally think is correct.

I think what we should be seeing is more regulation.

And obviously, we don't want like a chokehold around us, but we should be a regulated industry for multiple reasons.

Like I said, we are a substance.

It should be age-gated.

We should make sure that there are regulations to keep consumers safe.

We should be tested.

We should make sure that our dosages are what they say that they are inside the can.

There are certain things that bring validity.

validity to the industry that are important.

So I agree with all of those things.

Some of those things can be annoying when they are opinions made into law that are uneducated, when they don't really understand the space.

But as long as we can manage making sure that the science and common sense laws and regulation come into place, we will be totally fine.

So we can ship legally to 39 states directly to your door through USPS, UPS, FedEx.

And those types of things, those loopholes itself, they might go away

as far as small regulation on a state-by-state basis.

Currently, that is not the case.

And so, you know, you're constantly pivoting.

However, the accessibility is great.

You're seeing states like Minnesota really leading the way.

You can buy it in grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and we're really giving people that alternative option.

And I think there are a lot of states following suit.

Now, you've got a state like California with the hemp ban.

It's a perfect example of lobbying and misinformation.

So the idea was that hemp beverages were marketing to kids.

Simply not the case.

We were only sold in liquor stores in California.

So

you know the conference that was held about why they're banning hemp, there were certain beverages on the table and it was they're selling it in grocery stores right next to the sodas.

Completely incorrect.

But what you do see is the alcohol-infused warhead popsicles next to the regular popsicles.

And so there is a hypocrisy there, but there is pushback and there will continue to be.

And I think that type of regulation and that ban will change over time.

What's the biggest lesson that you've learned being a first-time first-time CEO?

One big one is just where to relinquish control, which we've kind of touched on.

But I think I'm so used to having control over almost everything I do in my business, aside from, you know, maybe direction on set.

And so

that has been the big one to be like, where should I let go and where should I stand firm?

Those are my biggest lessons.

It's, you know,

understanding my place in the best way possible.

because ultimately, like we were saying, you know, I don't have to do everything.

I am constantly learning, which is great.

And I'm not saying I'm ever on a power trip.

I really am not, but it's learning the where am I needed, where am I not, where can I best be serving the business versus the business serving me.

I never want that to be the case.

And so,

because I am a first-time CEO, I might not know where that place is and asking the right questions outside and

outside influence as far as like advice goes helps and internal helps.

And so I think just that balance

has really shaped me as a CEO and made me better.

And I think you can probably relate to this, which is

as a founder,

your job title shifts and changes and molds.

So I think the best example of where I'm at as a first CEO is first understanding where I am as a first founder of a company like this because the four of us founded the company and we were all doing everything.

We bootstrapped it, we did everything ourselves, we were relying on our own relationships and as soon as you hire one employee that relieves a job that you have to do, you understand,

oh, okay, my job has now shifted.

I get to relinquish control on that.

So what should I focus on now that I have a little bit more free time?

I think a lot of people listening to this would love to learn how to relinquish control and when to do that.

What are some best practices on that?

Like, what should you be doing yourself and when is it good to give the task to somebody else?

It's based on reminding yourself, I hired that person for a reason and reminding yourself why.

I hired that person because their strength is an X, Y, and Z and they might look at something different than me.

Because of that, I hired them.

Let's trust them.

Let's see what they do.

Even if it's not exactly the way that I would do it, you want them to succeed.

So if that works, that works and you were wrong and you need to be okay with being wrong.

You can always pivot later, you can always change your strategy, but remember that you're hiring somebody for a reason.

And if they have a different way of doing things, that doesn't mean that it's bad and you need to let them do their job.

and evaluate afterwards.

It feels scary to experiment in that way,

but I think that is the biggest lesson when you are first starting out is I'm passionate about this person that I hired, but I am

basically ruining both of our jobs if I'm not letting them do their job that I hired them for.

I also think that's the standard to which to hire somebody, somebody that's clearly better at you, at the task.

Somebody that you would never really challenge in doing their domain because they have that much more experience.

We just hired somebody, a fractional CMO.

They were doing the advertising that we were looking to do for 15 straight years.

So it's going to be silly for me to interject and

give my two cents.

Right.

And I think there's a balance there too.

All of those things that you just said, all the things that I said,

but at the same time, you have founded your brand or your business.

And so

your vision matters.

And if the overall vision gets skewed and goes in the wrong direction, that's when you shift.

But yes, relying on experience is so necessary.

Our industry is a perfect example.

I've never been in the cannabis industry before.

And so when is it right to implement certain employees that have been in cannabis and when is it not?

I think the thing with our industry is that a lot of people have been in cannabis for a really long time and actually are not structured properly.

And that's a big statement and it's controversial, but I think bringing in people that have not been in cannabis and have been on the more corporate or the more structured side is actually a positive.

And so finding the right blend is super important.

And that takes, you know, trial and error and figuring out what works.

But, yes,

overall vision, overall brand needs to stay on track.

And how you get there is based on the people that you lean on.

And yes, hopefully you make the right decision with the person that you hire and let them do their job.

Yeah, I almost think that there's some psychological aspect to letting go.

And I think the irony is that people that have a hard time letting go are usually very independently successful and have gone very, very far on their own.

But kind of to get to the next step, what got you there won't get you to the next step.

So you almost have to like work with your left hand and handing it off to people.

And still, there's this meme in the startup world called founder mode, which is basically the exact opposite.

So basically, startups started to get run over with MBAs.

I'm kind of both a founder and an MBA, so I have a foot in

both camps, but basically, these MBAs with no founder experience would come in and create these

hierarchical kind of organizations

and things stalled.

It's the reason why startups have always been able to compete with incumbents because they were able to be scrappy and

be more flat.

And now there's this whole trend of founder mode, which was started by Brian Chesky, which is basically founders get in the trenches and work with their team on fixing problems.

So you could go in one direction too far as well.

Totally.

Completely agree.

What aspect of entrepreneurship were you not ready for despite you know hearing it many times over?

But you became a founder, you became a CEO.

What weren't you ready for?

It's a great question.

It's and I'm definitely not saying that I was ready for everything.

I think I wasn't ready for

how exhausting fundraising is.

There's aspects that I love and it's not because of a lack of traction.

It's just I

constantly asking people for money is is not very fun.

Even if you deserve it and your numbers are good and your company is set up well,

it's an awkward dance.

And believe me, I'm getting better at it.

But it's not something that I had ever done before.

So that's a new thing as a CEO, right?

One of the things that I had to learn is

how do you

put pressure in the right ways?

How do you ask the right questions?

And

how do you figure out how to best represent your company?

And those meetings can be challenging.

And you're not going to get it right every time.

Feels like an audition sometimes.

Yeah.

Where you want to showcase your company?

Probably

similar conversion from

audition to check.

What's interesting, though, with that, and maybe this is like hopefully some relief to new founders or brand new CEOs that have never done this before, is that just like an audition, sometimes your worst audition, at least the way that you felt, ends up being the thing that takes you to the next step for whatever reason.

It's,

you know, maybe showing a lack of ego or,

you know, something silly that you said that made it endearing.

Who knows what it is?

But I have definitely walked out of auditions and gone,

that sucked.

I didn't do what I wanted to do or...

I said the wrong line, or I forgot this, or whatever it is.

And then that's the role that you book.

And I think this is very similar.

And you don't have to always do things perfectly to get a good result.

So I think it's a lot of it is trusting your instinct and understanding that you're still a person

and your story is what matters and your execution is what matters.

Sometimes you're going to have bad meetings.

Sometimes you're going to have bad encounters.

Sometimes you're not going to relate to anybody.

And that's okay.

It's not the end of the world, even when it feels like it in the moment.

One of the counterintuitive things about fundraising is when you come in and the investors nodding their head and they're like, it was so great to meet you.

That's almost 100% no.

But when they start asking you tough questions, that's actually when they're interested.

It's one of those things you learn first year as you.

That is a really great point, and it's so true.

You know,

if they're not truly inspecting you, they're not interested.

You're back living in L.A.

after moving from Nashville.

What has surprised you most about living in L.A.

this time around?

That's a great question because I, in so many ways, have always had a disdain for LA.

I grew up here, you know, the majority of my life has been spent in LA, but I feel like because of being in the industry,

I did, I think you do one of two things when you're in the industry.

You're either all in it all the time

and that can be exhausting, or you are a recluse and you try and make a different private life outside of the industry.

And I think I was raised to pull back when I wasn't working

for better and for worse.

And that was when I was growing up, so I think it made sense.

And it probably saved me from a lot of bad situations.

So as an adult, living back here in LA and really

understanding all of the pleasant things about it has been really healthy.

I'm coming back to LA with a completely different outlook on life, a completely different family dynamic, you know, with a young kid and being able to reconnect with childhood friends and family that still lives here and creating a different type of community has been really exciting and a pleasant surprise because I'm not going to lie, I did come back feeling a little jaded.

And I'm happy that I have kind of worked on my own self-awareness and broken some of that down.

And, you know, it's not all bad and it's not all good and that's okay.

Ultimately, in my industry, I love my job.

Set is my happy place.

It's like summer camp.

You're mixed with so many people that you would never come across normally, and it's wonderful.

And then there are things about the industry that aren't so great, but I think getting better at business in general, being in different circles that aren't just the entertainment industry, has been super healthy.

And I understand now

how to connect and network better than I did before.

And I think it's only served me better in every circle that I've been in.

You have your own podcast, Women in the Nude, W-I-T-N.

How has podcasting been different than acting?

And what do you learn from one art to the other?

First of all, it's been really fun.

I've really enjoyed this.

I think

I felt really free doing this podcast.

Ironically, I'm doing things that are controversial.

You know, I've got a cannabis beverage, and Women in the Nude is a title that I didn't realize is going to get flagged so many times, which is why we now use our acronym a lot, because Women in the Nude is something that gets flagged on social, which is really funny.

And so, with that lesson,

it's actually, it's been liberating in a lot of ways because I've always talked about all the things that I'm talking about on the podcast, but I've always been afraid to share them because naturally there are topics that aren't talked about in the way that they should be talked about.

And so giving myself the outlet, providing a community of women

that we can kind of lean on has been really awesome.

It's not all about women's health, as important as women's health is.

It's also about women in business and the challenges we face, the cool things about it,

you know, climbing up the ladder together, understanding that we don't, it's not a I rise and you don't, it's a we rise together and how to make that possible.

So it's been a really beautiful thing.

And

I started out being super remote with my podcast.

I was on the road a lot.

I would do it while I was filming, while I was in Tennessee.

And so having a headquarters in LA has been really great.

And like you're sitting on this couch right now, it just feels

very privileged as a man on the woman in the nude.

I know.

Yeah, you are actually the first man to be sitting on this couch getting interviewed.

It's obviously your podcast, but it does feel nice to connect with people on a level.

I think just also after COVID,

we were out of practice.

You know, even just auditions or meetings or that sort of thing have all been over Zoom or meet and that sort of thing.

So it's nice to sit down with somebody and connect with them the way that we used to.

And it just happens to be that there's cameras on.

What do you wish that men understood better about women?

I can tell you what I wish men did better.

I think ultimately what I wish men understood more about women is that

communication is an asset, not something to be annoyed by.

I think we often see

women when they explain their feelings being told that they're too emotional

or they're too much or they're complainers or they're naggers or they're overstepping when in reality conversation is what moves things forward, even if we don't agree.

Ultimately, communication is a strength.

We might express emotions differently, but we all feel very strong emotions.

And like I say to my toddler, every emotion is okay.

It's just how what you do with it.

And I think emotional intelligence is regulating yourself and figuring out how to use it wisely.

And I think we could all use a dose of that.

From evolutionary psychology, women developed emotions in order to communicate and influence basically the men of the tribe, where the men would just hit each other with a club.

So it certainly has served its evolutionary purpose.

People grow together or they grow apart.

It's a part of life, friendship, marriage, whatever it is.

And ultimately, communication is

the ultimate goal.

Because if I can tell you how I'm feeling and you can tell me how you're feeling and we can work on it together,

we're much happier.

There's no resentment.

We can figure out a path forward.

We can help each other, support each other, and fulfill each other in ways that we wouldn't be able to if we weren't talking about it.

It's a disservice.

It might feel awkward in the moment, but there's no progress in that.

So again, communication is my biggest message.

Relationship, marriage, you know, business, all of it.

Let's get the awkward conversations out of the way so that we can build, whether that's in life or business or friendship.

We can't support each other properly if we don't know what the problem is.

What would you like our audience to know about you, about hippie water, or anything else you'd like to share?

I want them to know that our movement is exciting and it's real.

And ultimately, at the end of the day, I think

our product has quality first.

It has wellness first.

It has

our consumer's best interest first.

And then about me,

I guess I just want them to know that

I believe in what I'm doing.

in every aspect of my life.

And where could they see more of Hippie Water?

Where could they order?

Hippiewater.com.

And if you go to our website, you can find our store locator and see if there's one near you.

Another really exciting thing, sorry to sidestep again, but we are seeing companies and businesses like DoorDash get involved.

So in Florida is a good example, you can DoorDash Hippie Water right to your door.

Okay.

Well, Sasha, this has been great to catch up and

look forward to

taping here or in New York soon.

Sounds good.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Thanks for listening to my conversation.

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