We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alex Brooks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alex below.

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea of !MPROV Booze-Free Cocktails was sparked by a mentor and business partner of mine who also happens to be a teetotaler. We would often attend events where alcohol beverages were served and he always felt the need to order an alcoholic beverage to be part of the occasion. When I encouraged him to order a non-alcoholic version it was clear that options were few and far between. This was the realization that there was an opportunity in the Adult Non-Alcoholic beverage category. As with many ideas it has shape shifted into the !MPROV Booze-Free Cocktail brand that you see today. After countless hours of in person demo events gathering feedback, evaluation of data around the category and counsel from an incredibly wise advisory committee we’re excited to be on the market today positioned as the approachable non-alcoholic canned cocktail for the alcohol consumer that is substituting or blending, and the teetotaler alike.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was fortunate to break into the booming San Diego craft beer scene in 2015 by helping incredible brewers share their beer with more consumers across the county. I didn’t reinvent any wheel, just applied best practices learned through a career in business development to an industry that was driven by some fantastic artisans. Shortly after launching an outsourced sales business in beer I was approached by the leaders of a new industry Group Purchasing Organization to join forces. That merger gave me access to more great minds in beverage and I was fortunate to learn from many of the best out there. With that experience under my belt I felt confident in starting !MPROV Booze-Free Cocktails with one of those great industry minds, James Murray. James and I both share the same work hard, play hard mentality that reflects onto our brand. We’re proud to lean on great industry experience but have a strong curiosity and desire to serve the communities that gravitate to our product.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I’m very fortunate to have a familial tie with my Co-Founder, James Murray. James’ wife is close friends with my Sister In Law so when I was an industry newbie I was lucky to have access to a well respected 10 year industry vet. James was always my go to phone call when operations, procurement or R&D questions crossed my desk and we maintained a relationship as friends and colleagues for many years before starting !MPROV. James and I were actually working on a project when I was running the Craft Sourcing Collective Group Purchasing Organization and he was CEO of Coronado when I mentioned the exciting Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage category. A couple of weeks later we started working on !MPROV!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

At !MPROV were big believers in authentic, in person interaction. We’re in the phase of our business where we can employ some unscalable tactics and participating in as many events as possible with communities that love !MPROV has been the best investment we’ve made. In a world where we’re fed thousands of digital ads per day through multiple media platforms we made the decision that authentic, in person connection was the only way to build our early fanbase. These in person connections have also given us the opportunity to get real, direct feedback and ensure that we’re positioning our product in a way that resonates with our core consumers. It’s amazing what can happen when you show up day in and day out for your community!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.improvcocktails.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/improvcocktails/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/improvcocktails
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/improv-booze-free-cocktails/