We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Priyanka & Chirasmita Kompella a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Priyanka & Chirasmita , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Our industry is rewriting the way we drink. It’s electrifying and we constantly feel like we’re strapped to a rocket ship. That’s why we know alcohol free options are here to stay. Much of the industry is working to create enjoyable alcohol replacements and functional beverages – a movement that is incredibly empowering for anyone looking to consume less or no alcohol. However, we’ve recognized that we have to take a step further to integrate these options into the everyday household. We’re in the midst of a global loneliness epidemic. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, “over half of U.S. adults report experiencing loneliness.” In fact, “loneliness and isolation are more widespread than many of the other major health issues of our day, including smoking, diabetes, and obesity, and with comparable levels of risk to health and premature death.”*

Our culture of socializing with alcohol is just not cutting it. We need to revolutionize the way we form connections. At Zero Proofed, we believe that experiencing a night off drinking unlocks that ability to connect on a different plane. For our community, this has been life changing. Our company is built on courageous social experiences where our guests can take back the word “drinking” with zero proof cocktails in hand and socialize as themselves, uninhibited.

Statistics from “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. General’s 2023 Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community”

Priyanka & Chirasmita , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Zero Proofed is a Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Events firm from Los Angeles that was founded in September of 2022 by two sisters, Chirasmita Kompella and Priyanka Kompella.

At Zero Proofed, we’re disrupting the booze-free industry by creating zero-proof events and cocktails that make the sober curious lifestyle more accessible. We’re bridging the gap between zero-proof brands and the everyday Los Angeles person by bringing sober curious experiences and hand-crafted 0.0% ABV cocktail recipes to the party. In addition to our public, ticketed events, we also host private events – corporate happy hours, baby showers, weddings, birthdays, and more – where we handcraft beverage programs specific to our clients’ taste and needs. We’re excited to add that we will soon be coming out with our own product line to bring the party home.

We love everything about social drinking …except the alcohol. Bring on the toasts, the happy hours, the flavors, the wild nights out – but make them booze free. We’re dreaming of a world where we drink less booze, have fewer hangovers, live in the present, and create epic memories.
As corporate women, we have learned that holding a drink in your hand is important for business, friendships, and celebrations. Yet – there are rarely booze-free options on the menu. In our personal lives, we really wanted a space to go sip on sophisticated drinks & socialize, without the booze.

Historically, non-alcoholic options have overcompensated with sugar and leave you feeling like you’re sitting at the little kids’ table. At Zero Proofed, we’re redefining what it means to take a night off alcohol. We curate our recipes in-house with premium non-alcoholic spirits, low sugar mixers, and real, adventurous ingredients. Zero Proofed guests are captivated by the sophisticated cocktails, electric conversations and pure connection they build with others, all the while knowing they can wake up the next morning feeling great.

Zero Proofed started with $800, the Venice community, a coffee shop, and a thirst for social connection. The most challenging part of bringing Zero Proofed to life is bootstrapping a company within an emerging industry. Over the last 9 months we’ve built Zero Proofed organically, each successful event giving us the opportunity to grow and reinvest the profits into building bigger and better experiences at scale. The feedback we receive from our community of their transformative experiences at Zero Proofed events fills our cup.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Our team is integral to the success of our events. When you’re creating something that’s never been done before, your team has to be able to break the rules. Our events at Zero Proofed are re-inventing the process and structure of a bar and we recognized the need for our team to adapt to the many challenges that come with that. If you’re looking to build a team, we recommend identifying people invested in your vision. Those members of your team will go the extra mile to communicate in alignment with you. In return, it’s important for you to recognize their potential and hold them accountable to it. Invite those team members to take ownership of the vision and innovate and challenge your assumptions. Having a seat at the table allows each of us to feel connected to the mission when things get tough. Despite the amount of time we’ve invested in perfecting our operations, things always go wrong at the last minute. We’re such a strong team because we’ve developed the communication and trust to overcome challenges together.

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

We found each other at birth, and prior to starting Zero Proofed, were never on the same stratosphere. With our age gap of 4.5 years that spans two generations, working together never crossed our minds.

To our (and our parents’) surprise, our relationship as sisters has strengthened as much as our company has grown. Now, we can say with confidence that, although working with your sibling comes with many challenges, being a co-founder with your family members is almost like working with telepathy. We have the unique privilege of building off our shared experiences and now we literally finish each other’s sentences.

We’ve had to put in the work to build our professional relationship. We still have our occasional arguments as sisters, but we’ve learned to take a step back, see each other’s perspective, and come back to the table to work out a solution that works for both of us. Oftentimes we hear people write off working with their sibling because it just sounds too difficult, but through our experience we seriously encourage it. We’ve grown so much individually and as a team.

Contact Info:

• Website: Getzeroproofed.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/getzeroproofed
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/getzeroproofed
• Linkedin: Www.LinkedIn.com/company/zero-proofed
• Other: Link tree information hub: linker.we/getzeroproofed

Image Credits
Brian Ho Ezekiel Gonzalez Staria Belle