Episode 015 – Creating an All-Natural Energy Drink with JoyShot

Today on The Heart-led Brand Podcast, we’re chatting with Lila Joy Baumgardner of JoyShot!

It all started when Lila was working as COO at Bank of America and searching for a natural energy solution to fight burnout and heal from years of stress. After discovering the power of naturally-derived energy, she created JoyShot, a functional beverage company bringing powerful energy complexes and convenience to those at their busiest. JoyShot's ready-to-drink, all-natural energy shots feature vitamins and adaptogenic extracts and provide sustained, all-day energy for those on the go.

Episode Highlights:

On why Lila Joy decided to create her own energy drink:

“So after college, I started at Bank of America. I had gone through their summer analyst program and worked there when I was 20 over the summer and then started full time and I was recruited on to the COO team after about eight months in a specific line of business. I was working on rates trading and I was the youngest by 15 years.

[…] The catalyst for doing JoyShot was actually my dad dying in 2018. And it really threw me through a loop, so I became very, very sick, and I saw firsthand how your mental health really affects your physical health, and I became incredibly ill, and I was going to all these specialists and doing MRIs and blood work almost every single day before I came to work, and Bank of America was like, ‘Lila, you should go on medical leave because you're so sick, you really shouldn't be in the office.’

But going home also didn't help me recover. And I realized after some time that it was really like depression and stress and trying to push through fatigue and push through grief and maintain my life within banking and my social life and manage all these things that made me just super, super ill.

And so COVID ended up being the last straw for me to leave banking and start JoyShot. […] I knew I wanted to create my own product and having gone through this crazy health crisis, uh, top of my mind was like, wow, I can't drink energy drinks anymore. I used to love Red Bull since I was like 11 years old, which is terrible for you. And so I wanted to create my own using the supplements that I was taking and kind of how I had changed my energy, having gone off medications and everything. I started doing all this research and kind of started to make it happen. It's a long winded path there, but there are a lot of elements that kind of brought me to doing JoyShot. Like, this wasn't my childhood dream. This was something that came out of, like, a real personal struggle and something that I see other people really could use in their life.”

On some of the unique challenges that she’s faced in the energy drink industry:

“The obstacles that existed in the beginning still exist for me. And that's because the industry itself is very monopolized. Five Hour Energy has 90% of the market and it's a lot about foot traffic and it's a lot about people just knowing the name. And beverages is a difficult industry and it requires a lot of cash to be in front of people.

So it's taken from the get go a lot of strategizing on how to source that money. How do you get in front of people and be a differentiator and compete with companies that have had a stronghold on the market since, you know, the early 2000s? And I think why JoyShot has success is that people are now realizing that they shouldn't be drinking those things and I'm providing an alternative and they care more about what they're putting into their body and Then they try it and that's like once people try the product. They're like, wow. I feel so great. This is like Adderall without the cost and the fatigue and all the things that you get in response.”

On filling a gap in the industry:

“The norm for energy shots and drinks is like the people who are drinking them are primarily boys starting at age 12 to 34. I think one in three of them are 12 to 17 years old. So it's not really a female thing. And the biggest struggle right now for energy drinks and shots is really converting new consumers and getting people who aren't already a customer to drink them. And so JoyShot exists in this other realm where people who don't drink energy shots and drinks drink JoyShot. And that will be like mothers, people who care about their diet and it's a lot of women. It's people who have had cancer or have ADHD and they have acid reflux. It's just a totally different group. And so there have to be products that not only appeal to the young boy or, you know, college athlete, but also for women and moms who are the people who need energy the most. Why isn't there a product for moms in this space? It doesn't make any sense. So I'm like happy to fulfill that for people.”

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Shop their energy drinks at drinkjoyshot.com and use the code “WAYFARER20” to get 20% off your order!