He Asked an ‘Absurd Question’ About Human Behavior — Then Turned the Answer Into a $9 Million-a-Year Business: ‘Live in the Discomfort’

After decades in an advertising career that took him on shoots all over the world — and involved many cocktail-fueled nights — Milan Martin was ready for a change of pace. Martin enjoyed everything about an evening of good drinks and conversation in a fancy cocktail bar, but he’d grown tired of what came the next morning. 

“Being in advertising, you think about the irrationality of humanity, why do we do the things we do?” Martin says. “We order another cocktail not because we’re like, ‘Man, I need more alcohol,’ but because it’s a sign you’re still in the game. There’s an optimism to a full cocktail.”

Ultimately, Martin found himself asking an “absurd question”: What if you could drink all of the cocktails you wanted without the impact of alcohol? 

“ I’m not a sober person, so this is not a matter of sobriety,” Martin adds. “This is a matter of moderation.”

Starting a business: The Free Spirits Company

It was 2019 when the Bay Area-based founder decided to start a business, non-alcoholic spirits brand The Free Spirits Company, and bring his vision to life.

Although Martin had always pictured entrepreneurs who left their corporate jobs to start their own businesses going all-in immediately, as the wheels began to turn for his venture, he took a more measured approach. 

He wrote down his ideas, had a friend draw up some designs and experimented with product development in his kitchen. “It was very much like baby steps into the ocean,” Martin explains. “All of a sudden, you look back, and you’re like, ‘Whoa, I’m really deep out here.’”

Growing the business from $1M to $9M in annual revenue

Martin’s slow-and-steady approach paid off. Despite officially launching amid the pandemic at the end of 2020, The Free Spirits Company saw a sustained growth trajectory from the start. 

In 2021, the business hit $1 million in annual revenue. This year, its first profitable one, The Free Spirits Company is projected to bring in $9 million in annual revenue — a 700% increase in just five years. 

Here are five key strategies Martin used to make it happen: 

1. Take an intentional approach to funding the business 

From the beginning, Martin was wary of raising venture capital to fund his business. 

“I don’t like the model,” Martin says. “I generally observed over the years that, not exclusively, but too often, venture capital can lead to fragile businesses. And I really wanted to build a durable, sustainable business.” 

Instead, Martin used his own funds along with capital raised from friends, family and private investors, to grow The Free Spirits Company. 

Of course, it takes a significant amount of capital to get a CPG brand off the ground, so Martin likes to think about his funding strategy not as “bootstrapping,” but as “seed strapping.”

“For six years, we’ve grown 100% year over year,” Martin says. “Now we’re in a place where we go, ‘All right, let’s run this business profitably, still grow well into the double digits year over year, but let’s do it in a way where we’re not burning cash.’” 

2. Turn uninformed criticism into a marketing play 

One of the biggest challenges facing The Free Spirits Company as an early player in the non-alcoholic spirits category was the lack of consumer awareness and education. 

Many people made a not-so-original joke when they heard about the business idea: “Free spirits, that’s like hiring a hooker for a hug.” 

Although that feedback was a bit discouraging in the very beginning, The Free Spirits Company pushed on, and after hearing that particular quip too many times to count, Martin resolved to turn it into a creative marketing moment. 

“ We hired a professional sex worker to go around San Francisco giving out professional hugs and handing out non-alcoholic cocktails,” Martin says, “and we filmed it.” 

Free Spirits put the footage on its website, leaning into the chance to highlight its individualistic ethos. 

“ Free Spirits is all about living your own way,” Martin adds, “whether that’s the job you choose, or the alcohol you decide to drink or not drink.”

3. Go after your ideal partnerships

Because Free Spirits launched during the pandemic when bars and restaurants were shuttered, the business cut its teeth on direct-to-consumer sales. 

Then, about a year in, Martin messaged the CEO of Total Wine & More on LinkedIn “on a lark” to inquire about a potential partnership.

 “Believe it or not, he responded, and he said, ‘This is something we’ve been thinking about,’” Martin recalls. 

Now, Free Spirits is in 275 Total Wine & More stores as it continues to build its distribution network across 30 states. The brand can be found in more than 10,000 locations via Meijer, Wegmans, The Fresh Market, Safeway, Albertsons, BevMo and more. 

“What started out as 100% DTC is now less than half of our business,” Martin says. “The wholesale business is really where the scale is.” 

4. Never stop pushing the limit

Martin runs his business with a No.1 cultural tenet in mind: Good enough is never good enough. 

In the early days, the business’s products fell short — because most businesses don’t get things perfect with their first products, Martin says. 

That’s why he committed to running The Free Spirits Company like a software company that never stops pushing the limits on product innovation.  

“Just like, every once in a while, you wake up, and your iPhone does something that it didn’t do before. You’re like, ‘Oh, neat,’” Martin explains. “We decided we needed to run this thing very much in that way.”  

Currently, The Free Spirits Company offers five spirits and four ready-to-drink cocktails. The brand will add three more — G+T, Milano Spritz and Bourbon Lemonade — to the lineup this July. 

5. Get comfortable with discomfort 

Martin notes that, like most people who start a business, he had no idea what he didn’t know  — and navigating all of the ups and downs requires being very comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

“ As human beings, when you feel pain, that’s your body’s way of being like, ‘Don’t do that. That’s going to hurt,’” Martin says. “But in business or entrepreneurship, pain or discomfort, to a certain degree, is just a sign of metamorphosis.” 

Starting and running a business over the past several years has taught Martin to thrive within contradictions: You need to be optimistic but cynical. You need to trust people but stay guarded. You need to chase every opportunity but remain protective of your time. 

“ An aspiring entrepreneur has to learn to live in the gray, learn to live in the discomfort, learn to be comfortable with the unknown — because that’s really where the magic happens,” Martin says.