Action and Ambition
Julius Makarewicz Launched a Health Conscious Alcohol Beverage That's Turned Into The Fastest Growing Seltzer Beverage Company in Canda And Is Now Rolling Out To The U.S.
Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today's guest is Julius Makarewics. Julius Makarewicz is the CEO of Nude Beverages, British Columbia's fastest-growing alcohol beverage company. Nude launched nationwide in the States a month ago and has made massive waves. You're going to love this episode. Let's get to it! What was Julius' journey to get to where he is now? (1:02) Julius started in a very different industry initially. He was working in many various industries instead of just one. He grew up in a small town and dropped out of university, starting to work shortly after. He worked for many technology firms, mining firms, etc., but the whole time he was looking for an idea. He knew he wanted to start a business and be an entrepreneur and do something great. Back in 2013, Julius saw a gap in the market, and everyone was going to be healthier people, choosing healthier food and non-alcoholic beverages that we're more nutritious than others. Julius noticed that there wasn't anything on the liquor category of alcohol that was any healthier than the other alcoholic beverages that are offered. Julius wanted to create something better for you that also fit into Julius's lifestyle at the time, so he started thinking about putting vodka soda, or hard seltzer ina can and then thought of the name Nude. What steps did Julius take to establish his brand once he had the idea going? (3:12) The first little bit of money that Julius used to make the first edition of his product came from his grandmother's inheritance, an entrepreneur in Poland. He had promised himself that he would use that money to start a business, and he did to make his first viable product. After that, he began to find people to bring on board as advisors. Julius stated that he brought on the right kind of people to help grow his business, especially their co-owner and head of sales. Doing all of this helped get Julius to the point where he could pitch his business and product to investors; this was hard and took a few years because Julius was young, and very few people want to give a 20 something year old with no track record a lot of money. Julius eventually got his first investor, and from there on, more and more people started to invest, and he managed to raise $300,000 to start it up. Some leadership tips from Julius. (7:18) Julius is a firm believer in leading by example. Be the person you want everyone else to be. Julius wants everyone to be good people and treat each other well and not to have too much politics on whether you should or shouldn't be nice to people; he's just always a straight-up nice guy to everyone. Working hard for what you want to achieve is another critical component, and Julius states that if you don't work hard, other people aren't going to work hard for you either. Julius makes sure to put more hours in than any of his team to make sure they have that example coming from him. What is helping Julius currently drive growth and awareness for his business? (9:43) Julius loves doing influencer campaigns, but they do not pay the influencers. They just drop off the products for them and say if they want to post it, they can, and if not, they don't have to. Often, people will post their product because they just love the product so much. Julius prefers this because it shows that the influencers enjoyed the product instead of not enjoying it and posting it anyway. Marketing is a crucial component, and digital ads are great for awareness and new markets. PR is also quite essential and doing cool stuff and getting it on the wire helps a lot with sales. Nude Beverages Nude Beverages was founded in B.C Canada, with the goal to make the best alcoholic beverages in the world. They wanted to change up the market by introducing drinks that weren't oversaturated with sugar and chemicals. They work alongside industry-leading and award-winning beverage developers to work towards a result that will be the new standard for alcoholic beverages. Resources Connect with Julius: LinkedIn Nude Beverages: Website Connect with Andrew: LinkedIn
