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Divas That Care Network
Positive Beverage
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It's Divas That Care Radio. Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change. Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone. This is a global movement for women, by women, engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations. To find out more about the movement, visit DivasThatCare.com after the show. Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
SPEAKER_02:Well, hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Divas That Care. My name is Candice Gish. If this is your very first time tuning into the Divas That Care podcast, Welcome to the program, Shannon.
SPEAKER_01:Why, thank you. My
SPEAKER_02:gosh, I'm excited. I had the opportunity to go through your website actually before you and I had chatted today. And it's going to be wonderful to be able to really dive into that. But before we start, would you mind introducing yourself to our listeners today?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely, be happy to. So once again, Shannon Argyros. I reside here in Newport Beach, California. It's a beautiful spring day here. But yeah, Southern California, born and bred here. uh raised here and um you know prior to the business that we'll get to later um i have been a very happy wife and mom to a son who is now 15 years old and raised him here in california and he's got his own amazing story he raises cars now um at the age of 15. but uh prior to that um was a very happy mom and wife until my husband unfortunately passed away, but we'll get into that, right? And prior to that, had a career in marketing and investor relations here. Oh my gosh. So you've done a lot of things. It's been a very interesting, fun journey.
SPEAKER_02:Shannon, how did you decide to get into the healthy beverage business?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. That's a great story. So my one My wonderful husband, when he was still alive, he had had the gastric bypass surgery. And so he'd gone from about 300 pounds all the way down at his lowest point, I think he was 165. And part of the, not side effect, but situation after you've had gastric bypass surgery, which they cut away part of your stomach and part of your intestines, It's very difficult to stay hydrated and to keep the required amount of vitamins in your body because your body is not getting the chance to really process all of that food like it normally would. because the intestinal tract is shorter. So my husband at the time was drinking another beverage, about six bottles a day that contained flavor because he didn't like plain water. So it was flavored water, but it also had aspartame in it. And so that was fine for him. But when my son was old enough to open the refrigerator door and reach in and grab this beverage because he wanted to be like dad, That really triggered me. And I did not want him to start a lifetime of drinking artificial sugars. So that really put me on a search to go find a wholesome beverage that not only my husband could drink to get the vitamins and hydration that he needed, but also something that would be safe for my son to drink and also that I could drink. And so, you know, I went to all the various whole foods types of stores and independent retailers that were supposed to be natural. And I couldn't find a beverage that checked all the boxes for me. I'm one of those girls that carries the Stevia packets in her purse. And so I was really looking for a beverage that had no colors, no dyes, no artificial preservatives and no artificial sweeteners. I really just wanted the Stevia leaf. Like I said, my background was in investor relations and marketing, but I worked for a medical device company for many years. And also my undergraduate study was in science. So I was very familiar with diving in and doing research. So I personally researched all the various sugars, read all the reports, and I was most comfortable with the stevia leaf, right? I can grow the plant in my backyard, crush it up and put it in my iced tea. And so that's what I felt comfortable ingesting when I didn't want to have sugar. And I'd found the Zevia beverages, which were good, but they didn't have the vitamins that I was looking for, for my son and for my husband. And we didn't really care for the taste. It wasn't something that they would go back and reach back out for. That didn't work. So then an investment opportunity came across our desk. My husband and I looked at a lot of different things and most of the time, 99.9% of the time said no. But when this one came across his desk, I nudged him afterwards and I said, honey, this is the one. You need to invest in this. If we can have the beverage at the time, I think it was called Positive H2O. If you can get him to take out the colors and change the sweetener from sucralose to stevia, you've got something here because this is exactly the kind of beverage that my girlfriends and I have been looking for. It's got vitamins. It's got electrolytes. It's safe for all ages. It's like a multivitamin in a can that actually tastes good. So that's what started Positive Beverage. And that was about seven years ago now.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my God. I love it. Just hearing you say that, it's something that my daughters, I'm always looking for them. They've always been athletes and myself, I can't take a lot of products because I seem to react with it. My mother is a naturopath and we've always been told to, and things go in your body and certain things don't go in your body. And it's very challenging to try to find something, to hear that you have a product out there that is healthy, but we can still have fun and drink it. What are the flavors?
SPEAKER_01:So we have two product lines. Positive beverage is the parent company. And within that, we have our positive hydration, which is the original that I was talking about. That's great for all ages. It's just vitamins, electrolytes, and even calcium for our bones, for us ladies. So it's great. It's the only non-dairy calcium beverage out there that's zero calories and zero sugar. So that's positive hydration. And we have three flavors of that. We have a peach, an orange, and a berry. So it's all very natural, very clean. They're clear. So it looks like a glass of water. They're lightly carbonated. So you feel like it's kind of special. And then our other product line that we came out with a few years ago when my son became a teenager and he wanted an energy drink, right? And I was like, no, no, no, no. Let's go back to the health food store and see if we can find you a healthy energy drink. And once again, I looked at every nutrition label and I said, I'm sorry, honey, but there's none of thing here that I really want you to put in your body. So I went back to my business partner and I said, you know what? I think it's time for the world to have positive energy. And so we launched Positive Energy. It's again, zero calories, zero sugar. We're just using the stevia leaf as our sweetener and a dash of monk fruit. And again, vitamins, electrolytes, and even some zinc for our immune system. So the flavors there, I'm drinking one right now. We've got poppin' orange, which tastes like an orange creamsicle. And then we have a cranking colada, which tastes like a pina colada. And then our third flavor, which is my son's favorite, is our Watermelon Mania. And that tastes like a watermelon Jolly Rancher.
SPEAKER_02:And oh my gosh, that sounds delicious.
SPEAKER_01:They're all really great. I get to put one on the watermelon on my son's nightstand. He loves to wake up to it. Or if he needs to stay up late to study, he can have a positive energy and he can get that caffeine from just organic green tea extract so no no guarana no taurine nothing crazy just green tea so if you let your teenager drink green tea at benihana or when they're snowboarding right then it's okay and the beautiful thing about green tea is that it doesn't give you the jitters I'm very caffeine sensitive. Like I can't drink coffee, but I've always been a tea drinker. So the great thing about positive energy is you don't get the handshakes and the jitters.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Living a healthy lifestyle, which is really important. So you are based in California, the only place that you can purchase these drinks?
SPEAKER_01:No, luckily not. I mean, thanks to the wonderful blessing that is Amazon, we ship all over the country. And actually, you know, it comes directly from Amazon, but we have sales all over the country of people who are big fans of our beverages.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that's really important. And does it ship up to Canada then because it's through Amazon?
SPEAKER_01:I believe if you can find it on your website in Canada, then that should not be an issue.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm going to be looking for it actually after our show today because I'm really excited about this and I definitely want my daughters to drink this.
SPEAKER_01:Well, we would love that too. It's definitely becoming a word of mouth, grassroots sort of story, which I love. You know, we're not Coca-Cola or Pepsi and we don't necessarily have the same marketing budget that those brands companies do, but we have passion and purpose and a great clean product. And we are just so excited that the word is getting out and we're getting to share our healthy hydration and the message of being positive and having a positive mindset to other families.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that's important. Divas that care, we've always been really about collaboration and working with one another to support one another, especially women in business. I think it's really important to uplift one another. I know what it's like to start a business as a woman. And sometimes it's a challenge and you're not always in the boys club and people don't always understand that. So we really want to support you in everything that you do.
SPEAKER_01:Amen. Thank you so much. Yes. So the business had only been off the ground actually for about a year. or so when my husband unexpectedly passed away during COVID. And I stepped in and really felt like it was my calling and my purpose to continue the business for several reasons, right? Number one, it was called positive beverage. And I just felt like I'm supposed to focus on the positive. And that was going to be my purpose. And trying to share this message of, hey, you know what? Bad stuff happens in life. It's just part of what we have to deal with. But how we look at it and how we let it affect us is our choice, right? So I could either curl up in the bed and cry and say, oh, woe is me, or I could pick up and carry on and be a role model for my 10-year-old son who just lost his dad. So part of this beverage, and especially during COVID with all these young people dealing with this new thing of mental health, I really just have this hope for a positive beverage to be a reminder when it's sitting on somebody's desk with this giant word positive to remind them to think positive. No matter what comes your way, you have a choice. You can choose. Make everything into a positive if you look hard enough and you try hard enough.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Shannon, I love that. Oh, that's just so inspiring. Would you tell our listeners, because we are listening to this podcast, what your cans look like? Because I think that's going to grab their attention too.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, they're beautiful. So our positive hydration line is a white can with a beautiful blue, cyan blue color. Giant word positive on the front of it. Excuse me. This giant word that says positive. And then our energy cans are a bright electric cyan blue with the word positive in white. So they're very modern, very clean, but very approachable. They have cute illustrations of the fruit, like this one that I'm drinking right now. The Poppin' Orange has an adorable... orange creamsicle with a bite taken out of it. So they're super fun. They're really bright, really eye-catching. And they're, yeah, they're beautiful. Our little tagline at the top literally says, crush negativity naturally. I
SPEAKER_02:think that's brilliant. See, that's your marketing background too. It's just brilliant. I love it. So what is your website so they can go and check
SPEAKER_01:these out? Absolutely. It's just www.positivebeverage.com. And of course, as you mentioned, Candice, we are available on Amazon and also Instacart if you check your local grocery store, certainly here in California.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's wonderful. Can I ask you, Shannon, what's the future hold for you? What are you wanting to do next?
SPEAKER_01:Well, let's see, Candice, we are trying to expand our distribution and bring positive beverage to more households across the United States. We recently just expanded into a grocery chain here in California called Albertsons and Vons. We also just announced a partnership with New Seasons in Oregon. So we're slowly but surely expanding our distribution across the grocery chains.
SPEAKER_02:Really excited about this. I can't wait for our listeners to go and check out your website. Is there any perhaps last minute tips, tools, things you'd love to share with our listeners?
SPEAKER_01:Hey, I just want to remind everybody that if you have a friend who has diabetes or even more important, like a child that has diabetes, and this is a great beverage, especially our positive hydration. the stevia doesn't affect the blood sugar. And I love being able to give a kid a positive hydration beverage so that they feel like they're drinking a soda. They feel like they're like everybody else. And they get to enjoy some sweetness in their life without having it negatively affect their condition. So that's one of the One of the organizations that we partner with is Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is now Breakthrough Type 1 Diabetes. But this beverage is great for anybody with diabetes or that's on a keto lifestyle, no sugar. As we all know, sugar is not great for us, and this is a great alternative.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Shannon, thank you so much. And I will definitely be sharing this with all my friends and family. And I think this is a wonderful thing for our listeners to share with their friends and family too.
SPEAKER_01:Wonderful. Thank you, Candice.
SPEAKER_02:Well, Shannon, it has been a pleasure. I honestly hope that you come back on the Divas That Care. I think there's some other topics that you and I could chat about and that would really inspire our listeners. I would love that. Thank you so much to my amazing guest, Shannon Ardross, for sharing her amazing story today. and talking about her company, Positive Beverage. It was amazing to learn about it. I love knowing about their core values of wellness, community, diversity, and inclusion. It is great to know that there's a company out there that has product line that is good for you, a product line that is safe it has no aspartame in it it has no artificial colors it has vitamin b12 c and zinc in it they use a green tea caffeine it has potassium for all my friends out there that are looking for something that is keto friendly has zero sugar is diabetic friendly it's a non-gmo This is an amazing product to get. Make sure you go and check this amazing company out at positivebeverage.com. They also are looking for individuals to become an ambassador. So go and check them out. They are always looking for people to showcase them. A positive brand ambassador lives with vitality and enthusiasm, whether you're a weekend warrior, fitness enthusiast, athlete or one who values a healthy, energetic life. They want you. So make sure that you go check them out. There's so many divas out there that would be perfect for them. So thank you again so much for sharing this amazing company, Shannon. And to all of our amazing listeners out there, remember to do something kind. Until next time, everyone.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for listening. This show was brought to you by Divas That Care. Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on DivasThatCare.com where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.