Allison Ellsworth

“I’m driven by my belief that Poppi is the perfect soda. All you have to do is try it and you’ll immediately understand why I quit my other career to focus on battling Big Soda.”

Less than a decade ago, Allison Ellsworth was mixing apple cider vinegar and fruit juice in her Dallas home, trying to heal her gut.

Today, she’s the founder of Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand that sold to PepsiCo for $1.95B.

And yes, she launched it while pregnant. From a booth at the farmers market.

Back then, Allison was working in oil and gas and battling chronic health issues.

She stumbled on apple cider vinegar, and the results were instant.

“After two weeks, it really did change my life… My digestion got better. I was sleeping better. But the taste? I couldn’t stand it.”

So she made it taste better.

Her kitchen experiments led to something delicious and functional.

Three weeks into selling at the market, a Whole Foods buyer approached.

Standing in the Texas heat, pregnant, Allison turned to her husband and said: “I’m not ever going back to work again. We’re doing this. And I think you should seriously think about quitting your job.”

They raised $125K, opened a facility, and took a shot on Shark Tank.

She was nine months pregnant during her pitch and still landed a deal with Rohan Oza.

Together, they rebranded to Poppi in March 2020 and went all in on one mission: take on Big Soda.

Poppi went viral on TikTok.

One spontaneous video by Allison drove 100,000 sales in 24 hours.

Poppi hit #1 on Amazon for soda, won BevNet’s Campaign of the Year, and became a celebrity favorite with fans like J.Lo and Russell Westbrook.

Today? Poppi is outselling Fanta, A&W, and Crush in key markets.

With 120+ employees, a new international launch in Canada and collabs like “Sips & Lips”, Poppi isn’t just a drink.

It’s a cultural movement.

And through it all, Allison’s raising three young sons and leading brand strategy as Chief Brand Officer.