Electra Beverages & Nutritionals

Welp, it all started in 2019 after running (okay, walking) a 5K. I was handed a bottle of a well-known sports drink as I walked across the finish line.

When I turned the bottle around to read the ingredients, I was stunned. I’d drank this product most of my college and professional sports careers — yet had never noticed that it was mostly water and sugar. No wonder it had always taken me so long to recover. My body needed better hydration.

That night, Electra was born.

First, we had to make sure that we were launching a company on more than an athlete's hunch.

Ya see, I've been drinking sports drinks and hydration elixirs since God's first basketball game, so I've tasted just about everything that's ever been on the market. The funny thing is that the idea to start a beverage company was planted in my dome about 10-15 years ago.😳 I know...you can smack me later. With my background, it was truly a no-brainer. 

But you know, they say things happen on the timing they're supposed to happen, right? And honestly, I'm a big believer that things "are as they should be". So, here we are.

Last Spring I hired a beverage consultant who'd helped take a company to $70 million in less than five years.  She helped me realize that I could build a solid beverage company. I needed a great idea, thirsty customers and a commitment to learn and launch. After a few months of working with her I decided to take the plunge and start Electra. 🥤

Was I nervous? Not really...

Hard to be nervous when you don't know what you don't know. I think my athletic background had taught me that if you have the right strategy and team, that you can achieve just about anything. So, I relied on that belief.  

But here's the thing -- I realized that I had to get "up to speed" on running a beverage company really quickly.

So, I did what I always do when I have a mammoth size undertaking: I went to school.

Yep, school. Online school. Magazine school. I called everyone I knew who'd ever been in any kind of food or beverage biz. I ended up contacting and speaking with approximately 20 beverage and consumer packaged professionals who told me EVERYTHING they knew about building (and exiting) multi-billion dollar companies. I felt so blessed that I had such a generous network of folks who wanted me to succeed. 

Ultimately I also invested in my new company by attending BevNet - a premier beverage conference.

But before BevNet I'd also enrolled in the school of YouTube where I watched over 100 - not even exaggerating - videos on the beverage and food industries. Now, for perspective, my first "real" job was as a sales executive at Procter & Gamble - selling Crest, Scope, etc. So, that was a great "incubator" for learning how to sell consumer products, retail and build a multi-billion dollar company. I knew I would lean on my old P&G days at some point. And yes, I've even reached out to some of my P&G buddies.

From there it was time to find the right launch squad --  always a key to success. I self-funded Electra until I attracted my first investor toward the end of 2019. I consulted with Angela, my super-advisor, asking her which roles I needed to fill to get Electra launched. Operations was top on the list. I found a gem in Leslie A., who had terrific startup experience with a CPG brand. Between Angela and Leslie, I was able hire a superstar squad of providers including food scientist, designer, retail specialist and financial guru.  For five months we worked diligently on getting all of Electra's systems optimized and I couldn't have done it without the squad. Definitely agree that teamwork makes the thing work.

Here's our final packaging. We're super proud of the clean, modern branding, and can't wait for you to meet Oh Yeah! Orange, Litty Lemonade and Passion Punch!

Now, it's time to launch.

I'm producing a documentary about women's professional basketball called, "A League Of Our Own" and I figured what better way to launch Electra than in a crowd of people who drink hydration drinks all day, and all year long. So, we were planning to launch on April 4th at the 2020 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four in New Orleans...but then the world was introduced to the Coronavirus, and everything changed. We are now looking at a "back to school" timing launch in September. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been devastated by this terrible virus.

The feedback we've gotten from "everyday athletes", kids, moms, dads and even professional athletes has been phenomenal. We know that there's an appetite and a thirst for better for you beverages. And I'm proud to be delivering Electra to the masses.
Fran Harris, Founder of Electra Beverages & Nutritionals, LLC

It's been an exciting 9 months. Yes, only 9 months since I became a true beveragepreneur. We've attracted some great support, partners and ambassadors. We're a mission-driven company with plans to rock the beverage world with our radical take on serving our customers, as well as functional beverages and nutrition for everyday athletes. 

I look forward to sharing ongoing bursts of what we're up to each week. Until then...get ready to Electrafy your Hustle™️.