Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Walker.
Thomas, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Metta has been the merging of a number of personal and professional storylines.
While in Law School I became good friends with Mitch Barnard an amazing athlete. He finished 17th in the world for the Crossfit open in 2015 and won a gold at nationals for weightlifting the following year. Mitch and I bonded over our shared passion for fitness and health.
Mitch though had a bit of an issue. In his efforts to fuel his academic and athletic pursuits mitch developed a nasty habit of consuming ungodly amounts of coffee. Think eight cups a day. Soon his poor adrenals couldn’t keep up. He was overtrained, overstressed and burn-out. He started to work with a high-performance nutritionist who recommended he start drinking an adaptogen tea to act as a replacement for stimulants to boost his energy and lower his stress levels. Mitch and I went out on a searching expedition and finally found the tea hidden on the bottom shelf of a chinese grocery store. The tea was a pain to brew and tasted bitter, but it worked. Mitch felt better and started to have more energy and perform better in the classroom and at the gym.
This planted the idea of the power of adaptogens in my head and as someone who doesn’t tolerate caffeine well, I was amazed I hadn’t heard of these herbs.
Fast forward a year, I was working as a corporate lawyer for a large firm and my best friend Ryan Mason was working across the street as an accountant. Both of us hated the corporate grind. We both wanted to do something else but weren’t sure what.
Ryan’s father began pressuring him to make a change and maybe start a company. Ryan was interested in starting a company that aligned with our values and had a positive impact on people’s lives and on the world in general. He suggested a beverage. I said “I’ve got just the thing”.
Soon we set out to create an adaptogen based energy-drink alternative. Both of us knew very little about starting a company and even less about creating a beverage.
We knew we wanted it to be all-natural and good-for-you. No nasty chemicals, not laden with refined sugars and no artificial anything.
We bought every natural herb in the world and tasted and trialed every adaptogen we could find. We meet with herbalist, naturopaths, MDs and anyone who knew anything about improving performance with herbs.
Eventually, we settled on a formula that was backed by mountains of research and gave an amazing feeling of energy and alertness after a single serving.
We then took that formula to a company in LA who commercialized the formula and worked with us to use organic fruit juices to help neutralize the bitterness of the herbs. We now had a finalized formula for Metta.
We couldn’t afford to pay for the first commercial-sized production run so we opened up pre-sales and had an amazing response. We ran our first batch in Feb 2018. Since then it has been a whirlwind. Learning to be an entrepreneur and how the world of natural beverage functions has been a monumental task but we are still alive and thriving.
Metta is now sold in 500+ retail locations across the US and is growing every day.
We wanted to bring the brand to California because of its market size but also because it’s great to live here. When I asked people the best place to live and work in California I had an overwhelming response say, San Diego. So I ended up in Encinitas. Metta is looking to continue to grow nationally but also make a bigger impact locally in southern California and in San Diego specifically.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think it has been anything but smooth. As first time entrepreneurs with zero natural beverage experience, every day has been another learning experience. We have had to deal with lies, deceit, fraud and downright stupidity at every turn. Our team loves to believe in the good in the world and try to see the best in people but it was a hard lesson to learn that in the business world often people like to talk a lot and do very little.
Finding people who you can trust and people who have real experience is one of the greatest challenges in this business and so when we do find a partner who is capable we cling to them very tightly.
Please tell us more about your business.
Our company is Metta, we make a natural awareness beverage. It is a caffeine-free alternative to traditional energy drinks. It uses adaptogenic herbs to elevate mental and physical performance. The flavor is berry, ginger, lemon and it is delicious and refreshing.
Our specialty is in adaptogens. There are a special class of plants that are known for helping your body better adapt to stress. Metta uses some of the most energetic varieties. They are not stimulants so they don’t have any of the side effects most people traditionally associate with stimulants (restlessness, anxiety, disturbed sleep/insomnia). In-fact contrary to caffeine the more adaptogens you consume the more powerful their positive effects.
Metta means Loving Kindness so we try to be known for spreading compassion and having some high energy levels!
What we are most proud of as a company is staying focused on our mission of helping people to live healthier, happier lives. This comes about in so many tiny decisions we make every day but its something that is at the core of the company and we are proud that most people come away from an interaction with us feeling a bit better.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My family used to go for long walks in nature and I still to this day remember the feeling of heading out. Always excitement and a sense of adventure no matter where we went. I don’t think there is anything more therapeutic than a long walk in nature.
Pricing:
- One metta is 2.99 in stores or 17.99 on drinkmetta.com or amazon
Contact Info:
- Website: drinkmetta.com
- Email: hello@drinkmetta.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/drinkmetta
- Facebook: facebook.com/drinkmetta
- Twitter: twitter.com/drinkmetta
Image Credit:
Aneta Michniak
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