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This week's Shelf Talks Podcast I sat down with Karishma Thawani and Dr. Tekla Black founders of KEY energy.

From Karishma's personal health journey that inspired the idea to Tekla's deep expertise in nutrition science and retail strategy, they share how complementary skills, consumer research, and relentless persistence helped them launch into retail and secure placements with retailers like Erewhon, Market District, and beyond.

They also reveal the realities of building a beverage brand from the ground up, including:

• Conducting consumer research before building the product
• Continuing to perfect the formulation
• Landing early retail placements before launch
• Using grassroots sampling and community partnerships to drive velocity
• Raising capital as first-time founders
• Building a retail-first growth strategy in one of the most competitive categories in CPG

Whether you're building a food or beverage brand, preparing to pitch retail buyers, or looking to understand what it really takes to create a disruptive product in an established category, this episode is packed with actionable insights and founder lessons.

Connect with Key Energy:
Instagram: @drinkkey.life
Website: drinkkey.com

Try your first KEY and get 15% using code KEY15 at checkout on their website.

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Purchase the book Shelf Talk: A step by step guide to launching your product in Retail Stores by Roberta Townes Buy Book