THE CLIENT: CURIOUS ELIXIRS

THE ROLE: CREATIVE DIRECTOR + PRODUCER (writing, design, photo/video, content, strategy)

The CONCERN: alcohol isn’t really good for anyone.

THE QUESTION: can alcohol-free cocktails help?

THE SHORT ANSWER: yes, if you get the vibe right.

The Skill Set: design strategy, copywriting, content Design, brand voice development, Art Direction + Photography

Curious Elixirs is a truly category-changing product—the creation of CEO John Wiseman, serial entrepreneur and mixologist. John and I have collaborated closely to build a company that is low-residency, yet high-impact in driving home the message that life can be even more rewarding when you ditch the booze. This alcohol-free, adaptogen-packed craft cocktail is a product with a quiet mission attached to it: destigmatizing alcohol reduction in contemporary American society. John has trusted me to run creative operations and all consumer-facing communication for the brand over the last 3 years. I have loved every minute of designing, writing, shooting, and strategizing ways to make the sober-curious community feel supported.

We devised a real-time feedback loop experiment while building the community for Curious, removing the traditional structure of a content calendar in favor of spending time with the audience and serving up strategic content in a responsive way. Our messaging strategy across channels aims well beyond simply marketing a product, we are working to serve up and support a movement. Our work has gained placement in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vogue, Vice, Forbes, NY Magazine, and more… just in the last year alone. As we enter our fourth year of strategic partnership, we have tripled our team and grown the overall business by more than 750% with a reach of 3.5 MM+ each month.

I attribute this success to the fact that we both deeply trust and believe in the work that we’re doing. My firsthand interactions with the alcohol-free community have reshaped my own understanding of mental health, nutrition, self-care, sobriety, and support resources. We have grown our audience through a combination of authentic community programming, strategic partnership, sponsorship, an actively-evolving customer experience, special events, original content, and our Curious Creators Grant.

My role as Creative Director gives me the opportunity to oversee the creative strategy behind the customer experience—including product design, brand marketing, content development, community design, partnership + influencer marketing, and customer service. I have enjoyed connecting deeply with our audience, shaping our voice, refining and refreshing our aesthetic, and defining the roadmap for future creative endeavors. I created a simple design philosophy that allows us to launch new ideas into the world at lightning speed, even with a self-funded team.

In our earliest stages, I worked as a creative team of one—designing, writing, testing, and deploying all of our product and brand marketing materials (and ultimately building a network of resources and partnering with John to strategically expand our brand marketing team). As we continue to grow our team and define our brand standards, it’s my personal goal to hold everyone to the highest standards for accessibility, inclusion, anti-racism, equity-building, and sensitivity towards topics like addiction, recovery, mental health, and alcohol abuse.

I feel incredibly fortunate to work with John to expand our support of the community with strategic sponsorships, hosting community events, hiring working artists and makers to create work for us, and building an artist grant program designed to support and uplift creative work. We regularly partner with other independently owned businesses and organizations to donate goods and services, support and amplify conversations around mental health awareness, and co-author content and conversation with our community. It’s wonderful to be able to create so many opportunities for connection through this work.

As a result of my creative guidance, our social following has grown from 20K to 150K+, and our e-mail list has grown from 50K to 200K+ in the time I have been producing it. This growth netted our small, self-funded company 4MM+ in sales in 2020, (which we have already exceeded by the midpoint of this year). We are kicking off our wholesale program in earnest this year, with a curated list of locations ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants to mom-and-pop health food shops. We launched a strategic influencer and affiliate program as well, expanding our reach and doubling our UGC efforts.

The vibe of Curious Elixirs is extremely approachable, but sober-curious—like hanging out with the locals at your favorite bar, minus the alcohol. With this work, I’m speaking directly to myself, my family, my friends + neighbors, culinary adventurers, individuals with chronic illness, people in active recovery for addiction, ex-wine moms, herbal adaptogen enthusiasts, and anyone who has ever wanted an interesting alternative to alcohol.

Whenever someone reaches out to let me know they’ve been inspired to drink less because of this work, it means everything to me. I couldn’t ask for a greater return on any investment of my time.

My life is forever changed by this project, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.