In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Shannon Urban-Denise, Founder & CEO of ROAM THC Beverages, for a raw, unfiltered conversation about sobriety, anxiety, entrepreneurship, and the future of hemp-derived beverages.

Shannon shares her journey from corporate healthcare and “mom wine” culture to rehab, five years of sobriety and eventually discovering hemp-derived THC beverages as a different path forward. What started as personal survival turned into ROAM - a craft-brewed, small-batch THC beverage brand focused on real ingredients, social responsibility, and reasonable regulation.

This episode goes beyond product talk. It dives into:

• Alcohol culture and recovery
• Anxiety and presence vs. escape
• Building a THC beverage brand from scratch
• Distribution challenges in Pennsylvania & New Jersey
• The fight for hemp beverage legislation
• Why social responsibility matters in emerging categories

No scripts. No talking points. Just two Drexel grads who accidentally discovered they overlapped in college - now building in a category reshaping the adult beverage industry.

If you’re a founder, operator, distributor, policymaker, or someone questioning your relationship with alcohol - this conversation is for you.

Learn more about Roam: ROAMDrink.com

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The episode is brought to you by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Brandon and Dylan, co-founders of Goodmellow, to break down what it actually takes to build a hemp-derived THC beverage company in today’s fragmented regulatory and distribution environment.

This is not a conversation about chasing trends. It is a grounded discussion on operational reality, disciplined growth, retailer relationships, and why the next phase of the hemp beverage category will be decided by execution, not excitement.

Brandon and Dylan share how they approached formulation, positioning, and route-to-market with a long-term lens, why brand credibility is earned at the store level, and how founders must think differently when building in a federally undefined but rapidly commercializing space.

We discuss:

- Why THC beverages must behave like a real beverage business, not a novelty product
- The importance of retailer trust and repeat purchase behavior
- Building a brand without relying on inflated category narratives
- Distribution sequencing and market-by-market discipline
- Regulatory uncertainty and what operators should be doing right now to prepare
- How Goodmellow is navigating growth while protecting brand integrity

The hemp beverage sector is entering a phase where fundamentals matter more than headlines. The founders who understand supply chain, velocity, and accountability will shape what this category becomes.

If you are a beverage operator, distributor, retailer, or investor trying to understand where this space is going, this is a conversation worth paying attention to.

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Chris Fontes, Founder & CEO of High Spirits, for an unfiltered conversation about what it really takes to build a hemp-derived THC beverage company in today’s uncertain regulatory landscape.

Chris shares how High Spirits bootstrapped its way to profitability, why staying lean beats chasing venture capital in this category, and what operators must do right now to protect the future of the industry.

This is not a marketing conversation. It is a founder-level discussion about grit, advocacy, distribution realities, and the short window the hemp beverage sector has to legitimize itself through responsible regulation and industry alignment.

Topics Covered:

- Why THC beverages are reshaping adult beverage consumption
- Bootstrapping vs. raising capital in emerging categories
- Retail-first strategy and scaling without heavy overhead
- The fight for clear legislation and why operators must engage now
- Trade associations, certification, and self-regulation as survival tools
- Lessons from alcohol industry evolution applied to hemp beverages
- Parenting, stigma, and normalization of cannabis in modern culture
- What separates brands that will survive from those that will disappear

Chris also discusses his leadership roles across major hemp and cannabis trade organizations and explains why certification, compliance, and collaboration are essential to the industry's credibility.

If you are a beverage founder, distributor, regulator, or investor watching the convergence of alcohol alternatives and cannabis normalization, this episode delivers real-world insight from operators doing the work on the ground.

Learn more about Chris & High Spirits: DrinkHighSpirits.com
Learn more about U.S. Hemp Authority: https://www.ushempauthority.org
Learn more Nate & The FreeMind Group: FMGStrategy.com

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

In this episode of Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Jared Langston, founder of Good Liar Non-Alcoholic Beer and parent company DRY Dept, for a no-script, no-agenda conversation about what it really takes to build a brand in the modern beverage market.

Jared breaks down how Good Liar went from concept to real traction - launching in January 2024, proving viability in 2025 and becoming one of the highest-velocity NA six-packs in Ohio. We get into why liquid quality is the entire game in non-alcoholic beer, how Jared tested multiple brewing technologies before landing with a world-class brewing partner and why staying focused on one SKU + one state can beat “go wide” growth.

We also talk brand-building from the inside out: naming, trademarking, packaging decisions, retail clarity, and why you can’t be precious early - fail fast, learn faster and keep moving.

If you’re building in non-alc, adult beverage or any consumer brand where the shelf is brutal and attention is expensive, this episode is a masterclass in staying grounded, reading data and creating super fans.

Guest: Jared Langston - Founder, Good Liar NA Beer / DRY Dept - GoodLiar.com
Host: Nate Fochtman - The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

Subscribe for more founder stories across beer, NA, RTD, and emerging beverage categories and check out ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

No script. No prompts. Just a real conversation with Josh Furbish, President and Founder of Ground Game Inc., about what actually moves product in retail and why most brands confuse distribution with success.

Josh rebuilt his network after an eight-year digital detox, turned years of bottle shop notes into a playbook, and launched Ground Game in 2025. We get into the unglamorous truth founders need to hear: doors don’t matter if you don’t earn reorders. Shelf space isn’t a win if you can’t drive sell-through. And the frontline staff you ignore is the sales force you’re missing.

We also talk candidly about operating through uncertainty in Minneapolis, how disruption hits mom-and-pop retailers first, and why empathy isn’t a “nice to have” in CPG - it’s survival.

Then we pivot into why Minnesota became the case study state for hemp-derived THC beverages, what other states (including Pennsylvania) can learn about regulation, dosage, and on-premise viability, and why transparency in this category is miles ahead of what most consumers realize.

If you’re a founder, operator, distributor, or service provider trying to build something real in beverage, this episode is a masterclass in how the game actually works.

Guest: Josh Furbish, Ground Game Inc.
Website: groundgameinc.com

Host: Nate Fochtman, The FreeMind Group

Website: FMGStrategy.com

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

Most supplements don’t work the way people think they do.

In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, I sit down with Dan Margenau, founder of Lix Brands, to unpack one of the most overlooked problems in health, wellness, and functional beverages: bioavailability.

Dan built Lix to solve a simple but massive issue - our bodies can’t absorb most of what traditional supplements deliver. Through a patented encapsulation process, Lix transforms hard-to-absorb ingredients into water-soluble, highly bioavailable compounds that integrate cleanly into beverages, supplements, cosmetics, and hemp-derived products.

We cover:

What bioavailability actually means (and why most products waste nutrients)

How Lix’s encapsulation technology works

Why water solubility changes everything for manufacturers and consumers

Clean label formulation and production efficiency

The impact on CBD and THC beverage onset times

Dan’s journey from operations consulting to building a deep-tech ingredient company

This conversation is part science, part entrepreneurship, and part real-world manufacturing insight - for anyone building in supplements, functional beverages, hemp, or wellness.

Check out LixIngredients.com

Listen on all podcast platforms.

Watch on ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Gordon Whelpley, Co-Founder of Float House CAN-NA-BREWS, to break down what it actually takes to build a compliant, scalable THC-infused beverage that doesn’t fit neatly into existing categories.

CAN-NA-BREWS was designed to drink like beer without being classified as a malt beverage, creating a new lane inside the hemp beverage market that requires precise formulation, intentional process design, and a deep understanding of regulatory structure.

This conversation focuses on:

• how CAN-NA-BREWS avoids the malt beverage definition while maintaining flavor and structure
• the manufacturing and formulation challenges of non-alcoholic, cannabinoid-infused beverages
• why low-dose THC beverages align with alcohol-style regulation models
• the operational reality of building production infrastructure while co-packing for other brands
• why enforcement and smart regulation matter more than reactionary bans
• what category creation actually looks like when there’s no existing playbook

This episode is a clear, technical, and practical look at how hemp THC beverages are built, regulated, and scaled - without hype and without shortcuts.

Available now on: ReadyToDrinkPodcast.com, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you podcast.

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com

Opening a craft brewery in 2025 takes more than good beer - it takes clarity, discipline, and real strategy.

In this episode of the Ready To Drink Podcast, Nate Fochtman sits down with Kyle Underkoffler, co-founder of Berg Brewing Company in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to break down what it actually takes to build a brewery from scratch in today’s crowded beer market.

This conversation covers:

• How Berg Brewing transformed a historic building into a working brewery
• Why European beer styles, simplicity, and quality still matter
• The realities of running a small brewery and wearing every hat
• Building a business with family and maintaining trust
• Why founders need a clear vision before spending their first dollar
• How hospitality, leadership, and culture impact long-term success

This episode is built for craft brewers, beverage founders, and operators who want to understand the business behind the beer - not just the branding.

Subscribe to Ready To Drink for honest conversations with the people building the beverage industry from the inside.

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Presented by The FreeMind Group - FMGStrategy.com