How do you build a beverage brand from scratch and land in over a thousand stores?
For Aisha Chottani, it started with stress and a few homemade “potions”.
In this episode, Aisha, Founder and CEO of Moment, joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to talk through what really goes into launching and scaling a functional drink brand. From labeling boxes by hand to managing relationships with co-packers and navigating supply chain failures, Aisha shares the behind-the-scenes story most startup founders keep to themselves.
She also gets real about what went wrong, like barcode mix-ups and Amazon returns gone sideways, and how those lessons became systems that power Moment’s growth today.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
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Why small brands need relationships more than volume
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How early mistakes can turn into long-term wins
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What to watch out for when scaling distribution and operations
Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Introducing Next Level Supply Chain
(01:34) Building a global mindset from four continents
(03:07) From McKinsey burnout to homemade “potions”
(06:06) Barcode errors and the pain of early logistics
(08:21) Growing Moment to 1,000 stores and 30 DCs
(11:33) What small brands can leverage on
(14:06) Collaborating with Lululemon
(17:15) Why Moment leans into a subscription model
(20:39) Operational failures to learn from
(27:36) Aisha’s favorite technology
Connect with GS1 US:
Our website - www.gs1us.org
Connect with the guest:
Aisha Chottani on LinkedIn
Check out Moment