‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ is an old saying, but for many self-made millionaires, success often stems from an unrelenting drive to prove themselves.
Allison Ellsworth, co-founder of Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand that has taken the beverage world by storm, is a prime example. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ellsworth revealed that she was taking business calls from her hospital bed while in labour with her first child. Nine months pregnant, she also appeared on Shark Tank Season 10 and secured a $400,000 deal from investor Rohan Oza.
The brand that began in her Dallas kitchen as an attempt to make apple cider vinegar palatable has now become one of the most successful beverage launches of recent years.
Hacking the market
With the advent of the low-sugar generation and fitness as a growing trend, identifying it early helped Ellsworth monopolise the market.
Ellsworth recently told The Wall Street Journal. “We were at a farmer’s market. We had just bought a house, I was three months pregnant with my first kid, and I said, ‘We need to go all in.'” She continued: “My husband told me I was absolutely crazy, but he trusted the vision. So we maxed out our credit cards, sold one of our cars to buy bottles, and opened our own manufacturing facility.”
Allison on work-life balance
It was then, months later, when she went into labour at the bottling line. Soon after the procedure, she was back to taking calls from the hospital, quashing the work-life balance narrative. However, she acknowledged that it was hugely possible because of her supportive family.
She even told the WSJ that she embraced the chaos and even liked it. She added, “A lot of people talk about work-life balance. I think if you want to be successful, you kind of have to sacrifice that.”
But, at the same time, she acknowledged that it was important to step back, take breaks, and address the fact that one may be exhausted. She revealed that she does not compromise on that.
What became one of the most popular drinks spotted across social media, from influencer vlogs to ASMR re-stocks, there was no such vision when Poppi first came to be.
Speaking to Masters of Scale’s Jeff Berman on a podcast, the millionaire couple shared, “While you’re in the dark building and grinding, your friends are at great corporate jobs, taking trips to the Bahamas and Europe, and we’re just grinding.”
But this not only turned into a motivation, but a reality. Today, the trending colourful cans that appeal to Gen Z like a bug attracted to light are the reason behind Ellsworth’s mega-millionaire status.
Going ‘TikTok’ Viral
The TikTok investment proved to be one of the biggest edges Poppi could have ever gotten. Driving the sales in the early days of COVID, it was that set them apart. And their content was more than just influencer endorsements.
Allison told Berman on his podcast in April 2026, “I always say the most underexplored emotion for an entrepreneur is embarrassment. Get online and make a fool of yourself. So I danced. I made taco videos. I put our kids in it.”
“It connected on such a deep level that it went viral, did a million views while we were sleeping. We did $100,000 while we were sleeping that night on Amazon. That video now has like 300 million views,” she recalled the first time a video went viral, all fuelled by a major rebrand – leaving the nostalgia and production cost of glass bottles in the past to colour cans.
And from running social media ads to the Super Bowl megatron and being the official partner of the LA Lakers, it was just one way they had made it big.
Poppi’s Pepsi deal
In May 2025, the Ellsworths sold Poppi to PepsiCo for a whopping $1.95 billion deal, as per the Wall Street Journal. The deal included $300 million in cash tax benefits, and the net purchase price was $1.65 billion, reported CNBC.
And selling was always on their mind. In addition to the dollar signs, a PepsiCo acquisition also meant streamlined logistics and places they couldn’t even get before.
What came after the deal was explained by Allison to Berman as ‘advisory roles’. She said, “They’ve kept us on in advisory roles. I’m still the face of the company… But I can’t have a team reporting to me, and I can’t meddle like I used to. You have to have boundaries, and you have to have respect. There was mourning that came with that, and I think that’s very normal.”
While it took half a decade to happen, it became a success story and a blueprint for many.
Life after the monster exit
Life after the monster exit came as a true turn-of-the-tables event. Buying houses for her mother and aunt, Allison now drives a $180,000 Cadillac Escalade, as per Entrepreneur.
She spent $27,000 on a stylist to look the part, and the family recently took a $1 million vacation to Europe.