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Female Founders: Laura Taylor of Mingle Cocktails On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

… Ability to take constructive feedback — Initially I would ask my husband for advice on what he thought of a label color or a brand name and then I would debate his answer. He finally said, “if you want to ask for my opinion you must be willing to listen to me, otherwise, don’t ask!”. He was right, I just wanted someone to validate my idea, I did not want to hear objections, I only wanted to hear approval. Now I know it’s important that I must be open to constructive feedback to make smart decisions. I love soliciting feedback now so I can get a different perspective which teaches me to be more open minded. Now I work hard to detach so I can learn and absorb through others.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Taylor of Mingle Mocktails.

A few years ago, if you met Laura Taylor at a big tech conference or out traveling for her job at TableaunSoftware, Accenture or IBM, you’d probably think she was the definition of a working woman who “does it all.” Taylor grew her career in software sales and business development while raising her two kids. Both she and her husband relocated to Berwyn from California with high-demand jobs, and often, during travel or work events, alcohol was centered in the deal-making culture.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I loved working in Corporate America and built a very successful career in the software and consulting services industry. I spent a great deal of time traveling and attending business meetings, dinners, cocktail receptions and sales conferences. When I quit drinking alcohol 6 years ago, I noticed right away that my only option at social and work occasions (where I used to drink booze) was seltzer, and it left me feeling a bit left out when others were sipping from pretty cocktail and wine glasses. One specific experience sparked Mingle- I was invited to a girls’ weekend away and I knew there’d be some drinking. I decided to concoct and bring my own mocktail, what is now the Cranberry Cosmo, on the trip. We were at a cabin in the Poconos when corks started popping and wine was flowing, so I poured myself a pretty Cranberry Cosmo in a wine glass, sat down by the fireplace with my girlfriends, and had a magically joyful feeling! It was the first time that I truly felt part of the party! I knew at that very moment I had to bring this mocktail to the market so anyone who chooses not to booze can still feel socially connected and part of the occasion. I returned from that trip and immediately researched what was going on in the non-alcoholic beverage segment. I was surprised to learn that 30% of Americans don’t drink alcohol, 50–60% of Americans take short booze-breaks, yet there was nothing on the market but boring soda or seltzer for these people. I saw a gap that needed to be filled with a fun and festive non-alcoholic beverage that enabled everyone to feel part of the party.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Just last month I hosted a Mingle Mocktails virtual happy hour with over 45 business executives from two companies, EY and SAP, that I used to work very closely with in my previous career. I was contacted by a leader of EY who had followed by journey, and he wanted to provide his own leadership team with a fun and inclusive virtual event with Mingle Mocktails. I had the opportunity to conduct a virtual tasting where everyone enjoyed a Mingle Mocktail (or cocktail if they wished) while I shared the inspiration of the brand and how I got to where I am today. It was a special experience because I knew I found my purpose — it felt 100% natural to share my story and product with people I used to work with just a few years ago but now I’m providing a product and solution that everyone can enjoy! I received several notes from participants who were really impressed with the product and my story. It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy because I had always envisioned Mingle being served at the conferences I used to attend so everyone can feel socially connected!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Just days after I completed bottling my product, I walked into my local Whole Foods store and marched right up to the customer service desk asking for a meeting with the store manager; I had expected them to purchase Mingle Mocktails on the spot. The store manager looked at me like I had three heads! He politely directed me to a webpage where I was to submit my brand for review, and then he proceeded to tell me that new brands don’t just walk in and get on the shelves of Whole Foods. I was grateful for the store manager’s time and spent the next 18 months finally getting Mingle on those shelves. We’re in 3 Whole Foods regions but have way more work to do and doors to knock on to get into all of them. I’ve learned to treat rejection as part of Mingle’s growth process and I’ve learned to ask people for guidance and constructive feedback. After most buyer meetings I ask whether there was anything I could have done differently or better. I’ve learned to gain experience from the people who know drive major decisions so I can accelerate my own growth and the growth of my brand.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are so many people who have and still help me today, but I would not be where I am without out the support of my Mom, Betty Flynn. She passed away earlier this year after a quick battle with cancer, but she was there for me from Day One with the positive reinforcement I needed to overcome my paralyzing fear of failure. I wanted to launch this company but was terrified that I would fail because I did not have core CPG experience. I called my Mom from the day I came up with the concept to the weeks that followed sharing my business ideas and my overwhelming fear of failure. With each call she helped my overcome those fears and helped me find my own inner strength and confidence to proceed with positivity. I now operate in a state of living my life and building my business with no regrets. I never want to look back on my journey wishing I should have tried to launch a business or take on a new challenge. To this day, I have no regrets in any aspect of my life, but I do miss my mom with all my heart.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

The biggest issue is finding the right people or VCs who are interested in supporting female-founded early-stage companies. I’ve talked to a lot of people and I have grown tired of the response that either “your company is too small to secure funding from a VC” or “it’s not a good time to find angels in this economy” or “come back after you achieve $5M in revenues”. I’ve seen an uptick in grants for woman and minority-owned businesses, but I’ve found it hard to locate angel investors who are interested in early-stage businesses.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

As an individual, it’s important to build and nurture an active network. Whenever anyone offers to make an introduction, the answer should always be yes, because you never know where that next conversation will lead you. As a society, we need to continue to shine the light on small businesses, especially those who are woman and minority owned. We are lucky to have the freedom of entrepreneurship, but small businesses need support during the early stages to grow into large companies. We must continue to build programs which provide business and financial support for small businesses to grow over time.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

My experience is that successful female founders pursue business opportunities where is a greater purpose which propels us forward and it is this purpose which leads to innovation and growth, and the financial gain is secondary to achieving the goal we set out to achieve. I feel women use gut and instinct combined with intelligence and passion in a way that yields great results. Also, as a mother, I want to show my teenager son and daughter that anyone can start a business if they put their mind to it.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

  • Entrepreneurs like risk — false! I am not a risky person, but now I make educated bets and feel more comfortable making decisions with less facts.
  • Entrepreneurs must be an expert in their field -false! I’ve heard from experts that it’s often better to enter an industry where you have little experience so you can approach it with a fresh and unique perspective.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I never set out to be a Founder. I had a very organized plan for my career growth all the way through retirement, but now that’s out the door! Some key traits that served me well include:

  • Passion — you need a undeniable passion for what you are pursuing that will push you through hard times because you will have many days and weeks of hard work where you will be pushed to your limits and passion will be all you have left to pull you through those challenging times.
  • Ability to take constructive feedback — Initially I would ask my husband for advice on what he thought of a label color or a brand name and then I would debate his answer. He finally said, “if you want to ask for my opinion you must be willing to listen to me, otherwise, don’t ask!”. He was right, I just wanted someone to validate my idea, I did not want to hear objections, I only wanted to hear approval. Now I know it’s important that I must be open to constructive feedback to make smart decisions. I love soliciting feedback now so I can get a different perspective which teaches me to be more open minded. Now I work hard to detach so I can learn and absorb through others.
  • Ability to Multi-task — You’ve got to be able to manage all sorts of responsibilities to build your brand, ranging from website development to financial planning and everything in between. I’ve learned to do more in 3 years than I have in my lifetime and it keeps my days interesting!
  • Resilience — Entrepreneurship is hard and laced with failures. You must have a thick skin, the ability to weather rejection and roll with the punches to thrive as a Founder.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

  • Passion
  • Resilience
  • Time Management
  • Ability to delegate
  • Be open to change

I have heard multiple times that your goal is to “manage and grow your business” not operate within your business. I try to focus my time on tasks that truly require my attention and delegate other tasks (like order fulfillment and accounting) to others so I can spend my time where I will add the most value. I’ve learned that time is currently my greatest asset and I can easily squander it by focusing on less critical things. When I first launched our eCommerce business I conducted all online order fulfillment out of my garage. I enjoyed packing and shipping orders to customers and I felt connected to the process, but I had to outsource that responsibility to others so I could focus on growing the business rather than simply doing work.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I believe I’ve made a small impact in enabling people who don’t or cannot drink alcohol to feel great in social occasions without alcohol. When people feel better, they’re happier, more productive and more optimistic. If I can make just a few people feel supported in social situations then I know I’m on the right track. 3 weeks ago I shipped Mingle to someone in Miami for a dinner which included professional athletes from the Miami Dolphins. Yesterday I received a card from Mack Rollins, Dolphins Wide Receiver, thanking me for providing Mingle. He said, “Seeing my team enjoying Mingle Mocktails was eye opening, I never realized how isolated they feel while everyone else drinks.” It’s moments like that where all the hard work is worth it.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I hope to see Mingle Mocktails sold and served wherever alcohol is sold and served so everyone feels part of the fun. Whether on a plane, at a wedding reception or on vacation at a resort, I want to see Mingle Mocktails on every cocktail menu in the same way you see Impossible Burgers and Beyond Burgers on the menu for vegetarians to enjoy. I hope to inspire a movement where people can go to any concert, bar, resort or neighborhood BBQ and say, “I’d like a Mingle!” and people would know what that means. I’m laser focused on minimizing the stigma associated with alcoholism by providing an uplifting choice which celebrates being alcohol-free.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Barbara Corcoran, Sara Blakely, Blake Lively, Zendaya, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, Trish Costello, Danny Meyer

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Female Founders: Laura Taylor of Mingle Cocktails On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.