How Honey, Hustle, and Hard Lessons Built a $10M Brand | Jack Espy

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When COVID shut the world down, Jack Espy lost his job, mixed a cocktail, and accidentally discovered the idea that would change his life.

Connect with Jack Espy

• Spirited Hive: https://www.spiritedhive.com
• Strive Sode: https://strivesoda.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack_espy/?hl=en

Fast-forward five years and he’s running Spirited Hive and Strive Soda — two honey-sweetened beverage brands rewriting the “better-for-you” playbook.

In this unfiltered conversation, Jack and Ryan Hanley dig into:

• How to turn early failure into a profitable foundation
• Why naïveté can be a founder’s secret weapon
• The brutal truth about distribution, marketing, and shelf space
• Building slow, selling smart, and setting up for acquisition
• What “better-for-you” really means (and what it doesn’t)

This one’s part business therapy, part entrepreneurial bloodsport.

Grab a drink, settle in, and take notes.

Because growth done right still takes sweat, humility, and a little honey.

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• From $2 Million Loss to World-Class Entrepreneur: https://lnk.to/delk
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• Is Psilocybin the Gateway to Self-Mastery? https://lnk.to/80upZ9

This show is part of the Unplugged Studios Network — the infrastructure layer for serious creators. 👉 Learn more at https://unpluggedstudios.fm.

Full transcript, clips, and more: https://ryanhanley.com/podcast/how-honey-hustle-and-hard-lessons-built-a-10m-brand-jack-espy

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