Poppi cofounder Allison Ellsworth says you have to sacrifice work-life balance to succeed

Prebiotic soda brand Poppi has come a long way since it first appeared on Shark Tank under its original name, “Mother Beverage,” in 2018.

Allison Ellsworth cofounded Poppi with her husband Stephen Ellsworth—but before becoming multimillionaires, though, the Ellsworths were maxing out their credit cards to launch Poppi. 

“My husband told me I was absolutely crazy, but he trusted the vision,” Ellsworth said. “So we maxed out our credit cards, sold one of our cars to buy bottles [and] opened our own manufacturing facility.”

The pair invested $90,000 into the business in the first year, while her husband worked various gigs to cover their mortgage. In 18 months of launching what was then “Mother Beverage,” the Ellsworths generated half a million dollars in revenue.

After locking in a deal with Rohan Orza on Shark Tank, the Ellsworths rebranded “Mother Beverage” to Poppi. All the while, Ellsworth was pregnant and the couple was raising their kids, juggling school dropoff with early morning Zoom meetings.

“I think it’s OK to live in chaos, and to like it,” Ellsworth told the Wall Street Journal. “A lot of people talk about work-life balance. I think if you want to be successful, you kind of have to sacrifice that.” 

While some see long hours and endless availability as a badge of honor, that’s not the case for all—and can come with the risk of burnout. Last year, a survey found that 85% of people said work-life balance was more important to them than pay. Still, another 2025 survey found that two-thirds (65%) believed that sacrificing work-life balance is necessary to be successful. While workers want balance, they believe that grinding is the price of success.

For the Ellsworths, that risk seems to have paid off. In the years since its rebrand, Poppi’s TikTok marketing during the pandemic—combined with the drink’s vibrant packaging and flavor options—created a loyal following by billing itself as a healthier choice to other sodas. 

Last year, the Ellsworths became centimillionaires when they sold Poppi to PepsiCo for nearly $2 billion. 

After the exit, Ellsworth said she felt a sense of sadness. “People don’t talk about the post-exit blues,” she said. One year after the sale, though, Ellsworth feels content and prepared to start her next business venture with her husband. 

“It almost takes a year, when you get that amount of wealth, to set it up correctly,” Ellsworth said. 

“We didn’t know how rich we were,” Ellsworth added. “You don’t know how rich you are until you start spending money. I was like, ‘am I spending too much money on clothes? Are we spending too much money on travel?’ And my financial adviser kept saying, ‘you guys are fine.’ But it’s so hard to make that big of a jump.”

Since the exit, Ellsworth told the Journal that she’s upgraded her home, bought two more for her mom and aunt, splurged on a $1 million monthlong family vacation to Europe, hired a private chef, spent $27,000 on a stylist and more.

“Some might call it materialistic, but I worked really hard for those things,” Ellsworth said.

The couple has also opened investment accounts with $5,000 each for their three children between the ages of 4 and 9. “They did buy Pepsi stock […] They said ‘now we can be investors in Poppi.’ It was really cute,” Ellsworth said.

In the interview, Ellsworth talked WSJ reporter Gunjan Banerji through her favorite heels, from Prada to Christian Louboutin. 

“What’s the point of having all this money if we can’t have fun with it?” Ellsworth asked.

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