Rising StarValerie Roth of Fire Brew Wants You to Take Shots… of Nutritional Goodness
For Fire Brew’s founder, Valerie Roth, it all started in a kitchen in New Jersey. After years of fiddling, testing and experimenting in her parent’s kitchen, she learned she loved coming up with unique and interesting food ideas as a child.
Fast forward a couple years and Valerie has created the concoction that is Fire Brew, an apple cider vinegar-based tonic with optimal health benefits. Because who doesn’t want more immune-boosting, nutritional goodness in their life?
Read more from Valerie below:
The spark that inspired the birth of your concept: I had always wanted to create a food product. It was when I went back to school to become a Holistic Nutritionist that someone introduced me to “fire ciders,” which is an all-natural, immune boosting health tonic. I wondered why such a powerful, healing elixir wasn’t more readily available so I decided to see if I could fill that void.
The problem it solves: It is a wonderful all-over wellness booster for our bodies. It really targets our digestive tracts, keeps inflammation at bay and staves off congestion, among other ailments. It works well to restore the body back into a state of balance, but works even harder to prevent the onset of chronic issues that we all face.
How you came up with the name: The category of our tonics are called “fire ciders” so we decided to modify it a bit and call our line Fire Brew. A friend came up with the overall company name Mind Your Manna.
How you are better or different from your competition: We have really taken health tonics to a whole new level entirely. Not only do we use the same fiery base of ingredients that all fire ciders use, but we have added all sorts of additional healing produce and botanicals to create a variety of yummy flavors that micro-target certain health concerns. We’ve made our tonics fun and experiential to drink. They really do fire up the body!
The best thing about being an entrepreneur: Having the freedom to let my mind go wild with ideas and be able to actualize them!
The biggest surprise in your entrepreneurial experience to date: How long the runway is to bring a product to market and to scale nationally. It takes extreme determination and patience in equal measure.
Your biggest success: Coming as far as we have. This may sound corny, but every day has felt like a success. I’m just happy I get to do the work I love.
What keeps you up at night: I often think about how to stay focused on enjoying the process of building a great brand and company, and not get so fixated on the bottom line. It’s important that we keep innovating and that people like working at Fire Brew. If we can stay focused on those two things, I feel like the rest will fall into place.
The best entrepreneurial advice you have received: The best advice comes from my business adviser who often tells me “Just keep selling and don’t worry about the rest right now.”
Your #1 piece of advice for a budding entrepreneur: Take the leap and just start. Even if you don’t really know what you’re doing, take some sort of step.
What wild success looks like: Fire Brew is on every shelf across the country and becomes a recognized and respected health and wellness brand.
What you wanted to be when you grew up: I always loved being creative and knew I’d be my own boss eventually. I wanted to become a photographer for a period of time, but my parents didn’t think it was a practical path. Maybe I’ll revisit that someday!
Is Oregon is a good place to start a business? The best. I’ve lived all over, in many of the biggest cities, but there is no place on earth like Portland to start a business. The entrepreneurial spirit is pervasive within the city’s culture and its residents. It’s been amazing.
