TAMPA, Fla. — Two former Tampa Bay space basketball standouts determined to show their enterprise dream right into a actuality.
Michael Morrison and Reggie Reed graduated Lakewood in 2008. They each went on to play Division I ball, and Morrison even carved out a profession abroad. The two remained pals, and in 2019 they determined to begin a enterprise collectively. They simply did not know which one.
“We really didn’t know what we wanted to do,” Morrison admitted. “We know we wanted to continue to travel. We like traveling. Something we could do together.”
It began once they have been driving to Miami to perform a little partying, they usually stopped at a comfort retailer to choose up some necessities.
“We should grab an electrolyte drink, so we can re-hydrate,” Michael mentioned. “I said that, and Reggie was like, ‘You know what? We should make our own.'”
Reggie laughed when he advised his a part of the story. “Once I said that, Mike looked at me and said ‘That’s genius.'”
The concept for Liv 21 was born.
“It’s full of electrolytes, vitamins, and nutrients, coconut water,” Reed defined at a promotional occasion in downtown Tampa. “Bringing all those ingredients together helped us create a particular drink that we can sell directly to clubs. But also the branding behind it. It’s a lifestyle.”
The concept was an excellent one, however there’s quite a lot of homework that must be completed earlier than the drinks go into the bottles.
“Design, name, logo… flavors. How do you actually make a drink?” Morrison added. “We had no idea what was what. We just really stuck with it and stayed together on it.”
Supply chain points in the course of the pandemic added a hurdle to the duo’s course of, however Reed mentioned it truly helped them give attention to extra particulars.
“How to market properly. How to get your profit margins correct with distributors, bars, and things like that,” he mentioned. “So it was definitely a blessing in disguise.”
Morrison joked that his crew recovering from a number of points will assist party-goers get better after an evening on the bar.
“Bouncing back? You don’t do it like you did when you were 21. So you can live like you’re 21 again.”
Most importantly, the ballers-turned-businessmen hope the sky is the restrict for his or her start-up.
“When you walk into your nearest convenience store, you’ll see Liv21 on the shelves,” Reed mentioned.
“Everywhere you see something as mainstream as Coca-Cola, you can see a Liv21 bottle. We can be worldwide.”
For extra information you possibly can go to go to Liv21 here.
