If you’d asked me what kombucha was a year ago, I probably would’ve asked you if that was even a word in English. However, here I am spending my summer explaining exactly what it is, how it’s made, and why it’s good for you to an array of local customers at farmers’ markets each Saturday.
Spending time at these markets is just one of my jobs as a summer intern for UpDog Kombucha, a local start up selling handcrafted fermented tea, created by two former Wake students. UpDog Kombucha was started by Lauren Miller (‘17) and Olivia Wolff (‘16) in their dorm kitchens that has grown exponentially into its own thriving business with their product now on tap in locations from Greensboro, to Davidson, to Charlotte and more. Being a part of such a rapidly growing organization allows me to see many different aspects into what makes a small business run.
This summer as the intern for UpDog Kombucha, I have the opportunity to try my hand at a bunch of different tasks to help make the company run smoothly. My first major undertaking will be to revamp the website and its content. The goal is to add more information about kombucha and our specific brewing process, so potential customers have a better sense of what it is. Additionally, I am designing a marketplace for UpDog merchandise to be sold online. Beside website tasks, I also help run deliveries to local vendors, which is a great way to get a better sense of the local markets we have right here in Winston. Alongside deliveries, every Saturday I work at a farmers’ market to promote the kombucha and offer samples to those who might have never even heard of it before.
I’m so excited to be based in Winston-Salem this summer and to have the chance to be part of such a cool and unique start up experience and I look forward to posting more updates as I go along.
2 Responses to “UpDog Kombucha Week 1”
Sounds like you will be super busy this summer Meghan! It’s awesome that you get to experience so many aspects of UpDog Kombucha. Adding an online marketplace to the website is a great move for UpDog, and it’s awesome that you get to design it!
If you had asked me a year ago I would have had the same reaction – not being a part of the yoga scene (yet!). You are really rolling up those sleeves. Might be interesting to find a way to track the effectiveness of the Farmer’s Market publicity. You could consider giving out a promo code for an online purchase once that is up and running and then track redemptions. Or have a loyalty program and give people an identifier at the Farmer’s Market so when they sign up for the loyalty program you can see how many are people who tried you at the Farmer’s Market. You could think about some kind of approach like this to track effectiveness – return on investment of both time and money.