WE TURNED 1!

by Bill Shufelt / Oct 17, 2019
WE TURNED 1!

On May 12th, Athletic turned 1 year old. Pretty wild - seems like we’ve known you all for so much longer.

As we turn the corner on our first year, I'd be totally remiss if I didn't stop, take stock, and reflect the gratitude that I feel.

First, I want to give a big shout to our co-founder John. He was the first to believe, the ONLY person to hop on this journey out of hundreds of conversations, and the perfect person to build with. Without both of us working together, none of this ever would have happened. And I want to thank our wives - who have advised us and signed our permission slips to start!

I also want to give a big shout out to our team that has bought into our Athletic mission, left their other jobs, and joined us. Each one of our team members has a unique skill set which they engage to crush what they do and collaborate to make us all better. And most of our team has found us authentically through living the Athletic lifestyle - very few job applications involved!

The first year has been an amazing road of homebrew recipe testing, building (in many ways more than construction), tackling challenges, meeting new friends, building an amazing team and family. We want to especially thank those that first believed - our patient & believing families, supporters, our incredible partners in creative (FairFolk, who put up with me pro bono for almost a year) and sports (Winstate). Our first partners in trade who believed in us (Star Distributors, NightShift & Whole Foods) - thank you especially to them. I can't tell you how many of our calls that first year went un-returned.

And most of all, we're so thankful for our community, your support, and your passion for great NA craft beer!

Here's to the summer and the road ahead! We couldn't be more excited about what's around the corner. Stay tuned!

 

Some of our favorite moments from year 1: