Episode #75
Happy in your Own. How Hiyo Turned Family Tragedies into a New Way to Drink | Unlocking Moves Ep. 75
How Hiyo Turned Family Tragedies Into a New Way to Drink Tune in this week to Unlocking Moves, where we explore the key moments that shape a leader’s journey. While many leaders share their “glory” stories, host Kurt Wilkin believes the “gory” ones teach us more. In this episode, Kurt visits with Cygne Cooper, Evan Quinn, and George Youmans, the co-founders of Hiyo, about friendship, sobriety, building a brand, and the many small decisions behind a breakout consumer brand. Hiyo didn’t begin as a polished beverage company. It started with a tough wake-up call. In April 2019, both Evan and George had a family member hospitalized because of alcohol-related issues. The timing was odd and hard to ignore. To support their families, they both started drinking less. They soon realized that socializing without alcohol was harder than expected. Non-alcoholic beer felt like a weaker version of beer, mocktails were usually too sweet, and energy drinks didn’t fit the occasion. Nothing really felt right at the table. That’s where the opportunity appeared. With their close college friend Cygne Cooper, Evan and George started building what would become Hiyo—a functional, non-alcoholic social tonic meant to create a feeling without alcohol. Not a buzz or a high, but something lighter, calmer, and more present. The team calls it “the float.” Kurt, Evan, George, and Cygne talk about the messy early days of Hiyo—from dropping ideas like activated charcoal coconut water, to pitching at UCLA, to winning a $40,000 venture competition that funded their first production run. They also share stories about early flavor failures, like lemon lavender that tasted like soap, ginger lime that wasn’t sweet enough, and cranberry blends that never made it past testing. But this episode isn’t only about a drink. It’s about starting a movement around moderation. Cygne talks about how she turned the idea of “happy in your own” into a visual brand inspired by Southern California sunsets, confidence, inclusivity, and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Evan explains why it was important to focus early on, especially when the team decided to build direct-to-consumer through Shopify before trying every possible channel. George shares one of the toughest moments in their story—flying to freezing Northern Wisconsin right before the holidays to hand-sleeve 40,000 cans for Hiyo’s first big Dry January campaign. There wasn’t one moment that unlocked Hiyo. It was a series of small, tough choices—like sticking with clean ingredients when cheaper options were available, bringing branding in-house early instead of outsourcing, building one channel well before expanding, and saying yes to the unglamorous work that needed to be done. This episode is for founders, brand builders, CPG operators, and anyone trying to create something new in a category that people don’t yet fully understand. Hiyo’s story reminds us that the big move isn’t always a dramatic leap. Sometimes, it’s about showing up again and again until the market finally sees what you saw from the start. About Cygne Cooper, Evan Quinn, and George Youmans Cygne Cooper, Evan Quinn, and George Youmans are the co-founders of Hiyo, an organic, non-alcoholic social tonic designed to help people unwind, connect, and feel present without alcohol. Built with adaptogens, nootropics, botanicals, and fruit-forward flavors, Hiyo created its signature “float” feeling as a better-for-you alternative for social moments. What began as a personal response to alcohol-related family crises has grown into one of the leading brands in the mindful drinking and non-alcoholic beverage space. --- #UnlockingMoves #Hiyo #EvanQuinn #GeorgeYoumans #CygneCooper #NonAlcoholicDrinks #MindfulDrinking #CPGBrand #FounderStory #Entrepreneurship #KurtWilkin
