One Year In: What We’ve Learned Building Sēkwl

By Matthew Eaton
Chief Beverage Officer & Founder

One year ago, we officially launched Sēkwl into the world. Legit can’t believe it.

There are moments where this past year feels like it flew by in a blur of flavor testing, canning runs, events, shipping issues, late-night brainstorming sessions, and explaining functional mushrooms just around 47,000 times (and loving it each and every time!). Then there are too many restless nights, and moments where it feels like we’ve lived ten years’ worth of lessons in twelve months.

For my friends and me, starting Sēkwl wasn’t about chasing trends. It wasn’t about creating another wellness product with ridiculous promises and overly-used marketing buzzwords.

It came from two simple ideas. That people deserve functional beverages that are transparent, intentional, and genuinely enjoyable to drink. And to create a business that looks at a broken system and says, there has to be another way.

And now, one year later, we’ve learned more than we ever could have imagined!

What I’m Most Proud Of

Team Sēkwl deserves some spotlights!

We launched.
We got cans on shelves.
We built a community.
We introduced thousands of people to functional mushrooms in a way that felt approachable instead of intimidating.

Operations… wow, Ryan never ceases to impress me. The ingenuity and resolve to keep production moving are impressive. And yes, I am married to this genius. :)

Quality and Compliance… I always had an appreciation for my mom, Paula, but damn, seeing it firsthand is different. I would put our quality system up against anyone. And I can’t wait to share some very exciting news very soon about our first audit!

Marketing… John works tirelessly to keep me on message and to continuously evolve our brand positioning based upon your feedback!

Sales… Shannon has jumped into the deep end, learning an entirely new industry, what consumers want, and importantly, how beverages move through distribution.

I would never have made it through this last year without this incredible crew!

But the moments that stick with us most aren’t always the flashy ones. It’s hearing from someone who replaced their second or third energy drink with Sēkwl and realized they didn’t actually need caffeine overload to get through the day.

It’s the customer who told us that our Chamomile flavor has become part of her nightly wind-down ritual.

It’s watching people try functional mushrooms for the very first time at an event and seeing skepticism instantly turn into curiosity… and then into excitement!

It’s hearing someone say, “Wait… this actually tastes great.” That never gets old!

It’s seeing all the kids love the Cacao and Chamomile, when we’re trained to think kids only love sugar and overly sweet things.

We’re also incredibly proud that we stayed committed to building this brand the way we wanted to from day one:

• Organic ingredients
• No sugar
• No sweeteners
• No caffeine
• Functional mushrooms with purpose
• Sustainability is woven into how we operate
• A tone and voice that felt human instead of jargon-y

In a category that moves insanely fast and cuts corners, we wanted to move intentionally. That mattered to us then, and it matters even more now.

The Mistakes? Don’t Worry. We Made Plenty of Them

Any founder who tells you the first year went perfectly is either lying or completely dissociated and blocking out traumatic memories.

We made mistakes. A lot of them.

Some were operational.
Some were branding-related.
Some were timing decisions we’d absolutely rethink.
I like to see what’s working, what isn’t, then correct and move forward. But as a result, some came from trying to do too much too quickly.

One of the biggest lessons? I knew this would be difficult. And I am often described as one of the most patient humans on the planet, but building a beverage company takes a significant amount of grit, determination, and resilience. And yowza does it ever require a thick skin (something I fail miserably at)!

There are thousands of decisions happening behind the scenes – from sourcing, packaging, freight, production schedules, inventory management, retailer conversations, events, compliance, forecasting, and customer communication, just to name a few. And because we care deeply about the details, we definitely overthought some things while underestimating others.

We’ve also learned that educating consumers takes time.

Functional mushrooms are growing fast, but there’s still a trust gap in the category. People are curious, but they’re also cautious – and they should be. That’s pushed us to communicate more clearly, explain our ingredients better, and continue earning trust instead of expecting it automatically.

That learning curve has shaped almost every decision we’re making moving forward.

What Surprised Our Team the Most

I think the biggest surprise for me personally has been how emotional building a brand can be.

You expect stress.
You expect exhaustion.
You expect uncertainty.

What I didn’t fully expect was how personal it would feel when people connected with what we were building. When someone tells you your product became part of their daily ritual, that hits differently.

I also underestimated how much community matters.

Not just customers — but the people who show up early, cheer you on, share your posts, bring friends to try the drinks, stop by event booths, send encouraging messages, or simply tell someone else about your brand.

Those moments matter more than people realize when you’re building something from scratch. Even more so when you’re intentionally building in a way that the system doesn’t understand. We’re definitely CPG rebels, and I’ll wear that badge PROUDLY!

What’s Next for Sēkwl In Year Two

Over the next few weeks, we have a few exciting announcements coming that we can’t wait to share with you. Some are things we’ve quietly been working on behind the scenes for months now, and we’re finally getting close to talking about them publicly! So stay tuned.

AND, if you want to celebrate our first anniversary with us in person, hold your calendars:

We’ll be celebrating at:

Boulder Creek Festival
May 22–25, 2026
More info

Outside Days
May 29–30
More info

Come see us! Try some drinks, hang out, and celebrate with us.

The truth is, Sēkwl wouldn’t exist without this community.

Thank you for supporting us through our first year. Thank you for believing in functional mushrooms. Thank you for giving us room to learn, improve, experiment, and grow.

Year one taught us a lot. Year two is where things get really interesting!

- Matthew ❤️🍄