{"podcast":{"title":"Side Hustle Pro","slug":"side-hustle-pro-219020","podcast_index_feed_id":219020,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/659c22ccb31581001651ebcd","website_url":"https://sidehustlepro.co/","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/659c22ccb31581001651ebcd/1704813387576-56024f662bd39299b657bb9c2744b765.jpeg","author":"Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media","episode_count":527,"summary":"Side Hustle Pro spotlights bold black women entrepreneurs who have scaled from side hustle to profitable business. Join Chief Side Hustler turned full-time entrepreneur Nicaila Matthews Okome for your weekly installment of Side Hustle Pro and learn actionable strategies to start small and get going–wherever and whoever you are. Side Hustle Pro features interviews with inspiring Black women entrepreneurs who started out as side hustlers, including interviews with Myleik Teele, Morgan DeBaun, Tiffany \"The Budgetnista\" Aliche, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-21T08:19:28.665331+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/side-hustle-pro-219020"},"episode":{"title":"511: Monica Cornitcher’s Journey From Personal Loss to Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Success","slug":"511-monica-cornitcher-s-journey-from-personal-loss-to-non-alcoholic-cocktail-success","published_at":"2026-04-24T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/side-hustle-pro-219020/511-monica-cornitcher-s-journey-from-personal-loss-to-non-alcoholic-cocktail-success","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/side-hustle-pro-219020","url":"https://shows.acast.com/side-hustle-pro/episodes/monica-cornitchers-journey-from-personal-loss-to","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/659c22ccb31581001651ebcd/e/69ead2d7abe143da5bd36060/media.mp3","summary":"I sat down with Monica Cornitcher, CEO and co-founder of Medase Cocktails, a premium non-alcoholic beverage brand redefining what it means to drink without alcohol. What started as a simple desire for a real cocktail experience without the after-effects turned into a six-figure investment and a fast-growing brand that’s now catching the attention of major retailers. Monica shares how she and her co-founder Inga Dyer went from Zoom conversations during the pandemic to building a fully developed beverage company. Instead of rushing the process, they leaned into research, worked with a food scientist, and built a five-year strategy before launching. Their focus was clear: create authentic, full-flavor cocktails that people actually recognize and crave. In this episode, Monica opens up about the real cost of building a physical product, navigating grief after losing her co-founder, and the strategy behind growing through direct-to-consumer before entering retail. This is a powerful conversation about resilience, intentional growth, and building a brand rooted in purpose and community. Main Takeaways Why taking time to validate your idea and build a strategy can save you costly mistakes How to approach launching a physical product without cutting corners on quality The importance of direct-to-consumer growth before entering retail How resilience, grief, and purpose shaped the future of Medase Cocktails Highlights Include 00:00 – Introduction to Medase Cocktails 03:00 – Monica’s first business and corporate background 06:00 – The idea sparked during COVID and building with intention 08:00 – Why they worked with a food scientist instead of DIY 10:00 – Creating a 5-year business strategy before launch 13:00 – Identifying their target consumer and product positioning 21:00 – Fu…","meta_description":"I sat down with Monica Cornitcher, CEO and co-founder of Medase Cocktails, a premium non-alcoholic beverage brand redefining what it means to drink withou…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2622,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/side-hustle-pro-219020/episodes/511-monica-cornitcher-s-journey-from-personal-loss-to-non-alcoholic-cocktail-success/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/side-hustle-pro-219020/511-monica-cornitcher-s-journey-from-personal-loss-to-non-alcoholic-cocktail-success.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}