Becca Gardner had reached her expiration date in New York.
The Henry County, Kentucky, native moved to the city that never sleeps after graduating college and spent more than a decade working in strategy consulting for Monitor Deloitte. Gardner traveled nearly every week for her career, basically living in hotels and on airplanes, and during that time, she decided to stop drinking.
"I stopped drinking about four years ago and that was when I really started to notice there was a lot of alienation around the experience if you weren't a drinker," she said. "I honestly just became kind of obsessed with this concept of creating the same types of beverages that would be in spaces where we normally socialize, but to make them more welcoming to folks that for whatever reason didn't want to drink alcohol."
Before the coronavirus pandemic began last year, Gardner decided to leave New York and returned to her home state where she continued to develop the idea for an alternative spirits company. The no- to low-alcohol product segment has been growing in markets worldwide, and the U.S. alone recorded a 30% increase in consumption of alternative spirits in 2020, according to a report by the IWRS.
"In New York, you're really just kind of like a drop in the ocean, and here, to be able to connect with people so easily and have these types of resources available to you, it seems a lot more feasible to actually do something that will impact the community here and people's lives," she said. "That in itself is very empowering and a type of fuel because you can actually see more tangible progress. It's certainly something that is really kept me moving forward with this."
Gardner began incubating her business, then called NKD LDY (pronounced naked lady), at Bardstown Bourbon Co., which connected her to Larry Wu, former director of R&D at Starbucks and director of new concepts at Brown-Forman Corp., and Phil Hurst, founder of Truett Hurst, a Sonoma County, California winery.
Wu introduced Gardner to Hurst, who had been working on a similar nonalcoholic beverage concept. In April, Gardner and Hurst merged companies to create ALT Distilling, a parent company for several alternative spirits brands, including Gardner's original brand NKD LDY.
ALT Distilling will have its first big bottling of NKD LDY products at the end of October and intends to launch its direct-to-consumer platform in time for the holidays and Dry January. Gardner said her goal is to get the products in retail, bar and restaurant locations in spring 2022.
"We'll be launching three products: A tequila-inspired spirit, a whiskey-inspired spirit and a gin-inspired spirit," she said. "The cool thing about our products is that our starting point are the spirits themselves. We do a special kind of distillation process with them where we're able to remove the alcohol and preserve the flavor in that process, which is how we're able to get flavors that are a lot closer to ones folks would expect.
"I think at the end of the day, with NKD LDY we're trying to remove the need for the mocktail menu at all, and that you can just order from the regular cocktail menu and then just ask for it 'naked.'"
Here's more from Gardner in a Q&A:
What’s the biggest challenge have you faced as a first-time founder? How did you overcome it?
Oh my goodness, that’s a difficult question. It often feels like every month there is a new “biggest challenge,” but I’ve also come to appreciate that every single one is an opportunity to grow. I think my greatest overall challenge has been learning to ask for help. My parents still tease me that the first sentence I ever uttered was “Becca’s self do it,” and to this day it tends to be my default. I’ve always been fiercely independent, and I used to wear my self-reliance as a badge of honor. However, with time and experience, I’ve recognized that “not needing help” was only hurting me, especially in entrepreneurship. I’ve overcome this through surrounding myself with people who hold me accountable and compassionately challenge my ways of working, as well as partnering with amazing people who I trust to share in the work.
What was it like incubating your business within Bardstown Bourbon Co.?
It’s been fun, encouraging and inspiring. BBC is such an incredible example of innovating within a longstanding industry while still respecting its heritage. Maybe they don’t know this, but there were definitely days when their belief in me was what kept me going. And it was through BBC that I was introduced to my partner, Phil Hurst and my COO, Larry Wu. Now, we will be using their product for our non-alc whiskey that we will be releasing alongside our non-alc gin and tequila products for dry January. I’m so excited to watch our partnership continue to grow and evolve.
Who has been one of your top mentors? Why?
I have many mentors for different things, but have really honed in on who to ask for what advice. But in terms of “top,” that has to be Joe Maxwell, my first investor and board chair. I met him at an entrepreneurship conference at Denison [University], our alma mater, and he claims I stalked him into submission. But I knew immediately that he was someone I could learn a lot from. He’s self-made, a straight shooter, and successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, but also just a really good man, and non-drinker like myself. Intelligence is one of the most attractive qualities to me in others, but second to integrity. He has both. Joe doesn’t always tell me what I want to hear, but he does generally tell me what I need to hear, and always does so without ego. I can’t imagine a world in which our paths didn’t cross.
What went into your decision to merge NKD LDY with Phil’s concept to form ALT Distilling? What’s it been like working with him (and Larry) leading up to this product launch?
I get this question a lot, because obviously it was one of the biggest decisions I made, but it was also one of the easiest. When Phil presented me with the idea of merging companies, we had been talking everyday for months. He’s a brilliant entrepreneur and sales executive and a really good man. I knew that working with him and Larry would be an incredible opportunity to learn and grow bigger and faster than I might have otherwise. My mission has always been to upgrade the culture surrounding drinking and I knew that working with Phil was aligned with this intention.
How does ALT Distilling maintain the flavor of the spirit without the alcoholic content?
Without giving away too much, it’s through a gentler type of distillation, as well as the specific spirits we use and how we treat them before and after. My product partner, Larry, has been working on this science for several years and he is truly a “mad scientist.”
You moved to Louisville right before the pandemic — what advantages does the city have for you and your business?
There are so many. Although I was away for 15 years, Kentucky is home. I’m very close to my family and being near them is a huge source of strength and encouragement. Similarly, I’ve found this community of artists, entrepreneurs, industry players, and hospitality workers to be incredibly supportive, inviting and inspiring. NKD LDY is a creative and collaborative brand and I can’t imagine a better city for it to come to life. Additionally, after spending my adult years in New York, I have really benefited from the slower pace and just overall quality of life we enjoy here. Building a company is stressful under even the best conditions, but in Louisville I have found the time and space to make strong decisions and discover new creative ideas.
