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Meet Claire Spencer and Kristen Vinson of I am WATRRR in Biltmore

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Spencer and Kristen Vinson.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I watched my friend Kristen as she posted on Facebook Live about writing down positive thoughts on her bottle of water. She was in her yard, writing with a sharpie. She talked about how many negative thoughts we have throughout the day, unconsciously, and how we can disrupt that pattern by writing positive thoughts on the water we drink. She talked about the work of Dr. Masuru Emoto of Japan, who spoke negatively and positively to water, and saw it impact the molecular structure of the water.

Our bodies are mostly water, she said – what if we replace those negative thoughts with positive ones? What if we drink positive charged water all day long and actually bring it into our body?

I tried it that very same day!

It was August of 2018. One year earlier, my husband told me that he wanted a divorce. I had a 2.5 years old daughter with him. I hadn’t worked in three years – I was trying to be the best mom I could and support him in his crazy real estate schedule. We had lived in Phoenix for less than a year, and I had finally made new friends and thought about going back to work. We were divorced by April. During that terrifying time period – before I had a job before I knew if I would have any income or financial flexibility or even what custody would be – I had a lot of support. I wasn’t alone. And yet – I was completely overwhelmed the whole time. Everyone had great ideas about my five-year plan, my job search, my career strategy – and I struggled to shower.

The “water practice” hit me hard because it was DOABLE. Here was something that didn’t need a long commitment, didn’t cost $175 per session, didn’t require a babysitter and didn’t even need five minutes of “quiet time” (if you have a toddler you’ll understand! HA!).

Kristen and I spoke about her water practice and I felt more alive than I had since before I got married. I looked up trademarks and patents and did a competitive analysis that same night; flooding her inbox with data and information. That was the beginning.

Where we are today – we finally have product in our hands. We are knocking on doors of restaurants and coffee shops, yoga studios and gyms, pain clinics and addiction treatment centers. I firmly believe that this practice can benefit ANYONE. And I know how much I needed it. We are growing, slowly, but my faith in the business is based on one thing: can I help someone today? And the answer is always YES. If I can help ONE person every day – that’s 11,000+ people by 2050. And that is success to me.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! Not at all smooth.

FIRST OBSTACLE – Branding! We got 85% of the way on a label, but it just didn’t look right. I reached out to friends and my dear friend Nicole Myden, an incredible heart-centered PR professional, hooked me up with Leeah Murray a web designer, who took us to the next level on the labels. I feel so fortunate to be experienced to know that we CAN’T do it alone… it’s ok to ask for help, and it’s WORTH it to pay money to get the thing done.

SECOND OBSTACLE – We are currently in a position where we waited so long for a negotiation to wrap up that we are running low on cash flow. We had the opportunity to work with a big brand, but they didn’t have any marketing budget – and we have been paying fees during negotiations. So, we are hustling hard right now to get our product out to the public and to markets to make up for lost time. We are grateful for this lesson though because it taught us a lot about our value. We were giving up a lot to work with the “name brand” but in the end, the deal was so one-sided that we had to walk away because when we outlined our contribution to the partnership, it was so heavily one-sided we realized that the deal wasn’t great for us to begin with. We had nearly been “flattered” into a relationship that wasn’t good for our brand.

THIRD OBSTACLE – We, as business owners, have had to face a LOT of fears! Mostly, fears that our dreams will come true FASTER than we thought. THAT is actually quite scary! It’s a feeling of “am I ready for this”? “Do I deserve this”? and having to lean into feeling and believing that we ARE ready and we DO deserve it is essential.

Please tell us about I am WATRRR.
We like to say that WATRRR isn’t magic – YOU are magic.

We use purified spring water – a “blank slate” – as a mindset practice. For those who are more comfortable with a little assistance, we have “power” words on the front of our bottle to help you choose one. On the side of our bottle is a giant “I AM ________________” for you to write your intention or declaration. By taking a moment to decide how you want to show up TODAY, and writing it on your bottle, you have already made a decision to become conscious about how you are going to be. Then, throughout the day, it’s a reminder of that commitment.

There are many different models on how this works. From Dr. Emoto, we have the molecular change in the water. From Dr. Joe Dispenza, we have energetic manifestation – the idea that we have to BE the way we want, and the universe will align. Our inner energetic alignment must come FIRST, however. In a more science-based reasoning, we know that the brain is a pattern making machine – that’s how humans survive. But, our “autopilot” isn’t always good – so if we want to disrupt autopilot, we have to find ways to disrupt our patterned behavior, and the only way to do that is to become AWARE. Each sip of water is a reminder to stay aware and choose your state. Lastly, we see this fundamentally as a way to “BE” the placebo. The placebo effect works! AND – you don’t need a placebo to reap the benefits. You are powerful enough to BE the placebo and reap all those benefits with intention.

This is what sets us apart in the water industry. Water is a commodity and everyone sells on flavor, source, electrolytes, ph… we are NONE of those things. Pure water is GOOD for you. It doesn’t have to be fancy to work for this.

We are also one of the few brands that ENCOURAGES you to refill your bottle. Yep – don’t buy lots of water – use our 3x and really get into that intention. And when you’re done, RECYCLE. We looked at a lot of options for the water packaging including milk cartons. Plastic wasn’t just the most affordable – it was the one item that was universally recyclable in most areas.

In the mindset and health industry – we are CHEAP! $3.33 for an entire day’s worth of meditation that takes 10 seconds each time??

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
When she first started doing the water practice, she met a pregnant woman at her stand (Kristen sells beef and health products also) at the farmers market and shared it with her. One year later, that woman returned to her and told her the following story: The father of the baby, shortly after birth, left the COUNTRY. The mother was left homeless with an infant. She struggled in every aspect – to be a new mom, to find a home, to find work, and to face it all. When she came back to Kristen at the market she was OK – she has a job and a place to live and is doing well. But she told Kristen that during the worst times, she would write on her water bottle words of affirmation every day, to get through it. And even though she didn’t see Kristen, she felt like Kristen was with her, cheering her on.

THAT. THAT is what we are doing. We love to support people with their daily trials, but for us – helping people when they are at their very bottom, feeling hopeless – and reminding them of their OWN POWER. THAT is what we are all about.

Pricing:

  • $3.33 per bottle retail
  • $33 per case of 12 (save $6.96)

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Claire Spencer, Kristen Vinson

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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