There Is No Plan B: The Story of Dual Drinks

Hey there, Sidney Jo here, CEO and founder of Dual Drinks. How crazy is that? Oh my gosh, I can't be getting emotional in the first part of the sentence.

As I sit here in my master bedroom of a house I bought in Orlando, FL, sitting at a desk from the previous chief marketing officer of Corkcicle, I look back to contemplate mainly the last three years of this journey, but all the way even back to the beginning where it started.

People ask me what I do with the doubt and I'm like, there is no doubt. This is 100% what's going to happen, and that is how delusional I am.

Where It Started

At 18 years old I went to a small state school in Pennsylvania, about 10,000 kids. I enrolled in business management, later changed it to supply chain management, but our first business 101 project, I built a whole business plan around a product called 2pop. It was just a regular soda bottle that was split down the middle, and the cap spun on and flipped up on each side, so I could have Mountain Dew and Pepsi. For some reason I always craved both of those sodas but I never wanted a full one.

Throughout college it changed into a dual tumbler, a cup split down the middle, insulated thermal properties, that you could carry two different drinks, because growing up in Pennsylvania I was always carrying a hot coffee and an ice water.

And don't judge me, judge me, whatever, but I would carry around regular old water bottles that you buy at the store and fill them with alcohol and a chaser to go to our college parties. It was really ratchet and gross and wasteful. I didn't put a ton of thought into it because I was a broke college kid, so I kept using these ratchet separate plastic throwaway water bottles, but I did do almost every college project on the dual tumbler of what it is now today.

Fast forward, I graduated college, I entered corporate America, and I still was so curious about developing this. Because going into work I was still carrying ice water and hot coffee, opening the door, trying to say hi to people, dropping stuff, spilling stuff, my hands were always full. And then on the weekends I started golfing and doing other things where again I was drinking some sort of alcohol in some sort of chaser slash juice situation.

So in college I did learn Autodesk 360 in a semester, so I found a free version of the CAD design software and started designing it. I asked one of my engineering childhood friends to help me continue to design it. We did the initial design in about 2018 to 2019 after I finished my masters.

The Accident That Changed Everything

Unfortunately around that time in 2020 I was in a horrible accident where I fell off the back of a golf cart onto the road, where I cracked my skull in multiple places, brain bleeds, clots, back injury, which landed me in the trauma ICU and pretty much bedridden for months.

It gave me a lot of time to think about my life at the ripe age of 24, and almost being on my deathbed, to tell myself that I really wanted to get out of my small hometown, spread my wings, and start my own business.

So I started to apply for jobs in Florida and eventually landed one towards the end of 2020, when I picked all my stuff up and moved from my small hometown of less than 10,000 people in Pennsylvania and moved to Bradenton, FL.

Starting Over

There I restarted my life as I was still healing from this brain injury. I tried working again in corporate America in supply chain manufacturing, but it was way too much to handle, so I had to go on medical leave.

I had met a guy and was dating this guy for, I don't know, six months or something, when he offered for me to move in with him since I couldn't work and I wasn't making a paycheck. So from there I moved from Bradenton into St. Petersburg, FL, into this guy's house, which later I found out was going to be the next hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life.

This guy was very troubled, and after multiple times of neighbors calling the cops on him, the police officer said to me, if she came back there I would be leaving in a body bag. So the police took him to jail for domestic violence, and I packed a bag and stayed with a girl that I met on Bumble BFF. I don't remember the exact amount of time that I stayed with her, I think a few weeks, until I found another job in Orlando, FL, to restart my life all over again.

So towards the end of 2021 I moved to Orlando to have another fresh start. Again I got a new job in supply chain manufacturing. It was rough, but at least I had my own apt, I had a paycheck, I was safe.

After a few months of the safety net being in place I started getting really bored and just felt like I had no purpose. So I started looking for ways to make money. I came across this girl on TikTok that she was trading, and it was the whole forex era if you remember that. So I tried this MLM where I was learning how to trade and building the team. Obviously we know the stigma around MLMs, but I honestly just wanted to learn how to trade and do the stock markets, and I found it very interesting. I made some money, I lost some money, but after about 6 to 8 months of doing that I found it wasn't going to get me where I end game wanted to go. So I stopped that business.

Dual Drinks Is Born

I opened Dual Drinks in January of 22, officially with the state of Florida, but really didn't start working on it until December of 22, early 2023.

To get started I found basically like a business consultant group that had all of the people in the core areas that I needed: business development, marketing, finance, legal. And hired this team for a 5 figure check that I definitely 100,000% did not have, but at the time I had no other options. I had no idea what I was doing, I had no idea how to start, I had zero expertise in what I needed to do. All I had was a CAD design drawing and an idea and a lot of audacity.

So pretty much all of 2023 we built out the financial performa, we started drafting the patent, we started figuring out where our target market was, and we started pitching to investors.

The Investor Gauntlet

I pitched to hundreds of investors, honestly thousands, whether it was online just filling out applications for pitch competitions or grants, or meeting with Angel investors or accelerators. Any which way I could get anyone to listen to my idea, I was talking, writing, pitching, sending, texting, calling, emailing, presenting.

I did what I will call a networking tour through Orlando. I went to almost every networking event I could, I met every person, that recommended I followed up, I collected business cards, obviously I ordered my own business cards, I did everything I possibly could to put myself, my product, my company, my brand, anything to get what my dream will soon come true out there. I was extremely tenacious, persuasive, persistent, consistent, and determined. Nobody could tell me nothing. Every time, I got a no, it got easier hearing no and I was like OK next.

I learned a lot pitching to investors, especially Angel investors. I had to learn what a financial performa was and how you did evaluation of your company and what the different stages are, whether you're pre-seed, seed, series A B C D, what kind of investors are even out there, like Angel investors or venture capitalists or private equity. I had to learn everything about what it is to finance your company, the different types of investors, how you carry yourself, what types of pitch decks you do, and building a marketing plan. I learned so much being an idiot for three years. In a way, ignorance really was bliss. But putting myself out there, I've accomplished so much, and honestly in a short amount of time with the little amount of resources that I have.

One of the first people that I got to listen is our current, if you want to call him our CFO or financial advisor. I pitched him our financial performa and I just kept following up consistently for months until he finally would take a meeting with me, and then a few months later would take another meeting with me, until finally I got him to see me and believe in our product and company and me.

So many people have dreams. Some people put them into action. Very few amount of people have the dream, put in the action and the work, but also understand you can have the best idea in the world, but if you don't have the financial cycle, cash flow, and actual business mechanics behind the financials of your business, it doesn't matter if you have a great idea or you're passionate. You need a stellar financial person with you.

I've lost track of how many investors I've pitched to in the Angel investor umbrella. 98% of them wasted my time. Some of them were serious and interested but really didn't have the net worth to be investing in something like this. It's a risk, there's so many other things they can put their money in that they're guaranteed, yeah of course a lower percentage on return but way less riskier. This is a startup company, of course we know we're going to make it, but just again financially, mechanically looking at stuff, there are other things that are safer for them to invest in.

So there were a few investors that we got to final stages with, like that, that I would say were actually valid and had good intentions. But I have absolute horror stories of the investors that I've met with, that met with me because I'm a woman, because I'm pretty, because they think they can type with me, because they have nothing better to do, because they think it's funny. So many disgusting men, notice how I say men, not a single woman wasted my time. And honestly it completely turned me off to the male species for a little bit, and I don't want to put the whole male species under that umbrella, but it just gave me a horrid taste in my mouth and really made me take a step back and look at my approach.

So after so many wasted evenings, meetings, etcetera, with possible investors, I decided to pivot and just build my empire. And by the time we were ready, I was going to get some sort of loan to fund my backing, whether I had to put it against any asset I had, whatever I had to sell, I was just going to push as far as I possibly can and run the play, and the money was going to come.

The Grind and the Mindset

Throughout this journey I have read so many books that have shaped who I am. People ask me what types of books that I read. I have not read a fictional book in years. I have only read business, self help, leadership, mindset, all of those things, books that are going to get me to my goal.

A lot of people think I'm crazy, delusional, unrealistic, wasting my time and money and effort. They don't understand me, they don't get me, they roll their eyes because all I talk about is Dual Drinks, my nonprofit, the books I'm reading, health and wellness, the business lessons I've learned, etcetera.

I find myself really struggling to make female friendships because I don't find fashion or restaurants or reality TV or makeup or clothes or these stupid 'situationships' interesting. I think they're an absolute waste of time and I could not be more uninterested. I have found a good core group of girls, and I do need and appreciate my girl time, but I do see myself 100 times more making guy friends easier and relating to the conversation and finding the conversation more interesting for what typical businessmen want to talk about.

Lessons in Building

Anyway, at the beginning of 2024 we had our pre launch party. This was one of the biggest lessons I've ever learned. There was this new coworking space in town that all of the 20 and 30 year olds were going to, and I decided it would be the next trendy place to have our pre launch party. I talked to the owner, had a brainstorming session, shared my whole story with him, and we planned out the party and he agreed to help us party.

Long story short, without getting into all the nitty gritty details, contracts, contracts, contracts are so important, especially in America. Everything that the owner of this space agreed to, he broke his word on, and we ended up paying thousands of dollars for a very expensive and unfortunate lesson.

That aside, our pre launch party was a hit. We got our first prototypes, we sold out the venue, we got a lot of market validation, we found a board member, a possible investor. The pre launch party overall went very well.

Throughout 2024 we worked through manufacturing and found a manufacturer towards the end of this year. Prior to that we were looking at a manufacturer in South America, specifically Brazil, at a price point that wasn't ideal but they could make what we wanted to make in the dual tumbler. I had researched thousands of manufacturers all around the world, and it's really hard to get a manufacturer to take you on as a new startup company, new product, something that hasn't really been done before, especially at the price point we needed. So we were about to start with the Brazilians when we found a middleman, again through a networking event here in Orlando, FL, that already specialized in making drinkware abroad. So we pivoted to work with him since he already had the relationships, the experience, the distribution, the trust with the manufacturer, and at a much better price point.

Shout out to my mom, that I will forever be grateful for. She believed in me and she took a loan against her 401K to give me the money for the tooling for us to get started. Of course I'm going to pay her back every dime plus interest, but without her we would not be able to even be at this point.

All throughout 2025 we worked with their manufacturer optimizing the design of the dual tumbler to be good enough for mass manufacturing, whether it was the type of stainless steel, copper in it, the way that it was hydroformed, the way that the weld works, the way that the lid pours out, there's no leaking, the flow, the stickers, the paint, the no lead, the way that the assembly was together. All of those things needed to be ironed out in mass manufacturing, which typically yes would only take two months max to make the tooling and figure that out, but because we are a new company and other priorities, it took us way longer than it should have, keeping in mind we are completely self funded to this point.

We've had a copycat company called Split Flask that every time we did something they did something, but because they have venture capitalist backing they've been able to move faster than us, but I would say not quite as smart as us. Yes money can buy you speed, but our company, our product, our team has a soul in it. We were able to get the patent in November of 25 where they have yet to get the patent, and they're just basically drop shipping a product out the door with no passion or purpose.

So all of 2025 we focused on getting the product ready for mass manufacturing, building out the entire team, getting a patent done, so in a good position that we had everyone listed out: our CFO chief financial officer, our chief sales officer, our chief marketing officer, our chief supply officer, myself as chief executive officer, the website guys building automations, and two interns here and there, a team to get us ready for launch.

Right Now

It has been an extreme struggle to move forward with no budget and to continuously juggle every stakeholder that's in the air. I have to manage the interest on the loan that my mom took out, the customers that already bought, the social media continuing to give updates, the people constantly asking me how's it going. And I have to, like, yeah, same update, we're waiting on manufacturing. It approaches me, I hate that saying, oh we're not yet, like it literally infuriates me that we are not in market yet.

But I just have to keep waking up and keep pushing forward because there is no Plan B. People ask me what I do with the doubt and I'm like there is no doubt, this is 100% what's going to happen, and that is how delusional I am. And yes you can keep telling me how delusional I am and it's just going to enforce how delusional I am, because there is no plan B C D E F, there is a plan A, one and only. The second I let doubt into my mind, heart, or soul, we're fucking done.

Yes I get frustrated, yes I get angry, yes I lay on my bathroom floor and cry sometimes, but guess what, you wipe your tears off and you just keep going, you keep pushing, you find solutions, you ignite the team, you do reach out to, you ask for help.

I have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into this, hours, everything, who I am it feels like has gone into this company. It made me a better person, a better woman, a better leader, and I won't change the world. Every step of the way I've felt absolutely clueless what I'm doing, but I just have to figure it out. That's my job as the CEO, to figure it out.

Even right now in June of 2026 as we prepare to launch, we have the team in place, the product in place, the patent in place, we're in manufacturing, everything is rocking and rolling, we're starting to sell, we're getting our financing. Now we're entering the age of AI and automations and I have zero clue what I'm doing, but I'm trying to find the right people in place to help us get where we need to be and focus on the blisters that are rearing their heads in the company right now, which are the AI automations, our CRM, all of the system software stuff that we need to build.

I'm extremely grateful for the people that I've attracted and that have believed in me and have believed in the company and believed in the product and held me up when I feel like I'm about to crash. I am truly blessed and grateful, and even when there is weeks like last week, this week, that feel like our backs are up against the wall, we can't get our funding, things are going wrong in manufacturing, our 3PL across the country closed, we lost two team members the past few weeks, but we are still so blessed.

How lucky are we that we have the internet and now AI and all the sources, and that I was born in America, and that my parents are loving, and that my friends are supportive, and that I have a nice house that I can sleep in at night, and I have my brain and my body and food and ambition and a bunny and air. I just have to keep reminding myself how God has favored me so much and has really called me to have an impact here, that even on the darkest days, darkest hours of this journey, I am still so blessed.

I'm grateful for my friends that, when the wings are really heavy and I'm venting about the struggles of this, they remind me. For example, a few days ago Venezuela had a horrible earthquake and there's people there that didn't make it out alive and haven't heard from their families and they don't have food or running water. What I'm going through is absolutely nothing compared to that. Not to take away from my feelings and that they're valid, but to just put life into perspective.

Why Not Corporate

So as we prepare to launch right now and I'm feeling frustrated and I want to sprint and I just want to get to market, and I keep asking God when is it finally going to be my time, I look back at everything that we have accomplished and the journey, and learn to appreciate that ride.

After working for corporate America for a decade I find zero purpose in that. I would be absolutely miserable working in corporate America my entire life, and I just see zero purpose behind it. I feel like it's a death sentence. I'll take a hard day at Dual Drinks any day over an easy 9 to 5 cushy desk chair.

If I were to be transparent and share things that I normally wouldn't share outside of my inner circle, I would say I'm scared shitless, but it's in a healthy way. I'm beyond excited for launch and can't wait to see where this journey, this ride, this roller coaster continues to take us. It's literally just the beginning, and I know 100,000% it's just going to continue to climb and be so much better.

Every detail that you see, from the colors that we chose, to the logo, to the design, the team has so carefully curated and thought about. We are not a company that does things just to do things. We move with intentionality. We respect and love on each other. We value integrity.

Full Circle

Throughout this journey I've found myself back with God, and now I'm volunteering at the church in Sunday school with the toddlers, which if you were to tell me that years ago, or anyone who used to know me would ask if I'm OK.

Growing up I was always a wild child, balls to the wall, unpredictable, didn't care what anybody thought. And yes I was always a Christian, but I kind of really came back to that within the last few years, and building this business, and now working with the kids has given me a different perspective on things because I'm not usually a kid person, but I am a goal oriented person. And I know that as we launch I'm going to start dating, I want to get married, I want to have kids, I do want that life too, and I feel like I'm so behind in what I should know about motherhood and kids that I wanted to start volunteering and learning.

Obviously this doesn't have much to do with Dual Drinks, but it just gives you kind of a picture that how you do anything is how you do everything. I'm a very goal oriented person, I go after what I want, and nobody's gonna tell me differently, I'm going to get what I want.

Just the Beginning

So as we prepare to launch and I'm talking back about this entire journey, it seems like it flashed in a second, even though we have accomplished so much. Yes money is always a thing, but the mindset and the heart that you keep is what's going to make or break you.

And with that, we are launching in our different umbrellas. The first umbrella, business to business: corporate gifting, promotional products, and retail. And the second umbrella, direct to consumer sales, so the people that are just going on the website and ordering.

I'm continuously looking for mentors in the CPG space. I've read countless books, and recently I've really shifted into finding female mentors, hence reading Emma Green's book right now, start with yourself, and investing in myself by going to a 4 figure sales conference and gala with sales experts, and to meet Lori from Shark Tank.

People are so quick to spend money on vacations, and even worse material things, but so scared to invest in themselves. So many people will spend money on alcohol and dinner out, but then won't spend money on a physical therapist or massage therapist or vitamins or a gym membership. I've cut back on things that I definitely want, to invest in myself in a lot of those categories. I'm always looking for ways to improve myself, look at the long term health of my mental, emotional, and physical, and how I can always show up as the best version of myself.

I'll leave you with, I thank you, I appreciate you, and go buy your dual tumbler today.

 

Author: Sidney Jo Graybill - Founder of Dual Drinks

Sidney Jo is the founder and CEO of Dual Drinks, the women-founded brand behind the patented dual-chamber tumbler built to carry two drinks at once. Based in Orlando, Florida, she grew the company from a college class project into a launching brand, self-funding it through years of design, manufacturing, and hundreds of investor pitches. Outside of building Dual Drinks, she's an avid reader of business and leadership books and volunteers with her church.