I rang up Jody Levy as she was still taking in the excitement and congratulatory praise from Beyoncé’s recent announcement that she has partnered with her WTRMLN WTR company. Levy’s mantra is “Only this moment is life” and currently, it pretty much helps her to understand that she is not dreaming, rather, she’s living a dream and that this is the time to embrace the changes coming to her day by day.
Given the success she’s experiencing with WTRMLN WTR, I inquired why Levy chose to create a business using watermelon out of so many other fruits and veggies that we consume. She explained to me that her co-founder Harlan Berger found that there are hundreds of millions of pounds of good watermelons that are thrown away in the name of vanity each year. We’re all guilty of going to the store and seeing a bruise or a scratch on a piece of fruit and think we’re too good to eat it, right? Well, Jody figured out a way to salvage this super healthy fruit, thus WTRMLN WTR was born!
Her journey through business ultimately matched her with another health enthusiast– Beyoncé! The singer announced this week that she has partnered with WTRMLN WTR in order to bring accessible health to the world and to invest in female leaders.
Talia O: How did your partnership with Beyoncé come to fruition (no pun intended)?
Jody: “It’s so crazy how the universe conspires sometimes. Our brand launched with Whole Foods on the same day that her track Drunk In Love dropped and that’s the one that starts “I been drankin’ watermelon.” I heard it and it was just a crazy coincidence, so I made a couple of calls and I got to her people and we started sending product over! We never expected it to be anything more than a wild coincidence, rather we just wanted her to enjoy it!”
Jody had then told me that her brand is totally in line with Beyoncé’s as far as seeking to empower people to make healthy decisions. In a statement made this week, the Queen Bey explained that as partners, she and Jody also “share a simple mission to deliver accessible wellness to the world” which compelled me to ask if First Lady Michelle Obama came up at all during their initial meeting!
Talia O: As many of us are aware, Bey has worked extremely close with First Lady Michelle Obama on her Let’s Move! campaign for about 5 years which encourages healthier eating and exercise in children. Was this movement apart of your initial conversation and are you open to joining forces with her?
Jody: We did talk about that! One of the things that I’ve always wanted to do is create an active campaign for young people to get physical and/or fit by way of WTRMLN WTR and athletic activity.
Aside form being a health nut herself, the fact that Bey has already been working with fitness enthusiasts such as Michelle Obama and the “22-Day vegan” program creator Marco Borges is yet another reason why Jody’s meeting with her was kismet. Her passion for fitness and health is unequivocal and she truly desires for everyone to get a piece of the (healthy) pie just as the aforementioned do. It would be a second dream come true for Jody to collaborate with people like First Lady Michelle Obama, professional athletes and health & fitness enthusiasts from all over the globe in order to empower more people to be healthy.
Talia O: You are a leader in your own right seeing as you have created a product that has managed to defy market saturation. What does it take to be a leader in 2016 and how did it make you feel to be recognized by such an influential entertainer?
Jody: My mission has always been to make clean and healthy food accessible and a lot of clean, yet refrigerated, brands are so expensive to make that they never get out of the natural channel. We’ve built supply chain that allows us to go outside of that channel.
Being a leader in today’s world is about empowering people to be the best versions of themselves and inspiring them to want to get there. I have a philosophy around being a leader in business that I call being a “spirit chief” where I bring love and the belief of synchronicity and magic into my business and opportunities that are created. So, in this partnership with Beyoncé supporting me as a female leader, I feel humbled and grateful and excited, because I believe that it’s not what I’m doing, but how I’m doing it! I feel seen.
One way that Jody is helping her business to be “seen” is through her Baby Dolls! A baby doll is just a type of watermelon, but she named her brand ambassadors after them, because they dress up in bright pink body suits designed in the likeness of WTRMLN WTR bottles. They are a vibrant way of getting people engaged with each other and excited about exercise! The company also hosts various programs for different age groups and fitness levels such as dance parties and something called the ‘Lovenasium’. It’s a nod to WTRMLN WTR’s alter ego ‘Liquid Love’.
Jody: We’ve created this ‘Lovenasium’ concept where we bring fitness trainers to different events and they train people to get them fit and sweaty! Of course, we support with WTRMLN WTR, but we just wanted to do something new and different while giving back to people and giving them an experience they wouldn’t get anywhere else!
Besides, WTRMLN WTR is best pre and post workout. It’s the only place in nature where you can find an amino acid called L-Citrulline which in turn helps to lower blood pressure. With the myriad of other health benefits associated with the watermelon, it only makes sense that the water is cold-pressed as this is the best way to retain all of the goodness inside!
WTRMLN WTR tastes amazing and we encourage you all to grab a bottle! In June, it will be in 7500 more retailers, so thank us now or thank us later 😉
TST STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
