Brandin Cohen '10
Position: Founder & CEO, Liquid I.V.
Industry: Food & Beverages
Lesson Learned: My parents were always right. If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.
I was almost entirely focused on my golf career for the first three years of college at LMU. When I finally decided to give thought to my post-grad career, I went to Dr. David Choi to see if he would let me into one of his most coveted entrepreneurship classes. He told me I didn’t have the prerequisites needed for the class but I pleaded with him to give me an opportunity to prove myself. Finally, Dr. Choi gave in as long as I promised not to let him down. Fast forward 8 months, I was fortunate enough to be awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year for a project where we broke a Guinness Book World Record to raise money and meals for child victims of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. What we were able to do on a social level with the support of the LMU Entrepreneurship Program was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
The skills I gained from this program gave me the confidence to start Liquid I.V. a few years after graduating college. Along with my two best friends who are also LMU grads, Hayden Fulstone and Cameron Killeen, we saw a void in the marketplace for a truly healthy and effective hydration product as opposed to traditional sugar and chemical-filled sports drinks. Our first investor in the company was another Lion who played baseball at LMU and is now the third baseman for the Colorado Rockies. We now have over 100 professional athletes utilizing Liquid I.V. on a daily basis. Since launching in July of 2013, we have over 125 college ambassadors pushing the product out at 15 universities, we are carried in over 50 local gyms and markets, and we are finalizing a partnership with one of the largest all-natural retailers in the country and a Las Vegas hotel chain.
The LMU Business Incubator played a huge roll in the infancy stages of the company and really helped us launch quickly and virally into the market. The overwhelming support from the LMU community from the very beginning has been absolutely incredible and we would not be where we are today without this program.