"We were one of the first brands to get on TikTok and actually utilize the platform back in 2020 as a way to build community," she told Axios. "Now, Poppi has over 3 billion views on TikTok, and one-third of the users on the platform has seen my face seven times."
""Thepriority to build community online came from the top down," Ellsworth says. "All senior leadership at Poppi believed in the power of social media and building community. And so when it came to me being the face [of the brand] it was a marketing tool. I wasn't doing it to be famous and to be an influencer. I was doing it because it worked."
""We use the 80-20 rule, where 80% of what we do is very planned and structured, and it's what we call like the state of the business, and then we leave that 20% for what we call moving at the speed of culture versus risk," she added."
Ellsworth began by selling homemade prebiotic sodas at Texas farmers markets and secured a $400,000 investment on Shark Tank in 2018. She prioritized social media to grow Poppi, using early TikTok adoption to build community and achieve over 3 billion views and broad recognition. PepsiCo acquired Poppi for nearly $2 billion in 2025. Senior leadership emphasized community, culture, and creative disruption, with Ellsworth serving as the public face as a marketing tool. The company applies an 80-20 rule for planned activity versus cultural responsiveness. Risky campaigns, such as sending influencers vending machines, generated public backlash. Ellsworth will return as a guest shark.
Read at Axios
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