If you’ve ever seen me, chances are I had a drink in my hand. It’s been that way since I was a kid.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with beverages—the taste, the packaging, the stories behind them. I was also the kid struggling to wrap my head around geometry, constantly searching for ways to make learning work for me. I never thought those two things would come together. But somehow, they did.
I still remember my first sip of Honest Tea Half & Half. I was eight years old, fishing on the Snake River in Jackson Hole with my dad, washing down a bag of corn nuts. I turned the bottle around and read the story about two guys colliding with pitchers of lemonade and iced tea, creating the drink by accident. At the time, I thought it was real. Now, I realize the best brands sell more than just a product—they sell a feeling. That idea stuck with me.
Fast forward to college at TCU, where every icebreaker activity forced me to share a fun fact about myself. My go-to answer? “I want to create my own beverage brand.” It always got a reaction. In one class, I said it, and the room went silent. Maybe it sounded ridiculous. But it never felt ridiculous to me. It felt inevitable.
I talked about it so much that my friends and family started asking, Why don’t you just do it? One day in a grocery store in Salzburg, Austria, my mom—probably annoyed at how many drinks I was buying—looked at me and said, Why don’t you make your own? When enough people say something, you start listening.
So I did.
That summer, I went straight to the grocery store, bought berries and tea, and started mixing. I boiled down fresh berries with monk fruit. Steeped organic tea into a concentrated extract, combined them into a refreshing, flavorful drink. My family loved it. But my parents pointed out something crucial: A great drink isn’t enough. You need a reason for people to care.
Nike doesn’t just sell shoes—they sell ambition. My drink needed a mission.
That’s when it hit me.
I thought about my learning differences. The struggles, the frustration, the moments of feeling stupid. I thought about the emotions kids like me go through every day—stress, anxiety, self-doubt. That night, my mom and I sat at the kitchen table and wrote them all down. Then we researched herbs that help support focus, memory, and clarity. What if a drink could do more than just refresh? What if it could actually help people like me?
That was the birth of Coop NeuroRefreshers.
The rest of that summer was a blur of brainstorming, researching, and sketching out what this brand could be. By late 2021, we started formulating. Two years (and a lot of trial and error) later, in May 2024, we officially launched in stores in Philadelphia.
Now, you can grab a Coop NeuroRefresher for yourself at coopneurorefreshers.com. Because this isn’t just another drink.
It’s a brand with a purpose. A brand for people who think differently. A brand that started with a kid who just couldn’t put his drink down.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with beverages—the taste, the packaging, the stories behind them. I was also the kid struggling to wrap my head around geometry, constantly searching for ways to make learning work for me. I never thought those two things would come together. But somehow, they did.
I still remember my first sip of Honest Tea Half & Half. I was eight years old, fishing on the Snake River in Jackson Hole with my dad, washing down a bag of corn nuts. I turned the bottle around and read the story about two guys colliding with pitchers of lemonade and iced tea, creating the drink by accident. At the time, I thought it was real. Now, I realize the best brands sell more than just a product—they sell a feeling. That idea stuck with me.
Fast forward to college at TCU, where every icebreaker activity forced me to share a fun fact about myself. My go-to answer? “I want to create my own beverage brand.” It always got a reaction. In one class, I said it, and the room went silent. Maybe it sounded ridiculous. But it never felt ridiculous to me. It felt inevitable.
I talked about it so much that my friends and family started asking, Why don’t you just do it? One day in a grocery store in Salzburg, Austria, my mom—probably annoyed at how many drinks I was buying—looked at me and said, Why don’t you make your own? When enough people say something, you start listening.
So I did.
That summer, I went straight to the grocery store, bought berries and tea, and started mixing. I boiled down fresh berries with monk fruit. Steeped organic tea into a concentrated extract, combined them into a refreshing, flavorful drink. My family loved it. But my parents pointed out something crucial: A great drink isn’t enough. You need a reason for people to care.
Nike doesn’t just sell shoes—they sell ambition. My drink needed a mission.
That’s when it hit me.
I thought about my learning differences. The struggles, the frustration, the moments of feeling stupid. I thought about the emotions kids like me go through every day—stress, anxiety, self-doubt. That night, my mom and I sat at the kitchen table and wrote them all down. Then we researched herbs that help support focus, memory, and clarity. What if a drink could do more than just refresh? What if it could actually help people like me?
That was the birth of Coop NeuroRefreshers.
The rest of that summer was a blur of brainstorming, researching, and sketching out what this brand could be. By late 2021, we started formulating. Two years (and a lot of trial and error) later, in May 2024, we officially launched in stores in Philadelphia.
Now, you can grab a Coop NeuroRefresher for yourself at coopneurorefreshers.com. Because this isn’t just another drink.
It’s a brand with a purpose. A brand for people who think differently. A brand that started with a kid who just couldn’t put his drink down.
