What does a year of actually backing yourself look like?
When Sophie Hood first appeared on Top of Mind in July 2024, she was a Sydney founder with a hangover cure tonic and a big idea. Now she's back in Sydney briefly, away from her home in New York - pitching Qantas at board level, quietly building a second brand, and telling Hayley she doesn't really want to be the face of her own company anymore.
In just over a year, Sophie has moved countries with no visa and no job, bootstrapped a US and UK launch from scratch, rebranded her entire product positioning, developed four new SKUs - including a clear electrolyte drink that will be the first of its kind in the category - and started building an entirely new brand in private.
Here’s what we cover in this episode:
- Sophie in 2024 vs Sophie now - the one mindset shift that made everything else possible
- The Soul Tonic rebrand - why 'hangover' became a dirty word, how the product evolved into recovery and hydration, and her new cognitive performance arm
- The clear electrolyte drink - why everything in the hydration category is bright blue, and how Sophie plans to be the first to disrupt it with something truly transparent
- The Qantas pitch - how a single TikTok about airplane hydration turned into board-level conversations, cabin crew DMs, and an active campaign pitch
- Moving to New York with no visa and no plan - why bootstrapping the American launch was the right call, and what she'd tell herself on day one
- So Topical - the second brand Sophie is building in private with her business partner Francesca, launching to a community before it ever goes public
- The wellness roundup - matcha, cold plunging, fasting, lymphatic drainage, Korean skincare, Ozempic, the 5AM club: overrated or underrated?
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Follow along on your preferred channels:
Sophie Hood on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sophiehood1/
Sophie Hood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-hood-b1b2a3115/
Top of Mind on IG: https://www.instagram.com/topofmind.pod/
Top of Mind on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@topofmind.pod
Gambit Collective on IG: https://www.instagram.com/gambit.collective
Hayley on IG: https://www.instagram.com/hayleywestoby/
Hayley on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayleywestoby/
Hayley on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hayleywestoby
