Nailing The Pitch with Kayla Castañeda of Agua Bonita

Written By Modern Species

“When life gives you lemons, make aguas frescas!”  

As was the case for many people, 2020 started off on a difficult note for Kayla Castañeda, with a young child and no job. Instead of letting this knock her down, Kayla kicked into gear and put the skills she acquired after many years of working in the food and beverage industry to good use; the co-founding of Agua Bonita.  

Agua Bonita boasts the first line of better-for-you, ready-to-drink aguas frescas, which come in eco-friendly cans that are branded by Kayla’s co-founder, Erin. The quality of the product combined with the authenticity and transparency of the brand, and the relationship-building approach that Kayla adopted from week one, have led to her winning every pitch competition she has entered! 

That’s not to say that the past year has been easy for them, and in today’s episode, you’ll hear about the ups and downs, the lessons learned along the way, their plans for the future, and some valuable advice for nailing your pitch!

Key Points From This Episode:

  • What the past year has looked like for Kayla and her business.

  • Kayla shares what she learned from working in the hospitality industry.

  • Experience that Kayla had working for Coca Cola, and why she decided to leave the company and start consulting.

  • Circumstances that motivated Kayla to found Agua Bonita.

  • The approach that Kayla and her cofounder, Erin, took to funding their business.

  • A goal that Kayla and Erin set when they founded the company.

  • Challenges of balancing work and family life and how this impacted the decision to make Agua Bonita a full-time job.

  • When Kayla and Erin were able to start drawing salaries.

  • How pitching and pitch competitions have benefited Agua Bonita.

  • Why fundraising is a difficult task and the importance of relationship-building early on.

  • Qualities that make Agua Bonita attractive to investors.

  • Valuable tips for going into pitch competitions.

  • Erin’s background, and how her skillset complements Kayla’s.

  • The biggest challenge that Kayla and Erin have been faced over the past year.

  • Flavors of Agua Bonita that are currently available.

  • Exciting plans that Kayla and Erin have for the future of Agua Bonita.

Tweetables:

“When you go to a big city like [New York] you really see the artistry behind food and beverage.” — Kayla Castañeda  [0:05:01]

“When life gives you lemons, make aguas frescas.” — Kayla Castañeda  [0:08:24]

“For us, the point at which we could consider taking a salary was after fundraising.” — Kayla Castañeda  [0:15:01]

“Relationships are everything, especially when you’re asking people for money.” — Kayla Castañeda  [0:17:18]

Episodes Archive

Modern Species

A sustainable brand design agency helping better-for-the-world brand launch, evolve, and grow to scale their impact.

https://modernspecies.com/
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