Nicole Bentler — Maple Water, Natural Hydration & Simple Changes for Better Health

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Throughout my own life and fitness journey, I have had the privilege of meeting incredible people who've shared valuable insights on mindset, health, fitness, and spiritual growth. The profound impact of this knowledge on my own life has inspired me to share it with all of you. I'm Erica Sweeney, host and founder of My Fit Tribe Podcast. Join me as we explore inspiring conversations with experts, thought leaders, and everyday heroes who offer their stories and practical tips to help you on your own journey. From nutrition and fitness to mental well-being and personal or spiritual growth, our mission is to empower you to take charge of your health and live your best life. We are more than just a podcast, we are community. Through coaching, a wealth of shared knowledge, and a strong support network, we are here to guide and encourage you every step of the way. Come be a part of our tribe. This week, I'm joined by Nicole Bentler from Pocono Maple Water. I love exploring wellness products because there's no one size fits all approach to health. This was such a fun conversation about a product you may not have even heard of, and it's a great reminder that improving your health doesn't always require a complete overhaul. Sometimes it's the simple changes that add up over time. Here's my conversation with Nicole. Today on the My Fit Tribe podcast, I am joined by Nicole Bentler, the founder of Pocono Maple Water, and owner of a 450-acre certified organic maple farm in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Nicole's journey has taken her through the worlds of wellness, entrepreneurship, and sustainable agriculture, all leading to the creation of a unique product harvested directly from maple trees each spring. Through Pocono Maple Water, she's helping people reconnect with nature while bringing awareness to a naturally hydrating beverage that's been enjoyed for generations. Hi Nicole, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yes, thank you so much for having me. We're super excited to finally get the product out and into the market and into hands. And so many people are always, you know, asking, like, what is this? Where is it coming from? And I love to tell the history about it and just talk about the product and then also what's in our water right now.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Yeah, I love when we have people who have products that are wellness focused, but also that taste good because sometimes that combination is hard to find. So I'm really excited to hear about the product. But before we get into that, how did you even get to this point? Let's let's start at the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah, it's it's kind of like a wild ride. Um, but then it's kind of funny how you look back and everything's connected. Um, basically, about a little over seven years ago, we kind of inherited, in a sense, this this maple farm. Um, my family's always been in agriculture, and I'm originally from the Pocono Mountains, but I was prominently in Florida, and um, my background's health, wellness, and fitness. So we kind of had this maple farm, and I'm like, okay, what are we gonna do with this? Like my family was like super happy to help out. So they kind of came on board, but I was incredibly surprised how amazing the maple syrup really was. And then what was incredible is through research, we found out, you know, it's it's actually really good for you. And a lot of times people, you know, maple syrup gets this bad rap that it has tons of corn syrup and preservatives and stuff like that that you get at the grocery store. But real maple syrup is one of the healthiest sugars you can that's that's on the planet next to honey, and it also has a ton of immune-boosting benefits. So um, so I was super excited about hearing about that. So kind of so then it kind of fit into my health and wellness past. Um, and then the very first product that comes out is actually sap or maple water, which is which is very similar to spring water, and it only has 2% sugars and it has a ton of health benefits. And so I was even more excited about that. So we we kind of started working on our way of trying to get maple water to to the general public. If that's a very short synopsis of kind of how we got here, but uh that's kind of how we we ended up here.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

What type of health and wellness background did you have?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

So I helped open up flywheel studios in South Florida, which is like similar to Peloton. It was like before Peloton kind of took off. Um, Peloton was just like this like rinky dinky studio, and I remember everyone being like, oh, it's never gonna take off. Like nobody cares about technology. Um and then, like, you know, this is obviously pre-COVID, and we opened up these really cool, amazing studios. And then I also worked in Philadelphia for the Philadelphia sports clubs. So I was in charge of basically all their corporate sales and things like that within within the Philadelphia market. So it was really amazing to kind of see it kind of come full circle with like the health and wellness and being able to offer something a really super clean hydration product and even the maple syrup. Like I love telling people instead of adding sugar to your coffee, you can add maple syrup and it's so much better. And it's it's the you know, in the in the health and wellness space, you know, it's sometimes it's those little tweaks that you make in your diet that make a big difference because you don't realize, you know, you're putting so much sugar in things time and time again, you know, if you're eating drinking coffee in the morning and then having juice and things like that, where if you're able to kind of tweak a few things, it can make a world of difference. So it's kind of been a huge passion project of ours is kind of helping people make those small adjustments and kind of talking about it with like maple syrup and maple water, as well as we do tours and tastings on the farm. So you can come to the farm, you can do a tour and tasting and get the chance to see like where your food's coming from. We also have a lot of groups that come from Philadelphia and New York, and a lot of kid groups, and they get to, you know, really see the farm and they're they're always so amazed. They're like, wait, like this comes out of the maple tree, like that's where maple syrup comes from.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

It's really cool, and it it gives people, especially children, the chance to be outside again, right? Because it feels like this generation, they've kind of lost that creativity and that exploration of being outside. So I can just imagine how that feels on a spring day, just to be able to be outside and see the trees and see the sourcing of it all, and how important it is that we go back to the basics in our food. We talk about that a lot in this podcast with all the the processed food that we eat in this country, especially how it's making us sick and how really important it is to get back to the basics. What did you when you were younger and did you get into fitness just because it was a was it always a passion for you?

SPEAKER_01 6:29

No, my family had a lot of health issues. So I took care of my grandmother. She had diabetes growing up when I was, you know, in middle school and high school. She unfortunately lost both of her legs. And so I kind of started on the health and wellness journey, like because of that. My dad had a heart attack. My dad was, he was also just very unhealthy, but he had heart attacks and things like that. So I basically kind of got on the health and wellness um in my early 20s and just kind of knew that I wanted to take care of myself and just for my own health and wellness journey. But I I think also just inspiring people to make those small little life changes. You know, I kind of helped my dad with changing things in his diet and having green tea in the morning instead of coffee right away and just those subtle little tweaks that kind of go a long way. Um, so it would, it just kind of became a super big passion of mine when I was in Philadelphia, you know, really kind of getting the bigger corporations, these big programs. But it was also just amazing just to kind of meet with people and find out their goals and their interests and, you know, why they were kind of on this health and wellness journey. And I think given the platform that we're we have today, I I remember when I started in Philadelphia, you know, people were not vegan. Like I remember we we would hear about it and people were like, what? Like they went on a juice cleanse and you know, farm to table was like so not a thing. And it's just amazing to see where we are now and like how people really are buying organic, people are really buying farm to table and they really care about what's in their food. And I think that that was kind of one of the things that sparked our interest with the maple water, because as I started doing more and more research, we we kind of found out we can't live without water, and it's one of the most polluted sources, also in our country. And a lot of times people don't even think about it. You know, you grab a Gatorade, and you know, we're we're also heavily marketed that things are healthy when they're adding a lot of preservatives and they're adding a lot of fillers and all of these things, especially in you know the food industry, but also in the beverage industry. So for us, it was more of like demystifying a beverage category and really giving people the opportunity to visit the farm, know where their water is coming from. We talk a lot about like farm to bottle. So basically, like you get to enjoy the farm, come see where it comes from, but you know what you're drinking. You know that, you know, we don't add anything to it. It literally, it's a very short season. It's a six-week season. We tap the trees, and basically the sap, the very first sap that comes out of the trees, we basically take that, we use a co-pack or we co-pack it, and then it we have it on the farm and it ships directly to your door. It is a limited source. So basically it's first come, first serve. We do um a subscription. So basically, if you subscribe, your 12 or 24 are set aside so that way you have them throughout the year. And um, people have been really loving it. It's been it's been an amazing launch so far. You know, it's we're only a year in. Sometimes it feels like five and sometimes it feels like a month.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Yeah, that's entrepreneurship for you.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, exactly. Um, but so, you know, we've gotten such great feedback from people, you know, maple water has been around for hundreds of years. Native Americans used to use it before going on long journeys, um, also as a celebratory drink for between seasons. It's been such an amazing journey, you know, seeing how maple water is really affecting people and how much they really love it. And, you know, I like to send it to my grandparents whenever they're not feeling well, or or a friend, whenever they're not feeling well, because basically with maple water, you're you're getting that natural filtration from the tree, but you're getting all of those natural occurring elements and vitamins from the soil. So your body's just able to hydrate a lot faster than with a typical water.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

That's interesting. And I'm glad you mentioned you know, the beverages in general, because you look at the general population, how much people are drinking, like you mentioned, the Gatorade, the soda, the coffee that has all the sugars in it, the alcohol, like all those things that we're drinking, the calories we're drinking, the sugars we're drinking, and how unhealthy most of those are. And it sounds like then this is a natural water that has a little bit of sweetness to it. What is the is the flavor like? Because I've never heard of maple water until you reached out.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yeah, no, so it's it's basically like a spring water and it has a very subtle maple finish. It's only 2% sugar, but it has a ton of manganese, which manganese is really great for joints, stiffness, things like that. There's a lot of natural occurring elements, so it doesn't have a ton of sugar. It's not like a coconut water. Sometimes a lot of people will be like, is it like coconut water? And I'm like, kind of. It's a plant-based water, but what's great about our great about maple water in general is generally if you're in the northeast, especially, it's it's a local source. Most coconut water is going to be coming from Thailand, it's it's heavily processed. And so we kind of talk about that, like what's in your water. So, like, if Fiji water is really coming from Fiji, it's probably sitting on a container ship. So, like, do we really want to be drinking it? You know, and people ask me all the time, they'll be like, So if you're somewhere and you don't have maple water, like what do you drink? And I always, you know, just look for something that's like the most local source because that's generally gonna be the freshest water that you're gonna be able to put into your body. And and your body does recognize it. It sounds so crazy because we're given water when we're babies, right? So like we don't even think about where it's coming from and all of these things. But I've had we've had so many people write in and we've had girls do like maple fasts for like 24 hours, 48 hours, and like they're like, my hair, skin, and nails are like glowing and it just feels so good. And the same thing with something that's not really feeling well and things like that. So there's a ton of natural healing properties when it comes to maple water, but your body's just able to really absorb those nutrients and I and hydrate a lot faster.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

And how important is hydration? I mean, I can say for myself, I drink too much caffeine and not enough water, even though I try to drink way more water than caffeine. It doesn't always work that way. So, how important to have you know something that's natural that helps you for the hydration is really cool too. So you said you you just got the farm then how many years ago?

SPEAKER_01 12:36

So a little over seven years ago. It'll be eight years this August.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

And then you just started doing the water then in the last year or so.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Yeah. So we were predominantly we wholesale. So when we bought the farm, it was doing maple syrup at that time, and they were predominantly only doing wholesale. So they were basically collecting the sap, boiling it down, making maple syrup. So maple syrup is a concentrate of maple water, which a lot of people don't realize because if you climb trees as a kid, you think that like it comes out like that. But the very first product is the actual maple water. So then you boil that down to make maple syrup. So they were they were predominantly only doing maple syrup at that time. So we purchased the property. The first four or five years was really just kind of adding to to what needed to get done. We we did a small extension on the sugar shack. We we've kind of been updating the farm, and there's a big lake house on the farm as well. So we redid the lake house and we have this really unique campground. It's more like glamping, it's six cabins. Um, we do a ton of family reunions up there. So we updated the campground a little bit so people can come and stay. So we do like a lot of health and wellness retreats and things like that. Basically, that was the first four or five years. And then basically over the last two years, we really started doing more tours and tastings. We created a little farm store so you can come and buy maple syrup. You can come and taste the different varieties that we make. We do an elderberry maple syrup that's amazing. And all it is is literally elderberries and our organic, all natural kosher maple syrup. Um, during the bottling process, we bottle it 200 degrees. So we literally put, I don't know, maybe 20 elderberries in each bottle. And it has this nice, like sweet and tart flavor. It's amazing as a vinaigrette, incredible in green tea. We also do a vanilla cinnamon maple syrup that's also just a vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick and our maple syrup. So there's like nothing added. So we're 100% kosher and organic. And so what's incredible with that is, you know, you're not getting any of those fillers, but you can we do some of these different flavors so people are able to quickly envision how they could use it in different formats. We do a bourbon barrel-aged, which has a smokier flavor, and the guys love it. Like they're like, oh, I can barbecue with this. So, you know, so yeah, so we started doing tours and tastings roughly about two years ago. They've been doing really well. We do a lot of kids' school trips and uh family vacations. We do a lot of family reunions. And ever since we launched Maple Water, we've kind of been working with different partners and ambassadors, and we've been doing some wellness um activations as well on the farm where they're doing like some small mini retreats and things like that. Um, we also do yoga on the boathouse, which is insane. It's literally we have this boat house and it sits on top of the lake, and you're just looking at forest and trees the entire 45 minutes you're out there, and it's just so quiet and peaceful, and there's birds chirping. It's I've done yoga all over the world, and it's one of my favorites by far. I'm probably biased a little bit, but it is just so magical. Like I tell everybody it's the most magic. Like you leave the boathouse and you're like, you don't care what anybody says, like you're just like, nothing bothers you. Everything's like, okay, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

That's amazing. So with the maple water, because again, I I've obviously heard of and had maple syrup, um, but is a maple water something that you guys always used or drank yourselves while you had the farm and then just decided to produce it, or how did you get in transition into the maple water?

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Yeah, so kind of like I was saying. So maple water is the the first product that comes out. So most people that have have maple farms are already drinking it. The thing with maple water is it's very similar to milk where it has a high spoilage. It took us a while to figure out how we could do the maple water. It wasn't that easy. Um, because generally once you collect the sap or the maple water, you have 24 to 48 hours to really turn that into maple syrup, or it'll spoil or curdle kind of like milk.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

And it'll have like a very funny taste. And then the other thing is it's a very short season. So it's only six weeks that you can really produce sap or maple water. So basically, what happens is the tree goes into a hibernation state. And so it'll it'll basically release all of the water into the ground in you know, November and December when it's starting to get really cold, and it'll kind of go into a hibernation state. And basically, what we're getting and what sap and maple syrup is, is it's that water kind of coming back to the tree and bringing that tree back to life after a really hard winter. So basically, it's all that water rushing to the tree to kind of bring that tree back to life. And then what you need for a super successful maple season is you need that fluctuation in temperature. So you don't want it to get really warm really quickly for a long stent of time. You want it to kind of dip back down into like those two or three days of freezing temps, and that'll extend the maple season for us. You know, six weeks is a great run, but we've had three weeks happen. We've had four weeks, we've had most we've ever had is six weeks, and that's the perfect case scenario of that dipping in temperature.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

So, how are you able to bottle it if it spoils so quick? Like, what does that work? How does that work without giving away your secrets?

SPEAKER_01 17:59

It is crazy. Um, I have a co-founder, Dante, who is literally the most amazing man in the world. He came on with me about two years ago. Um, and I was like, listen, I really want to be able to bottle this. We kind of did some trial and error, trial and error, and um basically we we collect it and get it right out the door as fast as possible. So yeah, it's it's a pretty extensive process. Um, you know, we really want it to be a cold day. Our co-packer will also only take it when it's below 40 degrees. So we have to make sure the sap is below 40 degrees. And if sap is running, generally it's a warmer day. So it's probably was a cold evening, but then the sap usually will run when it's above 30, 35 degrees. So it might be a 45, 50 degree day if it's really sunny. So there's a lot of fun factors that go into it. Um, it's basically like 72 hours of straight chaos. Um, we we are really lucky. We have a great co-packer that kind of works with us, and we kind of have a sliding scale of when we're gonna bottle, which isn't typical. It took us, that was probably the the hardest part is finding a co-packer that would work with us and give us that sliding scale. Most people have really tight lines, but given the this the season that we do, um luckily it's not too busy for them. So they're able to kind of accommodate us. So usually about like 14 days out, we'll have an idea of like this is the day we're gonna be able to do the run. We'll get it to you within 24 hours, and then they usually bottle it within within 24 hours of receiving it. So it's it's basically like 72 hours of chaos.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Oh my gosh. And so much out of your control. Like that's crazy to me.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Yeah. Um, and every and it and the tree can also, so 2% sugar is is generally what the tree gives you, but it could be as low as 1.2, it could be as high as 2.3. So that and it's such a minute percentage, but it definitely changes the the taste in the water slightly. There's a few competitors that are based out of Canada, and because Canada gets so much colder, their their sugar content's usually higher because they're trying to bring back that tree, right? So their maple water is a lot sweeter than ours, um, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. People love it, but um I think we've kind of hit like the really great sweet spot. But every maple farm will produce different maple syrup and different um maple water. Like I'll have people come to me and they're like, uh we love your maple syrup. Even though we've bought so-and-so's down the street, yours is this much different. And just like bees and just like the subtle differences in honey, I'm sure that you might have had like one honey from one farmer and then honey from another farmer, and it has that difference in taste. It's still honey, just like it's still maple syrup. But depending on your palate, you can definitely tell the difference, like where it's coming from.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Fascinating. And so with the with the bottling then, how long is the water good for in the bottle? Is there like an expiration date on it?

SPEAKER_01 21:09

So, yeah. So we basically have now tested it to 18 months. We're now undergoing two-year testing. Um, so we're hoping to get the two-year testing done. And then we probably won't go outside of two years. Like for us, that's not what we're about. But we also want to make it sustainable for people that are ordering it and they might not be able to get it. So that way, if they have it and they're sitting on, you know, two or three cases, they don't have to worry about, you know, drinking it right away. It it definitely has a show. Well, we have RD product that we started with that is a little over two years now and it still tastes great. So um it's it's we're we're in the process of getting that tested and lab approved. Um, but right now we're we're clear for 18 months. So our current product that we just got back a few weeks ago is is 18 months. So that doesn't expire until September 2027.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

Gotcha. Just fascinating. All the again, all the uncontrollables that you have to factor in to create this product for people. How has it been on the entrepreneurial side to have to step in and not only manage the business and the marketing and the projections, but then all the uncontrollable nature spoilages and all that stuff?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Luckily, I think I'm a woman of faith. Um, or I'm just a little crazy. Um I'm always like, you know, it will be what it will be. We'll get it done one way or another. Um, like I said, I can't say enough about Dante, my co-founder. You know, he kind of has the same type of attitude, like, we'll we'll get it done, whatever we gotta do. Um, you know, he's slept in the sugar shack for, you know, a night or two, um, trying to get it off the ground and figuring out the product and the piping and all of the things that kind of go into it. So I'm really lucky that I have a great support structure and a team and my family helps out as well. So that's amazing. Um, but yeah, I think any like anything that I've ever done, you know, it's just really kind of jumping in and figuring it out. And it's never pretty, you know, it's we have 450 acres. I like to explain to people like they're always like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. And I'm like, yeah, but like imagine your house and your couple acres or and the the hot water heater breaks and the the sink stops working. So mine just multiplied by 450 times. Like there's always something like the the the horses like you know, break the fence, or you know, we've got this group that checked in and something happened at the lake house. And um, this morning there were bears that got into the greenhouse um for our leftover beehives. So probably did like $20,000 worth of damage. Um, I'm still trying to get over that. So yeah, it's just all every day is always something.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

You have to go with it and you have to pivot. I am a landlord, used to have up to 800 units, and now I only have 50, so it's less stress. But those those unexpected moments are enough to be like, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? Then you pick yourself up and go, okay, we got this, it's fine. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Yeah, exactly. It's all ebb and flow. Um I get the question all the time. They're like, oh, like, how do you like, you know, doing what you're doing? And I was like, on a good day, I love it. You know, I I love the product, I love our farm, it's beautiful. But like, you catch me on a bad day and I'll like sell it to you in a heartbeat.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Right. It is, it's a lot of work, and I think that's something that people who have never been an entrepreneur or who just see a product on a shelf don't really understand the work that it takes to get to that point. And not only to put it there, but then to maintain it and to, you know, improve it. And the whole journey is is always putting effort in. And I think just it's good to have to let people know that it's a little bit effort along the way for sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Yeah, no, it's it took us basically about five years to really get to like where we are now with maple water. Like, and it's been incredible to hear like the reviews and people love the taste. And but it was, you know, we our first R D run, we we weren't sure what packaging we wanted to go in. We were kind of going back and forth, and um, our co-packer was like, Let's try these. I have some extras. So we we we tried this. It was basically kind of what they sell creamers in in the Tetra pack, and it ended up having like a really bad bleed-off um taste from the packaging. Not terrible, but it was there. Like you you tasted paper. Um, so you know, it's it's there was just so many like little things. And so then we're like, do we stay in Tetra Pack? You know, and I didn't really want to go down the I at first really loved the aluminum with the screw top lid, you know, like two, three years ago, like they were super trendy and they were in all the boutique studios, and I was like, that's what we should be in. That they're really pretty. And my co-founder Dante was like, no, he's like, aluminum's so bad to be in. He's like, there's so much out there. He's like, you don't really want to be in aluminum. And so I actually did like a taste test with a water company that's currently on the market, and they do aluminum and glass, and they do plastic, and glass always wins every time. Um, but glass is just so expensive to ship and you have breakage and things like that. I think down the road we may do some specialty stuff in glass, and you can come to the lake house. You know, I kind of envision the farm being a place where you can come and do education and kind of like a vineyard out in California, but like a water-based vineyard where you can come and get your water and know where it's coming from. We have this amazing spring that's on property, and the water that comes out of there is insane. Um, whenever I'm there, like I'm every morning I'm going down. I'm like, it's like it's 1920, you know. I'm like going down to like the well and like fill in my water bottle, but the it's like so fresh. I don't know if you you're familiar, but like they also have this thing where like live water, right? So it's it's just it's alive because it's like coming off the mountain and it's super fresh, fresh and crisp, and you can taste the energy in it, which might make me sound a little crazy, but it's it's amazing. So I'm I'm really excited to hopefully launch some spring water in the next, you know, two to five years, depending on how well maple water does.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Well, yeah, but it's I mean, that just shows your entrepreneurial spirit because you're you're not pivoting because you have to because it's not doing well, you're pivoting because you continue to see another vision. And that's really beautiful to see because then you'll at some point be able to look back and see exactly how everything unfolded because one thing led to another. It's really cool on your journey when you can do that.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Yeah, no, we're excited.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Let's dive in a little bit. You touched on the health benefits a little bit, but as far as the maple water goes, what can people expect if they drink it? Is it just is it instantaneous? Is it if you drink it over time? Or what are you seeing from your customers in the benefits from it?

SPEAKER_01 27:49

So generally, pretty quickly, it depends on your palate. It depends on how in tune you are with your body. Like if you're drinking soda and iced tea and stuff all the time, and you might not notice it at all because you're not that in tune with your body. But we have like a lot of high-performing athletes that use it and they swear by it. Like, and they say as soon as they drink it, they can feel the difference. Your body is able, especially if you're not feeling well. We've had people that are like extremely sick, like COVID was at when COVID kind of happened, we were like in the process of trying to figure this out. And I was like sending people maple water, but um, also if you're severely hungover, you can you can almost feel the minerals and vitamins like coating your stomach. Like if you drink it on a super empty stomach, you can feel like the hydration and the vitamins and the nutrients. Like your body's just able to recognize it and use it really quickly. Um, so we have a lot of high-performing athletes that swear by it and they use it mostly as like they first wake up, that's like the first thing that they drink. Not necessarily during your workout. For me, when I run, I can't drink it. It's still like it's only 2% sugar, which sounds like you should be able to drink it, but I I personally can't. I like it before or after a workout, or if I'm traveling and I'm I'm not drinking enough and I'm running around, um, I'll drink like a bottle of it before I go to bed. And I swear the next day I like wake up, I feel better. Like my brain is firing at 100%. You know, I have an 18-month-old. So what's been amazing is I've also used this product with him and he loves it. Like he sees the maple water and he's like, Can I have give me it, give me it, give me it? I've used it like with his formula, you know. Um, I was breastfeeding originally, so I would use it for that extra boost in hydration. Um, I'm not a huge coconut water fan. Smaller kids really gravitate towards it because if you're in tune with your body, like you can tell that it's good for you and that it's it's healthy. You know, he doesn't might he doesn't drink a lot of juices now. Like he'll drink a little bit of a juice box, but he's not like, oh, like like the maple water, it's like he spills it, half of it's on his shirt. But he'll drink like the whole thing. Like he gets so excited. So um, so yeah, and I've heard that from from a few people as well. You know, their their kids really love it and enjoy it. Um, you know, and it and it also is so because it's like this, it's like a cute little 12 ounce. I think it's 11.6, technically, 11.16, but it fits really cute like in um a lunchbox or in your backpack. So it's great, like I'm super happy about this packaging because we get this compliment all the time. Because originally I wanted to do something that was huge, because I'm like, you gotta drink like you know, all your water. So I'm like, I wanted something that was like 16 or 18 ounces because I was like, if I open it, then I'll drink all of it, which never really happened. So we did the first ones that we did were in were in a larger size, and we ended up just like there was always like this much left, and we were throwing it away all the time. So what's great about this is you know, we've had a lot of like teenagers, even Dante's son, he's a big basketball kid, and like his kid his friends love it. They're like it throws it, you can throw it in your backpack and you can drink it whenever, or you can chug it and just like toss it, and it's it's not like a huge bottle that you gotta carry around with you all day.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Well, I think the hydration point is so important because like you mentioned, traveling. I know I just got back from a trip and I get so dehydrated when being on the plane all day and traveling, and I just don't feel well. So it would be nice to have something that hydrates well. And you know, like you said, Gatorade and anything else that that you're putting in in instead of water or in addition to your water, just it doesn't always have the best things in it. So do you having the natural sugar to help with the hydration? Uh sounds sounds amazing. I'm looking forward to tasting it. How is it being now a mom and a business owner? How are you able to balance both of those? Because that's a lot that you're you've got on your plate.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Yeah. Um, no, it is. Uh it was so funny. A lot of people like asked me that when I first had him, and I was like, I love it. I love the chaos. And then he started teething, and then I was like, I am gonna die. Like, I don't know how I'm gonna do this. Um, but I was like trying to work out at the same time, and I'm like half asleep, and I'm like, what is going on? So we're finally out of the teething stage. Um, and now he tries to just eat everything because he's 18 months old or jump off of furniture this morning. He like jumped off the back of the couch. Um, so yeah, I it's it's one of those things, um, ebb and flow. Luckily, I have a good support system. Um, and I think we're we're in a good routine right now, but routines usually last a few weeks. So, you know, ask me next week and I'll be like, I don't know. But yeah, I think the farm is kind of like a second child in a sense. You know, it's it's kind of like my baby, but she kind of is her own creature. Like she does her own thing, she's successful in her own right. She's been a farm for over 200 years. So like I'm just lucky that I get to be a steward and kind of driving the vehicle for now. And then, you know, Julian, it just depends on the day. He's he's always, you know, ebb and flow with him, but he's he's a pretty good dude. So I am I you'll get an email from me at 4 to 7 a.m. generally, or from nine to two o'clock in the morning, people are like, Are you ever sleeping? And I'm like, no, that's like when Julian's sleeping. So like that's the only time I can work. Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

It's a balance, and like I said, this like just like being an entrepreneur, you always have to pivot and figure out, you know, how can I get this done and how it's gonna work because you know, in each stage of childhood is so it goes so fast and it's also different. And to watch them develop their personalities along the way, I'm sure kind of like the farm, you know, with the the personality changes. Well, it'll be very fun for you, I'm sure, to watch him grow up along with building your business. That's very cool.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yeah, no, it's it it is, and it's funny because we have some friends that are there and that we have he has friends that are the same age and like they love the maple syrup. So it's it's been fun to like have them at the farm and like running around. So it's I think it's gonna be really fun to watch them kind of grow and and be a part of the farm as well and create those good memories.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

That's awesome. Yeah, that's so cool. Well, before we wrap up, will you tell our listeners how they can find you and how they can find the Poconol Maple Water?

SPEAKER_01 34:13

Yeah, so you literally just online you go to Poconomaplewater.com. You can subscribe, it goes directly to your door where you can order a case. We are also in some high-end luxury organic grocers. Um, you there's like a where to find me page. There's also some boutique studios, fitness, Pilates, um, CrossFit Studios. CrossFit Studios really love it because it's all natural and it's paleo. So um it's it's all clean, all natural. So if you want to try one, you can usually just click where to find me and you'll be able to try one before you order a case. So you can order it directly online. No case will go right to your door, and then we recommend refrigerating it. It's so much better cold, but it's also great warm. I'll let it it's more of a spring water with like a subtle little maple flavor. So if you have it warm, it's like it's basically like drinking warm water.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Gotcha. Yeah, I like my water cold, so that would definitely make it cold. But that sounds amazing. I'm really excited for you because again, you're creating not only a product, but you're creating an experience for people in your area and you're creating an experience for you and your son. So as a as a mother of three grown children, um, I'm excited for you to watch that journey as well. So I'm gonna end this podcast because we're short on time here, um, with a few questions. And this is gonna be on season three of the podcast. And so I've just added this question to these new episodes because I find a lot of people will listen to the episodes and they'll maybe be inspired or maybe hear something that's interesting, but they don't always put it into action. So if you could talk to our listeners today and give them one actionable step that they could use to implement something either today or tomorrow to help move their life forward in a healthy way, what would you recommend? Well, obviously adding maple syrup.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Um, you know, I think for me, it's just switching out some of those fake sugars. Um, you know, instead of adding so much fake sugar to, you know, your your coffee in the morning or your tea, or, you know, if you're giving juice to your kids, you can actually use the maple water. We just put a really cool maple water juice online, you know, a recipe where you can like add fruit to it and essentially make your own fruit juice at home and using maple water as the base. Um, so I think really just, you know, getting away from the fake sugars, the processed foods, kind of like we were talking about, and you know, buying local, you know, and seasonality as well is super important. So if there's a local farm farmer in your backyard that's doing honey or maple syrup or anything that's all natural, it's just so much better to be putting that in your body. They're generally not going to be using high commercial pesticides and and those types of things on the farm, you know, especially if it's a small mom and pop, they're probably growing produce the same way that their parents did 100 years ago. Um, and they they're not using any of those, that's those chemicals. And it's super important to just try to, you know, buy local, eat clean, um, and and use maple syrup in everything.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

Well, I have to say, when when I I don't like make baked goods anymore because I am one of those people that if I have something like a sweet, even if it's healthy, I will want more because I love sweets. But when I would make, there's a lot of like banana bread recipes or baked good recipes where you can find substitution with maple syrup instead of the sugar, which will provide you a healthier food to eat. So I encourage people too, when they order the maple syrup from you, then to look up recipes like, you know, again, baked goods where they can substitute that maple syrup and again prov do those little things to provide a healthier option.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

Yeah, and it also does really well in overnight oats. Like overnight oats, it's amazing, or like chia puddings, things like that. And I love overnight oats because it also fills you a lot longer usually in the morning. So, um, so yeah, I know there's so many great options that you can substitute maple syrup for.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

That's a good suggestion. Great. Well, thank you. So now I'm gonna ask you my final question. It's a two-part question that I ask all my guests. If you today could have a conversation with a version of your past self, what advice would you give her?

SPEAKER_01 38:18

Oh, that's such a good question. Then it all works out. At the end of the day, like I think we get so bogged down, especially in you know, our early 20s and trying to be somebody. And at the end of the day, whether it works out or it doesn't, it you're still fine, you know, it does like it just is gonna lead you into the next thing. So I think, you know, just enjoy, like be present, be here. You know, I think we're always trying to figure out what the next move. And um, I think that that's something that Julian's kind of showed me over the last 18 months because they're just changing so rapidly, right? So you're like, all right, like I need to just like soak this in and just enjoy it. Um, so yeah, I think that that would be my advice to my younger self is like, don't be so worried about everything. Like it will be what it will be, and just enjoy the ride.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

Yeah, enjoy the ride. Okay, so now you can have a conversation with your future self. You can pick maybe 20, 30 years. Maybe you've got Julian's grandchild sitting at the boathouse. You can pick. So you sit down with her, and what would you ask your future self? And what do you think she would say back to you?

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Oh my gosh. I don't even want to think about that. I'd be like, I can't even imagine Julian having babies.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Um you can pick five years in the future if it's easier. That's fine too.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Um, oh my goodness, five years from now. Oh, what would be something that I'd ask? I guess if I should what would we do different? Is there anything we should do different? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

So, based on the question and the answer you asked your past self, I'm guessing that your future self would say, It all worked out and don't worry about it. Yeah, probably. Probably five years or 15 years, like you said, you trust the process, have faith in it, do everything, do it for the right reason, and everything will work out just fine.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Yeah. No, that's that's that's really good, I'm sure. Yeah. And so it's so wild how you like when you like think about it backwards, you're like, you think about yourself like younger and you're like, it's fine. Then you think about yourself older and you're like, what should we change?

unknown 40:32

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Exactly. So that's a lesson for today. While you have to make those pivots and those steps forward, you also have to trust the process and ensure that it will all work out just fine. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me for this conversation. We will put links to your website in the show notes. And I'm really grateful that you shared your journey and your product. And I'm looking forward to seeing all that you do in the future and safe travels today and enjoy that little boy, because I tell you it goes really, really fast.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for having us.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

Thanks for listening to the My Fit Tribe podcast. Tune in weekly for our latest episode for more health and wellness insights and inspiration. For more information, visit myfittribe.org. Don't forget to share, like, and download this episode, and thank you for your support. Please know that the opinions and comments presented here are those of the guests and do not necessarily constitute medical advice or the opinions of MyFitTribe. Copyright 2026, all rights reserved. This podcast is recorded and produced by Jay Johnson at Paradigm Productions in Madison, Wisconsin, and is a production of My Fit Tribe LLC.