Channeling their grief from their son’s suicide in 2019, Holy Kombucha co-founders Theresa Pham and Leo Bienati are using their business platform to advocate for mental health awareness and teen suicide prevention. The company has announced a national partnership with peer-to-peer suicide prevention organization Hope Squad, and will debut new labels over the next few months that highlight their personal story and commitment to the cause.
Speaking with BevNET last week, Pham said forming this partnership now was the product of “God’s timing” as she had reached out to Hope Squad over a year ago and received no response. When the company received investment from private equity firm Cloister Holdings, its founder, Jeff Wells, reached out to Hope Squad again. Wells also shares a personal connection with the cause as he lost a cousin to suicide when he was 17, according to Pham. Hope Squad’s founder Dr. Greg Hundall met with the Holy Kombucha team the following week and from there the partnership began to take form.
“For me the meaning of the brand has finally come full circle,” said Pham. “Before, Holy Kombucha was just a fun play on words, on the goodness and holy in everyone and the natural goodness that kombucha provides. That was the original meaning behind it. But now, it has really come full circle with this partnership and ‘Drink well, Do better.’”
Founded in 2004, Hope Squad trains groups of students to identify signs of depression and suicide among their peers and take action to get that student help. The organization was created by educators and mental health experts in Provo, Utah, a school district that had been averaging one or two suicides over the course of 12 years prior to the program’s creation. Since HopeSquad was founded, the district has gone nine years without a student death by suicide. The group currently has programs in place in 950 schools across 31 states and Canada with the goal of being in every school across the country within the next ten years.
Pham first learned about the program when the group got involved in the Prosper School District – located about 15 minutes from where she lives in Frisco, Texas – after it experienced multiple student suicides in one year. She said the program doesn’t require a lot of funding to be established, and that the biggest barrier is simply a lack of awareness that the problem exists and minimal demand from schools until their suicide rate gets too high to ignore.
According to Pham, Hope Squad was considering partnerships with larger corporations such as Microsoft and AT&T; however, it was the personal connection and Holy Kombucha’s commitment to hands-on involvement with the nonprofit’s mission that secured the deal. Holy Kombucha made an initial $25,000 contribution to the organization and plans to annually fundraise to help Hope Squad hit that target.
“It’s not just about raising awareness – adults talking to adults about the issue – it’s these kids going to bat. They do such critical and incredible work. The leader was brought to tears talking about them and I am so moved every time I hear these kids speak,” said Pham. “I am excited for when Hope Squad gets into every school. Because these kids are such emotionally intelligent individuals they are going to be incredible leaders among the next generation.”
“In our first meeting with Holy Kombucha, I was extremely excited for the opportunity to work with such passionate individuals,” said Dr. Gregory Hudnall, founder and CEO of Hope Squad in a press release. “Their mission to promote holistic well-being will help break down the stigmas associated with mental health and will strengthen communities across the country. We are so inspired by Theresa and Leo’s commitment to ending teen suicide and we are very fortunate that Holy Kombucha is Hope Squad’s first corporate national partner.”
Pham has been working personally with the Prosper chapter of Hope Squad since the national partnership was established in April. She said the pressures of running her business used to take a toll on more than just herself. She hopes to share the story of how the example she set as a hard working, but stressed and exhausted entrepreneur could have had a negative impact on the way her son perceived his own future. By doing so, she’s seeking to encourage others to recognize mental health warning signs among their family and friends.
In celebration of this partnership, Holy Kombucha is also launching two new product lines: Holy Tepache Sparkling Tonic and Ritual Yaupon Tea. Over the next few months, the product will be introduced with new labels that share Pham and Bienati’s story. The labels have a scannable QR code that directly links consumers to HopeSquad’s resources. Pham is hopeful that as a brand she can help raise awareness to what Hope Squad does while inspiring people to take action within their own community.
“I have realized we have to make a change on what we put our focus on and as a brand we have a real sense of responsibility between how we advertise and influencers we partner with,” said Pham. “It’s so easy to paint a perfect picture, but that is not our goal. Being a successful entrepreneur, we can strive and strive but we miss things when we are just going after the stars and not looking at each other. That’s why Hope Squad is so important.”