Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Heintz
Hi Emily, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Emily launched Sèchey, in 2021, after her own journey discovering sophisticated alternatives to alcohol. A nod to the French word for dry, Sèchey is a modern bottle shop fueled by the societal shift in the way we celebrate without alcohol. With an alcohol flexible mindset, Sèchey is a destination for discovery of alternatives to alcohol, but also carries THC beverages and stocks traditional beer & wine.
An early ecommerce entrepreneur, Emily founded her first company in 2004. Since that transformative experience, Emily held a variety of roles as a merchant, store manager and retail sales executive. After a decade of helping global retailers respond to changing consumer behavior with technology, she decided to leverage her extensive experience in retail and ecommerce on her own concept.
Sèchey is disrupting the alcohol industry with a modern bottle shop concept featuring alcohol-free, functional and alternative beverages.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Entrepreneurship is never a smooth road, and Sèchey experienced many challenges along the way. From struggling to find a landlord willing to lease a space to raising funds in the most difficult macro-environment to a lack of belief in the shifting cultural demand for non-alcoholic options, life as solo female founder has tremendous highs and lows. I bootstrapped Sèchey from the original concept of dry-ish drinking and every step along the way relied on angel investors with a focus on capital efficiency. Thanks to a community of supporters and a fantastic team, Sèchey has not only survived but thrived as we scaled the operation.
We’ve been impressed with Sechey, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sèchey is a specialty retail concept and lifestyle brand focused on mindful drinking. We believe that a drink less, live more mindset allows our guests to choose their own relationship with alcohol, and we support the cultural shift to including non alcoholic and functional alternative beverages when celebrating, socializing and connecting. Sèchey sets ourselves apart from alcohol free bottle shops with a dry-ish message, versus sobriety. We are most proud of our ability to curate the best in the no/low category and offer education to our customers on ingrediants, brand story and how to incorporate alternative beverages.
Sèchey’s own line of non-alcoholic beverages allows us to bring the best in the market under our brand name. We launched our dealcolized wine in partnership with Target in December 2023, and helped curate the adult beverage aisle with some of our favorite non-alcoholic brands. Sèchey’s NA wine portfolio will be expanding for holiday 2024 and available on our online shop starting in September.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries when I first launched the idea for Sèchey, and highly recommend it. You can get all the advice in the world from trusted and experienced people but at the end of the day it is you making the decisions, and it can get very overwhelming. Know that you are going to make mistakes, and that is ok. Remember that it is progress not perfection, and most important thing is the journey, not the destination. I also try not to get too excited for the highs nor too depressed for the lows. Mental health, physical wellness and balance in life are the hardest things to get right, it’s easier to work all the time, but you have to protect yourself. A founder IS the brand, the lifeblood and the success of a company.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sechey.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sechey
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShopSechey/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopsechey
