Unlocking sustainable growth in your business is not a task for a single person. It can only be achieved with the help of other people, especially from your most trusted circles. In this episode of Women Advancing, I sit down with the endlessly radiant Megan Riggs, Founder & CEO of Crunchy Hydration,, a sparkling wellness brand that’s equal parts adaptogens, intuition, and “wait, did she just say she launched this after backpacking through Thailand?” Yep. Megan shares how a personal crisis led to a purpose-driven company now sitting on the shelves of Whole Foods and Kroger, and how she stays grounded while navigating retail chaos, investor math, and the pressure of being a female founder in an industry that’s often more performative wellness than actual well-being. Megan shares how she brought success to her company by putting community at the top of her priorities. She explains why long-term growth is not just about creating enticing offers but building a way of life where your target audience can discover and understand their purpose. Megan also opens up about what it is like to deal with external pressures as a female founder and why you should always pay attention to what your gut is telling. This isn’t just a founder story—it’s a masterclass in scaling with soul.
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Sustainable Growth Where Community Comes First: A Conversation With Crunchy Hydration Founder & CEO Megan Riggs
Some founders launch a product. Megan Riggs, that wasn’t enough. She launched a vibe. On this episode, I sit down with Megan, who is the wild-hearted, purpose-driven CEO and founding force behind Crunchy Hydration, a brand that is actually equal parts sparkling water, spiritual groundedness, and the entire, “Let’s disrupt this whole wellness industry thing while I’m at it.”
We’re going to talk about trusting your gut while still running a business that scales is not always easy, how wellness, though, can be easy. It can be as simple as taking a beat and a breath, how to stay rooted when the branding and the funding and the whole industry just gets way too extra and so chaotic and what it actually takes to build a brand with a soul and not just shelf space. Seriously, it’s one of the most vulnerable conversations the founder story is, and I’m just feeling so fortunate that she shares it with us.
I’ve been looking forward to this conversation since we agreed to do it. Please meet Megan Riggs, Founder and CEO of Crunchy Hydration. Probably one of the biggest ray of sunshine, I would say, in the whole female founder space. That’s a big statement, but you’ll see. She will definitely live up to it. Megan, welcome.
Thanks for having me. Maybe it’s because I wear a new, fun, bright sundress every day, so that helps.
Megan Riggs And Crunchy Hydration
Always plug in the right thing. I really wanted us to have this conversation. I’m really excited to have the conversation, given that the weather is finally shifting to hot and heat, but you don’t need hot and heat to drink Crunchy Hydration products. I should fix that thinking. Let’s talk a little bit about you and how you even started doing this.
How did I get here?
Yeah, like the song says. I always say that.
What in the heck is Crunchy? Is it water that’s crunchy? I was born and raised in Virginia Beach, went to the University of Virginia, and then moved out to California. I was like, “Let’s go. Awesome opportunity with this global training company.” From the outside looking in, like, “She’s doing amazing, X, Y, Z.” For the first time in my life, I seriously started to struggle with anxiety and depression, and it just reached a point in life where everything was seemingly right from society standards but I could barely get out of bed.
It reached a low point of just not wanting to live anymore. I realized I needed to take drastic measures. I gave away everything I owned, moved to Thailand, and I was like, “I’m going to address this head on, figure out the root cause of the issue and also live a simpler life.” I would go to this little juice shop and smoothie shop every day on my way to teach English. I had nothing but a backpack. I was living on a couple of dollars a day, and it was the happiest I had been.
I remember calling my sister and I was like, “I’m never leaving. I’m opening up a juice shop in Thailand.” Fast forward, I was like, “Just kidding. I miss my family. I’m moving back to Virginia and I’m going to do it here.” I started with Crunchy Carrot. I had no money at the time, and a really terrible juicer when I started. It was a little crunchy. I smashed up some almonds in the first one, carrot juice. It evolved and became this community that we were building, of more than just juice, more than just a beverage. It was living with intention and mindfulness, even in the simple moments of hydrating and drinking juice or water. Crunchy is a lifestyle, not a texture, but it started with a texture.
I love that line. Lifestyle, not a texture. I’ve got to ask, so the name comes from its original crunchy ingredients. Is that accurate?
Yeah, it started with the cold-pressed juices. My first one was a carrot, ginger, turmeric, and some smashed almonds. It was weird, but people loved it. I realized that that business wasn’t scalable. Every day, through the juice business, I was having conversations with people about the different adaptogens and nootropics.
L-theanine is in all of our beverages. I was just telling people about this every day. They’re like, “I’m eating healthy, I’m working out, but I’m still struggling with anxiety and stress.” Obviously, we’re all stressed and depressed. I would tell them all the things and I was like, “Why don’t I put it in a water that’s way more scalable?” There was a gap in the market. It was just very organically blessed from the start.
That’s when you probably were like, “I’m actually building a beverage company and not just some hobby, little fun fix.”
Yeah. It started with me crafting it like a mad scientist in my kitchen. Next thing I know, we’re partnering with Pharrell for Something in the Water, and Whole Foods had reached out and I was like, “All right, let’s do it.”
Staying Zen In The Competitive Business Scene
I know that’s such a competitive realm and it also, the RTD, ready to drink and all that I know has taken off. There are huge egos and it gets noisy. I could imagine that that would also potentially amp up anxieties. How do you live and stay like Zen in that realm when it’s so noisy and so competitive?
As I would go to these beverage conferences, and it’s so easy to feel that Imposter Syndrome or see other people that have started businesses that raised $50 million and it seems like they’re doing way better. I would feel weird at these conferences like I was not enough, or I wasn’t actually doing it right. It would cause stress. Growing a business is stressful.
Yeah, no kidding.
LOL, I started a business to help with stress and anxiety, and it’s causing stress and anxiety.
“It’s causing quadruple the stress I had before. Better drink a really good product. How about my own?”
Yeah, I drink like three of them a day. I would say that all of us are constantly working on how do we feel worthy and that we’re doing enough. For me, it starts with a very simple morning routine and I’ve started to write down the wins. Write down what you’re grateful for, write down what you know you accomplished.
You do so much in a day and a week that it’s easy to forget and focus on the negative. Your brain can’t think of both positive and negative at the same time, or be anxious if you’re thinking about positivity and gratitude. I’m just like, “Come back to that gratitude.” It’s simplifying what you’re doing day to day. We’re overstimulated with information and things you should be doing and diets and supplements, and I’m like, “This is what I do. I drink this and I take a moment and I take a breath.”
Yeah, those two things, taking a beat, and it’s the double beat. Taking a beat, taking a breath. It’s amazing, the impact of that. I know you also use a lot of intention and intuition. How do you balance all that when you’ve got investors who are going, “Hard numbers?” How do you contend with that?
I would say one’s on this shoulder, one’s on the other shoulder, they’re partners and they work together. I find the opportunities with my intuition. I listen to my gut and then I confirm the decisions with data. I’ve been heavily leaning on more market research and guiding those bigger decisions with data and science, especially when it comes to ingredients and expanding operations and production and new opportunities and grocery stores. You have to evaluate the numbers.
What is it going to cost to launch nationally in Kroger? That’s going to take a lot of money. Do we want to do that or do we want to do Whole Foods? You can’t do it all. I listened to my gut. Actually, I didn’t listen to my gut recently. We were going to launch a ginger peach flavor, and I’m like, “I don’t really like ginger peach.” We went forward, I had formulated it, and then we did market research on most popular flavors. That one came in last and I was like, “All right, I should have listened to my gut.” I can’t tell you the new flavor, but we’re launching the new flavor that I’ve been wanting to do and I should have done from the start.
Listening To Your Gut
Exciting. That’s a great thing because I was going to actually ask like, what’s been one of the biggest internal growth moments as a founder that you’ve had, walking into this your own solution in this own realm, but then it just all of a sudden, becomes this seismic shift and the world is now looking at healthy drinking, etc.? It sounds like that’s one, definitely listening to your gut.
Yeah, definitely. So often, we ignore our gut and as someone who has to report to investors, I want to just hit the milestones and do the right things. At the end of the day, most of those decisions, I knew what I should have done and I had to fail first to figure it out. Now I’m like, “Team, raise your hand when you have something in your gut. Let’s talk about it.” Giving that power to the team as well, like not just thinking, “I’ve got to do it all,” was a big shift as well.
For a lot of people who are reading, you think it’s an easy thing, delegation. It’s really not, especially in this situation, especially when you’re used to having done it all by yourself. That’s just a weird, not a power shift, but I suppose in a little bit it is.
It’s cool when you do let go and let people shine and run with their strengths that aren’t your strengths. You are working double the hours to do what they’re even better at.
Let people shine and show their strengths. Share on XManaging Pressures As A Female Founder
Yes. I think that is such a huge wisdom moment, not only as a founder, but as a person. It’s such a gift to a team when you realize, “I don’t know all the answers. I don’t have to know all the answers. That’s why all of us are around and we can either use these 2 hands or we can use all 8 hands that we bring. What makes most sense?” I’ve got to ask you, have you ever felt pressure to show up in a certain way as a female founder in the wellness space? Especially, you’ve got your starting in the training thing and all of that. If you did, how did you resist or reshape it and own it, make it your own?
Yeah, that’s also a good question because as a female founder, you got to be even stronger as this boss babe or you’re on the other side of like, “Well, because I’m crunchy, I have to be like so crunchy and I can’t have a glass of wine,” or, I’ve got to be a health nut.” People are like, “You’re doing that?” I’m like, “Yes.” We’re redefining what crunchy or owning a business looks like. Staying grounded in why you’re doing what you’re doing and being authentic to yourself, like, yeah, I could be a boss babe, but I could also do absolutely nothing on Saturday.
Honestly, both are what helped make you well or they hydrate you, as a play on the word hydrate.
It’s so much more than what does hydration mean? It’s not just about water or a beverage. It’s like fueling every part of you and listening to what needs to be nourished, like nourishing from the inside out, whether that’s rest or maybe you do need to work all day on a Saturday to feel better. It’s not work-life balance. It’s a harmony within yourself.
That’s a beautiful way of putting it, because I’ve heard work-life choice, but I think that’s true. It’s the harmony. It’s what’s going to make you feel okay at the end of the day.
Yeah. My CO, Heather, loves working on the weekends and sometimes I would feel this guilt that I wasn’t working as much as her. She was like, “It makes me feel better to do some stuff and fire off emails on a Sunday. You have 3 step kids now and spend time with them and be present or you’re going to regret working 7 days a week.”
We were talking with one of your investors, Dan Meyers.
Not an investor, but if you want to invest, Dan, and you’re reading this.
Dan, listen, invest. We will change that. I remember we were talking about the notion for founders, one of the overwhelming things is one, knowing your number is really important. I can’t say that enough. Two, also figuring out what the levers are, what are the ones that mattered the most to you?
I would say since my first time getting mentored by Dan, he just drilled me on every single number and it shifted my mindset every day. I’ve started to think about every single number because for us, knowing Whole Foods increased 30%, Kroger increased 20%, and direct-to-consumer has nearly 200%. Knowing the numbers that we weren’t looking at lifetime value or customer repeat purchase rate, it was just like, how many cans are being sold? It’s still the same data, but how you’re analyzing the data.
Building A Loyal Community
Also, how it’s shifting. What’s the worst advice you’ve gotten about growing a business? What would you say instead? I’m sure you’ve gotten a lot.
I would say probably just raise more money. Every other beverage brand is $25 million to $200 million. Just raise more money. Obviously, in the beverage world, you do need money to grow, but I’ve taken a crunchy approach, if you will, and sustainable growth, like comparing ourselves to Liquid Death because we’re building a sustainable, profitable brand that we can then pull more levers once we have more data and have a serious loyal customer cult, if you will.
That’s what I wanted to shift into a little bit too, that whole role of community. Talk a little bit about that and the role that that’s played.
Community is everything. We’re just messaging with people in the community about this partner event we’re doing through Team Yellow, which is one of Pharrell’s nonprofits. It helps education in the school systems and just a great organization. I would not be here without the community. I talk about it in everything that I do. If you’re starting a business, if you are a founder, don’t do it alone. Raise your hand, accept help.
If you are starting a business, do not do it alone. Raise your hands and ask for help. Share on XThis ecosystem in Virginia is unreal. There are so many resources and knowledgeable people who want to help. When I did the 757 Accelerate, we were 1 of 2 companies that were local and everyone else just couldn’t believe it. They’re like, “What’s the catch?” We’re like, “No. Literally, everyone just wants to help. You get paid to go through this program.”
Staying True To The Vision And Maintaining Growth
That is fantastic, which it is. How do you protect the very heart of what made it special in the first place? You talk about sustainable growth, which I totally understand and I get, but how do you keep that part that makes it different? How do you keep that safe?
I would say every day, coming back to the mission and why we do it. Our mission is to improve mental and physical health through mindful hydration. Everyone that we partner with, whether it’s supporting a nonprofit that’s helping educate children because that’s going to change the trajectory of their mental health and physical health and sustainable food.
Every single day, we talk about our mission and that’s how we try to live, like from the decisions we make to the partners we partner with to investors we bring on. We’ve said no to people or events or stuff because it just doesn’t align. You want to say yes. The more you grow, the more people reach out to you, like, “Do you want to be a part of this event? There’s going to be 5,000 people.” If it doesn’t align, it’s really hard to say no.
That’s what I was going to ask. Are there specific things you look at? I guarantee you, people are going to read this. They’re going to think, “I want to partner with them, or I want to be a part of them. I want to get a little of that halo effect that you all bring to anyone with whom you partner.” What are the things that you are looking for when you are deciding, “Yeah, I’ll partner with them?”
One of the biggest things is what is their mission? Is it focused on building community and changing the world and having an impact? Are they purpose-driven? A lot of them directly align with our mission of improving mental and physical health. This is a random example, but we said no to a really big fishing tournament because, no offense, it was a lot of older dudes. Our target audience is 25 to 45-year-old women who are busy working moms. We do a lot of female events, a lot of supporting women, and other women-owned businesses.
How To Handle Obstacles In Your Path
Things are going great and at the same time, growth is coming fast at you. What is your why on the days when nothing is going according to plan? We’ve all had those days. Best laid plans. What keeps you going through all of that? Aside from, of course, having a huge swig, double fisting those Crunchy Hydrations.
Shotgun and Crunchy. I would say, thinking back to who I was living in LA and that moment of darkness, I know that right now, I’m not even close to that. I’ve evolved and grown so much and healed, but when I’m having my worst day, I know that someone is in that spot where I was struggling with anxiety and depression, not wanting to wake up and live. I keep going because hopefully, they find Crunchy and it makes them feel even a little bit better.
Megan’s Advice To Her Younger Self
It’s not just a beverage company. It’s really a movement, in a sense, it seems like. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self?
I would say you don’t need to spend $1,000 on supplements to be happy. I would say take a breath, spend less money and there are so many free solutions to help you feel better, sleep better, and just simplify your life. Look internally, not externally.
What Advancing Means For Megan
That’s a great one. Finally, I often ask this of guests. What does advancing mean to you right now as a woman, as a founder, as a leader?
Advancing to me means moving forward with purpose. Not just more and growing, but growing with purpose and meaning, and making an impact in the world. Are you changing lives and doing something that is going to not just advance and grow yourself, but advance and grow the community at large?
Looking Forward To The Future
I often do this. It’s a way I make decisions when I find myself facing a choice and oftentimes, for me, time is incredibly valuable. What I’m trying to figure out what to do or how to spend it, etc., I will sit back and take a minute and say, “When I’m sitting on that rocker and I’m 80 years old out on the porch,” which will bring me greater joy. When you’re on that rocker and you’re 80 years old and you look back, what do you think you’ll be saying to yourself in terms of your greatest contribution?
Just a side note, I really can’t wait to be 80, 90 years old. I’ve got the outfits picked out of my head. They’re really fun. They’re bright colored and the outfits are going to be great. I’m going to be in a really bright, funky, weird outfit on that porch, rocking away. Thinking about how challenging every decision I made was, but so glad that I did it because I made a difference in the world. I broke generational curses, healed myself, changed other women, empowered other women, and funded other women’s businesses. I had a successful exit and made a name for my future family.
Get In Touch With Megan
Megan, where can we find Crunchy Hydration? Some of the bigger places that may be familiar for folks. It sounds like Whole Foods, Kroger.
Whole Foods, Kroger. We’re doing a really big saddlebag promo at Kroger, 2 for 4. Right when you walk in every store, you’ll see a big display. August 11th, 2025, we’re launching in all the Food Lion, so that would be a good place to grab it. There are some really good spots in Charlottesville. If you go to DrinkCrunchy.com and the locations or like Find Crunchy, you can put in your zip code and it’ll show you all the spots.
I have loved watching you grow as a founder and a leader in the community, and also, literally bringing to life what a business with purpose can look like, because so often people feel, “If I do a purpose-driven business, that means I’m going to have to suffer and profit.” It’s really not true. In fact, there’s a lot of research that shows the opposite of that. It’s so great to have such a strong example of someone who’s making it happen. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you. I think back to what Seth, who started Honest Tea, said, and he sold it and started just iced tea, but he was like, “Build a business that you love and you’re doing it with intention and purpose. You could run it forever, but when you run it like that, you are going to be successful and you’re going to have an exit and you’re going to be able to help more people.” Keep doing it.
If you build a business that you love with intention and purpose, you could run it forever. Share on XNo, it really is true. As a founder, do you think it’ll be hard for you to let go of your baby?
A hundred percent. It is my baby, and it’s become part of my identity. I think part of building something great is if the opportunity comes, which I’m working on partnering with a bigger company that could help us get to the next level, I know that we’ll be able to further our mission even more. It’s letting go of that ego and realizing again why you started it and making a decision that makes sense for the company, because you’re going to be able to impact more people and grow the business even more.
Yeah, exactly. Also, if you’ve done it there and you’ve made it to that point, perhaps by letting go, it’s going to open up this incredible pathway for something even bigger in terms of impact.
Who knows what’s next? What business are we going to start, Kate? I don’t know.
I know. We’ve got to get on it.
What are we going to do?
Thank you.
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KB Takeaways
I always get so enthused when I sit down with founders like Megan Riggs. Here are my three KB Takeaways. One is, think about it. She had this really dark time, and so often, the dark side can be exactly what leads us to the light side and an extraordinary opportunity. When you find yourself in a situation that either didn’t turn out the way you thought or is just so bleak, you have to be well-rested, but still ask yourself, “What am I learning and what’s the good part about this? If I really were honest with myself, what’s the good part?”
If you think about it, it’s exactly what Megan did. She went on and took a dark time, personal time and ended up building out a product that is helping so many people on mental levels and on health levels. I think that’s extraordinary. I think the notion that there’s so much pressure when you are a founder to grow and scale, and money, what is wiser is to take a look and take a step back and think about growing with purpose and moving forward with purpose.
Why? It’s because it’ll be more sustainable. You may not have this big, huge windfall right at the gate, but you have a greater likelihood of actually continuing. That long-term, I guess it’s the Warren Buffett effect in a way, where it’s the long tail, the duration, that’s really going to be what’s greater, achievable, and really going to help those around you in a greater way.
Founders, do not do it alone. I know it’s so easy or that it’s tempting because you don’t want people to take your ideas. Be smart about it, but ask for help when you need it, seriously, because it can really make the difference between you falling and crashing and burning or saving yourself from many a near wrong turn. Lastly, community is everything. Next thing you know, you’ll find yourself not actually building just a product, but actually a movement and a way of life. Let me know what you think and I look forward to talking to you and hearing your thoughts on our next episode.
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About Megan Riggs
After graduating from the University of Virginia and spearheading West Coast operations in LA for a global training company, Megan began struggling with anxiety and burnout.
When traditional medicine fell short, she turned to natural wellness and embarked on a healing journey through Thailand, where she embraced a simpler, holistic lifestyle.
Fueled by a renewed passion for mental and physical health, Megan returned to the East Coast and launched Crunchy Hydration — built to bring healing and self-care into the everyday ritual of hydration.