July 16, 2025 • 35 mins
Kimberly LaRose's journey from a nine-year diagnostic odyssey to creating an award-winning vodka demonstrates the remarkable resilience found in the IBD community. After struggling with unexplained symptoms that doctors repeatedly misdiagnosed, Kimberly finally received her Crohn's disease diagnosis and discovered that gluten and corn were major inflammation triggers for her body.
Rather than seeing her dietary restrictions as limitations, Kimberly embraced a philosophy of "replacing, not removing." This positive mindset would prove transformative when she attended an event where she couldn't eat or drink anything due to her restrictions. What began as a half-joking call to a friend about creating their own vodka evolved into Wisher Vodka – a sugar beet-based spirit that's gluten-free, grain-free, and vegan.
The path from concept to award-winning product wasn't simple. Kimberly and her co-founder Emily researched 300 distillers, visited 60 personally, and developed a unique production process that includes lab testing every batch to ensure purity. Their commitment to quality and transparency has earned them multiple prestigious awards, including Grand Vodka of the Year with a remarkable 98-point taste rating from the Bartender Spirits Award.
Beyond the business success, Kimberly's story highlights how health challenges can unexpectedly open new doors. "I wouldn't have created Wisher had I not been diagnosed with Crohn's," she reflects. Her work supporting the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation further demonstrates her commitment to the IBD community that sparked her entrepreneurial journey.
Whether you're navigating dietary restrictions, seeking inspiration for managing chronic illness, or simply appreciate the story behind your spirits, Kimberly's journey reminds us that sometimes our greatest struggles lead to our most meaningful creations.
Links:
Let's get social!!
Follow us on Instagram!
Follow us on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Alicia and I'm Robin and you're listening
to Bowel Moments, the podcastsharing real talk about the
realities of IBD Serve on therocks.
This week's guest is KimberlyLaRose.
Kimberly is living with Crohn'sdisease and when she attended
an event that didn't have anygood gluten-free options, she
(00:20):
and her friend Emily decided tocreate their own vodka.
Thus the award-winninggluten-free, grain-free Wish
your Vodka was born.
You'll hear more aboutKimberly's story, as well as
more of the story of Wish yourVodka, in this episode, and
visit the show notes to findsome fun cocktail recipes.
Cheers.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hi everybody, Welcome to Bound Moments.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
This is Robin and hi, I'm Tracy, your surprise guest
host, and today we're excited tohave our guest, kim LaRose, who
is with Wisher Vodka.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Nice to meet you and nice to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you, kim.
Like Tracy said, we're soexcited to have you on the show.
But our very first questionAlicia usually says it's our
unprofessional question, but Ifeel like that's not appropriate
for this conversation.
So I'm going to say our veryfirst fun question is what are
you drinking?
Oh, cheers.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
So today I am serving up a couple wisher vodka
cocktails.
With cherry blossom season inbloom very soon and women's
history month, we're doing somefloral cocktails today, so I'm
actually double fisted.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I love a good double fist, and their glasses are
beautiful too oh, thank you.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
So I'm right.
Today this is a strawberrypuree with rose water and wisher
vodka and a little soda watertopped off.
And then this is our blossomsin bloom, which is orange
blossom water, fresh squeezedorange juice, a little St
Germain elderflower and wishervodka to make kind of a citrusy
floral martini.
(01:55):
So we're going floral thismonth.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I love that.
If you have the recipes, I canshare them.
Put them in the show notes.
I did see that you do haverecipes on your website and on
your socials Tracy.
I know you're like justfinishing up a conference over
there on the West Coast, so whatare you drinking?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, there's a whole lot of sparkling water.
That's exactly what I havegoing on.
I have some lemon and somesparkling water and it's
strawberry flavored, so I'mmeeting Kim exactly where she's
at, so it's lovely, but itdefinitely does not look as good
as those two cocktails, whichplease share the recipe.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
We will.
We will Surprise unexpectedevent.
I am prepping for Scopetomorrow, so I am on a clear
liquid diet and, unfortunately,while vodka is a clear liquid, I
cannot drink that before aScope.
Last time when I talked to Kim,I was like I'm going to get
some Wisharaka and have it, andso right now I'm drinking cherry
(03:01):
Gatorade water.
I have a soda, I have gummybears next to me literally
anything to keep me goingthrough the scope prep process
but I do wish I had one of thoseorange blossom cocktails,
because that sounded delicious.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
You can celebrate next week being done with your
exam.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I'm going to cheers with my water.
Cheers, everybody Cheers.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Okay.
So, Kim, I was hoping you couldtell us more about your IBD
story and how it's, how it'schanged you, how it's affected
you all the things.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Yeah, I mean so with Crohn's.
It took me nine years to getdiagnosed with this.
So it was.
It was quite a process, aprocess of not feeling well, a
process of piling on more andmore symptoms and that got
scarier and scarier over theyears, and then also trying to
figure some of these things outon my own, because I found that
(03:58):
they were food instigated and sosome of that I figured out on
my own.
But it was quite a process forme and it really changed my
whole life as far as how I eat,how I take care of my body and
how important I make that aspart of my lifestyle.
And then there's the doctorside of that and all that fun
(04:19):
stuff too.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Nine years sounds like you might have gone through
the ringer, like a lot ofpeople who have been on the show
.
Is there anything specific thatstands out like with your
journey to finally beingdiagnosed, or any of your
experiences, like with thephysicians, that feel especially
meaningful to share with theaudience?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was really just believing in
myself and not letting doctorstell me no, you know, I knew
there was something wrong and Iwas going to figure it out.
I didn't care how long it tookor who I needed to tell to
believe me, but I know, you knowit started with a diagnosis of
reflux, and then it was asthma,and then it was IBS, and then it
(05:02):
was IBD and then it was finallylanded on Crohn's and anemia.
So you know, I didn't just wantthe doctors often tried to mask
the symptoms instead of findthe diagnosis so we can just
avoid whatever or change life orwhatever was needed in that
direction.
So, and I didn't want to justpile on the medications and
(05:23):
cover up symptoms, so at onepoint I actually had a doctor
tell me that I should just gosee a therapist and I was like,
well, I don't think I can makeup bleeding or you know, some of
these symptoms, there'sphysical symptoms you can't make
up.
You know I can't make these up.
(05:44):
So you know I'm I said I'msorry, but this is.
You know, you're just not thedoctor for me then and that's
okay.
And she called she's actuallythe one who called me the next
day and she said I handled itvery poorly.
I'm very sorry, but this iswhat I really think you should
do, and I think you should gotalk to this GI doctor.
And that's what led to my finaldiagnosis was a woman telling
(06:06):
me I should go see a therapistand me telling her no.
So it's really been quite aprocess.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
But I'm so glad you called that out that physicians
are people too in this processand they definitely don't have
all the answers.
But I'm glad that she took itupon herself to reach back out
to you and that's whatultimately led when you went and
saw the GI.
How quick was the turnaroundtill you got your diagnosis?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Well, obviously there's a lot of tests involved.
You know you have to go throughthe colonoscopy, the endoscopy
I had to swallow a camera, I had, you know, all the tests, the
stool exams, all those funthings.
So that took some time but itwas fairly quickly, you know,
fairly quick.
After that that I reached thatdiagnosis and that was
(06:53):
life-changing for me because Ifinally had my answer, I finally
knew how to work toward gettingbetter and I did.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
So Kim.
When did you first notice?
Speaker 4 (07:04):
any symptoms.
Well, it was actually when Iwas a kid.
So I remember going to my dadand saying, dad, I don't think I
can have corn.
And he's like, oh, everybody'slike that.
That's how we handled thingsback then, right, like we didn't
go to the doctor all the timeand they just said, oh, that's
(07:24):
normal.
And I remember, after lunch,like I just thought everybody
had gas after lunch, like no,that wasn't, like, that's not
how it works.
When I was a kid, I just, youknow, that was my normal, so I
thought it was everybody'snormal.
You know, stomach pains, youknow I just, I always excused
everything away.
I had stomach pains.
(07:46):
I'm like, oh, maybe that's justmy ovaries or I'm getting ready
for my period.
I just always excusedeverything.
I always found a reason tojustify those or oh, I must be
sick.
But then when my symptoms gotscarier, there was no explaining
them away anymore.
I'm like, okay, this is tooserious.
And that was later, in muchlater in life, when I was in my
(08:09):
40s.
So, you know, I had, I startedto have vertigo and I started to
stutter because it was.
I was getting inflammation inmy entire body, which was scary,
and I had brain fog, I hadheart palpitations, I had UTIs
that would just continuously.
(08:30):
I felt like I was always goingon an antibiotic for a UTI, you
know, too often.
You know just there were somany symptoms and they just
continued and continued.
So, but those early ones werekind of funny.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well, and it sounds like it was a bunch of vague
symptoms, right that it wasreally hard to get to the
diagnosis because the symptomswere very this and, especially
as women, we have a very bigsystemic profile when we are
(09:13):
experiencing any kind of GIupset or IBD or any of those
things, and so it does becomevery hard to nail it down.
So you really do have to be Ayour own advocate and B your own
inspector gadget right Offiguring it out and not letting
the answer that you're given bethe answer you accept.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Yes, yeah, and that's difficult when a doctor says
you have reflux, take some Tumsand then you live on Tums and
you still don't feel good.
So it's just, you know, it'sjust ongoing and keep you know,
keep diving into it, figure out,because I feel I feel so much
better now, you know, and thenthere's other things to manage.
(09:56):
You know, I think nutrition andfor me it's nutrition,
elimination of certain foods,exercise, sleep is so important,
seeing your doctors when youneed to exercise.
Oh, I mentioned that, didn't I?
You can say it more than oncethat was important.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
We all need to hear it more than once your little
reminder, just in case, right.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
But you know, like getting getting enough sleep I
feel, like the times I don't, Ihave the triggers.
Anxiety can be a huge triggerfor symptoms as well.
So I have to learn ways tomanage that and you know, just
minimizing the instigators andmaximizing the healthy
(10:41):
lifestyles that make you feelbetter.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And I'm going to throw in my little PSA Alicia
would be surprised if I didn'tespecially when it comes to diet
.
I know you mentioned noteverybody's the same.
Not everybody's going to havethe same trigger foods, and
don't let food scare you anddon't eliminate so many foods to
where you aren't getting enoughnourishment.
If you feel like you'restarting to be afraid of food or
you're eliminating everythingor you're eliminating multiple
(11:05):
huge food groups, please talk toyour GI or a registered
dietitian.
We need food in order to combatthe inflammation.
We need calories, we needprotein, we need fat.
We need all of these things tohelp us get healthier, and so I
would hate for somebody torestrict themselves into a worse
(11:25):
flare.
So I mean, what you mentionedwas very few things and not
extensive, but I just want tomake sure that people understand
that we do need food for fuelin order to combat the
inflammation.
So if you get to a point whereyou feel like you're afraid of
food, please, please, please,talk to your GI.
Have them refer you to adietician that specializes in
(11:45):
IBD.
I call my dietician, mytherapist, and I mean it
sincerely.
She is a nutrition therapist,but also you know that fear of
food, even 25 years in, like Iam, whenever symptoms pop up,
it's that oh, here we go again,right.
And so that fear, no matter howmuch you've worked through it
in actual therapy, it comes backevery single time.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Yeah, I'm a strong believer in replacing, not
removing.
You know, find ways around it.
There are very few things thatI haven't found a way to make by
just changing or altering arecipe.
One of those if anyone has anysecrets, I really miss pretzel
bread, but I, you know, I reallybelieve in replacing.
(12:31):
Don't remove things.
I make you know I love to cookand I make you know gourmet
meals.
Sometimes I like I really enjoyfood, I really enjoy cooking
and there's just really ease,sometimes simple and sometimes
fun ways to replace those thingsthat you can't have anymore so
you can still get the nutritionyou need, so you can still enjoy
(12:52):
your food.
So that I just, like I said,replacing, not removing food
from your diet.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I feel like in your story you shared, like the and
Tracy, reinforced the notion ofthe big symptoms.
I feel like sometimes, as womentoo, we like have to run down a
laundry list Is this my period?
Am I hormonal?
Am I going to start my periodin a week or did I just finish
it Like?
Is that what this feeling is?
Or did I eat something thatcauses gas or did I?
(13:20):
You know, it's like this wholelaundry list of things that we
have to go through that it quoteunquote I'm using air quotes
could be, and we have anexcellent habit of gaslighting
ourselves.
Yes, that this is normal.
We normalize symptoms like ohwell, this is how it always is,
so this is normal.
And then it's IBD is sneaky.
(13:42):
This way, it sometimes slowlyprogresses, slowly gets worse,
and it's just slow enough towhere you're like not realizing
that it's gotten so bad untilsomething happens.
Somebody's like somebody tellsyou something, somebody notices
something, something smacks youin your face.
You're like oh my gosh, how didI get here?
It is a lot worse than what Iremember it being, and you're
still a fully functioning femaleperson.
(14:04):
Yes, all of this stuff going on.
So I totally relate to yousaying like oh, it was just, you
know, it was corn.
And then it was just, oh, maybeI'm starting my period, or
maybe, like I feel, for me, whenI first got diagnosed, I was
like, oh well, maybe I just havea cold, or maybe it's the flu,
or maybe it's food poisoning, orlike I literally went through
all of these things until I wentto my sister one day and she's
(14:27):
like I'm gonna need you to go tothe emergency room, like right
now.
Like right now your skin isgray, you have, your eyes are
sunken.
Like I'm gonna need you to goto the emergency room right now.
If she hadn't, I probably wouldnever have, you know, gone to
the emergency room when I did.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
So I feel like we're very good at that as women a lot
of the time not all women, notall the time, but I feel like
we're very good at that a lot ofthe time.
Yeah, I had a similarexperience.
I got scared enough that I wentto the emergency room and it
was a young doctor and he's likethe emergency room is for
emergencies and I said, Well, Ithought, bleeding out of two
(15:03):
orifices, that I shouldn't be,and you know, all these other
symptoms I could name them offwere emergencies, I was afraid.
And then he's like oh, I forgotabout that.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yes, yes, and it's.
It's so true, because theydon't see the broken bone, they
don't see the open gash, theydon't see those types of things,
and so we talked about this inthe past about pain is that it's
really hard with IBD sometimesto ensure that the provider that
(15:34):
you're dealing with, whomeverthey are, understands what
you're experiencing, because,like Robin said and you've said,
we do mental gymnastics onjustifying every single one of
our vague symptoms until we areto the point where it is beyond,
and so when somebody asks us,you're not really an emergency,
(15:54):
that's when, like, the firecomes out of our ears and we're
like, okay, these are all thethings that are happening to me
and you're not going to turn meaway.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I'm stuttering and I can't think of my phone number,
like that's not normal.
I thought something was goingon in my brain.
You know there's those areemergency situations potentially
.
I don't know what it is and Iwas scared.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
There's anything that comes from your story in this
conversation, it would be tocontinue to remind everyone that
what they're experiencing isreal and valid and say it, and
just keep saying it and find theright people to help you.
It's so important.
Okay, so now that I was DebbieDowner, robin can talk.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
No, I was just agreeing with her?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I was agreeing with her.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
No, I mean sometimes our show, you know, sometimes
our show just goes in a myriadof directions.
Sometimes we do go down thisroad where and maybe I'm feeling
contemplative because I amhaving, you know, an endoscopic
resection tomorrow, which issomething that I've never had
before and then listening to you, you know, share your story.
Sometimes I get it just in thatmindset right, I'm going to a
(17:01):
more serious place, I'm askingmore serious questions, I'm
sharing more serious thingsbecause of what I'm going
through personally, and so youwere not being Debbie Downer.
Sometimes we just take thismostly lighthearted and funny
show into a more seriousdirection, and I'm kind of sad
about that right now, because Ireally wanted to talk a lot
about vodka.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I know I was like this is going to be amazing.
Robin picked me for the rightshow.
She totally picked me for theright show.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
She totally picked me for the right show.
Sorry to everybody who'slistening, I am in my feels
right now, apparently, and on asoapbox.
I mean, when Alicia and Istarted the show, the whole
premise was sharing a drink withour guests, right, sharing a
drink with our guests and havinga real conversation about what
life is like with IBD, and wefinally get somebody who is
(17:49):
actual distiller on the show anda patient and I have to be so
and I can't even have a drinkbecause I'm doing scope prep.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
And the irony of it all, that's okay.
I have two drinks, so I'll takecare of your drink for you.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
You mentioned diet playing a big role for you in
your initial retelling of yourstory.
How did diet play a big rolefor you?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
So for me I had a lot of inflammation that was
triggered by food and soeliminating a lot of those foods
really changed everything forme, particularly for me, and
everybody is different obviously, so you know not everyone is
going to have the same reactionsor triggers or response as I
did, but for me it was really.
It was corn, it was wheat,those were the biggest ones was
(18:49):
were gluten and corn.
So any products in the US thoseare very prevalent in all of
our food.
So you know you have cornstarch, corn syrup, it's in everything
and it's hidden away.
So removing those from my dietand some of the like gluten, I
had kind of figured out a littlebit on my own, but I was
missing corn and that diagnosisgiving me that FODMAP diet to
(19:12):
kind of like start from, and itjust it really did help me find
that final answer and feel goodagain.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
And how long have you been in this process, using
this diet, changing the way thatyou eat?
Has it been consistent for youor has it been something that
kind of goes up and down andyou've had to rethink and
rechange?
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Yeah, I mean so it has.
There have been some changes,but since my diagnosis it stayed
fairly stable as far as thethings.
There's one new thing got addedin for me, which was cumin,
funny enough, but before that itwas hills and valleys.
It was trying to figure it out.
It was trial and error, butsince my diagnosis it's been
pretty stable.
I bring a business card toevery restaurant I go to that
(19:59):
lists my allergies so that thechefs take it seriously.
I found that to belife-changing too, that the
chefs really take it seriouslyand they can check ingredients,
and it's helpful for therestaurants as well.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I love that you bring a card with you.
So many times when I talk topatients they don't want to say
anything.
When they go to a restaurant,they feel uncomfortable saying
something.
They don't want to be a bother,they don't want to be a burden.
And you can eat out.
Everyone.
If you're listening, you caneat out and it's not a bother or
a burden to state your needs,or even if you don't want to say
(20:31):
anything out, you know, whileyou're eating dinner beforehand,
go over the menu, go to thewebsite, see what they have that
you can eat.
Call the restaurant in advance.
If there's an email address,email the restaurant in advance
and let them know that you'recoming and what your food
restrictions are, as I thinkthat Tracy could agree with me.
As a restaurant family growingup in the restaurant business,
(20:52):
the people in the kitchen wantto make you happy.
They want you to enjoy the foodthat they're cooking.
As someone who has worked in akitchen in a restaurant, I feel
like I can speak confidently fora lot of people in the kitchen
Like, preparing food for otherpeople brings us joy, yes, and
we want people to leave theestablishment with a good
experience and loving what weprepared.
(21:13):
So don't feel like you're aburden.
Don't feel like asking thekitchen to prepare something
special or different or removeingredients for you is going to
be a burden for them, becausepeople in the kitchen, they want
you to enjoy what they'repreparing.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
So thank you for saying that and I also, you know
I try to make it easy for them.
But you know, with the businesscard but also sometimes, if I
can, I try to eat early or late,so preferably early for me, but
so that it's not in theirbusiest time or, like you said,
I call ahead and they're soappreciative of that and they,
like you said, they just they'reso accommodating when they can
be.
So I've had great experienceswith restaurants.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
I'm really so glad to hear you say that and, as Robin
said, I'm excited about thebusiness card with the
information on it because I cantell you, recently in Europe and
then recently in New Orleans,going out to eat, the first
question, before we were evenseated at the table in every
location was is there anythingyou want us to know about food
allergies or any otherintolerances you have?
(22:10):
And I feel like that is theresult of this community really
embracing that they need theelimination of certain things so
that we can enjoy being out andin these environments.
So thank you for doing that inthat way.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
And that has changed over time.
For sure.
I remember in the beginning ofthis process for me, you know
we'll say even before mydiagnosis like 10, 12 years ago
people would ask me if I hadceliac and I wanted to ask them
if they had herpes.
I'm like, do I have to bring mydoctor's note to eat here?
(22:46):
I know that's silly, but youknow know, like I'm pretty open,
I don't care, I feelcomfortable talking about it,
but some people might not.
So it was inappropriate andthey wouldn't want to serve you
unless you had celiac.
And I'm like well, I don't haveceliac, I have Crohn's.
Is that checked on your mark?
(23:08):
Is that okay?
Do you approve?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Does that qualify me?
Do I get into the big kid table?
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Exactly, but right now I feel like restaurants are
so much more open andunderstanding to allergies
because they're so prevalent andthey have to be.
They have to accommodate people.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Was it this work in figuring out what you could
tolerate, what you could eat,that led you to Wisher, or was
that like something completelydifferent?
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That was later.
I think it was later.
I had already realized Icouldn't have weed, I couldn't
have corn.
I went to an event and Icouldn't eat or drink anything
because everything was wheatcorn or something.
Couldn't eat or drink anythingbecause everything was wheat
corn or something.
And so I called my friend andnow my co-founder, emily Gillis,
(23:59):
gillis, terry, and I said Emily, I went to this party, I
couldn't eat or drink anything.
We need to make a vodka.
So it kind of started almost asa joke.
But then we started diving indeeper and learning about trends
and doing all this research andtalking to all these people,
and we found that a lot ofpeople felt like we needed more
transparency in this industry.
(24:19):
And so we're like, okay, Ithink we might actually be onto
something.
I think that there's a needhere.
We need to fill this need.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
So how many years in development, how many years from
the watershed moment of we needto develop a vodka to where you
actually had a product, you hadpackaging, you had everything
to go to market.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Well, I think I was diagnosed in 2019, 2018, 2019.
And then the year of COVID iswhen we came up with this idea
that we were going to startlooking.
So we happen to have a lot oftime.
So this is our COVID baby.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
And.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
I have four big babies now grown 17, 18, and 21.
But this was our COVID baby andwe had time.
So we just started callingeveryone we could think of, from
restaurants to bartenders, todistillers, to distributors,
just talking to anybody.
We would just get on the phoneand talk to everybody we could
think of and then it kind ofcame down to okay, now we know
(25:17):
what the market wants, we knowwhat we need to make.
Now are we really doing this?
You know it's time to put somemoney out there if we're going
to really do this.
So then we went to visit.
We started with 300 distillers,narrowed that down to 60
distillers that we visited andthen chose our distiller from
there and decided to make Wisher.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
So extremely impressive.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Oh, and I don't think I answered your question.
So we actually we launchedonline on March 12th of 2022 and
we launched in the real worldin restaurants and liquor stores
in 2023.
So about two years ago.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Okay, so what is unique about Wisher?
Because you said that you wentto a party.
There was nothing you coulddrink, so you did this research.
So why can you drink Wisher?
Speaker 4 (26:04):
So we make Wisher from sugar beets.
So usually vodka is made frompotatoes or corn or wheat and so
we use sugar beets and makingWisher gluten-free, grain-free
and vegan.
And we also lab test Wisher sothat you can be certain that you
can sip with confidence,knowing what's in your vodka.
(26:26):
That's incredible.
Yeah, it was all about bringingtransparency to the industry.
You know, in our vodka it'smade with sugar beets, yeast and
water.
We make it in small batch.
It's not mass-produced neutralgrain alcohol which is like a
strong, like, I guess, moonshine, sort of mass-produced out of
corn and wheat.
Generally we make ours out ofthe ingredients and then we lab
(26:49):
test after every batch, afterwe've made it.
We do use a gluten-free yeast.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Now I need to know more, because you did your
research, you found yourdistillery, you found your
product that you're going tomake it out of, and then you
decide to actually launch abusiness.
But I was snooping around onyour LinkedIn and you're already
winning awards.
So I mean, you went from thisis our COVID baby to now, just
(27:16):
four short years later, winningawards.
So talk to me about that.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Oh, it's been really exciting and such an honor too.
We were recognized as the grandvodka of the year by the
bartender spirits Award, whichis a global competition.
We were also named Producer ofthe Year, gold Medalist, and
they rated us 95 points overall,with 98 point rating for taste.
(27:40):
So yeah, it's been a reallysuccessful year and you know,
just, you know, kind ofauthenticates our brand and
legitimizes and validates whatwe've been doing, because it
wasn't just about making anyvodka, it was about making a
quality, nice, you know, nice,sippable vodka.
So so that was the.
That was a successful year forus.
(28:02):
That was our goal.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
And, as we saw from your two drinks that you brought
to the podcast today, you candrink it with confidence.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yes, we can sip with confidence.
That's what we like to say.
And you know, the lab testingmakes it one step further, so
that you know there's no gluten,there's no corn, there's no
grain in our product.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
I actually was introduced to you by somebody
that I know at the Crohn's andColitis Foundation in the DC
Maryland chapter, so I know thatyou are involved with the
Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
Can you talk about yourinvolvement?
How did you get involved withthem and what kind of stuff do
you do with the Crohn's andColitis Foundation?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation reached out
to us and asked us to helpsupport with some of their
events in the DC and Marylandarea, and actually initially
nationally.
But we just don't have anational license quite yet.
So of course we are excited tocontribute and partner with them
and we've with all of theirevents their galas, their
(29:03):
cocktail competition event, allof their events.
We're there to support them inany way we can.
And how long have you beendoing that?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
work with them.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Pretty much since the beginning.
For the last two years, sincewe've been in the real world,
I'll say, not just online.
We've been working with themsince the beginning and we've
supported their gala the lasttwo years, as well as their
cocktail competition.
So two years ago we offeredtheir welcome cocktail for their
(29:32):
competition and this past yearwe actually they awarded us the
Crohn's and Colitis Foundationcraft for a cure cocktail
competition award.
That's a mouthful.
A lot to say that they awardedus the best cocktail, so that
was quite an honor as well.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Love it what I will say is that I listened to a
couple of podcasts that you wereon, but I saw that you and this
could be old, so, if it is,just let me know.
Your vodka is available in DC,Maryland and now.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Florida, illinois.
We just obtained our license inIllinois, but if you go to
wishorvodkacom, you can seewhich stores we're available in,
but also we ship to 42 states,so you can order a bottle on our
website as well.
Yeah, and at Wishor Vodka,across social medias all of the
(30:27):
social medias you can see wherewe'll be offering our next
tasting or sampling or event anddifferent things there too, and
do you?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
regularly include your story or stories of patrons
who partake in your vodkarelated to how they can replace
your vodka and still enjoy beingable to have a drink.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
We always share that's.
You know that's the forefront.
If I'm telling someone thequick and dirty about our vodka,
I'm going to say this is Wisharvodka.
It's gluten free, grain free,vegan and sugar free.
We make it from sugar beets.
We lab test and we just wongrand vodka of the year.
We were rated 95 points overalland 98 points for taste.
(31:12):
So this is a high quality,sippable vodka and that's what
we're sharing to every person.
We get our hands on, so theyget a little bit of all of that.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Kim, it has been so lovely getting to know you
better and I thank you so muchfor agreeing to come on the show
.
And it's time, unfortunately,for me to ask you our last
question.
So what's the one thing youwant the IBD community to know?
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Well, your struggle doesn't have to define you, but
it can create a new you.
You know, just move forwardinto the new you and accept it
and appreciate how it's going tochange you.
And adversity can also be youradvantage if you look at it the
right way.
I wouldn't have created Wisherhad I not been diagnosed with
(31:54):
Crohn's.
I wouldn't be doing what I'mdoing today and I love what I do
.
So, you know, just move forwardand see the positive in it
would be my advice.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
I love it.
I have often said that Iwouldn't be the person I am
without my diagnosis.
100% would not be the personthat I am without that.
So I feel that I mean I'm nothappy about it, right, this
second prepping for my scope,but you know, Well, and I'll go
even further we wouldn't be thefamily that we are without it.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
All three of our children and our grandchildren
wouldn't be the kids that theyare without having gone through
this as a family.
And oh, I'm getting emotionalabout it too, so I'm going to
back up.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
Do you have a family history?
I'm curious if you have afamily history.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
It's a very vague family history.
How do you like that?
So we have my.
Our paternal grandmother hadsymptoms most of her life.
She was diagnosed with coloncancer when she was in her 50s
(33:05):
and they believe it was a resultof or, you know, the family has
surmised that it was a resultof some type of IBD.
Robin, myself, her girls, myson all have some form of
symptom.
Robin is the only one of us, Ibelieve robin you can correct me
, she's the only one of us witha diagnosis, but we all have
some version of symptoms that wewe've had to manage.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I call it gastric distress.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yes, isn't that nice.
It should be called gastrichysteria.
You remember when they used tosay women, women were diagnosed
with hysteria.
It should be called gastrichysteria.
Make it sound crazy.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yeah, remember when the prescription of that was
like sending women away to thesea.
I would love that now.
Please just send me away to thesea for fresh air and leave me
there.
That would be lovely.
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
Fresh fish, fresh fruit, that's all I need.
That's right.
Ship us some vegetables andsome wish or vodka, we're all
good.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, I am totally down for that.
I think we have a trip.
I think this is a bowel momentvacation planning session.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Anybody interested in a bowel moments retreat to the
sea?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Yes, exactly they do have those, don't they have
those gluten-free cruise ships?
Have you ever done that?
I have not done that.
But yeah, I haven't either.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
But I'm like that's something we could totally do, I
mean.
I mean, you guys are atestament to what can happen
when you have an idea and thewill to make it real Robin with
this podcast, you with yourvodka and your co-founder.
So what we can accomplish whenwe just have an idea and the
will to make it happen isincredible.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Thank you so much again, Kim, for joining us,
Thank you, Tracy, for popping inand being my co-host, and thank
you everybody for joining us.
Thank you, Tracy, for hoppingin and being my co-host, and
thank you everybody forlistening.
Cheers, everybody, Cheers.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
If you liked this episode, please rate, review,
subscribe and, even better,share it with your friends.
Cheers.
Hi, I'm Alicia and I'm Robin and you're listening
to Bowel Moments, the podcastsharing real talk about the
realities of IBD Serve on therocks.
This week's guest is KimberlyLaRose.
Kimberly is living with Crohn'sdisease and when she attended
an event that didn't have anygood gluten-free options, she
(00:20):
and her friend Emily decided tocreate their own vodka.
Thus the award-winninggluten-free, grain-free Wish
your Vodka was born.
You'll hear more aboutKimberly's story, as well as
more of the story of Wish yourVodka, in this episode, and
visit the show notes to findsome fun cocktail recipes.
Cheers.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hi everybody, Welcome to Bound Moments.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
This is Robin and hi, I'm Tracy, your surprise guest
host, and today we're excited tohave our guest, kim LaRose, who
is with Wisher Vodka.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Nice to meet you and nice to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you, kim.
Like Tracy said, we're soexcited to have you on the show.
But our very first questionAlicia usually says it's our
unprofessional question, but Ifeel like that's not appropriate
for this conversation.
So I'm going to say our veryfirst fun question is what are
you drinking?
Oh, cheers.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
So today I am serving up a couple wisher vodka
cocktails.
With cherry blossom season inbloom very soon and women's
history month, we're doing somefloral cocktails today, so I'm
actually double fisted.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I love a good double fist, and their glasses are
beautiful too oh, thank you.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
So I'm right.
Today this is a strawberrypuree with rose water and wisher
vodka and a little soda watertopped off.
And then this is our blossomsin bloom, which is orange
blossom water, fresh squeezedorange juice, a little St
Germain elderflower and wishervodka to make kind of a citrusy
floral martini.
(01:55):
So we're going floral thismonth.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I love that.
If you have the recipes, I canshare them.
Put them in the show notes.
I did see that you do haverecipes on your website and on
your socials Tracy.
I know you're like justfinishing up a conference over
there on the West Coast, so whatare you drinking?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, there's a whole lot of sparkling water.
That's exactly what I havegoing on.
I have some lemon and somesparkling water and it's
strawberry flavored, so I'mmeeting Kim exactly where she's
at, so it's lovely, but itdefinitely does not look as good
as those two cocktails, whichplease share the recipe.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
We will.
We will Surprise unexpectedevent.
I am prepping for Scopetomorrow, so I am on a clear
liquid diet and, unfortunately,while vodka is a clear liquid, I
cannot drink that before aScope.
Last time when I talked to Kim,I was like I'm going to get
some Wisharaka and have it, andso right now I'm drinking cherry
(03:01):
Gatorade water.
I have a soda, I have gummybears next to me literally
anything to keep me goingthrough the scope prep process
but I do wish I had one of thoseorange blossom cocktails,
because that sounded delicious.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
You can celebrate next week being done with your
exam.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
I'm going to cheers with my water.
Cheers, everybody Cheers.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Okay.
So, Kim, I was hoping you couldtell us more about your IBD
story and how it's, how it'schanged you, how it's affected
you all the things.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Yeah, I mean so with Crohn's.
It took me nine years to getdiagnosed with this.
So it was.
It was quite a process, aprocess of not feeling well, a
process of piling on more andmore symptoms and that got
scarier and scarier over theyears, and then also trying to
figure some of these things outon my own, because I found that
(03:58):
they were food instigated and sosome of that I figured out on
my own.
But it was quite a process forme and it really changed my
whole life as far as how I eat,how I take care of my body and
how important I make that aspart of my lifestyle.
And then there's the doctorside of that and all that fun
(04:19):
stuff too.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Nine years sounds like you might have gone through
the ringer, like a lot ofpeople who have been on the show
.
Is there anything specific thatstands out like with your
journey to finally beingdiagnosed, or any of your
experiences, like with thephysicians, that feel especially
meaningful to share with theaudience?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was really just believing in
myself and not letting doctorstell me no, you know, I knew
there was something wrong and Iwas going to figure it out.
I didn't care how long it tookor who I needed to tell to
believe me, but I know, you knowit started with a diagnosis of
reflux, and then it was asthma,and then it was IBS, and then it
(05:02):
was IBD and then it was finallylanded on Crohn's and anemia.
So you know, I didn't just wantthe doctors often tried to mask
the symptoms instead of findthe diagnosis so we can just
avoid whatever or change life orwhatever was needed in that
direction.
So, and I didn't want to justpile on the medications and
(05:23):
cover up symptoms, so at onepoint I actually had a doctor
tell me that I should just gosee a therapist and I was like,
well, I don't think I can makeup bleeding or you know, some of
these symptoms, there'sphysical symptoms you can't make
up.
You know I can't make these up.
(05:44):
So you know I'm I said I'msorry, but this is.
You know, you're just not thedoctor for me then and that's
okay.
And she called she's actuallythe one who called me the next
day and she said I handled itvery poorly.
I'm very sorry, but this iswhat I really think you should
do, and I think you should gotalk to this GI doctor.
And that's what led to my finaldiagnosis was a woman telling
(06:06):
me I should go see a therapistand me telling her no.
So it's really been quite aprocess.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
But I'm so glad you called that out that physicians
are people too in this processand they definitely don't have
all the answers.
But I'm glad that she took itupon herself to reach back out
to you and that's whatultimately led when you went and
saw the GI.
How quick was the turnaroundtill you got your diagnosis?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Well, obviously there's a lot of tests involved.
You know you have to go throughthe colonoscopy, the endoscopy
I had to swallow a camera, I had, you know, all the tests, the
stool exams, all those funthings.
So that took some time but itwas fairly quickly, you know,
fairly quick.
After that that I reached thatdiagnosis and that was
(06:53):
life-changing for me because Ifinally had my answer, I finally
knew how to work toward gettingbetter and I did.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
So Kim.
When did you first notice?
Speaker 4 (07:04):
any symptoms.
Well, it was actually when Iwas a kid.
So I remember going to my dadand saying, dad, I don't think I
can have corn.
And he's like, oh, everybody'slike that.
That's how we handled thingsback then, right, like we didn't
go to the doctor all the timeand they just said, oh, that's
(07:24):
normal.
And I remember, after lunch,like I just thought everybody
had gas after lunch, like no,that wasn't, like, that's not
how it works.
When I was a kid, I just, youknow, that was my normal, so I
thought it was everybody'snormal.
You know, stomach pains, youknow I just, I always excused
everything away.
I had stomach pains.
(07:46):
I'm like, oh, maybe that's justmy ovaries or I'm getting ready
for my period.
I just always excusedeverything.
I always found a reason tojustify those or oh, I must be
sick.
But then when my symptoms gotscarier, there was no explaining
them away anymore.
I'm like, okay, this is tooserious.
And that was later, in muchlater in life, when I was in my
(08:09):
40s.
So, you know, I had, I startedto have vertigo and I started to
stutter because it was.
I was getting inflammation inmy entire body, which was scary,
and I had brain fog, I hadheart palpitations, I had UTIs
that would just continuously.
(08:30):
I felt like I was always goingon an antibiotic for a UTI, you
know, too often.
You know just there were somany symptoms and they just
continued and continued.
So, but those early ones werekind of funny.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Well, and it sounds like it was a bunch of vague
symptoms, right that it wasreally hard to get to the
diagnosis because the symptomswere very this and, especially
as women, we have a very bigsystemic profile when we are
(09:13):
experiencing any kind of GIupset or IBD or any of those
things, and so it does becomevery hard to nail it down.
So you really do have to be Ayour own advocate and B your own
inspector gadget right Offiguring it out and not letting
the answer that you're given bethe answer you accept.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Yes, yeah, and that's difficult when a doctor says
you have reflux, take some Tumsand then you live on Tums and
you still don't feel good.
So it's just, you know, it'sjust ongoing and keep you know,
keep diving into it, figure out,because I feel I feel so much
better now, you know, and thenthere's other things to manage.
(09:56):
You know, I think nutrition andfor me it's nutrition,
elimination of certain foods,exercise, sleep is so important,
seeing your doctors when youneed to exercise.
Oh, I mentioned that, didn't I?
You can say it more than oncethat was important.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
We all need to hear it more than once your little
reminder, just in case, right.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
But you know, like getting getting enough sleep I
feel, like the times I don't, Ihave the triggers.
Anxiety can be a huge triggerfor symptoms as well.
So I have to learn ways tomanage that and you know, just
minimizing the instigators andmaximizing the healthy
(10:41):
lifestyles that make you feelbetter.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And I'm going to throw in my little PSA Alicia
would be surprised if I didn'tespecially when it comes to diet
.
I know you mentioned noteverybody's the same.
Not everybody's going to havethe same trigger foods, and
don't let food scare you anddon't eliminate so many foods to
where you aren't getting enoughnourishment.
If you feel like you'restarting to be afraid of food or
you're eliminating everythingor you're eliminating multiple
(11:05):
huge food groups, please talk toyour GI or a registered
dietitian.
We need food in order to combatthe inflammation.
We need calories, we needprotein, we need fat.
We need all of these things tohelp us get healthier, and so I
would hate for somebody torestrict themselves into a worse
(11:25):
flare.
So I mean, what you mentionedwas very few things and not
extensive, but I just want tomake sure that people understand
that we do need food for fuelin order to combat the
inflammation.
So if you get to a point whereyou feel like you're afraid of
food, please, please, please,talk to your GI.
Have them refer you to adietician that specializes in
(11:45):
IBD.
I call my dietician, mytherapist, and I mean it
sincerely.
She is a nutrition therapist,but also you know that fear of
food, even 25 years in, like Iam, whenever symptoms pop up,
it's that oh, here we go again,right.
And so that fear, no matter howmuch you've worked through it
in actual therapy, it comes backevery single time.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Yeah, I'm a strong believer in replacing, not
removing.
You know, find ways around it.
There are very few things thatI haven't found a way to make by
just changing or altering arecipe.
One of those if anyone has anysecrets, I really miss pretzel
bread, but I, you know, I reallybelieve in replacing.
(12:31):
Don't remove things.
I make you know I love to cookand I make you know gourmet
meals.
Sometimes I like I really enjoyfood, I really enjoy cooking
and there's just really ease,sometimes simple and sometimes
fun ways to replace those thingsthat you can't have anymore so
you can still get the nutritionyou need, so you can still enjoy
(12:52):
your food.
So that I just, like I said,replacing, not removing food
from your diet.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I feel like in your story you shared, like the and
Tracy, reinforced the notion ofthe big symptoms.
I feel like sometimes, as womentoo, we like have to run down a
laundry list Is this my period?
Am I hormonal?
Am I going to start my periodin a week or did I just finish
it Like?
Is that what this feeling is?
Or did I eat something thatcauses gas or did I?
(13:20):
You know, it's like this wholelaundry list of things that we
have to go through that it quoteunquote I'm using air quotes
could be, and we have anexcellent habit of gaslighting
ourselves.
Yes, that this is normal.
We normalize symptoms like ohwell, this is how it always is,
so this is normal.
And then it's IBD is sneaky.
(13:42):
This way, it sometimes slowlyprogresses, slowly gets worse,
and it's just slow enough towhere you're like not realizing
that it's gotten so bad untilsomething happens.
Somebody's like somebody tellsyou something, somebody notices
something, something smacks youin your face.
You're like oh my gosh, how didI get here?
It is a lot worse than what Iremember it being, and you're
still a fully functioning femaleperson.
(14:04):
Yes, all of this stuff going on.
So I totally relate to yousaying like oh, it was just, you
know, it was corn.
And then it was just, oh, maybeI'm starting my period, or
maybe, like I feel, for me, whenI first got diagnosed, I was
like, oh well, maybe I just havea cold, or maybe it's the flu,
or maybe it's food poisoning, orlike I literally went through
all of these things until I wentto my sister one day and she's
(14:27):
like I'm gonna need you to go tothe emergency room, like right
now.
Like right now your skin isgray, you have, your eyes are
sunken.
Like I'm gonna need you to goto the emergency room right now.
If she hadn't, I probably wouldnever have, you know, gone to
the emergency room when I did.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
So I feel like we're very good at that as women a lot
of the time not all women, notall the time, but I feel like
we're very good at that a lot ofthe time.
Yeah, I had a similarexperience.
I got scared enough that I wentto the emergency room and it
was a young doctor and he's likethe emergency room is for
emergencies and I said, Well, Ithought, bleeding out of two
(15:03):
orifices, that I shouldn't be,and you know, all these other
symptoms I could name them offwere emergencies, I was afraid.
And then he's like oh, I forgotabout that.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yes, yes, and it's.
It's so true, because theydon't see the broken bone, they
don't see the open gash, theydon't see those types of things,
and so we talked about this inthe past about pain is that it's
really hard with IBD sometimesto ensure that the provider that
(15:34):
you're dealing with, whomeverthey are, understands what
you're experiencing, because,like Robin said and you've said,
we do mental gymnastics onjustifying every single one of
our vague symptoms until we areto the point where it is beyond,
and so when somebody asks us,you're not really an emergency,
(15:54):
that's when, like, the firecomes out of our ears and we're
like, okay, these are all thethings that are happening to me
and you're not going to turn meaway.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
I'm stuttering and I can't think of my phone number,
like that's not normal.
I thought something was goingon in my brain.
You know there's those areemergency situations potentially
.
I don't know what it is and Iwas scared.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
There's anything that comes from your story in this
conversation, it would be tocontinue to remind everyone that
what they're experiencing isreal and valid and say it, and
just keep saying it and find theright people to help you.
It's so important.
Okay, so now that I was DebbieDowner, robin can talk.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
No, I was just agreeing with her?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I was agreeing with her.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
No, I mean sometimes our show, you know, sometimes
our show just goes in a myriadof directions.
Sometimes we do go down thisroad where and maybe I'm feeling
contemplative because I amhaving, you know, an endoscopic
resection tomorrow, which issomething that I've never had
before and then listening to you, you know, share your story.
Sometimes I get it just in thatmindset right, I'm going to a
(17:01):
more serious place, I'm askingmore serious questions, I'm
sharing more serious thingsbecause of what I'm going
through personally, and so youwere not being Debbie Downer.
Sometimes we just take thismostly lighthearted and funny
show into a more seriousdirection, and I'm kind of sad
about that right now, because Ireally wanted to talk a lot
about vodka.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I know I was like this is going to be amazing.
Robin picked me for the rightshow.
She totally picked me for theright show.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
She totally picked me for the right show.
Sorry to everybody who'slistening, I am in my feels
right now, apparently, and on asoapbox.
I mean, when Alicia and Istarted the show, the whole
premise was sharing a drink withour guests, right, sharing a
drink with our guests and havinga real conversation about what
life is like with IBD, and wefinally get somebody who is
(17:49):
actual distiller on the show anda patient and I have to be so
and I can't even have a drinkbecause I'm doing scope prep.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
And the irony of it all, that's okay.
I have two drinks, so I'll takecare of your drink for you.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
You mentioned diet playing a big role for you in
your initial retelling of yourstory.
How did diet play a big rolefor you?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
So for me I had a lot of inflammation that was
triggered by food and soeliminating a lot of those foods
really changed everything forme, particularly for me, and
everybody is different obviously, so you know not everyone is
going to have the same reactionsor triggers or response as I
did, but for me it was really.
It was corn, it was wheat,those were the biggest ones was
(18:49):
were gluten and corn.
So any products in the US thoseare very prevalent in all of
our food.
So you know you have cornstarch, corn syrup, it's in everything
and it's hidden away.
So removing those from my dietand some of the like gluten, I
had kind of figured out a littlebit on my own, but I was
missing corn and that diagnosisgiving me that FODMAP diet to
(19:12):
kind of like start from, and itjust it really did help me find
that final answer and feel goodagain.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
And how long have you been in this process, using
this diet, changing the way thatyou eat?
Has it been consistent for youor has it been something that
kind of goes up and down andyou've had to rethink and
rechange?
Speaker 4 (19:38):
Yeah, I mean so it has.
There have been some changes,but since my diagnosis it stayed
fairly stable as far as thethings.
There's one new thing got addedin for me, which was cumin,
funny enough, but before that itwas hills and valleys.
It was trying to figure it out.
It was trial and error, butsince my diagnosis it's been
pretty stable.
I bring a business card toevery restaurant I go to that
(19:59):
lists my allergies so that thechefs take it seriously.
I found that to belife-changing too, that the
chefs really take it seriouslyand they can check ingredients,
and it's helpful for therestaurants as well.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I love that you bring a card with you.
So many times when I talk topatients they don't want to say
anything.
When they go to a restaurant,they feel uncomfortable saying
something.
They don't want to be a bother,they don't want to be a burden.
And you can eat out.
Everyone.
If you're listening, you caneat out and it's not a bother or
a burden to state your needs,or even if you don't want to say
(20:31):
anything out, you know, whileyou're eating dinner beforehand,
go over the menu, go to thewebsite, see what they have that
you can eat.
Call the restaurant in advance.
If there's an email address,email the restaurant in advance
and let them know that you'recoming and what your food
restrictions are, as I thinkthat Tracy could agree with me.
As a restaurant family growingup in the restaurant business,
(20:52):
the people in the kitchen wantto make you happy.
They want you to enjoy the foodthat they're cooking.
As someone who has worked in akitchen in a restaurant, I feel
like I can speak confidently fora lot of people in the kitchen
Like, preparing food for otherpeople brings us joy, yes, and
we want people to leave theestablishment with a good
experience and loving what weprepared.
(21:13):
So don't feel like you're aburden.
Don't feel like asking thekitchen to prepare something
special or different or removeingredients for you is going to
be a burden for them, becausepeople in the kitchen, they want
you to enjoy what they'repreparing.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
So thank you for saying that and I also, you know
I try to make it easy for them.
But you know, with the businesscard but also sometimes, if I
can, I try to eat early or late,so preferably early for me, but
so that it's not in theirbusiest time or, like you said,
I call ahead and they're soappreciative of that and they,
like you said, they just they'reso accommodating when they can
be.
So I've had great experienceswith restaurants.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
I'm really so glad to hear you say that and, as Robin
said, I'm excited about thebusiness card with the
information on it because I cantell you, recently in Europe and
then recently in New Orleans,going out to eat, the first
question, before we were evenseated at the table in every
location was is there anythingyou want us to know about food
allergies or any otherintolerances you have?
(22:10):
And I feel like that is theresult of this community really
embracing that they need theelimination of certain things so
that we can enjoy being out andin these environments.
So thank you for doing that inthat way.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
And that has changed over time.
For sure.
I remember in the beginning ofthis process for me, you know
we'll say even before mydiagnosis like 10, 12 years ago
people would ask me if I hadceliac and I wanted to ask them
if they had herpes.
I'm like, do I have to bring mydoctor's note to eat here?
(22:46):
I know that's silly, but youknow know, like I'm pretty open,
I don't care, I feelcomfortable talking about it,
but some people might not.
So it was inappropriate andthey wouldn't want to serve you
unless you had celiac.
And I'm like well, I don't haveceliac, I have Crohn's.
Is that checked on your mark?
(23:08):
Is that okay?
Do you approve?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Does that qualify me?
Do I get into the big kid table?
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Exactly, but right now I feel like restaurants are
so much more open andunderstanding to allergies
because they're so prevalent andthey have to be.
They have to accommodate people.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Was it this work in figuring out what you could
tolerate, what you could eat,that led you to Wisher, or was
that like something completelydifferent?
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That was later.
I think it was later.
I had already realized Icouldn't have weed, I couldn't
have corn.
I went to an event and Icouldn't eat or drink anything
because everything was wheatcorn or something.
Couldn't eat or drink anythingbecause everything was wheat
corn or something.
And so I called my friend andnow my co-founder, emily Gillis,
(23:59):
gillis, terry, and I said Emily, I went to this party, I
couldn't eat or drink anything.
We need to make a vodka.
So it kind of started almost asa joke.
But then we started diving indeeper and learning about trends
and doing all this research andtalking to all these people,
and we found that a lot ofpeople felt like we needed more
transparency in this industry.
(24:19):
And so we're like, okay, Ithink we might actually be onto
something.
I think that there's a needhere.
We need to fill this need.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
So how many years in development, how many years from
the watershed moment of we needto develop a vodka to where you
actually had a product, you hadpackaging, you had everything
to go to market.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Well, I think I was diagnosed in 2019, 2018, 2019.
And then the year of COVID iswhen we came up with this idea
that we were going to startlooking.
So we happen to have a lot oftime.
So this is our COVID baby.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
And.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
I have four big babies now grown 17, 18, and 21.
But this was our COVID baby andwe had time.
So we just started callingeveryone we could think of, from
restaurants to bartenders, todistillers, to distributors,
just talking to anybody.
We would just get on the phoneand talk to everybody we could
think of and then it kind ofcame down to okay, now we know
(25:17):
what the market wants, we knowwhat we need to make.
Now are we really doing this?
You know it's time to put somemoney out there if we're going
to really do this.
So then we went to visit.
We started with 300 distillers,narrowed that down to 60
distillers that we visited andthen chose our distiller from
there and decided to make Wisher.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
So extremely impressive.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Oh, and I don't think I answered your question.
So we actually we launchedonline on March 12th of 2022 and
we launched in the real worldin restaurants and liquor stores
in 2023.
So about two years ago.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Okay, so what is unique about Wisher?
Because you said that you wentto a party.
There was nothing you coulddrink, so you did this research.
So why can you drink Wisher?
Speaker 4 (26:04):
So we make Wisher from sugar beets.
So usually vodka is made frompotatoes or corn or wheat and so
we use sugar beets and makingWisher gluten-free, grain-free
and vegan.
And we also lab test Wisher sothat you can be certain that you
can sip with confidence,knowing what's in your vodka.
(26:26):
That's incredible.
Yeah, it was all about bringingtransparency to the industry.
You know, in our vodka it'smade with sugar beets, yeast and
water.
We make it in small batch.
It's not mass-produced neutralgrain alcohol which is like a
strong, like, I guess, moonshine, sort of mass-produced out of
corn and wheat.
Generally we make ours out ofthe ingredients and then we lab
(26:49):
test after every batch, afterwe've made it.
We do use a gluten-free yeast.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Now I need to know more, because you did your
research, you found yourdistillery, you found your
product that you're going tomake it out of, and then you
decide to actually launch abusiness.
But I was snooping around onyour LinkedIn and you're already
winning awards.
So I mean, you went from thisis our COVID baby to now, just
(27:16):
four short years later, winningawards.
So talk to me about that.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Oh, it's been really exciting and such an honor too.
We were recognized as the grandvodka of the year by the
bartender spirits Award, whichis a global competition.
We were also named Producer ofthe Year, gold Medalist, and
they rated us 95 points overall,with 98 point rating for taste.
(27:40):
So yeah, it's been a reallysuccessful year and you know,
just, you know, kind ofauthenticates our brand and
legitimizes and validates whatwe've been doing, because it
wasn't just about making anyvodka, it was about making a
quality, nice, you know, nice,sippable vodka.
So so that was the.
That was a successful year forus.
(28:02):
That was our goal.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
And, as we saw from your two drinks that you brought
to the podcast today, you candrink it with confidence.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yes, we can sip with confidence.
That's what we like to say.
And you know, the lab testingmakes it one step further, so
that you know there's no gluten,there's no corn, there's no
grain in our product.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
I actually was introduced to you by somebody
that I know at the Crohn's andColitis Foundation in the DC
Maryland chapter, so I know thatyou are involved with the
Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
Can you talk about yourinvolvement?
How did you get involved withthem and what kind of stuff do
you do with the Crohn's andColitis Foundation?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation reached out
to us and asked us to helpsupport with some of their
events in the DC and Marylandarea, and actually initially
nationally.
But we just don't have anational license quite yet.
So of course we are excited tocontribute and partner with them
and we've with all of theirevents their galas, their
(29:03):
cocktail competition event, allof their events.
We're there to support them inany way we can.
And how long have you beendoing that?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
work with them.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
Pretty much since the beginning.
For the last two years, sincewe've been in the real world,
I'll say, not just online.
We've been working with themsince the beginning and we've
supported their gala the lasttwo years, as well as their
cocktail competition.
So two years ago we offeredtheir welcome cocktail for their
(29:32):
competition and this past yearwe actually they awarded us the
Crohn's and Colitis Foundationcraft for a cure cocktail
competition award.
That's a mouthful.
A lot to say that they awardedus the best cocktail, so that
was quite an honor as well.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Love it what I will say is that I listened to a
couple of podcasts that you wereon, but I saw that you and this
could be old, so, if it is,just let me know.
Your vodka is available in DC,Maryland and now.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Florida, illinois.
We just obtained our license inIllinois, but if you go to
wishorvodkacom, you can seewhich stores we're available in,
but also we ship to 42 states,so you can order a bottle on our
website as well.
Yeah, and at Wishor Vodka,across social medias all of the
(30:27):
social medias you can see wherewe'll be offering our next
tasting or sampling or event anddifferent things there too, and
do you?
Speaker 3 (30:35):
regularly include your story or stories of patrons
who partake in your vodkarelated to how they can replace
your vodka and still enjoy beingable to have a drink.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
We always share that's.
You know that's the forefront.
If I'm telling someone thequick and dirty about our vodka,
I'm going to say this is Wisharvodka.
It's gluten free, grain free,vegan and sugar free.
We make it from sugar beets.
We lab test and we just wongrand vodka of the year.
We were rated 95 points overalland 98 points for taste.
(31:12):
So this is a high quality,sippable vodka and that's what
we're sharing to every person.
We get our hands on, so theyget a little bit of all of that.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Kim, it has been so lovely getting to know you
better and I thank you so muchfor agreeing to come on the show
.
And it's time, unfortunately,for me to ask you our last
question.
So what's the one thing youwant the IBD community to know?
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Well, your struggle doesn't have to define you, but
it can create a new you.
You know, just move forwardinto the new you and accept it
and appreciate how it's going tochange you.
And adversity can also be youradvantage if you look at it the
right way.
I wouldn't have created Wisherhad I not been diagnosed with
(31:54):
Crohn's.
I wouldn't be doing what I'mdoing today and I love what I do
.
So, you know, just move forwardand see the positive in it
would be my advice.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
I love it.
I have often said that Iwouldn't be the person I am
without my diagnosis.
100% would not be the personthat I am without that.
So I feel that I mean I'm nothappy about it, right, this
second prepping for my scope,but you know, Well, and I'll go
even further we wouldn't be thefamily that we are without it.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
All three of our children and our grandchildren
wouldn't be the kids that theyare without having gone through
this as a family.
And oh, I'm getting emotionalabout it too, so I'm going to
back up.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
Do you have a family history?
I'm curious if you have afamily history.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
It's a very vague family history.
How do you like that?
So we have my.
Our paternal grandmother hadsymptoms most of her life.
She was diagnosed with coloncancer when she was in her 50s
(33:05):
and they believe it was a resultof or, you know, the family has
surmised that it was a resultof some type of IBD.
Robin, myself, her girls, myson all have some form of
symptom.
Robin is the only one of us, Ibelieve robin you can correct me
, she's the only one of us witha diagnosis, but we all have
some version of symptoms that wewe've had to manage.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I call it gastric distress.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yes, isn't that nice.
It should be called gastrichysteria.
You remember when they used tosay women, women were diagnosed
with hysteria.
It should be called gastrichysteria.
Make it sound crazy.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Yeah, remember when the prescription of that was
like sending women away to thesea.
I would love that now.
Please just send me away to thesea for fresh air and leave me
there.
That would be lovely.
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
Fresh fish, fresh fruit, that's all I need.
That's right.
Ship us some vegetables andsome wish or vodka, we're all
good.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yeah, I am totally down for that.
I think we have a trip.
I think this is a bowel momentvacation planning session.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Anybody interested in a bowel moments retreat to the
sea?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Yes, exactly they do have those, don't they have
those gluten-free cruise ships?
Have you ever done that?
I have not done that.
But yeah, I haven't either.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
But I'm like that's something we could totally do, I
mean.
I mean, you guys are atestament to what can happen
when you have an idea and thewill to make it real Robin with
this podcast, you with yourvodka and your co-founder.
So what we can accomplish whenwe just have an idea and the
will to make it happen isincredible.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Thank you so much again, Kim, for joining us,
Thank you, Tracy, for popping inand being my co-host, and thank
you everybody for joining us.
Thank you, Tracy, for hoppingin and being my co-host, and
thank you everybody forlistening.
Cheers, everybody, Cheers.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
If you liked this episode, please rate, review,
subscribe and, even better,share it with your friends.
Cheers.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.