Fern McCoy

Mockingbird Spirit

Fern McCoy

UK

Mockingbird Spirit is made with Blue Weber agave and Ashwagandha, an herb often used in Ayurveda that is said to help manage stress and anxiety. It is also suitable for vegans and has just 12 calories per 50ml serve.

Current investment status: 100% Self Funded

Earthy Blue Weber Agave, sweet vanilla and cinnamon with a healthy hint of habanero – evocative & moreish!

Questions & Answers
Praveen
Tell us about yourself and background about the startup.
Fern McCoy
I developed and launched Mockingbird Spirit during the initial Covid-19 UK lockdown. I’d worked in the alcoholic drinks industry previously but had a keen interest in the no-lo sector due to personal circumstances. So, I took the leap into ‘start-up world’ in a pretty tricky period of time but it’s been an incredible journey already and I’m super excited for what the future holds.

Praveen

How and when did the “eureka moment” came to you? – When you came up with this idea?

Fern McCoy

I’d been toying with the concept of a non-alcoholic Tequila alternative and wondering how or if it could work for a long time before it was really a eureka moment. I’d come up with the name, a lot of the flavour ideas and the branding while I was going through the process of sourcing the Blue Weber Agave plant from Mexico that makes actual Tequila. There was a real focus on using the authentic ingredient and we needed to make sure it would work in a similar way. Once we had ascertained it could be achieved, even though we were still a long way off perfecting it, that was my eureka moment.

Praveen

How did you come up with the name?

Fern McCoy

Mockingbird ticked so many boxes when I was workshopping the name that it simply had to be! There’s the pun Tequila Mockingbird – as in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ – in which the tale revolves around the mockingbird signifying innocence which was a nice play on the guilt you sometimes feel after ‘one too many’. The Mockingbird is of course best known for imitating other birds, so that worked well as we are imitating Tequila with our ‘spirit’. Plus, it ties in with mocktails as well, so it was kind of a no brainer.

Praveen

What is your WHY?

Fern McCoy

Tequila has always been my go-to alcoholic drink, it’s something I know and appreciate. However, as we all know, you probably shouldn’t be drinking Tequila too regularly and certainly not in excessive amounts. So, I wanted to make an alcohol-free option to add to the non-alcoholic offering that seemed to be mainly focussed on gin and beer. Why not have an alternative to Tequila too? Meaning you can have a tasty margarita on any day of the week but not suffer any of the negative consequences of having its alcoholic counterpart. It certainly will never replace Tequila, but it’s good to at least have the option.

Praveen

How many founders are in your startup? Can you shortly describe your role in the startup?

Fern McCoy

I am the sole founder of Mockingbird which means my role is extremely multi-faceted. In the early days I was doing everything, which meant a lot of different hats having to be worn throughout the day. Currently though my main focus is sales & marketing and then other parts of the day to day sit with a mixture of freelancers and part time staff. Especially the parts I don’t know enough about, I’ll leave that to the experts!

Praveen

What is USP for your startup?

Fern McCoy

We are the first Tequila alternative to be made with the Blue Weber Agave plant straight from Mexico that is used to make actual Tequila. We kept it as authentically true to its former as possible, just without the booze… or the hangover.

Praveen

Do you see a global presence for your startup? Which key countries you plan to target?

Fern McCoy

It’s still super early days but I’d love to grow the Mockingbird brand internationally. The most interest I get is certainly from America so that’ll be the natural progression of the brand as we start to expand into other territories. I’m also half American with dual nationality so it would be good to strengthen my ties to the motherland.

Praveen

What was your biggest fear, prior to starting the journey as a founder? How did you overcome this fear?

Fern McCoy

Being a solo founder, my biggest fear was going at it alone. There’s so much self-inflicted pressure when you’re on your own as a founder so it’s something I’m working on but not sure if I’ve overcome yet. It’s nice as the company is growing and I’m working with lots of new people all the time on different aspects of the business and it’s always a relief to have someone to turn to in moments of crisis, of which there’s many!

Praveen

Where do you see your startup in next 5 years?

Fern McCoy

In my ideal dream world, I’d love to have a close-knit team of other likeminded people with the same hopes for the product, working together in harmony to keep producing versatile and functional beverages in the sector with one common goal of health and happiness for everyone.

Praveen

What will you call success for your startup?

Fern McCoy

Managing to survive commercially during the pandemic has definitely been classed as somewhat of a success but now that we are hopefully looking to brighter times ahead our main focus is growing the brand nationally and then internationally. To be a global drinks company would be a true dream come true.

Praveen

How do you see impact of Covid-19 on your business?

Fern McCoy

The impact has been difficult to measure exactly because we launched during the pandemic. We don’t currently have anything to compare it to pre-covid which can be both a blessing and a curse. Of course, seeing the on-trade reopening will hopefully mean we can start expanding the brand in that direction and we’ll be looking to help boost the hospitality industry in any small way we can.

Praveen

If you had to give ONE piece of advice to someone starting out on entrepreneurial journey then what will it be?

Fern McCoy

Progress not perfection. Having the perfect business is unrealistic but making sure that each hour of each day of each week of each month that you are progressing, then that’s a really great place to be.