SARAH KAUSS: A S'well is a fashionable water bottle that keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours. It's the first hydration fashion accessory. I'm Sarah Kauss. I'm the founder and CEO of S'well.
I founded S'well five years ago. I did a lot of research, and I found that the reason that people were using plastic water bottles was really out of convenience. So my goal with S'well was really to convert the non-converted-- to try to get people to use a reusable water bottle because it looked better or it worked better. One of the mantras I've been working on is to try to work on the business and not in the business.
KATIE GARBIS: S'well's branding is what really resonates with the customer. The style matched with the function is what people really love. The price point was definitely very difficult in the beginning. It was hard for our stores and our buyers to understand why the bottle costs what it did.
But once they understand that we're really leading with a style footprint and our charity partner, they understood why it needed to cost what it did. We've always partnered with water charities. Right now it's UNICEF, where we support the Tap Project.