EASY
DAYS.
take it easy, take it often.
A kratom-forward functional shot. American made, lab-tested, built on transparency — created to serve everyday consumers looking for a better alternative. The category already exists. Our job is to upgrade it.
Brand & Product
Why the category exists, how we differentiate, and what goes in the bottle.
They handed us
the playbook.
Botanic Tonics built the category — then got sued for the way they built it. Their vulnerability isn't budget; it's the foundation. Easy Days is engineered around that exact gap.
Class-action settlement (Mar 2025). Marketed Feel Free as a 'safe alternative to alcohol' while leading with kratom.
Habit-forming label now lives permanently on pack + on the competitor's homepage footer.
Feel Free banned May 6, 2026. ~200 deaths attributed in-state.
San Diego, Newport Beach, and Oceanside have banned kratom sales.
Compliance alone is a defensive crouch. The winning move is offensive differentiation — be the kratom shot that is clean, transparent, and credible precisely where they got sued.
Blue-collar
premium.
for tradespeople, drivers, hospitality, veterans, gig workers — every collar.
* Rendering for placement only — not the final product.
Clean kratom.
Nothing to hide.
Natural leaf kratom plus functional botanicals — kola nut, L-theanine, B-vitamins, adaptogens. No 7-OH, ever. Fully disclosed on the label, lab-tested every batch, and sold only where legal — built to be the compliant, transparent choice in the category.
- 2 oz format
Functional, premium, built for repeat-purchase economics.
- Lab-tested every batch
Public COA portal. Scan the QR straight off the shelf.
- Made in America
Domestic supply, domestic manufacturing, full traceability.
- Age-gated 21+
Direct, warm, plain-spoken — never preachy.
One bottle.
A whole line.
Same iconic 2 oz silhouette, same clean-label promise — different color stories for different occasions. Classic stays the hero; the line extensions own the moments retail can't address with one SKU.
The original 2 oz clean kratom shot — the SKU every other Easy Days extension orbits around.
Softer, cooler positioning for yoga studios, wellness retail, and the calm-state occasion.
Music-led SKU for festivals, venues, DJs, and creators. Night-occasion drop with creator co-signs.
Built for the trades, long-hauls, and double shifts. C-store, truck stop, and gas — straight to the people who keep America moving.
For the gym, BJJ mats, MMA, and motorsports — the recovery + push SKU for athletes who feel the work the next day.
A second format the shot can't reach — upscale, innovative, portable. Pocketable tin or magnetic case, premium unboxing, designed to live on a nightstand, in a gym bag, or on a checkout counter at a wellness retailer. Same clean-label, lab-tested promise as the 2 oz — different occasion, different shelf.
10 ct portable tin / refill pouch.
Discreet, anytime, travel-ready.
Wellness, premium C-store, DTC subscription.
Renderings for line architecture only — not final packaging.
Scan it.
We dare you.
Five pillars that turn compliance into a brand asset — and a rebuttal kit so any owner can answer the hard questions without flinching.
Public COA portal. Every batch, every lab result, scannable from the shelf. “Scan it. We dare you.”
Clearest label in the aisle: ingredients, servings, effects, age gate, guidance.
Align with AKA + kratom trade bodies. Support KCPA-style frameworks. We want smart rules.
Substantiation file, label legal review per state, insurance, retailer indemnification — built before scale.
Support the people who support America. Tie the brand to hard-working Americans.
Meet the fear head-on.
That case was about hidden kratom content and undisclosed 7-OH. Easy Days discloses everything on the front label, excludes 7-OH entirely, and publishes lab results for every batch.
Kratom is federally legal at the federal level and has been used traditionally for centuries. We use natural leaf kratom only, exclude 7-OH entirely, lab-test every batch, and sell only in states where it remains legal.
FDA action targets concentrated 7-OH — which we do NOT use. We support sensible regulation and age-gating.
We provide per-state compliance docs, COAs, and retailer support. We monitor monthly. Retailer indemnification available.
Where the law
actually stands.
Legal · GRAS (HI)
Secondary/legacy ingredient — no longer the hero.
Federal legal · 7 state + city bans
Hero ingredient. Natural leaf only, fully disclosed, sold where legal.
FDA actively targeting · FL emergency rules
Avoid entirely. Radioactive core.
Sources: ClassAction.org · Top Class Actions · 710 Pipes · Buchanan Ingersoll · Kava Depot · FDA 7-OH guidance
Market Opportunity
Proven demand, open shelf space, and the competitors we are built to out-execute.
They sold us
the target list.
We grid-searched feel free's own store locator across FL, CA, TX, and Las Vegas and pulled 1,138 unique, named retailers with full addresses. Every one already sells a kava shot. The buyer is pre-educated. The shelf exists. Our rep's job is a SWITCH/ADD pitch — not category education.
Deepest competitor footprint. I-4 + Gold Coast spine.
Houston · DFW · SA · Austin. Massive c-store base.
Single dense metro. Smoke/vape + Strip-adjacent c-stores.
Statewide kratom ban effective Oct 2025. Largest clean-shelf opening.
Kratom is banned in San Diego, Newport Beach & Oceanside. EASY DAYS is not.
feel free has only ~103 discoverable CA stores vs 453 in FL — despite CA being far larger. As a clean kava (no-kratom) product, we can legally occupy shelf space they're barred from. This is the single strongest argument for the clean formulation.
Indies,
not chains.
| Channel | CA | FL | TX | LV | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-Store / Gas | 27 | 207 | 211 | 58 | 503 |
| Smoke / Vape | 35 | 123 | 54 | 69 | 281 |
| Other / Indep. | 9 | 112 | 137 | 8 | 266 |
| Liquor / Wine | 32 | 6 | 23 | 18 | 79 |
| Kava / Kratom Bar | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Nutrition / Supp | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Hire route reps, not chain-account managers.
3 mgrs.
9 reps. + President of Sales.
453 stores across 6 Tier-1 metros — most ground to cover.
Houston + DFW + SA + Austin are far apart; needs bodies.
HQ + clean-kava expansion play. Opening NEW doors.
Single dense metro. Relationships do the heavy lifting.
Comp model: base + per-door-opened bonus + velocity/reorder commission. Reps are paid to (1) open accounts and (2) keep them reordering — the same two things that build our velocity story for chains later.
Walk in.
Sample the owner. Close.
“You already sell feel free — here's the clean-kava version with nothing to hide. Same shelf, no kratom-lawsuit baggage, better margin.”
feel free settled $8.75M over hidden kratom and is banned in Utah + 3 CA cities. EASY DAYS carries none of that risk.
Single-owner + franchisee accounts decide same-day. Close with a free-fill / case-free-with-display offer.
Counter unit placed that day. Golf-bag dealer loader at a volume threshold.
Status · Rep · Priority · Notes — work it like a CRM until it migrates to GoHighLevel.
Where they lost
shelf space.
Feel Free's kratom-based formula is losing shelf space fast under new state and local action. Every store that drops it is a door we can walk into with a clean, kratom-free alternative.
The California Dept of Public Health declared kratom / Feel Free illegal to manufacture or sell statewide, effective October 24, 2025. By March 2026 retailer compliance hit 95% per SF Chronicle and CalMatters reporting — a de facto statewide ban even without new legislation. Local bans already cover San Diego, Oceanside, Newport Beach, Anaheim, Jurupa Valley, San Mateo County, LA County, and Riverside County.
The Attorney General's emergency rule from August 2025 pulled roughly 18,000 concentrated 7-OH products statewide. Natural kratom leaf remains legal for 21+. Sarasota County has a full ban, while Manatee County is considering one.
No ban — just strict testing, 21-plus age gates, and labeling rules. This should be framed as 'we already meet the new standard' rather than a shelf-opening story.
No ban yet. The Nevada State Board of Pharmacy is actively considering scheduling kratom, so this is a watch state rather than a current opportunity.
As of July 2026, kratom is banned outright in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Utah is a special case: SB 45 bans the sale of "feel free" by name in 321 Utah retail locations effective May 6, 2026, with Botanic Tonics currently suing over it. These are markets where kratom-based competitors are now completely gone.
This is a fast-moving legal landscape with active lawsuits in Utah and Florida and a pending DEA action. Legal counsel should verify current status state by state before this becomes locked-in company strategy.
Brands win
here first.
No slotting fees. No big distribution deals. The major brands can't move here — their distributor contracts and category-captain agreements lock them out. That's exactly why we move first. Contacts and connections in these channels are the asset — every relationship is a moat.
Campus C-stores, athletics, dining services, residence-life vending.
Pilot with one flagship university; expand via dining service GPO + bookstore network.
Mini-bars, lobby markets, gym/pool fridges, gift shops.
Boutique + lifestyle brands first (1 Hotels, Kimpton, Marriott Autograph). Premium SKU placement.
Unattended 24/7 retail in offices, gyms, residential, factories.
Operators like Canteen, Five Star, 365 Retail Markets — one buyer = thousands of doors.
Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, members clubs, country clubs.
Bartender-led seeding. Non-alc occasion = real margin. Wedge against energy + RTDs.
Corporate cafeterias, breakrooms, on-site refreshment.
Aramark, Compass, Sodexo, Eurest. National corporate wellness contracts.
AAFES, NEX, MCX, DeCA commissaries. On-base C-stores + PX.
Veteran-owned story + GRIND SKU. Long approval cycles — start now.
Cruise line concessions, port shops, correctional commissaries.
Keefe / Union Supply for corrections; cruise via concessionaire RFPs (Carnival, Royal, NCL).
QSR, fast-casual, independent — counter placement + grab-and-go cooler.
Regional chains first — bypass national slotting. Owner-operator hand-sell.
Traditional grocery + chain C-store demand $25K–$250K slotting + category-captain approval. These channels don't.
One operator contact unlocks hundreds to thousands of doors at once. We're building a contact-led sales motion, not a slotting-fee budget.
Investors and advisors with ties to Canteen, Aramark, Compass, AAFES, Keefe, major hotel F&B, or university dining — those intros are equity-level valuable.
Demand is proven. The leader hasn't been named.
Multiple brands validated the functional shot category. Regulatory drag, narrow positioning, and thin retail execution left the shelf open. Easy Days enters as the transparent, retail-first upgrade.
- →Cleaner positioning — kratom-forward, no 7-OH, fully disclosed.
- →Retail-first execution with a full-time field team
- →Transparency: lab tests, sourcing, and dosage published
- →Community building — every collar, every day
- →Owned reorder cycles at the store level
upgrade the category.
$50K in.
Trade shows out.
CPG Xperience is how a new brand walks into Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans, and every major C-store chain without writing a $400K trade-show check. Shared booth space at the shows buyers actually walk — Fancy Food, Expo West, Sweets & Snacks, NACS, ECRM, NACUFS, Newtopia— with curated, pre-booked buyer meetings.
vs. $400K traditional trade-show + booth + activation + travel.
Pre-booked buyer connections, not random scans.
No long-term broker contract. Pay per program.
Direct buyer speed-dating
C-store + grocery buyers
Premium + specialty
C-store national chains
University dining services
Natural + clean-label
Deli / dairy / bakery
Hotel + resort F&B
- · Shared premium booth space at major shows.
- · Pre-show marketing + curated buyer outreach.
- · Lead capture, sample logistics, after-hours networking.
- · Direct intros to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wegmans, 7-Eleven, Circle K, Casey's, Aramark, Compass.
- · Post-show follow-up — not just a stack of cold scans.
We don't need a $400K Vegas booth to prove the brand. We need 300–500 qualified buyer conversations per event, a clean-label story they can take to their category review, and a follow-up motion routed straight into GoHighLevel. CPG X gives us the room — our sales team closes it.
cpgxperience.com ↗Go-to-Market Playbook
The step-by-step field and retail motion that turns doors into reordering accounts.
Own the
independents.
Target single-owner independents and franchisees where one person can say yes. Fastest, highest-margin path. Sidesteps chain-buyer slotting fees while building the velocity story we walk into chains with.
C-stores · smoke / vape · kava-kratom bars · liquor · bodegas · gas forecourts.
Franchise-operated locations where the franchisee controls SKUs.
Gyms · nutrition shops · hospitality · barbershops · car washes.
President of Sales = the tip of the spear in Vegas + multi-unit groups.
Priced
to move.
Premium-but-accessible. Benchmarked to Feel Free single-serve.
Healthy retailer margin = the reason a single owner says yes + re-orders.
Mirrors category norms; supports dealer-loader programs.
Removes risk for the independent. Drives the initial yes.
Merch as
marketing.
- Counter displays$6–$25Impulse zone · single most important POS
- Floor / permanent racks$45–$220Budweiser-style lock on space
- Cooler decals + pole huggers$2–$12Owns the cold vault
- Danglers · wobblers · strips$0.30–$1.20Cheap shelf ownership
- Window clings + posters$0.60–$60Storefront branding
- LED lit signage (key accts)$60–$300Top-velocity + kava bars
- Tees · slogan tee$6–$12
- Trucker caps (USA-made)$10–$22
- Hoodies / workwear$28–$55
- Stickers · collectible series$0.15–$0.50
- Enamel pins · patches$1.50–$4
- Drinkware · tumblers$8–$20
Tchotchkes are not throwaways — they are brand impressions you pay for once and earn for years.
The
golf bags.
Earn a premium reward for purchasing a qualifying volume OR building a display. Classic beverage-industry trade incentive.
Custom Easy Days golf bag — navy / gold / red, embroidered wordmark. $120–$280 ea depending on quality + order size.
Buy X cases or commit to 90-day display → earn the bag. Tier larger rewards (grill, cooler, fleet-branded gear) for multi-unit owners.
Field Machine
Vehicles, events, and the street-level system that makes the brand impossible to miss.
The brand
on wheels.
HEROThe hype vehicle. Events, motorsports, car meets, social content.
Pure American muscle. Speaks to car culture + RAFA audience.
WORKHORSEThe sampling rig. Tailgate sampling, retailer drops, daily field vehicle.
The truck of the American worker. Carries serious gear + product.
LIFESTYLEAll-terrain. Beaches, outdoor events, trades job-sites, overland.
Rugged, open-air for sampling. Reaches outdoor + blue-collar lifestyle.
Livery: orange base · black accents · matte finish · left ¾ from above · tagline "Here to support you"
Team & Territory
The people, markets, launch sequencing, and city clusters that turn the plan into shelf presence.
Every shelf
has an owner.
Two founders, two operating pillars, one field army. Here's who owns what.
Sets the bet. Owns vision, capital, and the line every decision is measured against.
Builder partner to Shiky — keeps founding intent intact as the company scales.
Owns the brand engine end-to-end — positioning, story, and how Easy Days shows up everywhere. Marketing org reports up through here.
Runs the company day-to-day and owns revenue once hired.
Builds the team and the systems behind it — hires the field, ships the SOPs.
Owns marketing as a P&L: media, growth, field marketing, and revenue accountability.
Owns DTC, paid, lifecycle, and the digital shelf end-to-end.
Guardian of the bottle, the world, and the feel — keeps every asset on-brand.
The team that ships every week.
Across ops, sales, field, and marketing — every seat owns a number.
Runs the company day-to-day and owns revenue, field, and distribution.
Wins the most important shelf in America.
Owns the channel where the category was born.
Independent + chain liquor account expertise.
Bars, kava lounges, hotels — 21+ trade.
Activates accounts, events, street demand.
Daily voice of Easy Days across every feed.
Keeps the brand standard live in every asset.
Lifecycle, retention, and inbox revenue.
Account follow-up, reorders, partner support.
One operator per channel.
Warm intros into every doorway we need to walk through.
C-store distribution, set & velocity strategy.
Independent + chain liquor account expertise.
Sprouts / Whole Foods style channel expertise.
Where Feel Free was born — our buyer already shops here.
Direct-store-delivery network and route economics.
5 reasons this
ship sails.
A CMO whose range spans DTC, paid, content, social, and retail media — built for a brand that has to win on phones before it wins on shelves.
Direct lines into buyers, operators, and founders across beverage, c-store, and lifestyle — the calls get returned.
Not a deck-builder. A team that has shipped launches, run trade, and turned plans into POs and reorders.
Designers, agencies, brokers, DSD partners, and CPG X for trade shows — a bench that scales without new headcount.
Fluent in the audience Easy Days actually speaks to — the shot-bottle, functional, anti-energy world is home turf, not a research project.
Six markets. Ten field seats.
Florida is HQ (Palm Beach) and the biggest opportunity — ~4,000 doors, 5 FMMs on the ground. NJ · PA (Philly + Scranton) · IL each get a dedicated FMM. KY is scoped as a potential seventh seat as Phase 1 traction hits.
HQ Palm Beach. ~4,000 doors in the state — the single best opportunity in the country. Kava-bar culture, C-store density, sampling-friendly year-round.
Best opportunity · huge potential.
Dense independent + bodega footprint, direct feeder into the NY metro. One rep owns the market end-to-end.
Anchor rep, expand on velocity.
Urban C-store + smoke/vape density. Trades, hospitality, and delivery-driver base. Fast trial, fast reorder.
Pair with Scranton for full-state coverage.
NEPA blue-collar heartland. Underserved by functional shot brands — pure whitespace with loyal reorder behavior.
NEPA overlap with FL HQ operator network.
Chicago metro + downstate C-store scale. Central hub for Midwest expansion into WI, IN, MO.
Chicago licensing — plan compliance early.
Distillery + trades culture, light regulatory touch. Natural bridge into TN and OH once proven.
Scoped as potential — activate on Phase 1 traction.
FMM = Field Market Manager. FL leads with 5 seats against ~4,000 doors from HQ Palm Beach. NEPA corridor (NJ + PA) gets 3 seats. IL anchors the Midwest bridge. KY activates on Phase 1 velocity.
Densest cities,
first hires.
Staff follows density. Each cluster maps the highest-opportunity cities inside the six markets, so the first FMMs are planted where the doors are thickest.
HQ market. ~4,000 doors across the state — the deepest opportunity and the first five field seats.
NEPA corridor anchor. One rep owns the independent + bodega footprint end-to-end.
Philly metro + NEPA blue-collar belt. Two reps split the state for full coverage.
Midwest bridge. Chicago metro + downstate C-store scale; launchpad for WI, IN, MO.
Potential Phase 2 seat. Distillery + trades culture; natural bridge into TN and OH.
Control the narrative
before it controls us.
Feel Free is in 30,000+ stores — and has absorbed sustained pressure on kratom, labeling, habit-forming warnings, and class-action litigation. The category is too sensitive to leave PR reactive. BLAZE PR protects the brand, supports Tom on litigation-facing comms, and makes every public statement, retailer pitch, and investor conversation airtight.
Own the kratom-forward story before the category's baggage owns us. Every retailer, investor, and media touchpoint on-message.
Direct support to Tom. Buttoned-up statements for regulatory, class-action, and labeling pressure that hit the category.
PR-grade materials behind every sell-in. Credibility that shortens the sales cycle and protects shelf.
Proactive, not reactive. Built before the first headline — not after.
Lifestyle · food & bev · CPG · health & wellness · supplements.
Hermes · PR World · Communicator · LABJ · PR News · PRSA PRism · Silver Quill.
Creators drive
the sell-in.
Influencer discovery, outreach, contracts, tracking, UGC rights.
Micro + mid-tier creators in FL / CA / TX / LV. Always-on seeding + paid posts.
Spark Ads + Advantage+ on the best-performing creator content.
Content becomes case-study fuel for sales — proof the brand is building fast. Hyper-targeted clips go straight into retailer pitch decks and dealer DM follow-ups.
Run an Elevation Program on top of the always-on creator stack — a single, high-trust voice that elevates EASY DAYS out of the influencer noise and into cultural permission. Mike Rowe is the target: blue-collar credibility, multi-generational reach, and a values fit with a clean, kratom-free alternative built for people who actually work for a living. One Rowe story arc — a long-haul drive, a job site, an end-of-shift moment — does more for retail sell-in than 50 micro posts.
Trusted by the exact demo that buys at C-stores, truck stops, and gas.
Equity-light deal: modest cash + performance + brand-builder stake.
Rowe-led clips become the hero asset in every retailer pitch deck.
Native fit for an innovative youth brand backed by creators. Build a digital-first relationship — instant-need delivery, late-night occasion, college markets. Best bet for fast online velocity.
Once retail footprint hits threshold — turn on as a tailwind to existing shelves. Sponsored placements behind creator-led content double the conversion.
Culture & Compensation
How we recruit, reward, and keep the team that builds this company.
Why top talent joins the founding team.
Base + performance + ownership mentality. This is not just employment — this is joining the founding team of a national beverage movement.
Cash per new active account. Paid on placement, bonused on reorder.
Reps own velocity. Ongoing % on the accounts they build.
Top ambassador of the month gets the vehicle, the merch drop, the stage time.
Ambassador → District → Regional → Director. Every seat has a path.
Team trips, launch events, motorsport activations, retreats.
Every seat owns a number.
Every shelf has an owner. Every mile creates impressions. Every rep builds an equity story.
Capital Plan
The raise, the use of funds, and the 90-day path to first revenue.
The cost of
showing up.
- Lease (3 vehicles)$800–$1,400 / mo36-mo terms; recommended
- Commercial wrap$3,500–$6,500 eaCast vinyl, 3–5 yr
- Fleet insurance$2,500–$5,000 / yrCommercial + activation rider
- Build-out$3,000–$8,000 eaCoolers, shelving, generator, sound
Fleet total (Yr 1, lease): $95K–$150K
- Field staff (Mgr + BAs)Per market:$120K–$180K4 markets:$480K–$720K
- Sampling product (COGS)Per market:$25K–$45K4 markets:$100K–$180K
- Events / sponsorshipsPer market:$30K–$60K4 markets:$120K–$240K
- Travel + lodgingPer market:$20K–$40K4 markets:$80K–$160K
- Local content productionPer market:$15K–$30K4 markets:$60K–$120K
The number
for four.
FL-only or FL+CA pilot with one wrapped RAM, lean field team, focused POS kit → $350K–$600K range. Phased version available on request.
Pour the
first one.
- 01Lock formulation (Path A — Clean Kratom).
- 02Engage regulatory counsel for multi-state label review · bind insurance.
- 03Finalize brand ID, packaging, slogan lockups, 3 vehicle wraps.
- 04Stand up COA testing + consumer QR portal.
- 05Build FL + CA target lists; brief President of Sales on Vegas multi-units.
- 01Acquire + wrap vehicles (RAM + Gladiator first).
- 02Produce POS kit v1 + first swag wave + golf-bag run.
- 03Hire + train FL and CA field teams; finalize SOPs.
- 04Launch DTC site + retailer portal; turn on referral/loyalty.
- 01Go live FL + CA: sampling, sell-in, display-with-purchase, dealer loaders.
- 02Activate content engine off every activation; geo-targeted paid on.
- 03Roll out 'Clean & Clear' transparency/advocacy publicly.
- 04Log velocity + display compliance; green-light TX + Vegas.