I recently went one-on-one with Emily Susman, founder of Navi Mocktails.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Emily: My journey has been anything but linear. I’m a chef, entrepreneur, cookbook author, content creator, and now the founder of Navi Mocktails. My latest book, UNSTUCK: The Habits and Mindset to Rebuild Your Health, Confidence, and Life, was just published, too, so it’s been a big season. Before any of those titles, though, I was someone who struggled with my health, confidence, and relationship with alcohol.
Over the last several years, I got sober, lost more than 100 pounds, and completely transformed my lifestyle. Those changes taught me that lasting success comes from consistency, not perfection. Some of my biggest growth moments came from setbacks. Business ventures that didn’t go as planned, deals that fell through, hiring mistakes, and learning how to navigate uncertainty as an entrepreneur.
Most recently, I was involved in a serious car accident that required major back surgery. That experience reminded me how quickly life can change and that getting back up is always possible, even when it doesn’t feel that way. Hard things have a way of showing you who you actually are. Looking back, every setback taught me something that ultimately made me a better leader, entrepreneur, and person.
Adam: How did you build your following and become an influencer? What advice do you have for those interested in becoming influencers?
Emily: I built my following by showing up consistently and trying to be useful, long before I had any real strategy around it. As a food creator, I focused on recipes that were approachable, delicious, and visually appealing. I wasn’t chasing followers, I was trying to help people solve a problem: making great food at home. Over time, people connected not just with the recipes, but with the person behind them. I shared my weight-loss journey, sobriety journey, business experiences, successes, and struggles. Authenticity creates trust, and trust creates community.
My advice is simple: don’t focus on becoming an influencer. Focus on becoming an expert, storyteller, or resource in a specific niche. The audience comes as a result of providing value. Consistency, authenticity, and patience will always outlast a viral moment.
Adam: What is the biggest misconception about the influencer world and life as an influencer?
Emily: The biggest misconception is that it’s easy. People often see the finished photo, the brand partnership, or the polished video and assume that’s the entire job. What they don’t see is the overflowing camera roll just to get one usable shot, the late nights, and the fact that there’s no perfect how-to guide. A lot of it is just trial and error. The most successful influencers aren’t just creators. They’re entrepreneurs. Because it’s your vision, there’s no one else to hand it off to. You wear every hat, and that’s what makes it both difficult and rewarding.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea and know it was worth pursuing? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with and test business ideas?
Emily: Navi Mocktails came directly from my own life experience. After getting sober, I realized there were very few convenient alcohol-free options that felt special, tasted great, and aligned with my wellness goals. Most mocktails were loaded with sugar, artificial ingredients, or required a long list of mixers. I created Navi because I wanted something I personally wished existed: a no-added-sugar, powdered mocktail with functional ingredients that could fit into real life, whether you’re traveling, at the beach, in a hotel room, or at a party.
My advice is to solve a problem for a previous version of yourself. The best business ideas often come from frustrations you’ve personally experienced. Then, before you invest everything, just talk to people. Ask questions, listen more than you pitch, and let real feedback shape what you build. The market will tell you pretty quickly if you’re onto something.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Emily: One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that growth requires focus. It’s easy to chase every opportunity, especially early on when everything feels exciting and possible, but successful businesses are usually built by doing a few things exceptionally well. For me, growth has come from building a strong personal brand, creating products that align with my audience’s needs, leveraging partnerships, and continuously listening to customer feedback.
To take a business to the next level, I encourage entrepreneurs to work on systems rather than constantly solving the same problems. Build processes, hire people who complement your weaknesses, and don’t be afraid to evolve when the market changes
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Emily: Sales is really just helping people solve a problem. Once I reframed it that way, it stopped feeling like something I had to push through. Tell stories instead of listing features. Nobody remembers a spec sheet, but they remember how something made them feel. Build trust before you ever ask for anything, through content, through showing up, through just being honest about what your product is and who it’s for. And be consistent longer than feels reasonable. Marketing works like compound interest and most people quit right before it starts to work.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Emily: The best leaders combine vision with humility. They can clearly communicate where they’re going while remaining open to learning from others. They take responsibility when things go wrong and give credit when things go right. Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating an environment where great people can do their best work.
Aspiring leaders: become a better listener before anything else. Seek feedback, invest in your own growth, and get comfortable making hard calls even when you don’t feel ready. The uncomfortable decisions don’t really get easier; you just get better at making them.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Emily: Play the long game. Most meaningful success takes far longer than people expect, and the ones who get there are usually just the ones who didn’t quit. Stay committed long enough for the compounding to kick in.
Invest in relationships. Opportunities come through people far more often than they come through plans. Treat people well, build genuine connections, and lead with integrity even when it costs you something.
And don’t let fear make your decisions. It will always give you a reason to wait, to hedge, to play it safe. But growth almost always lives on the other side of the thing that scares you.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Emily: “Become the best version of yourself.” That advice sounds simple, but it has shaped nearly every major decision in my life. Whether it was losing weight, getting sober, building businesses, recovering from setbacks, or launching new products, I’ve learned that success starts with personal growth. When you consistently work on becoming a better version of yourself, everything else has a way of following.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Emily: It’s never too late to start over. I really mean that. No matter where you are today, you are not defined by your past mistakes, circumstances, or setbacks. I’ve experienced major personal and professional transformations, and every one of them started with a decision to take the next step forward. You don’t have to change your entire life overnight. Small, consistent actions taken over time can produce extraordinary results. That’s true in health, business, leadership, and life. It’s actually a lot of what I wrote about in UNSTUCK. That book is really a love letter to anyone who feels like they’re starting from scratch.
