Before the farmers’ markets, before the catering gigs, and before the endless options on their ever-growing menu, there were mock-up logos made late at night, pricing spreadsheets, and two girls with a dream of turning their favorite summer treat into a business.
“During our internship this summer, in the last hour, we would always make sodas. We would get a Coke and put vanilla in it, and one night, we started doing mock-ups and literally everything — looking at pricing and all those things — and we never looked back. And now we’re here,” said Maddie Andrade, co-founder of Drinking Dirty.
Delainee and Maddie, two Cal Poly students majoring in business with minors in entrepreneurship, started Drinking Dirty, a dirty soda business that has quickly gained momentum in the San Luis Obispo community. Over the summer, they worked at a Sales and Marketing internship for Golden State Farm back home, and at the end of each day they would grab sodas and add coffee creamer to them. What started as a simple habit eventually sparked a business idea that quickly turned into a reality.
When school started, they said yes to every opportunity that came their way. They brought their pop-up to small sorority events, campus gatherings, and anywhere they could set up their table.
In November, they landed a spot at the Paso Robles Farmers Market, and in January, they secured a spot at the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market—a milestone that proved the business was no longer just an experiment, but something real.
This milestone did not come easily; they faced constant roadblocks. Early on, consistency was a major challenge: balancing syrups and soda in large quantities while carefully managing their finances to ensure they could afford the product and still turn a profit. They balanced full course loads at Cal Poly while spending hours on marketing, including social media content, and navigating permits and vendor connections through relationships they built within the community. Despite the heavy workload, they committed to moving the business forward every single day.
As two young women building a business from the ground up, they learned that entrepreneurship requires more than creativity; it also demands confidence and perseverance to keep pushing forward, no matter the setback.
“I think you need to be confident in what you’re doing and actually want it. If neither of us wanted to do this, we wouldn’t be where we are right now,” said Delainee Fernandez.
They hope their journey shows other women that their ideas can be more than just ideas. With commitment, resilience, and belief, those dreams are not as far out of reach as they may seem.