How Sensori, A Black Women-Owned Functional Non-Alcoholic Startup, Onboarded Poppi’s Former VP Of Sales Operations And Revenue Strategy – AfroTech
Happenstance led functional non-alcoholic beverage startup, Sensori, to pursue a strategic hire.
Shanna Pearre (CEO), Darean Rhodes (COO), and Ashlyn Knox (CMO) are three best friends who cofounded the startup in 2024. Sensori beverages are powered by mushrooms, adaptogens, nootropics, and botanics, with the goal of replacing alcohol during modern social and self-care rituals, Pearre explained to AFROTECH™.
Wellness had long been important to the friend group, and they had a yearly tradition of participating in Dry January, an alcohol-abstinence challenge.
It was during one of those Dry January periods that Pearre began seeking a way to recreate the feeling often associated with drinking without the alcohol. She created various concoctions in January 2024, offering Rhodes and Knox samples along the way.
“She calls me after … that Julion had told her, her husband, ‘Why don’t you all just make this into a product, the concoctions,’” Rhodes said on the “She’s So Lucky” podcast, hosted by Les Alfred.
Pearre added:
“It truly was just like an in the kitchen moment. What’s wild is I had been asking God for a product for … I guess it probably had been a year.”
Within a week, Pearre found a formulator for $8,000 and secured a $20,000 credit card line that supported Sensori’s first purchases, with the trio all contributing to paying it down, Pearre shared on the podcast. It launched its inaugural blend called Connect. The payout for betting on Sensori was reflected within three months of its official launch in February 2025 when the company generated $25,000 in sales from 5,000 cans sold, Pearre added on the podcast.
After selling out, the trio raised around $140,000 in seed funding. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Block/Square, 19keys, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as medical sales leaders, real estate developers, a former retail executive participated in the round, which supported paid marketing and onboarded more contractors to assist with Sensori’s design.
Sensori relaunched in September 2025, with a new addition to its inaugural blend called Play in the flavor Blood Orange Habanero. Sensori has crossed $100,000 in revenue in Q1 2026, surpassing its total 2025 revenue, reflecting seven months of active selling amid frequent sellouts, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
Additional wins include being shelved in more than 20 boutique bottle shops or wellness studios, including WorldSprings, Evolve, Soberish, Wesley Wellness, Roots Bar, Generation NA, Balanced Being Yoga, and more.
A Conversation With Poppi Founder
The startup is greatly inspired by the success of Poppi, a prebiotic soda brand co-founded by Allison Ellsworth, which was acquired by Pepsi for $1.95 in 2025, according to a press release. Pearre spoke directly with Ellsworth during an Entrepreneurs League webinar with nearly 1,000 founders.
“I was one of three people selected to ask a question. I told her about Sensori: a non-alcoholic functional beverage brand built on a social-first, storytelling approach. Millions of organic impressions, features in over a dozen publications, nearly 20,000 followers, all without a traditional sales infrastructure behind it. My question was simple: ‘How do I take this momentum and turn it into shelf space,’” Pearre told AFROTECH™.
“Her answer was just as simple: “‘Find someone who really understands sales and distribution. Make them your first hire. They’ll know how to tell your story and help you claim shelf space,’” she added.
Divine Timing
Three days after that conversation, Pearre was hauling more than 100 packages into a UPS store on a Sunday afternoon. A woman held the door for her and asked what she was selling. Watkins informed her about the non-alcoholic beverage, and they chatted for 20 minutes.
“Her eyes went wide,” Pearre recalled.
The woman was none other than Jacqueline Harrill, the former VP of sales operations and revenue strategy at Poppi, who grew revenue from $20 million to $400 million in less than 2 years before the acquisition, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
Three weeks later, Harrill accepted to serve as Sensori’s strategic advisor for sales and distribution. According to Pearre, Harill is now applying the same playbook she used at Poppi to her work at Sensori, and the brand is now aiming for an exit of $300 million to $500 million.
“We know we are building the next category captain in the non-alcoholic functional space, and it means everything to have experts like Jacqueline Harrill in our corner,” Pearre expressed.
Harrill said, “Sensori is emerging as a true disruptor in the non-alcoholic, mood-enhancing beverage space. While brands like Hiyo and Recess helped define the category, Sensori is raising the bar across taste, packaging, and brand building. As an advisor, what stands out most is the team’s clarity of vision and their ability to execute with discipline in a rapidly evolving space.”
Sensori is currently in talks with a national retailer and will launch two new flavors in June for both the Connect and Play blends, per information shared with AFROTECH™.
Additionally, the founders are in the midst of a $500,000 celebrity, creator, and community raise with a target close of May 15. Phase two will be a $3.5 million institutional raise with a target close of June 30.
