Meet the Woman who's Making Social Enjoyments Stand Out

For two and a half years, Leah Caplanis didn't drink alcohol. Because of health issues, she tried working on getting her body in the best shape possible through holistic options and by becoming a raw vegan. But on a beautiful day in Chicago last summer, she decided that she wanted to enjoy a drink. So she went to the liquor store where she spotted  a woman-branded product that she purchased and brought home, though she  was slightly disappointed in the taste. The experience prompted a desire for a natural and portioned out, single-serve product. “Most alcohol products are marketed and designed for men, so I saw a huge gap here,” Caplanis said. “I wanted something I wanted to drink.” Caplanis had been working in sales for eight years at Nestle, while simultaneously enrolled at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. While pursuing her MBA, she heard of a business competition deemed a “New Venture Challenge,” which she entered and eventually led her team to the second round. This past June, she quit her job and found herself in an accelerator program from the U of C incubator offering free office space and $10,000 to pursue a business idea. “My good friend from grad school and I had worked on some start-up ideas before, and he had always wanted to do a sake drink,” Caplanis said. “Shortly  after they began working on the concept, we got a few more teammates and we began working with the co-founder of Izze, Ray Klimovitz, so we were working with a flavor company.” Klimovitz worked with Capanis to help create the flavor of the hibiscus-cucumber sake drink she and her teammates were crafting called Social Enjoyments. Two more flavors are currently in development for release in the spring of 2014, and the project will be launching a Kickstarter campaign later this fall. The drink has been created to offer females empowerment, with the slogan “Freedom to Enjoy Life.” Caplanis really wanted to hit a target market and create a niche drink that is currently nonexistent in the bars and liquor stores. Social Enjoyments is naturally sweetened, gluten free and organically flavored, with 4 percent alcohol, which makes it a lower-calorie, single serving beverage that comes in at 88 calories for a 10.5 oz. can. “It’s a feel good thing because women are drinking vodka sodas and getting too drunk, so the product provides a healthier option,” she said. The soul of the product lies in providing females with a drink made just for them; however, there is an additional driving force behind Social Enjoyments: Chicago. “We want to be a point of pride for Chicago,” Caplanis said. “We are a Chicago start-up and going to grow with the help or our community.” The brand is currently meeting with a distributor and hoping to start in the windy city and explode outward to allow females across the country to enjoy being free and feeling good.