NutraWomen Wednesday: Lily Geiger, founder of Figlia
The brand was founded by 25-year-old Lily Geiger in honor of her father who she lost to alcoholism at age 20. This experience led Geiger to explore society’s relationship with alcohol, identify many of the factors that hinder recovery and engage in open conversations surrounding alcohol consumption.
“Growing up with an alcoholic parent and eventually losing a parent to alcoholism, I was super aware of the options that were not open and that were not there for people who didn't drink when they would get to a restaurant or bar. I would say the non-alcoholic options were typically left to the back of the menu or just they didn't have a menu at all that was specifically for the non-drinker. So I think coming up with more sophisticated options that actually tasted sophisticated, but didn't necessarily trigger them where they tasted like alcohol, was something that I wanted to focus on in developing flavor and the look of it. Making sure branding looked sophisticated and can stand on a bar cart next to a nice gin or whiskey or whatever spirit to make them feel like they're not totally left out of the community that is drinking. I think it really is a communal, conversational thing. So once you provide options that look sophisticated and taste great, you don't feel so closed out,” explained Geiger.
Figlia is Italian for “daughter." Geiger said her dad would be shocked at the booming no alcohol beverage category. “I think he’d be shocked just because it's crazy how this industry is so prevalent in our world. I think he’d totally be excited and I'm sure he’d want to have it [Figlia] all the time. I hope he’d be really proud.”
