Founder’s Q&A - Mary Bernuth & Rhyno Stinchfield - Pharos Brands

What inspired both of you to come together and start Pharos Brands International, LLC?

Mary & Rhyno: The Pharos THC Seltzer story has to begin with Mary and Rhyno meeting.

Mary lived in Denver, Colorado for 41 years, happily married for 30 of those years to the father of her two daughters. Mary’s husband died of cancer in 2020. At age 47, Mary went to graduate school and at 50 years old started a full time psychotherapy practice working with adults and couples, many of whom were struggling with alcohol abuse.

After a couple of years mourning the loss of her husband, Mary decided she was ready to go on a dating site where she met Rhyno, who had recently expanded his dating search from Montana to Colorado. At 68 years of age, Mary decided to begin a new life and left Colorado to move in with Rhyno, 69, in Billings. At that time, Rhyno was running Pharos Laboratories of Oklahoma selling cannabis products including beverages, to over 100 dispensaries. Once Rhyno decided to pivot to manufacturing low-dose hemp derived THC beverages, he sold the high-dose medicinal products to a wholesaler and closed down the Oklahoma operation. It was at this time that Mary felt inspired to join Rhyno and together they created the four signature flavors of Pharos Premium THC Seltzers as a low-dose alternative to alcoholic drinks.

Each of you brings a unique background to the table. How do these experiences influence Pharos Brands International?

Mary & Rhyno: Rhyno has been a serial entrepreneur all his professional life. He focused on businesses that allow him to find a way to express his passion for renewable energy and culminating in the founding of Green World Partners. Rhyno brings a strong sales background to the launch of Pharos Premium Seltzers. He managed a national sales team and grew a Canadian manufacturer from a small regional company to a distribution network covering all 50 states including Canada and the Caribbean. Mary's career began in the publicity and promotions sector in the Australian film industry in the late 70's, followed by years of event planning, and non-profit business development and fundraising in the U.S. For the past 19 years, in addition to her counseling services, Mary has provided psychodynamic executive development consulting services with sales executives and entrepreneurs. Together, Mary and Rhyno bring a wealth of business and sales experience to this emerging sector of the beverage industry.

Branding is crucial in the THC market. How do you ensure Pharos Seltzers stand out?

Mary & Rhyno: Rhyno hired a branding company out of San Diego, Kelly Co. to develop the Pharos Brand. After a three-month process and exploring over 30 brand names and possibilities, the concept around using the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria supported Rhyno's vision for an international brand whose name was memorable and offered the most versatile and creative brand development strategies. We have incorporated the lighthouse theme in all our messaging, lighting the way for consumers to explore the benefits of a THC infused beverage and letting Pharos guide their way safely into the new waters of legal, regulated THC derived from hemp.

Can you discuss one of your flagship products and what makes it special to your brand?

Mary & Rhyno: When we transitioned from the Oklahoma market and started to think about creating a beverage brand for the Hemp Derived THC infused market, we decided to keep the flavors that Rhyno created for Oklahoma - Mango, Raspberry Lemonade, and Black Cherry. When we approached Earl Giles Flavor Apothecary in Minneapolis to work with us to redesign the flavor profile for each of these three drinks, we asked that they create a brand new, fourth flavor profile. Together we came up with the Blood Orange Lime flavor, and as it turns out, that seems to be one of the most popular. We launched the four Pharos flavors at a large outdoor festival in Minneapolis called Art-a-Whirl a few weeks ago and we poured over 2,000 samples. By far, the Blood Orange Lime outsold the other flavors. We feel particularly attached to this flavor as it was created right in front of us at Earl Giles and was such a cool, collaborative effort.

Considering the evolving legal landscape of THC, how do you see Pharos Brands growing in the next few years?

Mary & Rhyno: Though we believe the appeal of our product will be broad, we’ve designed Pharos Premium THC Seltzers with our age group in mind. We believe that the baby boomer population has had a difficult transition to the dispensary space and dislike the high potency of many of the THC products on the market today. We also believe that they are a population that are oriented around alcohol use and have several patterns already ingrained in their ritual around alcohol consumption. We are focusing our branding on reaching this market by offering an alternative to alcohol use but still maintaining and respecting the importance of ritual and routines. As unconventional as it may sound, we see gatherings of Moose Lodges, Elks Club, VFW chapters, Rotary Clubs, and the like as effective entry points to introduce older adults to the remarkable relaxation benefits of legal and regulated THC derived from hemp. Low in calories and without the alcohol, but it still leaves you with a nice buzz.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned since starting Pharos Brands?

Mary & Rhyno: Take our time and learn from our own and others’ experience. Don’t give in to FOMO. Hit every step. Use the pause button, listen, ask questions. Admit mistakes quickly and openly. Most importantly make friends and support other brands when needed.

Tell me more about the art of world event and what made this unique?

Mary & Rhyno: We launched our new flavors at Earl Giles Restaurant at the Art-a-Whirl event in Minneapolis. Over 2,000 samples were served to a wonderfully diverse crowd. Our primary interest in launching at this event was to gather as many opinions as possible about our flavors and packaging. Rhyno and I stood behind a table and met thousands of people experiencing our drinks for the first time. We think that getting feedback from our customers is a critical part of continuing to grow our business and to remain flexible and responsive to consumer tastes. Having a chance to have that kind of contact with so many consumers was ideal for us and often unique in a market that is dominated by distributors and retail locations where we may not have direct contact with the customer. Most people trying our drinks said that they would drink our seltzer even if it didn’t have THC is one of the ingredients. Our clean, refreshing seltzers have all-natural fruit juice and a touch of organic sugar, no preservatives and a vibrant taste of fruit. We made a particular effort to be sure that there was no THC taste whatsoever in our drinks, and we got a lot of positive feedback for that.

Besides Pharos Brands, what other brands do you enjoy and why?

Mary & Rhyno: Cycling Frog, North, Cantrip, Long Coast, Plyft, and Rebel Rabbit. The main reason why we’ve tasted and enjoyed these brands has more to do with how much we get along with the owners of these brands. We really love the philosophy and the focus on quality ingredients and quality products that each of these brands have committed to.

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