Mocktails with Marina

About Mocktails with Marina

Mocktails with Marina is a podcast for owners and operators in the kava and non-alcoholic industry: kava bars, sober lounges, bottle shops, beverage brands, and everyone building something in this space, whether you sell by the shell, the bottle, or the hour. I'm Marina Castillo. I'm sober, I'm a mom, and I've worked almost every job this industry has. I've been a kavatender, a bar manager, a menu developer, an event producer, and a fractional COO for a multi-location kava bar company. I founded the Arizona Kava Coalition, I hold a Thought Leader designation from the Global Kava Coalition, and since 2014 I've helped more than 1,000 businesses open, grow, and in some cases franchise. I'm also the customer this industry was built for. I don't drink, I spend my evenings in kava bars, and I buy the products my clients are trying to sell. When I give advice, I'm giving it from both sides of the counter. My husband Tyler and I run our business as a family. We cap our working hours and built the company so it doesn't need us on call. We make decisions based on lifestyle richness, which for us means owning every hour of our time and keeping room for our son, each other, and the work we want to do. I want that for you too, alongside a business that actually makes money. Every episode is built around one shift in how you think. Most of the problems I see in this industry start in the owner's head long before they show up in the books. Some episodes are pure strategy: operations, hiring, menus, pricing, marketing, and leadership. Others are about what I'm living through, like pregnancy, loss, birth, motherhood, and sobriety. Both are on purpose. It's hard to take advice from someone you don't know, and the personal episodes are where you see how I actually make decisions. Pull up a chair. When you're ready for the operating system behind everything I teach, find Bula Boss at marinamars.com/bulaboss.

Publisher

Marina

Category

business · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Jan 2024

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

127 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Oct 2026

   being needed is the most expensive feeling

   When was the last time you went a full Saturday without checking your phone? In this episode of Mocktails with Marina, Marina takes kava bar, non-alc lounge, and booze-free bottle shop owners through six mindset shifts about what it really costs when your business can't run without you. If you've ever worn your exhaustion as proof of how much you care, this one is for you. In this episode: Why being needed is the most expensive feeling in your business The math on how many hours a year your presence is propping up your business How owners hire themselves into the one job nobody can cover Why busy is where we hide, and why 80% as good beats not at all Why your regulars are loyal to a feeling, and how a feeling becomes culture Getting ready for the hard season before it arrives Resources mentioned: Community That Nurtures You Back, a free guide with five chapters and five ten-minute AI exercises for kava bar and non-alc business owners → https://tally.so/r/1Ajelg Questions? Email Marina at hello@marinamars.com.

2. 

   5 Oct 2026

   i took a client call before my dad's wake: building a business for your worst day

   After four months away, Marina is back. In the comeback episode of Mocktails with Marina, she shares why the show went quiet after episode 108 and what kept her family business running while she stepped away to grieve the loss of her father. If you own or operate a kava bar, sober lounge, bottle shop, or non-alc beverage brand, this episode is a gut check: is your business built for your best day, or for the day you can't show up? In this episode: Why the show paused and what this summer looked like How Marina and Tyler built a business that kept serving clients through a newborn and a family loss Four questions to find out what breaks first when you disappear for two weeks Why income that comes in while you're offline is part of lifestyle richness Coming back after a hard season, and why you should come back small What's new on the show this season, and the return of the weekly newsletter Resources mentioned: Join the weekly newsletter → marinamars.com/contact New here? Start with the episodes on the podcast page at marinamars.com/mocktailswithmarina (http://marinamars.com/mocktailswithmarina).

3. 

   29 May 2026

   commitment: what it takes to really make it (professionals vs hobbyists)

   What separates the entrepreneurs who actually make it from the ones who almost do? In this episode of Mocktails with Marina, we're talking about commitment not the motivational poster version, but the real, unglamorous, show-up-on-a-Tuesday version that actually builds businesses. Marina breaks down the core difference between professional and hobbyist business owners: it's not talent, it's not strategy, it's what you do when keeping your word costs you something. If you've ever quietly let a commitment slide, pivoted before giving your strategy a real runway, or felt the pull to shrink your way out of a financial problem this episode is for you. What we cover: The professional vs. hobbyist mindset — Why the difference has nothing to do with how much you work and everything to do with what you do when you don't want to. Contracts and follow-through — Your contract is a record of what you agreed to when you were thinking clearly. Marina gets real about what it means to honor agreements even when they're uncomfortable, underpriced, or inconvenient and why your reputation is built in exactly those moments. Making more vs. cutting back — When cash flow tightens, the hobbyist asks what to cut. The professional asks what to create. Marina shares why shrinking is almost never the right first move, and how she uses her own podcast and course ecosystem to drive revenue instead of pulling back. Operating from love, not fear — Building directly off Episode 107, Marina connects commitment to the love vs. fear framework: fear asks how to get out, love asks how to get through. Same situation, completely different outcome. Commitment and identity — Why the clarity doesn't come before the commitment. It comes after. And how fully committing to your business identity changes the decisions you make, the clients you attract, and the results you see. This episode is especially relevant for non-alcoholic beverage entrepreneurs, podcast-based business owners, and service providers navigating retainer work, client agreements, and the day-to-day reality of building something sustainable. Resources mentioned: Bula Boss → marinamars.com/bulaboss

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

15,453

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 75 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

93

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

71

Contact Mocktails with Marina

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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