Ferm Fatale was founded by Julie Cielo, a former massage therapist and yoga therapist with a degree in Natural Health Studies. From being diagnosed with severe scoliosis as a teenager and a debilitating autoimmune disease in 2001, Julie learned a lot about self-healing, delving deep into the world of yoga and trigger point therapy. After learning how to heal herself, she opened a clinic in Florida and served patients for 16 years, taught yoga to the community, led worldwide retreats, and spoke. Julie left the east coast and started a new life in LA in 2012. While developing an online lifestyle program in 2014, which she thought would be her next career move, Julie had a flash of insight to create the world’s first wildly-fermented and zero-proof cocktail brand instead. Having been a kombucha and fermentation fanatic for years, she realized there were no options for the health-conscious socialite looking for another option in a social setting.

Within months, Julie had raised $150,000 and hired a team of food scientists and wine, beer, and kombucha brewers to formulate 5 different non-alcoholic cocktail mixes using fermentation. Her products caught the attention of large beverage executives and seemed on track for success. However, Julie later found herself running out of funding and decided to put the brand on hold until 2019. In the interim, Julie lost her apartment, went bankrupt, and drained her IRA. After launching and being picked up by Erewhon in 2019, Julie still felt she was still too early in many ways, but she saw great growth online. In 2022, Ferm Fatale underwent a complete rebrand to transform it into the powerful symbol it is today: a wildly-fermented and zero-proof cocktail crafted to let you wildly celebrate life, encouraging you to follow your gut, not the crowd.