She Wanted Better Mushroom Coffee, So She Made Her Own

What if your morning coffee could do more without sacrificing the taste of real coffee?

Shelley Tseng started Wild Infusion Coffee after struggling to find a mushroom coffee that delivered both functional ingredients and the brewing experience she loved.

This week, Shelley shares how she launched on Kickstarter, found her first customers by pouring samples at nearly 50 events, and built a wellness coffee brand while balancing the demands of entrepreneurship and motherhood.

The Interview

The Product and Audience: What is Wild Infusion Coffee and who is it for?

Wild Infusion Coffee combines specialty-grade Arabica coffee with functional mushrooms and real botanicals in a convenient single-serve pour-over. It's made for people who love real coffee but want their daily cup to feel like a little more of a ritual, without sacrificing taste. Our core customers are busy, wellness-minded coffee drinkers, especially working professionals, parents, and travelers who value both quality and convenience. The goal is to make wellness coffee approachable enough to become part of anyone's everyday routine.

The Spark: What made you say "I need to build this"?

The idea came from daily life with my husband. While he was working in Big Tech, his schedule was so busy that he often skipped breakfast, but he never skipped his morning coffee. I noticed he was constantly adding functional ingredients and supplements to his black coffee to get more out of that one ritual. We tried the mushroom coffees already on the market, but neither the taste nor the instant coffee experience was what we wanted. As coffee lovers, we still wanted something that tasted and brewed like real coffee. So I started asking a simple question: why couldn't we have a really good cup of coffee and functional ingredients in one? That question eventually became Wild Infusion Coffee.

The Launch: When did you launch and how did you create pre-launch buzz?

Wild Infusion took almost a year to develop before we officially launched on Kickstarter in February 2025. Before the campaign, I shared the brand's story and product concept on social media and with my community to build awareness and attract early supporters. We kept the Kickstarter goal intentionally modest, because the campaign wasn't just about raising money. It was a chance to generate early buzz, see how the market responded, and introduce Wild Infusion to its very first customers.

The First 100: How did you find your first customers?

Our first 100 customers came from a mix of Kickstarter backers and in-person conversations. Without a large marketing budget, I spent much of our first year at pop-ups, local maker markets, and in-store demos with our retail partners, around 50 events and demos in all. Sampling mattered because people often have preconceived ideas about mushroom coffee. Once I could brew a cup, let someone taste it, and explain why I created the brand, the conversation became much easier. Many of our earliest customers came from those face-to-face moments. We really built the brand one cup and one customer at a time.

The Advice: What would you tell a first-time founder in their first 90 days?

Don't wait for everything to be perfect. Get your product out there, test the market, and talk to real customers. You'll learn far more from their feedback than you ever will from trying to perfect everything on your own.

The Reality Check: What is the hardest part of this journey that people don't see on social media?

The hardest part isn't building the product or getting it onto store shelves. I genuinely enjoy watching something I created come to life. The biggest challenge is time. As a founder and a mom to a young son, I'm constantly balancing the work I want to do for Wild Infusion with the time I want to spend with my family. There's always another task to tackle or another opportunity to chase, but there's also a family I want to be present for. Finding that balance is something I'm still learning every day.

The Milestone: What has been your biggest "we made it" moment so far?

Landing our first retail store in the U.S. I had no previous experience in CPG or retail, so I spent a lot of time learning the industry, joining CPG communities, taking courses, and figuring things out through in-store demos. Finally seeing Wild Infusion on the shelf at our first store in the South Bay felt like stepping into an entirely new stage of the business. It might look like a small milestone from the outside, but for me it showed how far the brand had come.

The AI Trend: How have you used AI to help your business grow?

As a solo founder, I use AI as both a brainstorming partner and a practical tool for getting things done. I talk through new concepts, product ideas, marketing strategies, and business problems with it to explore different approaches, and I use it for content creation and social media visuals too. Without a big team to bounce ideas off of, AI helps me move faster and work through ideas that would otherwise take much longer to develop.

The Horizon: What should we be excited to see from Wild Infusion in the next six months?

We're focused on expanding our retail presence. The goal is to make Wild Infusion easier to discover, try, and buy in more stores. With a product like mushroom coffee, the experience can be hard to understand until you've tasted it, so every new retail location is another chance for someone to try it in person.

Building a better daily ritual? Our functional mocktails guide rounds up adaptogen-forward drinks from emerging brands worth knowing.

The Shop: Where can readers find Wild Infusion Coffee?

You can shop Wild Infusion Coffee online or find a store near you through our website, and we're adding new retail locations all the time. New to mushroom coffee? The First Sip Ritual Kit is three pour-overs for $9.99, and the ALL IN Variety Pack brings ten for $30. A great place to start is the Preview of the Wild Infusion Botanical Mushroom Coffee variety pack.

The Connection: Where is the best place to follow along?

Follow along on Instagram at @wildinfusioncoffee, and join our email newsletter for new products, retail availability, and the journey behind Wild Infusion Coffee.

The Recommendations: What other founder-led brands do you love right now?

In CPG, my pick is HEYDOH, a single-origin soy sauce made with whole black soybeans from Taiwan.