Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth Harbinson.
Hi Beth, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story really starts with my own personal journey with alcohol. I grew up in Baltimore, had a wonderful childhood, went to college, and by all outward appearances was functioning just fine — holding jobs, building a career in nonprofit management. But alcohol was quietly becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life. It wasn’t until the consequences became impossible to ignore that I finally got serious about my recovery. Getting sober was the most important thing I’ve ever done, and it completely changed how I see the world.
Once I was in recovery, I started noticing something that frustrated me every time I went to a social event. Once at a Merriweather concert, we had backstage passes and there was a beautiful bar full of alcohol, and the only alternatives for someone like me were water, soda, and Red Bull. I kept thinking — why is this acceptable? Why, in a world where we celebrate everything with a drink in hand, is there nothing worth celebrating with for people who don’t drink?
That question wouldn’t leave me alone. I thought, “Why not offer adult non-alcoholic beverages at restaurants, bars, and events — everywhere we celebrate? So I started developing the concept and in 2017, I entered it into the Changemaker Challenge, where Sobar received funding from the Horizon Foundation and the United Way of Central Maryland. That validation gave me the momentum to really build it out.
The mission of Sobar is to encourage choice in how we celebrate — providing healthy, sophisticated non-alcoholic beverages and offering alcohol-free bars and events. We want people who are in recovery, sober-curious, on medication, pregnant, or simply choosing not to drink to feel like full participants when we gather together — not an afterthought.
More recently, that work has evolved into Sobar Secure®, which helps restaurants, bars, and venues incorporate adult non-alcoholic beverages into their menus through training, sourcing guidance, and national visibility — so that the change isn’t just happening at our events, but everywhere people go out.
I spent 30 years in nonprofit management and development, and I think all of that was quietly preparing me for this. But honestly, what drives me every day is pretty simple: I want the stigma around not drinking to disappear, and I want a great mocktail to be just as easy to order as a cocktail. We’re getting there.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth? Definitely not — and I think that’s actually part of what makes this work meaningful to me.
The most foundational challenge was personal. My drinking escalated through college and into adulthood, and because I always held a job and kept functioning at a high level, I was able to deny for a long time that there was a real problem. Every day toward the end, I’d tell myself “I’m not going to drink tonight” — and then I would. Getting sober wasn’t a straight line either. I quit for two years after a DUI, then ordered a cocktail on a business trip and was back to drinking heavily for the next three years. It wasn’t until I finally reached out to a therapist and started to attend 12 Step meetings that things began to shift. So, I know firsthand how hard that road is — and that humility informs everything I do with Sobar.
On the business and nonprofit side, building Sobar came with its own set of challenges. When I started, the non-alcoholic beverage space was barely a conversation. Convincing venues, event organizers, and even funders that this was a real need — not a niche curiosity — took persistence. The idea that settling for a subpar beverage or trying to construct a makeshift mocktail on the spot is actually a social stressor for people in recovery wasn’t something most people had stopped to think about. Changing that mindset, one event and one venue at a time, is slow work.
There’s also the stigma piece, which is real and ongoing. Part of Sobar’s mission from the beginning has been reducing the stigma associated with alcoholism, addiction, and not drinking alcohol at social events — and stigma doesn’t disappear quickly. People in recovery, or those simply choosing not to drink, often feel like they have to explain themselves in social settings. That’s something I’ve lived, and it’s something I’m still working to change. In the future I envision the question I get sometimes “Why aren’t you drinking?” to asking people who ARE drinking alcohol (a Stage 1 carcinogen by the way) “Why do you drink alcohol?”
But every struggle has shaped the mission. The personal battle gave me credibility and empathy. The uphill climb of building awareness in a crowded, alcohol-centric world made me scrappier and more creative. And I think the nonprofit and advocacy work I’d done for 30 years before Sobar — the fundraising, the community building, the relationship work — prepared me in ways I didn’t even fully appreciate at the time.
The road has been anything but smooth. But I wouldn’t trade any of it.
We’ve been impressed with Sobar and Sobar Secure, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What I’m most proud of, looking back, is that we were early and I had the guts to go for it on a shoestring budget and also while working full time.
Sobar was founded after winning the Changemaker Challenge in 2017 — at a time when “non-alcoholic beverage program” wasn’t even part of most restaurants’ vocabulary. The sober-curious movement, the explosion of non-alcoholic spirits and craft mocktails, the cultural shift around mindful drinking — all of that has grown enormously since then. We didn’t follow a trend. We were part of planting the seed.
And that early start matters, because it means everything we’ve built has been tested, refined, and grounded in real experience with real venues and real communities.
Today, that work has evolved into Sobar Secure® — and what makes it truly unique is that it is the first accreditation program of its kind for bars and restaurants focused specifically on non-alcoholic beverage service. There is nothing else like it in the industry. We’re not just encouraging venues to throw a mocktail on the menu and call it a day. We’re certifying them — training their staff, guiding their menu development, connecting them with the right products, and giving them the tools to genuinely serve the growing segment of guests who don’t drink alcohol.
Here’s what the Sobar Secure® program specifically offers:
Training & Certification — Our experts guide venue teams through safe preparation and service of adult non-alcoholic beverages. Staff complete a short online course and a 10-question certification exam to ensure consistent, confident service. Sobar Secure
Menu Development Support — We provide practical tools to help venues build or improve their non-alcoholic beverage programs, including menu formatting, pricing guidance, and product recommendations.
Product Sourcing — Partners get access to leading non-alcoholic beverage wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers, with opportunities for discounts and samples.
Consumer Visibility — Partner venues are promoted through the Sobar Secure® website, social media, and apps like Better Without, so customers can actually find locations serving adult non-alcoholic beverages by zip code.
Branding & Operational Tools — Partners receive Sobar® swizzle sticks, logo stickers, and the ability to display the Sobar Secure® accreditation logo on menus, signage, and websites — signaling to guests that this venue takes non-alcoholic hospitality seriously.
What sets us apart isn’t just the program itself — it’s the why behind it. Sobar’s mission has always been to provide and promote innovative beverage options to those who cannot and choose not to drink alcohol. That includes people in recovery, those on medication, pregnant women, people of faith, and the rapidly growing number of people who are simply drinking more mindfully. We envision an environment where the stigma of alcoholism, addiction, mental illness, and not drinking alcohol is eliminated entirely.
What I want readers to know is this: the non-alcoholic beverage market is no longer a niche — it’s a movement, and it represents real, untapped revenue for venues willing to embrace it. Sobar Secure® is how you do it right — with training, with credibility, and with a community behind you. We were at this before it was cool, and we built the infrastructure to help the industry catch up.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
My mom and dad taught us to work hard for what we wanted. I have worked at a paid job since I was 16, during college and in the summers as well. Startups (even in the non-profit world) are not 9-5 endeavors, so this has served me well. In the early days when we were event focused, I did it all – packing for events, bartending, making drink ingredients, inventory, washing the linens and aprons in between events, selling, menu planning and ordering…….
The other characteristic I continue to develop is to acknowledge and embrace the fact that I do not know it all. When it came to developing Sobar Secure, it really was a collaborative effort that involved Laura Silverman of Zero Proof Nation who knows the product and NA bottleshop landscape worldwide better than anyone; Rachel Hechtman of Sober in Central Park who spearheaded the importance of a training program after she was served an alcoholic beverage after ordering an NA one; and Pam Wiznitzer, one of Food & Wine Magazine’s top 10 Rising Star Mixologists, who has fully embraced non-alc and helped us develop our Mixology Guide. Without the guidance of this team, the accreditation program would not be nearly as well-rounded and robust as it is.
Pricing:
- Sobar Secure – $250 – $450 based on the number of exams an establishment needs
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sobarsecure.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinksobar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drinksobar
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-harbinson-57b40415/
