Joey Labes, BBA ’16, and Brenna Turner, BS ’17: Sharing a Love For Sake

After graduating from the Ross School of Business, Labes and Turner started their careers in consulting and sports marketing, respectively. They had never considered starting an alcohol company, but their experience after a fateful visit to Japan sparked an idea that would eventually evolve into something bigger.

Visiting some of Turner’s family in Japan, the two Michigan Ross alums tried and fell in love with sake, a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. As the country’s national beverage, the two were excited to be able to enjoy it almost everywhere they went. But once they returned home to the United States, they noticed that the availability of sake was scarce.

“When we came back to California, we were like, that was so cool, let's go get some sake at the store and share it with our friends. But when we went to Whole Foods, we could only find two bottles on the bottom shelf, and we didn't recognize the brands,” Labes said.

Turner and Labes realized the sake experience they would be giving their friends wasn’t on par with what they’d experienced in Japan. Frustrated, they decided to turn their problem into an opportunity and start their own company.

Building Sake High!

Labes and Turner wanted to serve consumers like themselves who were looking for a better, more fun, and more inviting sake experience that would uplift the beverage from its current niche outside of Japan. They found a partner in a Kyoto-based brewer who shared their sentiment that sake was meant to be shared, and collaborated on a new sake product: Sake High!

“We wanted to make it approachable to all kinds of consumers. It’s more than just something you can drink at a sushi restaurant. We wanted it to be a drink you could enjoy at a sports bar or on the golf course. If you’re going to buy a nice wine, maybe try sake instead,” Labes said.

Though it hadn’t initially been a path they had imagined for themselves, Labes and Turner found they were both uniquely prepared to take on the beverage industry.

The two, who had known each other since kindergarten, came from families of University of Michigan alums and attended U-M at the same time. Labes earned his BBA, and Turner earned her BS with a business minor from Michigan Ross. 

While at Ross, they both took classes that equipped them with skills they unexpectedly drew on during the beginning phases of their company. Labes had taken a Global Immersion course, the focus of which happened to be finding a way to bring Chilean wines to the United States and market them to consumers who were unfamiliar with the product despite its popularity elsewhere. Turner also completed a similar project in one of her business classes, during which they discussed launching Panera restaurants in Myanmar.

As we were launching Sake High!, I realized I had done something very similar in a Ross class where we worked on how to take a product that's kind of known but not well known and give it a better place in the market.

 Joey Labes, BBA ’16

In addition to their Ross experiences, Turner also had valuable experience working with sponsorships in the alcohol industry during her time working in sports marketing for major franchises like the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, and Rams. As they began to market their sake, her past expertise made working with franchises and alcohol retailers much easier.

“There's so much overlap and synergy between the sports marketing world and what we are doing with Sake High!,” Turner said. “Having already worked with alcohol sponsors like Anheuser-Busch, it almost was like an inevitable journey for me to transition to the alcohol sponsor side with a new perspective.”

Sipping sake in the Big House

Since its launch in early 2022, Turner and Labes have turned Sake High! into a successful brand on the rise. As of 2024, it can be found at markets, cafes, liquor stores, and even big chains like Total Wine across the country — plus one big new venue that Labes and Turner are especially excited about.

For the 2024-2025 college football season, the U-M Athletics Department announced that it would implement a Class C liquor license for Michigan Stadium. This meant that alcohol would be sold in the Big House during football games for the first time ever. With an average of more than 100,000 fans at every home game, Turner and Labes knew they couldn’t miss a chance to work with their alma mater on what could be their biggest partnership yet.

“We're obviously the number one Michigan fans in the world, so when we got news of this around last February, we started reaching out to whoever we could find on LinkedIn, and someone from the team running the food and beverage program actually responded to us,” Turner said. “We were so excited, sent them samples of our sake, and had a meeting at the Big House. The next thing we knew, they had ordered through our distributor in Michigan.”

The two attended the first game of the Wolverines’ season and enjoyed their drink in the stadium alongside other fans, which they described as a dream come true.

“For our sake cans to even be in the same fridge next to drinks like Coors Light is so cool and so fun,” Labes said. “And it does show that, yeah, people are looking for more unique drinks.”

Connected to the U-M community

With their product sold across the country and in a venue as large and well-known as the Big House, Labes and Turner reflected on the resources from their business education that prepared them to succeed.

“You learn a lot of stuff really fast at Ross, especially as a BBA. Having well-rounded skills is so important when you're in a start-up or founder role because, yes, you need to look at the finance side of the business, but you also have to understand marketing, supply chain, and so many other things,” Labes said. “As a founder, you're kind of always on tilt and always in an uncomfortable situation. Ross really helps you get to that point where you feel like in any situation, you could figure out the problem and then solve it from there.”

The two Ross alums also credit the Michigan Ross and greater U-M network for the early support they provided in helping get the business off the ground.

“My sister and her husband, who lived in Japan, are JD and JD/MBAs from U-M, and they were our launching pad when we started this from Michigan,” Turner said. “We also talked to so many other alums from Ross and the Law School."

We're just so connected. I feel like everyone in our bubble has an MBA or BBA from Ross, which is crazy.

 Brenna Turner, BS ’17

To current Ross students or alums looking to get their own business off the ground, Turner and Labes offered the following advice:

“Michigan, Ross specifically, but the campus as a whole, has so many resources to help launch businesses, whether that's grants or professor help or even just being around 20,000 people who want to get internships,” Labes said. “Michigan is forever, and you can still use those resources after you graduate.”