Some people build a business because they spot a gap in the market. Sarika Sake’s story starts somewhere else entirely: in a career she assumed she’d stay in forever.
Sarika spent a decade working at the United Nations in areas like gender equality and urban poverty. It was meaningful work, and it was also intense. After becoming a mom, she hit a moment that felt impossible to ignore—she was spending her days advocating for empowerment, while not feeling empowered in her own life. Long commutes, no flexibility, and a newborn she barely got to see. That tension became the beginning of a major shift.
And then, just one month after resigning, something unexpected happened on a family trip in Japan. Sarika took one reluctant sip of local sake at a hotel in Fukushima and had the kind of reaction you don’t forget. It wasn’t what she expected at all—nothing like the “bad sake” memories many people carry. It was delicious, nuanced, and honestly kind of eye-opening. That single sip turned into curiosity, curiosity turned into research, and research turned into a mission when she learned how quickly sake breweries were disappearing.
In this episode of This Might Get Creative – A Behind the Brand Podcast, Sarika shares what it really looked like to start from scratch during the pandemic with no business background, no marketing plan, and plenty of imposter syndrome. She talks about how collaborations and word-of-mouth became the foundation of her growth, and how she built sake education experiences that made this craft feel approachable and relevant—especially for people who assumed sake “wasn’t for them.”
We also talk about something I loved: how Sarika’s work evolved beyond education into a product and a practice. Her award-winning Sake Beauty Balm was born from personal ritual and a desire to share the “magic” of sake in a way that wasn’t about drinking alcohol. Add in face yoga—yes, face yoga—and you get a brand that’s really about slowing down, caring for yourself, and staying connected to tradition in a modern way.
If you’re someone who’s sitting on an idea, questioning a career path, or trying to figure out how to bring multiple passions under one roof, I think you’ll love this conversation. It’s not a “perfect pivot” story. It’s a real one.
Listen to the full episode of This Might Get Creative – A Behind the Brand Podcast wherever you stream podcasts.
Connect with Sarika
Website: thesarika.com
Instagram: @sarika.sake
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