If you’re around 40, you probably remember the old Gatorade commercials — athletes drenched in sweat, tipping back a drink to replenish lost electrolytes. Since then, sports drinks have evolved: lower sugar, lower sodium, and now a new option called Be LOVE, a non-sparkling, zero-sugar, zero-calorie beverage scientifically formulated for balanced hydration. But Be LOVE is aiming to do more than quench thirst — it’s a mission-driven brand seeking to make an impact beyond the can.
Since its inception around 2020, Be LOVE has moved from a quiet Austin launch to an H-E-B rollout and a national Target placement. It has also become the centerpiece of a deep ambition: to help end the global water crisis one can at a time. Behind it is Leslie Scofield, a Fort Worth native whose life story zigzags from Olympic-hopeful athlete to entertainment-industry founder to community-building entrepreneur.
Scofield grew up on the west side of Fort Worth, in a family whose name is literally built into the Stockyards. Her grandfather, part of the original Roemer clan, helped establish the district more than a century ago.
“My roots run deep in Fort Worth,” she shares during a Zoom call.
A standout volleyball and softball athlete at Nolan Catholic High School, Scofield trained for what would have been the first U.S. Olympic softball team before blowing out her knee. TCU volleyball came next — and then another injury. Forced to rethink a future she’d always assumed would be athletic, Scofield did something that changed the trajectory of her life: she boarded a ship.
“I took a semester off and I went around the world on this cruise ship,” she says. “The ship went around the world with 500 college students, and it just opened my mind up. I’d grown up in Fort Worth, hadn’t traveled a lot … and I just thought, wow, there’s just something bigger I can do.”
From there, the path gets wild — Los Angeles, reality-TV startups, a cable network that caught Fox’s attention, a charity-driven gaming venture, and finally a stop in Austin, where Scofield helped build Summit, a community of entrepreneurs, activists, and artists who gather in Utah for ideas-driven events on the side of a mountain once a year. The through-line? Connecting people. Creating momentum. Building things that spark movements.
After a difficult change four years ago, Scofield paused the high-speed life she’d been living.
“I took a step back and was like, what makes me happy? What brings me the most joy?” she shares.
The answers were simple: health, connection, and giving back. Be LOVE emerged from that introspection. She wanted a product people could drink all day — something clean, balanced, and functional. And she wanted the brand to stand for something larger than wellness trends.
“It’s reimagining what electrolytes are because 75% of people are dehydrated,” she explains. “We wanted a light version beverage that you can drink all day long and rebalance yourself. And then there’s this whole movement around love and connection.”
Three flavors launched — berry, orange, and citrus lime — all intentionally familiar and notably subtle.
“It’s non-sparkling, which most people really like because there’s so many sparkling beverages out there,” she says. But the mission is what makes the brand more than a can on a shelf. Through GivePower x GiveLOVE, each can sold provides clean water for ten people.
“Our ultimate goal in this brand is to save 2 billion people’s lives,” she says. “If we play this right, we could really end the world water crisis with this brand.”
Her contact list, built over years of entrepreneurial community-building, reads like the guest list for a dream TED conference. Icons like Lance Armstrong and talk-show icon Oprah Winfrey appear in her orbit, along with athletes, actors, activists, and innovators she’s gathered over two decades. Many will join what she calls the Love Council, a collective of high-profile supporters who believe in the brand’s mission.
“People just smile when they see the can,” Scofield says. “You’re kind of already elevated in a better mood. And then that takes you to being nicer and more of a beautiful human to the next person.”
The company’s partnership with LiveNation has already placed Be LOVE in the hands of festival-goers across the country — a savvy echo of Liquid Death’s path into the cultural mainstream, but with a softer ethos and a very different name.
“Not everybody resonates with the word ‘death,’” she says. “We wanted to put something positive out there and give people an alternative.”
When asked why the alcohol-free and low-alcohol movement has exploded in recent years, Scofield doesn’t hesitate.
“People are just more aware that life is so short. Obviously, when you’re younger, you don’t really think about it… but I’d rather be clear-minded in the morning. I’d rather feel good.”
Be LOVE, she says, is built for this moment. It works as a mixer, a mocktail base, or simply something festive to hold when you want to be social without imbibing alcohol.
“You still feel like you’re part of the party… but you’re doing something good for yourself instead of poisoning your body,” she says.
In Texas, H-E-B has gone all-in. SunLife Organics is next. Target rolls out nationally soon, with Costco, Walmart, 7-Eleven, and a long list of convenience chains in talks. Scofield says a partnership with local celebrity chef Tim Love feels close enough to taste — naturally poetic, given his last name and Scofield’s brand and mission. She plans to return to TCU soon, too, as a former alumna eager to get Be LOVE cans into the hands of students hustling between classes and workouts.
For now, her days are a sprint of meetings, flavor development, wholesale negotiations, and community-building. But the mission keeps her grounded.
“If a can of Be LOVE can make people healthier, inspire connection, and give back to the world, we’re succeeding,” she says. “Even though this can is small, it can make a big impact on someone’s day.”