For us at Kor, it all started with a simple question: What can we do to make drinking water easier? As we sat down with the team, we discussed what the most important functions should be so that we could create a bottle not just for the gym, but the entire day: a true “everyday bottle.” After debating for hours on what each of us thought our customers would need, we realized that the only real way to know for sure is to ask- so we did. We reached out to our customers, family, friends, roommates, neighbors, and honestly anyone we could get a hold of. We wanted to get this right.

A few weeks later, we met again to discuss everything we had learned from all of the people we surveyed. This meeting lasted for hours, mainly because we were so excited about all the stories of the amazing things people were trying, exploring, and doing. For example, there was Josh, a college student from Texas who lost by 60 pounds by training for a marathon. Or Ling, a new grad who just moved to the states from Taiwan and has been exploring the city by riding the subway. And there was Jorge from Los Angeles, who rides his bike 10 miles roundtrip every week to volunteer at a halfway home. These are just a few of the dozens of amazing stories we encountered.

Although we knew everyone needed water, we didn’t realize how different their lifestyles were and this became our new mission: figuring out how to make a product that could really support all of them. As we continued to discuss and share stories, we realized that we needed to design something that would be as versatile as our customers were. We need something easy to bring along- no matter who they were, where they were going, or how they were getting there… That, and it needed to look good.

From there, the ideas for the Wilshire and Ride were born. A bottle that you could bring anywhere and everywhere. By adding metallic reflective stripes to the sides, we incorporated both style and function. The bottle can also be strapped onto a bike, stroller, backpack, purse, etc. so users never have to worry about having enough hands to carry their water on their commute.

Although we knew everyone needed water, we didn’t realize how different their lifestyles were and this became our new mission: figuring out how to make a product that could really support all of them. As we continued to discuss and share stories, we realized that we needed to design something that would be as versatile as our customers were. We need something easy to bring along- no matter who they were, where they were going, or how they were getting there… That, and it needed to look good.

From there, the ideas for the Wilshire and Ride were born. A bottle that you could bring anywhere and everywhere. By adding metallic reflective stripes to the sides, we incorporated both style and function. The bottle can also be strapped onto a bike, stroller, backpack, purse, etc. so users never have to worry about having enough hands to carry their water on their commute. As we got further into the design process, what that was still in the back of our minds were all of the diverse stories we had learned about while researching. We couldn’t shake our fascination with all of the different journeys we were hearing about from people all over the world. We wanted to hear more of them, celebrate them, share them, and let others learn from them too. And so The Tap was born: a blog dedicated to you. A place where you can read about amazing ideas, experiences, and people- and a place to share your own!

As for the Wilshire, we are currently finishing up our first test batch of 250 bottles! Inspired by our research and really getting to know our customers personally, we really want to keep this collaboration between us and our customers going. If you’re someone who isn’t afraid to be the first to try new things and would love to be a part of the building process, we’d love to see you on the waitlist here!