There isn’t a straight road to success. Every CEO must find their own path. Reza Mirza, CEO of Icelandic Glacial, has built one of the most recognizable premium water brands in the world. His journey offers lessons for any leader trying to scale in a hyper-competitive market.
Reza’s background spans Colgate-Palmolive, Nestlé Waters, and Activate Drinks before taking the helm at Icelandic Glacial. Over more than a decade, he transformed a niche brand into a global powerhouse, now found in over 54,000 U.S. stores.
In our conversation, he revealed the playbook behind sustainable growth, the hard choices CEOs must make about teams, and where AI will change consumer goods.
Growth Without Losing Discipline
When I asked Reza what scaling insight could have saved him months of pain, he didn’t hesitate:
“Even when we were a small brand, we always kept one eye on growth but one eye on EBITDA… We never just grew and lost money on every case sold.”
Most beverage startups chase growth at all costs. Icelandic Glacial avoided that trap. Instead of going broad and fast, they went deep—market by market, deal by deal—choosing sustainability over hype.
The lesson for CEOs: don’t confuse revenue growth with business growth. Growth without profitability weakens your ability to invest, scale, and survive.
Depth Beats Breadth
Reza contrasted his playbook with the typical beverage model:
“Our strategy has been go deep, make an impact, and go from market by market. It is a slower growth rate, but it has been sustainable.”
This applies well beyond beverages. Scaling isn’t about how many markets you enter—it’s about how well you win in the ones you choose. CEOs must ask: Are we truly winning in this market before we expand into the next?
Know What Truly Resonates With Consumers
Icelandic Glacial started with multiple selling points: naturally alkaline, eco-friendly, carbon neutral. But Reza cut through the noise by listening to Amazon reviews and Twitter feedback.
“The two things we consistently heard: we love the taste, and we love the packaging. So then we refined our brand proposition: focus on purity, taste, and Iceland as the reason to believe.”
The result? An 80% repeat rate online.
CEOs often fall into the trap of telling consumers too many things. Your audience has limited attention. Choose one or two anchors and drive them relentlessly.
Build on Authenticity, Not Shock Value
In a world where brands chase attention with stunts, Icelandic Glacial chose a different route. Reza said:
“Everything we did as brand values were all about authenticity… We don’t go for the crazy shock value. We really are creating a lifestyle brand built on authenticity.”
For CEOs, the takeaway is clear: trust is the long-term differentiator. Build it by aligning brand promises with real consumer experience.
The Hardest Part of Scaling: Evolving the Team
Reza is known for building world-class teams. His advice to CEOs facing stalled growth:
“Do you have the right team for that moment in time? Just because a team took you from A to B, that doesn’t mean they’re going to take you from B to C.”
This is one of the toughest decisions for any CEO. Early employees may not be the right people for the next stage. Loyalty matters, but growth demands constant evaluation of capabilities.
As I reminded him, these are emotional decisions. But your responsibility as CEO is to your shareholders, stakeholders, and the company’s future—not preserving comfort.
Cut the Frills and Focus on What Pays the Bills
Reza shared a vivid story about Icelandic Glacial’s early days in a “hole-in-the-wall office” between a restaurant and a massage parlor. Later, after investment, they moved into a beautiful office—but he remains clear on priorities:
“If you are burning money, you got to get rid of all the frills. Every dollar needs to go into the business. Brand awareness does not pay the electricity bills.”
This is a wake-up call for CEOs: fancy offices, expensive perks, and broad awareness campaigns mean nothing if they don’t translate into revenue and availability.
Distribution Before Awareness
As a career brand marketer, Reza believes in the power of awareness. But his rule is uncompromising:
“First build your distribution network, then overlay marketing. The worst thing you can do is create brand awareness when the product is not available.”
For consumer goods—and many other industries—this is critical. Generating demand you cannot fulfill destroys trust and drains resources. CEOs must align marketing spend with product availability.
The CEO’s Scaling Checklist
Reza summarized his framework for CEOs facing flat growth:
- Start with the team. Evaluate if they have the skills for the next stage.
- Eliminate frills. Every dollar must go toward growth.
- Be smart in investments. Marketing must tie directly to sales, not vanity metrics.
- Write your own playbook. Competing on a rival’s terms without their financial muscle is a path to failure.
AI Will Reshape the Supply Chain
I asked Reza about AI’s role in scaling consumer goods. His answer was clear:
“The biggest impact for a CPG brand is going to be in supply chain. How do you leverage AI to improve forecasting… to ensure what’s the optimal raw materials you need to keep on site?”
In his world, long lead times and unpredictable sales forecasts create risk. AI offers real-time optimization—predicting demand, managing inventory, and even analyzing shelves through photo recognition to prevent out-of-stocks.
For CEOs, this is a broader lesson: AI’s greatest value often lies in the unglamorous but critical areas—forecasting, operations, and availability. Outperform competitors here, and you win loyalty and margin.
Listen to the Full Episode with Reza Mirza Today
Reza Mirza’s story is a masterclass in disciplined scaling. Growth without profitability is fragile. Marketing without availability is wasted. Teams must evolve with each stage. And AI will rewrite the rules of supply chain efficiency.
As CEO, your job is to decide where to go deep, what to cut, and how to prepare your company for the next stage.
I’m Glenn Gow. I coach CEOs ready to accelerate growth without sacrificing balance. Each episode, I dive deep with high-performing CEOs to show you how they turn ambition into reality.
Listen to the full episode of The Scaling CEO with Reza Mirza for more insights on disciplined growth.
