Bill Shufelt is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Athletic Brewing Company, the largest and most decorated non-alcoholic brewery in America. As an outdoor enthusiast, trail runner, and busy modern adult, Bill realized that alcohol was holding him back from achieving all of his goals, so he left it behind for good in 2013. However, he still loved socializing with friends and family and pairing great brews with delicious meals. When Bill stopped drinking, he was surprised to discover that nobody had taken the time to develop a line of full-flavored, non-alcoholic beers for the 60% of Americans who drink less than one time per week. So, Bill set out to change that by creating a company focused on crafting delicious adult non-alcoholic beverages that didn't compromise on taste or quality. In 2017, Bill left a successful career at one of the world's largest hedge funds to begin building the first U.S. brewery and taproom dedicated entirely to non-alcoholic beer, despite skepticism from industry insiders. Today, Athletic Brewing is the #1 non-alcoholic beer brand in America, with over 19% market share.

John Walker is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Athletic Brewing Company, the largest and most decorated non-alcoholic brewery in America. In 2017, John responded to a post on Probrewer.com, advertising an opportunity to work in “the most innovative sector in craft beer.” At the time, he was the Head Brewer of Second Street Brewery in New Mexico and had won numerous awards for taste and quality. After hearing the pitch, John relocated with his family to Connecticut, where he was born and raised, and embarked on a journey to build the first dedicated non-alcoholic brewery and taproom in America alongside Athletic Brewing co-founder Bill Shufelt. John spent the next 12 months completely reimagining how non-alcoholic beer was made, creating a revolutionary method through hundreds of small-batch trials. In his quest to develop the world’s best-tasting non-alcoholic beer, John re-engineering nearly every step of the brewing process. Unlike traditional methods of brewing NA beer, which adjust a single part of the process, John’s transformational approach included 10–12 changes across all brewing stages, resulting in a less processed, all-natural, and award-winning NA beer. Since co-founding Athletic in 2017, John has overseen the construction of four state-of-the-art breweries dedicated to the production of non-alcoholic beer and led a group of talented brewing and packaging teammates, earning over 100 prestigious brewing awards in the process.