Okay… BIG moment.
I’m finally shared something I’ve been working on behind the scenes for almost a year—and let me tell you… it’s one of those “how did this even happen?!” stories that I LOVE.
It all started with a random LinkedIn connection.
You know how sometimes you just click with someone instantly?
That’s exactly what happened when Stephen Caldwell connected with me—serial entrepreneur, big thinker, and now… my partner-in-good-commotion.
What started as a simple connection turned into a wildly exciting collaboration built on mutual respect, shared energy, and what I like to call a perfect “balance of talents.”
Let’s just say I think Stephen Caldwell is a genius inventor!
And I aint so bad myself when it comes to helping take a great idea to the moon. (Well not the actual moon however come to think of it – since we did go to the moon again this week for the first time in a long while – maybe I should think about getting this product on the next moon trip? Hmm. I’ll tuck that away for now, but that’s kinda how I think . Hello NASA? Hi It’s Debbie Nigro. LOL)
And now… I can finally introduce you to what we’ve been working on.
Meet Alert Pop™ (Yes… It’s Exactly What You Might Think It Is)
Alert Pop™ is a sugar-free caffeinated lollipop made with organic green tea caffeine designed to help combat drowsy driving.
Yep. A lollipop—with a purpose.
But it’s quickly becoming so much more than that.
It’s a better-for-you energy option for anyone who needs a little lift without the jitters, crash, or overload—and honestly, the response so far has been incredible.
I did not invent it. Stephen did! But wow I’m proud to say I’m a working Founding Partner from out of the gate (actually since the moment the idea came out of his mouth). Stephen has a background in creating and manufacturing food products, so he knew and I knew he could bring this product to life. And he did! And it’s exciting.
Based on the level of interest we’re seeing? This feels like it’s going to be a BIG winner.
Why This Little Pop Packs a Punch
Here’s what makes Alert Pop™so cool:
- Sugar-free (yes it matters)
- Caffeine equals about ½ cup of coffee per pop
- Made with organic green tea caffeine
- We’re adding L-theanine + B vitamins for focus
- No jitters. No crash.
- Flavors: Espresso / Blue Raspberry / Watermelon
- And… they actually taste GREAT.
But here’s the real kicker…
It’s not just about the caffeine—it’s about how your body absorbs it.
Because it’s a lollipop, the oral stimulation keeps your brain engaged while delivering energy more efficiently.
Who knew?! (Apparently… Stephen did. )
My Real-Life “Alert Pop Moment”
True story…
I’m sitting in my car in a dark supermarket parking lot around dinner time—exhausted, answering texts and emails, trying to convince myself to get out of the car and go food shopping.
All I could think was… I wish I had a cup of coffee.
Then I remembered—I had Alert Pop™ samples in the car.
I literally laughed out loud as I opened the espresso flavor thinking, “Let’s see if this actually works…”
It worked.
Up. Moving. Shopping. Back in action.
(And slightly amused that a lollipop just saved dinner LOL )
The Story Behind Alert Pop™ (This One Matters)
This isn’t just a clever idea—it’s a meaningful one.
Stephen is a family guy. Father of 5. Four are girls. He calls himself a Girl Dad. Married to Lory his partner in life and business forever. It was joyful meeting up with him and Lory and two of Stephens’ kids Lizzie and Alli Grace for the first time last September in Las Vegas. More good energy.
When Stephen joined me here on The Debbie Nigro Show, he shared the moment that sparked everything—and it will get your attention for sure.
His daughter Alli Grace ( in the photo above wearing white) told him about a close college friend who fell asleep at the wheel after working and studying all night nonstop.
He totaled his car.
Walked away… thankfully.
But it could have been very different.
And like all of us, Stephen had that immediate thought:
That could have been my daughter.
That could have been me.
That could have been anyone.
That night, he woke up at 2AM and wrote down two words:
ALERT POP™
And just like that… the journey began.
Let This Sink In…
1 in 25 drivers admits to falling asleep at the wheel.
And those are just the ones who admit it.
We’ve ALL had those moments…
“Wait… how did I just pass three exits?”
So yes—this is a product.
But it’s also a purpose-driven solution to a very real problem.
Big News… and We’re Just Getting Started
Things are moving FAST:
- Named Top 5 Best New Product (out of thousands!) at a major upcoming national trade show
- Stephen gets to present on the main stage in Las Vegas direct to top retailers
- Launching in travel rest stops nationwide this summer
- Getting massive love from:
- Students
- Busy professionals
- Healthcare workers
- Moms-on-the-move
- And yes… my 82-year-old Aunt Linda in Florida.
(Aunt Linda is literally handing them out to her friends so they can keep up with her—iconic.)
And let me just say…
The espresso flavor?
People are OBSESSED.
Like… hiding-it-from-your-friends obsessed. LOL
Male Power & Female Power + Great Partnerships = Magic
I have been very fortunate along the way to work with and still do – some incredibly brilliant men at the very top of their games.
Men like Stephen Caldwell. Men who are ‘best in class’ at what they do and ‘best in class’ in how they treat the women in business who they work with – with total respect and appreciation. It totally matters.
One of my favorite parts of this Alert Pop™ journey is the working with the fascinating talent behind it—which includes some powerhouse men yes but also totally amazing powerhouse women! All working together to help bring Stephens’ vision to life.
No ego. All energy. Total collaboration.
(You KNOW I love that.)
And working with Stephen?
Like I said I call him a ‘genius’.
He calls me an “energy bomb” LOL
And together? Let’s just say—we’re on a roll.
The Bigger Picture
This is about more than a product.
It’s about:
- Staying safe
- Making smarter choices
- Finding better-for-you energy alternatives
- And proving that great ideas often come from real-life problems that need solving
In this case?
Drowsy driving was the problem.
Alert Pop™ became the solution.
Final Thought (Because You Know I Always Have One…)
“If Ya Still Gotta Pulse—Ya Still Gotta Shot.” – Debservations
And maybe… just maybe…
Now you’ve got a better way to stay awake for it!
Check out AlertPop.com and use my coupon code DN20 for 20% off at checkout!.
If you try them let me know how you liked them.
Once you try them I’m pretty sure you’ll want more.
They should be in every drivers glove box!
Now THAT’S what I call Keeping the “LIVE” in Alive!
Enjoy the podcast of my conversation with Alert Pop™ inventor Stephen Caldwell on The Debbie Nigro Show!
If you’d rather read than listen, the full transcript is below.
The Debbie Nigro Show airs on Wellness Wednesdays | 11–12 Noon
Because it’s all about Keeping the “LIVE” in Alive! (because the alternative is just not as festive )
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
0:00:07
You know, some songs just last forever in terms of appeal. This is one of them, man. Hi, everybody. I’m Debbie Nigro, keeping the living alive. That’s the theme of the show. Wellness Wednesday.
0:00:18
is when I like to pull it all together for you guys. And I’ve got a great guest coming on for you right now, something I’m excited to talk about today. Because you know, I just love the action. I love action. I think it’s have to do with my amygdala. What’s that thing in your brain or the hippocampus?
0:00:33
Something needs stimulation up there. So I’m totally drawn to innovators, entrepreneurs, especially with ideas that do good for the world, if you will, okay? You know, I always say, make money, do good for the world, have fun, okay? That’s kind of how you’re supposed to live it. But, you know, the order of things is do good for the world first, okay? So, Stephen Caldwell, who’s about to join me, invented this thing that I’ve been talking about, that for the first time on the air I’m showing you, called Alert Pop, okay?
0:01:02
It’s a natural caffeine lollipop, sugar -free, not for kids, made with organic green tea caffeine in the better -for -you category of, if you will, a little lift in the world of caffeine takeover, right? That’s happening in all the convenience stores. If you haven’t seen a five -hour energy, you obviously haven’t left your car. So these are three flavors. Espresso, watermelon, and, I’m sorry, that’s blue raspberry, and this is watermelon. What is Alert Pop?
0:01:31
It was invented to combat drowsy driving. But the story behind it is very heartfelt, and the inventor is somebody who’s dear to my heart now. I am a founding partner of this company, thanks to a random connection on LinkedIn. Say hello to Stephen Caldwell, my new BFF. Stephen!
0:01:49
(Speaker 2)
Good morning, Debbie! How are you?
0:01:52
(Speaker 1)
Good. Stephen’s out in Portland, Oregon, and gosh knows how we are besties these days, and we work together We’ve been working on this for almost a year?
0:02:03
(Speaker 2)
Yeah, just a year exactly.
0:02:06
(Speaker 1)
Okay, so Stephen Caldwell, why don’t you give a little back story on the product and then we’ll go from there.
0:02:14
(Speaker 2)
Sure. About a year ago, we have two daughters. You know them well, Allie and Lizzie, and they go to the University of Oregon in Eugene. And Allie was telling me a story as we were heading to the airport a year ago to go on spring break, where we try to connect with our girls at least on a one -on -one for seven days and get that face time with them. Allie was telling me a story about one of her closest friends, Paul, whose family owns a restaurant here in Portland. And he was studying for finals and, you know, doing a double shift to make enough money to, you know, have a nice spring break himself.
0:02:49
(Speaker 2)
He was driving home late. He fell asleep at the wheel, totaled his car, all the airbags went off. Thank God he walked away without a scratch. That I just, I literally, and I’m driving to the airport, and it’s, you know, four in the morning, and it’s dark out, and, you know, I’ve been there, you’ve been there, we’ve all been there, where you start to nod, and I’m thinking, you know, that could have been my daughter, Allie, behind the wheel, my wife, myself. I’ve done it. I mean, I’m 61, and I gotta tell you, there’s, I’ve got a handful of stories said, you know, down the road, you know, over a glass of wine that we can talk about, hair raising, that you’re driving down the road, and you literally, Don’t recall the last three exits that went by.
0:03:33
(Speaker 1)
I was just going to say that. I’ve actually been shocked myself sometimes. I go, wow, did I just pass seven exits? You know where you can zone out, right?
0:03:40
(Speaker 2)
You know what they call that? They call it micro -sleeping. So go ahead.
0:03:44
(Speaker 1)
Oh, really? I didn’t know that.
0:03:48
(Speaker 2)
It’s a study that one in 25 drivers, Debbie, admit to falling asleep at the wheel. Now, this is a study by by the National Sleep Association, the National Auto Insurance Association, the National Trucking Association. I mean, these are real numbers, and these are the ones that admit to falling asleep at the wheel. Who knows the ones that don’t?
0:04:09
(Speaker 1)
It’s very funny because, again, I’m in the studio. I’ve got the product. I’ve got my camera on, Stephen, because I’m so proud to be involved with you. I really, really adore you. You’re a big brain. You’re such an amazing entrepreneur.
0:04:23
(Speaker 1)
What’s come out of this, everybody, is the total interest in something that It gives you a little energy but is better for you. So, Stephen, a little back story on creating the product, you know, with zero sugar and no carbs and da -da -da -da -da. How’d that happen? Go ahead.
0:04:45
(Speaker 2)
Because of my experience in another company I own in the food space, I’ve had a lot of experience in finding what’s referred to in the space, in the food spaces, co -manufacturers. So you don’t make it really anything yourself unless you’ve got super deep pockets. And you’re always looking for that, you know, for the manufacturer that can marry the product and sync it up, right? Right. Well, after three tries in one day, The third time was truly a charm. I found the number one, better for you, sugar -free lollipop manufacturer in the country who’s already doing so well in the marketplace.
0:05:23
(Speaker 2)
And their whole mantra is, better for you, sugar -free, candies, gummies, lozenges, and lollipops. So with my idea and their expertise, It was a match made in heaven.
0:05:39
(Speaker 1)
And they were able to jump on board. The world’s first caffeinated lollipop. And what’s great about these lollipops is that each one only has about a half a cup of coffee as well. of caffeine, right? So there’s no overload. And what is it that gets into your system?
0:05:55
(Speaker 1)
Why does it get into your system faster than a cup of coffee?
0:05:57
(Speaker 2)
Tell me. It’s the oral simulation of a lollipop. So you have something while you’re driving down the road, and you have to think about it, right? It’s not a sip of coffee, and then you start to nod. This is something that you can just keep playing with in your mouth, and it’s a nice 10, 15 minute, you know, until it’s completed, right? But what makes it happen is the natural, organic green tea caffeine, coupled with a little bit of coffee, right?
0:06:26
(Speaker 2)
And now, on top of that, Debbie, You heard it here first. We are now powering it with L -theanine and B6 and B12 vitamins, where L -theanine is another organic ingredient that the number one partner is caffeine. So L -theanine with caffeine, L -theanine for focus and caffeine for the lift.
0:06:52
(Speaker 1)
really balances you out without the jittery, gives you the lift without the crash, and with the B vitamins, you know you’ve got something that’s clean in your mouth, doing the job you need it to do, and that’s the one we’re launching in May at the Sweets and Snacks show. Okay, this is very big news because now we’re about to announce something that happened in the last week or so. And that is Alert Pop has been chosen top five best new product out of thousands of products to present on the main stage. Stephen’s going to be on the main stage in Las Vegas at the convention presenting direct to retailers. Amazing, huge, big applause. Oh my gosh.
0:07:30
(Speaker 1)
Bob, you have applause. My engineer has applause for you, Stephen. Hold on a second. He had the applause. There we go. Thank you, Bob.
0:07:40
(Speaker 7)
Best guy ever. Thank you.
0:07:42
(Speaker 1)
Thank you. So what’s great about this, and I, okay, so Stephen and I were travel rest stops lined up to launch in the summer. We’ve got all kinds of convenience chains and supermarkets lining up and we have this website that’s pretty darn amazing called alertpop . com being run by some of the best people in the social marketing world and this ingenious woman named Lolita Petrasov who is behind the idea of how to really market new products and she’s been people clamor for her. Stevens found all these great women to surround himself with which is hysterical because who else is involved in the company is his wife and his daughters and all these very cool women.
0:08:47
(Speaker 6)
Talk about the female power play you made.
0:08:50
(Speaker 2)
I got it. I got to tell you, I learned at a young age. First of all, I’m a girl dad. I have four daughters, one son. And so I’m truly that girl dad, right? And I really appreciate the power of the woman, the tenacity, the commitment.
0:09:08
(Speaker 2)
I got to tell you, the most powerful people I’ve ever surrounded myself with in business are women. And you know this, and I know this, because number one, it’s my wife. It’s you. It’s my daughters that are involved in this company. It’s our operations manager and our whole team made up of women in Missouri that handles all operations for both companies nationwide. I got to tell you, I love the fact that there’s no egos running around.
0:09:36
(Speaker 2)
Nobody’s talking at each other. I just feel so
0:09:40
(Speaker 1)
incredibly blessed that I’ve got the strongest women I could ever think of on our team and never having to worry for one second that not one of them is not doing a thousand and one percent on a daily basis to take this company to the next level. Yeah, it’s great. And very, very respectful. You know, the male -female thing. I love working with you because you’re great at things I’m not and vice versa and there’s just a nice balance of talents. It is my, again, my pleasure and my honor to be involved with you and I’m having so much fun.
0:10:10
(Speaker 1)
Who else loves these things? So we’re testing these out. Once you try this, you’re like, oh yeah, I love it. not just like it, people are like losing it over the espresso flavor. The girls down at the Pickleball, National Pickleball Foundation, my friends who are the co -CEOs, we donated product to their fundraiser for Special Olympics. It was in all their 200 gift bags.
0:10:28
(Speaker 1)
We get asked a lot all of a sudden, can you donate product to our charity, to our bridal shower, to the after party? People want our product, right? And the gift bags.
0:10:37
(Speaker 5)
But they’re calling me afterwards going, oh, Debbie, I stole all the espresso.
0:10:42
(Speaker 1)
I’m like, what? I’ll just send. No, it was me. They were loving it, right? My Aunt Linda, who’s 82 in Florida, every day she’s calling me. Okay, I got the Alert Pops.
0:10:51
(Speaker 1)
Everybody in the whole community loves the Alert Pops. My friend’s aunt, everybody in Rhode Island loves the Alert Pops. You know, Stephen, right? Everywhere we go, we’re giving them out. Bob loved them. And it’s just amazing.
0:11:02
(Speaker 1)
So who would also benefit besides drowsy drivers to help avoid that? Super moms, you know moms are like, okay, this is great in between but you have the moms have to keep the lollipops away from the kids because kids love blood, you know people in the wellness community, you know, people are quitting energy drinks and looking for an Alternative without the crash or loving this, you know the students. Oh my gosh the student we got like colleges lining up for this Busy professionals who may be sitting all day long in front of a computer or in a working in the medical field You know where they can’t get out for a cup of coffee. You need a lift so people
0:11:35
(Speaker 2)
are switching and looking for better for you alternatives And we we happen to be in the right space at the right time and it sure is exciting But it’s all thanks to you Steven with that big brain of yours Did you get up in the middle of the night and write down the idea when you had the the idea in your head? Is that is that how it happened? Well, the day it happened, and Ali told me this story, I woke up the next morning at 2 a . m. , couldn’t sleep, walked out, made a pot of coffee, sat down, grabbed the notepad at the hotel and a pen, and I literally wrote down, alert pop. if fifth We’re in Southern California on a regular basis, and it’s a 16 -hour drive when we bring our dogs and stuff.
0:12:34
(Speaker 5)
And so when I was driving down there a couple of years ago, I would, about every two hours, I’d stop at the coffee shop and pick up a cup of coffee, right?
0:12:43
(Speaker 2)
Well, you can’t do that eight times in a 16 -hour drive, right? It’s not good. I’m just done. A couple of cups of coffee, and I’m wrecked, right? Yes. And so you know those stir sticks at the Starbucks that they plug it so they don’t spill?
0:12:58
(Speaker 2)
spill when you’re taking them out to the car. It’s that plastic plug that Starbucks has. Well, I had one of those, and Lori said, hey, why don’t we stop by another Starbucks? You’re starting to get tired. I said, no. And I grabbed one of those because I’d taken it out of my coffee out of the cup holder.
0:13:12
(Speaker 2)
I started chewing on it. Get this. That lasted for two hours, and then it was mangled to where you couldn’t even recognize it. It looked like a piece of nuclear waste. And I grabbed another one. Well, get this.
0:13:23
(Speaker 2)
I chewed on that for another two hours. So I stopped in Sacramento, walked in, asked the nice people at Starbucks if I could get a couple of drinks. of those sticks. And we didn’t even stop that night. We usually stop 12 hours in. I made it all the way down to SoCal.
0:13:38
(Speaker 2)
And that was how the stick started. It all started with that Starbucks green stick because of the oral stimulation.
0:13:47
(Speaker 1)
And I put two and two together.
0:13:49
(Speaker 2)
started searching, couldn’t find a caffeinated lollipop, and that’s where we are today, Debbie. And what would you say to our working relationship for people who might not know what it’s like working with me every day?
0:14:02
(Speaker 1)
I’m telling you right now, Debbie is the most intense energy bomb I’ve ever been with, and I’ve met my alter ego, my sister from another, Mr. Debbie Nigro. We are going to the promised land together. students, whatever. It’s a feel -good product, and again, excited to be involved.
0:14:41
(Speaker 4)
Thanks so much, Steve and Caldwell.
0:14:43
(Speaker 3)
Have a great day. Thanks, Bill.
0:14:44
(Speaker 1)
Love you. Love you.
