How the Cavinder Twins Turned NIL Fame Into a Blueprint for Athlete-Owned Business

Five years ago, Haley and Hanna Cavinder made history by signing the first NIL deal at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2021, in Times Square. Today, they are rewriting the playbook for what college athletes can achieve after graduation. Instead of simply cashing checks as influencers, the twins have launched their own wellness brand, Go Two, and co-founded a tequila company, Azucar. Their journey offers a powerful lesson in leveraging fame into lasting, independent enterprise.

From Athletes to Founders: A New Model for NIL

Go Two, which debuted last week, focuses on what the twins call “frictionless wellness on the go.” Its first products, Debloat and Sleepy, are designed for convenience and immediate relief. In its first few days, the brand outperformed its operating partner’s previous best launch by roughly seven times, without relying on discounts or coupon codes.

“Our thesis from the beginning has been around frictionless wellness on the go, creating products that make it easier to optimize how you feel wherever you are and whenever you need them,” Haley said. “The early response gives us confidence that consumers understand that proposition and that there is meaningful room to build well beyond these first products.”

The twins are not just faces on a label. They are co-founders, alongside their longtime agent Jeff Hoffman and Alexi Hecht. Haley leads brand and creative, Hanna handles influence and social, Hoffman manages business and strategy, and Hecht runs operations. This is a full-fledged ownership structure, not a licensing deal.

What Five Years of NIL Deals Taught Them

Both twins credit their NIL experiences, especially holding equity in other companies during college, as essential training for building Go Two. They learned to reinvest revenue rather than take early payouts, a lesson that now fuels their long-term vision.

“Having equity in companies taught Hanna and I at a very young age that rather than taking revenue out early, you should reinvest your money to stay in it for the long-term goal,” Haley said.

Hoffman described the twins as running a live market research operation for half a decade. Every social media post generates immediate, unfiltered feedback from an audience that has been engaged with them since 2020. “To have that marketplace at your fingertips to learn and grow from it for half a decade gives us an insight into growth and product behavior that very few people can have,” he said.

The Faceless-Brand Strategy: Building Beyond Personal Fame

After years of being the face of other brands, the twins are intentionally building Go Two to thrive without them. “We want the brand to be bigger than us,” Hanna said. “When it launches, our faces will be on it, but the best thing that you can do for your company is have a faceless brand and have customers come back for the product and not for you.”

This strategy avoids the trap of athlete brands that rise and fall with personal visibility. It also opens the door for a future sale or integration into a larger portfolio. Hanna floated the idea of eventually selling Go Two to a bigger company, noting, “It’s constantly evolving, but I don’t think we ever slow down.”

A Roadmap for Other College Athletes

Not every athlete has the following or brand power of the Cavinders, but their path offers a replicable blueprint: build an audience, take equity instead of just cash, learn the operational side from partners, and then launch your own company. “NIL was the seed money,” Hoffman said. “Now Haley and Hanna have the capital investment to take on new endeavors and grow their business.”

The twins are set to speak at Harvard in November as part of the university’s undergraduate women in business programming. It is a marker of how far the conversation has shifted, from athletes who cashed the first NIL check to founders being asked how they built a company.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Go Two and what does it sell?

Go Two is a wellness brand launched by the Cavinder twins. It currently offers two drink products, Debloat and Sleepy, with plans to expand into hydration, protein, collagen, and other categories.

How did the Cavinder twins fund their businesses?

They used equity deals and revenue from NIL endorsements as seed capital, reinvesting earnings rather than taking early payouts. Their social media audience also served as live market research.

Why are they building a faceless brand?

To ensure the company can thrive independently of their personal fame, making it more sustainable and potentially more valuable for a future sale or acquisition.