Search

Friday Five with Mike Del Ponte of Soma

Besides being a social entrepreneur, speaker, and health hacker, Mike Del Ponte is also the co-founder and CEO of Soma, makers of the innovative and most aesthetically pleasing water filters and glass carafes out there. He’s also dubbed as the Chief Hydration Officer – pretty clever, right? Before his foray into healthy drinking water, he led marketing at BranchOut, the largest professional network on Facebook, helping to grow their network from 0 to 25 million users in just over a year. Before that, he founded and was the former CEO of Sparkseed, a worldwide nonprofit that invested in promising college entrepreneurs. He’s clearly no stranger to being a forward-thinking boss man. We tracked him down to share with us five picks in this week’s Friday Five.

F5-Mike-Del-Ponte-SOMA-1-Joey-Roth-moka-pot

1. Blue Bottle Moka Pot by Joey Roth
Joey Roth’s design principles mirror Soma’s: simple modern forms, high-quality natural materials, and new takes on commonly used products. The Moka Pot is the most elegant way to brew espresso.

2. Matcha green tea kit by Panatea
As a health nut, I love matcha, but before Panatea I couldn’t name any matcha brands. Panatea has done a great job of offering a high quality product and adding a lifestyle element. Their Instagram is one of my favorites to follow.

F5-Mike-Del-Ponte-SOMA-3-PUBLIC-hotel-Chicago

3. PUBLIC Hotel in Chicago
The first time I walked into this Ian Schrager hotel, I felt like it was the perfect home for Soma. Clean, modern, refreshing, and buzzing with those in the know. PUBLIC is my go to when I’m in Chicago.

Photo by Danielle Kosann

Photo by Danielle Kosann

4. Shopping at ABC Carpet and Home in NYC
The team at ABC curates products as a well as any boutique in the U.S., but does it at such a mind boggling scale in Manhattan. I always go to ABC for inspiration when I’m in NYC.

F5-Mike-Del-Ponte-SOMA-5-surfboard

5. Matte Black SALT SURF surfboard
We had the privilege of partnering with SALT for Soma Black. They are craftsmen that have as much sense for form as function. Their boards and clothing work and look great.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.