Mike Pilkington has built a successful career, holding high-ranking positions in major companies. He said he’s learned the power of networking.

"For a lot of people, there’s a social aspect to networking that creates a challenge. You’ve really got to put yourself out there for people to put themselves out there for you," said Pilkington, co-founder of Key Sparkling Water. "Twenty years ago when I started, you know, a lot of that networking happened at a bar over a beer."

But over the years, he said, all that social drinking became concerning.

"Two and a half years ago, I made the decision that it was time to give that up. I looked at myself and said, ‘there’s a lot of people who count on me,’ and alcohol for me and my relationship with it was an impediment to me being the best version of myself for the people who needed me," Pilkington said. “When I think about networking events over the last 20 years, I have a hard time picturing them without alcohol being present, and once I made the decision that I was done with alcohol, I had to reframe how I thought about ‘being present’ in those conversations."

That’s what sparked Pilkington to turn a networking necessity into the mother of invention. He teamed with like-minded family and friends to use his new outlook to break into a trendy business market. They created Key Sparkling Water, a non-alcoholic fizzy water marketed toward men.

“Every guy that leaves the house, they are tapping their pockets, right? Phone, wallet. Key,” Pilkington said. “And this is key sparkling water, and we are hoping that name resonates. By being very specific about who our target audience is, we feel like we can reach a broad spectrum of consumers and really make this brand successful over time.”

According to the latest Global Study on sparkling water sales, Fortune Business Insights anticipates the sparkling water industry will grow from 38 billion now up to 85 billion by 2030. That’s a growth rate of more than 12% a year. Pilkington wants in.

“We believe there are still problems and gaps in this industry,” Pilkington said. “We’re creating a premium beverage using real fruit so you can feel good about what you’re putting in your body. Secondly, we were very careful about the curation of the carbonation in here, so when you drink it, you want another, and you can have four or five or six throughout the course of a day.”

Pilkington hopes this balanced bright bubbly will float to the top and be the key to his success, and maybe inspire a few of those networkers with every sip.

“If you are one of those people who is trying to understand 'what am I going to do with my life?' One, bet on yourself and two, just get started,” Pilkington said, “and I think that’s the hardest part for a lot of entrepreneurs we speak with, they don’t know how to get started, and it’s really as simple as just get started.”