There’s no stopping Krista Horton. This influencer based in California achieved a dream when she introduced her premixed rum cocktail brand, Horton Rum. 

“The goal was just accomplishing it; bringing it to life, and enjoying it myself. To then see others sip it and take pleasure in it. That, for me, is the coolest aspect,” reveals Krista, 37, in an exclusive interview with Life & Style regarding Horton Rum. She describes it as her “labor of love”. “I’m not doing this specifically for – of course, it’d be great if it ends up being a thriving business – but the main aim was because this is something I’m deeply passionate about. It felt like my dream project.”

For her nearly 2 million Instagram followers, Horton Rum was unexpected from someone who had been dubbed the “Malibu and Diet” queen. Despite developing her own “Diet Kola” flavored coconut rum cocktail, her love for Malibu Rum remains strong. 

“I will never, ever, ever stop loving Malibu. I will continue to drink it, I will continue to adore it,” she exclaims. “I just felt that we needed something fresh and I am extremely pleased with how everything came out.”

According to Krista, she was warned multiple times to avoid the liquor industry with many calling it “the hardest thing you’ll ever do,” but she was determined to see her dream realized. While it took two years of work behind-the-scenes to perfect the recipe and have a finished product in hand, Krista’s dream began long before that. 

“I was always like, it’d be so cool if we could just put Malibu and Diet in a can, which I would’ve loved to do with them, but I was like, I don’t think they need me. I don’t think they want me,” she says. “We were just wanting to do it, but then expand it too to other flavors because not everybody loves coconut rum with diet. So I was like, we got to make other flavors so that we appeal to everybody. And I feel like with the other two flavors, we did just that.”

Horton Rum is currently available in three flavors, Diet Kola, Pineapple Soda and Lime Soda, with more flavor options in the works. “We’re already sampling new flavors and we have next year planned out for the new flavors we’re going to have coming. They’re already turning out so good,” Krista says.

As a busy mother of three, adding a liquor company to her already-full plate was no small feat, but Krista has no plans to slow down. “I feel like we’ve just been going, going, going, but that’s what we do. That’s what I live for,” she says of her family’s active lifestyle.

“[My husband] Bryce [Horton] tells everybody, he’s like, ‘If she didn’t make a penny off of this, she would still be posting every single day.’ I truly just love it. I think it’s so fun. So yeah, no, I think even when I am 70 years old, me and Bryce will still be cracking jokes at each other and posting about it, and I’ll be sharing my outfits or something,” she says of the idea of retirement. “I’m sure as long as Instagram’s around, I’ll be there.”

If there’s one place you won’t find Krista and fam, however, it’s on reality TV. The Bakersfield, California, native tells Life & Style she’s “happiest” on social media.

“I’ve kind of thought about [reality TV] for other people, not myself. I just feel like with the kids especially too, they’re such a big part of our every day that I wouldn’t want them in it. I wouldn’t want to push them into something like that, and I wouldn’t want to do it without them,” she adds. “I don’t think I would want to do it at all. I don’t know, I’m such an oversharer that I’d probably get myself in trouble.”

Krista – who got her start nearly 10 years ago as a stay-at-home-mom to her son Boston and winning brand ambassador searches for various small businesses – admits that she’s already begun filtering what she shares on social media when it comes to her children. In addition to Boston, 10, Krista shares daughter Kollyns and son Kampbell with Bryce, 35.

“Some days I feel like I’ll post and I’m like, I didn’t even show them at all in my stories. I feel like because they are, they’re just getting older and kind of doing their own thing,” she explains. “I definitely always ask them, is this okay to share if it’s something funny that they’re doing or whatever. Kolly gets embarrassed so easily.”

While their mom and dad make a living off social media, Boss and Kolly, 8, are not allowed to have their own accounts. “It’s going to be no time soon,” Krista says. “I see the bad sides of it that I don’t want them anywhere near that. I know at some point there’s going to be a conversation about it. But I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem worth it at this point.”