An Energy Drink Born From a First Responder’s Adversity, Their Journey Through Recovery, and a Desire to Rise From the Ashes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Modern, informed consumers want to make educated purchases. They also want to resonate with the brands they support. Firebird Energy is a new brand from New Zealand that has exploded onto the energy drink and health and wellness scenes thanks to an elite new clean energy drink formula backed by the compelling story of its founder, Kiwi police officer Shaun Winstanley.
Winstanley is a driven man who is fiercely committed to his work as a first responder as well as a husband, father, and now a business owner.
That last bit only became a reality after Winstanley was shot in the face in the line of duty when helping to confront an armed shooter in downtown Auckland in July of 2023. “We got a call out,” he recounted in a recent interview on the Duncan Garner Podcast. “I was at the Manukau Police Station with my team, and I was having my morning smoothie, which I’ve had every day for the last 14 years, and I left it in the equipment room, actually, to stink up after that day because I didn’t return for a while.”
The casual remark belies the severity of the situation. Shortly after getting the call, Winstanley was shot by an armed gunman, receiving 90 pellets in his face. He survived and was evacuated to the hospital, where a long journey to recovery began.
“During the recovery, I was placed in a coma for four days prior to getting on with my life and recovering,” Winstanley said. It was during this period of time, as he healed and waited to return to work, that he found his busy life had finally slowed down enough to innovate and indulge an emerging entrepreneurial concept that would take him in a completely new direction.
“I couldn’t eat solid foods because half my face wasn’t there,” he said. “I couldn’t drink large amounts of liquid because there were holes in my face, and I couldn’t really have hot stuff either because of the thermal burns. So, I started making these protein coffees.”
These coffees included brewed coffee, water, and protein — and they fit right in with his drink-on-the-go mentality. As he healed, Winstanley attributed much of his recovery to the ability to access caffeine and protein so easily through his new beverage. Eventually, he decided to steer into the idea as a business.
He launched Firebird Energy as a way to mass-produce what he had discovered when rehabilitating in his own kitchen. The resulting product (which comes in original coffee and toffee-infused flavors) delivers 150 mg of caffeine and 16 g of milk protein (20% whey and 80% casein for a fast-acting, long-lasting effect). It also has less than 1 gram of sugar and 77 calories per serving.
Consumers are looking for practical products that answer real needs in their daily lives. 76% of those asked also prefer to resonate with a brand’s storytelling — and when that storytelling is compelling, it leads to increased trust.
Firebird Energy is a brand that meets both of these criteria. It addresses a real consumer need through a protein on-the-go option that is easily accessible and offers a caffeine kick followed by sustained protein-based energy. At the same time, the product was forged in the fires of real-life experience. It symbolizes a tenacity to overcome adversity, a focus on resilience, and the ability to rise from the ashes of even the worst life can throw at a person.
About Firebird Energy
Firebird Energy, Ltd. was created in May of 2024. The company operates out of Auckland, New Zealand, and is 100% owned and operated by Kiwi police officer Shaun Winstanley. Shaun was severely injured in the line of duty, and his path to recovery led to his Phoenix-inspired brand. Firebird products have caffeine from real coffee, are low in sugar (less than one gram), and contain a blend of clean proteins for quick absorption and long-lasting effect. Learn more about the brand’s unparalleled energy solutions at firebirdenergy.co.nz.
Shaun Winstanley
P: +64 22 6309 108
W: 394668@email4pr.com
SOURCE Firebird Energy
