University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School students looking to make a splash in Miami’s flourishing startup space are in the right place at the right time, according to Aaron Sperber.
Sperber is the vice president of business development for NO DAYS OFF Premium Water, a fast-growing Miami enterprise that opened its doors in 2023, the same year Sperber received an MBA from Miami Herbert.
Since then, Sperber has already helped two newly minted Miami Herbert MBA graduates land positions at NO DAYS OFF. He also orchestrated a partnership with Miami Herbert’s MBA capstone course, providing students with unique, hands-on opportunities to help brainstorm NO DAYS OFF growth strategies.
“Basically, we wanted students and alumni to help us become Miami’s premium drinking water,” Sperber said of the collaboration. “We’re already the premium drinking water of the Miami Heat, but we want every person in Miami to think of us when they want good water.”
Sold in aluminum cans that Sperber said are kinder to the environment, and our bodies, than plastic containers, NO DAYS OFF was founded by Manning Sumner, the owner of Legacy Gyms, in Miami. NO DAYS OFF regards itself as the healthier alternative to other premium water brands, which have fewer minerals and electrolytes.
Before gravitating to Miami Herbert and becoming valedictorian of his MBA class, Sperber, 35, had no inkling he’d wade into the bottled water business. That’s because the Rochester, New York, native enjoyed a successful music career before starting his MBA program.
“When I was two years old, my parents tell me I was watching Mister Rogers and Yo-Yo Ma came on the screen playing the cello,” laughed Sperber, who has a bachelor's degree in music and performance from the Eastman School of Music, and a bachelor of arts in international relations from the University of Rochester. “And apparently, I was just immediately in love with the sound the cello made.”
For his third birthday, Sperber was given a miniature cello that he played “ferociously” in a bid to master the instrument. At the University of Rochester, he sang tenor in an acapella group that toured the world.
Afterward, Sperber helped form The Exchange, a five-member acapella ensemble that made frequent appearances on The Sing Off, a national NBC television talent show that’s no longer on the air. The Exchange went on to tour in more than 50 countries, and at one point served as the opening act for the Backstreet Boys when that vocal group toured Europe. In addition to singing with The Exchange, Sperber served as the group’s manager and agent, sparking an interest in business that eventually led him to Miami Herbert.
“Long story short, live music went down around the world when COVID happened,” Sperber remembered. “I will always love music and be part of the musical process, but the Universe has led me to realize that I love the business side, too.”
Sperber embarked on his Miami Herbert MBA journey in 2021 and finds “there isn’t a single class that I’m not using today, in some way or another.
“One would be the intro to marketing class with Professor Uzma Khan. She talks to you not just about the transactional things in marketing, but the psychology of it all. And that comes up in my work all the time now.”
Sperber had an opportunity to go to Los Angeles and work with Warner Music Group after getting his MBA, but found NO DAYS OFF Premium Water—which currently operates out of Wynwood—too intriguing. He’s helped NO DAYS OFF grow from infancy to servicing more than 1,500 accounts, primarily in South Florida.
“We want to first really show our commitment to Miami and show brand penetration in Miami, and then move to other places,” Sperber said. “And as that takes place, we’re going to be hiring more, and the first place we’ll look is Miami Herbert.
“I’m going to be dedicated to giving back to a place that gave so much to me.”
