Prior to inventing 7 Up, Grigg had created an orange soft drink named "Whistle" for the Vess Soda Company.

At the age of 22, Grigg moved to St. Louis and began working in the advertising field in which he was introduced to the carbonated beverage business through the various agencies he was partnered.

[2][3] By 1919, Charles Leiper Grigg was working as a salesman for a manufacturing company owned by Vess Jones.

The success of the drink led to his promotion to the position of sales and marketing manager, however, eventually he and Vess came to loggerheads and Grigg left the company, leaving Whistle behind.

He partnered with financier Edmund G. Ridgway and lawyer Frank Gladney and formed the Howdy Company.