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Sustainable Alcohol Brand, Holistic Spirits Co Gets B Corp Status · How To Protect The Ocean

• 1:00:00
  I know things are tough these days and a
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  lot of times when people
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  think things are tough,
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  we tend to relax. And when we relax, we
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  have a drink, whether
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  that's an alcoholic beverage
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  or non-alcoholic beverage. Do you ever
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  wonder if that beverage is good for you?
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  Do you ever wonder what's in it? I mean,
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  we've seen food and we've
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  seen drinks and all the stuff
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  that they make it taste so great and you
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  wonder what's in it. Like,
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  is it good for me or is it
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  not so good for me? Well, today I have a
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  special guest, Amy Holman,
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  who is the CEO and founder of
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  the Holistic Spirits Company. It is an
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  alcoholic beverage company
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  that makes the beverage that's
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  not as bad for you. It's actually all the
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  stuff that goes in it. I
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  know obviously alcohol can be
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  not so good for you, but all the stuff
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  that's made with it is
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  actually really good for you.
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  It's organic. It's picked out
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  specifically for this drink.
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  It's a blend that you'll love.
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  And it's something that I wanted to talk
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  to Amy about because she
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  heard her company just got
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  B Corp status, which is really
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  interested. We talk about the B Corp
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  status, what it means to the company,
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  why she decided to go for that and the
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  company to go for that
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  to build a better company.
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  But we find out more reasons why and what
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  was involved. And then we just talk about
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  the sustainability aspect
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  of making a better beverage.
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  So we're going to talk about that on
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  today's episode of the How to Protect the
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  Ocean podcast. Let's start the show.
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  Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another
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  exciting episode of the How
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  to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew Lew. And this is
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  the podcast where you find out what's
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  happening with the ocean,
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  how you can speak up for the ocean, what
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  you do to live for a
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  better ocean by taking action.
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  And on today's episode, I am very happy
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  to welcome Amy Homewood, who is the CEO
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  and founder of Holistic Spirits Company.
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  It is a phenomenal brand, a very new
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  brand that's out there. I'm not a huge
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  alcohol drinker. I like my alcohol.
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  I do like it. And I have it every once in
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  a while, especially on like a hot summer
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  day. If you're sitting on the dock or you
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  buy the water and you enjoy a nice
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  beverage to cool off
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  and to have some fun.
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  This is a beverage for you. And I'm
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  looking forward to not only discussing
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  what the beverage is like, but discussing
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  the process of making a beverage in
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  today's day where people want to know
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  what's in their food and in their drinks.
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  Right. We want to know that it's healthy
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  for us. We want to know
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  that it's not that bad for us.
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  You know, obviously, this is an alcohol
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  drink and alcohol, if not consumed
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  properly, can be bad for you. But if it's
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  consumed in moderation and it has a nice
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  blend to it and it's a
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  healthy blend, it's organic blend.
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  And it's hand picked basically in terms
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  of the ingredients and what it goes into
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  it. I want to find out more about that in
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  the sustainability aspect around that.
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  And Amy was so great, very transparent,
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  wanted to tell us all about it and she
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  did in this interview. So here's the
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  interview with Amy
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  Homewood from Holistic Spirits Co.
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  Enjoy the interview and I will talk to
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  you after. Hey, Amy, welcome to the How
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  to Protect the Ocean podcast. Are you
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  ready to talk about holistic spirits?
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  Yes, I am ready, Andrea. Right on. I'm
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  very excited about this because as a lot
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  of the people in the audience know, Amy,
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  I've been bringing
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  companies on that do good.
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  And I'm very excited to have you on Amy
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  because we're going to talk about your
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  company, which is
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  called Holistic Spirits Co.
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  Is it a company? Is it company? Yes.
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  Okay. There we go. And it's got like a
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  lot of cool things to it. So we're going
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  to get into sort of why you
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  decided to start this company.
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  You know, what made you get into the
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  alcohol business and then the way it's
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  created and all that wonderful stuff.
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  We're going to get into all of that. And
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  plus, you know, congratulations again,
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  we'll say it probably a number of times.
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  But you are now the company is now a B
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  Corp, which is which is a great, great
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  feature for the company.
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  So we're going to get into all of that.
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  But before we do, Amy, you just let us
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  know who you are and what you do. Yeah,
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  my name is Amy Homewood. I'm the CEO of
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  Holistic Spirits Co.
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  I'm an entrepreneur, not having a
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  background in the liquor space, but I
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  really saw an unmet need for building a
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  better for you spirit that has never been
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  done before. So as a curiosity project, I
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  just started down this road and it's just
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  been absolutely crazy.
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  You know what it's like to try to get
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  something off the ground that nobody's
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  ever done before, like protect the ocean.
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  So I'm so excited to share
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  the story with you, Andrew.
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  I am excited to hear it. You know, you
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  mentioned you were an entrepreneur. And
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  so obviously with entrepreneur, there are
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  a number of different things that you
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  test out and do things before you reach,
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  you know, something like holistic
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  spirits. Can you talk about some of the
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  your ventures over time?
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  Yes. Well, I was a financial advisor
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  previous to to being an entrepreneur in
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  the spirits industry, but similar to
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  being a female in an
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  industry that's dominated by men.
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  Yes, I was so fortunate to get into I was
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  in the insurance business for with my
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  father and then unfortunately he passed
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  away when I was in my 30s and I had to
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  kind of forge my own path there.
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  But it was really a great experience
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  having my own business and also being in
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  a world where it was dominated by men,
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  honestly, and dealing with, you know,
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  male clients and people
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  that had their own businesses.
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  So I was dealing with entrepreneurs and,
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  you know, family owned businesses mostly.
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  So I was able to really navigate really
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  uncharted waters for business owners and
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  learn a lot about entrepreneurship and
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  what it takes to grow a business and
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  build a brand and, you know, roll up your
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  sleeves and, you know, get get it done.
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  And so I at 50 years old, I was a little
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  burned out and I retired from that
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  industry and I was really always so
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  fascinated with the health and wellness
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  space and looking at natural
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  health and natural medicine.
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  I had issues as a child. I was very sick
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  as a child and I also contracted Lyme
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  disease when I was in my early 30s. And
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  so I really that's an incurable disease
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  from a tick bite. Yes.
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  And it causes premature aging is
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  basically what it does. So it set me down
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  a whole different path of how to heal
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  myself with food and plants and really
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  learned that food is medicine and also
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  meditation and just that there's so many
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  chemicals and things that were really
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  affecting me in a negative way.
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  So I was able to really learn about the
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  things that aren't really good in our
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  food sources. And so I really was trying
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  to figure out how am I going to insert
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  myself into this? It'd be like a resource
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  for people. So I ended up getting kind of
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  involved in the nutrition space for a
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  while there and went back to school, got
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  a master's degree at Johns Hopkins, went
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  got a nutrition science
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  certification from Stanford.
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  Like I went back to school for a while
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  while I was just on this quest, honestly,
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  to figure out where where was I going to
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  land? And through that process, I just
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  couldn't understand because I do like to
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  have a cocktail and enjoy that.
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  I've always, you know, I told you my
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  great grandfather was, you know,
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  Canadian. He was a liquor business back
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  in the day. And I just couldn't
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  understand why nobody was working on
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  using nutrition science as a
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  foundation of making alcohol.
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  And it just it's one of those scratches,
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  you know, itches that you can't like
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  scratch it out, right? So I ended up
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  deciding that I wanted to try to figure
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  it out. How could we make alcohol less
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  toxic using nutrition science? And was
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  that possible? So that
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  started probably in 2018.
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  And we here we are, you know, 2025. Yeah,
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  and we actually, I think we nailed it. We
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  have created something really special
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  that the world needs to know about how to
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  do how to make it, not just keeping it to
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  ourselves. But there's so much that I
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  learned along the way about the alcohol
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  industry and the way that people don't
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  really understand how it's made and
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  what's in it, that I felt like, gosh, we
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  really have an
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  opportunity to open up to that.
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  And I think that's a great opportunity to
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  open that open the door and show people
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  like this black box. And, and so we're
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  really excited about doing that. And
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  that's part of the mission of the story.
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  And also part of why we became a
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  certified B Corp and attempted to do
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  that, because you really have to open up
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  everything to be, you know, reviewed to
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  look at everything you're doing, which is
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  such a great experience for a small
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  company, just starting out.
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  And you talk about all these different
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  times in your life. And, and I love how
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  you're like, Yeah, it was it was hard.
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  But you know, I made it through and
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  retired, like from the, from the
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  financial advisor business at 50 and then
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  go back to school and stuff. That's, it
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  sounds like a lot of challenges you had
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  to face through that time.
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  What was one of the biggest challenges
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  through that time? I know it's, it's, if
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  there's a lot of time in there and, and,
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  and there's a lot that happened in there,
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  but what was the biggest challenge from
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  like going from a full time, you know,
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  business and then, you know, trying to
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  figure out the next steps, but then
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  having to go back to school to learn more
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  about the process that, that you want to
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  go in that direction.
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  And I think that's, that's the biggest
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  challenge that I would imagine that, you
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  know, there's a lot of risk involved. I'm
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  like, what if this isn't something I want
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  to learn after a while? Like, what was
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  that biggest challenge?
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  Think it just that people building belief
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  that what I was doing, I could get people
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  to come along. So that's where I have
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  always believed and I've learned this
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  from other entrepreneurs, that you have
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  to share your ideas with people or you'll
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  never get your idea off the ground.
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  I mean, you have to tell as many people
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  as you can do not keep your idea to
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  yourself because you'll never find the
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  people that are going to help you build
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  the idea if you don't talk about it. So
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  that's where the challenge was so many
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  people, especially people, especially
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  people in the liquor industry were saying
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  that this would never work. Even if you
• 1:10:08
  could figure it out, it'll never succeed
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  because you can't talk about it the way
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  you're going to need to
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  for people to give a crap.
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  And it's going to be really expensive to
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  do. And you have no idea what you're
• 1:10:21
  doing anyway. And no one's going to buy
• 1:10:24
  brown vodka. So you should just stop even
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  fascinating yourself with that.
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  That's very true that when you think
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  about it, brown vodka is like, wait a
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  minute, isn't provided? Yeah. Yeah. So I
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  was like, I, I think they might. I do. So
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  it's having your own self confidence,
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  knowing that because I know, I'm not going to be able to do that.
• 1:10:43
  Because I know it's just like you with
• 1:10:46
  you're so marine biologist, you know, so
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  much more than 99% of the people about
• 1:10:53
  what you know. And it's hard for people
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  to understand why you're so passionate.
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  And maybe they just
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  never will. And that's okay.
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  Yeah, but but the most important thing is
• 1:11:04
  that you believe that is that you believe
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  it and that you know what you know, and
• 1:11:09
  no one can take that away from you. So
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  for me, it was like, I know what I know.
• 1:11:14
  And I know more about this probably then
• 1:11:17
  because not a lot of people have actually
• 1:11:18
  thought about how to do this. And I found
• 1:11:20
  that because one of the things I did,
• 1:11:23
  Andrew, probably similar to the things
• 1:11:24
  that you do to rally your people is found
• 1:11:28
  some of the most
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  brilliant minds in the industry.
• 1:11:31
  You know, I used to sell life insurance.
• 1:11:41
  So I would call anybody. Okay, I was not
• 1:11:43
  afraid to pick up the phone and call
• 1:11:44
  people. Right. Because I knew what I had
• 1:11:47
  was going to be something that was really
• 1:11:49
  important for them, even if they didn't
• 1:11:51
  appreciate it, they just don't
• 1:11:52
  understand. Yeah, you know, because when they're on an airplane, and they think it's going to crash, they're going to say, Oh, crap, I wish I would have bought that life insurance.
• 1:11:53
  Yeah, you know because when they're on an
• 1:11:56
  airplane and they think it's gonna crash
• 1:11:57
  they're gonna say oh crap
• 1:11:58
  I wish I would have bought that life
• 1:12:00
  insurance policy that
• 1:12:01
  Amy tried to sell me
• 1:12:02
  You know what I mean? I know that so I'm
• 1:12:04
  like, yeah, I know more than you do about
• 1:12:06
  how this is gonna feel
• 1:12:07
  So I really felt really strongly about
• 1:12:09
  this and I called like experts all over
• 1:12:12
  You know in academia and they were liver,
• 1:12:14
  you know liver cancer experts and also
• 1:12:17
  experts in plant science, you know
• 1:12:19
  drug development
• 1:12:20
  evolves from plant science and
• 1:12:22
  I got
• 1:12:25
  Incredible responses like this is such a
• 1:12:27
  good idea and you know what? Nobody's
• 1:12:28
  actually called me to
• 1:12:29
  ask me this question
• 1:12:30
  So I think you could get a patent
• 1:12:34
  So they're like I'm an expert in the
• 1:12:36
  field nobody's called me to
• 1:12:37
  ask me anything about this
• 1:12:39
  So I think this is really like I'd really
• 1:12:41
  like to help you with this
• 1:12:42
  So I got a lot of people that were kind
• 1:12:44
  of excited and then of course
• 1:12:46
  Academia wanted to own all the
• 1:12:48
  intellectual property
• 1:12:49
  So I had to go in a different direction
• 1:12:51
  than going up a big
• 1:12:52
  institution which was fine
• 1:12:54
  So I ended up, you know, so it's finding
• 1:12:56
  those troops those believers
• 1:12:59
  so the biggest challenge is don't give up
• 1:13:01
  when you know you have
• 1:13:02
  something and there are
• 1:13:04
  entrepreneurs and
• 1:13:06
  this applies to any cause
• 1:13:08
  where
• 1:13:10
  If your idea if no one
• 1:13:13
  believes it's possible
• 1:13:14
  It's the best time for your idea. It's
• 1:13:18
  probably contrary. It's a
• 1:13:19
  good contrarian truth. Okay, it's
• 1:13:22
  Contrary to the truth and that's when you
• 1:13:25
  have to build your idea
• 1:13:26
  because that's when it's
• 1:13:29
  Someone has to do it then
• 1:13:31
  and who's going to right?
• 1:13:32
  So that's why I got even more excited
• 1:13:35
  with all the rejection. I was
• 1:13:36
  like, yes, no one believes it
• 1:13:38
  I know it's I know it's the right time
• 1:13:40
  It's such a weird such a weird thing to
• 1:13:42
  hear where it's like,
• 1:13:43
  oh nobody believes it
• 1:13:44
  Well, no, no, now I know I'm on the right
• 1:13:45
  path because people people are believing
• 1:13:48
  it. That's a hundred percent
• 1:13:49
  Yeah, a hundred percent
• 1:13:50
  validation for your idea
• 1:13:53
  Now let me ask you this so, you know, you
• 1:13:54
  talked about you know
• 1:13:55
  You want to to make the process better
• 1:13:57
  for people and less toxic?
• 1:13:59
  Let's talk about that initial process
• 1:14:01
  like the regular alcohol that we get at a
• 1:14:03
  liquor store or so forth
• 1:14:05
  What is so toxic? Is it the alcohol or is
• 1:14:09
  it the stuff that's
• 1:14:10
  made around it? All of it?
• 1:14:12
  I'll of it together. Okay, sure, but you
• 1:14:14
  think of the industrial food machine,
• 1:14:16
  right? Yeah, industrial food and that
• 1:14:19
  basically
• 1:14:21
  90-something percent of all American, you
• 1:14:23
  know, it's industrial food manufactured
• 1:14:25
  food and it's alcohols that way too. So
• 1:14:29
  uses a lot of water a lot of
• 1:14:32
  waste a lot of sludge a lot of
• 1:14:35
  artificial ingredients and
• 1:14:36
  flavors and colors. Yeah, and
• 1:14:39
  And there are no labeling requirements by
• 1:14:42
  the FDA or the TTV to put
• 1:14:45
  any information on a bottle
• 1:14:47
  The only thing the only time you have to
• 1:14:49
  put information on a bottle is if you say
• 1:14:53
  That you're made with organic ingredients
• 1:14:57
  You're not certified organic if you're
• 1:14:59
  made with organic ingredients
• 1:15:01
  You have to put every ingredient on the
• 1:15:04
  label and say what percentage of it which
• 1:15:06
  ones are organic and which ones are not
• 1:15:09
  But other than that if you're not made
• 1:15:11
  with organic ingredients
• 1:15:12
  You do not have to put anything on the
• 1:15:15
  label and you have no
• 1:15:16
  idea. It's so bizarre
• 1:15:19
  So bizarre it makes
• 1:15:20
  no sense to me, right?
• 1:15:22
  Right
• 1:15:22
  I guess that's just the way you know
• 1:15:24
  people lobby and they get
• 1:15:25
  the laws made and you know
• 1:15:26
  They get it in a certain way
• 1:15:27
  So they don't have to put it down because
• 1:15:28
  if you the more information you have the
• 1:15:30
  more decision you can
• 1:15:31
  make and if you don't
• 1:15:32
  Have that information you can't really
• 1:15:33
  make an informed decision
• 1:15:35
  So you just end up just by like getting
• 1:15:37
  giving their word like or
• 1:15:38
  taking them at their word, right?
• 1:15:40
  Just be like no, this is well
• 1:15:41
  They're not even telling there is no word
• 1:15:43
  because no right as anything
• 1:15:44
  So the only thing you're seeing is with
• 1:15:46
  added to you know tequila as they're
• 1:15:47
  talking about now when
• 1:15:49
  you go to a finer restaurant
• 1:15:50
  You're gonna see additive free list of
• 1:15:52
  tequila and then the regular tequila
• 1:15:54
  There's no additive free gin vodka.
• 1:15:56
  There's no additive free other page
• 1:15:59
  Yeah, okay, and I don't know if they can
• 1:16:02
  have that because frankly I have no idea
• 1:16:04
  what's in all this other stuff
• 1:16:05
  All I know is when we
• 1:16:07
  went to make our stuff
• 1:16:08
  I had a mandate that we're
• 1:16:10
  not gonna put anything in there
• 1:16:12
  That's not natural and made you know from
• 1:16:14
  a plant and so and we weren't going to
• 1:16:17
  manipulate it with any art
• 1:16:18
  Any even a color just for the sake of the
• 1:16:20
  color. We're not everything has a purpose
• 1:16:23
  for being in that bottle
• 1:16:24
  Yeah, and so, you know, this is something
• 1:16:26
  I think that the industry
• 1:16:28
  is going to be grappling with
• 1:16:30
  Coming up real soon here that because
• 1:16:32
  people are going to
• 1:16:33
  start asking more questions
• 1:16:35
  100% I mean there's we're seeing it in
• 1:16:37
  regular foods not just in liquids
• 1:16:39
  But we're seeing it in Whole Foods where
• 1:16:41
  even with Whole Foods people are
• 1:16:43
  wondering how it like
• 1:16:44
  you're labeling this as organic
• 1:16:46
  Or non organic, but how is this organic
• 1:16:48
  like, you know, it's it's
• 1:16:49
  not just a marketing scheme
• 1:16:50
  I think a lot of
• 1:16:51
  companies are very you know
• 1:16:53
  cognizant of of green of the term
• 1:16:55
  greenwashing because there's it's been so
• 1:16:57
  apparent and it's now you
• 1:16:59
  just see it all the time and
• 1:17:01
  It's it's nice to have
• 1:17:02
  companies who are like no
• 1:17:03
  No, we're gonna like the companies who
• 1:17:04
  are not greenwashing are the ones who are
• 1:17:06
  fully transparent, you know
• 1:17:07
  They put everything on their balls
• 1:17:08
  because like, you know what?
• 1:17:09
  We know what was in here and we want to
• 1:17:11
  tell you what's in here
• 1:17:12
  Right so that you can make that decision
• 1:17:14
  and yet the power goes back to the
• 1:17:16
  consumer and that's
• 1:17:17
  what I that's what I love
• 1:17:18
  About this process. So when you decide to
• 1:17:21
  like look we're gonna we're gonna make
• 1:17:22
  this with a number of different
• 1:17:24
  plant-based materials
• 1:17:25
  What like in terms of like there's so
• 1:17:30
  many different species of plants
• 1:17:31
  There's so many different types of
• 1:17:33
  berries you can put in
• 1:17:34
  and all this types of stuff
• 1:17:36
  Where do you begin?
• 1:17:38
  In this type of area, right you begin by
• 1:17:40
  hiring a really good food scientist.
• 1:17:42
  That's work with the FDA
• 1:17:44
  Because there's a list of ingredients
• 1:17:46
  you're allowed to put into alcohol
• 1:17:49
  It's called it's a grass certification
• 1:17:52
  Generally regarded as safe and the FDA
• 1:17:55
  has a list and now you can
• 1:17:57
  go back to the FDA and say hey
• 1:17:59
  I want to put milk thistle and they'll
• 1:18:02
  say well, it's not on the list
• 1:18:03
  Okay, so you're gonna have to like hire
• 1:18:05
  someone to get it on there
• 1:18:07
  So we started with the list that was
• 1:18:09
  already available and that's what we used
• 1:18:12
  We didn't want to fight that battle
• 1:18:14
  We saw the list and I then I hired, you
• 1:18:18
  know a Danish scientist in in Oregon who
• 1:18:21
  works with a lot of very unusual
• 1:18:25
  Ingredients some of which the ones that
• 1:18:27
  were on the list. I
• 1:18:28
  never heard that before
• 1:18:30
  And I was like who's the top person with
• 1:18:32
  muscadine grapes? Yeah, and
• 1:18:34
  it happened to be Gita Jensen
• 1:18:37
  PhD from you know
• 1:18:39
  Yeah, a little town in in Oregon and so,
• 1:18:43
  you know learning what?
• 1:18:46
  ingredients Could do potentially what it's in terms
• 1:18:49
  of being able to stabilize
• 1:18:52
  Alcohol is like a matrix. It's a liquid
• 1:18:54
  that's gonna hold stuff
• 1:18:56
  right
• 1:18:56
  and so what can stabilize in there and
• 1:18:59
  Actually maintain the benefits of the
• 1:19:02
  ingredients instead of having them be
• 1:19:03
  destroyed because alcohol is a solvent
• 1:19:07
  and it like absorbs things
• 1:19:08
  Right, but it also can make them more
• 1:19:10
  powerful or it could just make them
• 1:19:13
  Rendered useless because they don't have
• 1:19:15
  any benefits left
• 1:19:16
  because it gets destroyed
• 1:19:17
  So all this testing it took almost four
• 1:19:19
  years of all this testing
• 1:19:21
  Wow and trying to find
• 1:19:23
  people to help us and you know
• 1:19:24
  And then and then also studying all the
• 1:19:27
  base spirits too because
• 1:19:29
  alcohol can be made from cane corn
• 1:19:32
  We you know sugar
• 1:19:34
  whatever all the different grapes
• 1:19:37
  Tulip bulbs, I mean, you know white one
• 1:19:40
  You know winter wheat, you know European
• 1:19:43
  wheat gluten-free wheat
• 1:19:44
  I mean it goes the list goes on so we had
• 1:19:47
  to study all of those too because they
• 1:19:50
  have their own ramifications
• 1:19:52
  In terms of a chemical reaction that they
• 1:19:54
  have with the other plants.
• 1:19:55
  So that was very interesting
• 1:19:57
  It was a whole process
• 1:19:59
  That's it seems like you're you're trying
• 1:20:00
  to put a puzzle together
• 1:20:02
  That's never been put together and the
• 1:20:04
  pieces may or may not form together and
• 1:20:07
  you have to find that formula that
• 1:20:09
  It actually forms together. And so you
• 1:20:11
  said that took four years
• 1:20:13
  Yeah from idea of those phone calls to
• 1:20:17
  these brilliant people to finding these
• 1:20:19
  people going through a year and a half of
• 1:20:21
  Universities that said they wanted to own
• 1:20:23
  everything to pivoting and then you know
• 1:20:25
  and then starting to
• 1:20:26
  make it which we made it
• 1:20:27
  in a in a little
• 1:20:28
  kitchen in Salt Lake City
• 1:20:29
  which
• 1:20:31
  The scientists that I work with Natalie
• 1:20:34
  chevro. She's a beautiful French
• 1:20:36
  chemist who I knew from years
• 1:20:38
  ago from another company and
• 1:20:41
  She had never worked on alcohol other
• 1:20:43
  than having it preserve
• 1:20:45
  Ingredients for like cosmetics and stuff
• 1:20:47
  because alcohol is used in a lot of
• 1:20:49
  products, right? Yes
• 1:20:50
  And so we really sat in her kitchen with
• 1:20:54
  these different ingredients
• 1:20:55
  And we're just hundreds of batches and
• 1:20:57
  just playing around with different things
• 1:20:59
  and then to take that and then find a
• 1:21:01
  distillery to make that
• 1:21:03
  product
• 1:21:04
  We were able to what was really fun as we
• 1:21:07
  I told you I'm from back East originally
• 1:21:09
  the Bethesda, Maryland
• 1:21:10
  Maryland area. Yeah, and we've I was
• 1:21:14
  Fascinated with a distillery in
• 1:21:17
  Frederick. It's the only certified
• 1:21:18
  organic distillery in
• 1:21:19
  the state of Maryland
• 1:21:20
  And I thought why don't we go talk to
• 1:21:22
  this gentleman who owns this and see if
• 1:21:25
  he would want to work with us?
• 1:21:26
  Because it's right in our back door. We
• 1:21:28
  were there still while we were doing some
• 1:21:30
  of this research and
• 1:21:31
  He was not really
• 1:21:35
  Able to help us in the beginning, but
• 1:21:37
  once we came to him with the formula
• 1:21:39
  He was totally blown away by what we came
• 1:21:41
  up with in this little
• 1:21:42
  kitchen in Salt Lake City
• 1:21:43
  He just couldn't believe it. So we got
• 1:21:45
  really lucky. So we do
• 1:21:46
  make in a certified organic
• 1:21:48
  green
• 1:21:50
  Distillery in Frederick, Maryland and
• 1:21:52
  that's where we make our vodka
• 1:21:53
  But now we're also making a gin and I'll
• 1:21:55
  tell you a little bit more making that up
• 1:21:57
  in Petaluma, California
• 1:21:59
  So you know going through
• 1:22:00
  that process working with other?
• 1:22:03
  Experts in the field instead of going to
• 1:22:05
  try to own our own distillery
• 1:22:06
  That was not an option at
• 1:22:08
  all or not even necessary
• 1:22:10
  Why do that when you can use somebody
• 1:22:12
  else who's already put that sweat equity
• 1:22:15
  and already has it set
• 1:22:16
  up as certified organic?
• 1:22:17
  and
• 1:22:19
  Absolutely incredible entrepreneur
• 1:22:20
  people, you know to work with yeah. Yeah
• 1:22:23
  and to partner with
• 1:22:24
  with somebody like that
• 1:22:26
  Obviously has gone through the hoops and
• 1:22:27
  everything that you need to go through
• 1:22:29
  The I would imagine they'd be excited to
• 1:22:32
  partner with somebody like
• 1:22:33
  like yourself to say hey look
• 1:22:35
  We're trying to change the game here
• 1:22:36
  like we're trying to offer you provide an
• 1:22:39
  option for people where they can be
• 1:22:40
  healthy and still have
• 1:22:42
  a you know still have a
• 1:22:43
  good time and relax and know that what
• 1:22:45
  they're putting in their system is
• 1:22:47
  healthy for them and and
• 1:22:48
  Know what's going into their system,
• 1:22:50
  which I which I think is
• 1:22:51
  And I yeah, and I think Andrew a better
• 1:22:54
  way to say it to frame it is
• 1:22:56
  this last bad not hell. Yes
• 1:22:59
  Yeah, for sure. You still have to do it
• 1:23:01
  moderately. That's right. Yeah, of
• 1:23:04
  course. Yes. Yeah. I like that
• 1:23:07
  Now, you know four years of trying to
• 1:23:10
  come up with a formula and and you know
• 1:23:12
  going to school and
• 1:23:12
  everything like that not
• 1:23:14
  Doing your work, you know you I would
• 1:23:17
  imagine this is not something like that
• 1:23:18
  It's like, you know, you could bootstrap
• 1:23:20
  it, but it's a very difficult thing to
• 1:23:22
  just bootstrap yourself
• 1:23:23
  You look I assumed you'd look for
• 1:23:25
  investors and you and you had investors
• 1:23:27
  and people interested
• 1:23:28
  how does that work when you start a
• 1:23:29
  company like this with such a
• 1:23:31
  I
• 1:23:33
  Can say like I guess it's a more of a
• 1:23:35
  rebellious nature in
• 1:23:37
  that in the alcohol industry
• 1:23:38
  But something that's so innovative, you
• 1:23:40
  know to get investors
• 1:23:42
  Was that a difficult pitch to make for
• 1:23:45
  this type of brand that
• 1:23:47
  you were trying to create?
• 1:23:49
  In the beginning it
• 1:23:50
  really was not because we had
• 1:23:54
  People really excited to help us
• 1:23:56
  But we did bootstrap it, you know all
• 1:23:58
  through that four years and put a lot of
• 1:24:00
  money into the company
• 1:24:02
  but then Woody Harrelson drank a bottle
• 1:24:05
  of origin holistic spirits vodka and
• 1:24:08
  one of our investors who's been a friend
• 1:24:11
  and business partner of
• 1:24:12
  mine for almost 35 years
• 1:24:15
  he knew
• 1:24:17
  Woody's manager from another investment
• 1:24:20
  that he had done and he just said hey you
• 1:24:22
  should send him a bottle and see
• 1:24:23
  You know just send it to him because
• 1:24:26
  these he might want to be
• 1:24:27
  an investor in the company
• 1:24:28
  Yeah, not even woody, but what he's
• 1:24:30
  manager, right? And so
• 1:24:32
  So he got it and he goes. Oh my gosh
• 1:24:35
  I need to send this to woody woody is
• 1:24:37
  gonna want this because
• 1:24:38
  woody really likes clean spirits
• 1:24:40
  He likes like clear he
• 1:24:42
  likes he drinks natural wine
• 1:24:44
  You know, he he's very picky about what
• 1:24:46
  he puts into his body very when he saw
• 1:24:48
  the ingredients on the label
• 1:24:49
  He was like, oh my gosh
• 1:24:50
  I I got a so we sent two bottles to woody
• 1:24:53
  and he and his wife and
• 1:24:53
  his neighbors in Hawaii
• 1:24:55
  Came over and they pretty
• 1:24:56
  much drank a whole bottle
• 1:24:58
  And so in one night to test
• 1:25:01
  it out. Well, yeah, test it out
• 1:25:02
  You gotta do it. They totally went all in
• 1:25:04
  and tested it out and they called
• 1:25:06
  literally the next day
• 1:25:07
  They're like, oh my gosh. I love this. I
• 1:25:10
  will want this in my body
• 1:25:11
  I want this in my world and I've been
• 1:25:15
  waiting for this like thank God
• 1:25:17
  Hallelujah, let's I gotta meet this purse
• 1:25:19
  this crazy person. So we
• 1:25:21
  got so we got on a zoom
• 1:25:23
  We totally connected and I
• 1:25:25
  was like woody you're amazing
• 1:25:26
  We think I've always loved you and I
• 1:25:28
  respect the crap out of you
• 1:25:30
  But you know, we're not looking for a
• 1:25:32
  celebrity money grab
• 1:25:33
  kind of guy, you know
• 1:25:34
  We're looking for a real partner and if
• 1:25:37
  you want to get involved, we'd love you
• 1:25:38
  to invest in the company
• 1:25:39
  So let's have a conversation about that
• 1:25:41
  and he did and it was incredible and he
• 1:25:43
  brought some other people
• 1:25:44
  that are really fantastic
• 1:25:45
  You know people to have on our team as
• 1:25:47
  well. So we work with their team
• 1:25:49
  He does, you know, he's got a great team.
• 1:25:51
  We have a call every two weeks
• 1:25:53
  Yeah, and the most important part of what
• 1:25:55
  he does is these kinds of things that
• 1:25:57
  we're doing right now interviews
• 1:25:58
  For magazines to educate people more
• 1:26:01
  about why we're doing what we're doing
• 1:26:03
  and why he got excited about the company
• 1:26:05
  And look, I don't know. I've never met
• 1:26:07
  woody Harrelson. I've had
• 1:26:08
  the pleasure of meeting him
• 1:26:09
  He seems that from a celebrity point of
• 1:26:11
  view like one of the most
• 1:26:12
  down-to-earth types of people
• 1:26:15
  That you can you can meet and we know,
• 1:26:17
  you know, everybody knows of his clean
• 1:26:19
  living type of style, you know
• 1:26:21
  vegan very clean I
• 1:26:23
  believe there is a joke that was made on
• 1:26:26
  a celebrity talk show
• 1:26:28
  with one of his co-stars I
• 1:26:30
  Blank on her name. She
• 1:26:32
  He starred with her but she
• 1:26:33
  would joke around with him
• 1:26:35
  He would drive she would drive him to
• 1:26:36
  work or as she was driving to work
• 1:26:38
  She would bring him to like a McDonald's
• 1:26:40
  drive drive him nuts
• 1:26:41
  And he's get all mad
• 1:26:42
  at her and kind of stuff
• 1:26:43
  But it because that was everybody knows
• 1:26:45
  what he likes, you know clean living like
• 1:26:48
  he likes his his his his vegan lifestyle
• 1:26:51
  He wants to make sure that everything's
• 1:26:52
  organic. Everything's
• 1:26:54
  good for him in his life
• 1:26:55
  You know the way he sees it and I think
• 1:26:57
  that and it kind of
• 1:26:58
  speaks to his down-to-earth
• 1:27:01
  Personality from what I
• 1:27:02
  gather like in front of scene
• 1:27:04
  obviously
• 1:27:04
  You kind of agree with
• 1:27:06
  that in terms of you know
• 1:27:07
  No, we're getting to know him and so
• 1:27:09
  forth and I think it's important to have
• 1:27:11
  a celebrity like that
• 1:27:12
  when you start talking about
• 1:27:13
  having a
• 1:27:14
  spirit that an alcohol that is
• 1:27:18
  You know that that's
• 1:27:19
  that's cleaner, you know
• 1:27:20
  like you said less bad for you then then
• 1:27:22
  then all the others and and to just even
• 1:27:24
  ask the question even to think about
• 1:27:26
  Asking the question like
• 1:27:27
  how good is this gin for me?
• 1:27:29
  You know, even though it's alcohol and I
• 1:27:31
  want to have a good time to taste good or
• 1:27:32
  or vodka that tastes good
• 1:27:34
  But how good is it like
• 1:27:35
  there are so many mixtures of?
• 1:27:37
  These drinks of gin and vodka these days
• 1:27:39
  and you don't know what's in them
• 1:27:41
  You just drink them because somebody
• 1:27:42
  either told you about them or
• 1:27:44
  you see it on TV or you know
• 1:27:46
  You just find it in the liquor store
• 1:27:48
  And you just start to drink them and
• 1:27:50
  because you like them and then you like
• 1:27:51
  the way it feels on a hot summer
• 1:27:53
  Day or what have you and then you start
• 1:27:54
  to go but you know now for me meeting you
• 1:27:57
  and knowing about this brand
• 1:27:58
  You're like well, yeah, is this is good
• 1:28:00
  for me or is this not as bad for me?
• 1:28:02
  Like I want to know what
• 1:28:03
  this what this really is
• 1:28:04
  I think it's an important question to ask
• 1:28:07
  and I think having having Woody Harrelson
• 1:28:09
  Attached to it in the capacity that he is
• 1:28:12
  and not just like the face of it
• 1:28:13
  He is the an investor and he wants to
• 1:28:15
  know more about it in
• 1:28:16
  his business practices
• 1:28:17
  I think that's that's I think that's really that's really
• 1:28:19
  great to be able to do that
• 1:28:23
  But then like, you know, I don't know
• 1:28:24
  much about making a product and stuff. My
• 1:28:26
  product is information
• 1:28:27
  That's how I that's how I run my business
• 1:28:29
  and obviously, you know you the
• 1:28:31
  information is important in
• 1:28:33
  this aspect for for alcohol
• 1:28:35
  But when you once you have the formula
• 1:28:37
  once you kind of figured it out
• 1:28:40
  How'd what's the next steps that you have
• 1:28:42
  to take in terms of you know, making the
• 1:28:45
  product at a particular scale?
• 1:28:47
  Do you start off trying to ramp it up as
• 1:28:49
  much as possible or
• 1:28:50
  do you start off slow?
• 1:28:51
  How does that work and where do you start
• 1:28:53
  to get the distribution and
• 1:28:55
  things like that? Right? So
• 1:28:57
  You can do it a couple different ways. We
• 1:29:00
  started off slow because we needed to
• 1:29:03
  have proof of concept
• 1:29:04
  Yeah, it's one thing to have Woody
• 1:29:05
  Harrelson get excited
• 1:29:07
  And me to be excited because finally
• 1:29:09
  somebody made something I
• 1:29:11
  actually want to drink, right?
• 1:29:14
  We needed to show because of the
• 1:29:17
  skepticism in the spirits world
• 1:29:21
  Show that there were people that would
• 1:29:22
  want to buy this so it's very funny
• 1:29:24
  So the first thing we
• 1:29:26
  did which makes zero sense
• 1:29:28
  But just what we did so we went to the
• 1:29:30
  Wilshire Country Club
• 1:29:31
  Okay, 500 bottles. Okay, okay, and we had
• 1:29:35
  a friend who was a member
• 1:29:37
  of the Wilshire Country Club
• 1:29:39
  And he said listen, I'm in
• 1:29:41
  charge of the LPGA tournament
• 1:29:43
  I think you guys should host a bar at the
• 1:29:45
  LPGA tournament at my country club and
• 1:29:48
  all the members are gonna come try it and
• 1:29:51
  You're just gonna have this little little
• 1:29:53
  group of people that see what
• 1:29:54
  they think in a over four days
• 1:29:57
  Okay, and there were two different golf
• 1:29:59
  tournaments. There was one there and
• 1:30:00
  another one the next
• 1:30:01
  week at Palace Verdes
• 1:30:02
  So we said, you know, that's a great idea
• 1:30:06
  It was absolutely incredible
• 1:30:07
  People were just loving it and they were
• 1:30:09
  so excited and they were just like but
• 1:30:12
  what was interesting which
• 1:30:13
  I didn't realize is a lot
• 1:30:14
  Of the people that watch ladies golf
• 1:30:17
  professional golf are
• 1:30:18
  Korean men that don't
• 1:30:21
  Don't drink vodka. No, they don't drink
• 1:30:23
  vodka. They drink whiskey or Burbank or
• 1:30:26
  scotch very expensive
• 1:30:27
  Barrel-aged for 20 years, you know, right
• 1:30:29
  ours is made in one day.
• 1:30:30
  Ours is like having a smoothie
• 1:30:32
  It's like a fresh juice in a bottle.
• 1:30:33
  Okay, and so so they're coming up and
• 1:30:37
  they're like, what is that?
• 1:30:37
  Because it's a brown. It's a copper pinky
• 1:30:40
  brownish color clear liquor
• 1:30:42
  sure and it looks like whiskey
• 1:30:44
  Yeah, so I was no way I was telling him
• 1:30:46
  it was vodka. I was like, alright, you
• 1:30:48
  guys just need to try this
• 1:30:49
  so we made old fashions, you know
• 1:30:51
  cocktails with it and
• 1:30:53
  They just absolutely loved it. Everybody
• 1:30:55
  loved it was great and
• 1:30:57
  It was a really good
• 1:30:59
  You know sort of a market where there
• 1:31:01
  were all different ages because there
• 1:31:02
  were young people there were older people
• 1:31:04
  It was all variety of different even
• 1:31:06
  though it was it was an open tournament
• 1:31:08
  So people could come and see it
• 1:31:10
  So there were all different kinds of
• 1:31:12
  people that were coming to it for four
• 1:31:13
  days testing area. It was really cool
• 1:31:16
  Yeah, then we made a thousand cases. Okay
• 1:31:18
  after that case. So then yeah thousand
• 1:31:20
  cases, which is not really
• 1:31:21
  that much believe it or not
• 1:31:22
  How much in the case how many in a case
• 1:31:24
  four six six? Yeah six bottles. So, you
• 1:31:26
  know, okay. All right
• 1:31:27
  so yeah, and then we so
• 1:31:30
  that was our like round one and
• 1:31:32
  From there. So since we started Andrew,
• 1:31:35
  we've sold four thousand cases and that's
• 1:31:38
  been about over about a year and a half
• 1:31:40
  So now we make them in these increments,
• 1:31:42
  right? Yeah, we also know
• 1:31:45
  That whenever those ingredients come in
• 1:31:47
  because we have we have four ingredients
• 1:31:49
  that are from all over the world
• 1:31:52
  Artichoke leaves from France. They're
• 1:31:54
  they're harvested four times a year
• 1:31:57
  Elderberry extract
• 1:31:58
  elderberries are grown in Europe
• 1:32:00
  Mostly in the Alps are grown in Poland,
• 1:32:02
  you know, there's a war. I mean, you
• 1:32:04
  know, you're anian war
• 1:32:06
  There's all kinds of
• 1:32:06
  crazy stuff going on for sure
• 1:32:08
  And then we have the muscadine grapes
• 1:32:10
  which are a seasonal grape that's
• 1:32:13
  harvested in October
• 1:32:14
  They're make they're grown in the United
• 1:32:16
  States. Okay, and if there's if there's a
• 1:32:19
  Freeze like there just was yeah foot of
• 1:32:22
  snow in Georgia, which is yeah
• 1:32:24
  And then we have green tea from China
• 1:32:26
  So we have these ingredients from all
• 1:32:27
  over the world and then our base spirit
• 1:32:29
  is an organic wheat in the vodka
• 1:32:32
  That's European wheat. So, you know,
• 1:32:35
  you've got all these dynamics of
• 1:32:38
  How you're gonna source
• 1:32:39
  these ingredients, right?
• 1:32:40
  And so we really had to now to get all
• 1:32:43
  that organized and also
• 1:32:44
  in such an effective way of
• 1:32:47
  understanding
• 1:32:48
  How these ingredients get here and
• 1:32:50
  thinking all along that we wanted this
• 1:32:53
  company to be a
• 1:32:54
  certified B Corp from day one
• 1:32:56
  I became obsessed with what's called
• 1:32:58
  conscious capitalism and following John
• 1:33:00
  Mackey and his story
• 1:33:02
  Reading the books reading going to the
• 1:33:04
  you know, the conscious
• 1:33:06
  capitalism summit meetings
• 1:33:08
  Learning about conscious capitalism and
• 1:33:10
  why it's so important
• 1:33:12
  So important to instill those principles
• 1:33:15
  in your business at the beginning instead
• 1:33:17
  of waiting until later
• 1:33:18
  So that's where all these things were
• 1:33:20
  like in the back of my mind, too
• 1:33:22
  But the ingredients that we discovered
• 1:33:24
  that worked were from all over the world
• 1:33:26
  So we couldn't help but have that be what
• 1:33:29
  it is. Yep. Okay, so
• 1:33:32
  Yes, yeah
• 1:33:36
  Especially now there's so many, you know
• 1:33:38
  in different parts of the world
• 1:33:39
  There's so many things that could be
• 1:33:40
  affecting these crops, you know
• 1:33:43
  from droughts to freezes
• 1:33:45
  to wildfires to anything so
• 1:33:48
  That's a lot of risk to even though it's
• 1:33:51
  great to have all those to be combined
• 1:33:52
  It's a lot of risk you take so you have
• 1:33:54
  to be careful in terms of
• 1:33:55
  how those those are managed
• 1:33:56
  I guess right well
• 1:33:58
  You need to find out what the backup plan
• 1:33:59
  is all the different resource the
• 1:34:01
  different growers and what's cool is
• 1:34:04
  these ingredients are mostly used
• 1:34:05
  in supplements not used in alcohol
• 1:34:09
  So they're used in natural medicine and
• 1:34:12
  in supplements. So and they're used
• 1:34:15
  they're grown and they're very successful
• 1:34:18
  Being used in supplements. So they're
• 1:34:21
  powders and so, you know,
• 1:34:24
  we have a base spirit and
• 1:34:26
  Then we it's distilled and it's filtered
• 1:34:29
  it, you know, it's 18 times
• 1:34:31
  Distilled 18 times and then so all the
• 1:34:35
  impurities are out
• 1:34:37
  literally and then we add these
• 1:34:40
  Superfood botanicals in after it's been
• 1:34:43
  distilled and they're never heated. They
• 1:34:45
  don't go through distillation at all
• 1:34:47
  They're just suspended in the liquid and
• 1:34:49
  then they're filtered a little bit
• 1:34:52
  Because they have to be you don't want
• 1:34:54
  particles floating around right?
• 1:34:55
  So there's a whole process but once we
• 1:34:58
  understood how to do that, it's actually
• 1:35:00
  very easy to make and and what's
• 1:35:03
  wonderful is the companies that we work
• 1:35:05
  with to get our ingredients are so
• 1:35:07
  excited about what we're doing because
• 1:35:09
  it's never been done this way before they
• 1:35:11
  don't sell ingredients like that to
• 1:35:13
  alcohol companies so we can
• 1:35:15
  get whatever we need because
• 1:35:18
  They're so excited even if we're just a
• 1:35:20
  little company and like during Covid
• 1:35:23
  elderberry extract was in
• 1:35:24
  very short supply. Mm-hmm
• 1:35:26
  Because everyone was taking it for their
• 1:35:28
  immune system and you literally unless
• 1:35:30
  you had a contract
• 1:35:31
  with an elderberry company
• 1:35:32
  You're not getting elderberry extract
• 1:35:34
  But once they found out what we were
• 1:35:36
  doing they were like you
• 1:35:37
  could have whatever you want
• 1:35:38
  We'll make sure you have it.
• 1:35:40
  So that was amazing. I know
• 1:35:42
  Yeah, it's gotta be exciting when you get
• 1:35:45
  buy-in from everybody who
• 1:35:47
  wants to help you succeed
• 1:35:49
  Exactly, right because they could have
• 1:35:50
  said no because I'm sure
• 1:35:51
  they had other priorities
• 1:35:53
  They could have said no whenever they
• 1:35:54
  want, but they're like, no, we really
• 1:35:55
  believe in this. This is yes
• 1:35:56
  This is something that we think they can
• 1:35:58
  really work. That's that's incredible
• 1:36:00
  It is it's very it's very
• 1:36:03
  Exciting because you get to learn one
• 1:36:06
  thing that's so fascinating. There's so
• 1:36:08
  many interesting people in
• 1:36:11
  This whole soup that we have going. Yeah,
• 1:36:14
  there's just a lot of really
• 1:36:15
  interesting people that are so
• 1:36:17
  Get behind you and that helps encourage
• 1:36:20
  when the you know when times are, you
• 1:36:22
  know, do they go and get stuff?
• 1:36:23
  Yeah, well, it's so funny because you
• 1:36:24
  mentioned at the beginning
• 1:36:25
  It's like the best thing you can do is
• 1:36:27
  tell people about your ideas
• 1:36:28
  But I think a lot of entrepreneurs at the
• 1:36:30
  beginning when they have an idea
• 1:36:31
  They don't want to necessarily tell
• 1:36:33
  everybody because they don't want to give
• 1:36:34
  away their ideas for that person to turn
• 1:36:36
  around and develop that
• 1:36:37
  idea on their own here you are like no
• 1:36:40
  tell people that you know that you need
• 1:36:42
  that you will tell the world because
• 1:36:43
  You never know who's gonna buy in who's
• 1:36:45
  gonna help who's gonna prioritize right
• 1:36:47
  you over other other priorities
• 1:36:50
  That's a that's a very different way of
• 1:36:52
  thinking when it comes to entrepreneurs
• 1:36:54
  It is and it's a really important way of
• 1:36:56
  thinking because you cannot do this
• 1:36:59
  I mean you think of all the people that
• 1:37:01
  have these great ideas and they never do
• 1:37:03
  anything with the idea because you're
• 1:37:06
  they
• 1:37:08
  Either they're just they just don't
• 1:37:10
  believe in themselves
• 1:37:11
  that they could get it done
• 1:37:12
  Which is why you have to talk to people
• 1:37:14
  because yeah, you might have a great idea
• 1:37:16
  You don't have the capability of doing it
• 1:37:18
  or the money, right?
• 1:37:19
  But then you've got so the investor side
• 1:37:21
  you were asking me about that a little
• 1:37:23
  bit and that you know
• 1:37:24
  Now we're at the next phase where the
• 1:37:26
  liquor business is very expensive
• 1:37:28
  business to be in. Yes. I
• 1:37:31
  had no idea
• 1:37:33
  What makes it so is it is it the bringing
• 1:37:38
  all the things
• 1:37:38
  together to make the actual?
• 1:37:41
  Alcohol or is it or the the the spirit or
• 1:37:43
  is it more of the distribution and all
• 1:37:46
  the things afterwards?
• 1:37:47
  All the things afterwards. Yeah, it's
• 1:37:49
  it's not inexpensive to make either
• 1:37:52
  But in terms of the margins the margins
• 1:37:54
  are there for it to be a
• 1:37:55
  solid business if you get your
• 1:37:57
  Economies of scale and you you work with
• 1:37:59
  the right partners and you control your growth, right?
• 1:38:01
  Because if you go too big too fast and
• 1:38:04
  you don't have enough money for
• 1:38:06
  distribution and your sales forces and
• 1:38:08
  your marketing spend and
• 1:38:09
  It's just expensive to get on a cocktail
• 1:38:12
  menu in a bar. It's expensive to
• 1:38:14
  Set up your distributor
• 1:38:16
  Relationships where you have to help do
• 1:38:19
  incentives for all the
• 1:38:20
  salespeople. It's expensive for
• 1:38:23
  Going into total wine and more and doing
• 1:38:26
  all their consumer education classes and
• 1:38:27
  tastings at every store, you know
• 1:38:28
  It just adds up and then the digital
• 1:38:31
  marketing and the advertising now we have
• 1:38:33
  Woody Harrelson, you know,
• 1:38:35
  we have all these beautiful
• 1:38:36
  So there's just it depends on
• 1:38:39
  What you want your business to be to be
• 1:38:42
  you could be a little
• 1:38:43
  Distillery, which is lovely a little
• 1:38:45
  family business in Tennessee and have
• 1:38:47
  your whatever and that's
• 1:38:50
  great and just have a nice life
• 1:38:53
  But that's not what we're doing. We are
• 1:38:54
  We are our goal is to
• 1:38:58
  educate and make a huge splash
• 1:39:03
  Right to show people this is the next
• 1:39:05
  best thing clueless consumption is over
• 1:39:08
  You now have a choice of
• 1:39:10
  what you put into your body
• 1:39:12
  Yeah, you know you have a choice to give
• 1:39:14
  a shit to and that's okay
• 1:39:17
  100 percent I
• 1:39:19
  completely agree. I love that
• 1:39:20
  And you know you talk about things to do
• 1:39:24
  like distribution and then getting into
• 1:39:26
  you know, certain stores
• 1:39:27
  doing test things and stuff
• 1:39:28
  It gets expensive too
• 1:39:30
  But there are certain things that you'd
• 1:39:31
  like to do to help
• 1:39:32
  develop the business even more
• 1:39:35
  One of the big things that you've
• 1:39:36
  recently gained was and we talked a
• 1:39:37
  little bit about it was the you know
• 1:39:39
  The b-corp status right
• 1:39:40
  and being part of the b-corp
• 1:39:41
  Can you talk a little bit about what
• 1:39:43
  b-corp is for some of the audience people who don't know we've talked a little bit about it
• 1:39:45
  on this on this on this podcast, but if
• 1:39:49
  you can just kind of manage that and then
• 1:39:50
  why it was important for
• 1:39:52
  holistic experience to be on that
• 1:39:54
  Yeah, so I mean b-corp is a platform
• 1:39:57
  that
• 1:39:58
  audits if you will and validates
• 1:40:01
  businesses for their
• 1:40:03
  practices around
• 1:40:05
  Environmental their governance their
• 1:40:07
  employee the way they treat employees
• 1:40:09
  They're the way they treat their their
• 1:40:11
  stakeholders and inform
• 1:40:13
  stakeholders their suppliers
• 1:40:15
  and so if you again, I think a really
• 1:40:19
  Easier way for people to understand is to
• 1:40:21
  read the book conscious capitalism. Okay,
• 1:40:23
  then you'll really understand
• 1:40:24
  Why a b-corp and there's a lot of
• 1:40:26
  companies that act like a b-corp, but
• 1:40:29
  they don't go through that process
• 1:40:31
  It's really hard to do once you're
• 1:40:33
  already in business because you have to
• 1:40:36
  open up your entire financial
• 1:40:38
  All your supplier contracts all your
• 1:40:40
  distributor contracts where you're buying
• 1:40:42
  all your materials
• 1:40:43
  all your shipping costs
• 1:40:44
  Everything you do all your materials your
• 1:40:46
  bottling your boxes, you know
• 1:40:49
  How much water how much energy your
• 1:40:51
  distilleries are using? You
• 1:40:53
  know how your what how much?
• 1:40:55
  Leave you're giving to employees when
• 1:40:57
  they have a child like
• 1:40:58
  What kind of governance
• 1:40:59
  you have on your board?
• 1:41:01
  You know, what are your board policies
• 1:41:02
  like everything about your
• 1:41:03
  business has to be disclosed
• 1:41:07
  In the way you're operating your business
• 1:41:09
  and have somebody else look
• 1:41:10
  at all of that and tell you
• 1:41:13
  Basically whether you are on a path
• 1:41:17
  to become a b-corp which
• 1:41:19
  you have to get I think it's a
• 1:41:21
  8 80 approval. I can't
• 1:41:23
  remember exactly what the ratio is
• 1:41:25
  Um, I think we got 82 percent and what's
• 1:41:29
  the most important part of this for us
• 1:41:31
  was we had our entire team
• 1:41:33
  With our employees all
• 1:41:34
  involved in the process
• 1:41:36
  So there was so much work that had to be
• 1:41:38
  done to provide documentation
• 1:41:41
  And I wanted everyone on our team to
• 1:41:43
  learn what those things
• 1:41:45
  were and why we had to do them
• 1:41:47
  Yeah, and and then
• 1:41:48
  writing policies, you know
• 1:41:51
  An employee handbook and having everyone
• 1:41:53
  sign off on that like what
• 1:41:54
  was the last job you ever had?
• 1:41:56
  Okay, i've been in business
• 1:41:58
  For like i'm 63 since i was 14 years old.
• 1:42:01
  I can't remember
• 1:42:02
  reading an employee handbook
• 1:42:04
  Yeah
• 1:42:05
  Okay
• 1:42:05
  I don't know if you have first time I did
• 1:42:07
  it was at the job i'm at right now and
• 1:42:09
  that was like three months ago
• 1:42:10
  Okay, you've been in business for a
• 1:42:12
  while. Yeah, so like having these things
• 1:42:15
  in place to get everyone on board
• 1:42:17
  Yeah to get behind this movement around
• 1:42:21
  If you're gonna do it, it's just like the
• 1:42:23
  alcohol if you're gonna drink
• 1:42:26
  Why not drink better if
• 1:42:27
  you're gonna have a company?
• 1:42:28
  Why not operate better
• 1:42:30
  for everybody's benefit?
• 1:42:32
  Not just us but everyone
• 1:42:34
  in the world's benefit. Yeah
• 1:42:37
  And that's really what b lab is
• 1:42:39
  100 and I think what's what's interesting
• 1:42:41
  about that is when you have a company
• 1:42:43
  where you're treating people well
• 1:42:45
  Like the staff you're treating the
• 1:42:47
  stakeholders. You're treating the
• 1:42:48
  environment. You have an impact
• 1:42:50
  You have a mission that goes beyond just
• 1:42:52
  profit and you care about the planet you
• 1:42:55
  care about what's in
• 1:42:56
  what's in your your product?
• 1:42:58
  It makes it you make almost a stronger
• 1:43:01
  you not almost you do
• 1:43:02
  make a stronger company
• 1:43:04
  Because you get people who work for you
• 1:43:06
  who work for the
• 1:43:07
  company who love it, right?
• 1:43:09
  Who come in every day being
• 1:43:11
  passionate because they know
• 1:43:13
  that
• 1:43:15
  You know, they're doing good and they're
• 1:43:16
  doing good work. They're taking care of
• 1:43:18
  their customers. They're
• 1:43:19
  taking care of each other
• 1:43:20
  They're being taken care of that helps in
• 1:43:23
  every aspect the
• 1:43:24
  environment's being taken care of
• 1:43:25
  And I and I think like someone who's an
• 1:43:27
  employee at a different
• 1:43:28
  company is you're like, okay
• 1:43:30
  Like yeah, I get this like this seems
• 1:43:31
  like a really good plan
• 1:43:33
  And and I can you know, I can see myself
• 1:43:35
  being here for a long time
• 1:43:37
  because they actually care
• 1:43:38
  For the people in all aspects of of the
• 1:43:41
  company. I think that's
• 1:43:42
  really important to drive
• 1:43:44
  Absolutely and to attract talent
• 1:43:46
  Yeah, it creates so much value
• 1:43:49
  In the sense of the kind of people that
• 1:43:51
  you actually really want to that truly
• 1:43:53
  have their heart and soul in that
• 1:43:56
  movement
• 1:43:57
  absolutely that you
• 1:43:58
  can bring on board and
• 1:44:01
  That part to me is just absolutely
• 1:44:03
  priceless and you're right like 10 times
• 1:44:06
  Success if you read that's why I want
• 1:44:08
  everyone to read
• 1:44:09
  conscious confidence. Yes
• 1:44:12
  if you truly
• 1:44:14
  implement these measures
• 1:44:16
  Even if you only did like
• 1:44:18
  60 percent of it, right?
• 1:44:19
  Right your success level is so much
• 1:44:22
  greater with these principles
• 1:44:24
  And so from it just in general like if
• 1:44:27
  you're going to work why again?
• 1:44:29
  Why not have the odds in your favor?
• 1:44:32
  When you are bringing all of these things
• 1:44:35
  to the table where that do you do have
• 1:44:37
  that skin in the game?
• 1:44:38
  You have that mindset where the people
• 1:44:40
  that come to work
• 1:44:41
  every day are so passionate
• 1:44:43
  about it and that they really truly care
• 1:44:46
  and you just create a
• 1:44:47
  movement and that's one of our
• 1:44:49
  You know, it's not a drink. It's a
• 1:44:51
  movement. That's what holistic spirits
• 1:44:52
  company is. I like that
• 1:44:54
  I like that. It's not just drink. It's a
• 1:44:55
  movement. I think that's that's important
• 1:44:57
  because we need more companies
• 1:44:59
  like
• 1:45:00
  we're in a very interesting
• 1:45:01
  time in our in in the world and
• 1:45:04
  We're at a point where you know companies
• 1:45:06
  can be very detrimental to society and
• 1:45:08
  companies can be very
• 1:45:09
  good for society and I think
• 1:45:11
  supporting companies that are very good
• 1:45:13
  society becomes we we will have a better
• 1:45:16
  society by doing that in all
• 1:45:18
  aspects of of life and and doesn't matter
• 1:45:21
  the product that they sell because we
• 1:45:23
  know that there it's a benefit
• 1:45:25
  Then we can we can work with that and and
• 1:45:27
  I think people as just regular citizens
• 1:45:29
  will be like this is what we need
• 1:45:30
  We need people to help
• 1:45:31
  out. We need people to care
• 1:45:33
  Again and not just have profit but have
• 1:45:35
  impact have purpose in life
• 1:45:37
  And I think that's what the b-labs and
• 1:45:38
  the b-corps do on a regular basis. It's
• 1:45:41
  in the mandate, right?
• 1:45:42
  It's in it's in the audit
• 1:45:44
  is to how much do you care?
• 1:45:45
  How much are you willing to go above and
• 1:45:47
  beyond what you are
• 1:45:48
  you are required to do
• 1:45:51
  To make a better world for everybody, you
• 1:45:53
  know, not just the people in your circles
• 1:45:54
  And I think that's that's really great
• 1:45:56
  now. I have to know this is something
• 1:45:58
  that's not easy to get
• 1:45:59
  You know to get a b-corp status
• 1:46:01
  When you received it or first when did
• 1:46:04
  you receive it and how did
• 1:46:05
  you feel when you received it?
• 1:46:07
  We received it in november. Okay, and so
• 1:46:10
  we kind of been holding off as we did our
• 1:46:12
  press release in january
• 1:46:14
  Yes, um, oh my gosh, we were we
• 1:46:19
  I mean it's right now i'm sitting here
• 1:46:20
  going we haven't even had a proper
• 1:46:22
  celebration with our
• 1:46:23
  team. We need to do something
• 1:46:25
  Um, so i'm really glad that you're
• 1:46:26
  talking about this right now because I
• 1:46:28
  haven't done anything yet
• 1:46:29
  Except say oh my gosh,
• 1:46:30
  you guys got it. Yeah
• 1:46:32
  um
• 1:46:33
  we
• 1:46:34
  We kind of knew we were going to get it
• 1:46:37
  because we worked so hard
• 1:46:39
  We hired a couple people to
• 1:46:40
  help us go through the process
• 1:46:44
  Again, why not work with people that
• 1:46:46
  already know how to do
• 1:46:47
  this and go. Okay guys
• 1:46:48
  Here's what you're going to have to do
• 1:46:49
  instead of just going. Oh, you know
• 1:46:51
  We wanted to make sure we nailed it
• 1:46:53
  So we really we did hire some people that
• 1:46:56
  helped us but we had to
• 1:46:57
  go through the process
• 1:46:57
  They didn't do it for us. They just told
• 1:46:59
  us this is what you're going to need
• 1:47:01
  you know, um
• 1:47:02
  And they helped us and we these were
• 1:47:05
  people that I had already known from
• 1:47:07
  different incubator, um
• 1:47:10
  You know sustainability incubators we've
• 1:47:12
  supported and things like that
• 1:47:13
  We've always been a supporter in my other
• 1:47:15
  industry too of like sponsoring things
• 1:47:17
  and even when I was a financial advisor
• 1:47:20
  Where things around sustainability and
• 1:47:21
  things like and supporting entrepreneurs
• 1:47:23
  that are doing really cool things
• 1:47:25
  Yeah with sustainability. So yeah, so
• 1:47:28
  excited and so proud.
• 1:47:29
  We're also working on
• 1:47:31
  Another certification called the
• 1:47:33
  butterfly mark, which is called positive
• 1:47:35
  luxury, which is for very
• 1:47:39
  I'm going to say it's more in the luxury
• 1:47:41
  brand space. Yeah, it's a european
• 1:47:44
  Mark, okay that is even harder to get
• 1:47:48
  So we are we are working on that most of
• 1:47:51
  the b-labs believe it or not b-corps
• 1:47:55
  There's more european companies that are
• 1:47:57
  b-corps than right then american
• 1:47:59
  companies and the same
• 1:48:00
  thing with the positive luxury
• 1:48:01
  So we're still working through that and
• 1:48:03
  we really want to have that
• 1:48:05
  as well. And honestly like
• 1:48:07
  This is really good for our marketing
• 1:48:09
  efforts to do that extra thing and do
• 1:48:12
  that. Yeah, we believe that our brand
• 1:48:15
  Is a global brand and the world should
• 1:48:18
  know about holistic
• 1:48:19
  spirits and a better way to drink
• 1:48:22
  And so we're just setting up the stage
• 1:48:24
  We're just putting all the you know, the
• 1:48:26
  backdrops and the curtains and you know
• 1:48:28
  all the things for the play to start
• 1:48:31
  Basically and a lot of
• 1:48:33
  people would say well
• 1:48:35
  That's just doesn't seem like a very good
• 1:48:36
  way to spend money and I
• 1:48:37
  don't really care what they say
• 1:48:39
  because that's what
• 1:48:41
  I see this movie the
• 1:48:43
  stage getting ready for
• 1:48:45
  the big you know
• 1:48:47
  Performance and what's so exciting is
• 1:48:49
  that the spirits industry also?
• 1:48:52
  Is recognizing the distributors because
• 1:48:54
  we've had a hard time getting a
• 1:48:55
  distributor for our weird brand
• 1:48:58
  Right, even with woody harrelson. It's
• 1:48:59
  not a slam dunk not even right andrew. I
• 1:49:02
  mean there's 68 000 brands
• 1:49:04
  It's crazy so much.
• 1:49:05
  So it's just insane. So
• 1:49:08
  All these things have helped us. We just
• 1:49:10
  finally signed with southern glazer wine
• 1:49:12
  and spirits and that's the number one
• 1:49:14
  distributor in the united
• 1:49:15
  States, so
• 1:49:16
  They didn't pick up very many brands.
• 1:49:19
  They had they they vetted like 750 brands
• 1:49:23
  last year and I think they picked four
• 1:49:25
  Wow, so we're
• 1:49:27
  Because of these things
• 1:49:29
  We know the data is there and you should
• 1:49:31
  be excited your
• 1:49:32
  listeners should be excited too
• 1:49:34
  That this next
• 1:49:35
  generation of kids and people
• 1:49:37
  That want stuff care
• 1:49:39
  about this kind of stuff
• 1:49:41
  And so, you know,
• 1:49:42
  where is the market going?
• 1:49:43
  Then it's going towards better better way
• 1:49:47
  to live better way to
• 1:49:48
  experience life better way to
• 1:49:50
  Be a human and care about stuff and not
• 1:49:53
  just just be clueless, you know
• 1:49:56
  So i'm really proud of that
• 1:49:58
  and now we have to get to work
• 1:49:59
  We're launching the market in california
• 1:50:01
  and that's really where you know, we
• 1:50:03
  should shine. That's
• 1:50:04
  our market california
• 1:50:06
  I mean if we don't make it california
• 1:50:07
  with holistic spirits, I mean forget it
• 1:50:09
  We're gonna have to go to like, you know,
• 1:50:11
  I don't know minnesota or something. Yeah
• 1:50:13
  You know a little town in minnesota with
• 1:50:17
  all the crunchy people
• 1:50:19
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I get it. I if you
• 1:50:21
  can come up to canada there's you
• 1:50:23
  BC crowd and let
• 1:50:25
  everything in the ontario crowd
• 1:50:27
  I mean, you know you you're familiar with
• 1:50:29
  the ontario the ontario
• 1:50:31
  It's very down to it is type of stuff and
• 1:50:34
  and I think it's I think it's important
• 1:50:35
  going back to the year
• 1:50:36
  Are you are you allowed to sell in europe
• 1:50:38
  then? Is that is that a market for you
• 1:50:40
  since you're trying to get that?
• 1:50:41
  Okay, not yet. We we have a
• 1:50:43
  lot of interest over there
• 1:50:44
  And again, it's just taking those baby
• 1:50:46
  steps to yeah, we have to
• 1:50:48
  we if we can get california
• 1:50:50
  We're we are in different states. We're
• 1:50:52
  in utah, which is doing extremely well
• 1:50:54
  there. We're in new york
• 1:50:55
  You know, we've got some
• 1:50:56
  markets on the east coast florida
• 1:50:58
  but we're slowly
• 1:51:00
  Controlling the growth so we don't yeah
• 1:51:02
  grow too fast, of course
• 1:51:04
  Um, but europe is going to be so exciting
• 1:51:08
  to do business over there and we're
• 1:51:09
  looking forward to and china
• 1:51:11
  China wants us
• 1:51:12
  already really it's got yes
• 1:51:15
  shanghai
• 1:51:16
  An importer in shanghai
• 1:51:18
  Okay There you go. I'm like I got we got all
• 1:51:22
  these like little carrots these little
• 1:51:24
  shiny outfits. I'm like no
• 1:51:26
  No, no, you gotta you gotta hold be
• 1:51:28
  patient and and it'll get there
• 1:51:30
  Yeah, well, I think it's interesting too
• 1:51:31
  because like from the european standpoint
• 1:51:33
  their standards for
• 1:51:36
  health
• 1:51:37
  And wellness just in the regular brands
• 1:51:40
  is very strict compared to north american
• 1:51:42
  standards. Am I correct? It is
• 1:51:44
  Yeah, it's a very difficult
• 1:51:46
  Yeah, so when it's the north american
• 1:51:47
  brand trying to break
• 1:51:48
  into the european brand
• 1:51:49
  I see what you mean
• 1:51:50
  where or the european markets
• 1:51:53
  I could see what you mean
• 1:51:54
  by it becomes more strict
• 1:51:55
  So you have to do a little bit more work
• 1:51:57
  in prep not that the the
• 1:51:59
  system that you have to change
• 1:52:00
  But you just have to work a little bit
• 1:52:01
  harder for or a little bit more for prep
• 1:52:04
  It's expensive taxes and all different
• 1:52:06
  tariffs, of course, you
• 1:52:07
  know, the 80s and stuff
• 1:52:08
  Exactly, but you know and the overall
• 1:52:11
  though drinking is down, you
• 1:52:13
  know, it just is everywhere
• 1:52:15
  And there's a number of reasons for it
• 1:52:18
  The economies throughout the world
• 1:52:21
  Covid changed people's patterns. They
• 1:52:23
  don't go out as much not for sure, you
• 1:52:25
  know drinking having
• 1:52:26
  enjoying things at home a little bit
• 1:52:28
  and honestly
• 1:52:30
  In the united states this glp one like
• 1:52:33
  people taking these ozepic
• 1:52:35
  Um glp one activators is really causing
• 1:52:37
  people not to crave
• 1:52:38
  alcohol. It's very interesting
• 1:52:40
  Interesting. Oh, it's really it's this
• 1:52:43
  epic is really changing the game and I
• 1:52:44
  don't know if it's good or bad
• 1:52:45
  But no, this is real people are not
• 1:52:47
  craving it going home and having that too
• 1:52:50
  Maybe they'll have a half a glass or so.
• 1:52:52
  That's one thing and
• 1:52:53
  then the younger kids
• 1:52:54
  Are choosing to not drink as much because
• 1:52:56
  they're learning more, you know about the
• 1:52:58
  dangers and maybe they
• 1:53:00
  have different alternatives
• 1:53:01
  You know, yeah than
• 1:53:02
  we had back in the day
• 1:53:04
  That's right
• 1:53:06
  There's a few i'm sure
• 1:53:07
  we're thinking of that
• 1:53:08
  Uh, yeah become a lot more apparent than
• 1:53:10
  yes here in canada and i'm sure in
• 1:53:13
  california and in different states, but
• 1:53:15
  Totally. Yeah. I mean
• 1:53:17
  this is this is great
• 1:53:18
  It's been so fun to have to
• 1:53:20
  have you on and learn about
• 1:53:22
  the sustainability part of the alcohol
• 1:53:25
  business, you know, and and not only
• 1:53:27
  making it healthy but making it
• 1:53:28
  sustainable and using natural ingredients
• 1:53:30
  and organic ingredients
• 1:53:32
  ingredients and then just
• 1:53:34
  really disrupting a market that
• 1:53:37
  People really didn't think about you know
• 1:53:39
  when they had alcohol
• 1:53:40
  I think it's I think it's really
• 1:53:41
  important and and the collaborations
• 1:53:43
  you've made and the the the uh, the
• 1:53:45
  research that you've done
• 1:53:46
  With a number of different experts around
• 1:53:49
  the world and being able to pull in
• 1:53:51
  different ingredients
• 1:53:52
  That's that's phenomenal to be able to to
• 1:53:54
  do and in this space
• 1:53:55
  as competitive as it is
• 1:53:57
  I i'm looking forward to being able to
• 1:53:59
  taste it one day and oh good. Well, get
• 1:54:01
  send me your address
• 1:54:03
  I'll send you some absolutely.
• 1:54:05
  Absolutely. I would love to
• 1:54:06
  Um, but I was amy. I
• 1:54:08
  want to thank you so much
• 1:54:08
  I'd love to have you back
• 1:54:09
  on to to find out, you know
• 1:54:11
  What you're up to in in a few months or
• 1:54:14
  within the next year to just be like, hey
• 1:54:15
  Let's see what what she's up to and and
• 1:54:17
  where this brand is going and what other
• 1:54:19
  feats you've been able to accomplish
• 1:54:20
  But I know you've put in so much work
• 1:54:22
  Uh, and I really do appreciate it from
• 1:54:24
  from your this is a message from your
• 1:54:26
  consumers and and your customers
• 1:54:28
  To being able like this is awesome and
• 1:54:30
  i'm looking forward to being able to try
• 1:54:31
  it and uh and share it
• 1:54:33
  with with my listeners
• 1:54:35
  Awesome. Thank you so much. Andrew and
• 1:54:37
  thank you for all the work you're doing
• 1:54:38
  It's just it was so great watching i'm in
• 1:54:40
  mexico seeing the
• 1:54:41
  whales and thinking about
• 1:54:43
  You know all the work you're doing to
• 1:54:44
  protect the ocean and it is just
• 1:54:46
  extraordinary needs to
• 1:54:48
  be done. So, thank you
• 1:54:49
  I appreciate that. Thank you so much