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Mara Smith: Breaking Into a New Industry, One Bold Shot at a Time · The Bold Lounge

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Bold Round Podcast.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Lee Burgett, and I will be your host.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you're anything like me, you'd love hearing inspiring stories of people who have come into the code.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: I believe everyone has a bold story.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Tune in.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Get ready to be inspired.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the bold lounge.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: This morning I have Mara Smith.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: She is the CEO and founder of Inspiro Tequila.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Mara.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, so nice to be here.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to introduce you to the listeners, but I thought I'd let you just do a brief introduction.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I am Mara Smith, and as you said, founder and CEO of Inspiro Tequila.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: In a former life, an attorney at a large law firm in Chicago, then worked in corporate strategy and most recently a stay-at-home mom before uh re-entering the workforce and starting my own company.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of bold moments in there for sure.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had a couple conversations.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of things happening in your world with your company and very exciting progress since you founded it.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: When did you found your company?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: In February 2020, you know, just ideal timing before the entire world shut down.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect timing.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a story in there for sure.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things I ask everyone is kind of their story of bold and wondered how you would define being bold.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like for Mara?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: For me, being bold means really following through on something, even if it's outside of your comfort zone and persevering.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have an idea or a goal or something you really want to attain, even if it maybe is out of your comfort zone and these maybe other people don't understand it and question it, but just having the follow through and persevering to make it happen.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: When's your first time that based on your definition, you would say you were bold?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think for me, bold or maybe being stubborn probably started very at a very young age.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, as a child, really kind of being a little bit maybe hard-headed and when I wanted to do something, making it happen.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we may talk about this later, but I I have this purple bicycle story when I was four years old, and that actually was inspiration for our purple bicycle project, which is our giving back initiative, based on my kind of wanting to persevere and be able to ride a bicycle that all the adults told me was was much too big for me and being very determined.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And once people told me I couldn't do it, setting out to do it and prove everybody wrong.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was a big bicycle that I coveted, the shiny purple bicycle, and didn't know how to ride two-wheeler.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it was too big for me to even sit on the seat and reach the pedals.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, you know, no, it's you're you're too small.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I went out and started in the morning and all day practiced and fell over many, many times until by the end of the day, uh, with many scraped knees, I still couldn't sit on the seat and reach the pedals, but I was riding the bike at the end of the day.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: So like that for me is one early memory of being very bold and determined.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think for me in my career, something that may not seem bold to many, but for me was a really big pivot and major decision was that I left the corporate world and really it very quickly my kind of corporate career came to a screeching halt when I was working in corporate strategy and business development at McDonald's Corporation, and I became pregnant with my twins, my oldest are twins, and was put on emergency bed rest.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I had pre-me twins, I made the decision to stay home.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very fortunate I was able to make that decision.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: That was a very big pivot for me.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think I ever saw that coming.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think anyone who knew me ever saw that coming.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was really myopically focused on, you know, climbing corporate ladder and and then never occurred to me that I would choose to stay home and take care of my family.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it just that was a big, big move.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I the reason I feel like it was bold also for me is because everything, my whole identity was wrapped up in kind of the accolades from it was either school or work and getting that like kind of like outside, you know, positive feedback and then making the decision to stay home where you know my kids don't very often tell me that I'm doing a really great job and you know they're not giving me any great grades or bonuses or anything.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't usually go on a resume.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, it was a it was a big, a big change for me and a major decision.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really I'm really happy, I'm really fortunate that I was you know, able to do that.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm happy now that I am able to do something, you know, and and re-enter and get back into the workforce.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: But but I think for me, because I never saw that coming and I just was just one step in front of the other, and never even like thought of that as a possibility, that was a a a pretty bold move for me in particular.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's unknown, it wasn't planned, it's new, and you know, there's potentially a risk, or you know, some things could not work out as well as you thought.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: So all of that I think are like moments of boldness in in a decision like that.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Going back to your purple bike, it sounds like someone telling you you can't is something that you take as okay, let me show you actually how much I can.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think there's some bold moves in that.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think that can be applied to so many areas of our life.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think of moments people have told me I can't from second grade when I played on the all-boys soccer team and you know, got laid out often because I didn't play like a girl, quote unquote.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: I actually got told that once, you know, you need to start playing more like a girl and not be so aggressive.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, what?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Second grade.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, don't I get the ball?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Don't I put it through the net?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like these are the things we're supposed to do, get it in the goal.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just interesting in the sense of just I remember that so early on at eight.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, just someone telling you you can't.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes there's a little bit of fire, a little octane in your tank that's already pretty, you know, heavy-leaded.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's a really cool story.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: And the purple bike, since we did talk about, tell me about the purple bicycle project.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you know, as you talked about, this was me coming in and re-entering the workforce and doing something new.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And really, it was important to me that if I was going to just, you know, do this, that I could also have a bigger mission and be able to give back and support other female founders.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've been very fortunate that there have been a lot of people who I've reached out to who helped guide me and provide feedback.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And and I'm sure we'll get to that, but like creating this like network of fabulous women has just been instrumental.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just thought, is there any way that I could get back?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're new, so any small ways that we could do that.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought it had to be names of Purple Bicycle Project from the beginning because it's kind of like helping women who are on the road and facing bumps on the road, and how can we assist them in making it to their goals?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, really, we provide grants and mentoring.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: We really gave it grants through the Enthuse Foundation this year to a female founder, and it was really fun to get to select the founder that we gave it to, and then I provide mentoring.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I mentor her every month and get to talk to her.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I probably learned just as much from her.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're actually announcing a few more pay it forward grants through iFund Women.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So women that are on the platform and are crowdfunding through the iFund Women platform.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're giving some grants, those women, to help them, you know, attain their crowdfunding goals.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, it's just really exciting.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: The the best part I have to say is not just like if it's a small monetary grant for professional development or to help reach their fundraising goals, but it's also connecting to these women.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like every time I can connect to another founder, a female founder.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if there are some insights, even though I started this pretty recently, there's just a ton of learnings along the way.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Anything I can share to maybe give, you know, save someone a little bit of time as they're getting started.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's always, I feel like very rewarding when I can do that and and give back.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: So wonderful.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you can check that out with the details below around the purple bicycle project and what Mara is doing with her company.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for sharing that.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to add that in because I think it is it is nice to see someone also helping others as they're, you know, launching and and founded in business and being able to connect.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Everything adds up in helping people kind of get started at chasing their dream.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: So when you came out, you know, obviously we talked about you having your twins.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of can you walk through kind of how you go from being a lawyer and a mom and then getting back into it and then not going, did you did you not go back into law right away?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is that when you decided, hey, I want to launch a tequila brand?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like how how did that come about?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I was a lawyer at a really large law firm straight out of law school.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I went to Northwestern, graduated and started a really large law firm.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of won, I knew I had to do that, I had to pay off a lot of law school loans.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I also found it very exciting.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're thrown in the fire really quickly, you learn a ton.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a great experience.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: But after a number of years there, I knew I wanted to start a family.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And really at that time, unfortunately, I had no role models to see how you can do, how you can work at a big law firm and have a family.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: There were no women partners in my entire department.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was in transactional law.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: There were no women to kind of see how it was possible to, you know, to do that and balance those things.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And my only option at the time would have probably, you know, been to go part-time.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And part-time really means working, working full-time, but being paid part-time, being off the partnership track, handling the deals that were not like the big sexy deals that I really liked doing because it just wasn't feasible.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's when I decided, okay, I'm gonna move to the the business side of things.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: So my undergrad degree was actually in accounting.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: I got a CPA.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I said, let's use the business.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna use my business background instead and move out of law because I mean, I I really liked it at my law firm and I didn't think that I'd find the same opportunities somewhere else if I was in, you know, a legal department.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I moved and to corporate strategy and business development at McDonald's corporation.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And at that time, um, it was a very it was kind of a new group for them and it really kind of sparked my entrepreneurial spirit because I was part of like a kind of like an incubator project they were running where we were like had people from all around the world at McDonald's and we're looking at trends and customer insights and coming up with like ideas, and it was just really fascinating.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, wow, I never even thought about that.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I kind of was always like, okay, I have to take this really conservative path, make sure, you know, it's a financially stable position.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: I went from like all like big accounting firm, big law firm, big corporation.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And actually at the time, I started looking into opening the franchise of a of an ice cream franchise, like here in Chicago.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Then I realized not the best idea in Chicago, the weather's not ideal for an ice cream shop.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: But then that's when I was put on emergency bed rest.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: So just my career came to like a screeching halt, like very abruptly.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was literally at a work dinner and rushed to a hospital and like that was it, and three and a half months on bed rest and then had creamy twins.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: So like it was a very, very kind of traumatic and abrupt end to that career.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then I really, you know, once I was home, it just I became CEO of my house.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I feel like I just took it as as seriously as working outside of home.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: I I feel like everything, everything that I had to manage from kid schedules, having twins was no joke.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then and then at a third one subsequently.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that really became my focus for many, many years, but I always had ideas percolating in the back of my head.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what am I gonna do?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, kind of what am I gonna do when I grow up?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I knew I wanted to start my own company at some point.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've been told or earlier that I don't work that well with authority.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought it would be best for me to start something, you know, on my own.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And as I would come up with ideas, and I'm one of these people who was like constantly listening to podcasts and listening to founder stories, how I built this and so many other podcasts, and they just would inspire me.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And like I have a shark tank watcher and all these stories and reading books about founders, like every time I just it it would just kind of spark my curiosity and what can I what can I do?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I kept coming back in like probably 2019, the beginning of 2020, to tequila.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, I drink tequila.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: I started drinking tequila because I was looking for like a clean spirit option that fit into my active lifestyle.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: I like wine, but I didn't feel well the next day because of the sugar.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Vodka has some weird phenomena, waking me up in the middle of the night.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I started finding like great quality tequila, not the stuff that like made you sick in college, but really good, 100% agave tequila.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: And as I started becoming tequila drinker, I started just researching.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'd go up and down the aisles of my local liquor store here.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, wow, none of these bottles really like speak to me.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're all like really stout and stocky and like depictions of like agave fields or skulls, like nothing that I would want to like put on my back bar.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then I just started, you know, taste testing and researching a lot and discovered that a lot of teels also use additives, which are undisclosed on the label.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So things like coloring, flavoring, glycerin.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I had no idea.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, oh, well, I'm drinking because I want this like clean spirit option from agave plant.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, well, I don't have additives in it.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I started doing a lot of research and then uncovered that 50% of teel consumers are women.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And all these women are like, oh, I drink tequila, that's my drink of choice.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I just honestly thought there was a big market opportunity, and then I thought it I thought it was a missed opportunity.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't, I couldn't figure out why brands were not focused on this really important consumer who makes approximately 80% of the purchasing decisions is the main entertainer of their home and drinks spirits.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why is no one focused on her?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, personally, the marketing using, you know, scantily clad women and dark club scenes like just did not resonate with me.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that here, here there was an opportunity to really speak to a female consumer who does drink spirits.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure why no one recognized that, but she drinks hard alcohol, not just wine, not just seltzers, and create something customer-centric.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then it did not take a ton of due diligence to uncover that there are so few women in the spirits industry in general.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Also, there was an opportunity to make an impact.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to go into an industry where I could do something and make an impact and bring another female perspective.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I decided to do that by having women involved in every part of our process from our legendary master distiller in Mexico all the way down the line to operations, marketing, sales.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: I just really wanted to bring like a team that was powered by women.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's female powered from top to bottom in the sense of that, which I think is also another unique piece to your company.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: As well as what's unique is, and we talked a little bit about this earlier, was just the representation of women in this particular industry is extremely low.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think in the C-suite, Deloitte stated that only 4% of the people in the C-suite were women.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: This was in 2019.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's improved very much since then.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't find anything more recent.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then overarchingly, I think it's less than 10% across the industry, just the representation uh in certain areas.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so it has some work to do.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you're going into it feels like 50% of the people drinking it are women, but people leading it are men.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's an interesting thing to walk into.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: So how does how does that start?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've said out loud before, hey, it'd be really cool to have a spirit line that's bold, right?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm not working on that anytime soon, but I will definitely come to you whatever.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you do, I will guide you.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: You you you definitely are someone I would turn to.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: But like I wouldn't even know where to begin.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: How did you know where to begin?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes that's the hardest thing for people when they're trying to make a decision.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: They don't have to start a spirit brand, but I you know, how did you know where to begin in something that was a business, which I think that's where like you knew how to do the numbers, you knew how to, you know, negotiate.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: But what what does that look like when you're starting off?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's anything you're gonna do.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you think if you're gonna make a big career pivot, if you're gonna enter into any new industry, right?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a whole new world.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, there are people in the spiritual world, a lot of them have been in for a very, very long time.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: So coming in as an outsider, it's it's hard to like kind of penetrate that that world and gain some credibility.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: I always start, and maybe this is because of my background and and having a legal background, I always start by research.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I literally just start started watching webinars to understand the industry, anything you find that was, you know, industry related.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: I subscribed.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think one of the first things I did is I found like a couple of different newsletters that just do updates, industry updates in this spiritual world, and started, you know, reading those newsletters.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: I reached out to some industry experts right off the bat.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: I started just understanding the category a lot in tequila.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I just was reading about the production process, like literally just researching the production process.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: I took a course offered by the CRT, which is governing body for tequila in Mexico, and I was certified in the history and production of tequila making.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it is difficult, but there are so many resources out there, like at your fingertips to get up to speed really quickly.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I told you I listened to podcasts, I mean, podcast webinars, training, books on them, connecting with anyone.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'd lead like one person.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: I reached out to one person and they introduced me to people who have a tequila bar in Chicago and a tequila brand.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I went there and met with the father and the son.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I came in with like before I met with them, I was like, oh, I better come in with a lot of research.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: I had to research like all the production process and all the different options for the production process and talk to them to like get an understanding of, you know, what did they think about using this type of cooking versus this type of cooking?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: And like that's what I did.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: And really one thing would lead to the next thing, you know, it's kind of like I just would follow the path of I'd learn one thing and they'd send me somewhere else, and then I'd go down that lane.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's it's very time consuming and it requires a lot of hard work, but it's not impossible.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, everything's accessible now and you can learn about whatever you want to learn about.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something for me that I actually am naturally kind of like intellectually curious.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, once I got into it, I was really, really, I just wanted to know more and really understand like all the intricacies and the ins and outs.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna be a master distiller by any means, but I knew enough to know all the different processes and like which parts of the the traditional methodology and the things that people use for shortcuts that are kind of like frowned down upon in some circles.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of how I went about just like understanding the spirits world and the tequila industry.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I also have to learn everything about what do you do as a startup company from, I mean, the incorporation part was not hard for me because of my background, but in the spirits world, like there are all these filings and compliance.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's a very, very highly regulated industry.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: The the laws are the same ones from post-prohibition 1933.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: So wrapping your head around that piece of it, understanding the three-tier distribution system.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I basically come across like every time I get a new topic that I had to learn about, I would just dive in and find all the information I could to learn about it.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of research.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think the other thing that you said in there, you know, was the accessibility of it.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: So like if you can only do things in the evening when you're just trying to, I always want people just to start.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: So just start listening to a podcast or have a half-hour search time where you're looking at things online and create a folder for things to read or things to to do.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Create a list of people you'd like to talk to.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I always talk about my list of 15.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I started my business.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: And when I was, you know, trying to get my first clients is I just started with 15 people I knew, and I maybe they didn't have something, but just checking in with them and telling them what I was doing and then asking questions, did they know anyone?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it sounds like you had a a a similar path in a sense of people want to help, and you know, maybe they're not going to be the one to do something, but hey, why don't you talk too and then you you just keep going.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: It does take time and it does take work, but you know, things that you're aiming for usually aren't easy.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're if you're looking to do something different, there is effort involved.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think people understanding though it doesn't have to be this huge effort on the front end, they can just start, create that folder, listen to that podcast, make your list of people you want to talk to and aim to talk to one of them per month, and then maybe you'll get some you know movement going and then you start to talk to people across.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think the tequila industry in itself, it seems extremely popular, right?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously I know a lot of the you know movie people that are in this particular area would love to know if you've ever met any of them.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: But I think you know, from a from a female perspective though, like you know, how do women support each other in this particular area?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because one of the things that we've talked about in the different groups that we're part of is that people really are rooting for you, supporting you, wanting you to do well.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: In the tequila industry for women, would you say it's the same in the sense of the other owners and founders?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: And and it's it's so small in the sense of percentage.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: I would hope it would feel very supportive.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: But I wondered what your take was.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know what?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: I actually think there's a couple of things.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: One, within the tequila industry, I actually don't know a lot of founders in in tequila.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or even besides my master distiller, I actually, my my distillery, the operations manager is a woman, very supportive.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: My master distiller had never she creates for a lot of different brands, but she'd never worked for a woman owned brand.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: So she was really excited about it.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that's work.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: But within the industry, like I have to say that it's not like so connected where I know the other women in the industry.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: In the little bit wider range of the spirits world, I've reached out to and connected to many women in the spirits world because even going to that level, there are not that many.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: And right off the bat, like I found someone who has a whiskey brand and then someone else with a gin brand.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: And there, I feel like everyone is really, really willing to help and offer guidance, as am I.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are people that I've connected with and that I introduced them to a a retailer, a buyer for a retail chain to make introductions for them to get them in.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: And other someone else has did that for me.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like sharing resources at that level I found very helpful and guidance and feedback.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And because it is so small, like most people know about our women in it.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just not there aren't that many women in spirits.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think besides that kind of support system, I look a little bit more to other verticals, to be honest.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: So in the groups that we're both in, I look at people who are doing things really well in just other categories.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: It could be beauty, but I think they're speaking to my consumer and doing it really well, or their messaging's great, or it could be, you know, it's so many different areas.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: It could be other consumer products, anything like that.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I look a lot across a lot of verticals.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't even have to be CBG.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: There are women who are supportive and they run events and bring us in because, like, oh, we'd love to bring a woman-owned tequila brand in.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I think actually that's been very helpful for me is not just looking so tightly around like this one specific industry and just opening my eyes and looking like much wider and seeing who's doing things really well, who could be supportive, who can I support?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: I collaborate with all women-owned brands, but it could be from a chocolatier that's doing that's amazing, this woman-owned chocolatier that's infusing chocolates with inspired tequila to like boozy paps.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: I just served an event yesterday that was with another woman-owned company that creates boozy paps and did them with inspired quila.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where I think for me, those connections looking like way, way bigger.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: I love the idea too that you talked about and touched on was you may partner or learn from someone who has the same consumer but is selling a different product or service.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think sometimes there's a sense, certainly when I started off, that there was some competition, right?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: But in my mind, I never went into it like that because I think that's a scarcity mindset.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think there's enough challenges in the world that I can help people by my methodologies and by coming in and solving, hopefully, problems for good and working with people one-to-one organizations and doing some bold things.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's enough to do and enough to go around for everyone here, right?
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I love the idea that you talked about, like they have the same consumer, a female, you know, and they're selling beauty products and they're really knocking out of the park.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: What can I learn from that?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because there's 360 degrees or something as you're you're working to provide a service and support others or or sell a product.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I think definitely thinking broadly, that's really good advice for people to think about.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and you can certainly start in your you know, bullseye area, but if you look around and there's not a lot of people there, you you know, you can learn a little bit, but I think broadening that is really, really important.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's really good advice.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: What was the one thing going into this industry that like you just never would have thought of?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like you were just totally surprised, or it was a learning, good or bad?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a couple things.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think the first thing is what I touched on before, which is that I didn't realize that it seems very insular.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: People seem to know each other in the industry and it's pretty tight, and people have been in for like many, many years.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't think I realized that the perception was coming in like as an outsider.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, what do you know?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you didn't start out like you never worked at a bar, you didn't make drinks, you didn't, you haven't been like selling for another brand first before starting your own.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's a little hard to like kind of earn the respect as a newbie coming in.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I was fascinated.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: I just didn't realize like how tight the community was and and people knowing each other.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is probably why I felt like I needed to even extra leg work, right?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Be extra, extra over prepared to make sure that any of those questions that would come my way, I'm like, okay, I can answer them.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I did do my research, I do understand this.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm not gonna be, there's people who are who are, you know, way more experts in so many different areas than I am, but I did enough to, I feel like, be able to talk about any of the different subject matters within the industry.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that, and for me, realizing just how difficult it is for a new small brand to really figure out the three-tier distribution system.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it it's a very difficult situation because you need to have a distributor partner who sells to retailers for you.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: It can't sell direct to any retailer.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: So when someone's like, oh, you should sell here or here, I can't.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: I have to have a distributor.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think understanding how difficult it is because a distributor wants you to have accounts first and accounts, you know, retail accounts, they're gonna say who's your distributor.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a very much of a chicken in the egg problem.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it is hard for it's hard for new brands to figure that out and how to basically get people, get distributors, get people to believe in them and pick them up.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: We've been very fortunate so far.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the other big learning for me is not to get kind of like distracted by bright shiny objects, right?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: So someone will be like, oh, do you want to go here?
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to go here?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: But picking to the strategy and being really methodical and not to spread yourself too thin.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you can say, I'm gonna scale and I wanna be in 20 states next year.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is not realistic to be able to support that.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so even if someone says, Oh, you could go, you know, we think you should come to the state of the state, to really be careful and to build it, I feel like inch wide, mile deep, and instead like build it really well in each area and each geographic location you're going into, and not to try and spread yourself across too many areas too quickly.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: So that's great advice.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think, in the sense of making sure that even though you have success and it feels like, okay, I can do the next thing and the next thing, but being very thoughtful and pragmatic about that, and that's kind of the planner, probably in both of us in that sense, and the business side of that too, because sometimes you go too far too fast and you have to come back.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think being a founder, it's a trial and error sometimes every day.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're learning every day about your business and what works and what doesn't.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so just you know, taking the time to also not move too fast as you go through it.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: But there's also the other side of you know, don't wait too long.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it is a yin and the yang to that as you figure it out, certainly as you're getting going.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I've really enjoyed talking with you this morning on the Bold Lounge, and all the information about Inspiro and Mara is below in the notes for the podcast.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: And hope you check her out and you can order her to kill online.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much, Mara.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Bold Lounge podcast.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Through the continuum of bold stories, vulnerability to taking the lead, you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact on others through their unique and important story.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others to share the journey of the world with a bold.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and support the journey.