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From Attorney to Tequila Founder: Reinvention & Career Change with Mara Smith · In My Hometown

0:00
SPEAKER_04: Hi, you're in my hometown with Jamie and Pascal.
0:04
SPEAKER_04: And if you're thinking about a career change, starting a new business, or just redefining what's next for you, this episode is for you.
0:12
SPEAKER_04: Our guest today is Mara Smith.
0:15
SPEAKER_04: She is the founder and CEO of Inspiro Tequila, an ultra-premium tequila brand.
0:22
SPEAKER_04: And we're going to talk with her about following her passion, about betting on yourself, about starting something new, and about how your next chapter just might be the best one you write yet.
0:35
SPEAKER_04: So stay with us.
1:00
SPEAKER_04: Thank you for having me.
1:01
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:02
SPEAKER_04: We've been um, I've been talking with you for a little while and told Pascal about you and just love the idea of a female-founded uh ultra premium um uh alcoholic beverage company, tequila in particular, and love the idea that you're Chicago-based.
1:20
SPEAKER_04: So you were a former attorney and taking care of your family and all sorts of things.
1:27
SPEAKER_04: What made you sort of start with this next chapter?
1:30
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, so quite a circuitous path here.
1:33
SPEAKER_02: Um, from uh I have an accounting background, then uh legal background.
1:38
SPEAKER_02: I worked at a very large law firm in Chicago, then worked in corporate strategy um at McDonald's Corporation.
1:44
SPEAKER_02: Then stayed home mom of three kids for over 16 years, clearly drove me to drinking.
1:50
SPEAKER_02: Um that's my kid.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: Kid will do that to you.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: Totally.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, you know, I always knew I wanted to start my own company.
2:01
SPEAKER_02: Um and um I had the impeccable timing to deciding this was the right time in February of 2020 before the entire world shut down.
2:09
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, that's when I'm gonna do it.
2:11
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I knew it was gonna be in the food and you know, food and beverage category.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: I'm a super consumer.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: I love everything in like the better for you um food and beverage category and like everything you've seen on chart tanks, like in my pantry, that I taste test everything.
2:25
SPEAKER_02: And I just kept coming back to tequila.
2:27
SPEAKER_02: I've been a tequila drinker for years, discovered that all of the tequila brands I was drinking contained undisclosed additives.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: I did not know they put like sweeteners, like aspartame, glycerin, coloring in tequila, and you don't have to disclose on the label.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: So it was kind of that converging with me hearing from so many women that they're tequila drinkers.
2:48
SPEAKER_02: And I kept thinking, well, if all these women drink tequila, why do brands not focus on this consumer?
2:54
SPEAKER_02: She is a very relevant consumer.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: She makes the vast majority of all purchasing decisions.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: So I thought, could we create something that is additive free, clean, additive free, still has like sweeter tasting notes, still an approachable tequila, and focused on female consumers.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: So I built it.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: You said I'm gonna I'm gonna do a tequila.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I obviously in that industry, there is a hundreds of tequila's.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not a drinker, but I have a chance to go to Bini's once in a while and buy some some liquor or wine.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: But uh, you know, the the it's a very saturated market.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: So why did you decide it?
3:32
SPEAKER_01: How did you go about it, and where do you manufacture your tequila?
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Um listen, it takes a ton of due diligence and research to enter into any new category, right?
3:42
SPEAKER_02: It's a totally new industry for me.
3:45
SPEAKER_02: So I started researching like everything about tequila production.
3:48
SPEAKER_02: I took a course offer by the CRT, that's the governing body in Mexico, and I became um certified in the production and history of tequila.
3:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, I found my own master distiller.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: I wanted a female master distiller.
4:00
SPEAKER_02: So I read a book um about all the women in tequila.
4:03
SPEAKER_02: It's a very small book.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, and found this legendary female master distiller.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: I really came at it from like how, you know, we have to do something a little bit different because there are a lot of tequila brands.
4:15
SPEAKER_02: Um, so how are we gonna stand out in a crowded market?
4:17
SPEAKER_02: And now you can get us a binny.
4:19
SPEAKER_02: So near the next time you're there, you get a binny.
4:21
SPEAKER_04: So you both I'm curious that you said you already always wanted to start your own company.
4:27
SPEAKER_04: So that was just something that you always had in the back of your mind, even when you were practicing law.
4:32
SPEAKER_02: Not when I was practicing law.
4:34
SPEAKER_02: I'd say um, I was just myop myopically focused on like how what am I gonna, you know, how am I gonna work my way up, become a partner and a law firm.
4:41
SPEAKER_02: So I kind of didn't think about that till later.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I was someone who thought about entrepreneurship as like something in my path.
4:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm as a little girl, I want to be a Supreme Court justice.
4:50
SPEAKER_02: So clearly there's there's no job that has more job security than that.
4:53
SPEAKER_02: It's a job for life.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: So I wanted a very, a very stable career.
4:58
SPEAKER_02: So I was not thinking about, you know, becoming an entrepreneur or a founder.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: I think it's once I was at McDonald's Corporations and I was in the corporate strategy group there.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: And we were studying consumer trends and insights, and all of a sudden that started me thinking about oh, maybe I'd want to start my own company.
5:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, I looked into potentially opening a franchise of an ice cream franchise.
5:19
SPEAKER_02: Chicago, not the best locale for an ice cream.
5:23
SPEAKER_02: A couple months of the year, maybe then.
5:25
SPEAKER_02: So it just started, you know, I think it sparked my entrepreneurial spirit.
5:29
SPEAKER_02: I started thinking of ideas.
5:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, I also knew I was gonna start my something on my own.
5:34
SPEAKER_02: I kind of had heard that I'm not good working with authority, which is probably true.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh what kind of you you said you were you were working in the law.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: What kind of law were you practicing?
5:42
SPEAKER_01: Business law, what kind of business.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: So I did contracts, I did uh commercial real estate and um securitization, so all nothing in litigation, but all the other things.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: And then so you were doing that, you were doing that pre-children?
5:56
SPEAKER_01: Yes, and then when you had children, you just stopped take care of your children, I suppose.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: So um it was, you know, the route, lots of pivots, nothing I ever expected.
6:05
SPEAKER_02: So I practiced law for many years at a large Chicago law firm.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: When I started contemplating starting a family, I all of a sudden looked around.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh my gosh, there are no women partners in my entire department.
6:15
SPEAKER_02: Um, how there I had no role models to see how you could possibly manage like large law firm life with having a family.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: So that's when I moved to McDonald's corporation.
6:24
SPEAKER_02: Um, and there I did not practice law.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: I was in corporate strategy.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: I decided to go to the business side because I had a business degree from undergrad.
6:32
SPEAKER_02: And then again, nothing going according to plan, I became pregnant with my oldest, who are twins.
6:38
SPEAKER_02: They're great now, just both graduated college last year, but I ended up on emergency bed rest.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I had premi twins.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: So um fortunate that I had that option, but I decided to leave my corporate career um and become a stay-at-home mom because I thought I thought they needed my attention because I had these like little teeny babies.
6:57
SPEAKER_02: Right.
6:58
SPEAKER_04: So a lot of people think about something but don't get off the fence.
7:01
SPEAKER_04: What sort of was the precipitating reason for you to finally do it?
7:05
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: You know, there were two things.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: There's a timing and then some inspiration.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: So timing-wise, um, my kids had just started, my oldest kids.
7:16
SPEAKER_02: I have a little one who's in eighth grade, but my oldest kids had just started high school and all of a sudden I like start, I panicked.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: Two of them are gonna leave me at the same time.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: Um, this is the time.
7:26
SPEAKER_02: This is the time to start.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: I feel you.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: I feel like and um, and the second thing, kind of the inspiration, I'm a huge podcast listener.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: So hence being on this, I love it.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm a loyal listener to how I built this.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: I was on a family video.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: That's a great podcast, actually.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: How do I build that?
7:42
SPEAKER_01: So fascinating to me.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:45
SPEAKER_02: Um and interestingly enough, I was on vacation, binge listening, and I heard an episode with Dave's killer bread, the founder of Dave's killer bread.
7:53
SPEAKER_02: And all of a sudden I was like, if this guy can come out of prison and start a success, successful company, there's no reason why this mom of three can't go back in and start something.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: Like it was like in my light bulb moment.
8:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, where I just thought, okay, there's no reason I can't do it.
8:10
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: And then But there is so many, so many industry, so many uh different fields.
8:15
SPEAKER_01: And uh what why why vodka?
8:17
SPEAKER_01: Because you lag the tequila.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: Tequila, tequila.
8:19
SPEAKER_04: We can tell that Pascal does not drink because he doesn't know, he keeps saying vodka.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tequila, tequila.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: What why tequila?
8:25
SPEAKER_01: Why and the what make you tequila different than the thousands of tequila in the market?
8:31
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
8:31
SPEAKER_02: So for me, it had to be something that I actually drink or eat.
8:36
SPEAKER_02: So I am a tequila drinker.
8:37
SPEAKER_02: I started drinking tequila when I was looking for something that fit in my gluten-free, healthier lifestyle.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: I love wine, the sugar, and wine does not love me as much.
8:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, vodka has this weird effect of like waking me up in the middle of the night.
8:50
SPEAKER_02: So I just wanted something clean, easy to drink.
8:54
SPEAKER_02: I only drink tequila soda in general.
8:57
SPEAKER_02: So I don't want the calories.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: I love sweets, but I like to eat them.
9:00
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to drink them.
9:01
SPEAKER_02: So I've been a tequila drinker, and that's when I discovered everything had additives.
9:07
SPEAKER_02: So it's really a differentiator.
9:08
SPEAKER_02: One, most tequilas, the vast majority, like over 76%, use additives.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: So the fact that I didn't want aspartame, sweeteners, glycerin in my tequila.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: Um, that I wanted something that didn't use additives but still had sweeter tasting notes.
9:24
SPEAKER_02: So I'd say that's a big differentiator to not use additives but still be really easy to drink and approachable.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: So we actually rest our tequilas differently.
9:32
SPEAKER_02: So our blanco we put into barrels for a short time to get sweeter notes without using any additives.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: Very few blanco tequilas ever go into wood.
9:40
SPEAKER_02: I think at this point there are about like six.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: And our Rosa Revisato, we actually uh are the first ones to age our reposato in French rose wine barrels.
9:50
SPEAKER_02: Again, uh unusual.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: The color is all natural, it's just from the French rose wine barrel.
9:55
SPEAKER_02: So we wanted to do different types of like aging mechanisms and using different types of barrels.
10:00
SPEAKER_03: Very cool.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: And that makes it unique, um, not just from like how it looks, but also taste profile-wise.
10:08
SPEAKER_02: People are usually shocked that they try our blanco and they're waiting for it to kind of give them tequila face, like the bite, and it doesn't.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: Right.
10:15
SPEAKER_02: It's really um approachable, smooth, and sippable.
10:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, because if you have to mix tequila and a sugary drink to want to consume it, consume it, then you kind of lose the benefits of drinking.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: Right.
10:28
SPEAKER_04: So both of these can be you can drink these alone or not necessarily making a margarita.
10:36
SPEAKER_04: These are really sipping, sipping tequila.
10:38
SPEAKER_04: They're definitely sipping tequila.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: So now people mix them in drinks with a lot of people, but you could do an easy skinny margarita, ranch water.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: But how I drink, literally, I'm too lazy to even cut a lime.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I just drink tequila and soda.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: So, so so to get to you, tequila, in here, I mean, obviously it's a big on the tech financially.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I mean, I could see the barrel, I could see the design.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm a little bit familiar.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I've been to Mexico many times, I've been to uh tequila factory, and I see I understand the concept of tequila.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: So, how would you uh uh uh tell someone uh uh how did you build your business?
11:11
SPEAKER_01: How did he how did he how did he come up from the group?
11:14
SPEAKER_01: How did you fund the finance?
11:15
SPEAKER_01: How did you get a backer?
11:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, tell me a little bit the aspect of how you were able to build it and say, This is what I want to do.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I mean obviously it's a big undertake.
11:25
SPEAKER_02: It is a very big undertaking.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: So I'm not gonna recommend that other people start spirits brands.
11:29
SPEAKER_02: Um you have to make a lot of people.
11:33
SPEAKER_02: One of the punchmen, yeah.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: It could be any tenants.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: How did you go about developing the concept and and and and find the final?
11:40
SPEAKER_01: Did you have an investor?
11:42
SPEAKER_01: How'd you go about it?
11:43
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: I did the first thing I did is a ton of research, like we talked about, like learning production.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: I think everyone, if you want to re-enter uh the in you know, the workforce, if you want to enter into a new industry, you have to go out and do a ton of research.
11:54
SPEAKER_02: I think you have to be really, really prepared.
11:56
SPEAKER_02: So that's the first thing.
11:57
SPEAKER_02: Like I understood not just production, but the spirits industry.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: It's a very highly regulated industry.
12:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, we have a we have federally, we're federally regulated by the three-tier distribution.
12:07
SPEAKER_02: Every state operates like its own country.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: Luckily, I was able to use my legal background to navigate that, but it is a very complicated regulatory system.
12:16
SPEAKER_02: So even understanding that, where do you want to enter?
12:18
SPEAKER_02: Understanding the consumer, who are you going after?
12:21
SPEAKER_02: So there's like the marketing operations.
12:23
SPEAKER_02: Ton went into figuring out operations from you know, getting a bottle.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: I did a custom bottle design.
12:29
SPEAKER_02: I had to have bottle designers work with me, and my mom was helping me draw them on a, you know, back and forth on a piece of paper.
12:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, I got my bottle patented.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: So everything from like the packaging, production, and then yes, it is an expensive endeavor.
12:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, I am fortunate.
12:48
SPEAKER_02: Listen, your show is about people maybe starting something a little bit later in life.
12:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm fortunate.
12:52
SPEAKER_02: I did not start this from my dorm room.
12:55
SPEAKER_02: So my husband and I have been working for many, many years.
12:57
SPEAKER_02: So I was able to, I'm gonna say bootstrap, but it's a little more like Lou Buton strap this for a long, for a long time because it's it is an expensive endeavor.
13:07
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: I saw.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, but and then we went out.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: I wanted proof of concept before I went out to get outside funding.
13:16
SPEAKER_02: So I want to make sure we had product, got the liquid right, got the packaging right, got points of distribution.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: And then we did um my first round was just friends, family, and like angels in end of 2024.
13:29
SPEAKER_04: And how many times were you either told like this isn't a great idea, or I'm just interested in when you went out to tell people you're doing this, what they say.
13:38
SPEAKER_04: Because I when I first started the podcast, you know, you get a a lot, you get a mix of reactions from people.
13:44
SPEAKER_04: And I think if you're highly influenced, I think sometimes that that could be challenging.
13:48
SPEAKER_04: I'd love to know what reaction you got about I'm starting at tequila.
13:52
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: I was waiting for my family to be like, wait, what?
13:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I actually was pleasantly surprised.
13:59
SPEAKER_02: So, but I'm gonna say first, I waited a while.
14:02
SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of women do that until I had like, I felt like I had like crossed every T and dotted every I and was like super prepared.
14:10
SPEAKER_02: I did not want to like share.
14:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, and not that I think that's the right way to go.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: I think maybe you should share while you're in the process and get feedback and and things.
14:20
SPEAKER_02: But I was like, I kept it really kind of close to the chest for a while.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: And then I was surprised because I thought everyone's gonna be like, what?
14:26
SPEAKER_02: Where where did this come from?
14:28
SPEAKER_02: And like, and the funny thing is, you know, I'm not a huge drinker.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: I was like, you know, uh I don't it's not like they see me out drinking all the time.
14:37
SPEAKER_02: My kids kind of tease, like, mom, you don't drink that much.
14:39
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, well, if I drink a lot, I won't be able to run a company.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: So um you sip.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: I sip.
14:45
SPEAKER_02: I like my drinks, I like what I like.
14:46
SPEAKER_02: I like to get together with girlfriends and enjoy a great drink.
14:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I don't think people saw this coming, but the response really kind of um made me happy and was surprising that people just believed in me.
15:03
SPEAKER_02: They're like, well, if you're doing it and we know how hard you work at everything you've done, we're gonna assume you're gonna do it really well.
15:09
SPEAKER_02: Like that was just what I kept hearing over and over.
15:11
SPEAKER_02: I was surprised my husband wasn't like, that is the craziest, dumbest idea.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: Like that, you know, yeah, that my family wasn't like, wait, you went to law school and worked that hard for that many years and it wasn't that big of a leap.
15:25
SPEAKER_02: Right.
15:25
SPEAKER_04: That you're gonna start something.
15:27
SPEAKER_04: Um, but you did have, you didn't have so necessarily have a passion for tequila your whole life, but you grew for one and you sort of saw this opportunity in this market.
15:36
SPEAKER_04: I think that's great.
15:37
SPEAKER_04: I tend to be this type of person who wants to say things first and then it makes me do them because I say them, but some people hold it and then sort of make everything and bake it and then talk about it.
15:48
SPEAKER_04: So I think that depends.
15:49
SPEAKER_04: What what type of person are you?
15:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm more like uh a little bit like her.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm more uh look at the product, feel the product, test the product, give it to a few friends of mine.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, actually I have my own product line.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm in the bully industry and I own a Pascal Poel product.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: So I have a uh I've worked with Camille, so I understand the concept, the evolution.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't do it in a on a huge scale like you, I do it in a smaller scale.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Eventually I want it to be in a bigger scale, but it takes time, it takes resource, it takes patience, it takes testing, it takes uh refer.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's very interesting that you decided to create a vodka.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: So you want to be a good idea.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: Artikel, oh my god.
16:28
SPEAKER_04: I I wanna I wanna know but before we go off on uh in an area, I I just um I'm interested in the fact that the uh spirits uh mar industry and and really out beverage alcohol beverage industry is predominantly male.
16:44
SPEAKER_04: So how has that been in sort of breaking into that?
16:48
SPEAKER_04: What you anticipated, worse, better?
16:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, um there are a couple of things with that, and it's really interesting what I've learned as I've been in this now for a little while.
16:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, first, the hardest part was coming in as an outsider.
17:04
SPEAKER_02: You you kind of know this, you probably have some perspective on this because you were, you know, in the industry.
17:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that there are so many people who've been in the spirits industry all their lives and work their way up.
17:14
SPEAKER_02: So coming in as an outsider and being accepted or taken seriously, that was like a huge hurdle.
17:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, that's probably the hardest part, besides being a woman and then being a female that just had to do new topics.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: Coming in being new.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: So I worked really hard to like kind of integrate myself into the industry.
17:31
SPEAKER_02: Join um some, you know, besides kind of getting every industry newsletter that comes out, but like also joining like the trade networks.
17:41
SPEAKER_02: Um like very early on, I pitched for, and you probably know the WSWA, the wholesaler, they represent all the wholesalers in the country.
17:50
SPEAKER_02: And I was selected for the finals and I represented the tequila mascal category live in a pitch competition in front of like every wholesaler in the country in Orlando.
18:00
SPEAKER_02: So all of a sudden I got like I I I immediately kind of gained that credibility, earned some respect.
18:06
SPEAKER_02: People said, Oh, she actually did her research, she knows what she's talking about.
18:09
SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't claim to be an expert on like tequila, you know, production and distillation.
18:15
SPEAKER_02: And I have a famous female master stiller for that, but it looked like, you know, I really was well prepared.
18:20
SPEAKER_02: Um so I think that I had to like kind of get over that first hurdle.
18:25
SPEAKER_02: And then as far as being a woman, I mean there are a number of things.
18:29
SPEAKER_02: One, you go into rooms, as you know, um, and I go in to talk to the sales teams and represent like there's not a lot of women there.
18:40
SPEAKER_02: And I'm trying to tell people um why women are important consumer, and that's uh that often still takes uh a lot of like I think convincing.
18:51
SPEAKER_02: Um we're the ones that are going to the store for the most part and buying everything, and buying it, and and my husband drinks the beer that I bring him, exactly, even if for someone else, even for your family, you're making the tequila next time.
19:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, for sure.
19:06
SPEAKER_02: So I think but getting people to like buy into that, like women are gonna control two-thirds of all the wealth by 2030, like they're a very significant consumer, but they're just generally not marketed to when it comes to hard alcohol.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: So that's a mindset shift when we come in with this kind of like positioning.
19:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, or I get offline uh, you know, often asked, like, well, are you gonna have a celebrity part of it?
19:30
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, you know, but that will help.
19:33
SPEAKER_02: That will help.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: Right.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: You know, if you have Jennifer Erneston who drink uh you tequila, you pick up the roof.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: So so so how do you do the quality control of your product?
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you manufacture that in Mexico, am I right?
19:47
SPEAKER_01: So are you going uh back and forth, look at the factory to see the product?
19:51
SPEAKER_01: How do you how do you communicate with you uh you factory being in the United States?
19:58
SPEAKER_02: Yes, so um a number of ways.
20:00
SPEAKER_02: And so we have you know our distillery in Mexico that we work with, but more importantly, we have our own master distiller.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: So she she's a master distiller for a few different brands, but we brought our own master distiller.
20:11
SPEAKER_02: So she runs every production line.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: We don't buy any bulk tequila, we don't buy anything that's made by a distillery.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: She's from the United States, no, she's in Jalisco.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, she's she's a Mexican born and raised okay.
20:24
SPEAKER_02: So um, tequila to be 100% agave has to be manufactured at Appalachian Origin, just like champagne has to be done champagne.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: Tequila has to be done in certain areas of Mexico.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: Almost all tequila, like 92% comes out of the state of Jalisco.
20:37
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: So we have her there.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: So she runs every production run.
20:40
SPEAKER_02: We're craft, we don't run huge production runs.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: We don't run like so many of them that it's that hard.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: So we can get samples sent back and forth.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: I'll go down probably for a production run takes a really long time.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: So it's not like I would stay for the whole run.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: It's like 45 to 60 days just for Blanco.
20:56
SPEAKER_02: So I can go down, I was just there in July and go down for the cooking and milling and then get into fermentation.
21:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then there's like a very long stabilization process that goes into the barrel.
21:08
SPEAKER_02: So in between, they can send product back and forth.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes they go down for the, you know, bottling, but we have her there, and she's really, I mean, she's an expert.
21:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you're hiring the exceller, yes.
21:21
SPEAKER_04: Right, experts.
21:22
SPEAKER_04: Well, tell us a little bit about the name where that came from.
21:25
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: So Inspiro is the Spanish word for inspired.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
21:29
SPEAKER_02: And it's named and honored my inspirations, my grandmother, my mother.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: I'm very fortunate.
21:34
SPEAKER_02: I had two um really powerful women in my life who kind of, I guess, gave me the confidence to believe I could do anything.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: They're both just powerhouse women.
21:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, and my mom is is still uh the powerhouse woman that is as old in my role model.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: How old is she?
21:50
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I would not say that.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: She was all in the house.
21:54
SPEAKER_04: Oh, okay.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: I was like, never ask a woman of age.
21:58
SPEAKER_04: I think at a certain age, you're just proud to be that age potentially.
22:02
SPEAKER_04: But I guess I'm sorry.
22:04
SPEAKER_02: My mom's been a long time non-discloser of her age.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: So that would be I don't even know if we I don't even know if we know that.
22:10
SPEAKER_04: That's funny.
22:11
SPEAKER_04: That's funny.
22:12
SPEAKER_04: Well yes I you know I just saw something uh some actress that I cannot now think of but had just said why do we always have to say someone's name and then their age right after it and um and I agree with that and yet I'm still there asking the age.
22:28
SPEAKER_04: And so shame on me.
22:29
SPEAKER_04: But this idea I love that of um being inspired by these powerful females.
22:35
SPEAKER_04: What is something that um maybe you weren't you would have liked to have been warned about before getting into this or that you would warn someone else about starting their own business.
22:45
SPEAKER_04: Oh gosh there are so many and it may be industry specific or maybe not as we were saying because a lot of people that are um listening and watching us may be thinking about something that they want to do.
22:55
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think when it comes to like having a product for example versus a service-based um you know business um I think operations is probably more complex than I had ever imagined you know we were talking about sourcing and quality control and all these things and you're sourcing battles and everything so everything for a product and um I think as a founder you initially envisioned like okay well once I get the first you know done then it's we're like smooth sailing from here and literally there are are always issues that come up that you're trying to figure out something comes broken or we had an entire run where all my closures these nice glass tops none of them fit the bottles and like I was scrambling to get all new you know closures.
23:41
SPEAKER_02: So um I'd say thinking that's ever going to be like totally under control um it would not be accurate at all.
23:51
SPEAKER_04: Right.
23:51
SPEAKER_04: You're always gonna have another challenge to face what is one of your mottos or do you have a motto that you sort of live by or what's the culture of Inspiro?
23:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah I I love that question.
24:01
SPEAKER_02: Because I think there are a few different questions for you do have good questions.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: I know I I I love that I think there are a few different things like one um I think we're really transparent.
24:15
SPEAKER_02: I this is like I started this kind of later I just I'm like this is who I am this is what we are about I can't put on like any fronts like we're really clear about like where we stand on everything.
24:30
SPEAKER_02: And um I'd say that's like something that we live by.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: So not just from like how the tequila's made but everything about us like that's just how I have to operate um I'd say that's one of those things.
24:42
SPEAKER_02: I have some funny mottos that I share with my kids that we'll see if I can share here.
24:46
SPEAKER_02: But one is like be careful on the toes you step on today because they may be attached to the ass you need to kiss tomorrow.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: You know what I wish I knew that more when I was young I wait say that again so be careful the toes you step on today because they may be attached to the ass you need to kiss tomorrow.
25:03
SPEAKER_02: You do not burn bridges you have to like how you treat everybody I think of that all the time because some people even you know when you approach them like how they act like you don't know who's connected to who or who they know or what they can maybe later they change jobs.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: You need them like I think about that all the time.
25:18
SPEAKER_02: Right.
25:19
SPEAKER_04: And it's not even so much that you're not you're not acting right.
25:23
SPEAKER_04: It's just more that maybe some of the ways that you might go about it would be a little different.
25:28
SPEAKER_02: Right would you treat people I think that's how like you know I answer every message.
25:32
SPEAKER_02: Like anyone who DMs me I answer every single message.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: Okay so let me ask you a question now how many how many different flavor do you have in you tequila?
25:40
SPEAKER_02: I have three expressions but these are our two core so we have a blanco and a reposado blanco is generally unaged but we rest it for a short time reposados are aged for two to 12 months and then we have a special reserve in Yale that's only available online and in some certain markets like here in Illinois.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: Okay so you you create your vodka you had the packaging you get the whole product you get the the mixer you get the factory how do you put it into the market how do you bring that product and bring it to the consumer what what does it take to be able to mean obviously if you had Benny's right now the the vodka look like it's doing well.
26:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah so tequila um no mixer tequila tequila tequila tequila I said tequila no you said vodka I said vodka vodka it's my age I think my age shouldn't yeah no no I don't think so I just think honestly you don't you don't drink so you can look the same okay yeah right um it the bottle maybe has a more of a vodka vibe but yeah um so we don't have any mixer so it's literally just pure tequila just made out of agave and water and use like nothing added in the consumer how'd you how did you go how did you end up giving Bini what what did it take how did you do you have a wrap who represent your product?
26:52
SPEAKER_02: Well we start in our home market and so in alcohol you have to distribute through a wholesaler so I don't sell direct to any retail accounts at all.
27:01
SPEAKER_02: Right.
27:02
SPEAKER_02: So first I had to get a distributor so every market we go into we have to have a distributor partner who then sells to those accounts.
27:10
SPEAKER_02: Now that doesn't mean we're not doing the work and getting in and um into those accounts ourselves right but we have to have someone who like actually makes the sale to them.
27:20
SPEAKER_02: So here we have a great fantastic really large distributor partner and other markets as well.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: So you have to essentially sort of sell to the distributor in a way right and what have you been talking about we'll get to what you're saying you're really getting to the show how do you do this yeah you're trying to figure it out how to well but we don't need to know exactly how she means we're talking about business how do we get into the market you get somebody who created a product and you bring it into the market yeah how do you market who do you contact mean this is our viewer wants to know me now yeah create a market yeah yeah they want to know if a woman entrepreneur or a m entrepreneur wants to create a business they want to know from someone who created a business how did you take it off the ground how did you get into the store that's that's the tough part it's easy to create a product very easy everybody could create a product right okay it's to make it as a brand was very difficult and that's what I want to know from her because obviously that's the brand I got it I'm all for your questions we'll get that so I found we had to find a distributor so we were lucky that I got a distributor here they they took sound they're excited about the brand that's from me contacting people I took here's the thing every introduction leads to another introduction I took every single introduction so and I still do so everyone who introduced me like oh I know this person and they're an industry not industry in another yeah I mean we were talking about the we have mutual friends like because they own CPG brands like I have a great female founder community I built an entire community of people who like could help guide me I love that idea I wasn't trying to jump on you but so you talked before about some mottos and some cultural sort of isms of you and this idea that every and so what did you call it every introduction is a well at least another introduction I love that that is something to take away yeah I mean community building like we talked about doing like research and being prepared but it's a really lonely journey you know entrepreneurship if you don't have a community a supportive community like I'm a big believer in peer-to-peer mentoring so I have a community of women who own spirits companies I have a community of women who just have consumer products I have larger communities that are just like local leaders um and business owners so I think that way and so everyone let's say I want to know does anyone have um a connection to this account that I want to go into that's what I'll do I will find someone I want it to be in some local restaurants I will find someone who is a regular at those restaurants can you go in can you ask them we know a couple restaurants but you can't you she can say she has to send it to the distributors right but she can send it to the retail they order through the distributors right but but it's that idea that it's like the push pull so you want them to ask the distributors for it.
30:10
SPEAKER_02: They just put the order in so we sell it in okay I have three consumers essentially right so I have the wholesalers the distributors so first you have to get those that's like a very you know they hurdle so getting into the distributor first getting them topic very hard I believe the alcohol are very regulated am I right you can't just said hey I'm gonna sell my tequila three tier right very regulated you got to go to a distributor and the distributor are selling it to the retailer.
30:37
SPEAKER_02: Exactly yes and then my second consumer are like retail counts so everything from bars restaurants hotels to retail you know retail counts that you go to to buy like the Benny's the jewels Whole Foods things like that.
30:53
SPEAKER_02: And then my third so you mentioned how hard it is to to get in and it is and it's hard to get on shelf but what's much much harder is to get pulled through off shelf so the third you know my third customer is consumers.
31:07
SPEAKER_02: I need people to know about us and hear about us because you go and you see you're talking about going to Binny's there are a lot of brands on the shelf how do they how do they pick one over another so they have to have tried it somewhere they have to have heard about us so that part building the consumer awareness I actually think that is the hardest part.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: Right I agree so how do you go about that do you do a billboard?
31:33
SPEAKER_01: Do you do a do you being on our podcast is one way.
31:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah being a podcast you see a tequila right you got it you got it you know there are a lot of strategies for that I'd say and because we're a small brand we're not on billboards you don't see us on the Super Bowl commercials um I really like high touch events I do really curated events and a lot of them I do 30 events in Q1 and I do more like professional women's groups or I do someone's golf outing or I do um a bank has me in to run a teela tasting for the busy so you give the lot away for free I believe but usually I don't do galas I don't do things where no one remembers what they drink yes at the bar.
32:14
SPEAKER_02: I do more like smaller group I'm on a pan I've done so many panels for Women's History Month for example in March I did I did a ton of panels where I can talk to people about the brand about our story and then have them try the product so think like smaller groups that get together where I can share like more story than them just going to a bar and trying to now you go and you share your story with the consumer how do the how do the distributor get your story oh for the distributor?
32:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah I mean the distributor is the big ticket item obviously because they buy quantity they have already a retail point so it's you really want to go to the distributor so how do the consumer get to the distributor how do how do they the distributor hear from the consumer can distributors don't really have any if you went into Benny's and I said wait do you have inspiro tequila and then Binny's may you know or a store and then they would say either no or yes maybe they would ask a distributor that would be right but between the distributor and consumers there's very little link because distributor is just a wholesaler like it's a pass through wholesaler who buys sell to stores they have very they're not really consumer facing like consumers would never even know who our distributor is right they don't know they would never know who they're we don't even know they exist.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah I understand that I agree with you but how do the how do the distributor hear about you he has to hear from somewhere oh I mean that's me making that's when you make the contact it's not consumers consumers would never know who the wholesalers are.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: But if you go and you say you were doing those mixer were most likely with women small event and you were bringing you you you tequila and they're drinking it and they like it okay how do they go about finding where the tequila is oh yes so we're usually I'm usually really clear about that.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: I mean if I'm doing an event it's because I'm doing it at a location where we have points of distribution like where we're in retailers.
34:07
SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't do an event at a location where we are not readily available.
34:10
SPEAKER_02: I hand out cards I usually hand out recipe cards there that say like exactly where you can find us and have a rebate code on it so you get a rebate if you purchase us like I'm I'm usually pretty clear about and I only do things and only do events where we are available.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: Like I would never do something would you do something in Benny's like you will have a stand in Benny's and people come up and test a little between we would do a tasting we do some tastings that's a little bit different.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: I try and do more like events.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
34:40
SPEAKER_02: So um yes we do demos but because that's a good place to do you know a demo and have a tasting there.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: So we'll do some of those for sure because then you're right there at point of purchase.
34:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm more of my events because you don't do I do some of those um my events personally as a founder of the company are more like um you know I was at the women in you know doing the women in law coalition having me come in and being at a panel talking about changing from law to owning a company and then having them try to have cocktails afterwards or you know that we did an I did an event um locally and it was like a female founder panel and then we're serving the cocktails afterwards or there's an art gallery opening or I did I've been doing like all these shopping events for example at like Veronica Beard stores here.
35:29
SPEAKER_04: Yeah where they're doing give back and one that just opened in Plaza de Lago.
35:34
SPEAKER_04: So tell me a little bit about um what the response is when when um someone tries it what is what are they what are they what's the takeaway immediately and something that makes you smile like you are right now.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: Because I love consumer facing events more than like trade more than I think I like being with consumers and getting that immediate feedback.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: So often you have people I'm always doing tastings first even if we have a great cocktail that are little small neat pores and I get like oh I don't know I can't drink tequila on its own like people are sometimes a little scared.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: I'm like just I I promise not that scary try it yeah and I'm always so excited when they try it they're like oh actually I can totally drink this on its own like they don't have that like visceral reaction sometimes when you have something really harsh um and that's usually about like this tastes so smooth this is like this goes down really easy.
36:23
SPEAKER_02: I'm like okay well now imagine you just had a warm and neat put it in a tequila soda with ice or in your you know ranch water and it's gonna go down dangerously easy like how easy it's gonna be to drink.
36:36
SPEAKER_02: Right.
36:36
SPEAKER_04: So that's usually the And I love that because I think too as we get older we sort of get set in our ways.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: I have a specific drink I'm a martini drinker and I have a martini every time I go out but I because I'm just nervous about trying something new um but you know I think also the idea of experimenting and um and trying different taste tequila actually I go out a lot for dinner and I have a very big social uh you know life and the tequila is the we know you have a big social life all right we know the number one drink is tequila yeah you know everybody said everybody said it's not fattening it's uh no no hangover no headache and very low calories am I right exactly I mean so I'm not gonna say there's no hangover because if you drink like the whole bottle you're probably not gonna feel good but um yeah you know so tequila um like a a one and a half ounce pour which is a standard pour is like 96 calories so think about if you're having like a tequila soda just on the rocks pretty low calorie it is usually a cleaner option now some of the brands when they're using additives you kind of don't know what else is in there like there could be artificial sweeteners which is why if you get an additive free one but yeah I mean I think that's why that was my hypothesis also of like why so many women like me choose tequila as their drink because I mean I want to enjoy a drink when I go out but like I don't really want to waste like a ton of calories or a bunch of sugar on a drink.
38:06
SPEAKER_04: I just want right drink have you heard there's this wine called Avilene that's I think Cameron Diaz's and it has no I think it's organic and no additives and I think that's sort of the idea behind it too that you do you don't realize how much is in our drink.
38:22
SPEAKER_04: So what about though this trend toward people I I've I've heard that the younger generation's not drinking anymore.
38:31
SPEAKER_02: Have you well I feel like I should instead go out with Pascal and his friends.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean they're they're drinking they're drinking more drinking the older people are drinking more and the younger people are drinking less the the number one drink I would say it's vodka definitely and then the second is martini they love their martini chocolate martini the big tons you know and obviously the third one is probably uh tequila yeah I and we uh I would say the number one is wine when people have dinner most likely they have a red brown white one that's a very big tan but I would say if we had the bar ready in for dinner they probably will have between a martini a vodka or a tequila those are the three main I don't see many people drinking whiskey or bourbon or uh stuff like that.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: They're more like a those three are the am I am I right?
39:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah you know I think that's very and I think it probably depends who but I think even the people that were doing like maybe um vodka soda now have like maybe gone into tequila soda.
39:28
SPEAKER_02: I mean tequila just every tequila tastes a little bit different it has just more character to it because it's you know not a neutral brain spirit so that's why a lot of people have gone to tequila but as far as who's drinking who's not drinking there's there's so much discourse around this all I honestly it's like hard to discern but you know one people are always saying like Gen Z not drinking well there are many factors like one it could be they have this concept of like you know zebra striping or changing their drinks like on every day you stay in your lane and whatever you're drinking for the night you're supposed to drink the same thing for the night so you don't feel horrible they go back and forth like all the it's called zebra striping where they're drinking the rainbow is is very popular.
40:10
SPEAKER_04: They drink every drink is the different color rainbow in one night.
40:15
SPEAKER_01: They make a gallon out of it.
40:16
SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean so it's like it's a little bit different how they drink.
40:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
40:20
SPEAKER_02: Two um they don't have a lot of money.
40:23
SPEAKER_02: So when we talk about like not drinking like if you have you know what are you gonna spend your money on they you know are they age they don't have as much disposable income to like spend on it yet I happen to have two Gen Zers in my family and their friends still go out and drink and that's part of what you know they love great cocktails and they actually I actually see them drinking higher end things than we ever drink.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: You know right like when they want to go out they like want great cocktails or things.
40:53
SPEAKER_02: And then I would say it's so interesting because everyone always focuses on that and I focus on which I think we'll all appreciate here what about Gen X who it really controls you know such a huge portion of the spend like 31% of all purchases even though we don't represent that much of the population but with a lot of disposable income and choose nicer things.
41:22
SPEAKER_02: So like I don't know why people write off anyone over 40 in all honesty.
41:26
SPEAKER_02: Like I talked about like women being overlooked but generally spirits brands also don't focus on anyone female or male over 40 and everyone only talks about this younger generation and and frankly our brand is targeted at women who are probably 35 and over like not that really young demographic.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: I hear you I will agree with you I think the older clientele has the money and they could afford a more expensive drink.
41:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah I want to drink better.
41:53
SPEAKER_02: You know so maybe it's last but better like if you're not gonna have a ton of drinks when you go out but like you're gonna have two drinks when you go out you're probably gonna want to meet like really good quality drinks.
42:04
SPEAKER_04: I agree I love that too and it's so true that this um mature age group seems to be underserved in so many ways.
42:13
SPEAKER_02: We talk about all the time underserved in the podcast land and underserved uh underserved in is the is the word here so um right and we still go out like you're talking about going out with your friends we're talking about like you know we both have active social lives we still go out so the fact that people think that at a certain age you no longer get together with friends I mean my mother in law has the most active social calendar way more than me she eats out probably like five times a week sees friends is out so I don't know why people like kind of write them off as like maybe we don't have any more social life so they don't want to target us to sell to us but I actually think this is the time where you have more time.
42:54
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
42:55
SPEAKER_04: Yeah I I hear you.
42:56
SPEAKER_04: So what do you have to say so now that you're on the other side of this leap um to a big degree right you're here you're you've you're doing it you're doing it what would you say to um men and women who want to sort of start something new they're thinking about it I you know I it's kind of like a going back to what we first started off with.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: I would definitely do the research um uh just learn everything you can about whatever area you want to go into because maybe it's not the right let's let me ask you a question when you said you do the research okay when you look at uh a tequila I mean it's the market is saturated of tequila how did you do what what make you decide to really go with tequila there is I mean hundreds of tequila and so when you do your research how do you said I'm gonna be able to break through yeah well I think research is just listen there's there's every category is crowded.
43:48
SPEAKER_02: I could have started a protein bar company we say it was really crowded.
43:51
SPEAKER_02: I could have started a cereal company what's really crowded like don't let that whole company like anything would have been you know there everything's crowded is fine finding you Your piece.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Like I thought there's a marketing.
44:03
SPEAKER_02: And we started.
44:04
SPEAKER_03: But we're the best.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: But but it's finding your market, right?
44:07
SPEAKER_02: So you have a very targeted market that audience.
44:11
SPEAKER_02: And that is us.
44:12
SPEAKER_02: So I thought there was an underserved audience and market opportunity that people were not focusing on, even though there could be like 2,000 tequila brands.
44:22
SPEAKER_02: I didn't think they really, anyone was super honed in and doing it authentically.
44:27
SPEAKER_02: So I think you're gonna be hard-pressed to find a tequila brand that is certified women-owned, distilled owned, and led by all women that's a certified B Corp as a social impact company.
44:37
SPEAKER_02: And that's an added free tequila.
44:38
SPEAKER_02: Like there's a bunch of things checking a lot of boxes at one time that, yes, in a sea of tequilas, we still have some differentiation.
44:48
SPEAKER_02: When I talk about being prepared and doing research, I literally subscribe to like every industry newsletter.
44:54
SPEAKER_02: I listened to a ton of podcasts.
44:57
SPEAKER_02: As we mentioned, like everyone who would connect me, I know this founder.
45:00
SPEAKER_02: I have consultants in Mexico.
45:02
SPEAKER_02: I would take every introduction.
45:04
SPEAKER_02: So I think there's no way to get around the hard work.
45:08
SPEAKER_02: I did a ton, a ton of work to become prepared.
45:12
SPEAKER_02: And I still do a ton of work because there's still so much to learn.
45:15
SPEAKER_02: So that's where I think if you want to start something and you want to become your founder or make a pivot in your career, first of all, do the research first because maybe you're gonna find it's not the right fit.
45:25
SPEAKER_02: So maybe you want to like learn more about the industry to see, like, is this something I really like?
45:30
SPEAKER_02: Do you understand what is involved in it?
45:32
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you said I always wanted to be an art curator, be part of art gallery.
45:35
SPEAKER_02: And then you find out, oh, I didn't realize I have to be here this out these hours, or have to stand this long during the day.
45:41
SPEAKER_02: Like the more you research whatever you're looking at, you'll understand if it's a good fit for you.
45:47
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
45:48
SPEAKER_02: So that's why I think like that piece of it is so important.
45:50
SPEAKER_04: But to a degree, it's also a leap and a risk that you do.
45:55
SPEAKER_04: And you know, some people are just so risk averse and they just aren't going to do it.
45:59
SPEAKER_04: And some people, I think, um, I don't know if you agree, but worry too much about what others are thinking and are afraid to sort of really just get out there and get out of their comfort zone and do it.
46:11
SPEAKER_02: That's a little bit of the benefit, maybe, of being a little more seasoned on her because um, or starting something or starting a podcast.
46:18
SPEAKER_02: Like I can't spend a lot of time worrying about what other people like honestly, I and that's why it decided, like I'm not like I am what I am.
46:28
SPEAKER_02: I'm really, you know, we talk about like what our values are like, it's being direct, it's being like I'm concise, I give direct feedback, like people know exactly where I stand.
46:36
SPEAKER_02: My kids know exactly where I stand on everything.
46:38
SPEAKER_02: Everyone who works for us knows where I stand on everything, like, you know, because we talk about transparency, being direct, like at some point, hopefully you reach that point later in your life where like you can't just worry so much about right kind of what other people are feeling.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: It's a passion, it's a passion of yours.
46:55
SPEAKER_01: That's sometimes you love, that's sometimes you care.
46:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you you're doing it because there is so much love into it.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I said to my son, I said, never look for the the money, look for the passion.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: If you love what you do, you will succeed.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: I think from what I've listened today is you love that passion, you have that passion for that uh tequila, and then that's why you're gonna be successful.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: And you are successful at it.
47:15
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
47:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's tequila, and I think I have a real mission to like bring more female voices to industries where we're generally underrepresented.
47:23
SPEAKER_02: So I saw this as an opportunity to like by having an all-women team.
47:26
SPEAKER_02: Like I love partnering with other, you know, if it's women in sports or things like that, like I saw an opportunity.
47:32
SPEAKER_02: If I was going to re-enter the workforce after being out for many, many years, about how can I make an impact?
47:38
SPEAKER_02: And hopefully, if it's showing people that it's never too late to start or get back in or change careers, even that, whatever it is, any of those messages that I can pass on, I'm hoping that I can make an impact for other women.
47:52
SPEAKER_04: Well, great.
47:53
SPEAKER_04: I think we're gonna end it there.
47:55
SPEAKER_04: I'm certainly inspired by you and uh inspired by Inspiro, Tequila, and just love what you're doing.
48:02
SPEAKER_04: We've enjoyed this conversation and we wish you lots of luck.
48:06
SPEAKER_04: And if you're doing something on your own, uh go for it because you know, your next chapter could be the best one that you write.
48:14
SPEAKER_04: So thanks for listening and watching.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: Believe in yourself.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: Believe in yourself, and don't let anybody put you down.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: You gotta, you know, you're gonna have an obstacle, but you climb in and you move forward.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: Am I right?
48:24
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I love that.
48:25
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna do uh we'll have a you know, tequila infused, uh, cosmetic.
48:31
SPEAKER_01: So before we finish, where where could we find you tequila?
48:34
SPEAKER_01: What is that binny's?
48:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes, we're binny's.
48:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you're local here, sunset foods, jewel, whole foods in different markets, tall wine in some markets.
48:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, great.
48:46
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
48:48
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.