Madam Paleta Infused Tequila: How Karla and Natasha are Rocking their New Brand wtih Gold Wins!!

📢I talk🎙️with Karla Flores Co-Founder of & General Manager and Natasha Feiger Co-Founder & VP, Marketing and Partnerships at Jobu Beverages and Madam Paleta Tequila. 👏🍷 🎇 🎉 ✨ 👏 🥂  😁 Buy here!

Their naturally flavored tequilas have made a splash in our industry winning golds!

San Francisco Double Gold!
 2023 Pr%%F Awards
Gold Awards John Barlycorn Awards best flavored Tequila (Tamarind)

Karla spent 17 years in beer and was a Natasha client for many years. They talked and dreamed of doing a project together; both are passionate about tequila. 

Paleta, is a frozen treat made from fresh natural fruits such as strawberry or mango. They are a part of Mexican culture and have different authentic Mexican flavors. That's the authenticity that drove them to call their naturally flavored tequila Madam Paleta.

They knew there was an opportunity for flavored tequila, that didn't exist for the typical blanco, reposado and anejo tequilas.   

They are unique in how they think of their bottles as a canvas and worked with 3 female artists to design the inside label of the bottle! They even have a glow in the dark message! Can you find it?

These ladies are amazing and we had so much fun on the podcast! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
 
Link to their delicious cocktails!

Mentor
Quinn Kilbury, helped Natasha in her career and assisted them with their brand incubator program.

Karla Recommends Author Brene Brown's book Dare to Lead

Why Tamarind? It's trending! More info on Tamarind!
Tamarind

NOW ON YOUTUBE!!! Thank you for Listening! Join us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

Host Jessie Ott's Profile on LinkedIn

Chapters

• 0:24 Subscribe!
• 0:29 Welcome
• 1:11 Where they are from
• 2:11 Diving into the Brand Story
• 3:08 Why Tequila
• 4:16 Concept and Name Poleta
• 5:46 How to find a producer in Mexico
• 7:25 How many flavor profiles did you try?
• 9:11 3 Flavors and Evolution of Tamarind
• 11:33 What is Tamarind
• 13:08 2024 Flavor for McCormick
• 15:42 1st Tasting Tamarind
• 21:44 Awards
• 22:56 Tamarind Cocktail
• 24:27 Bottle as a Canvas Worked with Artists
• 25:25 Female Artists for Female Founded Brand
• 26:27 Glow in the Dark Phrase on Bottles
• 29:18 Pinapple #2 Flavor
• 37:10 Grapefruit Tasting #3
• 41:12 Consumer Base
• 47:26 Use Natural Flavors for Infusions
• 50:39 Where is Madam Paleta sold?
• 51:01 Available 32 States via ReserveBar
• 51:23 Where they are from
• 59:02 Mentors
• 1:04:24 Resources
• 1:04:46 Pain Points
• 1:07:57 Outlook
• 1:11:00 Rapid Fire Questions
• 1:16:29 Produced by Fedora J Productions

Transcript

00:00:09:29 - 00:00:24:00
Unknown
Welcome to Thursday Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. My name is Jessica. The host of this podcast, which is all about beverage innovation. I talk with innovation pioneers from agriculture to glass.

00:00:24:00 - 00:00:29:01
Unknown
Thank you for listening and be sure to subscribe to be notified of all new episodes.

00:00:29:01 - 00:00:51:26
Unknown
Hello everybody, and welcome to Thursday. Thursday. My name is Jessica and I have co-founders of Madame Perfecta here today. I am super, super excited. Carlos Flores, which is a gentleman singer here, and Natasha Feiger, VP of Marketing and Partnerships. Welcome, ladies. Hello. Great to be with you. Thank you for having us. Jesse. Yeah, this is super, super exciting.

00:00:51:26 - 00:01:19:13
Unknown
I guess we were connected by Taylor Foxman a few months ago. Yes, we love Taylor. Yeah, it's not everyone's. She does. And everybody loves her. Yeah. She is such a uniter. She is. Yeah. We really like her. Yeah. She's the bomb. Great lady. So where are you both calling from today? So I am in Charlotte, North Carolina. Okay.

00:01:19:21 - 00:01:42:11
Unknown
I've heard good things about the city. It's very underrated. But I think the fact that it's a little under the radar is part of what makes it so awesome. I should say, I get it, I get it, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you you out in Westchester, New York? Okay. A suburb outside the city. Yeah, I lived in New York City for about three years.

00:01:42:14 - 00:02:05:12
Unknown
So, you know, Westchester and no one calls it upstate. It's not upstate. It's for the upstate New York. Everything she's like, if it's not Manhattan or Brooklyn, I know. I mean, I live in the city before coming into the sawbones, and I totally called it upstate, I was like, oh, I, I'm to take the train. If they're like, so far.

00:02:05:14 - 00:02:36:18
Unknown
Oh an hour. Oh, you. Yes. Yeah. And it's so funny. So tell me, let's jump right into this story. Super excited to dive right in. Let's start from the very beginning, the very beginnings. And it's been in the works for about two years or so that we've been working on this brand. But we launched actually in September. So we've been in market for about what is that kind of math right now, eight months or so?

00:02:36:21 - 00:03:00:06
Unknown
Oh, nine months. We're still fairly new, but it's been, a long but very exciting road to get to this point. So, Carla and myself, we used to work together and always looked for another opportunity to be able to work together again and, you know, start our own thing, be our own bosses, and develop a product that we're really passionate about.

00:03:00:08 - 00:03:25:07
Unknown
And so, you know, there's more that went into just that, but, kind of figuring out the right, the right approach in the right category. And Carla jump in a little bit more here on kind of why tequila. Yes. So Natasha and I come from the beer world. So I worked in a very well for almost 17 years, and I knew that the next step well was going to be in the spirits, because I really wanted to get to know better.

00:03:25:07 - 00:03:49:27
Unknown
The entire alcohol category, the tequilas being a passion of mine. Right. I'm Mexican, so tequila seem like that's my next step. Whenever is the right moment and you're not there, no one is at the moment. But this idea came. We started thinking about it, exploring flavors, working with different, suppliers in Mexico. Like trying to get to the real flavors.

00:03:50:00 - 00:04:11:21
Unknown
And that took a while. So very excited to join forces with people that I really enjoyed working with. Natasha was the agency. Yeah, I was a client that we went to that for many years. We were like, yeah, we should do something together in the future, you know, enjoying the ocean. And you dream. We were like, yeah, one day we're going to hang out and we're going to do this and that.

00:04:11:27 - 00:04:45:17
Unknown
Since there are big releases, a lot of like, when, but it is very exciting. Like we're very we're very happy with the concept we have with a coming from this idea of creating Slater infused tequila, where we are creating is actually inspired by the paleta culture, the political culture. You know, in Mexico you try all these different I, but different flavors with that, like, kind of like anchoring the idea into these authentic Mexican roots.

00:04:45:19 - 00:05:14:09
Unknown
It will be great for our innovation or our pipeline in the future and the amazing flavors that we can create, because you can find in Mexico itself any flavor. That's that's kind of where we started this journey, trying different, different flavors until we kind of nail the gray ones and how it's all about smoothness and how we want everyone to kind of introduce into the tequila category in a very cool and a very different, setup.

00:05:14:11 - 00:05:19:09
Unknown
Yeah. We so that's we like tequila, right. Because it's again, to Carla's point, very passionate,

00:05:19:09 - 00:05:26:25
Unknown
But we also saw an opportunity for flavors because you see in so many other spirits like rum, vodka,

00:05:26:25 - 00:05:33:02
Unknown
And so we really also saw a great opportunity to do that within the tequila category, because flavored is still very new.

00:05:33:02 - 00:05:46:22
Unknown
You know, there are an amazing variety of tequila products out there. And we knew we didn't want to just produce another Blanco Reposado anejo because we saw the opportunity to do something a little bit different.

00:05:47:03 - 00:06:08:19
Unknown
And when it comes to, finding, you know, who produced these, what was that process like? Like what was what were you were you looking for someone that understood the flavor over, over the actual making of the, the Blanco, or was it a combination of both? Ellis says. Like who loves tequila and who knows how to do it right?

00:06:08:19 - 00:06:30:16
Unknown
In Mexico, that was the first step. And then also the finding someone that had, knowledge about flavors as well. So it's kind of a combination of table starting where we need, and we want a very high quality blanco as our base. So will I'm not looking for the cheapest where with the cheapest tequila so we can add flavor and we must.

00:06:30:19 - 00:06:55:09
Unknown
That is not a high quality tequila. We want a high quality tequila. And then we will with that and create amazing flavors with that. So that's is a combination of both, but definitely the quality of the tequila was very important. Yeah. And that's I think also something we take a lot of pride in because it is different, because typically those flavored spirits are marketed as mixers.

00:06:55:11 - 00:07:19:05
Unknown
And so because of that, you don't necessarily even need to have a higher quality base because you're going to be adding in a variety of different flavors. You're not really going to taste the spirit. Whereas we wanted to create a product that could be used certainly as a mixer, because you know, there's a huge market for cocktails. But we wanted to make sure that our product would still be great as something that you would sip on the raw take as a shot.

00:07:19:08 - 00:07:39:15
Unknown
And so with that, we knew we needed to have a really quality product to start with. And so let's talk about the flavors. How many flavor profiles did you have to go through? Because that seems pretty overwhelming to think about because you're right, Mexico has an abundance of agriculture and flavors and trees and fruits and all kinds of amazing things.

00:07:39:15 - 00:08:01:20
Unknown
that go? I think it is a combination about, data, of course, like trends, when key players in the market and also a combination of that like data and also trying different things because tequila can go well with almost everything, but it can be a very wrong as well.

00:08:01:21 - 00:08:30:23
Unknown
Right. So there's certain flavors that are more difficult than others. And we wanted to do the same with difficult because we also don't want like, well, there's like ten brands with the same flavor profile, you know what I mean? So, so we kind of did like the combination of many things that we started with and of course, and then we start to trying different things until we nail the like floater profiles and knowing that they can have a future right in, business wise.

00:08:30:26 - 00:08:56:09
Unknown
And because it's infused, right, it's it doesn't overpower the tequila. Right. That's the kind of what we were talking about before with that premium base. And so there are certain flavors that don't do as well with that too, because if you're just getting the essence of something, sometimes you would want it to be stronger or it can have a way of tasting a little bit fake, or you'd need to look to add sugar or sirups or things like that.

00:08:56:09 - 00:09:19:23
Unknown
All, additions we knew we didn't want in our product. And so that's where we kind of went for some of these flavors where we knew that it would, you know, infuse really well. And then a combination to of we wanted to create flavors that would be approachable but also new. So that's why we have our three flavors of pineapple, grapefruit and tamarind.

00:09:19:26 - 00:09:52:06
Unknown
And, you know, I'll be the first person to say that, I was not very familiar with tamarind. You know, we can we could joke about that. And so we don't know the exact of the balance of someone like Kala, who was, you know, shocked by the fact that I didn't know what tamarind was. And so that way is introducing a very authentic Mexican flavor to a whole new population like myself, where now it's, you know, I think it's like children, you love them all equally.

00:09:52:10 - 00:10:09:15
Unknown
But the tamarind one is particularly special to me and I and and I love it, even though it was something so new to me, you know, a few years back. Yeah, I'm going to have Kala talk all about it because, I'm also new. It's not really a part of our culture up here, at least certainly not in the North.

00:10:09:18 - 00:10:32:28
Unknown
Maybe more so, you know, in the South. Yes. Yeah, I would say like, that's like where the Hispanic community, community is bigger. Tamarind is both our lives. Like, since you are a kid, you will have, like, our first guest, Marina was first guest or some tamarind there, like, so popular. Common. So like there was shocked when Natasha didn't know about it.

00:10:33:01 - 00:10:53:28
Unknown
You know this yellow and say half European. So maybe that's why we don't. We don't have all these fancy flavors. Pineapple and grapefruit. I didn't know I'd like to be on the records that I'm familiar with. Guest. Yes, that's that's a good thing. Okay. That elicited by something nation because you can make it spicy. You can make it on life lifestyle.

00:10:53:28 - 00:11:14:07
Unknown
You can make it sweet sets and great. And the flavor, I think even if I've tried it many times in my life, you know how tamarind is like, so you can be wrong as well. So that's why it was very important to do all these samplings and all the different sequences of trials until we were like, okay, this is like it.

00:11:14:13 - 00:11:33:08
Unknown
We know it has a future because of how Hispanic, how Hispanic communities, gaining so much, power as well as, in, in the, in America. So it's something that appeals to the culture as well. And is they so good with the killer? I think it is such a great combination.

00:11:33:08 - 00:11:34:17
Unknown
And what is it

00:11:34:17 - 00:11:37:02
Unknown
you never see tamarind in your life?

00:11:37:07 - 00:12:21:19
Unknown
The questions. I just want you to explain it for the audience. Yes. So, it is looks similar to like, like that being like a green bean, like. Well, it's not, you know, not like. Yes, it is like, peanuts, you know, it has like, that shape of a pinto. Yeah, yeah, it's like a shell. And then you put the shell and inside you see seeds that are in tamarind, which is like, I think it is considered fruit in is very like Dutch and, sweet and is a friend like you can buy I mean, now you can go to Whole Foods then they say tamarind, but you can, you can find a

00:12:21:26 - 00:12:28:15
Unknown
different region like Thailand, I think is sweeter than in Mexico to so, so that different like profiles of the tamarind.

00:12:28:15 - 00:12:42:04
Unknown
Vanilla notes and glossy notes but also like sweet. I don't know it's such a different flavor I guess. Yeah, it's very much a part of your culture even as children, right?

00:12:42:04 - 00:13:07:00
Unknown
It's part of your candy flavoring and everything. Yeah. Okay. And then you're learning candy Mexican candies made out of tamarind, and then you are like, more spices or more sugar, but it's kind of like a base for Mexican candy. The tamarind. And it's that is like tahini, like on the rim of a glass. Yeah. Some help. Right?

00:13:07:01 - 00:13:08:21
Unknown
Yeah. I think I said that.

00:13:08:21 - 00:13:24:01
Unknown
gaining traction here a lot. It's the 2024 flavor of the year from McCormick. Yes. And so you're starting to see it pop up more and more. So that was also really exciting for us kind of being at the forefront of that. Because, you know, we've been working on this for a few years.

00:13:24:01 - 00:13:52:14
Unknown
And then to start to see that recognition of it in the U.S is exciting and and definitely bodes well for our product. Yeah. So with that link, I'll put it in the description. Yeah. That's right. Yes. And like for example like salmon in my valley does that like delicious salmon. And then you put tamarind in them and it us a profile of it is very sweet but also kind of spicy.

00:13:52:14 - 00:14:22:01
Unknown
I don't know, it's such a great combination. It's such a great addition. And I can see why is gaining more the gain, getting more popular and being a flavor of the year? Because it is such an amazing flavor. Just one thing about, Mexico. And the flavor profile that you grew up with. You, you mentioned Tarte. I had, another couple on that, on a margarita pre-mixed margarita, and they wanted to make it in the most Mexican way.

00:14:22:01 - 00:14:50:22
Unknown
And that was very tart and just perfectly delicious. And then you mentioned Thai. Thai tamarind is sweeter. Would you say that those that tart flavoring is sort of a signature from Mexico and not just margaritas, but overall, I mean, I would say yes. And then it is a combination of spicy. Yeah, I really like sweet, but is not 100% sweet.

00:14:50:22 - 00:15:11:14
Unknown
It has some fat in it. So I would say yes, he has that combination of flavors of that, just that function of flavors being sweet. But also with that tie in I think. So I will say yes, I would think that you would you, you have more of a tart profile than we do in America in general. Yeah.

00:15:11:16 - 00:15:36:06
Unknown
We have say that everything in America. So so it's great problem. You're right, you're right, you're right. I mean, we put it in bread and milk. It's it's a problem. Okay. So I'm going to spice on everything. So I guess. Yeah. Well, my wife is half Puerto Rican, so we love spice here. Yeah. Of course, lots of Tex-Mex.

00:15:36:09 - 00:16:05:16
Unknown
Pairs perfectly with tequila. So we appreciate the I love, love tequila. So, do you want to start off with, Tara. Yes. So this year, the flavor triumph. So you can tell me what it tastes like now that you haven't tried tamarind in your life. You can try it and then tell me what it is. Yeah. And then I want you to kind of walk through the label, so.

00:16:05:19 - 00:16:10:12
Unknown
Okay. So on the nose. Wow. That.

00:16:10:15 - 00:16:35:15
Unknown
That tequila smells really pure. It's not a little bit, citrusy. I have so much in the glass. Actually, it's actually only just a little bit. Go for it. Oh, shit. Oh, that's kind of like chocolate a little, right? Like. Like when you left chocolate. Yeah. The coffee. So. Yeah. Yeah, it has a very soft nose to it.

00:16:35:15 - 00:17:03:06
Unknown
It's like a lot of times, you know, when you, when you smell into a glass of spirit, there's the alcohol can be really overwhelming. And it wasn't at all. It was very balanced. It's got kind of this fun little salty like, oh, I even I even tart. Maybe it's because it's in my head. It's even it kind of has this salty tart beginning and then has this rounded chocolate, like, I guess tamarind flavored.

00:17:03:12 - 00:17:28:29
Unknown
Yeah. And I had just a tiny bit. And I can still feel it on my tongue and it's still lingering. So is really good. I really think it is flavored. Yes, we did try the cocktail. With a little tamarind to be like to be sipped because it is such a great, you know, drink to have and enjoy on the rocks.

00:17:29:02 - 00:17:54:04
Unknown
But so you want to add some fun. You can create like a Mexican candy shot with it. Like you can add some watermelon juice and Tajin on the rim, or you can put it on, I don't know. So yeah. Then the tamarind margarita recipe. Yeah. For our mixologist Jessie here. She's been been concocting, a tamarind margarita.

00:17:54:07 - 00:18:33:07
Unknown
So that's that's certainly a great option if you're going to put it into a cocktail. But we agree with you. It's great on the rocks and, you know, we can obviously see you sipping it. And so one thing we're very proud of is our kind of, it's so smooth. And so we have a phrase, our kind of a slogan, if you will, that no tequila phase because it's so smooth that when you go to sip it or shoot it or harbor you consuming it, you don't make that tequila grimace that people so often make when they drink tequila, that kind of, you know, some of our point of sale says like, Adios, tequila

00:18:33:07 - 00:18:56:18
Unknown
burn. Oh, let me tell you this, because we've really, you know, we are really proud of of the fact that we don't have that reaction. And so it's actually, as we do our simply events and activations, we challenge people to see what reaction they will have. And consistently, you know, people, even when they're trying to sort of pretend like they're gonna have a they'll be like, oh, wow, it's so smooth.

00:18:56:21 - 00:19:25:13
Unknown
And so, you know, again, you're a prime example of known tequila face right here. So one of the one of the thoughts that came came, to my head while we were talking about the different flavors was some cocoa flavored tequila. No. Know, like really chocolate. And so and, because of the martini. Right. Because, I think this would be a better.

00:19:25:16 - 00:19:54:18
Unknown
I think this would be a better martini in replacement, but it is delicious as an espresso martini. Yes, actually, as well. So if you just the espresso. So what? We, actually worked with the mixologist in, Guadalajara and is very renowned, and she actually came up with one espresso martini that uses the tamarind. And it really just requires, you know, there's also a little bit of agave, if you like it a little bit, you add a little bit of sweetness.

00:19:54:25 - 00:20:17:23
Unknown
But she actually also came up with one that is with our grapefruit, which you wouldn't expect for an espresso martini. That one is, a little bit, heavier. I guess that's fair to say, adding sort of your, mil tips of some chocolate. Sirup to it. So it's a little bit. Yeah. We've got kind of our skinny espresso martini.

00:20:17:23 - 00:20:39:22
Unknown
That's the tamarind version. And our full indulgent, espresso martini with the grapefruit. But. So that thing, I think these tequilas pair really nicely with any of those classic cocktails, and it gives it a little bit of a fun twist. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to make one of these. I love it, but you'll have to report back. I have some decaf.

00:20:39:25 - 00:21:03:24
Unknown
Yes. Queso pods left. Do I have to make one. Because that it's almost better to me than cocoa. And I love chocolate. Yes. It's like a dessert to like. It's a really nice, you know, a lot of the time, people like to sip, you know, a bourbon or a brandy or something after dinner. I think this is our replacement for that.

00:21:03:28 - 00:21:25:06
Unknown
I think this flavor, especially, is a really nice end of the meal sipper. Certainly. I can, say that both Carla and I have done that. Well, yeah. Yeah, I, I would say that's a perfect thing to do. It is delicious. Yes. Because it looks super sweet. Right. You can say like, isn't that sweet? But do you have like you has like vanilla notes.

00:21:25:08 - 00:21:53:01
Unknown
Yeah. And do you like chocolate notes or coffee notes but is not super sweet. So yeah it is. We are very proud of tamarind and pestilence on our words is lovely on the finish and it's still hanging out with me. You know what we love more. Did you get? We, have won gold awards from both the John Barleycorn Award and Proof.

00:21:53:04 - 00:22:16:02
Unknown
And then we have a top secret. Double gold win that will be coming out here shortly. So it's, it's achieving things. Right? And laughter. We're really proud of that because we certainly can see like it's award winning. But it's great to have that recognition. Certainly from people like yourself in the industry and then the various competitions as well.

00:22:16:05 - 00:22:43:14
Unknown
Yeah. Because we always say like, I mean, it is delicious, but is I mean, is the founder Sterling you right. Yeah. I was saying like all those people to say it's so you guys great to say that we do the words and then there's a nice guy that is very helpful for a new brand too, right? Yeah. Especially flavor part spirit, you know, because I think a lot of the time, those tend to again, like we said, not start with that quality based.

00:22:43:14 - 00:23:16:21
Unknown
And there's a little bit of negative stereotypes around them. And so this is really helping us kind of expand people's viewpoint of flavored spirits. Gotcha. Should we try to talk it up. Yeah. So there's a lot of this right. Yeah. It's a fun one. And we've got some Cointreau. Yeah. Is he like always nice. And then you know balance it out in a margarita and homemade helping your honey sirup.

00:23:16:24 - 00:23:41:06
Unknown
So lovely. Yeah I don't know how this is going to be. And then and the, the lemon lime to that, to the tartness comment from before. That's a really nice way to, kind of bring that balance a lot of the time in Texas and New Mexico, too. They'll do their margaritas with the lemon lime mixture versus just lime, like so many people do, because it brings out that tartness.

00:23:41:08 - 00:24:05:08
Unknown
That's spicy. Yum. That's good. Yeah. That's a that's a personal favorite. It's it's again like chocolate. You can do it savory or sweet. Yes. Yeah. Or spicy right. That's that's the beauty of this flavor. Also within time we are being doing a lot of florals with it. So you do like a frozen margarita and then you put a floater of tamarind.

00:24:05:08 - 00:24:30:09
Unknown
That is the perfect garnish for you guys. Honestly. Wow. Just to make it better. Oh that's awesome. So do you want to talk a little bit about your labels. Yes, absolutely. So I have one of our it's actually our, our newer bottle. That will be just coming out into market. We wanted to so our home, as you can tell, we like to have fun.

00:24:30:09 - 00:24:54:04
Unknown
Tequila is supposed to be fun, right? It's all about celebration. And so as we were thinking about the design, we knew that we wanted to also have fun with our bottles. Because I think what you see so much on shelves these days as well as tequila, has gotten quite serious. You know, you've got your very Uber premium bottles and they tend to have the brand logo be pretty clear.

00:24:54:09 - 00:25:21:14
Unknown
And so we were like, we're going to go in the complete opposite direction, and we are going to make our bottles vibrant and eye catching and fun. We're going to use so many different colors and speaks to, again, the kind of authenticity of our product and the vibrancy that you see in Mexico with tequila and, so we really looked at it as a canvas versus just, the packaging, if you will.

00:25:21:17 - 00:25:50:16
Unknown
And so what we did is actually work with a local artist. We're going to feature female artists for each of our production runs. Again, as a female founder, that's really important to us. So, yeah, on the interior, where you see artwork, each flavor has a different, design. And then so this is the first artist we work with, and then the next production run, we actually have a woman based in San Antonio who's Mexican-American, who did the next one and will continue to develop.

00:25:50:23 - 00:26:11:03
Unknown
And so being able to share their voice and again, use it as a canvas. And we think it's a really nice way to tell a story and be able to, you know, again, bring that fun that we always say we're in the category with sun, our fun little pun. And, and so the same thing where we've again just brought that brightness with the art.

00:26:11:05 - 00:26:32:07
Unknown
And then one thing that we're really excited about that is, our innovation here. It's not on the I think you have, our existing production run. This is the the next production run, which will start being in market in the next couple of weeks. It is. And oh, yeah, there's, there is actually a glow in the dark freeze on these.

00:26:32:09 - 00:26:59:23
Unknown
So we'll send you a picture afterwards if you want to, leave. That is, but it, says tequila y'all, because. Right. You know, we launched in Texas. We're based in Texas right now. And so it's really cool because it does actually, like, fully glow through. And so if you're thinking about your bar carts, your kind of, you know, bars, all of that of just having that bottle stand out in the back bar and again, it's fun.

00:26:59:23 - 00:27:16:10
Unknown
It's different. Like, how often are you looking at a bottle of a glow in the dark frame? So we just we like to try things. So. So the really nice thing about being a startup in a small company is that we can, you know, we had the idea of why don't we put glow in the dark, all the bottle or gold or whatever else?

00:27:16:10 - 00:27:37:17
Unknown
Why not, why not? What do you what do you. Yes. You know when it would affect blue walls to get a diet excited. The works. That doesn't doesn't work. Okay, so the next thing is, and we're both, you know, recovering from the many levels of approval for everything, especially I come from the agency world. So it's the agency approvals.

00:27:37:17 - 00:28:07:27
Unknown
Plus then client approvals. So it's been incredibly rewarding to be able to come up with an idea and then just, hey, give it a try. There. Yeah, it's definitely a completely different world. You know I know I know you you guys have two people and just woman. So I, I can only imagine, you know, all the things you have to do, but but also just to make the decision so quickly is let's get it off social.

00:28:07:28 - 00:28:31:00
Unknown
Does that happen? Yeah. Let's see which TikTok goes. Yeah. You can actually kind of bounce idea like an hour stays up. We have four of us. Like we can bounce ideas and there's someone wrong on someone right. You know like we have that openness to try things. So I think that's a quick thing. Are there like being a small team with so you like it is just only you.

00:28:31:00 - 00:28:54:25
Unknown
So you may need someone to bounce ideas away like it's my poor wife, you know, it's like, what do you think? My bad. Tesla is? Does this slide make sense to you or have play. Yeah. All in. We play like this. It's actually we have a job to.

00:28:54:28 - 00:29:20:08
Unknown
You know I used to because Carla was my client is sort of recovering from needing her approval because she's my client versus it being my counterpart. I don't think whatever you want to. Yeah. So to reset my brain that way. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. That's fun. Should we move on to the next cocktail. Let's do that flavor. So on to pineapple.

00:29:20:11 - 00:29:45:25
Unknown
Pineapple. That's a very I expected like a very pungent like sweet pineapple. And I didn't get that. It's, like, I don't know how to explain it. It's I know, I guess it's just pineapple tequila. Yeah. So imagine that I don't. Yeah. It's just I expected this sweet, pungent pineapple just boom. And I don't I don't get that at all.

00:29:45:28 - 00:30:13:09
Unknown
It's more of intentional. Right. Because we want it to still be to your point, pineapple tequila. What we've heard again, not to toot our own horns too much, but, that it does remind people of a pineapple later. And so it was really trying to bring that flavor forward without letting it overpower. Yes. And also, I mean, respecting tequila, right?

00:30:13:09 - 00:30:38:26
Unknown
Like, tequila is delicious and smells delicious. Like, why would we want to go over that? I think it is more enhancing the tequila with the fruit flavors and making sure that these fruit flavors are real. Yeah. And I think it's, it's more of a full bodied smell, like, almost like the middle of the center where it's got all the fiber and all the good goodness in it, versus a sweet, fleshy flavor.

00:30:38:26 - 00:31:02:17
Unknown
So maybe that's kind of what, because it's not really sweet. It doesn't smell sweet. Yeah. No, it it. Yeah. So, happy events. Yeah. Yeah. It had this sort of explosion on the back end of boom pineapple like on a, on a little bit on the sweeter side where it kind of just gave you that reminder of hello, I'm here.

00:31:02:19 - 00:31:24:10
Unknown
It is still tricking you. And then kind of has that same, lingering, a flavor on the, on the palate as kind of on the nose. So that was a really fun experience. It was a real fun. It's like Explosion of Pineapple was so fun. Yeah. We've had a lot of fun playing around with this one. Obviously.

00:31:24:11 - 00:31:49:06
Unknown
Still love it on the On the Rocks or the shop. What we found really interesting is for something like a pina colada. The pineapple flavor comes out so much when it's mixed with even just coconut water. If you're not going, yes, Pina colada experience with coconut cream. It you know, you don't need to add any pineapple juice to it because it comes out even stronger mixed with that cocoa flavor.

00:31:49:08 - 00:32:10:03
Unknown
And so that's been a really fun with those kind of beachy cocktails, because it kind of we always say it sort of transports you to an island, you know, feels very breezy, beachy and light and so any of those kind of vibrant cocktails we love it with, and it's also really great for any kind of skinny version of a cocktail.

00:32:10:03 - 00:32:35:20
Unknown
So like a ranch water in Texas is really big, where it gives it a fun little splash of flavor if you're just adding soda water to it. A really delicious margarita, obviously, as well. So it's, another very fun flavor profile to play around with. Our mixologists have a lot of fun with that one, too. I would I can't think of well, I'm my mind is going, okay, I'm going to do this menu, this video.

00:32:35:22 - 00:33:01:20
Unknown
I'm not a mixologist. Come on. See you just now. Yeah, I love the, the coconut water idea, you know? Yes. Hydrated. Yes, exactly. Then that flavor profile. But I would love to have this with tahini to go in a little lime. Exactly. That's a rich water, right? That. Yeah. Yeah. That's the actual everyday cocktail. Yes.

00:33:01:20 - 00:33:20:22
Unknown
Very simple. And I think that that's that's what this flavor can give you like simplicity to your drink at the end of the day. Or you know, when you're with friends, something easy and simple and what we really like about it as well for like the bars and the for the. But then there's a mixologist. They can make their lives easier, right.

00:33:20:22 - 00:33:43:09
Unknown
Like it is less ingredients that you need to have at the bar and yet can create amazing cocktails. With these, with this flavors. So yeah, yeah, I like we're in a oh saga and I'll go ahead and say vodka sodas, you know, have long been very popular in bars. And, you know, it doesn't sound all that groundbreaking to say, but tequila sodas are really on the rise.

00:33:43:11 - 00:34:05:22
Unknown
And so this is a perfect, you know, tequila soda, tequila to work with. Right. Exactly. I was like, I there's no other word for that. Because it just gives you that splash of flavor. Certainly need to add anything else to it, but it is way better than just, bongo with soda normally, which is, I guess what we did.

00:34:05:22 - 00:34:31:22
Unknown
Right. So I have pineapple. With what? Did we mix this one with the pineapple soda? I haven't put any of the soda in here. Okay. Or Topo Chico. You can do either. So we like it both with if you use, like, a spindrift. Yeah. Or something like that. With a little bit of the extra pineapple. It just mixes really nicely.

00:34:31:25 - 00:34:50:20
Unknown
But it's also great with just straight Topo Chico or Chico Berkeley water. Yeah, I think I have lime in here. Oh, you put lime. Yeah. That's good. And then and then obviously the ice cream. So it's like a ranch water. I think it's kind of what you're doing here and that. Oh yeah. It's very like light refreshing.

00:34:50:22 - 00:35:17:07
Unknown
It's super flashing. Super. Yeah. Put some mint or basil on there and you're golden. I became sucked in. We do have a mojito recipe actually with it. So it's, we'll send you that one too. Yeah, that that would be really, really good. I, I, I love mint and basil. I love, I love both of those a lot and put them in drinks or whatever.

00:35:17:09 - 00:35:45:01
Unknown
Yeah. There's they're the two things it's hard to kill in a garden. There you go. I think I would still manage to, yeah. They film for two months, almost like weeds. I mean, mint can break through, pots, can break pots. Yeah. So really, I planted last year and everyone told me is going to reappear this spring.

00:35:45:03 - 00:36:06:22
Unknown
I haven't seen any signs of them. Nope. Still early in my time. Look, I hope so. So kind of considering. Yes, the old favorites. Well, the ones that we planted in Florida aren't doing so hot anymore for an I don't know why. It's kind of in a weird part of the. The yard is kind of. Come on, it doesn't get full sun.

00:36:06:24 - 00:36:31:22
Unknown
So maybe that's why, I don't know, maybe they just want to be in a pot so they can break it up. I don't know, so I have not done any of this. I can't even keep up plants in my house. A lot of, like, power. Power to you, but. Well, you know, Basil is a great indoor. I have heard that, but I'm still afraid.

00:36:31:25 - 00:36:53:28
Unknown
And you can actually pull off just one of the, stems. Yeah. And then you just put it in water and you grow, roots, and you just keep growing them. I had, I had for, like, I don't know, 4 or 6 basil plants in the Florida house. The first year we were there. And, they just kept producing produce and I kept planning and I kept looking for.

00:36:54:06 - 00:37:17:16
Unknown
They all died. Yeah. What? Yeah. So sad, so sad. I'm planting some, some lettuce and some basil. Now we'll see. I'll give you a bit of fun. Yeah. All right. So are we on flavor number three? The grand finale. The grand finale.

00:37:17:16 - 00:37:34:10
Unknown
number three. So great. Last but not. Yeah. Pretty. Yeah. So let's see I love colors to the label. Yes I like to have I like all those, all those great grapefruit and the tamarind are very similar in color.

00:37:34:12 - 00:38:03:26
Unknown
Yes. That one is a little bit darker. Like more darker color polish. And in the new one is a little more darker. Yeah. Well okay. Yeah, we differentiated them a little more. Yeah, yeah. But I do like, the fleshy grapefruit color at the bottom. The. That's pretty cool. All right. Here we go. Jello for drumroll please. Yes.

00:38:04:01 - 00:38:31:11
Unknown
Wow. That's definitely spot on. Exactly what I would expect. They'll be a little better. Yeah, it's a little better than I expected. It is clean. It's bright. It's certainly that grapefruit. Citrus that it's not pungent or anything. It's well-balanced. It's got, it's not floral, but it's so soft and and gentle, you know, it's almost like floral.

00:38:31:14 - 00:38:55:05
Unknown
It's really cool. We're, like, on the edge of our seat, watching you take a sip. Oh, the reaction going to be. And I always want to be a favorite. Yes, I will miss you. Oh, yeah. There's there's no I love all of these flavors. But the tamarind is by far is just I like. Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, having not known tamarind, it's exactly how I felt.

00:38:55:05 - 00:39:18:25
Unknown
Or I was like, yeah. Whereas it's been my whole life. Yeah. I feel very cheated. Pretty safe, you guys. Yeah, yeah. You know what time this, Yes. I can make up for it. You still have better, better late. The number. This is kind of a silly comparison, but I don't know how to compare the texture of a tamarind.

00:39:18:28 - 00:39:52:01
Unknown
Is it like a fig? The slash of a fig? No, no, no, it is more like. Yes, like paste. Like like a date. I like to date. Yes, yes. Similar to a date. Like show and tell and brought, tamarind pod. Actually, I sure. Yes. I should have had a video. That was one when while we're talking about it, I can throw it up on the on the video part for YouTube.

00:39:52:01 - 00:40:21:13
Unknown
Yeah, I got over 9000 views this weekend, like, oh wow. And. I only launched it in November and haven't really done any ton of advertising or anything for it. So it's all that's amazing, organic. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I mean, there's so much knowledge and so much like people doing cool things and nobody knows about. It's a great platform that you are building.

00:40:21:15 - 00:40:51:14
Unknown
Thank you for having us. No, I mean thank you for for joining and send me sending me samples to taste them. And yes, help you. Because ultimately that's what I'm here for. Right? In my, my, my, my use of my three platforms is to help brands like yours, you know, educate, pace, form, you know, consumers and how to build your brand, you know, helping try to help do what I can to help build your brand because I believe that there's room for everybody.

00:40:51:14 - 00:41:16:00
Unknown
And and, you know, everybody can can find their spot in, you know, as I talk to, other, you know, startup companies like yourselves, they don't need to be everywhere, to everything, to everyone. They need they need to be they need to exist where they belong. And, you know, eight months is not a lot of time to kind of carve that out.

00:41:16:00 - 00:41:44:25
Unknown
So what what do you think your consumer base is like at this point? Great quality. Yeah. What do you mean? Our consumer base, who's who's appreciating the product, who's, buying it, whether it's B2B or on the consumer side. So like, is this something where you take this into a mixologists and you get excited about kind of utilizing the flavors that they have and then kind of adding their extra, you know, a couple of steps or.

00:41:44:27 - 00:42:04:26
Unknown
Yeah, a little bit more, quite a range. Because, you know, as we said, we both come from the VR background and we know how important it is oftentimes just to get it in front of someone. And that's probably the hardest part. And so, you know, we've taken a lot of those learnings. And I think the biggest thing is being the right place at the right time.

00:42:04:26 - 00:42:43:24
Unknown
To your point, you're not going to be everything to everyone. So we're trying to find those right places and spaces to be. And so that's where it's a combination of that, you know, data and understanding the category. And you know, consumption trends and things like that. But because our brand is fun and young, we are very heavily focused on that new generation of drinker because it's a great introduction to spirits, especially tequila, for somebody that, you know, again, there's that sort of tequila shot mindset where people can be a little afraid of tequila or the the grimace, and that the tequila burn, that we made for you right before.

00:42:43:27 - 00:43:11:11
Unknown
And so that's where we look at it as a, you know, the 21 plus female, especially drinker, because women tend to be more willing to try other products. They're also more open to a flavor, like because we talk about like a skinny Paloma is going to be very, a female drinkers ally first and foremost. And then, you know, as women tend to be the decision maker, we know that then influences their whole network.

00:43:11:14 - 00:43:29:16
Unknown
And so that's where we've kind of started. But we also look at that as where to be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. So we do actually see that a lot of, you know, outside of our core target demographic that is a little bit younger. We're seeing people who are older really enjoying it as well, because you can do so much with it, right?

00:43:29:16 - 00:43:56:09
Unknown
You can put in all these variety of cocktails. Your complicated mixology alchemist type of cocktails, where we've brought it to bars and they've had a lot of fun with it. We've taken it to your kind of college bars where they're like, this is amazing. For a tequila soda because it's a little bit different. Or, we actually have a partnership with Texas A&M Athletics and Levy, the concessionaire that sells it inside the stadium.

00:43:56:16 - 00:44:22:28
Unknown
And, you know, they're making drinks in these club and premium areas, and they can't have 100 different ingredients. So for making a Paloma or, margarita or something, it's great to work with our product because you don't need to have all those additional elements that are going to just make it to time consuming. So yeah, we're seeing a huge range and we're putting like the majority of our tactics marketing wise is sampling.

00:44:22:28 - 00:44:47:06
Unknown
So every available we're there every week. And we ask how to respond. Yes, it gravitates towards a younger generation of drinkers that everyone is trying it and everyone is liking it. And maybe in taking home, a bottle of too. So it is pretty exciting to see that it's not only like soccer is the one that best consumers gravitate to that type of consumer.

00:44:47:14 - 00:45:21:15
Unknown
We are getting like from like the entire population, our t consumer or target consumer is a younger generation of drinkers. The majority of our tactics are very sample, sample, sample. So people can try it and then appreciate it and take it home. And it's so versatile because it is really great as a shot. So if you're thinking about that again, younger target that is drinking your shot, then you think about the person I know that's very approachable.

00:45:21:22 - 00:45:25:14
Unknown
So if we or the cocktail

00:45:25:14 - 00:45:41:19
Unknown
our price is very approachable. So we are in the 2999 price range. So it is very high quality tequila at a very approachable price. So we can, get appreciated by the younger generation of drinkers.

00:45:41:22 - 00:46:00:27
Unknown
Yeah. And bartenders are giving us great insight too. So as you were saying, you know, oh were you, you know, bringing in different places. We've as we expand into each different city, we kind of take it a couple days and go and explore and bring it to different accounts, because that's the really fun part of having this brand is other people's reactions, like love.

00:46:00:27 - 00:46:32:25
Unknown
See just how we were sitting watching you drink it. It's really fun for us. And so that's what you and that's I totally. But so we've been bringing it to different accounts and seeing just the amazing creativity, bartenders have and the different ways in which they, you know, a way to use tamarind in a way that maybe we haven't thought about in a cocktail or making something really complex with it or something really simple.

00:46:32:27 - 00:47:03:28
Unknown
You know, I think that's really helping us to understand where to be and who's going to enjoy our products. We still have one cocktail. Oh, yes. Try, try. Those are great. So just it's our Paloma, right. So. Jed. Yeah. So grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple sirup. Yep. Two bits of the nose. Oh, yes. This is. Oh, I think that might be my favorite drink.

00:47:04:00 - 00:47:28:02
Unknown
Oh, I don't know. The the margarita, that's why. Right. Because even if it's like we hear from people that are fans of grapefruit and then they try it, they're like, oh, actually that's really good. Or same thing. Maybe not a pineapple drinker because, you know, they just are so different and there's different ways to use them to. And I know we talked about this earlier.

00:47:28:02 - 00:47:36:00
Unknown
I just want to make sure I remember you use the real fruit or you used oils or essences to to do the

00:47:36:00 - 00:47:55:24
Unknown
it's not. Yes. Natural flavors is what we use for the infusion. So in the maceration process and then we filter it. Okay. Yeah. Well, that was really good. Aka my hashtag yummy. Oh, all of you need a sound effect for that, too.

00:47:55:27 - 00:48:26:14
Unknown
Oh, what will I use? Let me. I might have to find one. Let me see. You may have one. How about this one? Once a good one. So it's not as fun. Maybe it's just a simple drum joke. So it's a good one in there. It's just so fun. Just play around with that. So. Exactly. So I had another podcast on Friday and, I was talking about the hashtag yummy and she's like, yeah, it's like Bieber.

00:48:26:14 - 00:48:52:06
Unknown
And I was like, I just played along like I know she's talking about. And so I googled it and I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, it's not a song. Yeah, it's not like. Do you think you care if I use it as my theme song? I don't think so. Maybe, keep it a little under the radar. Yeah. I don't I don't think that's a good fit.

00:48:52:09 - 00:49:20:28
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, all the time trying new, new cocktails and new, spirits and beer and all, like, you need, special effects for that. When you try, you did? Yeah. Drum roll, please. Yeah. Just, be fun. Yeah, I think I can add some, actually. I just haven't spent any time trying to upgrade my, I'm sure another thing to add to your here to just, you know, I've always.

00:49:20:28 - 00:49:48:02
Unknown
I've always loved. I don't know if you guys are Howard Stern chants, but I've always loved Fred. He has the best sound effects. It's true. So I guess I'm. I'm the dual role of both Howard and Fred. Yeah, the women can do it all. That's right. You know, for wrong. We can. All right, so we're, anything else about the brand that you want to talk about before we jump into your journeys?

00:49:48:07 - 00:50:11:12
Unknown
Well, I mean, thank you so much for trying them. And we're. I'm very excited to see you. Do you like them? I think our journey with the letter is just starting like this being just a few months is. That was three plus flavors we are launching. And hopefully we can create more, more spirits with tequila and that the flavors for our brand in the near future.

00:50:11:12 - 00:50:38:16
Unknown
So we'll keep you posted and you will be part of that of the process. Yes, yes. Yeah. I tell everybody, if you have a line extension, brand extension, come back on. We'll just do a quick 15 minute segment and that'll be great. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's I mean it's what it's you got to do to get as many people as you can, you know, to expose, expose the brand to as many consumers as you can.

00:50:38:16 - 00:51:00:25
Unknown
So how many states are you in and are you available online to buy? Yes, we are in Texas who are available in Texas. Wedding specs, in a ton of specs in the entire state of Texas. And then you can also find us on the server or on our website, a little tequila. Okay. People can buy it can buy our bottle of there.

00:51:01:00 - 00:51:34:11
Unknown
We are available in 32 states. No reserve reserved bar. Okay. Excellent. And what is your website? So, everybody, Madame Paleta tequila.com. There we go. Okay. Are you ready to transition? We're ready. Let's do it. Okay, so, who wants to go first? We are going to, now kind of talk about where where where you guys are from and volunteer for sure.

00:51:34:13 - 00:51:59:09
Unknown
So unfair. Anantara in Mexico. Okay. It's northeast of Mexico. For those that don't know where this I'm originally from there. I been in the US for the past almost 13 years. So I come from the beer world and that's the brought me to New York and what I live for the past years. I really love working for beer.

00:51:59:11 - 00:52:20:27
Unknown
Always in the marketing innovation, side of the business. And I really love that. Then I was introduced to innovation and creating new flavors for beer and creating new cocktails. And, you know, there'll be a way to sort of transitioning into 80 days in November and all that. And so I was part of that journey with a few brands.

00:52:20:29 - 00:52:53:02
Unknown
I really enjoy, like, creating things from scratch. That's where, you know, I wanted to make the transition to, to tequila, to spirits, the spiritual. And this was a great opportunity for me to leave my comfort zone in the beer world that I really know very well. And starting something new. I think that's very it's difficult to make those type of decisions when you are so comfortable in, you know, building your career in such a big way and you know everyone and you know you strongly.

00:52:53:05 - 00:53:14:22
Unknown
So to me was, a big decision, a big move that also I'm very proud of having done them is eight months from that time. And I remember when I was started and I was talking to Natasha, I'd like to know if there was enough. Literacy within myself, within your days that I wasn't sure. And then there were days like, yes, I have to do this.

00:53:14:24 - 00:53:40:09
Unknown
So at the end, I made the decision. I think it has been a great decision, me starting this journey. I'm learning a ton. And I'm applying a lot of our, my knowledge. Right, as well, which is kind of the great thing about my class is I was having me build this future, with this new brand. That's how I end up, a double, which is the innovator.

00:53:40:10 - 00:54:12:25
Unknown
Innovator. And as a leader, you're a company. We belong. And launching, with our three flavors. Yes. Natasha. All right. So it's very misleading when I tell people this, but I'm from England. You wouldn't know because I lost my accent very devastatingly. So I, I grew up in London and, came to the US for a long time now, so hence the hence the fading.

00:54:12:28 - 00:54:33:21
Unknown
So I started three words that bring it back out. So it's more when I go home for a while, it all start to come out a little bit. Yeah. But it was funny because it just faded over years. And so when I drink, it would come out more when I was in my early 20s and, I was there's no French people who don't speak French.

00:54:33:23 - 00:54:56:20
Unknown
Right. And so people who do go back. Yeah. They'd be like, who is this girl who thinks she's British or pretends to be? And I'd be like, no, if profits. I'm not trying to do this. You're really just my accent coming out. Yeah, but whatever I say that people were like, oh, what happened to your accent? I'm like, I like to get it out of the way and just tell people straight up it's gone.

00:54:56:20 - 00:55:26:22
Unknown
I know, and no one is more devastated about it than me. So, you know, it's again it if you're failure there in the UK. Okay. So, I, my career is actually on the agency side so heavily in sports marketing. That was really my background. And I worked for big known agencies on big brands. And that's where Carla was my my client for many years.

00:55:26:24 - 00:55:51:15
Unknown
A great one, obviously. And then really, our, the CEO of Joe Blue, as Carla mentioned, our beverage, accelerator was also another former client of mine. So, you know, small, small world. And we we kept in touch. And, you know, you're lucky to have these experiences along the way and working with people that you really love working with.

00:55:51:15 - 00:56:14:25
Unknown
And that certainly for, for me, is probably more of an adjustment going into this realm because I've never been on the brand side before. I've always been agency side. And, it's a very different situation because you are never really the decision maker. You're certainly providing ideas and recommendations, but at the end of the day, you're not the one that gets to decide.

00:56:14:27 - 00:56:35:25
Unknown
And so that was really exciting with kind of as we started to talk about this, not only did I work for multi thousand person companies to then also getting to be more of a decision maker and getting to be able to kind of share my voice more than I had been able to do and obviously do it with people that I wanted to do that with.

00:56:35:27 - 00:56:59:06
Unknown
So that was a, a big transition, but definitely, a very fun one and certainly a journey to be on. Yeah. You get to find yourself right? Yes. How to empower yourself to make those decisions. Because you you have a gut and you know, you're passionate about your product. You own it now, like you're right. You know, it's it's it's yours.

00:56:59:06 - 00:57:18:06
Unknown
It's it's a completely different mindset. It is I feel like I mean, we always cared about what we did in the past and we always felt that it was ours, even though récent. But you, I just I always stay that way. He was always my brand. He was always my, you know, my thing. He was always like that.

00:57:18:12 - 00:57:48:29
Unknown
There's always little. It's like a feeling now, what I'm like is where the energy of the modules kind of go. Right? Then send your. So it is, it is different in that sense. But I think in the feeling of ownership, if you like ones that are similar to what we did before, I think in that sense and, and that's where I joke always are that I'm a recovering agency person because I'm so used to needing that validation of like, okay, that's true.

00:57:48:29 - 00:58:15:25
Unknown
You're good with that decision, right? You're it's good. Now I can move on. Do I need an email? Yeah. You don't need to for more rounds of this. Like we're good. And so, that's been a very fun and different, rewarding process because Carla got to have it was probably more similar, whereas I didn't have the same level of ownership even though I would say I always took pride, like tremendous pride in many of the brands that I got to work with.

00:58:15:28 - 00:58:43:20
Unknown
But that's definitely very different now, having much more of a personal stake in. Yes, you get to grow as part of those brands to definitely. I'm sure they had different audiences. They had different, reason, you know, the reason that for like all different types of, different segmentation, we learned as I worked across categories to and you know, heavily sports and entertainment marketing.

00:58:43:20 - 00:59:09:15
Unknown
So even their range and it's why we're really great balance too, because again, Carla comes from the brand side and I come from a completely the sort of the opposite side. And so it's a really we feel really well-rounded in what we're doing because we have different experiences to complement each other. Yeah. Do you have any mentors that you want to mention along the way that's kind of helped you throughout your career?

00:59:09:17 - 00:59:36:16
Unknown
Go ahead. Don. But I think the guy that they're me here to the US almost 13 years ago, it changed my life completely. But without knowing because it was there's like, you want to work here but go through through the interview process, all that. But it was like a big change. One was my, my first mentor, I would say the whole time, it's so much about the how the world works.

00:59:36:19 - 00:59:55:21
Unknown
Also, does we came to the US, and changed my life. Like I stay here is a by ten years something that I was like, let's see what how it goes like a couple of years. And now we have a family, a house. I live here, and I. I lie on a little that and say so.

00:59:55:21 - 01:00:35:21
Unknown
Yeah, I think he changed my life in, like, in the professional sense, but also my place in, in my personal life, it changed completely. That's amazing. Yes. That you just stay home. Present tense. Sure. It's just I know. Yeah, yeah, that's really impressive. That's great. Natasha and I would say one and, I know he will listen to this, and I probably don't tell him enough, but the the, the CEO of our, our beverage incubator was probably the person in my career, especially as I was growing, who was my number one believer and proponent.

01:00:35:24 - 01:01:01:22
Unknown
Even as a client, he helped get me promoted within my agency and, you know, completely empowered me to make decisions even as that agency person. And I worked with him while he was in, in different roles. I would say this way that, you know, Carla talks about her career kind of really being helped along. She really helped mine and helped me get to the position I'm in.

01:01:01:22 - 01:01:24:26
Unknown
And then to be in a situation where yet again, he's saying, I trust you, I want to be on this journey with you is amazing and and I will never forget, especially again, given that he was external, how much he, would talk to my agency's leadership and my bosses and all of that of you don't even know what you have.

01:01:24:26 - 01:01:39:17
Unknown
And this is the person who I want to lead our brand relationship. And to have that be someone external, I think is really rare. And I feel very lucky to to have had that. Yeah, that's pretty amazing. What was this person's name?

01:01:39:17 - 01:01:48:25
Unknown
His name is Quinn Kilby. Yes. Okay. Nice. And I, I don't know that we I don't tell him this enough, but I probably should.

01:01:48:26 - 01:02:12:04
Unknown
Oh that's very sweet. Well, now we can listen to it. Well, I'll when we do, I do. I could make Quinn his own short and he could just have it on replay. Yeah. So he can do dancing or something. Yeah. The boomerang. Yeah. Like. Yes. Quinn. So. And and that exact. That was exactly like he was like a light showing in and out the screen.

01:02:12:04 - 01:02:30:00
Unknown
Yeah. And we don't even tell him about it. You know. And it just sort of. Yes. And so yes, yes, there's a. I agree. Any resources that you've used over the years or books or anything that you want to share with anybody

01:02:30:00 - 01:02:39:10
Unknown
Quinn go to I'm registered big proponent of consuming as much as possible. I'm a big podcast listener.

01:02:39:12 - 01:03:21:02
Unknown
And so that's where I've always looked at it as just any recommendations people had. Again, you know, you said my backgrounds heavily sport marketing. And so there was a few different publications I would listen to every day. Now kind of again, transitioning more into the spirit world with every publication and reading and Google alerts and just trying to learn as much as possible, not just about like our niche area, but industry wide, because I think you've got to be so invested and and just curious in order to succeed, because I want to know everything that's going on in secure in spirit in the US abroad.

01:03:21:05 - 01:03:29:09
Unknown
And so I just I don't know that it's one thing I could probably list, like 20 things that I have bookmarked to read every day. Nice.

01:03:29:09 - 01:03:33:00
Unknown
So me, I am very I'm a big fan of Brenda Brown.

01:03:33:00 - 01:04:01:20
Unknown
I don't know if you guys have read any of her books, but I truly recommend them. She is amazing, is like she is a mentor like just reading here. It is so nice how she incorporates like feelings and emotions and being vulnerable but also leading a business. She's amazing and I think when I, I mean, I was reading here when this opportunity came like for us to start this journey and she talks about like courage over comfort.

01:04:01:23 - 01:04:26:09
Unknown
And I think I was in that moment in my life where I was just comfortable, which is good. Right? So, but now you need to have the courage to make moves, blah, blah. All these, like the tent, like, like a really where, you know, so I think, I've, I'm a fan of her. Yeah. I'm a big fan of Brenda Brown, so you guys should read the on the list.

01:04:26:12 - 01:04:52:00
Unknown
That's awesome. Yes. Yeah. I, I will definitely add it to the list for readers. And, yes, an audible. Yes. Yes. I don't know, like 7 to 8 books. There's a few. Okay. Yes. She's very good. Nice. Any pain points that you'd like to talk about or anything that maybe you've overcome so far? I mean, you have.

01:04:52:01 - 01:05:17:04
Unknown
You're so young in your journey, but any advice that you might have to to overcome those pain points? I think it's one that Carla and I, we talk about a lot. Rate is that we both come from these big companies where the name on the door is enough, right, to get you a conversation, have someone call you back, email you back, and now we are so small.

01:05:17:06 - 01:05:43:05
Unknown
And so I think that's the biggest thing is the challenge of, getting people to want to respond to us or learn about us because we have to really show up for ourselves. And I think in such an, you know, everybody's busy, right? And so making sure that we're doing enough to continue to get our voice out there and not giving up and not getting discouraged.

01:05:43:05 - 01:06:14:19
Unknown
We joke about it. It's when people go see us because they don't know who we are, you know, they don't want to make time for us and just continuing to believe in ourselves and what we're doing. Even if you have to call someone many times to get a call back, like, don't give up and keep doing it because just, you know, even in our short time where we've gotten to where we are because we know that we have something to say and something to share, and so we won't, we won't accept being ghosted.

01:06:14:19 - 01:06:35:18
Unknown
And we'll find people who do want to work with us. Right? If there's a partner that doesn't want to call us back, well, there's other fish in the sea that are going to be even better to work with and greater. So that's where we sort of said we don't have time for people who goes to us. You know, one day they'll they'll know our name.

01:06:35:21 - 01:06:57:16
Unknown
So, so yeah, I think just not giving up. Yeah. Yes. Being a priority. Right. For others because we are for us, everything is a priority because we we lose our brand and we thrive. It is like is something that done. But we are more important for a lot of people. Yeah. So not just boring like or was being encouraged to do it again.

01:06:57:16 - 01:07:26:11
Unknown
Try again. Like not feeling devastated because somebody goes this or they didn't respond when we needed them to respond to us or to do for us. So I think, I think that's being a big one, but we be learning big time on the right partners for us. And we've been finding them. So, so anyone that is starting their own business, there is hope you will find those partners that feel the same way and same passion as you.

01:07:26:11 - 01:07:54:19
Unknown
And they will do. They will kill for you. So, so it's it's, it's something for everyone that is starting their journey today. I'm so discouraged because it will. Yeah, but persistence, the persistence. Exactly. You're not taking advantage of new connections and all. I mean, the connections are everything I feel now. That's right. So, keeping them and, I think it's very important for any business.

01:07:54:23 - 01:08:22:23
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. For sure. Switching over. Do you have any major outlooks or trends that you want to talk about? I know that tamarind is, you know, certainly on the forefront of that list. Or is there anything else that you're seeing that might be coming down, you know, in the next six, six months to a year? One thing, one that's very important to us is just really the growth of the flavored tequila category because it is so small.

01:08:22:23 - 01:08:47:01
Unknown
So right now you think about, you know, vodka, rum, where you're talking 20 plus percent of the category is flavored. And for tequila, that's not the case, but it's projected to become $1 billion portion of the industry by 2029, according to to Jefferies and Wall Street. You know, you're going to see a lot more flavored spirits out there.

01:08:47:04 - 01:09:13:28
Unknown
And so we're just really excited to be at the forefront. But know that, we'll have some some stiff competition ahead, but know that our product can can stand the test. Yeah. Great. Yeah. For us is creating them, quality flavor infused tequila is like what we are standing for, right? So if there's competition coming in. Awesome. Let's build a cocktail together.

01:09:14:00 - 01:09:42:28
Unknown
Yeah. It's there from the celebrity rendition you mentioned. Like, everyone has their own audience. Well, every like there's space for everyone. It's such a baby category. But for us, is standing always behind. Quality is smoothness. Great flavors. That's kind of what we are going to be offering to consumers. And I think quality whiskey by itself and what is going to grow, the ones we have, we stay behind this quality.

01:09:42:28 - 01:10:02:01
Unknown
I think we're going to, gain some momentum. Nice. All right. Anything else that you ladies would like to to say before we switch into our last segment? It's a bit of a surprise that I'm having so much fun with it. And so just what is there anything else? You in closing

01:10:02:01 - 01:10:03:14
Unknown
you ladies would like to say.

01:10:03:19 - 01:10:35:18
Unknown
That's something you want to close with it. Oh, putting me on the spot? No, I think we're just really grateful for the opportunity because as you can probably tell, we love this. Like, we're so proud of this brand. We're so excited to get to talk about it like we talked about it all day, you know, and when we get, you know, obviously Carla's in New York and I'm in North Carolina, but whenever we're together, we just sit and talk about what we're excited about and to have that passion behind what you're doing, wish that for everyone, you know.

01:10:35:18 - 01:10:55:08
Unknown
And it's it's really hard to get to that point. But I couldn't be prouder of the the journey that we're on right now. And really grateful to people like you who let us have a voice to be able to to share it with others. Yeah, of course. Yes. Thank you. Jesse. Yeah. Of course. Thank you for coming. Okay.

01:10:55:08 - 01:11:16:15
Unknown
So are we going now? Are we ready for this? I know this is really okay. So I'm going to ask each one of you three questions. I don't know what they are because they're in my head. And, it's kind of rapid fire questions about who about you is Gundersen? Oh, boy. What you like? Whatever. So, who wants to go first?

01:11:16:17 - 01:11:40:25
Unknown
Carla? Of course. Go for it. Go for it. Are you ready? You ready for it? Okay, I don't know. What's your favorite cuisine? Mexican and Japanese. New Japanese. That's a good one. We were just there last summer. Oh, so. Oh, yeah. I mean, I want to go. You got to go. It's it's it's affordable right now. I got to go get it.

01:11:40:25 - 01:12:03:06
Unknown
Go! It's so great. Had such a good time. And you probably have points that you can use us. We did. We just use points and, we have Sammy with those points. Very important. Yeah, I know it's it's a like family to. We have in mind. Yes. For sure. It's a good one is great. Okay. What.

01:12:03:06 - 01:12:27:02
Unknown
Did I only ask you one question already? Yes. You know, in rapid fire, we just got too distracted. I got to get Japanese food. Just a I mean, when it's about food, you can just like like that about it for Will. Yeah. Sorry. That's, That's where I go. I love the midterm. If you were a cocktail, which one would you be?

01:12:27:05 - 01:12:54:03
Unknown
I will be a sort. Oh, very. Sandy. Yeah, and you can't tell, but Carla's pipe size does. I like to say so. It's for her, I right? Price is what? Yes. You show me I love sounds. Yes, I like sniffing them. I don't sub them, I see, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Okay. So. Yeah, yeah. I don't like the complexity.

01:12:54:03 - 01:13:20:19
Unknown
I like simplicity and delicious. So. Yeah. And, had I had a question and I lasted a second. Well, we'll go easy. What's your what's your favorite color? My favorite color will be pink. Like bright pink okay. And black. Nice. So I think they have a combination of both right. Oh yeah. Right there. Yeah I guess. Yeah. The yin and yang.

01:13:20:21 - 01:14:02:15
Unknown
Yes Brad. But also like, you know, like, you know, basic color still. So yeah. Yeah I think will be my first choice. I like it nice. Natasha, are you ready? I'm ready. What's your favorite movie? Oh, probably clueless. Favorite actor? Actress. My favorite actor or actress? Oh, gosh. Alan Rickman. Favorite sport? Also essential to watch football. American.

01:14:02:18 - 01:14:30:03
Unknown
Yes. Sorry. Again. That's confusing, but I fully, saw the, Americana. Nice. And your favorite team, New England Patriots in the US. The Trojans. Okay, okay. So college. Yeah. So I went to USC. So I am, very passionate USC football fan, but still have my pro team to. There you go. There you go. There you have it.

01:14:30:07 - 01:14:49:19
Unknown
Ladies and gentlemen. Now we know everything there is to know about Carlin attack in the sense that I rapid fire questions. Love. Oh, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much. These cocktails are great. You guys have an amazing product. You have a lot to be proud. Honestly, the leading you, you've recruited these different, female artists.

01:14:49:19 - 01:15:13:28
Unknown
It's just incredible part of your story and how you can, you know, have them tell your story, too. Right? So I think it's really cool. And, you know, I think you have a lot along a long way of success ahead of you. And, I look forward to having you back on when you get that next flavor.

01:15:14:01 - 01:15:44:06
Unknown
Yeah. And, we get to stay in touch. Initially, we hope. I hope you did. And you never know. So we're together sometimes exact. So, you know, and, Yeah, you have to send us all of your, your new cocktails that you make now that you're, mixology pro. Yeah, yeah. Oh. Oh, safe. You know? Exactly. I'm gonna start a blog where I will make cocktails.

01:15:44:08 - 01:16:05:10
Unknown
We love it. Yes, you can start TikTok. We really like TikTok. So, yes. Okay. I, I'm new at TikTok, and I'm trying. And, you know, by the time I get to where I can do it, they're going to take it away, which is fine by me. I mean, I feel like, you know, what a for effort is what I always say.

01:16:05:12 - 01:16:24:14
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. So in this learn one, we'll learn one thing at a time. Yeah. Again I wish you all the best of luck. And, you guys have been such a pleasure to meet you. And I wish you all the best. There's anything I can do to help. Please let me know. Thank you. This is. And thank you.

01:16:24:16 - 01:16:29:03
Unknown
Bye. Have a good rest of your day. You. Thank you. You too.

01:16:29:03 - 01:16:35:01
Unknown
This week's episode was produced by Fedora Jay Productions.