How Did a Mom Start Her Own Tequila Brand?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: All right, tonight I am thrilled to be joined with an incredible guest who's making big waves in the tequila industry. Mara Smith, the founder and CEO. The founder and CEO of Inspiro Tequila, a 100% woman owned, woman led brand that's changing the way people think about tequila. Mars created Inspiro after searching for a clean, traditionally made tequila that aligned with her lifestyle and values. When she couldn't find exactly what she was looking for, she decided to build it herself. What makes Inspiro so special is not only the commitment to transparency and quality, but also its focus on empowering, inspiring women both in the tequila world and beyond. We're going to dive into her journey, what inspired her to launch Inspiro, the challenges and all of the great things of building a brand in a male dominated industry. And of course, we'll be talking about her tequila. So grab a glass, settle in and join me in welcoming Mara Smith of Inspiro own Tequila. Stick around, it's tasting tequila with bread. All right, guys, I'm excited about this one. I'm here with Mara to talk about her amazing tequila. How are you doing today? [00:01:16] Speaker B: I'm good. Great to be here. [00:01:19] Speaker A: I'm excited to have you coming all the way from Chicago, Illinois. Is that right? [00:01:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:26] Speaker A: That's pretty exciting. You're just a stone throw down the road. Usually these interviews are with people in Guadalajara, so I'm assuming our Internet is going to be better than theirs. [00:01:35] Speaker B: I love. We're all Midwest based here tonight. [00:01:38] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome. All right, so the first thing I want to do is have you introduce yourself. And I already know there's an amazing career here before Tequila. So if you could kind of dig into a little bit of who you are and what your career was before or you ended up in this Tequila world. [00:01:59] Speaker B: I appreciate that. So, yeah, the founder and CEO of Inspiro Tequila. It does not, I'm sure there are not a lot of people with, you know, my background of having an accounting degree. So I have an accounting degree, got my cpa, went to law school, practice law at a large Chicago law firm for many years, then moved into corporate strategy. And I was in the corporate strategy Strategy Group of McDonald's Corporation. And then probably a most major pivot, a stay at home mom of three. And you know, how does that happen? Where all of a sudden this Mama 3 starts a tequila company. When I was, you know, in corporate strategy, I became pregnant with my oldest kids who are twins and they're all great now, but I end up on emergency bed Rest until my corporate career came to a screeching halt. So I abruptly left the corporate world. I had preemie twins and made the decision to stay home. Very fortunate to have that option, but nothing I ever foresaw. And then I had another child nine and a half years later. So I don't know, maybe it was three kids. And I became a tequila drinker. But they could have. [00:03:03] Speaker A: Wonderful. Because of the twins. [00:03:04] Speaker B: Exactly. I don't know. All three of them could have driven me to that. You know, it was more of like a re entry. I knew I wanted to reenter the workforce. And in all honesty, it's very hard for women who have been out as caretakers for a long time. How do you do that? Been out for over 16 years. What is it? And I knew that the way I was going to do it was to serve my own company. I felt like, you know, I wasn't going to be able to bang on other people's doors. I was gonna have to, like, build my own door at that point. I also think I probably was at the point where I'm like, I can't envision actually going and working for someone anymore. So that is kind of what led me to, like, all of a sudden I was like, okay. And once I stopped my kids, my oldest, we're getting ready to go to. They were in high school, and I was like, oh, no. All of a sudden a panic struck. Like, they're. Two of them are going to leave for college and this is the time. Like, I need to do it now. And I really was thinking, I'm a. I'm a super consumer. I love food and beverage category in general. Like, I love taste testing everything. We talked about this beforehand. Like, people send me products to try. I love the category. And when I was thinking of what it was and what kind of company just kept coming back to tequila. And there were a couple reasons for that. One, I've been a tequila drinker. I had started drinking tequila. I moved from the vodka soda craze to tequila. And soda had like, vodka, this really weird phenomena of, like, waking me up in the middle of the night. I got to the point where even though I like wine, wine does not like me that much. And it didn't sit that well. And so I become a tequila drinker and I'm like, well, I generally, like, eat healthier and kind of like a healthier lifestyle. So this is a better fit. Like, I don't do big sugary drinks or anything. And then I discovered that everything I was drinking That I thought was like kind of better for me. As far as infilled beverage, I discovered they all had additives and I did not know that at all. And this was probably end of 2019, beginning of 2020, because I founded and like incorporated the company in like February 2020. Ideal timing for like the entire world shut down. But so it was kind of that. And I kept thinking about it and studying and like learning about it. How's it made? What are the processes? Okay, what are the additives? Why are people adding additives? And just doing a ton of research on the category and on the spirits industry in general. How does it work? Like, luckily with a legal background, I could kind of navigate the complex, you know, federal three tier distribution system and how each state works differently. And the other thing was like, I'm like, okay, well let me look at what brands are out there. And at that time I did not think there was really like a great approachable, additive free, but like approachable, something I would be able to drink without mixing it. I don't love a really very alcohol forward. I don't love on the smoky side. I like when it has sweeter notes. But I didn't want it to taste like, you know, birthday cake. I just wanted to have like a little bit of sweetness, not artificially sweetened. And I just kept talking to a lot of female consumers and all these women say, oh, I drink tequila. That's my drink of choice. And I'm like, well, if there's such a big consumer base, and I started looking into it, like 54% of tea drinkers are women. I'm like, well, why do brands have focus on women? I would go up and down the aisles of our local big, you know, liquor store here. And even the bottle designs, this didn't resonate me the with me, you know, they're dark, you know, either skulls, agave feels more masculine. I thought the marketing, if you're marketing to me as a consumer using dark club scenes and like scantily clad women, like, does not resonate. Like, that is not speaking to me as the consumer. I'm like, okay. I feel like there's a way to like really speak to this consumer who I think is an intelligent, thoughtful consumer who she's drinking tequila because she thinks it's like, you know, better option. She wants high quality, not, not dumbed down. Like, we're not going to dumb it down. Like, oh, maybe like hot pink bottles or fruity flavors. Like, no, like really quality. And then I just dove into like, how can we bring heaven. All bring a female perspective by perspective. By actually having, like, the team be run by women, including having a, you know, amazing master distiller we have. And I'm sure we'll talk about who is a legendary master distiller who happens to be a woman. Right. But she's legendary. And so how can we bring it to life and bring this, like, full, like, 360 perspective? [00:07:28] Speaker A: Let's dive into that. How did you meet Anna Marie? How did you make the person that invented the aroma and flavor wheel for tequila, like, the people that everybody refers back to, how did. How did you make that happen? And why? You're telling me I'm gonna pour my favorite cocktail. [00:07:46] Speaker B: I love that. [00:07:47] Speaker A: Which is just. I was. I was told that this isn't a cocktail, but tequila has. Tequila in a glass is a cocktail to me. So that's my favorite. [00:07:56] Speaker B: I love that. I made my own ready to drink the other day, and basically I opened a sparkling water, I took a sip, I poured tequila in it, and I'm like, it's ready to drink. [00:08:04] Speaker A: Yeah, there you go. [00:08:06] Speaker B: I took it on my walk. [00:08:09] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:08:10] Speaker B: So here's what I would say. Like, you know, coming in as an outsider, I knew was going to take a lot of work and due diligence. So I started reaching out to people. I had no network. I knew nobody there. I got introduced to our distillery from someone who worked in, actually agave syrup and knew of distilleries down there, and I got a hold of them. I found people who were brand owners, one that was local who had consultants in Mexico. So remember this all happening. It's during COVID and I can't get to Mexico. Every time we have a trip planned, it gets canceled. So literally can't get there. So I'm doing this by zoom. I read. I read Mike Morales's book on the. The. What is it? Babes and tequila or whatever. It's like a book on all the women's tequila. It's a very small book. I read the book cover to cover. I'm okay. Who are the master distillers? Who should I reach out to? Who has distilleries? Who. When I came across Anna Maria's profile and description, and especially because of the Roma wheel, I really wanted her. And I thought our consumer in particular, getting the nose on it was gonna be really critical. I just started, like, every which way, working to find people who could connect me. So I found this brand owner who knew consultants. I reached out to the consultants. Can you Connect me. Can you find her? I mean, I was just super scrappy. I read an article that was written by Tequila matchmaker on why not to start a tequila brand. And I read the entire article during my research, and instead of heeding the warnings at the end, it says, but, you know, if you're interested, you should reach out to Greg Comb, because he, you know, helps with all the marketing and public relations for Patron. And so instead of, like, doing that, I'm like, okay, I'll reach out. So I just, like, literally sent him a cold LinkedIn message. So every connection I could make, I did, and I just followed up with everybody, and that's how I got to her. [00:10:06] Speaker A: That's amazing. But did you find in that process how open everybody was to talk to you and message you back? And it was really easy to find people. [00:10:17] Speaker B: I think it was the circumstance. So obviously, so many horrible things happened during COVID but because people all of a sudden found themselves at home with more time. If I had to meet everybody, if it was like before the Zoom era and everyone required, like, a meeting in person or coffee or whatever, I probably wouldn't have got those meetings. They'd be like, who is this lady? But because I could say, hey, do you have a half hour for Zoom? I felt like that opened a lot of doors in general. I mean, I connected with, like, people I never imagined I would, you know, ever be able to strike up a conversation with. I had, like, amazing female founders who were, like, giving me guidance. I just very deliberately started building, like, a community because I. I teased that I had, like, a great carpool community, but I had no business network, so I had to find people inside the industry. I started finding people, like, within, obviously, Tequila, and get a better understanding. I was meeting with people here, going through here. I have some ideas and process, after I come up, came up with, like, the idea of, like, putting our blanco in barrels to rest. It, like, hey, how can we Sweeter notes? Like, all these ideas kept percolating because I kept studying. I took a course, the course offered by the CRT on the production history of tequila to become certified. I was taking that virtually and just reading everything I could and then trying to understand the greater industry, subscribing every. Every person I knew, from anybody who introduced me to anyone who had any alcohol brand, I connected with to just, like, learn well. [00:11:51] Speaker A: And obviously, with an accounting degree, legal degree, working with one of the biggest corporations in America, obviously, you're no dummy. You probably learn very quickly, and you have a great ability to suck in that knowledge and then put it to work. So that, that's pretty impressive. Have you always had a pull to entrepreneurial ship or never even thought about it until after the kids? [00:12:17] Speaker B: You know, I really did not think of it until I was a little later in life. I say I was generally pretty risk averse. Like I went accounting and law to a big law firm. I just wanted like total stability. My dream job as like a little kid, as a little girl was to be a Supreme court justice. Like there's no more secure position than having a job for life, right? [00:12:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:39] Speaker B: So I wanted like very stable, secure job, the big law firm job. I wanted to pay off my law law school loans. It wasn't until I got to McDonald's that all of a sudden my entrepreneurial spirit was kind of sparked. I was studying consumer trends and insights and we were looking at concepts for like, how the company could expand to like at the time is when they had investments in other chains and brands. And that's what we were looking at. So that actually is what initially kind of sparked my entrepreneurial spirit. I actually thought about opening an ice cream shop like a. From an ice cream franchise. Chicago. Not the best locale for that. But I just started thinking of ideas, like maybe I would start something. And that's really the first time that I was thinking like that. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Knowing that you went to work for a company that's created more millionaire entrepreneurs than any other company in America. Being McDonald's, I mean, that, that is. I've always been an entrepreneur and I've always said I'm completely unemployable. So like a McDonald's franchise is like the pinnacle. If you have enough money, that's the franchise to get. And that, that whole concept of being your own boss is something that's always driving me. And I always like to hear from people who moved into entrepreneurship, especially people who are in accounting and engineers. Those two groups of people usually aren't people that are striving to be entrepreneurs unless they're the owner of owner of the accounting firm. But I have so many people that I work with that are accountants, that their whole job was just their whole life. Their goal was to get a great job at a great firm and kind of the same in the law world. So to know that you went, okay, the heck with that. The heck with all the stuff I went to school with before and did. Let's go create something. I think that's really awesome. And that's a spirit you don't find in a lot of people. So thanks for letting that come out because you've brought something great to people and if you would have just held that back at work, that would have been a shame. [00:14:39] Speaker B: That, that's a funny, it's funny that you said those two because actually I started out my undergrad in engineering and then I switched to accounting. So it's like so perfect and just a very risk averse in general person. But I think I once got feedback that I'm not good working with authority, and I think that's true. I like to be in charge and I think starting something on my own is a perfect way, as you mentioned, like not being able to, you know, kind of just work for someone else. I think I, I'm best suited to running something. [00:15:08] Speaker A: I get recruited a lot by companies and my answer to them always is I'm 100% unemployable. So all the time you spend at home, you know, really reshaping your life as a mom, which to me, my mom is incredibly important to me. My wife hasn't worked very often outside of the home. She, she made sure that our kids grew up to be great people. If I would have done it, they would be horrible people. We started very young, my wife and I. We had our first child when she was a senior in high school and we always called our daughter a home ec project and she became a PhD microbiologist and all the kids after that were good and it's all because of her. And I think that is really truly the most important endeavor for anybody. To be as a great parent and a mom is incredibly important. While you were doing that, is there aspects of being a mom that you learned that you didn't know about leadership into the business world that you can honestly say this came from that Is there anything like that that you can see? [00:16:16] Speaker B: Okay, first of all, I love this question and I'm gonna tell you why. Because we often glaze over, including me. I used to do this in every interview, the entire huge portion of my life that was as a caregiver and staying home thinking like, oh, it's not relevant to business and no one's gonna think it's relevant or think I have any credibility. I just better focus on the like before career. And it took me a lot of time and reflection to actually realize, which is why I love this question. I honed a lot of skills at home that are very relevant to being an entrepreneur. Right. I'd say before that I ran like a schedule. I could be like, this is exactly what I'm doing every day. And here's what I'm gonna accomplish, here's what I'm gonna do. Then you're, you know, you're a parent and you have kids and no day goes according to plan. And you have to be really flexible. I mean, all the time. Like yesterday I had to like, run in the middle of, like, zooms. My son needs to get to the doctor, so I'm like going from school, trying to do the zoom from the car. I mean, it doesn't go as planned ever. And that is very true of a startup. You're constantly having to problem solve. And what's plan B and plan C? So I feel like that skill, I became very adept at that kind of flexibility piece that I did not have before asking. I think I can multitask having two preemie twins at home and running my house. Like, I can multitask like nobody's business. And I think I wear a lot of hats in one day. I've been on a social media call, an operations like so many different realm, a sales fit, a sales call. I was on with a distributor today. Like, I'm wearing a lot of different hats. And I think you're used to kind of like balancing so many different things and multitasking. And the last thing I think that really, I think helps is having a really different sense, like, empathy, because I know what it's like and that I don't know what's going on in anyone's life. I go in thinking that way. I go with a different level. I think of empathy. So if someone doesn't get back to me right away or they don't respond to my email or maybe they're abrupt or whatever, I don't take it personally. I go at it thinking I don't know what is going on in their life. Maybe something happened, maybe they had a sick kid. Maybe like, I'm in a sandwich generation. I have friends who are taking care of parents and taking care of young children. And so I think I bring a little bit of a different perspective maybe based on like, you know, being a mom and maybe going into this a little more seasoned and not, you know, right out of college or something, coming up with this. But I think I bring that a little more of that empathy piece of it and just always going in instead of taking everything, you know, I'm mad or what are they doing and. Or it's against me. I think I go in thinking like, you know, maybe the person's just having a really bad day or something happened or Something's rough, and I. I think I have a, you know, a unique take on it. [00:19:17] Speaker A: That's a great perspective. I say that to a lot of my employees. A lot of times in the mortgage world, they're like, that person didn't get back with me. I'm like, well, you don't know what their day was like yesterday. What was your day like? Did it go the way you wanted to? And. No, nobody's day, right? So it is having that empathy of understanding where other people are. That's. That's an amazing piece that you took out of that. I'm on the opposite side of being at home, taking care of the kids. I didn't. I missed everything as a business owner, mortgage guy, working every day, all the hours, right? So I missed all the events. I did the best I could to get to things when I could. And I usually was the guy that showed up late and usually got a little bit of frowny face because I didn't show up when I needed to. But my wife always seemed to understand, and I always really struggled at figuring out how she understood all the time. So you just gave me a good perspective of how my wife dealt with it, because I. I make the comment all the time. This year's our 36th anniversary, and people like, that's amazing. I was like, it was easy for me. It was really tough for her, right? So there's a perspective that I think a lot of guys don't understand how. How much work it is, not only just taking care of kids, but then on top of that, doing a career and starting a business and. And putting that all together. So that. That's pretty impressive. You're impressive. [00:20:45] Speaker B: Like, I have plan, right? You know, like, I have to plan things. So, like, my husband's been working insane this whole time, so if he's going on a trip, he's like, oh, you can tell me last minute, I'm leaving. Like, he doesn't have to make all those plans for me now that I run a business as well. I'm like, I have to think of those things if I have an event or something. I'm like, okay, where's dinner coming from? Who's driving? Carpool? Have I arranged. Like, there's a lot that goes into it, and people kind of say, like, you know, I go in and out of. I travel in and out very quickly, even if it's to Mexico, and, like, in and out as quickly as possible. And that's because, like, the amount of coordination and people who have to step in and do things and take care of things. It's a lot. [00:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, I can imagine. Okay, so first of all, where'd the name come from? How did you come up with this name? [00:21:31] Speaker B: Everything was very intentional about the brand, which. The fun part of being a brand owner, when you get to do. Vero is a Spanish word for inspired. And the company is named in honor of my inspirations. My grandmother, my mother, I had two. Like, really? My mom, who's still alive, thank goodness, and my grandmother of blessed memory. Two amazing powerhouse women who, like, were very, you know, very impactful in my life and gave me the confidence to believe I could do anything. I mean, when I started, as I talked about in, like, engineering or going to accounting, like, I kind of didn't notice until later when I wait, actually, I guess there weren't really any other women in the room. Like, if it didn't occur to me, like, I was in very high math, you know, high level math classes and things like that, and I kind of didn't notice. I was just like, okay, I'm gonna prove myself and just work really hard. And especially at that time, thinking about being, you know, studying mathematical subjects, which just wasn't really what, you know, girls were geared towards doing. And I never had anyone questioning me, so I didn't know any different. They're like, yes, of course you can. [00:22:49] Speaker A: If it wasn't for Ann Plummer, who sat in front of me in economics class in high school, I would not have graduated. She was the smartest person that I knew, and she always laughs. I end up owning a mortgage company because it was her math skills and economic skills that got me out of school. So I know exactly what you're talking about. And having a daughter that's a PhD, she was in the same boat. Like, here she is in science and math, and she didn't pay attention that she was the only one there. And I think that's so inspiring that you can do whatever you want to do, no matter what. [00:23:23] Speaker B: And then you encouraged her, right? So my daughter is gonna go to med school in a year. She's on a gap year now. And like, everyone who would say, well, maybe you should. Why don't you just think you could graduate earlier? You're gonna be so old, go a different route, have a different medical profession. I'm like, I never said that. I'm like, no, you've worked so hard. Why would you not just finish? [00:23:41] Speaker A: Right? Yeah. And do what you want to do? That's. I've told all my kids, do what you want to do. And so how did you get to this bottle design? So we came from name to bottle design because I love the bottle. I love the colors, I love the way it's put together. So how did you land on this bottle design and what was that like? [00:23:58] Speaker B: Yes, the bottle was very intentional as well. So I wanted a really sleek bottle that I'd want to put on my own home bar. I made a slender in the middle because it was very important to me that was easy to hold and pour. [00:24:08] Speaker A: Yep. You told me that. [00:24:10] Speaker B: That the big bottles are, like, hard to manipulate. Like, you can't hold it with one hand and just pour it. So that was important to me. This was literally, my mom and I were going back and forth on a piece of paper drawing designs. We had a bottle design company, a package design company, and we were going back and forth. I'm like, also, I didn't know anything, so I'm like, I have this idea. I want it to be gradient paint so it's clear in the middle. So you see the product in the middle. Had no idea how hard it is to paint on bottle and gradient paint. I don't want any label. I want it all printed out. You can't use any black font. It has to be light and bright. And then I want metallic. As far as the name, I mean, I. All these things that I had no idea how, you know, difficult it would be. And I'm like, it had to be a custom mold. Now I'm really happy we did that, even though it took a lot of, you know, time, money, effort. Because, as you know, there are a lot of tequila brands. And I think, yes, like, you have to deliver on the juice has to be just as good at the bottle. But I think having a bottle that looks different is. Was essential for us. And something that I. That would be something that I would want to actually have in my home and display. And if you think of, like, who's hosting parties and things like that, we want her to also be proud to show it off and have it out, and it pops. [00:25:32] Speaker A: It looks great on a shelf, and it lets me do another video. That great tequila can come in a fancy bottle, because I love doing those videos. Anna Maria has been in another brand that has this fancy glass topper. Did she have anything to do with that, or did you come up with that before? [00:25:54] Speaker B: She did not. So I had the glass topper. It was always part of my. It actually came from. I liked the Cote de Rose rose topper. It actually glassed with Like a rose cut into it. I looked at even doing fancier toppers, but. So I knew it had to be. I knew it had to go with the rest of the bottle. Everything else was just not. It was just not gonna match. And then even the closures were like a whole thing of this up. Our entire first set. Our entire first set of closures that came didn't fit the bottles properly. And last minute, I had to order, like, a whole new set of closures. [00:26:31] Speaker A: So there's a couple brands that have them, and I love them because there's a very significant little clink sound that tells me that I'm ready to pour my tequila. So I like that. Landing at 1614. How did you get Anna Maria, who I think at the time you met her, probably was doing a lot of work at 1412, right? [00:26:52] Speaker B: No, she was actually all over. It was before she was doing anything at 14:12 when she started with us, she was doing stuff all over. She was at the Vancouver. She was at, like, a lot of different places. [00:27:01] Speaker A: Okay. [00:27:03] Speaker B: It was before 1412. So that's part of the reason. So when I looked at distilleries and for, you know, when I started this, you think about that. Oh, my gosh, there's so many distillers. How do you narrow it down? Especially being like, not in Mexico at the time in Covid, but as you know, there are not that many distilleries that make, like, for the over 2,000 brands. Like, right. Like, it's a very small number of distilleries. And so that's how I narrowed down one. I'm like, okay, we don't want. I don't want to work with a distillery that has a lot of brands because they're not going to let us produce our own product. I don't want to buy bulk tequila. I had to find a distillery that lets me bring in my own master distiller. So, like, by time you, like, start putting those parameters around it, like, you narrow down the playing field a lot. I wanted one that had, like, operational efficiencies and, like, teams in place, like, so I was able to kind of narrow the down. So I found the distillery also because I again introduced to them from agave, and they produce Manhava agave at the main man, you know, the bigger corporate that owns them. And that's how I found them. So I kind of put all these, like, you know, qualifications around it, found the distillery, and then had her come in and work with them on our product. Now we have since and we just are. So perhaps when this is released. But we are working with her and her new distillery that she is part of now. They don't actually have a gnome yet, so it's ready. We already went down, like we're posting that we already went down for our first production run there, but they're still waiting to get all their final paperwork. The gnome, they, they built a brand new gorgeous distillery. Yeah. I think, you know, for us the reason, like she's really excited about this and this, like she feels like she gets to, to really, you know, in her branch here being, you know, she's an artist and a scientist and we want her to feel comfortable and like feel like she's in charge of the entire process. [00:29:00] Speaker A: So now I just put her on the level of Mellie and Ileana who are out there making great tequila, but also owning their distillery and that's pretty awesome. [00:29:12] Speaker B: Yes. I don't know what her interest is, but I know it's like she is. She gets to set all the parameters, which I think is important and make all the decisions. And I think when you work with an expert like her, that is really important like that she feels like, I think if she goes to a place and she thinks they don't follow exactly every specification and the way she wants things done, that's not, that's not good for her. [00:29:40] Speaker A: That gives her freedom. Your blanco's amazing. But I have a real question with landing at your distillery and getting Anna Maria involved, how did you come up with the idea of landing on. [00:29:54] Speaker B: I know. So first I was think going back to the blanco. I don't know if we talked about this, but you know, the. Hopefully you taste a little, a little bit of wood on it. Not a lot, but we actually do rust it. You know, not many blancos go into wood, but we put it in bourbon barrels for a short time. Just get a little bit of those sweeter notes. Our Rosa reposado. Again, me not knowing anything, coming in as an outsider of the industry, I'm like, you know what I like wine and tequila. Is there any way we can age tequila on rose wine barrels? Little did I know because I don't really know wine very well. Although my brother in law is like a third level sommelier. I should have just asked him. Rose wine is a young wine that almost never goes into wood because it's a young wine that goes right to bottling. So when I had that great idea, I'm like, oh no, it's like really hard to find rose wine barrels. And he Just started scouring the planet. Like, I was calling vineyards, like, everywhere, from, like South America to Spain to, like, everywhere. I was researching, like, any rose wines that go in that are aged in wood. Calling barrel brokers. And finally we had one barrel broker who was able to find them in the south of France for us. So basically, they make Pinot Noir. They get Pinot Noir wine barrels. They use them to make rose wine in them one time. And we can go only get them one time a year when they produce out of France. And it's like the most complicated process I have to get them. They go literally from a boat from France to California, and then I have to get them California to Mexico. [00:31:32] Speaker A: Holy cow. [00:31:33] Speaker B: Yes. So it is a process. But I wanted something. There's so many reasons. I want something a little bit different for a reposado. I like reposados, but I think I like lighter reposados. And I think this is a pretty light because it's two to three month aged. I think it has more floral berry. Not as heavy wood because we don't use, you know, bourbon barrels. So I just thought if we're gonna do this, I think it has, like a different taste profile and the color and having an all natural that like rose gold color, I thought would also set it apart and be particularly appealing to, like our consumer who maybe she doesn't. This might be an entry point for someone who doesn't usually drink aged expressions. Maybe she only drinks blanco and we want her, you know, and here's a good entry point. Or for those people like you who tried so many and look for unique barrel aging. So what can we do that's different with the barrel aged? [00:32:34] Speaker A: Is this something that Anna Maria had done before? [00:32:37] Speaker B: No. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Okay, that's what I thought. So what was her thought going into this? [00:32:43] Speaker B: I think she's really excited about it, actually, and about the process and working with different. And you know, her background's in wine, so I. She was. She's a sommelier first. Oh, I think she was really excited about getting to work with wine barrels. [00:33:01] Speaker A: The sweetness is a little different from the blanco. The blanco has a nice sweetness. It's real, it's well rounded. I do pick up, like a flavor that I wouldn't have known if you wouldn't have told me it was rested. I'd be trying to figure out there's a little bit of wood there, like a moderna. Like, it may be fermented in wood. You know, that would be my first thought. And it has a great cooked agave and A nice sweetness, but the sweetness in the rose is different. It's softer. I have more of a floral note. And there's a little kicked up dryness in the finish that's not in the blanco that I really like. And I was part of a mystery blind with tequila matchmaker at the end of the year last year, and they sent all these tequilas, and they were from almost clear to super dark, and we didn't know what they were. And every one of them tasted different than what I was expecting them to taste like. So my first thought was, all of these have additives in them because I don't know what they are. And then so. And I do that blind a special way, and I taste everything. So the next day I came back and I tasted, and it's like, nothing tastes like. It's not supposed to be there. It just tastes like something. I don't know what is there. So then I just kind of shut my loud add brain off and tasted through what I liked and rated everything. And then it came out that the whole blind was nothing but. And it blew my mind because I had, like, no idea. And I'd never had a tequila that was a before. And so I had no, like, there was no litmus test to them. Right. I didn't know how to rate them. And so now that I've gone back and had a few of them and understand what I'm tasting, it completely changes my mind to what I had. Because some of them, I just literally didn't like it because I didn't know what it was. And some of them had a flavor that I liked, but I still didn't know what it was. So I. They didn't rate very high because I just didn't know what it was. And several of them I've gone back to revisit and went, okay, I gotta go change my rating on that. Because now the complexity of the flavor and the softness of the tequila and the sweetness that I get and the dryness and the finish is understandable. Now, like, I always. [00:35:27] Speaker B: You can almost taste that wine finish. [00:35:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I wanted to send Grover a nasty message. Like, you should have told us what that was. But it was a great experience. I. I do, like, three at a time or four at a time in those tastings. And every night I'd come in the house and look at my wife, and I'm like, I have no idea if that was even tequila. [00:35:45] Speaker B: That's so funny. I also think the nose on it. I think if you. It's probably. It's A very different nose. Also, like, I actually think the nose on our repo, the minute you open the bottle, it, like, is. It's so fragrant, and I love it. Like, it has, like, more floral, and I just think it immediately you smell it, and I do think it's a very different aroma. [00:36:08] Speaker A: Totally agree. Especially when you know what it is. [00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:12] Speaker A: So when we had it at the event in Chicago, I. I loved it. I was like, this is really easy to drink and has a great flavor profile, but the words that you're gonna like the most is. My wife went, that was amazing. Like, she left. And the next day, she. She asked me what was the name of the one that I liked the most? And I was like, was it this one? Yes. And she loved the bottle. She loved the presentation. Honestly, she loved you. When we talked. [00:36:43] Speaker B: Oh, that's. [00:36:44] Speaker A: She. She got a really good vibe. So when I got this the other day in the mail and I brought it all out and said, she's like, is that. I was like, yeah, I'm not opening it until after the interview, because you'll drink it. [00:36:56] Speaker B: Okay, now she gets to taste it. [00:36:57] Speaker A: Yeah. She's waiting for me to finish this inside because she wants to taste it. So she's pretty excited about it. So that's fine. You really hit it out of the park with each piece, and I'm really excited that we got to do this tonight and talk about it. [00:37:10] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:37:11] Speaker A: So I know that it's not just about making tequila, and you're not just about making money at tequila. So tell me about the kind of story behind powering women. And then also, I believe you've created, like, another foundation or charity behind this and what you're doing. So I'd love to hear about that. [00:37:32] Speaker B: Yes. Thank you. You know, we talked about me being out of the workforce for a while and coming back in, and I kind of thought, if I'm going to reenter the workforce, I had to feel like I could do something impactful. Right. So everything from, how do we focus on maybe an overlook consumer? How do we be more focused perspectives in our industry, and then how do we elevate women in general in business? So everything about it, it was, I think, two things. One, paying it forward. I had a lot of people who gave me time and energy and guidance, and how can I do the same thing for other women to get them started? I mean, I have a plethora of people who reach out, like, hey, I'm thinking of starting this, or I'm doing this, and Like, I generally don't. I, I will take time with everybody. I generally don't ever say no unless it's just like a sales pitch breaks. I think everybody, I know, I think everybody deserves like, you know, a little bit of time and some guidance to, you know, it may be guidance saying like, I don't know if you really want to do this, but. Right, but. So I think there's that piece of it. How do I pay it forward? How do we work with other women? I think it's just a lens we put everything through. So we became a certified D corp and that was really the crux of it. Like how do we formalize what we're doing? We're a social impact company. We are committed to elevating other women in business. So if it's giving back, it's giving back a portion of proceeds to help other female founders or through supporting a pitch competition or whatever it is, me mentoring them, everything we do, we, we think of that. So if it's, am I going to give a chance to a small woman owned agency or freelancer to help us? Yes. If I'm, you know, selecting agencies, selecting suppliers, who we going to, who do we want to collaborate and partner with on things? So just like by becoming a B corp, it just formalized what we were already doing, but made us like put everything through this lens of like what we're doing. Does that support our mission? Are we elevating other women also? How we put some kind of guidelines around, like what we're going to participate in, what kinds of events, where we going to go? Like are they speaking to our consumer? Are they. There's a million, you know, great charitable organizations. We get requests all the time. Everyone wants booze. Right? So does this align? Is it something that we feel strongly about? Is it something that's helping, Is it helping women, you know, in business, female entrepreneurs or women's cause, things like that. Through Breast Cancer awareness Month, it just um, I think helped us like put some kind of like framework around everything we're doing and how do we, you know, work together. I'm a very big believer in, you know, the power of like kind of like Rising Tide with all ships that like we want to see other women become, you know, successful. And I think there are so many little things we do. We're not a huge company, but you don't have to make, we try and set an example of like, you don't have to be huge and have huge grandiose efforts to make an impact. I think of it as like if you make a referral for someone, if you, you know, connect to people, that could be a good connection. If you just answer that DM or the email, you know, buy from people you want to support, brands you want to support, gift from brands you want to support. All those things collectively are impactful. And I think that's kind of what we try and show that even as a small brand, we can set that example. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Yeah, so true. A pebble into the ocean can create a wave on the other side. It's understanding that the small things that you do in life can change other people's lives in a drastic way. So that's, that's impressive. If you could talk about a little bit of how hard it really is to get the B Corp certification. Because a lot of people, we see things on a bottle that some of them are ridiculous. Like our tequila is gluten free. Right. We see that. Like, okay, I'm glad you paid for that gluten free certification. But all tequila is gluten free. So let's, I don't want the B Corp to be minimized. Let's maximize that. Talk about what it takes to really get that and how difficult that really is on this day. [00:41:51] Speaker B: Thank you. I appreciate it. Yes. I mean, certifications are a huge effort. I'd say. We started out, the first thing I did was actually become certified woman owned by webank. That was like before we even had product. To me, it was very significant. It was important because there's a certain standard where you have to be actually owned and controlled by women to get the certification and you have to meet like all these different requirements. So that was the first thing I'm like, I want to make sure there's validity behind what we're saying. We're not going to say we're women owned or there's women in the brand. Like, we are going to meet like every standard and be part of a community of all these brands that we want to be part of. And I'm a big believer in that certification. In fact, one of the things we do is when we give back during women's history month, we give back to help other women become certified women owned. So we help fund like the cost of becoming a woman owned certified business. So after that, then it was for a little further down the line, but I'm like, you know, the reason I wanted to become a B Corp. And it's, it's interesting because people ask me about this often and like, what does it do for business or things like That I actually became a B corp. I'd say, say woman owned was like, I thought it'd be a good business decision as well. There are a lot of resources offered, a lot of things like that. B Corp I did just for myself. We were already doing the things before I sold a battle. I sponsored. I have sponsored a female founder pitch competition because I, like, love pitch competitions. And we did a community connections grant through the Enthused Foundation. I was already like anyone who reached out, mentoring with whatever limited knowledge I knew and highlighting other women in spirits. I've done giveaways for Women's History Month where I reached out to, like, every, like, you know, female spirits owner I can find. Like, hey, let's do a giveaway together to, like, amplify each other. I, like, raise the bar. I come out with, like, buy these brands and things like that. So we were already doing all that. So I decided to become a B corp just to formalize. So we have to actually, like, track it. So we're, like, held to, like, we're held accountable. So once you're B corp and it is a process, we did it really quickly, and we have a pretty high B Corp rating as far as, like, what you have to be and, you know, the standards you have to meet to get B Corp versus, like, we're well above that. We have all the sustainability items in place as well. But is this. We're a social impact company, which means that we are committed to, you know, really, you know, giving back to other women and female founders. And it took us about six months, which is considered pretty quick, to do it. I was very diligent. I'm like, let's speed this up. I mean, it's supposed to take like a year. I'm like, okay, let's just do it on double speed. Like, how much can we get done, like, faster? But I say I did it just because. And a lot of people don't understand what B Corp is, but you have to meet, like, five different, like, criteria and provide a ton of information. But I really just did it so that we are internally held accountable and so that, like, everybody knows, like, this runs through the DNA of the company. So when you're doing things, our level of transparency, authenticity, what we stand for, like, we don't deviate from those things. As a brand, it's awesome. [00:45:21] Speaker A: You know, tequila, traditionally made, that tastes good with a good, good, special story, is amazing. But to me, tequila with a purpose, because everything I do is with some form of purpose of helping and giving back that that is so awesome. And to go to that extra mile, probably more like extra 10 miles to 26.2 miles to make that happen. People that don't know that that's out there, if they did, they'd appreciate it. And I do appreciate what you do to do that. So that's pretty awesome. [00:45:55] Speaker B: I appreciate that you know about it. Like, it's just not. People don't, you know, some people know about bcor, but I'm sure more and more people and people who, you know, care about, like, spending aligned with their values or things like that. So more and more it's coming. But it's kind of funny. We don't put on a ton of, like, external facing things, but to us, internally, it's like really important. [00:46:16] Speaker A: You know, everybody that I know that has gone through that process says the same thing. We didn't do it to sell bottles. We did it because it's our belief system, you know, that's the key to it. Okay, so I finished the blanco, I finished the repo. I'm going to have the anejo. So tell me the story a little bit about. [00:46:33] Speaker B: She's so special. [00:46:35] Speaker A: What's the. Tell me the times. And I, and I don't, I don't think I've had this one because I don't think I had this at Saburo. When you and I hung up the phone, the first thing I did was get that ordered. So it was here in time. And honestly, I can't wait to try it. So what's our aging time? Tell me the story behind this one. [00:46:53] Speaker B: Yeah, so this is a really special. We only had four barrels full. Our special reserve, if you see it, has a different even label on it because we didn't even have bottle labels for it. So, yeah, that is a cask strength. So it's 44 ABV because we, we fill our barrels at 45. So it's 44 ABV and it is aged four months in rose wine barrels and 15 and a half months in Pinot Noir barrels. So it's double wine barrel age. It has a very interesting story because our initial batch of Rosa Reposado, we were double barrel aging it. We're putting in rose wine barrels and then finishing in a Pinot Noir. I thought it got too, too dark, too heavy for us. And it was very complicated to replicate to get the color the same anything. I mean, we know tequila's always going to vary batch by batch if it's all natural. But it was like really hard to, to be able to replicate It. So we decided not to go do that anymore and just use the rose wine barrels. Well, we still have four barrels full of Pinot in Pinot Noir barrels. And I'm like, just leave it in there. We'll see what it looks like in a year. We kind of almost like forgot about it. We went down to Mexico for production. They're like, oh, you still have the Pinot Noir barrel. Like, why don't we try it? We all tried it. We tried at cask strength. I am not usually an overproof person. I'm not usually actually even a big animal. And we're all like, oh my gosh, this is fantastic. We're like, let's bottle it. [00:48:21] Speaker A: Yeah, it is really good. The high proof leaves some agave forwardness to it. But maybe. This is going to sound weird, but this comes off to me like it's been aged in a cognac barrel. Like I get a cognac, like rich, creamy and I agree, I sound like. [00:48:41] Speaker B: It'S like a port or sherry. Like it has this leg. [00:48:46] Speaker A: Yeah, Sherry like a stone fruit. A lot of stone fruit. A lot of like apricot, A little pear in there with a dryness that like. So I'm not a wine drinker at all, right? Like maybe a Moscato if it's like really ice cold, right? And I know that. So I'm. I'm going to compare wine drinkers to tequila drinkers, right? Wine drinkers want you to drink a moscato to come in and then drink the driest wine ever made possible, right? So as tequila people, we're like, hey, whiskey guy, taste this extra anejo here. Have this high proof blanco. Like that's our goal for everybody to go through the process, right? And I get this dryness. Like I would get on a really dry wine, but yet a great agave flavor. A really nice fruity stone fruit flavor. That, that has a. That's very well rounded anejo. That's really good. You knocked it out of the park on this one too. [00:49:50] Speaker B: Thank you. And I actually don't even think it's. I feel like the over. The like overproof part, like just balance it out. Like it does not seem like super alcohol forward. [00:50:01] Speaker A: I wouldn't have known it if you wouldn't have said it. Like, I wouldn't have thought this was a higher proof tequila. And I didn't look at the label to see that it was so. Okay, question for you. What's the future? What's coming up? What do you got going on? Is There any secrets that you can reveal that nobody else knows? What's, what's your thoughts? Where are you going with this? [00:50:24] Speaker B: Yes. So I think, you know, we're, we're, we're going into another production run and I think that's going to be different and interesting and something new we're excited about and just because we're, we're changing things up a little bit, which we will, you know, announce shortly. But we're, as we've talked about, like, I think we're going to see, basically we're going to work with a, you know, different distillery and see what we come up with there. And Anna Maria will still be the one at the helm making the, you know, products. That's important. But I think if anything it'll just get even better. And I think we're going to experiment with. We're not extending our, our SKUS or product line at all, but I think we're going to have some maybe fun new sizes. [00:51:10] Speaker A: Awesome. Okay, so here's the question I love to ask people because I like to see people get a little vulnerable in this whole thing because sure, you've got three kids, you made twins, you did all of the work. But I what your real baby is because the kids grow up, they become their own people. And I think all of yours are either in college or still at home, but eventually they just disappear and only come back on holidays and ask for money. Right? Yeah, it's true. But this is your baby. This isn't going anywhere. So if you could sit down with anybody, any person ever in history, Famous, not famous. Alive with us. Not with us. Who is the person that would make just be the biggest experience for you to sit down? Bring these three bottles, maybe three Glen Karens or like I'm a big poor guy, so I have big glasses. Bring a glass, sit down and not only share your story of how you got here, the trials, the tribulations, all of the work, the heart, the soul, everything you put into your history, but also the great flavors of your tequila, who would you want to sit down and share this? [00:52:30] Speaker B: Oh my gosh, that's such a hard one. Because there are so many people and I'm going to start off thinking like, people who would actually enjoy tequila. No, I'd say, obviously my grandmother was an inspiration who passed away, but I don't know that she'd actually enjoy having tequila with me. [00:52:47] Speaker A: So she'd probably enjoy the story, though. [00:52:50] Speaker B: But you would enjoy the story. Or she'd be like, are you crazy? What are you Doing what? I know she'd be like, why? You're, you're a great mom. I'm just doing that right. So I'd say that would take that out. There are certain women who I actually think their stories are very inspiring and founders who have like built things that I'm incredibly like enamored with. So those are some women who I think I'd want to have a drink with and just hear like how they did it. Especially in like industries that were. There's Kristen Green who a lot of people know, but she's for Runner Ventures. Like she's one of the preeminent women in like PE bc and is this like made this huge name for herself? Like I'm just fascinated by how she selects brands and her analysis and she like just like always hits down the marks. I'd say she would definitely be one. I'm not. It's, it's interesting because I'm not like super celebrity starstruck with like a celebrity. I think I'm more like thought leaders who are really like inspiring to me. And the other one, she seems like she'd just be so fun to also have a drink with. I think Sarah Blakely, you know the founder Spanx once her stuff, she just seems fun. Like her and her husband Jesse Inkler because I think he's. They just seem like they're always having fun. I've seen her talk about tequila, she likes tequila and she's now like a two time founder building things and I'm, she's four kids, like everything. I think she's like managing a busy mom life and building and I, I would love to like hear what she has to say and get like guidance and just you know, how she's managing and how she does that all that's very cool. [00:54:40] Speaker A: I have a couple that I want to at some point sit down with you in the region. Maybe we meet at a great restaurant in Amatitan and I bring a couple of the women that I know in this industry that I would love to hear you guys share together and talk and hopefully you can bring Anna because I've never met her and I want to be amazing. [00:55:05] Speaker B: I mean her. I would have said if I didn't always have the opportunity. You've already done there. Like literally. I learned so much every single time. I'm like, will you tell me this and why do you do this and why do you choose this and how do you like. I ask like a zillion questions every time so I like soak it all. [00:55:20] Speaker A: In the ones that I'm thinking of that the room and the discussion and the conversation, I would be okay with being the ignorant minority in the back of the room. Just learning to be 100% honest with you. [00:55:34] Speaker B: So. [00:55:35] Speaker A: So okay, where can everybody find you? What states are you in that people can go find you? On a shelf? [00:55:41] Speaker B: Yes. So we are well in the Midwest. We are in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee. On the east coast, we're in Massachusetts. Then you go down south Georgia, Florida, a little bit of a presence in D.C. maryland. We just opened the state of California. So we are in California, Arizona and then I think our last state for now should be opening very, very soon. Be on the lookout for that. Another big tequila market. [00:56:12] Speaker A: Okay, that's not Indiana. I already know. And then people who are in our states that they can't get it, where do they find you? [00:56:20] Speaker B: At Inspiro Tequila.com we ship to 45 states including Indiana. [00:56:27] Speaker A: I know, but. [00:56:28] Speaker B: Yes, I know, but Inspiro tequila.com and connect with me like I LinkedIn is my jam. So I. That's where I share most of my journey and insights and learnings at Mara Smith on LinkedIn and then obviously follow the brand on AD. Inspiro Tequila. I will not take any credit for our social media. We luckily have people who are way better than that LinkedIn. That's me social media. I don't even go on TikTok. But we also are on TikTok. [00:56:59] Speaker A: So my. My least best social media is LinkedIn. I do it on the mortgage side a teeny bit. But I've always been a Facebook, you know, because I'm old. So Facebook is where I go to make all the millennials mad. So YouTube and Instagram are my other two and Tik. TikTok hate it. But I'm still on there. [00:57:19] Speaker B: I know. So we're at as a brand but literally my 13 year old tells me how terrible I am at social media all the time. So luckily he's not on LinkedIn so then he can't like critique me. Facebook I'm sure is great, but I limited myself that I can only manage two so I can only manage LinkedIn and Instagram and then like I max out. [00:57:38] Speaker A: That's awesome. Well, I want to say thanks. Thanks so much. I know you're incredibly busy. I understand being a busy business person. I've never been a mom, but there's one that lives in my house and I know how busy she always is. So I really appreciate you taking your time tonight sharing the tequila with me, sharing your time with us in Chicago, and I appreciate all the things you're doing in the tequila world and also with helping people understand, especially women, to understand that they can jump into something that maybe they didn't think they could, and they can. And I think that's really impressive. And hopefully this helps that a little bit. And I know you're drinking soda water because I think you said you have to do a carpool drive to something. [00:58:29] Speaker B: I still have to carpool back and forth to basketball practice tonight. [00:58:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:33] Speaker B: So, yes, my drink of choice is a sparkling. [00:58:35] Speaker A: I have no carpool, but I'm going to cheers you anyway. Right. Because I'm already home. Cheers. [00:58:41] Speaker B: I love that. And yes, it doesn't have to be tequila, but it's never too late. People can make a pivot, reenter the workforce. My. My path happened to be tequila, but I feel like there are a lot of paths, and hopefully, hopefully I'll inspire someone else that they can to, you know, do something a little. A little later in life. [00:58:57] Speaker A: I can say this. You are incredibly inspiring, and I appreciate you taking your time tonight. So thank you very much. [00:59:03] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Brad. I appreciate it.