- 1 week ago
Black Women are dominating ownership in the spirits industry. We hear from these women on how they overcame adversity in a male-dominated industry and are ruling this industry in partnership and in solo ventures.
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00:00Essence is back. This is exciting. Very, very exciting. I'm thrilled, thrilled to be here with
00:14these amazing, amazing women. This panel is entitled Raise a Glass. This conversation,
00:22these women, I haven't even shared this back in the green room, but I look at them to inspiration.
00:27I own a few spirits brands. I'm very much a nerd. I love to do all my due diligence and research.
00:33So I knew all about y'all before I was even introduced, and it's my absolute honor and pleasure
00:39to have this conversation. So I want to start with some quick introductions. I'm your moderator.
00:44My name is Andrew Albert. I own Exclave Spirits. Yes, yes, yes, yes. New Orleans owned. And next to me,
00:53I have Nyana Ferguson, the owner of Antil Tequila, an amazing tequila based in Detroit, correct?
01:00Yes, yes, yes. Give it up for Detroit. Yeah, for sure, for sure. No doubt, no doubt. And we have
01:07the amazing Tracy Franklin, a spirited Tracy, educator, connoisseur, all-around expert, consultant
01:15in all things spirits. Yes, education, knowledge. We're going to learn some stuff today.
01:24And we have the owner of L.S. Cream Liqueur, Miriam Jean-Baptiste.
01:29Oh, yeah. Of course, come on now. Yeah, I went to school. I got a little education now. Yeah, for sure.
01:37Hailing from Montreal, an amazing cream liqueur. I had the pleasure of tasting,
01:41and it is absolutely amazing. Very rich. It was taking me back to a good friend of mine,
01:49Charlie, who runs Frittai, which is a Haitian restaurant here. So I'm happy to say that
01:54that product was checking all the boxes for sure. And last but certainly not least,
01:59my good friend Kim, the owner of Old Orleans Winery, the only black-owned winery in New Orleans.
02:06So like I said, I'm excited to have this conversation. All of y'all come from very
02:14distinct and different parts of the spirits industry. So this first question is for all
02:19of y'all. What was your first entry point into spirits? I'm going to start with you.
02:24I am Nayana Ferguson. I am actually the first black woman to own a tequila brand,
02:30lead a tequila brand, or co-own a tequila brand. I'm also a 16-year pancreatic
02:35cancer survivor and a 10-year breast cancer survivor, okay? So all of that actually kind
02:42of goes into why I got into this industry. My husband and I, you know, we were dating
02:47and drinking tequila. And so we started researching, and I found out that with my cancer,
02:54you know, challenges, that I can actually drink tequila. It did not affect my body in a detrimental
02:59way. So actually, that's how we got into it. And I said to my husband, I said, if you could do
03:05anything, what would you do? What would you open? He said, let's do a tequila company, but we can't do
03:11that. I was like, why not? And of course, as all of us are black women, when we say why not, we're
03:18going to get it done, right? So two days later, I found a distillery, and now almost four years later,
03:23here we are. Amazing, amazing. Thank you. Hello, I am Tracy Franklin, also known as Spirited Tracy on
03:30the social media pages. I actually got into, really, I'm known for whiskey, but I do all spirits.
03:36I got into whiskey because it was the one spirit that I could drink and still sing, because I was
03:42touring on national tours like Hairspray, Color Purple, and I was like, wait, I still, I can do this.
03:51And so I became a bartender. I was pouring and tasting people on different whiskeys and became
03:57the national ambassador for Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch. Many people don't see a black woman
04:02and think scotch. And I thought that was an incredible opportunity for me to change the way
04:06people thought about whiskey. And I am currently studying to become a distiller, so I am working
04:10on my degree in distillation. But in the meantime, I get to travel the United States studying with
04:15different master distillers, and I'm finishing my program up soon, so I will be working on my own
04:20spirits, which I'm really excited about. Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you.
04:24Well, I am Myriam Jean-Baptiste, like you just said. I'm the owner of Ellis Cream Liqueur,
04:30the black bottle on the table over there. We got into, I said we because I founded this company
04:35with my husband, Stevens, and we got into the cream liqueur industry a bit because, you know,
04:42I'm from Haitian descent, born and raised in Montreal, but we grew up really Haitian. Like our
04:49parents made sure that we knew about the culture, and cremasse, which is something that we drink in
04:54Haiti, and it's part of every celebration, was always part of our lives. And growing up as adults
05:01now, we always had, you know, friends coming over and asking, can you please give me a bottle?
05:06Just please make a bottle. So we really said, you know what, we have something there. Let's really
05:13work to get it distributed. Went to a convention, the WSWA that you probably all know about, which is a
05:19big wine and spirit convention. And Stephen went because I was heavily pregnant at the time and
05:27could not travel. And he called me and he's like, babe, I'm the only black person in this entire
05:35convention. And from then on, we said, you know what, let's go. Let's keep on focusing on this.
05:41A year later, did a sample, sent the sample to the WSWA competition that time. Next day, woke up
05:49to our phones, read, we won the gold medal for the taste and quality of the product. Amazing.
05:53Amazing. And without even being sold in stores yet. So we said, you know what, we have the stamp of
06:00approval from our family, from, you know, our grandmothers that did this recipe. And now we
06:05also have the stamp of approval from the industry. So let's go. And this is how it's really started.
06:12Awesome. Awesome. I love that. Kim.
06:15Hi, everybody.
06:18I am Kim Lewis. I'm the owner of Old Orleans Wines, born and raised here in New Orleans.
06:24I realized that New Orleans is pretty much a party city. And when tourists come to New Orleans,
06:34they're always looking for something to do. New Orleans is known for its party 19 and
06:40breweries, distilleries, pretty much everything there is to drink. But one thing that we did not
06:45have, and that was a winery. So once I realized that I wanted to make sure I did my research and
06:52I opened the opportunity to go ahead and put a winery here in the city of New Orleans.
06:57That's awesome. That's awesome. So one thing that was sort of implied in y'all's introductions is
07:04y'all come from very different aspects of the spirits industry, right? And I'm big on takeaways,
07:10and I want a lot of takeaways from this conversation. So Kim, starting with you,
07:14and I want all of y'all to answer this, you know, what's the single most important fact, tidbit,
07:19piece of knowledge about your product suite, your services that you want the audience to take away?
07:26For me, we have 12 different varietals that are available in stores. Overall, we make 18,
07:34and I like to tell everybody we have a different taste for every palate, for everyone.
07:39People think that you have to be a professional to drink wine, or that you have to be some sort of
07:44connoisseur or sommelier, but you don't. If you like what you drink, drink what you like. And you know,
07:50we like to make products that people can go and buy without judgment. So we have something available,
07:55whether it's dry, sweet, semi-sweet, what bubbles, whatever it is that you like,
08:02we make it. And for it to be a local product and available across the Gulf Coast, that's very important.
08:08Well, for us, I mean, everybody has a bottle of, I won't say the name, at home. It's a very, you know,
08:17the cream liqueurs that people usually drink. But with LS, we just made sure that we had something
08:23that had heritage behind it. This is part of the Haitian history, and we're really proud to be able
08:29to share it with the world. And at the same time, you know, it's all natural ingredients. It's low in
08:35lactose. So we thought about our people. Okay, so it's low in lactose, gluten-free,
08:39all natural ingredients. So this is really what we wanted to do. This is a celebratory drink.
08:45So we want to make sure that, you know, people celebrate with it small, big victories,
08:51and that it's just part of, you know, your lifestyle. I want all of you to know that you
08:56belong in the spirits industry, whether that's through whiskey, through rum, through wine,
09:02through cream liqueurs. When I first started in the industry, I felt like I didn't belong,
09:08and there were a lot of people that challenged me. And I knew that as I moved forward, all I
09:13wanted to do was to break down this category to give people the knowledge to be educated consumers,
09:19so that somebody didn't just get over on you and just tell you a marketing story and run away,
09:22right? I want you to know exactly why you're buying what you buy, why you like what you like,
09:28and how you want to add cocktail mixers or ice or things like that, because you can drink your
09:34things, drink whiskey, drink everything the way that you like it. That's a really important thing
09:39is to be comfortable. You belong. And we're now getting to a place where we have more history and
09:43understand that black people were a part of this industry from the very beginning, and we still
09:49belong here. And I think with me, with tequila, you know, everybody has that stereotypical tequila
09:57story, right? Everybody has told me about summer, the summer break, and they've had this tequila shot,
10:02and I'll never drink tequila or tequila again. So my goal is to educate people on real tequila,
10:09a premium tequila, because most of the time you probably had a mix though, so it was actually half sugar.
10:16And you guys do know that when you're throwing up and all of that, that's because of sugar,
10:19right? It's not because of the tequila. So with our tequila company, what I'm trying to educate
10:25people is about premium tequila, about drinking something. As we get older, because we're all
10:30getting older, see what you're putting into your body. Not you, you're beautiful.
10:35But see what you're putting into your body. So I like to educate, plus because I am a national
10:41advocate for the pancreatic cancer network. I also educate people who have cancer diagnosis and all
10:48of that. And so all of that goes in with our products that we talk about with our tequila,
10:54because I want people to actually learn about what they're drinking and what they're putting into their
10:58bodies. That's awesome. I love that. Y'all are all incredibly successful, right? And with success
11:04comes trials, tribulations. You have to persevere through all of that. So I want to dig into
11:10y'all's individual stories a little bit. And Kim, I want to start with you. You know,
11:15general consensus for people uninitiated is that wine can only come from a few areas of the world,
11:19right? Napa, France, et cetera, et cetera. You have a winery in Southern Louisiana.
11:25Walk us through the steps and the challenges and how you overcame some of those hurdles
11:29to establish your winery here. Well, you know, New Orleans is not a wine region.
11:36We know that, but you know, we have to take away the myth that good wine can only be produced in
11:43California because if you have the machine, the equipment and the tools that you need to produce
11:49wine, wine can be produced anywhere. And so taking away that myth was the biggest thing for me and
11:56being able to get that product out there and network with the retail partners to show them that,
12:01hey, we can hang with the big guys too. That was huge. Um, a lot of times, you know,
12:08people, let me use this word wisely. People only think that good wine comes out of Napa
12:15and they forget all the other regions, but just about every state has wineries in it. This state only
12:22has three. It's a long story, but Texas has over a hundred because they have Texas Hills. Mississippi
12:31has wineries, Alabama has wineries, but a lot of people don't know and not so much so that you have
12:37to be a wine drinker to know that, but they don't do the research, but because it doesn't say Napa or it
12:43doesn't come from overseas or Paris or whatever that may be, they feel like it's not true wine and that's
12:49not the case. You can make wine anywhere and hang with the big boys. We've won seven medals. So I
12:56know for sure we can hang. Applause for that. For sure. For sure. No, that's, that's amazing. And I
13:01think, you know, what you're saying is wine is, is very much an agricultural product, right? We all are
13:07essentially dealing with agricultural products, but at the same time, they're cultural products as well.
13:12And Miriam, this, this question is for you. Being from New Orleans, Haiti has an incredibly special
13:18place, you know, at my heart. Right. And we were chatting briefly about, you know,
13:23your product and what, you know, what, what came from that. I was, you know, fanning out over the
13:27design of your bottle. And I want you to talk about, you know, like you said, right, cremas are
13:32part of just Haitian culture. Right. So what was it like to establish your product? How are you, you know,
13:39wrestling with the fact that essentially what you're selling is a, it's owned by the Haitian people,
13:44right? Like, how did you navigate like that? Um, you know, LS, it's something that's made with
13:51so much love. You know, Haiti is a culture that has a lot of heritage. And we really wanted to
13:57bring this forward with LS cream. And Haiti is the first republic to gain its independence,
14:04the first black republic to gain. So this is basically in my veins, you know, so, um,
14:11what we really wanted to do was to make sure that we brought this forward. Because yes, when you hear
14:16the news about Haiti, it's always, you know, not necessarily good things that are happening over
14:21there, but there's so much beauty and excellence. And we participated so much in the history of the
14:27US, like you said, with New Orleans, uh, Chicago was founded by a Haitian person as well. So there's
14:34a lot of history. And with LS, we made sure to bring this forward. We added the effigy. So the
14:41Haitian coat of arms that we see on the, uh, the Haitian flag, we made sure to add it to the bottle
14:47so that people could recognize that this is coming from Haiti. And yes, there are beautiful things that
14:52come out of this country too. So we take a lot of pride in bringing this product forward and bringing
14:58it to the world and also throughout the US. So very proud and happy to do that. For sure, for sure.
15:04And y'all, y'all are crushing it. Um, Agave Spirits is having an incredible moment, right? And I think
15:11what Miriam was saying about education and, you know, offering a different perspective of this is,
15:17you know, the product that I want to create. This is the story that I want to tell. When you think
15:21about Agave Spirits, right? A lot of, a lot of the, the, the preeminent tequilas, they're coming
15:28from families that are handing down, you know, recipes and it's very much baked in the family.
15:34I'm sure you have to deal with challenges with that. I mean, of course getting into the tequila
15:41industry just because yes, it has a long history, especially in the Latin culture and me being a
15:46black woman, you know, coming into tequila. It's like, what are you doing? You know,
15:50but I believe that every one has a legacy and actually on the back of every bottle that we have,
15:56we have create your legacy because we believe everyone has a legacy inside them and that they
16:02should have a passion and get it out there. So why shouldn't I? I don't care if they, you know,
16:07it's not generations. I can create one too. And I believe that especially all of us on this panel,
16:12we have something to offer to the world as far as what we want you to have in a spirit, you know,
16:19what, what we want you to try, you know? And so that's why I do a lot of education on it because
16:24I know the stigma with tequila. I know it's a generational thing, but hey, this, I was the
16:29first black woman to be in it and there are a couple now in the space and I think there's some more that
16:35need to be there because we all have different expressions that we want to get out there. So I had
16:40challenges of course. And I mean, we all have challenges because we're not the bigger companies
16:45out there. We don't have the millions of dollars, but we have passion, we have drive, we execute,
16:52we get it out there and we're getting our expressions out to the world because we want everyone to try
16:59them and enjoy them. That's awesome. I love that. Perseverance is important.
17:03There are not many black people in the whiskey world. There really aren't. Right? I very much
17:12am steeped in the whiskey world and many times I'm the only black person there. I'm curious,
17:17you operate on the educational side, the consulting side. How did you get into that space and why is
17:23it so important for you to really plant a flag and say education about whiskey is very important?
17:28Well, I think that started with just my parents and instilling in us that education was the key
17:33to get out of anything. It was the key to ensuring that you would always have the right answer. You
17:38were always, you were, no one was ever going to subvert you or trick you because you knew what was
17:43happening. So for me, as I was getting into the whiskey world, I knew that the people walking up to
17:47my table were immediately like, this girl don't drink whiskey. What? You know? So I wanted to ensure
17:54whatever I was pouring, I knew everything about. And then they were all like, what is happening?
17:59Why does she know this? So as I grew, as that, as my profile grew within the whiskey world, people
18:07realized that girl knows what she's talking about. But I wanted to not just be the girl who knew what
18:13was happening. They were calling me the whiskey woman of Florida. I wanted to be the woman who was
18:17then sharing every single bit of that with somebody else. So I actually worked with a friend in New
18:22York. We had a company that we did whiskey classes and we taught basic whiskey classes so that people
18:27could go out and understand what they were drinking and what they were doing. But we were targeting
18:31people that the other people weren't. We wanted young people, LGBT people, people of color. We
18:35wanted to ensure that that room looked like our friends. And that was very different from the rooms
18:39I was walking in to learn. That was basically old white men. And that's not a problem. That was the
18:45world of whiskey, right? You're sitting in that leather chair, smoking your cigar after you finish your
18:49long lawyer day. I don't know. So I wasn't that. I wasn't that and I didn't want to be that. And I
18:57wanted to ensure that that vision, that that picture, what I say is I want to change the face
19:03of whiskey. Because we still think it's that old white man sitting in a leather chair, smoking this,
19:07you know? And I won't because it is me. It is you. We are the face of whiskey. And so by providing
19:14education under Spirited Tracy, I do virtual classes and tastings and events. And I love being
19:19able to see the light turn on in someone's eyes when they go, I didn't think I could like this.
19:25Or I actually found the apple. I found the vanilla in this. And that is my favorite thing. And I will
19:30continue to do it forever. I really love teaching. Awesome. I mean, that's a great segue into this next
19:36section about motivations, right? So we spoke a little bit about how y'all initially got here,
19:41right? Some of the challenges, but I really want to get to like, what makes you like tick? This is a
19:46very rough industry to be in, but you're all still here. And the specific question I have, you know,
19:53generational wealth, ownership, right? These are all principles that I'm sure are very important
20:00to y'all. But to be completely honest, there is a financial incentive for us to be in the business
20:05that we're in. And with that growth and with that scalability, there are certain trade-offs.
20:09So how do each of y'all, you know, continue to maintain the integrity and the honesty of
20:14your products and the services you offer as you try to grow, you know, as much as you possibly can?
20:19And feel free to anybody can jump in and take that. I would definitely say for me,
20:27I'm a black woman in the wine industry. And I'm opposite of what that industry represents. And I'm not
20:35supposed to be here. I have that. So that's all the motivation I need is for somebody to tell me
20:39where I'm not supposed to be what I'm supposed to have. I'm gonna go 10 times harder and make you
20:44respect who I am.
20:45I want some respect on my name.
20:48Absolutely.
20:48My name is my name. Absolutely. It's on the menu.
20:57Generational wealth for me is what drove me to drop my nine to five and engage 100%
21:04in this adventure. I was working in the entertainment industry. My husband was a banker. We were living
21:11very comfortably in the suburb, had a house, you know, traveling and all of that. And we said,
21:18you know what? We believe in what we're doing. We believe that we're able to make a change
21:22in this industry that doesn't necessarily represent us. And we sold everything, moved back with my
21:28mother-in-law. I have two kids. Took the kids with us and we explained to them, we're like, you're going
21:34to sleep in the same room and you're going to experience that. And for us, it was pivotal
21:42as a decision because it allowed us to, okay, we're focused 100% on this and let's just bring it.
21:50Let's just put whatever that you have to bring this product to life and to make it work. And it
21:56has been working and paying off. So to believe in yourself, to believe, to take risks and to let
22:01things go, we'll always pay off at the end. So there's no regrets. That's awesome. I love that.
22:07So one of the things that I found was I, as I started looking at the history, especially of
22:13whiskey, but a lot of spirits in the United States was finding those, those lists of, you know,
22:19Old Forester and how many slaves they had, Woodford Reserve, how many slaves they had,
22:24and just seeing numbers, right? George Washington's distillery, how many slaves he had.
22:29But then they started to find names and we started, we found Uncle Nearest,
22:33Master Distiller, who helped with Jack Daniels. And it wasn't until, just so you guys know,
22:38it wasn't until 2017 that the first man, black man, no women yet, black man got his DSP. That is a
22:47distilled spirits permit. It is what you need to make that spirit. 2017. That's it. Jackie Summers.
22:55So that is, for me, my drive is that I want to make an impact. I want to create a legacy. I want
23:01to change this industry in ways it's never been done before. And by education, by passion, and by
23:08being a mentor and really being out there, I'm hoping that that's what I can do. I, if yeah,
23:12if you guys follow me, I try to like give all I have. It's because I want to change. I really want to
23:17see us all in positions that we never thought we could, could be in before. We belong here.
23:24I mean, and I'm the same way, you know, as so many motivations that I have. And of course,
23:28I've already talked about with education, but, um, of course, general generational wealth,
23:33you know, as I said, we have create your legacy on every bottle because I want to create a legacy.
23:39And I want everyone who may be inspired by me, even if it's just one person, if you are inspired in
23:45any way or motivated by me in any way, or any of these ladies on this panel, you are creating a
23:50legacy. And that's what we want to impart to everyone. I think too, with integrity, we have
23:56had, you know, and I'm sure all of us here have had people, you know, celebrities or, or brand name
24:01people reach out to us to get on our brand. Right. But I will keep the integrity of my brand. You're
24:08not going to take my brand. You're not going to take my story because you know what, this is
24:12something that we built. We built from the ground up. And if you have a passion for it,
24:17you need to stick with it and keep it going. Everything is going to be challenging because
24:21life is challenging, but you can do it if you continue to go, go forward. Yes. Yes. Integrity
24:27is very, very important. Much is said about mentors, right? Especially when you enter in a new industry,
24:34find the seasoned person, make sure that you're getting as much knowledge as you possibly can from
24:39that person. But I think just as important to that is the peer to peer networking, right? Finding
24:45those people that are growing at similar paces that have started at, you know, the same time as you,
24:50there's a lot to be said by working side by side with people. I would love to hear some stories about,
24:56you know, what peer to peer, you know, networking has looked like for y'all and helped y'all grow in
25:01y'all's career. For me, um, I was able to connect to a CDFI, which is a community development funding
25:10institute here in the city of New Orleans. Um, that company name is Nucorp, which helps black
25:17businesses grow and fund their businesses when they are trying to get started or they're in the early
25:23process. And for me, I was able to connect with Ms. Vaughn, who is the CEO of Nucorp. And she also does
25:31mentoring. Um, that was very helpful. And even though she's not in the spirits and wine and spirits
25:37industry, she's very knowledgeable and she come with tons and years of experience in business. That is very
25:47important in making sure that you have a mentor and making sure that you have someone that can hold
25:52you accountable for the things that you do inside your business. Yes, it's okay that you want to be
25:56the boss. You want to be the CEO. Yes, you don't want to answer to someone, but who's going to hold
26:01you accountable for when you're messing up? Somebody has to pull you to a side, guide you, give you good
26:07steps, give you motivation, be able to give you different eyes or views outside of what you normally
26:12do, which is in your own head. And so for me, connecting with Nucorp was an opening and also
26:19just an awesome experience to, you know, retrieve information that I probably would have never
26:25thought of. On my, on my end, um, I'm going to start off by saying not to be afraid of reaching
26:33out to the person or to the people that you think would be able to help you. I did that with, uh,
26:39LS. I hunted Fawn Weaver from Uncle Nearest. I hunted her down until she finally answered my DM
26:46through Instagram in the middle of COVID and we got connected and she then introduced me to
26:53Kenny Burns and Jessica Burns, who have been, you know, tremendous mentors. They're actually
27:01investors in our brand too. So we're working with them and it's been amazing, but that would not,
27:07that would never had happened if I did not reach out to let's say to Fawn or to make that connection,
27:12to take that extra step that sometimes you think that people are unattainable and now with social
27:17media, everything is attainable. So you need to just shoot your shot, right? And just hope that it
27:23lands. Shoot that shot and spirits are small. We all know each other or one person removed from each
27:28other. Absolutely. So, I mean, connections, mentors, but what I think is really important is to really
27:33connect with the people that you feel and understand what you're trying to do. And whether it is Fawn or
27:39Kenny and Jessica, they understand what we're trying to do with the brand. So they have the
27:43same vision and they're still, like you said, able to challenge us if, you know, sometimes we
27:49don't necessarily know or whatever. They challenge us. So it's a partnership and it's great. Amazing.
27:57I've been really lucky. I'm currently in a program where I have the ability to study and learn with
28:03different distillers from around the world. And as I've done that, everyone has opened up their doors
28:07for me and just been like, oh, Tracy wants to study? Great. Come. And has really, really provided
28:12me with more knowledge and experience than I ever thought I would be able to get, especially because
28:17I was going back to production from marketing. You know, no one likes the marketing side. They're
28:22like, ah, they're just pretty. Like what's going on? I don't know. But now I'm, you know, put on my
28:25coveralls. I'm dirty. I'm lifting things. And, but what's been really wonderful is they've just accepted
28:31me and they've become sponsors for me. So we talk about this thing about mentorship and you have
28:35someone who's teaching you, but you want someone in a room that can help you move forward. You want
28:39people that can help you, can actually pull you along with them. So I have a great group
28:44of distillers. It's called Good Guy Distillers. And we all get together and help each other. We,
28:49if you have a problem, you can come to the group. If you have job opportunities, you come to the group.
28:54But then we also have another side group that is just looking and talking and learning and studying and
28:59trying to create ways that we're going to change the industry. We are working together,
29:03all different distilleries, but we are looking for ways that we can be more efficient, that we can
29:07actually, um, do things to save the earth. We, uh, distilling is actually quite a wasteful process.
29:13So we are looking for ways right now that we can change that. And, and it's because I found that
29:17peer to peer, but also I found sponsors who are helping pull me up.
29:23I mean, I think it's important as well, of course, mentorship, but it's also important to be a mentor.
29:28Um, because we've had, I, I, when we started, I actually had no mentor. I actually didn't get
29:34mentors until a little bit later in the process. But what I learned was that I learned more by
29:39becoming a mentor. So what we do is actually, is we have a business consulting company as well,
29:45my husband and I, and we actually mentor people to start their own businesses as well. Because again,
29:50I want everyone to create their legacy. So I think that's important because I'm learning just as
29:56much as they're learning as well. So I think that's important. Um, I think the peer to peer,
30:01like, uh, we've met a couple of times, you know, uh, and it's, it's exciting to have black women in
30:07the spirits industry, black people, people of color in the spirits industry, because we all need to get
30:11together and learn from each other. Some of these challenges like you may have, or you may have,
30:17I don't have, and, or vice versa. And we can all learn from what we're learning in the, in the industry.
30:23So I think it's very important both ways. And can I just ask something? Because you touched
30:28a very important point. Um, I feel that as a, you know, first cohort of black people that are
30:37entering this industry, we're not going at the same pace. There's people that are already ahead
30:42of us that did open the doors for us. And we're doing the same, uh, for, for the one behind us.
30:47But I have to shout out like everybody that's, you know, just going faster and all of that,
30:52because there's not one person that I've reached out to that has not answered or not said, let me
30:59hook you up. Let me connect you to this person. So I think that everybody is feeling a sense of
31:04responsibility to make sure that people that look like us are able to advance in this industry.
31:11So I just wanted to say that it's, it's, it's good. Absolutely. I mean, you and I have been on
31:15several panels with, with black owner, uh, spirit, uh, uh, brands, and we've all asked questions,
31:22but we all try to keep in touch and see what everybody is doing because we are all learning,
31:26but we're all going on the same pace. We're all going up. Yes. Yes. I mean, I can relate to that.
31:31I, all the time people like, so how do you get into spirits? I literally give like a play by play.
31:36These are all the steps. This is how you do it. I get made fun of because people like,
31:39yo, you can charge for that, right? You don't have to just give that away for free,
31:42but I'm so excited about space and the momentum. So like giving that, that knowledge is,
31:47is very rewarding in a lot of respects. Wine and spirits is a massive industry. You can enter
31:54bartender, producer, distributor, ambassador, educator. For those people that are looking for
32:02tangible next steps, whether it's advice, redirect resources. What are some things that you can offer
32:08to, to those that are listening to this conversation that may be like, I want to get in, but tiptoe.
32:14How do we push them over the edge and get them on this, on this side of things?
32:19I would definitely say if this is an industry that you would like to be in, the most important thing
32:24that you can do for yourself is to educate yourself. Read, Google search, buy the information.
32:32It may seem expensive, but I'm sure I'm 100% sure it's going to be valuable to you. The worst thing
32:38that you can do is get into this industry and not know anything about it or the ins and outs about it.
32:45You at least need to know the basics about this industry, because what's going to happen is if you
32:50start a business in this industry, you're going to end up paying people to do something that you
32:55probably can do yourself. And you're going to be wasting money when that can be money coming back
33:00to you, creating your salary. And most people feel like, okay, I'll hire somebody to do that. That's,
33:06that's easy, but it's a waste of money. And one thing we do as African-Americans, we take the easy
33:12way out. It's easy to pay somebody to do something you don't want to do, but you need to do the work
33:17yourself. You need to read and you need to gather the information for the industry that you want to
33:22be in. I, I completely agree with that. Um, I think that you also have to be ready. Um,
33:30if we didn't, if we weren't ready when, let's say we approach Kenny or we approach Fawn,
33:36we're like just asking questions. It's okay to ask questions, but once your product is, is, is there,
33:41it's like you get on the next step right away because you're already ready. You did something yourself,
33:47and it also shows that you're involved in what you're doing and you're not just like,
33:51well, tell me how to do this. Tell me how to do that. So again, to your point, educating yourself
33:56and making sure that you get your product, you know, completed before reaching out is I think a
34:02major. I'm going to take this a little bit, even, even more broad in that, even if it's not to create
34:08your own product, if you want to get in the spirit space, understanding that it's, it's a complete
34:14business. So if there's some, if you are somebody who loves law or you are somebody who loves accounting,
34:19someone who loves HR, all of those jobs exist. I think people just forget that we are a complete
34:25industry with all of these jobs in it. We have quality control. We have chemists. We have just
34:30people who show up every day and punch a clock and just make things. We have just manufacturing jobs.
34:34All of them exist. They are typically well paid, but the problem that occurred was those jobs usually
34:40passed down from brother to brother to friend to, you know, and so whenever we see these master
34:45distillery jobs, we think that's the magic. The magic is not the master distillery. The magic is
34:49not the master blender. There is some of that end touch, right? It's all of this huge network of
34:54people that are producing the spirit. So find what you love. See if it's in the spirit category,
35:00because it probably is. Also, if you join a company that's larger, you can make mistakes there
35:05and then go start your own thing. Just saying. I mean, I agree with everyone on the panel as well.
35:11You know, definitely educate yourself. But what I do find is that you can educate yourself so much that
35:17you won't move forward. So I always say educate, find out some information. If you can find a mentor,
35:23absolutely, but execute because a lot of people let fear stop them. And that's one of the main reasons
35:30why a lot of people don't start things that they want to do is the fear. And you know what? You're
35:34not going to know everything. It's not going to be 100% perfect. Believe me, we all, I'm sure,
35:39still have challenges every day. Things do not turn out the way that we want them. But you know what?
35:45We keep moving forward. And so that is always my advice. Get the education, get a mentor if you have
35:51one, and move forward. Execute. Feel the fear. Do it anyway. And let me add to that. Make sure it's a
35:59passion that you're chasing and not the check. Because if you jump into this industry looking
36:04for a check versus passion, you're going to be so mad. It's the wrong place. It is the wrong place
36:10for that. Right. The most important question, where can we find y'all? Where can we support y'all?
36:16So for me, you can support me by here, go and grab a glass, a cup, whatever they're selling at these bars.
36:24But no, really, you can visit us at oldarleans.com. You can order. We ship to over 35 states. We're in
36:31seven states. We're in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, California,
36:37New York. You can visit us at all of your local stores here in the city. Target, Walmart,
36:43Walmart, Rouse's, Bromart, Canseco's, Dornex, Sam's, Costco's, Total Wine, all that good stuff. And
36:52we're oldarleans at all social media handles.
36:57So you can find LS Cream if you go directly online, creamls.com. We have a store locator where you
37:03could just put in your postal code and see what your closest store is. We're at all BevMo locations in
37:08California. We're in different states also. So if you go on our solo creators, you're able to
37:14and follow us on Instagram and get these bottles, guys, because now that you know that there's,
37:20you know, all these amazing products, you have a black owned cream liqueur. There's no reason why
37:27anybody in the room, right? There's no reason why, you know, you should go and purchase something else.
37:32If it's of excellence, if it's premium, the taste is good.
37:35Lauren, let's support. And I taste it for the first time. It's so good, y'all.
37:38It is really good, guys. It's delicious. It is tasty. It's delicious.
37:42So I am on Instagram, spirited underscore Tracy with an IE, website coming shortly. And I'm doing
37:49just virtual classes. So feel free to reach out, DM me. I post, I do a lot of whiskey quizzes.
37:54They're on Mondays. So if you guys want to come on Monday evenings and take a whiskey quiz with me,
37:59feel free to join in. And yeah, so that's really it. Website coming soon.
38:04And for me, I am on all social media under Anteo Tequilas or Nayana Ferguson. And actually,
38:11a essence exclusive is I am becoming a partner in a bottled water company as well, because
38:17of course, you have to hydrate while you're drinking, right? So if you follow any of those
38:25social media handles or AnteoTequila.com, you will be able to see all the things that we're doing,
38:31all the education that we're providing, and any other information you want to know about me,
38:36my husband, or Anteo Tequila.
38:39That's awesome. I'm sorry. And I would be remiss, but you have to tell the people that you own
38:43a black-owned spirit brand, and you have to tell them where they can get your black-owned
38:49spirit brand. I'm sorry.
38:50I make whiskey. Yes, I do. At Exclave Spirits across all socials, ExclaveSpirits.com. We make a ride,
38:57we make a bourbon. And the story of Exclave is documenting the forgotten, ignored, or just
39:03straight up stolen contributions that black people have made to spirits. So please support. I love
39:09telling stories. I've very much enjoyed this conversation. And I'm thrilled to introduce
39:15Meet Me at the Bar, who is going to do a cocktail demonstration for us. Yeah, give it up for Meet
39:21Me at the Bar for sure. Yes, yes. They're an amazing group, C and CC. They hit bars all across
39:28the city of New Orleans, making sure that you're reinforcing the existing bonds that you have with
39:33your friends and loved ones, but also start new bonds as well. So I'll give it to y'all.
39:38Thank you, Andrew. What's up, New Orleans? I'm C and I'm CC. And we are Meet Me at the Bar.
39:48Y'all, we just heard a phenomenal panel from these amazing, bad black women in the wine and
39:53spirit industry. We got to give it up for black women one more time. And Andrew, I can't forget about
39:59you. But as we talk about black women, let me take a second and talk about us. As cocktail enthusiasts,
40:06we co-founded Meet Me at the Bar in an effort to maintain bonds and or create new ones through our
40:11curated experiences such as bar tours, cocktail demonstrations, cocktail experiences. Also,
40:17you can catch us in New Orleans or a city near you highlighting different bars of the week.
40:22And CC, tell them why we're here though. Okay, so we are here because we're going to show you all
40:26some very quick and easy cocktails that you can do at home, become your own bartender. We're going to
40:32start off with something real sexy. It's called the exclave magic. All right. Now this cocktail is
40:39giving vacation. I'm thinking more like vacation. Okay, you got to take your bae. This one's giving
40:46like Dominican Republic. Yeah, for sure. You ready? I'm ready, sis. All right, so I need you to
40:51muddle the fruit for me. So we got some fresh strawberries and blackberries and a little bit of
40:56mint, y'all. Again, we're using stuff that's already at home in the crib in the fridge. So just throw it all in
41:01there. Yup. I muddled this. You good? I'm good. All right, add some mint. Got it. You got it?
41:07Mm-hmm. But you got to do a little cute little thing to it though. You did it? Oh, no, I ain't
41:11doing it. You know I got to do it. All right, come on, show them. Because what you do for the
41:14mint? To get those oils out. You got to smack it. You got to smack it. All right, uh-huh. All right,
41:23one ounce of simple serve. One ounce of simple serve. Oh, I'm skipping over. Now you know the rules. I know the
41:28rules. I'm sorry. I'm going to tell them. But you know the rules. I do. All right. So let me tell
41:34you the rule. You have to add the liquor last. Reason being is because if you mess up anything,
41:39we could replace the fruit. You can't replace the liquor. Because no liquor left behind. None.
41:46We do not waste liquor. And that's the rule. Add the liquor last. Now you can add one ounce,
41:52ex-clay. I sure did. And now you can add two ounces of liquor right rosé. We actually gonna
41:58put some ice in here real quick. All right.
42:03And now we got some black girl magic rosé. So this is kind of giving sangria.
42:11Y'all love a good sangria. I do.
42:13Yes. I want some sangria. Hell yes. I love sangria. Right. All right. My favorite part.
42:22Shake, shake, shake, shake. All right. We're going to strain this, y'all, into a stimulus wine glass.
42:32Look how sexy that is. Oh, it's so cute. I know. So that is our first drink,
42:37the exclave magic. Can I taste that? Right. So we can taste this afterwards, right? Yeah, we got you.
42:49All right. What we got up next? All right. So our next one is going to be the Smirnoff
42:53Watermelon Mule Refresher. So this is giving summer, poolside, cabana, just like real cute.
43:02All right. So mother the watermelon. So we got some fresh watermelon for y'all,
43:06because it's summertime. I mean, what's better than fresh watermelon in the south in the summer?
43:12So we're going to muddle that to get it to get the juices out. All right. All right.
43:19Give me three, four ounces of simple syrup.
43:24Got it. Three, four ounces of lemon juice. Now when we make our cocktails, we suggest to use fresh
43:31lemon juice. You can use, you know, bottled, but it just tastes better when it's just fresh. Oh, for sure.
43:37It makes everything better when it's fresh. And it's so easy to get fresh juice. It is. It is. Right.
43:44It's a significant difference. If you have the opportunity to try the difference, you'll know.
43:48So now she added two ounces Smirnoff vodka. Top it with ice.
43:57Then we're going to do the shake. Your favorite part.
44:01My favorite part. I wish I could cue some music.
44:03So a mule is not a mule. If you don't have a copper, a copper mug.
44:13Don't send me a mule with no regular glass. That's like going to a bar and asking for champagne
44:17and they put it in a wine glass or a cup. It's like, is it even champagne? Like just, you can keep it.
44:22It's a whole experience. I need a whole experience.
44:24It is. Like, I'm not feeling that.
44:28Got to open this ginger barrel.
44:31You need some help, girl? I do. I'll open this.
44:38Help a sister out. In the meantime, again, this is giving Cabana Summer VIP vibes by the pool.
44:45Again, the watermelon refresher. We're in with Smirnoff. Fresh watermelon. And we're going to top this with some ginger beer.
44:58Cheers. The watermelon refresher.
45:03All right. For our last cocktail, it's a carnival margarita.
45:07So you're going to add in your lime, agave, and tequila. So three, four ounces of lime.
45:12Three, four ounces of lime. All right. Three, four ounces of agave. All right.
45:16And two ounces of antio tequila. I love agave in my margaritas because it just makes
45:23the flavor better than simple syrup. I mean, you can use simple syrup, but agave.
45:27Margaritas. I think agave is, we always use agave nectar instead of simple syrup. It's much better.
45:32Tequila's been my choice for my, uh, I was going to say Mardi Gras for essence. It's been my choice of liquor this weekend.
45:39But we have our antio tequila here, where we're adding.
45:48A little bit of ice. And I think you're using the world's only coconut lime blanco tequila, right?
45:54Hey, come talk about it.
45:55Right. It's the world's only one.
45:58And it's delicious.
45:59I wasn't sipping it in the backstage.
46:03Of course not. No.
46:11And what makes this the carnival margarita, sis?
46:13Come on, tell her. You got to float it.
46:15So we have the Ole Orleans Carnival Red, and we're going to just take our bar spoon,
46:20have your glass here, turn your bar spoon over.
46:30Now let me tell you what this one's giving.
46:33This is giving first date, the first time you invite somebody to your house.
46:37When you want to show out.
46:38This is going to get you the second date.
46:39This is going to get you the second date.
46:43You put that fancy float on there, yes. You got the fancy float.
46:47And last but not least, you all heard about the L.S. Cream liqueur.
46:51This is a very sexy, smooth liqueur that you can drink on the rocks.
46:56It's giving holiday vibes. It's giving espresso martini.
47:00I love those.
47:01I know. Those are for the elite.
47:03Chocolate martini, espresso martini.
47:05Yes, yes. My hands are wet. Can you open that for me, babe?
47:09I'm going to squeeze behind you.
47:10Get some ice.
47:13You got it. Go ahead.
47:19Again, sexy liqueur. Serve it right over ice.
47:27I would throw a little cinnamon stick in there, you know, make it fancy.
47:31And there you have it.
47:32Cheers.
47:32Yes.
47:33Cheers.
47:33Salud.
47:38So that's all that we have, y'all.
47:39Again, featuring the amazing panelists, their spirits.
47:43You can find us on Instagram, underscore meet me at the bar.
47:46We hope to see you at the bar.
47:48Because why?
47:49Friends do not let friends drink alone.
47:51Never.
47:52And the bar never closes.
47:53I like it.
47:54Thanks.
47:55Amazing.
47:56Awesome.
47:56Great work.
47:57Thank y'all so much.
48:00And you can see just how easy making cocktails is.
48:03So you do not need to be intimidated.
48:05You can do all of this in the comfort of your home with these amazing products that we have
48:09right here.
48:11Once again, my name is Andrew Albert.
48:13It has been a pleasure to host this conversation.
48:15And I can't wait to get backstage to try these drinks.
48:18Yes.
48:18I know.
48:21Thank y'all.
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