August 14, 2024 • 16 mins
Kweillin Gordon, James Roach, and Sheldon Johns-Harris, founders of Greenwood Whiskey, join Host Ramses Ja to discuss their story and future plans for their company.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Spreading the word about black owned alcohol brands is part
and parcel to their successes. It also contributes to increasing
their brand equity in the marketplace. One such brand is
performing exceptionally well, has made headlines, and definitely is one
to keep an eye on. They are committed to carving
out their own lane as well as creating positive change
in an industry that has historically overlooked black contributions. Greenwood
(00:24):
Whisky was born out of a shared passion for exceptional
spirits and a commitment to preserving a rich heritage. Founded
by a group of friends in twenty eighteen, the brand
draws inspiration from the historic Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma,
also known as Black Wall Street. This area was a
thriving hub of African American entrepreneurship and culture in the
early twentieth century. Today we are joined by Greenwood Whisky's
(00:48):
very own Quayland, Gordon, James Roach, and Sheldon Johns Harris
to discuss the brand, the vision, and the significance. This
is the Black Information at Work Daily podcast and I'm
your hoss Ramses job all right. Quaylon, Gordon, James Roach,
and Sheldon Johns Harris welcome to the show. We got
(01:08):
a lot of folks on the call today, but listen,
you brothers are an inspiration and we are honored to
have the three of you on today's show. We start
our stories at the beginning, and we obviously have to
roll out that same red carpet for you. We want
our listeners to know who they're talking to. So I'm
going to ask the three of you to do us
(01:29):
a favor. Each of you give us a little bit
about your background and sort of what led you to
this conversation today. We're gonna start with you, Quaylon. Tell
us a little bit maybe about where you grew up,
where you went to school, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Perfect excited about being here, definitely, So a little bit
about me. I was born in Pittsburgh, raised in Atlanta, Georgia,
and we went to Georgia Southern University, undergrad grad degree
from from Troy.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
As I experienced growing up in Atlanta, you.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Know, single parent, household, I was given that concept of
how you have to go to college, that's how you're
going to you know, create a laying for yourself in life,
right like that was extremely important, and I focused on
athletics and definitely did that.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
But I realized going through that journey.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Especially as I got involved in corporate America, that it
was something else that fulfilled me.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
And that was and that was an entrepreneurship, right.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It was for some people, you know, the punching that clock,
the nine to five like it works, But for me,
I wanted that level of freedom. Not only was my
time with financial freedom, and I realized that entrepreneurship will
take me there.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Okay, all right, James, give us a little bit about
your background.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Hey, pleasure to be here.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
So I'm from Bronx, New York, as they say, born
and raised crowd HBCU alum of Himping University. Sheldon's actually
my college roommate. So what brought me to Atlanta? Wanted
to move my family down there to you know, get
a better line. I've been a quality of life so
on and so forth. But what brought brought me here today
(03:05):
is friendship. So you know, we started this business as friends.
We hung out with each other, we did everything together,
and then also just having friends that had the courage
to do this because if it was if I had
to do this by myself, I probably would never started.
So having three friends that gave me the courage and
had the courage to start and do something entrepreneurial is
(03:25):
what brought me here today.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Fantastic, all right, And Sheldon, give me a little bit
about your background.
Speaker 6 (03:31):
So I am from Queens, New York, born to Jamaican parents.
So I do waive that black, golden green flag.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Proud you should.
Speaker 6 (03:40):
I graduated from Hampton University. Like James said, he is
my roommate from Hampton, I also graduated from Howard University
School of Law. So regardless of what anybody says, I
graduated from the real ay too. But you know what
brings me here Like I can remember as a kid,
you know, when they asked the kids, you know, what
do you want to be when you grow up? A
(04:00):
lot of times the answer changes, but what was always
consistent was that I always wanted to work for myself.
So even as an attorney, I've been self employed for
over fifteen years now, right, And to do it with
you know, some of my closest friends is the great thing.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
So one of the things that you know, you mentioned
that you are an attorney. Let's establish your all three
of your roles in the business. So let's start with
you quailing, what role do you have in Greenwood?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So I am I'll play my role as the CEO
of Greenwood Whiskey. Also call it the janitor, the secretary
in essence, whatever it takes.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It's kind of how I look at my position.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So whatever is needed, I'm the pinchator for whatever's needed
in the brand understood.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
And James, my social.
Speaker 5 (04:49):
Title is a cheap operation operation officer. On my background
is in logistic transportation, so they put.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Me there, okay.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
And then Sheldon, so as I stated, I'm an attorney,
so you know, in the house attorney obviously I get
to look over contracts and that kind of thing. But
also my business title is the Chief Business Development Officer
and that pretty much means I kick in doors if
doors need to be kicked in. So if there's a
challenge in front of us and we don't know how
to figure it out, then, like you know, put.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
It like this.
Speaker 6 (05:18):
James has referred to me as debo.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, let's stay with you. Let's stay with you. So
Sheldon give us the origin story of Greenwood Whiskey.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
So you know, the beautiful thing is like like we
say that James is my roommate from college. But Chame's
not here today is his friend from high school, right,
and Chae kg over twenty years ago here in Atlanta.
You know, we've all been in Atlanta for a little
while now. We'd like to hang out together, you know,
(05:48):
and the space that comes from is one that we're
all familiar with. Right in the basement, right, you know,
I kind of set in the basement.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
It's like the man cave.
Speaker 6 (05:56):
We know what goes down on there. But you know,
today KG is just like, yo, let's let's do something together.
Let's let's let's let's be great together. Let's do something
to build a foundation for our families to stand on
moving forward. And we kind of looked around, kicked around
a couple ideas, and eventually we kind of looked into
our hand and was like, yoh, we got a glass
(06:17):
in our hand.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Let's do this.
Speaker 6 (06:20):
So you know, it's kind of like the origin story
in a nutshell.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Okay, Okay, So how about this Quailand, Why don't you
talk to me a little bit about what makes Greenwood
whiskey unique, Like what makes the maybe the flavors or
maybe the stilling, or maybe there's I don't need the
secret formula. But you know what makes it unique in
the marketplace.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, And one of those things was our approach to it.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So when we took a look at at the at
the industry as a whole, with us being whiskey drinkers
and what we'd like to drink, we wanted to to
come up with the recipe that would be versatile enough
to be consumed on the rocks or neat, but also
can go into cocktail and not overpower the cocktail. Because
you have four guys, all of us have a different
type of palate. So you know, we were successful in
(07:05):
putting that together with our with our flaship Bring with
Whiskey product which is fifty one percent rye grain, forty
four percent corn and the rest multi barley. So that
combination of a light spice, the sweetness of the corn,
and the addition of the multi barley brought together a
(07:26):
unique recipe that many have been seen on the market.
And additionally we age it's aged four years and charged
American oak barrels. So once again we want to do
a combination that was that was palatable for the new
whiskey drinker. You just got in resting and drinking whiskey.
You could put it in a cocktail in good old
fashioned and enjoyed. You've been drinking whiskey for years. You
(07:48):
could drink it neat just with the glass. So the
versatility is what is what makes our brand, our products
stand out. And from a brand standpoint, there's a where
our unique brand with the unique there's nothing really like
that on the market.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
We are here today with Greenwood Whiskey's very own Wayland Gordon,
James Roach and Sheldon Johns Harris to discuss the brand,
the vision, and the significance. All right, Quail, and let's
come back to you. How has it been getting this
off the ground. I'd imagine that there's a lot of
legal things that you have to go through. There's obviously
you have to market it, you have to you have
(08:26):
to create the product in the first place. Talk to
us about maybe kind of one of the more challenging
parts or just something that stands out in your mind
in terms of bringing this to the market.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, it was extremely challenging.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Like when we originally talked about we started the concept
started in twenty eighteen. We didn't come to market until
October of twenty twenty, so it took us, you know,
over two and a half years to bring a product
to market and one of the challenges that exists with
it because this is an extremely regulated industry, and part
of that is that it's a three tier system. So
(08:59):
what in layman's terms, that means the producer such as us,
cannot sell the product directly to the consumer, So we
have to go through another tier, which is distribution, the
distributor who then sells that product to a retail location,
which then sells it to the end consumer. So the
challenge is it's not something that we could go direct
(09:20):
the consumer and talk to our market We had to
go through a distributor. And there's only a handful of distributor.
So to put it in perspective, you.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Know, there's.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And Georgia Loan, there's seven thousand brands and there's six distributors, right,
so we had to go in and have that communication
and find a distributor understood the vision, understood the product,
understood our marketing, understood our target demographics and be on
board with that to just give us the opportunity to
sell to your local retailer liquor store where you can
(09:53):
walk in there and buy a bottle.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Now, now another part of the brand that is really
apparent is this connection to Black Wall Street and the
kind of the legacy of Black Wall Street. And that's
very apparent on all of the marketing materials, on the website,
all this sort of stuff. So clearly honoring the legacy
of Black Wall Street is a theme here. So James,
(10:16):
let's let's tap you in for this question. Explain why
this is particularly significant to Greenwood Whiskey.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
The significance is we wanted our brand to stand for
something we wanted when so in the development of the brand,
we had to come up with a name, and we
rattled some names off. I I wish I can remember
some of the names we had, but Greenwood, you know,
I stumbled on the name just remembering seeing somebody with
a chain that said black Wall Street.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I typed in black Wall Street.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Greenwood Whiskey came up, read the entire story, and he
just said, this is perfect. This is exactly who we
want to be represent is black excellence. They were about community, entrepreneurial,
keeping the black dollar economic power. So that's what we
wanted our brand to stand for. So it's the perfect
name for what we're trying to do and then happen
(11:11):
to coincide with everything that happened twenty eighteen. But this
comes to market in twenty twenty, you start to see,
you know, a desire you know in the black community too.
We want to support black businesses. Everything that happened with
George Floyd and then you saw what happened, and then
even the spirit industry has now even caught on and
it is trying and attempting to you know, bring the
(11:34):
black brands to the forefront. So it kind of just
coincided with a perfect marriage. Like I just say, it
was written that we came up with this name and
then everything that happened, and then, like I said, the
circle back. We we want we went the brand to
stand for something. We wanted the name to be powerful
and impactful. We want to inspire future entrepreneurs and just
our community that hey you can do this. Like I've
(11:56):
said this before, like we kind of see our athletes
and entertained is that's the only ones that we see
and they have their businesses and normally we do a
business in our community is kind of like you're gonna
do a hair salon or a T shirt, so you're
gonna do something like that. How often do you see
a black man that owns a spirit brand like to
(12:20):
say that when we go and we walk around and
we're in the you know, the balls and restaurants and
we're you know, talking to people and just see the
look at their phase of just how proud they are.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Just Eve like, Wow, that's exciting, It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, yeah, I could see that. Sheldon. I'm gonna ask
you this one.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Let's talk about We've discussed kind of recycling black dollars
and supporting black businesses, and this obviously is something that
a lot of people can be proud of. To James's point,
let's say, you know, I'm a person who lives in Arizona.
I'm a whiskey drinker, and I want to buy Greenwood Whiskey.
(12:55):
How can I How can our listeners get this product
in their homes maybe in their businesses?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Talk to us a little bit about that.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
Yeah, you can go to our website right now by
Greenwood and it'll take you to the online portal where
you can actually make a purchase of Greenwood wiskin and
have it delivered right to your door.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Wow. Okay, all right, well, fantastic You know.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
The reason I asked that question is because I know
that there's some I know it's a lot more challenging
than people know to get distribution for and out for
a spirit brand. I know that how involved the government
is with the whole process. They need to be involved
with the bottle, they need to be involved everything, you
(13:38):
know what I mean. So once upon a time I
had a position at a company called Armadale Vodka, which
was jay Z's vodka, and then later I ended up
owning a couple of night clubs that I own still
right now, And so I've kind of been on both
sides of that coin, and I realize that it is
(14:00):
not so cut and dry, and that even what you've
just said, Sheldon, creating the infrastructure to get a bottle
of alcohol from Atlanta or wherever it's you know, wherever
it's poured into the bottle to a consumer's door, even
that part is a monumental lift.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So my hat's off to you for that.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Obviously, you all are accomplishing something amazing. And my hope
is that, of course our listeners today are going to
try it out and become fans and then continue to
support the brand as the distribution continues to come together
in other markets around the country, which again I know
that is is not as easy as as you're making
(14:41):
it look. So before we jump, do us a favor.
I want you to plug the website again, and I
also want you to plug any social media you know,
anything like any connective tissue that you can leave for
our listeners to, you know, plug in with the brand
and make sure that know they watch the brand continue
to grow and that also they can become consumers of
(15:04):
the grand So I would imagine that this is probably
a better question for quailing.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So you can connect with us at Greenwood Whiskey dot
Com is our website. On social media, Greenwood Whiskey on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
anywhere anywhere, any social media, any platform you go to.
We're Greenwood Whiskey. We're extremely consistent. So I'm looking forward
(15:30):
to connecting with with everyone so we can tell you
more about our story and let you know what's going on.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
So looking forward to it.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Well, I'd like to thank you all for your time
and for your passion.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
This is fantastic. I couldn't imagine.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
People wanting to drink anything else, so you know, this
is a monumental thing, and we couldn't be prouder here
once again. Today's guests are Greenwood, Whiskey's very own Quayland Gordon,
James Roach and Sheldons Harris. This has been a production
of the Black Information Network. Today's show was produced by
(16:06):
Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use
the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While
you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all
of our episodes. I'm your host, Ramse's jaw On on
social media and join us tomorrow as we share our
news with our voice from our perspective right here on
the Black Information Network Daily Podcast
Spreading the word about black owned alcohol brands is part
and parcel to their successes. It also contributes to increasing
their brand equity in the marketplace. One such brand is
performing exceptionally well, has made headlines, and definitely is one
to keep an eye on. They are committed to carving
out their own lane as well as creating positive change
in an industry that has historically overlooked black contributions. Greenwood
(00:24):
Whisky was born out of a shared passion for exceptional
spirits and a commitment to preserving a rich heritage. Founded
by a group of friends in twenty eighteen, the brand
draws inspiration from the historic Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma,
also known as Black Wall Street. This area was a
thriving hub of African American entrepreneurship and culture in the
early twentieth century. Today we are joined by Greenwood Whisky's
(00:48):
very own Quayland, Gordon, James Roach, and Sheldon Johns Harris
to discuss the brand, the vision, and the significance. This
is the Black Information at Work Daily podcast and I'm
your hoss Ramses job all right. Quaylon, Gordon, James Roach,
and Sheldon Johns Harris welcome to the show. We got
(01:08):
a lot of folks on the call today, but listen,
you brothers are an inspiration and we are honored to
have the three of you on today's show. We start
our stories at the beginning, and we obviously have to
roll out that same red carpet for you. We want
our listeners to know who they're talking to. So I'm
going to ask the three of you to do us
(01:29):
a favor. Each of you give us a little bit
about your background and sort of what led you to
this conversation today. We're gonna start with you, Quaylon. Tell
us a little bit maybe about where you grew up,
where you went to school, all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Perfect excited about being here, definitely, So a little bit
about me. I was born in Pittsburgh, raised in Atlanta, Georgia,
and we went to Georgia Southern University, undergrad grad degree
from from Troy.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
As I experienced growing up in Atlanta, you.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Know, single parent, household, I was given that concept of
how you have to go to college, that's how you're
going to you know, create a laying for yourself in life,
right like that was extremely important, and I focused on
athletics and definitely did that.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
But I realized going through that journey.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Especially as I got involved in corporate America, that it
was something else that fulfilled me.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
And that was and that was an entrepreneurship, right.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It was for some people, you know, the punching that clock,
the nine to five like it works, But for me,
I wanted that level of freedom. Not only was my
time with financial freedom, and I realized that entrepreneurship will
take me there.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Okay, all right, James, give us a little bit about
your background.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Hey, pleasure to be here.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
So I'm from Bronx, New York, as they say, born
and raised crowd HBCU alum of Himping University. Sheldon's actually
my college roommate. So what brought me to Atlanta? Wanted
to move my family down there to you know, get
a better line. I've been a quality of life so
on and so forth. But what brought brought me here today
(03:05):
is friendship. So you know, we started this business as friends.
We hung out with each other, we did everything together,
and then also just having friends that had the courage
to do this because if it was if I had
to do this by myself, I probably would never started.
So having three friends that gave me the courage and
had the courage to start and do something entrepreneurial is
(03:25):
what brought me here today.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Fantastic, all right, And Sheldon, give me a little bit
about your background.
Speaker 6 (03:31):
So I am from Queens, New York, born to Jamaican parents.
So I do waive that black, golden green flag.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Proud you should.
Speaker 6 (03:40):
I graduated from Hampton University. Like James said, he is
my roommate from Hampton, I also graduated from Howard University
School of Law. So regardless of what anybody says, I
graduated from the real ay too. But you know what
brings me here Like I can remember as a kid,
you know, when they asked the kids, you know, what
do you want to be when you grow up? A
(04:00):
lot of times the answer changes, but what was always
consistent was that I always wanted to work for myself.
So even as an attorney, I've been self employed for
over fifteen years now, right, And to do it with
you know, some of my closest friends is the great thing.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
So one of the things that you know, you mentioned
that you are an attorney. Let's establish your all three
of your roles in the business. So let's start with
you quailing, what role do you have in Greenwood?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
So I am I'll play my role as the CEO
of Greenwood Whiskey. Also call it the janitor, the secretary
in essence, whatever it takes.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It's kind of how I look at my position.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So whatever is needed, I'm the pinchator for whatever's needed
in the brand understood.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
And James, my social.
Speaker 5 (04:49):
Title is a cheap operation operation officer. On my background
is in logistic transportation, so they put.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Me there, okay.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
And then Sheldon, so as I stated, I'm an attorney,
so you know, in the house attorney obviously I get
to look over contracts and that kind of thing. But
also my business title is the Chief Business Development Officer
and that pretty much means I kick in doors if
doors need to be kicked in. So if there's a
challenge in front of us and we don't know how
to figure it out, then, like you know, put.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
It like this.
Speaker 6 (05:18):
James has referred to me as debo.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, let's stay with you. Let's stay with you. So
Sheldon give us the origin story of Greenwood Whiskey.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
So you know, the beautiful thing is like like we
say that James is my roommate from college. But Chame's
not here today is his friend from high school, right,
and Chae kg over twenty years ago here in Atlanta.
You know, we've all been in Atlanta for a little
while now. We'd like to hang out together, you know,
(05:48):
and the space that comes from is one that we're
all familiar with. Right in the basement, right, you know,
I kind of set in the basement.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
It's like the man cave.
Speaker 6 (05:56):
We know what goes down on there. But you know,
today KG is just like, yo, let's let's do something together.
Let's let's let's let's be great together. Let's do something
to build a foundation for our families to stand on
moving forward. And we kind of looked around, kicked around
a couple ideas, and eventually we kind of looked into
our hand and was like, yoh, we got a glass
(06:17):
in our hand.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Let's do this.
Speaker 6 (06:20):
So you know, it's kind of like the origin story
in a nutshell.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Okay, Okay, So how about this Quailand, Why don't you
talk to me a little bit about what makes Greenwood
whiskey unique, Like what makes the maybe the flavors or
maybe the stilling, or maybe there's I don't need the
secret formula. But you know what makes it unique in
the marketplace.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, And one of those things was our approach to it.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So when we took a look at at the at
the industry as a whole, with us being whiskey drinkers
and what we'd like to drink, we wanted to to
come up with the recipe that would be versatile enough
to be consumed on the rocks or neat, but also
can go into cocktail and not overpower the cocktail. Because
you have four guys, all of us have a different
type of palate. So you know, we were successful in
(07:05):
putting that together with our with our flaship Bring with
Whiskey product which is fifty one percent rye grain, forty
four percent corn and the rest multi barley. So that
combination of a light spice, the sweetness of the corn,
and the addition of the multi barley brought together a
(07:26):
unique recipe that many have been seen on the market.
And additionally we age it's aged four years and charged
American oak barrels. So once again we want to do
a combination that was that was palatable for the new
whiskey drinker. You just got in resting and drinking whiskey.
You could put it in a cocktail in good old
fashioned and enjoyed. You've been drinking whiskey for years. You
(07:48):
could drink it neat just with the glass. So the
versatility is what is what makes our brand, our products
stand out. And from a brand standpoint, there's a where
our unique brand with the unique there's nothing really like
that on the market.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
We are here today with Greenwood Whiskey's very own Wayland Gordon,
James Roach and Sheldon Johns Harris to discuss the brand,
the vision, and the significance. All right, Quail, and let's
come back to you. How has it been getting this
off the ground. I'd imagine that there's a lot of
legal things that you have to go through. There's obviously
you have to market it, you have to you have
(08:26):
to create the product in the first place. Talk to
us about maybe kind of one of the more challenging
parts or just something that stands out in your mind
in terms of bringing this to the market.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, it was extremely challenging.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Like when we originally talked about we started the concept
started in twenty eighteen. We didn't come to market until
October of twenty twenty, so it took us, you know,
over two and a half years to bring a product
to market and one of the challenges that exists with
it because this is an extremely regulated industry, and part
of that is that it's a three tier system. So
(08:59):
what in layman's terms, that means the producer such as us,
cannot sell the product directly to the consumer, So we
have to go through another tier, which is distribution, the
distributor who then sells that product to a retail location,
which then sells it to the end consumer. So the
challenge is it's not something that we could go direct
(09:20):
the consumer and talk to our market We had to
go through a distributor. And there's only a handful of distributor.
So to put it in perspective, you.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Know, there's.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And Georgia Loan, there's seven thousand brands and there's six distributors, right,
so we had to go in and have that communication
and find a distributor understood the vision, understood the product,
understood our marketing, understood our target demographics and be on
board with that to just give us the opportunity to
sell to your local retailer liquor store where you can
(09:53):
walk in there and buy a bottle.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Now, now another part of the brand that is really
apparent is this connection to Black Wall Street and the
kind of the legacy of Black Wall Street. And that's
very apparent on all of the marketing materials, on the website,
all this sort of stuff. So clearly honoring the legacy
of Black Wall Street is a theme here. So James,
(10:16):
let's let's tap you in for this question. Explain why
this is particularly significant to Greenwood Whiskey.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
The significance is we wanted our brand to stand for
something we wanted when so in the development of the brand,
we had to come up with a name, and we
rattled some names off. I I wish I can remember
some of the names we had, but Greenwood, you know,
I stumbled on the name just remembering seeing somebody with
a chain that said black Wall Street.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I typed in black Wall Street.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
Greenwood Whiskey came up, read the entire story, and he
just said, this is perfect. This is exactly who we
want to be represent is black excellence. They were about community, entrepreneurial,
keeping the black dollar economic power. So that's what we
wanted our brand to stand for. So it's the perfect
name for what we're trying to do and then happen
(11:11):
to coincide with everything that happened twenty eighteen. But this
comes to market in twenty twenty, you start to see,
you know, a desire you know in the black community too.
We want to support black businesses. Everything that happened with
George Floyd and then you saw what happened, and then
even the spirit industry has now even caught on and
it is trying and attempting to you know, bring the
(11:34):
black brands to the forefront. So it kind of just
coincided with a perfect marriage. Like I just say, it
was written that we came up with this name and
then everything that happened, and then, like I said, the
circle back. We we want we went the brand to
stand for something. We wanted the name to be powerful
and impactful. We want to inspire future entrepreneurs and just
our community that hey you can do this. Like I've
(11:56):
said this before, like we kind of see our athletes
and entertained is that's the only ones that we see
and they have their businesses and normally we do a
business in our community is kind of like you're gonna
do a hair salon or a T shirt, so you're
gonna do something like that. How often do you see
a black man that owns a spirit brand like to
(12:20):
say that when we go and we walk around and
we're in the you know, the balls and restaurants and
we're you know, talking to people and just see the
look at their phase of just how proud they are.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Just Eve like, Wow, that's exciting, It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Yeah, yeah, I could see that. Sheldon. I'm gonna ask
you this one.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Let's talk about We've discussed kind of recycling black dollars
and supporting black businesses, and this obviously is something that
a lot of people can be proud of. To James's point,
let's say, you know, I'm a person who lives in Arizona.
I'm a whiskey drinker, and I want to buy Greenwood Whiskey.
(12:55):
How can I How can our listeners get this product
in their homes maybe in their businesses?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Talk to us a little bit about that.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
Yeah, you can go to our website right now by
Greenwood and it'll take you to the online portal where
you can actually make a purchase of Greenwood wiskin and
have it delivered right to your door.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Wow. Okay, all right, well, fantastic You know.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
The reason I asked that question is because I know
that there's some I know it's a lot more challenging
than people know to get distribution for and out for
a spirit brand. I know that how involved the government
is with the whole process. They need to be involved
with the bottle, they need to be involved everything, you
(13:38):
know what I mean. So once upon a time I
had a position at a company called Armadale Vodka, which
was jay Z's vodka, and then later I ended up
owning a couple of night clubs that I own still
right now, And so I've kind of been on both
sides of that coin, and I realize that it is
(14:00):
not so cut and dry, and that even what you've
just said, Sheldon, creating the infrastructure to get a bottle
of alcohol from Atlanta or wherever it's you know, wherever
it's poured into the bottle to a consumer's door, even
that part is a monumental lift.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
So my hat's off to you for that.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Obviously, you all are accomplishing something amazing. And my hope
is that, of course our listeners today are going to
try it out and become fans and then continue to
support the brand as the distribution continues to come together
in other markets around the country, which again I know
that is is not as easy as as you're making
(14:41):
it look. So before we jump, do us a favor.
I want you to plug the website again, and I
also want you to plug any social media you know,
anything like any connective tissue that you can leave for
our listeners to, you know, plug in with the brand
and make sure that know they watch the brand continue
to grow and that also they can become consumers of
(15:04):
the grand So I would imagine that this is probably
a better question for quailing.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So you can connect with us at Greenwood Whiskey dot
Com is our website. On social media, Greenwood Whiskey on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
anywhere anywhere, any social media, any platform you go to.
We're Greenwood Whiskey. We're extremely consistent. So I'm looking forward
(15:30):
to connecting with with everyone so we can tell you
more about our story and let you know what's going on.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
So looking forward to it.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Well, I'd like to thank you all for your time
and for your passion.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
This is fantastic. I couldn't imagine.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
People wanting to drink anything else, so you know, this
is a monumental thing, and we couldn't be prouder here
once again. Today's guests are Greenwood, Whiskey's very own Quayland Gordon,
James Roach and Sheldons Harris. This has been a production
of the Black Information Network. Today's show was produced by
(16:06):
Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use
the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While
you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all
of our episodes. I'm your host, Ramse's jaw On on
social media and join us tomorrow as we share our
news with our voice from our perspective right here on
the Black Information Network Daily Podcast
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