After dropping out of school and struggling with homelessness, a young Christian Navarro was rejected by his top-choice job and accepted a gig sweeping floors at a wine shop. There, Christian fine-tuned his precocious palate and client partnership savvy. The rest is history! What felt like the second-best job offer at the time, actually put Christian on fast-track to where he is now: President, Principal and “Wine Therapist to the Stars” at the iconic one-stop-shop for all things delicious, Wally’s Wines and Spirits. Listen as Christian shares how lessons from his tumultuous childhood helped him brave the COVID-19 pandemic, why brick-and-mortar institutions are here to stay, and what’s in Christian’s glass right now. Plus, Bob learns how far Christian will go for his customers (hint: it’s literally across oceans!).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Math and Magic, a production. I heart radio.
I'm always a person that doesn't look back. You know.
I'm a guy who likes to tear down the rearview mirror,
and I always think about where I'm going, and I
think less about my failures. I'm a little bit like
a defensive back on a football team. I just got
(00:22):
burned for a touchdown. I always think I'm going to
intercept the ball. Hi, I'm Bob Pittman. Welcome to Math
and Magic. Stories from the Frontiers and Marketing. On this podcast,
we explore marketing and business through the two key marketing
concepts of analytics and creativity. Today we're gonna explore the
magic the creativity through a palette, smell and taste and
(00:45):
don't understand how that magic built a career and a
business for remarkable entrepreneur and creative Christian Navarro, the president
of Los Angeles based Wallets. He's been called the wine
Therapist to the Stars, Holly Wood's favorite wine expert, and
(01:06):
the Michael Jordan's of Wine. Born in Mexico City, raised
by a single mom in Palm Springs, he had his
first sip of wine at ten and demonstrated his amazing
nose before he was a teen. He's a high school
dropout who made good. He's been homeless and is now
on the board of an organization focused on helping the homeless.
(01:26):
He loves art, travel, and cooking, and I got to
know him over a decade ago and he helped us
launch cassadrac Ones tequila. But above all else, he's a
really great guy. Christian. Welcome, Hi Bob, thanks for having me.
This is a real big treat for me. Well, listen,
before we dig into your life and your lessons, and
you've got a lot of them, we want to explore
you in sixty seconds. Ready, Ready? Do you prefer sunrises
(01:51):
or sunsets, Palm Springs or Los Angeles? Red or white wine? Why?
Or tequila? Now it's tequila. A car or motorcycle both,
Picasso or Matisse, fiction or nonfiction, nonfiction? Cats or dogs? Dogs? Okay,
(02:15):
here we go. It's about to get harder. Smartest person
you know. It could be Mike Milkin, childhood hero, Leonardo
da Vinci. Okay, let's get a really hard for you.
Favorite wine, whateverything in my glass, favorite clothing designer. Right now,
it's Selene with Hetty Lemon, secret talent, struggling, guilty pleasure
(02:40):
watching TV game shows. So what would the title of
your autobiography be? I would say, perseverance and giving back.
All right, let's get going. I got to know Christian
when we launched Contadrogas tequila. Gonzalez, my co founder and
genius CEO of Consadragonas, I had a tasting party in
(03:01):
l A thrown by my friend and the founder of
Daily Candy, Danny Levy. She invited all the folks she
thought should know about this new tequila, and Christian you came.
You had great ideas, terrific advice, gave us such key
support in the early days and on through the development
of it. Turns out, of course, that lots of folks
(03:22):
look to you for your opinion, both consumers and others
in business restaurant tours, retailers, etcetera. And having your endorsement
was like gold. I was completely new to the spirits
business and had no idea who you really were when
you showed up, But in about a minute I realized
how special you were. Is that the way you usually
(03:44):
discovered new products, You just show up and here you
are and away you go. Well, you know, you know
this because you've discovered so many things yourself. It's a
feel and in any business, forget the product, it's the
people around it that really will end up making the
product what it is. You know, speaking about Castritragonist, I
was compelled to come here and discover this because you
(04:06):
guys are looking at it completely different. So I'm always
looking for things that are authentic, that I can believe in,
that I'd be proud of to share with my friends.
And that's how I do things. So when you find
the product that you love, how do you decide what
to do with it? I mean you must see tons
of products. How do you make that decision about what
fits where? Well, you know, I learned this from a
(04:28):
couple of my friends who are highly successful, and I said,
one of the greatest things you can do in life
is learned to listen. And if I find a product
I like, I really try to listen to what that
producer of that product is trying to do in the
world and what the product itself is trying to say.
And then I try to give advice on many directions.
You know, do you want to be a Budweiser or
(04:50):
do you want to be a Castro dragonist. You want
to go this way or you want to go that way,
And if you listen, you know most things in life
will come clear to you. So Hollywood is a tough
club to break into. Yep, here you are. You're the
go to wine expert for the stars. Was there one
big name that discovered you and your skills and brought
(05:10):
you into that exclusive club. Yeah, there's one guy who
I have most of my career to two guys, really,
but ones in Hollywood. It's named Michael Ovits. We still
do things together today. But in the eighties when I
first got into business, he and Mike Milkin were kings
of Los Angeles and for that part, kings of America
to a large extent. And he took a liking to me,
(05:34):
and at the time, CIA was really the only place
to be, and he turned me on to everyone in
Hollywood through his clients, and that's how it started. I
hoped most of it to Mike Milka and Mike Ovid's
how did you find them or how did they find you?
I was working in a wine store, basically sweeping floors
and helping them put wines in their basket, and we
(05:54):
started talking and I started articulated, and you know Ovid,
she really likes to discover things and disc ever people
and art and all these different things. And he was
just very supportive and had no problems with introducing me
to all of these people. I didn't even know who
they were at the time, and now I'm like one
of the old guys who know the old guys. But
(06:15):
Michael Ow did it all for me. I have to
tell you. So, I know you can't talk about specific people,
but are the stars still the big influencers for wine
and spirits? And how important is it for your business
to use their support and influence In the old days
When I was coming up in the eighties as well,
as you know, celebrity was everything. Now it's important because
(06:38):
they have great followings and influence and social media, etcetera, etcetera.
But now what we're starting to see their influencers, and
then there are influential people, and those influential people can
really change the path of things much how you're doing business, Bob.
I mean, you're not an influencer, but you're one of
the most influential men in the world, and you've created
(06:58):
a lot of opportunity for a lot of people. So
even though celebrity is important, it's becoming lesson less today.
It's interesting and when you think broadly about the lesson
you could share, because this podcast is about lessons, how
would you suggest people use Hollywood to establish products and brands?
Clearly which you've done, and spirits and wines which you've
(07:20):
been associated with have done well. I'm right now advising
a couple of celebrities in particular products which I can't
go into at the moment, but it will come clear soon.
Is I just can't put their name on it and
walk away and expect people to buy. They have to
be all in. You know. The way you were with
castragonis you put your own money into it, You put
(07:40):
your own energy into it, and so did a lot
of your friends. But you have to own it and
you have to really stand behind it. Let's take a
step back in time. I'm gonna get some context on you.
You were born in Mexico City, but your mom brought
you to the U s as a toddler. Why where
and how well? Why? You know the sixties um in
(08:02):
Mexico were a wild place. It wasn't about narcos, it
was about politicos in the sixties, and it was a
very volnable situation. And my father died in an unfortunate circumstance,
and so we came to the US basically in hiding,
and so my mother tried to americanize me, and so
we lived around the country. I lived in Kimberly, Idaho,
(08:24):
and tone Upon, Nevada and all over the place. It
was an out of need, not out of luck. So
you were a kid of the seventies, you were a
teen of the eighties, and you moved around a bit.
As you said, can you paint the picture of those
times where you grew up and what it was like?
(08:44):
What was that environment that that shaped you? For me,
you know, my mother ended up being a victim of
the seventies. So for me as a childhood in all honestly,
it wasn't pleasant. It was bitter, it was poor, it
was abusive, and it was cold. So my memories as
(09:05):
a child I've never been super great. But what it's done,
it now drives me really really hard to try to
make sure that these things don't happen to other people.
And you know, you had this tough childhood. But the
story goes that you had your first sip of wine
at ten, and you impress some seller masters very early
(09:28):
in your life with your smell. Can you tell that story. Yeah,
my mother was working as a cocktail waitress in a
restaurant and I guess there was any really called somalias
and those days O wine steward with one of those
testa band things around his neck, and as a joke,
he asked me to taste the wine, just a little
sip and I said, yeah, this kind of like strawberries,
(09:48):
and he was shocked that somehow I could articulate that.
I don't know if it was luck or I've got
this keen sense of smell and taste. That's it's even
in my dreams. So it's always been extremely important. And
at that point, at ten years old, I knew that
I had something different, but I didn't even really at
(10:09):
that time know what it is, because what I do
now didn't really exist in those days. So looking at
you today, and this is a podcast, so people can't
see you, but they can hear you, you're this refined,
elegant businessman. Those the ways of the world fits in anywhere.
I would have never imagined you were a high school
dropout and you were even homeless for a period of time.
(10:32):
How did that happen? Again? My mother was a victim
of the seventies, and then the seventies got worse and
I called it the eighties, and being in Palm Springs
in that era, it was a very wild time, and
you know, things got more difficult for my mother, and
it was more advantageous for my life and healthier for
my life if I didn't rive it home. And those days,
(10:53):
you know, there weren't computers and so on, so you
couldn't be tracked down. So being homeless was a different
sort of existence. And what did you learn? I mean,
nomad land when's picture of the year and suddenly there's
an interest in this view and this take on the world.
I know it wasn't a pleasant experience at all, but
it's certainly as you pointed out, shaped you what's the
(11:15):
lesson you took away from that, or that you can
see in you that came from that. Well, there's a
number of things. I use it as a teaching tool
now for others. We all remember the crash of oh eight,
you know, and I was a speaker to our staff
when it got very lean that I came from a
lesser position, eating out of dumpsters and so on, and
if I could make it here, then we can all
(11:36):
make it. So creating a calm during adverse times and
scary times, and then now even through the pandemic, this
sort of self assurance that I'm going to make it
through this, and I'm gonna make sure all of my
people make it through this as well. Because I've been
in a much harder position growing up until this pandemic
time and this financial crisis period, they didn't really have
(11:58):
the same effect on me as it does other people,
because I've been at the bottom, and if I can
use that energy to help people stay on top, then
I went and it makes me sleep well. You had
this tough childhood, You drop out of high school, you're homeless,
but you had an inflection point. You had a choice
(12:21):
two jobs. You could work at Penguin's yogurt shop or
at a wine shop. As the story goes, you actually
couldn't get the job you wanted, which was Penguin's yogurt shop,
so you had to take the wine shop job sweeping floors.
Can you tell us the story there? Yeah, the reason
I applied at Penguin's Yogurt and the wine store. It
was on the bus line that my girlfriend at the
(12:43):
time was going to u c l A. I could
read the bus to the job. She could then go
to u c l A. And it made it very easy.
But I really wanted that Penguins Yogurt jobs. I think
it made an hour more and that made the difference
if I was eating craft macaroni and cheese with water
or with milk. And that was a big thing at
that time in my life. And I didn't get that
(13:04):
job at Penguin Jogger because I didn't have a high
school diploma. And so, you know, God touched me and
said that you're gonna work at this wine store. And
here I am today talking to one of the great gurus.
So it's worked out. So fate dealt you the right card.
But how did you get from there up coming the
right hand to Steve Wallace who was Wallly's founder. You know,
(13:27):
it was a very odd situation because I had this
giant book of business and I was twenty four years
old and at the time I didn't even really know
what a book of business was. I was just helping
these guys and I had an advisor. His name is
Ralph Shapiro, who was a very big planthropist and businessman
in l a. And he says, go see my friend
Steve Wallace. Tell him about your book of business. He'll
(13:49):
hire you. He'll make you a partner, and you'll be
able to buy that house you always wanted. It was
twenty four years old and I got a tenth grade education.
I don't know anything, but I listened to this great
man and he sent me there and I went to
talk to Steve and it happened. I couldn't believe it.
It was shocking. But then I was with Steve, and
then he had a particular sort of cool style, and
(14:12):
he showed me so much more about the world. Help
me really developed who I am. Now? How did you
prepare yourself? I mean, you're given this opportunity, but I
know you. You didn't just take the opportunity. You worked
at it. What else did you do to round yourself
out to become the person you are today? From someone
who did not have a silver spoon, but worked very
(14:33):
hard to get where you are? Well, I think you
know somebody once told me, you know, the harder I work,
luckier I get so I really took that the heart,
and so you'll talk to my team now, you know.
And I still worked sixty eighty hours a week, and
I grind all the time. I'm up at four thirty.
But I know I'm not smarter than most, so I
just have to work twice as hard. And what I
(14:54):
try to do is I understand that culture is important,
style is important. All these things for the people I'm
trying to touch, those things are important. So I read
and I read, and I read, and I work, and
I work and I work and I give and I
give and I give, and so far, knock on word,
it's working out. So there must have been a moment,
(15:16):
you know, Steve Wallace brings jan you didn't know what
a book of business was. You're suddenly doing well, But
there has to be a moment in which the page
turned for you and you realized you could have a
life you never dreamed of. What was that moment that
turned the page for you? You know, it's really fairly
recently in when you know, I have two partners now
(15:39):
and one of my big gurus of life is again
named Maurice Marciano, and he was getting ready to retire
and He came on as an investor, but more as
an adviser, and he said to me, he goes, Christian,
what do you dream about? And at that time he
was referring to business primarily. No one had ever asked
me that question, and that just allowed my mind to
(16:00):
blow up that anything was possible, and I had this
great man next to me, Who's going to do that
with me. That was really the point where I finally
believed that I could do anything that I wanted to
if I did my homework and I worked twice as
hard as everybody off. We'll be right back with more
Math and Magic after this quick break. Welcome back to
(16:30):
Math and Magic. Let's hear more from my conversation with
Christian Navarro. So, you know, you talk about the Marciano brothers,
Paula Maurice for people who don't know they were the
co founders of Guests, were highly successful in business, sort
of successful and everything they touched. What did they and
you see in the future? They said, dream big? What
(16:52):
was it you saw that got them and got you excited?
You know, Wallace was a typical wine store that you
here everywhere, and you know I used to go to
Tower records them through all the records. By the records,
they went out of business. Then I used to go
to Blockbuster get a bunch of movies and candy watch movies.
They're out of business. I'm an antiquarium book collector. All
(17:15):
the bookstores are out of business. So I looked around
our sort of library style wine store and I said,
we're going to be out of business next we have
to change, and if we don't change, I'm gonna be
seng shoes next year. So I have this idea, what
do you think? And they said, wow, that sounds like fun.
Let's do it. That's how it started. And so how
(17:37):
did you articulate it? Hell? I articulated is my partners
or European? And I just described our favorite little dino
techas you know, in the great places around the world
that we would eat and drink and carry on. And
I said, why couldn't we do that in Beverly Hills
and then maybe do it all over the country and
all over the world. I think our friends would like it.
I said, yeah, I think our friends will like you too.
(17:58):
And then all of a sudden I found that everybody's
friends seemed to like it, and it's just sort of
snowball from there. So where are you now in that
journey of a wine and spirits retailer to where you
are today? Not everybody understands exactly what you've done with Wally's,
but give us a little bit of the overview. Well,
(18:18):
so Walies was a typical high end wine store, and
then with poem Raies coming in, I had this idea
to create experiential retail. And as we all know, it's
a challenge right now to get people's attention because there's
so much noise out there. And I had this idea
where you could buy, eat, drink, carry on all night
long here great music, meet new people that you'd never
(18:41):
meet before, and share the sort of really great experience,
sort of like a party, or it's almost like a
private club, but private club that everybody's welcome, and communal dining.
And you know you're gonna be sitting next to a
movie star who sitting next to maybe a sixth grade teacher,
sitting next to a janitor who's sitting next to a
captain of industry, or maybe even sitting next to you, Bob,
(19:04):
And you know, all of a sudden, you have these
conversations with people, and these are people normally you would
never ever talk to in your life. So it creates
a really exciting both for your brain and your stomach
and your mouth. This really great experience that's take on
this crazy life of its own. And you know, a
lot of people opposed there, and I've met there and
(19:26):
I've been invited to dozens of weddings. Now it's you know,
I don't like to say I'm proud of what we've done,
but I think we're on our way to a place
where I think we can be proud. So talk to
me a little bit about physical locations versus digital virtual locations.
So my dream is, and I'm talking to you, I'm
in Las Vegas right now. We're under construction at the
(19:46):
new Resorts World place where we're gonna be putting a
Wali's and I'm also putting a speakeasy underneath. So my
idea is to produce maybe ten or twelve of these
around the world and then tie everything to Electron. We're
gonna start it while we's television, so we're gonna have
this whole giant network where we're going to be able
to create this sort of line around the world, so
(20:08):
we'll be able to connect all of these people together.
You know, you know this better than anybody. Every said
for a while, radio is going away. We still need
to connect with people, right I listened to Ryan every morning.
It's better than ever. So people still need people. If
I can keep evolving and listening to my customers, I
don't think the brick and mortar should go away, and
(20:28):
I think if we do it right, it won't go
away because I still need to meet new people. I
want to meet new people. I want to see my
friends now. The electronic method is helping too, so we're
really trying to do both. So the wine business been
around a long time, Um, how has it changed? What's
what's it going through right now? Fundamentally, right now is
(20:49):
going through a major change in the wine business. There
were two or three guys that would say this is
a good wine or this is a bad one. Those
guys are now gone. And the way the world is changing,
it's becoming more communal. Now people want to hear from
their peers if it's good or bad. They don't want
one expert to say this is good or bad. It's
(21:10):
really going through a big change and wineries and a
lot of these big corporations are rushing to try to
change the way they are articulating the quality of their wine.
And that's by getting community to articulate how good the
wine is. So, as you know, I'd love tequila, but
sadly I'm not a wine drinker, know little about it,
(21:30):
but my friends do, and there are plenty of our
listeners who are interested in it. So I want to
steal a second of your time just so we can
give them a little tip here. Can you give them
two or three fantastic wines they may not know about, sure,
depending on where you're sitting, in your sort of style
of what you like to drink. And there are new
(21:51):
really cool wines coming out every day, and this creates
the evolution the way it did in music. We does
the music food and wine is still very similar. You know.
There's a very interesting Spanish wine called Lopez de Heredia
out of Rioha. Generally fairly inexpensive but delicious. It's light,
(22:12):
but it gives you lots of flavor. There's also a
wine in Passa Robust made by a friend of mine
called Alexander Vineyards, and Passa robusts it creates an incredible
value in cabernet. So there's a couple of different wines
that that gives some interests that aren't crazy expensive, but
really gives you high quality taste. So let me extend
(22:34):
it a little bit. When I got into this world
through Cassa jo Ganis and my love of tequila, one
of the surprises was how much the wine experts knew
about tequila and that that nose and palette that taste
worked just as well in spirits. How do you think
about tequila? You know, for me, tequila is just beginning,
(22:54):
and I think it's for me, the greatest spirit in
the world. It's all natural. You know. You can have
it with food like no other beverage. You can have
at the party, you can have it to sip, you
can have it to enjoy with dinner. And I really
think that tequila is just starting. And people say, oh,
there are a bunch of tequila brands out there, let
(23:15):
me tell you, the world has not even discovered tequila yet.
In America, only in the number of states has really
caught on. It's going to catch on more and tequila
is going to go down as the world's greatest, greatest spirit,
the only issue is is can we grow enough of
gove to be able to feed the world's hunger for it.
It takes a long time to grow one of those plants,
(23:37):
six eight years for good at God, Yeah, it's crazy. Well,
you know we've got with concentragans. I'm gonna get a
little advice from a year as long as I got you.
We've got the super smooth Hooven, the expensive one, We've
got the tasty Blanco. We've got the new full bodied
double barrel on Yejo, white, blue and black labels. How
do you think those three play together? Well, I think
(24:00):
you know, when you released your first cashortor Gonness, it
was the reference standard, high quality, top tequila in the world.
Then you came out with your lesser expensive Blanco, which
was great on every day. You know, people could afford
to drink that. But what was missing I think was
you're in the how that sort of really helps extend
(24:22):
your brand. And the color of the bottle, which is
that sort of almost black on the blue, is striking
the packaging and all your products together. You see that
blue sort of like you know, we have Wally's green,
your Cashort guns blue. People can see it across the ruin.
They instantaneously know whatever that is, it's quality. And what
(24:42):
I'd like to see you guys do is add something
that's even older at some point, and that would really
extend your brand. I I believe, well, your your vice
has always been great. So believe me, when I get
off this, I'm gonna called batte and say, Okay, here's
what I got from Christian. You know, the smartest Tequila
is that I know she's probably been working on it already.
(25:02):
She is so smart and so great. Absolutely, I think
you guys are just beginning. And you know I love
your product, as you know, and I'm a big supporter
of it as you know, and you know I'm going
to be a supporter for the rest of my life.
It's something I really believe in. Style, classic and taste
a rarity in this world. You're in our history book
with a major chapter there. You know, Wally's has been
(25:25):
your life's mission and you're continued to transform it into
all of it. I think there are a lot of
people listening today who aren't in this business but are
going through transformations. What worked better than expected in the
transformation process and what failed. I'm always a person that
doesn't look back. You know, I'm a guy who likes
(25:46):
to tear down the rearview mirror, and I always think
about where I'm going, and I think less about my failures.
I'm a little bit like a defensive back on a
football team and just got burned for a touchdown. I
always think I'm going to intercept the ball sort of thing.
It's experiential retail thing that we've created, you know, poem
Race and I. We thought it was going to be
fun for our friends and we'd have some cheeseboards that
(26:07):
maybe have a tequiler two and hang out. And now
we've got people from all over the world really really
chasing us hard for this model. And you know, that
has worked a lot better than I ever dreamed it could.
My hats off to them for giving me the energy
to be able to do that. And then the other side,
you know, I had a couple of crazy ideas about
getting in the auction business, which we weren't very successful with,
(26:29):
and I learned from that. I can't be all things
to all people. I have to know what I dream about,
and I have to just chase that and not over
extend myself past things that don't really get all of
my attention. So let's talk a little bit about company
culture and employees. How did you get your employees to
embrace this new vision, this new mission. You know, I
(26:53):
again have a very close relationship with most of my staff.
We have, you know, near five hundred employees. Now I
think harder and harder, but I think the first thing
is that you have to be able to articulate your
dream and your story. And I know that you've done
this over the years with a number of the companies
that you've been involved with, and being able to communicate
(27:13):
and articulate your dream. And then they see you working
side by side with them even though they're the employee,
and they know that you're willing to lift that way
just as much as they are to get this dream.
That's where you start to get the buy in, right,
once they understand the vision and then they see that
you're going to do anything that you can, even doing
(27:34):
a job that's not an executive job, cleaning the toilet
bowls or whatever. Then they know you're completely committed. And
that's what people want. They want to believe, We all
want to believe. So how do you start with the
sleep Vegas. You're going to start with a whole new
operation there. You're going to have incredible people, big vision.
It's sort of you know your vision on steroids. How
(27:56):
are you gonna find the people on BOARDOM and get
them aligned with this mission. I have a few people
that I've worked with for a long time that know
exactly the kind of personality that I'm looking for. I'm
looking for characters, people who are free thinking, people who
are critical thinkers. Other than than being perfect waiters are
(28:19):
perfect blind store clerks. I want personality and people can
think on their feet and listen to the customer. So
we search for that particular person and good help. As
you know, it's always hard to find in any business.
But we try to let people know that we have
a real dream and a real vision and that we're
doing something different and that seems exciting for a lot
(28:39):
of people in our business. It's allowing us to be
able to grab some really interesting talent around and that
allows us a little more casthtra downst here and there.
We love that. So let's go to the pandemic. I mean,
I've never seen anything like it in my life. I've
never imagined it was possible hundred year flood seems like
nothing compared to what we all had to endure. How
(29:01):
did it hit your business and how did you adjust
to it? It affected us greatly, affected most businesses greatly
to the negative. It really affected hospitality restaurants and hotels
perhaps the worst. We are also went back to that
old wine store model where we could deliver products and
you could buy online. So even though it did greatly
(29:22):
affect us, we were able to persevere and develop a
whole new sort of catering delivery food company that we
never had. So one door closes and another door opens,
you know, we discovered something new. There's a lot of
pay for many of us, but through that there's great light.
And now we have a whole another portion of our
(29:43):
company that's continuing to thrive. That's allowing me to hire
back even more people. So there are some good things
that came out of that. You are known for extraordinary
customer service. How far will you go? You've got any
great stories about how far you go for customer service?
I can't say that name, but there's a very famous
movie star whose wife was shooting a movie in Hungry
(30:05):
and it was her birthday. She was born in and
he called me two days before he says, I need
this case of Petrus gift draft and delivered to her
in Hungry And I said, what that's not gonna happen, said,
I really needed to happen. So what I did is
I bought my employee of ticket. I mean, bring gift wrapping,
(30:30):
bring all the stuff for the box, food to Hungry,
put it all together, handed her the gift and came
back to the plane the next day. If I can
make my customers happy, we'll do anything. That's an amazing story.
So you've come a long way. You've talked about this
dichotomy of the life you've led. If you could go
back and give advice to your twenty year old self,
(30:51):
what would that vice be. Believe in yourself and everything's
gonna be okay. You know, the fear is always the
hardest part, that fear of the unknown. But if you
have a strong will, you will survive. Christian we end
each episode of Math and Magic by giving a nod
(31:12):
to math and magic, to the science and art of
marketing and business. Now in your world, who would you
give the nod to for being the superstar on the
science analytical or math side, and who would you give
that nod to on the creative side, the ardor magic side.
You know, living or dead is the question. Either one
will take them all. For me, I said this earlier
(31:33):
in the conversation. I'm all about Leonardo da Vinci. He
was you know when it says Renaissance fan, he's the guy.
It's a draftsman, engineer at the Rio, sculptor, painter, architects.
I it's all these things. And also he painted a
couple of paintings still your Man era of Bona Lisa
in the Last Supper. I mean, this guy was probably
one of the most amazing human things that that's ever
(31:55):
been born. So I think about him quite a bit,
and you know, I really pay attention to the many
things that he does and how you know, we start
out of the box, and I love people who think
outside the box in the living ones today and even
what Sean Parker said, Bob, you're a hero of mine.
You've done so many things across so many businesses, and
(32:18):
you're one of the true entrepreneur thinkers that I know
on planet Earth. And I wouldn't be here on this
podcast if it weren't you. You inspire me and you
give me a lot of energy. You're very nice. Well
believe me, I'm sucking up your energy too. I appreciate it. Christian.
I am a great admire of what you've built in
our building and by the way, forever grateful for the
(32:40):
important and early support as we build Costa Jovanis in
that ongoing support and idea generation from you. Thanks for that,
and thanks for joining us today. Well, I love you,
Thank you so much. Here are a few things I
learned from my conversation with Christian. One, if it ain't broke,
exit Wallis was a successful enterprise even before Christian joined
(33:04):
the team. But rather than rest on his laurels, he
was determined to innovate, and he did beautifully. To let
life's challenges inform, but not limit your goals, instead of
letting his early obstacles keep him from dreaming big. When
Christian sets a goal, he, in his own words, tears
down the rear view mirror and moves forward. Three Trends
(33:26):
come and go, but connection remains vital. If you make
connection the heartbeat of your business, your product will never
go out of style. Four And naturally, I learned which
wines will make me a hero? Thanks for listening. I'm
(33:48):
Bob Pittman. That's it for today's episode. Thanks so much
for listening to Math and Magic, a production of I
Heart Radio. The show is hosted by Bob Pittman. Special
thanks to Sue Schillinger for booking and wrangling are wonderful talent,
which is no small feat Nikkiatore for pulling research, Bill
Plax and Michael Asar for their recording help, our editor
(34:09):
Ryan Murdoch, and of course Gayle Raoul, Eric Angel, Noel
Mango and everyone who helped bring this show to your ears.
Until next time,
You're listening to Math and Magic, a production. I heart radio.
I'm always a person that doesn't look back. You know.
I'm a guy who likes to tear down the rearview mirror,
and I always think about where I'm going, and I
think less about my failures. I'm a little bit like
a defensive back on a football team. I just got
(00:22):
burned for a touchdown. I always think I'm going to
intercept the ball. Hi, I'm Bob Pittman. Welcome to Math
and Magic. Stories from the Frontiers and Marketing. On this podcast,
we explore marketing and business through the two key marketing
concepts of analytics and creativity. Today we're gonna explore the
magic the creativity through a palette, smell and taste and
(00:45):
don't understand how that magic built a career and a
business for remarkable entrepreneur and creative Christian Navarro, the president
of Los Angeles based Wallets. He's been called the wine
Therapist to the Stars, Holly Wood's favorite wine expert, and
(01:06):
the Michael Jordan's of Wine. Born in Mexico City, raised
by a single mom in Palm Springs, he had his
first sip of wine at ten and demonstrated his amazing
nose before he was a teen. He's a high school
dropout who made good. He's been homeless and is now
on the board of an organization focused on helping the homeless.
(01:26):
He loves art, travel, and cooking, and I got to
know him over a decade ago and he helped us
launch cassadrac Ones tequila. But above all else, he's a
really great guy. Christian. Welcome, Hi Bob, thanks for having me.
This is a real big treat for me. Well, listen,
before we dig into your life and your lessons, and
you've got a lot of them, we want to explore
you in sixty seconds. Ready, Ready? Do you prefer sunrises
(01:51):
or sunsets, Palm Springs or Los Angeles? Red or white wine? Why?
Or tequila? Now it's tequila. A car or motorcycle both,
Picasso or Matisse, fiction or nonfiction, nonfiction? Cats or dogs? Dogs? Okay,
(02:15):
here we go. It's about to get harder. Smartest person
you know. It could be Mike Milkin, childhood hero, Leonardo
da Vinci. Okay, let's get a really hard for you.
Favorite wine, whateverything in my glass, favorite clothing designer. Right now,
it's Selene with Hetty Lemon, secret talent, struggling, guilty pleasure
(02:40):
watching TV game shows. So what would the title of
your autobiography be? I would say, perseverance and giving back.
All right, let's get going. I got to know Christian
when we launched Contadrogas tequila. Gonzalez, my co founder and
genius CEO of Consadragonas, I had a tasting party in
(03:01):
l A thrown by my friend and the founder of
Daily Candy, Danny Levy. She invited all the folks she
thought should know about this new tequila, and Christian you came.
You had great ideas, terrific advice, gave us such key
support in the early days and on through the development
of it. Turns out, of course, that lots of folks
(03:22):
look to you for your opinion, both consumers and others
in business restaurant tours, retailers, etcetera. And having your endorsement
was like gold. I was completely new to the spirits
business and had no idea who you really were when
you showed up, But in about a minute I realized
how special you were. Is that the way you usually
(03:44):
discovered new products, You just show up and here you
are and away you go. Well, you know, you know
this because you've discovered so many things yourself. It's a
feel and in any business, forget the product, it's the
people around it that really will end up making the
product what it is. You know, speaking about Castritragonist, I
was compelled to come here and discover this because you
(04:06):
guys are looking at it completely different. So I'm always
looking for things that are authentic, that I can believe in,
that I'd be proud of to share with my friends.
And that's how I do things. So when you find
the product that you love, how do you decide what
to do with it? I mean you must see tons
of products. How do you make that decision about what
fits where? Well, you know, I learned this from a
(04:28):
couple of my friends who are highly successful, and I said,
one of the greatest things you can do in life
is learned to listen. And if I find a product
I like, I really try to listen to what that
producer of that product is trying to do in the
world and what the product itself is trying to say.
And then I try to give advice on many directions.
You know, do you want to be a Budweiser or
(04:50):
do you want to be a Castro dragonist. You want
to go this way or you want to go that way,
And if you listen, you know most things in life
will come clear to you. So Hollywood is a tough
club to break into. Yep, here you are. You're the
go to wine expert for the stars. Was there one
big name that discovered you and your skills and brought
(05:10):
you into that exclusive club. Yeah, there's one guy who
I have most of my career to two guys, really,
but ones in Hollywood. It's named Michael Ovits. We still
do things together today. But in the eighties when I
first got into business, he and Mike Milkin were kings
of Los Angeles and for that part, kings of America
to a large extent. And he took a liking to me,
(05:34):
and at the time, CIA was really the only place
to be, and he turned me on to everyone in
Hollywood through his clients, and that's how it started. I
hoped most of it to Mike Milka and Mike Ovid's
how did you find them or how did they find you?
I was working in a wine store, basically sweeping floors
and helping them put wines in their basket, and we
(05:54):
started talking and I started articulated, and you know Ovid,
she really likes to discover things and disc ever people
and art and all these different things. And he was
just very supportive and had no problems with introducing me
to all of these people. I didn't even know who
they were at the time, and now I'm like one
of the old guys who know the old guys. But
(06:15):
Michael Ow did it all for me. I have to
tell you. So, I know you can't talk about specific people,
but are the stars still the big influencers for wine
and spirits? And how important is it for your business
to use their support and influence In the old days
When I was coming up in the eighties as well,
as you know, celebrity was everything. Now it's important because
(06:38):
they have great followings and influence and social media, etcetera, etcetera.
But now what we're starting to see their influencers, and
then there are influential people, and those influential people can
really change the path of things much how you're doing business, Bob.
I mean, you're not an influencer, but you're one of
the most influential men in the world, and you've created
(06:58):
a lot of opportunity for a lot of people. So
even though celebrity is important, it's becoming lesson less today.
It's interesting and when you think broadly about the lesson
you could share, because this podcast is about lessons, how
would you suggest people use Hollywood to establish products and brands?
Clearly which you've done, and spirits and wines which you've
(07:20):
been associated with have done well. I'm right now advising
a couple of celebrities in particular products which I can't
go into at the moment, but it will come clear soon.
Is I just can't put their name on it and
walk away and expect people to buy. They have to
be all in. You know. The way you were with
castragonis you put your own money into it, You put
(07:40):
your own energy into it, and so did a lot
of your friends. But you have to own it and
you have to really stand behind it. Let's take a
step back in time. I'm gonna get some context on you.
You were born in Mexico City, but your mom brought
you to the U s as a toddler. Why where
and how well? Why? You know the sixties um in
(08:02):
Mexico were a wild place. It wasn't about narcos, it
was about politicos in the sixties, and it was a
very volnable situation. And my father died in an unfortunate circumstance,
and so we came to the US basically in hiding,
and so my mother tried to americanize me, and so
we lived around the country. I lived in Kimberly, Idaho,
(08:24):
and tone Upon, Nevada and all over the place. It
was an out of need, not out of luck. So
you were a kid of the seventies, you were a
teen of the eighties, and you moved around a bit.
As you said, can you paint the picture of those
times where you grew up and what it was like?
(08:44):
What was that environment that that shaped you? For me,
you know, my mother ended up being a victim of
the seventies. So for me as a childhood in all honestly,
it wasn't pleasant. It was bitter, it was poor, it
was abusive, and it was cold. So my memories as
(09:05):
a child I've never been super great. But what it's done,
it now drives me really really hard to try to
make sure that these things don't happen to other people.
And you know, you had this tough childhood. But the
story goes that you had your first sip of wine
at ten, and you impress some seller masters very early
(09:28):
in your life with your smell. Can you tell that story. Yeah,
my mother was working as a cocktail waitress in a
restaurant and I guess there was any really called somalias
and those days O wine steward with one of those
testa band things around his neck, and as a joke,
he asked me to taste the wine, just a little
sip and I said, yeah, this kind of like strawberries,
(09:48):
and he was shocked that somehow I could articulate that.
I don't know if it was luck or I've got
this keen sense of smell and taste. That's it's even
in my dreams. So it's always been extremely important. And
at that point, at ten years old, I knew that
I had something different, but I didn't even really at
(10:09):
that time know what it is, because what I do
now didn't really exist in those days. So looking at
you today, and this is a podcast, so people can't
see you, but they can hear you, you're this refined,
elegant businessman. Those the ways of the world fits in anywhere.
I would have never imagined you were a high school
dropout and you were even homeless for a period of time.
(10:32):
How did that happen? Again? My mother was a victim
of the seventies, and then the seventies got worse and
I called it the eighties, and being in Palm Springs
in that era, it was a very wild time, and
you know, things got more difficult for my mother, and
it was more advantageous for my life and healthier for
my life if I didn't rive it home. And those days,
(10:53):
you know, there weren't computers and so on, so you
couldn't be tracked down. So being homeless was a different
sort of existence. And what did you learn? I mean,
nomad land when's picture of the year and suddenly there's
an interest in this view and this take on the world.
I know it wasn't a pleasant experience at all, but
it's certainly as you pointed out, shaped you what's the
(11:15):
lesson you took away from that, or that you can
see in you that came from that. Well, there's a
number of things. I use it as a teaching tool
now for others. We all remember the crash of oh eight,
you know, and I was a speaker to our staff
when it got very lean that I came from a
lesser position, eating out of dumpsters and so on, and
if I could make it here, then we can all
(11:36):
make it. So creating a calm during adverse times and
scary times, and then now even through the pandemic, this
sort of self assurance that I'm going to make it
through this, and I'm gonna make sure all of my
people make it through this as well. Because I've been
in a much harder position growing up until this pandemic
time and this financial crisis period, they didn't really have
(11:58):
the same effect on me as it does other people,
because I've been at the bottom, and if I can
use that energy to help people stay on top, then
I went and it makes me sleep well. You had
this tough childhood, You drop out of high school, you're homeless,
but you had an inflection point. You had a choice
(12:21):
two jobs. You could work at Penguin's yogurt shop or
at a wine shop. As the story goes, you actually
couldn't get the job you wanted, which was Penguin's yogurt shop,
so you had to take the wine shop job sweeping floors.
Can you tell us the story there? Yeah, the reason
I applied at Penguin's Yogurt and the wine store. It
was on the bus line that my girlfriend at the
(12:43):
time was going to u c l A. I could
read the bus to the job. She could then go
to u c l A. And it made it very easy.
But I really wanted that Penguins Yogurt jobs. I think
it made an hour more and that made the difference
if I was eating craft macaroni and cheese with water
or with milk. And that was a big thing at
that time in my life. And I didn't get that
(13:04):
job at Penguin Jogger because I didn't have a high
school diploma. And so, you know, God touched me and
said that you're gonna work at this wine store. And
here I am today talking to one of the great gurus.
So it's worked out. So fate dealt you the right card.
But how did you get from there up coming the
right hand to Steve Wallace who was Wallly's founder. You know,
(13:27):
it was a very odd situation because I had this
giant book of business and I was twenty four years
old and at the time I didn't even really know
what a book of business was. I was just helping
these guys and I had an advisor. His name is
Ralph Shapiro, who was a very big planthropist and businessman
in l a. And he says, go see my friend
Steve Wallace. Tell him about your book of business. He'll
(13:49):
hire you. He'll make you a partner, and you'll be
able to buy that house you always wanted. It was
twenty four years old and I got a tenth grade education.
I don't know anything, but I listened to this great
man and he sent me there and I went to
talk to Steve and it happened. I couldn't believe it.
It was shocking. But then I was with Steve, and
then he had a particular sort of cool style, and
(14:12):
he showed me so much more about the world. Help
me really developed who I am. Now? How did you
prepare yourself? I mean, you're given this opportunity, but I
know you. You didn't just take the opportunity. You worked
at it. What else did you do to round yourself
out to become the person you are today? From someone
who did not have a silver spoon, but worked very
(14:33):
hard to get where you are? Well, I think you
know somebody once told me, you know, the harder I work,
luckier I get so I really took that the heart,
and so you'll talk to my team now, you know.
And I still worked sixty eighty hours a week, and
I grind all the time. I'm up at four thirty.
But I know I'm not smarter than most, so I
just have to work twice as hard. And what I
(14:54):
try to do is I understand that culture is important,
style is important. All these things for the people I'm
trying to touch, those things are important. So I read
and I read, and I read, and I work, and
I work and I work and I give and I
give and I give, and so far, knock on word,
it's working out. So there must have been a moment,
(15:16):
you know, Steve Wallace brings jan you didn't know what
a book of business was. You're suddenly doing well, But
there has to be a moment in which the page
turned for you and you realized you could have a
life you never dreamed of. What was that moment that
turned the page for you? You know, it's really fairly
recently in when you know, I have two partners now
(15:39):
and one of my big gurus of life is again
named Maurice Marciano, and he was getting ready to retire
and He came on as an investor, but more as
an adviser, and he said to me, he goes, Christian,
what do you dream about? And at that time he
was referring to business primarily. No one had ever asked
me that question, and that just allowed my mind to
(16:00):
blow up that anything was possible, and I had this
great man next to me, Who's going to do that
with me. That was really the point where I finally
believed that I could do anything that I wanted to
if I did my homework and I worked twice as
hard as everybody off. We'll be right back with more
Math and Magic after this quick break. Welcome back to
(16:30):
Math and Magic. Let's hear more from my conversation with
Christian Navarro. So, you know, you talk about the Marciano brothers,
Paula Maurice for people who don't know they were the
co founders of Guests, were highly successful in business, sort
of successful and everything they touched. What did they and
you see in the future? They said, dream big? What
(16:52):
was it you saw that got them and got you excited?
You know, Wallace was a typical wine store that you
here everywhere, and you know I used to go to
Tower records them through all the records. By the records,
they went out of business. Then I used to go
to Blockbuster get a bunch of movies and candy watch movies.
They're out of business. I'm an antiquarium book collector. All
(17:15):
the bookstores are out of business. So I looked around
our sort of library style wine store and I said,
we're going to be out of business next we have
to change, and if we don't change, I'm gonna be
seng shoes next year. So I have this idea, what
do you think? And they said, wow, that sounds like fun.
Let's do it. That's how it started. And so how
(17:37):
did you articulate it? Hell? I articulated is my partners
or European? And I just described our favorite little dino
techas you know, in the great places around the world
that we would eat and drink and carry on. And
I said, why couldn't we do that in Beverly Hills
and then maybe do it all over the country and
all over the world. I think our friends would like it.
I said, yeah, I think our friends will like you too.
(17:58):
And then all of a sudden I found that everybody's
friends seemed to like it, and it's just sort of
snowball from there. So where are you now in that
journey of a wine and spirits retailer to where you
are today? Not everybody understands exactly what you've done with Wally's,
but give us a little bit of the overview. Well,
(18:18):
so Walies was a typical high end wine store, and
then with poem Raies coming in, I had this idea
to create experiential retail. And as we all know, it's
a challenge right now to get people's attention because there's
so much noise out there. And I had this idea
where you could buy, eat, drink, carry on all night
long here great music, meet new people that you'd never
(18:41):
meet before, and share the sort of really great experience,
sort of like a party, or it's almost like a
private club, but private club that everybody's welcome, and communal dining.
And you know you're gonna be sitting next to a
movie star who sitting next to maybe a sixth grade teacher,
sitting next to a janitor who's sitting next to a
captain of industry, or maybe even sitting next to you, Bob,
(19:04):
And you know, all of a sudden, you have these
conversations with people, and these are people normally you would
never ever talk to in your life. So it creates
a really exciting both for your brain and your stomach
and your mouth. This really great experience that's take on
this crazy life of its own. And you know, a
lot of people opposed there, and I've met there and
(19:26):
I've been invited to dozens of weddings. Now it's you know,
I don't like to say I'm proud of what we've done,
but I think we're on our way to a place
where I think we can be proud. So talk to
me a little bit about physical locations versus digital virtual locations.
So my dream is, and I'm talking to you, I'm
in Las Vegas right now. We're under construction at the
(19:46):
new Resorts World place where we're gonna be putting a
Wali's and I'm also putting a speakeasy underneath. So my
idea is to produce maybe ten or twelve of these
around the world and then tie everything to Electron. We're
gonna start it while we's television, so we're gonna have
this whole giant network where we're going to be able
to create this sort of line around the world, so
(20:08):
we'll be able to connect all of these people together.
You know, you know this better than anybody. Every said
for a while, radio is going away. We still need
to connect with people, right I listened to Ryan every morning.
It's better than ever. So people still need people. If
I can keep evolving and listening to my customers, I
don't think the brick and mortar should go away, and
(20:28):
I think if we do it right, it won't go
away because I still need to meet new people. I
want to meet new people. I want to see my
friends now. The electronic method is helping too, so we're
really trying to do both. So the wine business been
around a long time, Um, how has it changed? What's
what's it going through right now? Fundamentally, right now is
(20:49):
going through a major change in the wine business. There
were two or three guys that would say this is
a good wine or this is a bad one. Those
guys are now gone. And the way the world is changing,
it's becoming more communal. Now people want to hear from
their peers if it's good or bad. They don't want
one expert to say this is good or bad. It's
(21:10):
really going through a big change and wineries and a
lot of these big corporations are rushing to try to
change the way they are articulating the quality of their wine.
And that's by getting community to articulate how good the
wine is. So, as you know, I'd love tequila, but
sadly I'm not a wine drinker, know little about it,
(21:30):
but my friends do, and there are plenty of our
listeners who are interested in it. So I want to
steal a second of your time just so we can
give them a little tip here. Can you give them
two or three fantastic wines they may not know about, sure,
depending on where you're sitting, in your sort of style
of what you like to drink. And there are new
(21:51):
really cool wines coming out every day, and this creates
the evolution the way it did in music. We does
the music food and wine is still very similar. You know.
There's a very interesting Spanish wine called Lopez de Heredia
out of Rioha. Generally fairly inexpensive but delicious. It's light,
(22:12):
but it gives you lots of flavor. There's also a
wine in Passa Robust made by a friend of mine
called Alexander Vineyards, and Passa robusts it creates an incredible
value in cabernet. So there's a couple of different wines
that that gives some interests that aren't crazy expensive, but
really gives you high quality taste. So let me extend
(22:34):
it a little bit. When I got into this world
through Cassa jo Ganis and my love of tequila, one
of the surprises was how much the wine experts knew
about tequila and that that nose and palette that taste
worked just as well in spirits. How do you think
about tequila? You know, for me, tequila is just beginning,
(22:54):
and I think it's for me, the greatest spirit in
the world. It's all natural. You know. You can have
it with food like no other beverage. You can have
at the party, you can have it to sip, you
can have it to enjoy with dinner. And I really
think that tequila is just starting. And people say, oh,
there are a bunch of tequila brands out there, let
(23:15):
me tell you, the world has not even discovered tequila yet.
In America, only in the number of states has really
caught on. It's going to catch on more and tequila
is going to go down as the world's greatest, greatest spirit,
the only issue is is can we grow enough of
gove to be able to feed the world's hunger for it.
It takes a long time to grow one of those plants,
(23:37):
six eight years for good at God, Yeah, it's crazy. Well,
you know we've got with concentragans. I'm gonna get a
little advice from a year as long as I got you.
We've got the super smooth Hooven, the expensive one, We've
got the tasty Blanco. We've got the new full bodied
double barrel on Yejo, white, blue and black labels. How
do you think those three play together? Well, I think
(24:00):
you know, when you released your first cashortor Gonness, it
was the reference standard, high quality, top tequila in the world.
Then you came out with your lesser expensive Blanco, which
was great on every day. You know, people could afford
to drink that. But what was missing I think was
you're in the how that sort of really helps extend
(24:22):
your brand. And the color of the bottle, which is
that sort of almost black on the blue, is striking
the packaging and all your products together. You see that
blue sort of like you know, we have Wally's green,
your Cashort guns blue. People can see it across the ruin.
They instantaneously know whatever that is, it's quality. And what
(24:42):
I'd like to see you guys do is add something
that's even older at some point, and that would really
extend your brand. I I believe, well, your your vice
has always been great. So believe me, when I get
off this, I'm gonna called batte and say, Okay, here's
what I got from Christian. You know, the smartest Tequila
is that I know she's probably been working on it already.
(25:02):
She is so smart and so great. Absolutely, I think
you guys are just beginning. And you know I love
your product, as you know, and I'm a big supporter
of it as you know, and you know I'm going
to be a supporter for the rest of my life.
It's something I really believe in. Style, classic and taste
a rarity in this world. You're in our history book
with a major chapter there. You know, Wally's has been
(25:25):
your life's mission and you're continued to transform it into
all of it. I think there are a lot of
people listening today who aren't in this business but are
going through transformations. What worked better than expected in the
transformation process and what failed. I'm always a person that
doesn't look back. You know, I'm a guy who likes
(25:46):
to tear down the rearview mirror, and I always think
about where I'm going, and I think less about my failures.
I'm a little bit like a defensive back on a
football team and just got burned for a touchdown. I
always think I'm going to intercept the ball sort of thing.
It's experiential retail thing that we've created, you know, poem
Race and I. We thought it was going to be
fun for our friends and we'd have some cheeseboards that
(26:07):
maybe have a tequiler two and hang out. And now
we've got people from all over the world really really
chasing us hard for this model. And you know, that
has worked a lot better than I ever dreamed it could.
My hats off to them for giving me the energy
to be able to do that. And then the other side,
you know, I had a couple of crazy ideas about
getting in the auction business, which we weren't very successful with,
(26:29):
and I learned from that. I can't be all things
to all people. I have to know what I dream about,
and I have to just chase that and not over
extend myself past things that don't really get all of
my attention. So let's talk a little bit about company
culture and employees. How did you get your employees to
embrace this new vision, this new mission. You know, I
(26:53):
again have a very close relationship with most of my staff.
We have, you know, near five hundred employees. Now I
think harder and harder, but I think the first thing
is that you have to be able to articulate your
dream and your story. And I know that you've done
this over the years with a number of the companies
that you've been involved with, and being able to communicate
(27:13):
and articulate your dream. And then they see you working
side by side with them even though they're the employee,
and they know that you're willing to lift that way
just as much as they are to get this dream.
That's where you start to get the buy in, right,
once they understand the vision and then they see that
you're going to do anything that you can, even doing
(27:34):
a job that's not an executive job, cleaning the toilet
bowls or whatever. Then they know you're completely committed. And
that's what people want. They want to believe, We all
want to believe. So how do you start with the
sleep Vegas. You're going to start with a whole new
operation there. You're going to have incredible people, big vision.
It's sort of you know your vision on steroids. How
(27:56):
are you gonna find the people on BOARDOM and get
them aligned with this mission. I have a few people
that I've worked with for a long time that know
exactly the kind of personality that I'm looking for. I'm
looking for characters, people who are free thinking, people who
are critical thinkers. Other than than being perfect waiters are
(28:19):
perfect blind store clerks. I want personality and people can
think on their feet and listen to the customer. So
we search for that particular person and good help. As
you know, it's always hard to find in any business.
But we try to let people know that we have
a real dream and a real vision and that we're
doing something different and that seems exciting for a lot
(28:39):
of people in our business. It's allowing us to be
able to grab some really interesting talent around and that
allows us a little more casthtra downst here and there.
We love that. So let's go to the pandemic. I mean,
I've never seen anything like it in my life. I've
never imagined it was possible hundred year flood seems like
nothing compared to what we all had to endure. How
(29:01):
did it hit your business and how did you adjust
to it? It affected us greatly, affected most businesses greatly
to the negative. It really affected hospitality restaurants and hotels
perhaps the worst. We are also went back to that
old wine store model where we could deliver products and
you could buy online. So even though it did greatly
(29:22):
affect us, we were able to persevere and develop a
whole new sort of catering delivery food company that we
never had. So one door closes and another door opens,
you know, we discovered something new. There's a lot of
pay for many of us, but through that there's great light.
And now we have a whole another portion of our
(29:43):
company that's continuing to thrive. That's allowing me to hire
back even more people. So there are some good things
that came out of that. You are known for extraordinary
customer service. How far will you go? You've got any
great stories about how far you go for customer service?
I can't say that name, but there's a very famous
movie star whose wife was shooting a movie in Hungry
(30:05):
and it was her birthday. She was born in and
he called me two days before he says, I need
this case of Petrus gift draft and delivered to her
in Hungry And I said, what that's not gonna happen, said,
I really needed to happen. So what I did is
I bought my employee of ticket. I mean, bring gift wrapping,
(30:30):
bring all the stuff for the box, food to Hungry,
put it all together, handed her the gift and came
back to the plane the next day. If I can
make my customers happy, we'll do anything. That's an amazing story.
So you've come a long way. You've talked about this
dichotomy of the life you've led. If you could go
back and give advice to your twenty year old self,
(30:51):
what would that vice be. Believe in yourself and everything's
gonna be okay. You know, the fear is always the
hardest part, that fear of the unknown. But if you
have a strong will, you will survive. Christian we end
each episode of Math and Magic by giving a nod
(31:12):
to math and magic, to the science and art of
marketing and business. Now in your world, who would you
give the nod to for being the superstar on the
science analytical or math side, and who would you give
that nod to on the creative side, the ardor magic side.
You know, living or dead is the question. Either one
will take them all. For me, I said this earlier
(31:33):
in the conversation. I'm all about Leonardo da Vinci. He
was you know when it says Renaissance fan, he's the guy.
It's a draftsman, engineer at the Rio, sculptor, painter, architects.
I it's all these things. And also he painted a
couple of paintings still your Man era of Bona Lisa
in the Last Supper. I mean, this guy was probably
one of the most amazing human things that that's ever
(31:55):
been born. So I think about him quite a bit,
and you know, I really pay attention to the many
things that he does and how you know, we start
out of the box, and I love people who think
outside the box in the living ones today and even
what Sean Parker said, Bob, you're a hero of mine.
You've done so many things across so many businesses, and
(32:18):
you're one of the true entrepreneur thinkers that I know
on planet Earth. And I wouldn't be here on this
podcast if it weren't you. You inspire me and you
give me a lot of energy. You're very nice. Well
believe me, I'm sucking up your energy too. I appreciate it. Christian.
I am a great admire of what you've built in
our building and by the way, forever grateful for the
(32:40):
important and early support as we build Costa Jovanis in
that ongoing support and idea generation from you. Thanks for that,
and thanks for joining us today. Well, I love you,
Thank you so much. Here are a few things I
learned from my conversation with Christian. One, if it ain't broke,
exit Wallis was a successful enterprise even before Christian joined
(33:04):
the team. But rather than rest on his laurels, he
was determined to innovate, and he did beautifully. To let
life's challenges inform, but not limit your goals, instead of
letting his early obstacles keep him from dreaming big. When
Christian sets a goal, he, in his own words, tears
down the rear view mirror and moves forward. Three Trends
(33:26):
come and go, but connection remains vital. If you make
connection the heartbeat of your business, your product will never
go out of style. Four And naturally, I learned which
wines will make me a hero? Thanks for listening. I'm
(33:48):
Bob Pittman. That's it for today's episode. Thanks so much
for listening to Math and Magic, a production of I
Heart Radio. The show is hosted by Bob Pittman. Special
thanks to Sue Schillinger for booking and wrangling are wonderful talent,
which is no small feat Nikkiatore for pulling research, Bill
Plax and Michael Asar for their recording help, our editor
(34:09):
Ryan Murdoch, and of course Gayle Raoul, Eric Angel, Noel
Mango and everyone who helped bring this show to your ears.
Until next time,
Host
Bob Pittman
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