Two-time Emmy and three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Taia Rashid and Daphne Carter.
🎯 Purpose of the Interview
To highlight the entrepreneurial journey of Taia Rashid and Daphne Carter, co-founders of Cassie Beverage, a premium vodka-based drink brand. The interview explores their inspiration, challenges as Black women in a male-dominated liquor industry, and their commitment to quality and authenticity.
🧠 Key Takeaways 1. Founders’ Background & Bond
- Taia and Daphne met as dance moms in Houston, Texas.
- Their friendship grew through shared experiences at dance competitions.
- Their cocktail-making hobby evolved into a business idea.
2. Cassie Beverage Origins
- Inspired by family traditions involving alcohol (moonshine and wine coolers).
- The brand name “Cassie” is a blend of their last names.
- Their products include Daphne Limoncello and Daphne Berrycello.
3. Business Launch & Support
- The idea was sparked during a trip to the Amalfi Coast.
- Their husbands, both entrepreneurs, helped launch the business and provided initial capital.
- They entered a white male-dominated industry with determination and humility, seeking mentorship and doing extensive research.
4. Commitment to Quality
- Their drinks use natural ingredients like fresh lemon juice and cane sugar.
- They resisted pressure to use cheaper alternatives like concentrates or preservatives.
- Their goal: create a premium product they’re proud to consume themselves.
5. Challenges in the Liquor Industry
- High startup costs and tight margins.
- Strategic decisions around packaging, pricing, and market positioning.
- Balancing premium quality with affordability for consumers.
6. Academic & Professional Backgrounds
- Daphne: Advanced degrees in chemistry and mathematics; former charter school executive and state superintendent.
- Taia: Degree in chemical engineering; worked for Frito-Lay and later became a stay-at-home mom.
7. Empowerment & Representation
- They emphasized the importance of supporting women, especially in non-traditional roles like bartending and mixology.
- Encouraged others to pivot careers and pursue passions regardless of societal expectations.
- Advocated for creating space at the table when none is offered.
8. Community Impact
- A caller shared how the interview inspired her to support her daughter’s bartending career.
- The founders responded with encouragement and emphasized redefining success beyond traditional roles.
💬 Notable Quotes
- “We found the perfect cocktail—the cure was liquor. A cup of joy.”
- “We wanted something of quality that we could stand proud of.”
- “If there’s no room at the table, bring a folding chair.”
- “Your degrees give you soft skills—you can pivot and do whatever you want.”
- “We’re winning because we’re doing something we love, even with the struggles.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
Steve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation Master Class show. The interviews and information that
this show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop
reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
If you want to be a guest on my show,
please visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click
to be a guest button Chris submit and information will
(00:22):
come directly to me. Now let's get this show started.
My guests there on the line have created a one
of a kind original beverage that is vodka based and
infused with the finest natural ingredients. They are working moms
and wives who became fast friends while their daughters attended
the same dance academy in Houston, Texas. Welcome to Money
Making Conversation Masterclass. Tyre Rashid and Daphney Carter. Did I
(00:47):
see everybody's name correctly?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
You did.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
How are you doing, Tyer? And how are you doing, Daphne?
Let's stick with Daphne and Tya. How about that? I
knew I got that right. Great, Now tell me the
name of your business.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, the company name is Casied Beverage, which is a
combination of our last names and then our tour. Two
products on liqueurs are Daphanie lemon Cello and Daphanie barry.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Cello Daphnie liquor. How does liquor played a role in
your life that you felt that you can create a
drink that somebody would want to buy.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
So I grew up in the country Waynesburg, Georgia, not
far from Augusta, Georgia, and my grand my uncle had
a moonshine still and part of the induction into adulthood
was taking a shot of moonshine. And whether you were
I the gender, you had to take this moonshine shot.
(01:46):
And my grandmother would make homemade lemonade. So we would
add the lemonade to the moonshine for the women in
order for us to sort of put an edge take
the edge off of that moonshine taste for your shot.
And so lemon plus some sort of alcohol equals the
(02:08):
ingredients for lemon cello. So I as a child was
inducted into the hall of vodka or some other grain
base and women together to make a great drink.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Definitely see all that country talking about, like everybody in
the country is doing what your grandfather did. Now for me,
I'm not a drinker, So educate me on what exactly
what is moonshine? What is moonshine? But we hear it
a lot? What exactly is moonshine?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Moonshine is it's actually illegal, but it is made from
the seal of using grains to make. I mean, it's
a really distillation process, but the base of it is
grains and you know all kinds of alcohol and so ethanol.
So you put that together and get you some good moonshine.
So it's pretty strong. It's probably the strongest.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, say put hair on your chest.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Yes, Everclear is like Everclear is like a baby formula
of moonshine.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Wow, wow, No, not tire now okay, now that's her story. Okay,
Now do you have somebody in the country to that
made you like a passing of a womanhood, that you
got a guzz little gallon of moonshine in your life?
How to tell me your story?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
It gotta be.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It gotta the top of her story. Now that actually,
let Daphne lead, because I tell you you got to
get a better story than her moonshine story. The floor
is yours.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Tired, I cannot like like she wins. But I'm sharing
something with you that I probably have never shared with
my mother.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But I also both my parents are from New Roe's, Louisiana.
So every summer I would go to the country with
my grandmother. Right. Well, she did not make moonshine, but
right she would always give us a little sip of it.
Started with wine coolers, right, and then I guess after
(04:00):
she felt like we graduated. You know, we got a
little maybe crown with a little crown with a lot
of coke, and we thought we were doing something. I
wasn't getting the strong stuff like dashny, but you know
I had my little country and introduction to alcohol too
growing up.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
See, I don't know Tyler and Daphne. If y'all giving
Louisiana people and Georgia people country people bad name, I
don't know, y'all. They don't know how to raise kids obviously,
you know, because well Child Protected Service needs to be
lining up sweeping that doing a big sweep down in
the countries of the country land of Georgia and Louisiana.
So I'm from Louisiana, my parents from Streetport, so I
(04:38):
can attest that goes down with regularity, okay, And I
was one of the fortunate ones who didn't have to
experience any liquor in my life until I was up
aged to be able to make the decision on my own.
But that's not a bad thing. Because you two young
ladies met in Houston, Texas and with all friends, with
(04:58):
your kids just attending their academy, the dance academy. How
did their relationship start to get into the whole idea
of being business partners? So with you defne.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yeah, So Taya and I'll let her share the story
about their move all fast forward in the story. Our
children were at the same dance studios, became close friends,
and we're started starting to spend a ton of time together.
And anyone has an experience as a dance mom, you're
together with other dance moms and your children four days
(05:32):
a week during the weekdays and almost every weekend all day,
sometimes two day weekends at dance competition. So we spent
a lot of time together. So Taya and I grew
close after spending so much time together as a dance moms,
and that friendship turned into bringing our friendship circle in
so we would hang out every other weekend, sharing life
(05:53):
together as a friends circle, and we would always have
two good things, good food and good drinks. And so
I was in charge of the drinking you since it
was always at my home, which is how we started
to make cocktails together, which then morphed into this business.
But I'm gonna let Tyre share the first part of
the story of how we even came to be together
(06:14):
in Missouri City, Texas, which is out right outside of Houston's.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I like to believe liquor had to have something to
do with this conversation, somewhere a happy hour or something,
because I can't see y'all just at dance Academy and
then y'all just go. How about some liquor. Let's get
in business. How did that conversation? I'm a something. See Daphne,
sheif gave that great story. She really got bored. She
got bored. Tya, please help me with this story.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Because you want the real deal.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yes, ma'am, yes ma'am, Yes ma'am, yes ma'am.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
We had to check these girls in right on a
good day, seven o'clock in the morning, right right, and
we would leave these competitions after awards. Let's say, ten
thirty eleven o'clock at night, and we were there all
day in the stands, and we would hear the same
(07:06):
song at least one hundred times. And at one point
we were like, we gotta find a way to make
it through this. And guess what the cure was, Nicka.
We found the perfect nothing for the perfect cocktail, A
cup of joy okay, a couple of joy okay okay,
and we drank responsibly.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
We were responsible, right, right right.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
We needed a little something to get us through those
long twelve hour days where we were supporting our little
loved ones.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Absolutely. You know, I'm gonna read the something. I did
some research about black female entrepreneurs. They said this state
said that. Harvard Business Review released a new report sharing
that in the US, seventeen percent of black women are
in the process of starting or running new businesses, compared
to just ten percent of white women and fifteen percent
(07:57):
of white men. However, there's a cat those black female
entrepreneurs take the lead early lead on only three percent
continued to run the business through maturity, which means they
start the business but it doesn't either collapses or they
decided to go in a different direction or go back
to work in a forty hour week job. The reasons
for the drop our point to obstacles in assessing capital
(08:20):
and the types of businesses launch tend to be in
a crowded marketplace with lower margins. Let's talk about your marketplace,
because you know very ambitious, I would not. I don't
have a clue as to how I would even venture
into the liquor business. What started made what created this
(08:40):
as being a real possibility? Deafney.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
Yeah, So we went on a trip to the French
Revie with a group of folks and then traveled over
Sta Mafi caause I had already loved Li Mionchelle for
quite some time. So I was evaluating or judging everyone's lemonchello,
and my husband said you should start your own limonchello,
and which I laughed at. My husband's a serial entrepreneur.
He will start a business overnight if you give him
(09:05):
the reins. And so I want to tell you. When
she got to dinner later on that night, after a
few you know, rounds of drinks, so I said, hey,
do you want to do this together? Because we have
been looking to do something together for quite some time.
So I said, hey, if you want to do this
lemon Cello thing together. And so both of us, having
had several drinks, and us said yes, not really knowing
what we were signing up for. And so my husband
(09:27):
and Stephen and then a zine. When they got back
to the States, they did not consult us immediately. They
just started the business this is you know, we're going
to start this business. Let's figure it out. And so
I think about a week after we returned to the States,
my husband said, okay, you and tal you, here's your
you know, business plan. What is your business plan? You
all need to get it together. We're going to give
(09:48):
you all the capital that you need to launch this thing.
So I called tyos like ty you, we're in business.
So we started to do our research and realized that
it was a male dominated industry, particularly white male dominated industry,
which Chataia and I, who believe in overcoming obstacles and challenges,
we thought, yeah, game on, we're going to break through
(10:10):
this industry and we're going to do this. And so
I think a part of it was just the lore
of knowing that there were not many of us in
the industry, and we started to just really widen our
circle of influence talking to different people with humility saying, hey,
we don't know a lot, can you teach us? And
everyone opened up their hearts and minds that we're counted
(10:32):
along the way and really taught us the business in
addition to our own research, but just really taught us
the business. And then my husband, who is once again
entrepreneurial businessman, his acumen and business acumen is out of
this world, really laid the foundation because he owned successful
businesses and so he's really coached and consulted us. And
(10:53):
a Ziem has also been a coaching consultant around marketing
and branding. And what does that mean? So I say
to folks, just whine you're circle, get free labor. If
you have husbands or spouses or significant others, use them
as free labor. But really, more importantly, don't take obstacles
and challenges as an obstacle or challenge, but as an
(11:13):
opportunity for you to overcome.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, there's an amazing thing is that I'm talking to
Taya and Daphne. They've created one of the kind original
beverage that is VAKA based and infused with the finest
natural ingredients. The key right there natural ingredients. I'm assuming
that is a selling card or a calling card that
differentiates you guys from the rest of the industry.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
TYA, Yes, it absolutely is, and I think that along
this journey we were determined to stay true to that.
And for a number of reasons that was challenged, right
because it's definitely more cost effective to use something from
(11:57):
concentrate are to add food coloring, our preservatives, even for
like coloring or look and we were we said, listen,
we want something of quality that we can stand proud
of and that we would actually want to consume ourselves.
So even when that was questioned, we never faltered on
changing at recipe.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Now it's interesting because I said something about a crowded marketplace.
I would assume that you guys are entering into a
crowded marketplace. And then margins and margins is important because
that tells you how much you're gonna make. And also
if you you know, if your margin safe. For instance,
if you're buying it for eight dollars and you're selling
(12:39):
it for nine dollars, then that's you really got a
bad business model. So the margin comes into play here.
So now I want to really drill down just a
little bit. Tell you, if you don't mind about how
did you guys start setting up the budget or the model,
the business model of reality. This is what it's gonna call.
(13:00):
Did you do a ninety day plan, a six month plan,
a five year plan? How did that work? You know what?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
It was a combination of all of that. But I
think we have to start at that recipe we came
up with, right, because we also knew that making that
quality of our product was going to be expensive. Right,
if you're using fresh lemon juice, cane sugar and you're
not using anything unnatural, you pay more for that product.
(13:28):
So we knew that because we were starting with a
premium recipe, that we may have to look somewhere else
to maybe cut the cost. And so just figuring out
what that right combination was right. So while we wanted
to get bottles and packaging for our product, maybe stateside,
(13:50):
it may not have been economical for us because of
what we decided to do with this product itself. So
I think the short term was one figuring out that piece, right,
how do we afford these quality products and the bottle
and packaging that it's going into. And then to your point,
knowing where we wanted to sit in the marketplace, right,
So we went and we did our research, and we
(14:12):
went to look at other lemon cellos. What were they
made of, what was their alcohol mix, where did they
sit on the shelves, Because again, we wanted to set
ourselves as a premium, but we also didn't want to
price ourselves out of the market, especially as a new brand.
So it was a delicate balance of figuring out what
(14:32):
that right price point is. If that makes sense, stay
with us.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
More money Making Conversation master Class coming up next. Welcome
back to money Making Conversation master Class, hosted by me
Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversation master Class continues online at
Moneymaking Conversations dot com and follow money Making Conversation master
(14:58):
Class on Facebook, X and Instagram. Definitely, what did you
do or what are you currently doing as you build
out this business there's in the liquor area.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah, so prior to doing this, I was an executive
for a charter school network and a state superintendent. I
retired and so the Kashim Beverage is like my other job.
But you know, I have a bachelor's, master's, a couple
of advanced degrees in chemistry, have one and minor in
mathematics also. So grew up in Augusta, Georgia, but definitely
(15:33):
parents were set on all of our all of my
siblings and I going for college, and so did the
whole college thing. Came to Texas to find a husband,
get a couple of advanced degrees. I was going to
move back to Georgia. My husband said, absolutely not. But
a batting average of two out of three or point
seventy five is really good. Point sixty six is really good.
So I thought, well, I'm still winning with this batting
(15:54):
average of advanced degrees and a husband, but not moving
back to Georgia. So been in Houston for twenty plus years.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, I'm not mad. I was born and raised in Houston.
So you're not gonna hear anything negative from me about
I won't turn this into a Houston story. But where
you live up gred where you shop, where you eat,
We're not gonna do that. You're not gonna do that now,
since I've gotta call our name, excuse me, Daphney Taya,
what is your academic training? Did you work at a
Fortune five hundred company prior to taking on the responsibility
(16:24):
of starting Kashet.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Well I did for a while. So I don't have
as many degrees as Daphne, but I.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Did after get one hundred degrees. Daphne, I'm gonna tell
you something. Daphne is the worst. You know, she had
the great liquor story, moonshine story. Did she throw down?
It wasn't enough to say she had a chemistry degree,
but she gonna make me feel bad. And I got
something to do with math too. I got a little
math thing happening in my life right, Like.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Your degree was cute, and I know I.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Struggled with that math degree, but she got chemistry and math.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Well, first of all, let me just say this, I'm
actually still on the call m M. So as if
two of you are beating up on me, I'm still
on the call. And insign your others to know that
even if you work harder on your degrees and you're like, oh,
I work so hard, I can't change careers. Yes you can.
You can do whatever you want to do. Your degrees
only give you the soft skills of transformational skills. You
(17:21):
can you can pivot and do whatever. So it was
actually to inspire others to say it's actually okay to
pivot right.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Right, and you pivoted from what what what corporate job?
When you're involved in what is.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Your degree in tire or Daphne Tia?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Could you because I can't talk anymore to Daphne about
academic training. If she just put down my little math degree, Okay,
I'm gonna slide over it that I need uplift in
my life right now, Taya, I need.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
A right So let me tell you what makes it
even worse?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Right?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Since she has all these advanced like maths degrees, and
then she's also like a wizard with words, like she
will make you, she will belittle you with words in
a minute, and you won't even know what happened, right
right right right you should. She leaves people like standing
in their dust the time when it's amazing to watch.
(18:12):
But that's a whole nother that's a whole other company.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
But yeah, So I had a degree in chemical engineering.
I actually went to work for Freedo a Wow and
started out in their manufacturing area, and then I went
into S and D. When I moved to New York
and Maritizine. I moved to New Jersey and meritazine okay,
and so I did that for about ten years and
then you know him in the music industry, and then
(18:37):
we decided to have like a gazillion kids, and so
I then became a stay at home mom.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Wow, Kazlian, I won't even ask that number because that
seems to like a lot gazilion later. That's it's not
a commercial for Wi Fi. You gazillionaire. You're a gazillionaire
with kids. Okay, we have a phone call. We have
a phone call right here, Miss Sears, Yes, how are
(19:02):
you doing? And she's welcome to the money making Companies
math class of with Taya and Daphne. You have a
question for them of myself.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Hello, ladies, and it's wonderful to hear what you're doing.
And I just.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
Wanted to say to you that my daughter has bartender.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
For the past ten fifteen years and she absolutely loves it.
And so my question to you is have you always
had your family to support you in this in this field,
because I really at first didn't support my daughter. And
(19:40):
now after listening to you guys and how well you're
doing and how intelligent you sound, I'm you know, I'm
even more eager now to support my daughter and what
she's doing great Dafty Talia and my daughter has had
her recipes in Ebony magazine.
Speaker 6 (19:59):
She has worked the four seasons. She's just a natural
chemist and she loves We're from the low country, South Carolina,
always been around, you know, good foods and flavors and
that kind of thing. And she's good at what she does.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
But because this has.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
Not always been a female you know kind of position.
I mean, my family members and people have have looked
down on her.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Well they shouldn't. I will tell you they shouldn't. I
come from a family of six sisters. I have two brothers,
and so I'm always a pro female because of my
four of my sisters older than me. When I look
at Talian, because we talked about it at the very
beginning of the interview, you are in a very male
dominated industry and you put liquor in place with men
(20:59):
as all, is that chauvinistic approach of a domeanion approach
how they look at women because liquor and an environment
does that. But but for Daphne and Tyer, when you
hear missus Sears talk about how motivating this has been,
hearing YouTube talk, hearing you overcome the challenges. How do
you react, Tire or Daphnie? Either one you can respond.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
Well, I would this is Daphne. I'll say this.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
I tell you this.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Where are you gonna go?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
No? No, I was going to go ahead.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
I say that link. I think this is really important
for her and for you to understand that we can
remove the archaic definitions of what a career or job
is by simply doing the thing that you do well
and making the name for yourself and being successful. And
so sometimes we think, oh, if they're not a doctor
(21:53):
or if they're not an executive, then we don't want
to uplift that passion. But oh, passion should be uplifted.
And the support that she needs is to be able
to make a name for herself in the industry as
a bartender, as a mixologist, as someone who is an
influencer and has a voice in the industry, and there's
room for her. And whenever she feels like, whether as
(22:16):
a female or someone new to the industry or someone
who's breaking into a different industry, if she thinks there's
not room at the table for her, then just tell
her to make room, bring a folding chair and make
your own space at the table. But as a family member,
what we can do is pour into someone and ensure
that we support them and being the best in their industry.
(22:36):
So do the research, who's the top person in her industry?
Where does she want to go? And then learn from
them so that she can then either sit next to
them or take their place. But we've got to remove
this like if you're not an X, Y or Z,
then you're not successful, and instead say, in this day
and time, whatever you do, be the best sat it
(22:57):
be at the top of your game. Because the best
way to show people approve people wrong, it's to prove
the possible way they created the impossible.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Cool, uh, tire. As we go here, Tire, I want
to make sure people understand, you know, that's hard work,
and the hard work hasn't finished. And I understand Miss
Sears being motivated and being uplifted by this, But you know,
y'all work hard. Y'all still got to be parents to
your kids. You still have to be you know, wives
to the husband. You still have to go out there
(23:26):
and be professional about this dream. And this dream every
day inches forward, sometimes inches. Sometimes it doesn't even inch
the next day, and that's the frustrating part. And when
you talk about success and starting to be motivated by
this tire, please explain to us what keeps you afloat,
what keeps you moving forward?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
You know, thank you for saying that, because and that's
a great point you bring up, right, because we are
really doing something we love and we're sieving a lot
of accolades for it, right, And it is hard work
and we are making a lot of sacrifices financially, time, energy,
(24:08):
bandwidth like all of that. But I think, and I
thought about this when she was talking about her daughter,
like the passion and drive come out of doing something
that you love, right, you have something bigger leading you
and pushing you through that, And so I think, you know,
(24:29):
we're winning and she's winning because we're able to do
something every day that is so easy to do even
with all the struggles and hardships, because we believe in
it and we love it.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
This has been another addition of Money Making Conversations Masterclass
hosted by me Rashaan McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you our listening audience.
Now if you want to listen to any episode, I
want to register to be a guest on my show.
Visit money Making Conversations dot com. Our social media handle
(25:03):
is money Making Conversations. Join us next week and remember
to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning.
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host of weekly Money
Making Conversation Master Class show. The interviews and information that
this show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop
reading other people's success stories and start living your own.
If you want to be a guest on my show,
please visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click
to be a guest button Chris submit and information will
(00:22):
come directly to me. Now let's get this show started.
My guests there on the line have created a one
of a kind original beverage that is vodka based and
infused with the finest natural ingredients. They are working moms
and wives who became fast friends while their daughters attended
the same dance academy in Houston, Texas. Welcome to Money
Making Conversation Masterclass. Tyre Rashid and Daphney Carter. Did I
(00:47):
see everybody's name correctly?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
You did.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
How are you doing, Tyer? And how are you doing, Daphne?
Let's stick with Daphne and Tya. How about that? I
knew I got that right. Great, Now tell me the
name of your business.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, the company name is Casied Beverage, which is a
combination of our last names and then our tour. Two
products on liqueurs are Daphanie lemon Cello and Daphanie barry.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Cello Daphnie liquor. How does liquor played a role in
your life that you felt that you can create a
drink that somebody would want to buy.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
So I grew up in the country Waynesburg, Georgia, not
far from Augusta, Georgia, and my grand my uncle had
a moonshine still and part of the induction into adulthood
was taking a shot of moonshine. And whether you were
I the gender, you had to take this moonshine shot.
(01:46):
And my grandmother would make homemade lemonade. So we would
add the lemonade to the moonshine for the women in
order for us to sort of put an edge take
the edge off of that moonshine taste for your shot.
And so lemon plus some sort of alcohol equals the
(02:08):
ingredients for lemon cello. So I as a child was
inducted into the hall of vodka or some other grain
base and women together to make a great drink.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Definitely see all that country talking about, like everybody in
the country is doing what your grandfather did. Now for me,
I'm not a drinker, So educate me on what exactly
what is moonshine? What is moonshine? But we hear it
a lot? What exactly is moonshine?
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Moonshine is it's actually illegal, but it is made from
the seal of using grains to make. I mean, it's
a really distillation process, but the base of it is
grains and you know all kinds of alcohol and so ethanol.
So you put that together and get you some good moonshine.
So it's pretty strong. It's probably the strongest.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, say put hair on your chest.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Yes, Everclear is like Everclear is like a baby formula
of moonshine.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Wow, wow, No, not tire now okay, now that's her story. Okay,
Now do you have somebody in the country to that
made you like a passing of a womanhood, that you
got a guzz little gallon of moonshine in your life?
How to tell me your story?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
It gotta be.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It gotta the top of her story. Now that actually,
let Daphne lead, because I tell you you got to
get a better story than her moonshine story. The floor
is yours.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Tired, I cannot like like she wins. But I'm sharing
something with you that I probably have never shared with
my mother.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But I also both my parents are from New Roe's, Louisiana.
So every summer I would go to the country with
my grandmother. Right. Well, she did not make moonshine, but
right she would always give us a little sip of it.
Started with wine coolers, right, and then I guess after
(04:00):
she felt like we graduated. You know, we got a
little maybe crown with a little crown with a lot
of coke, and we thought we were doing something. I
wasn't getting the strong stuff like dashny, but you know
I had my little country and introduction to alcohol too
growing up.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
See, I don't know Tyler and Daphne. If y'all giving
Louisiana people and Georgia people country people bad name, I
don't know, y'all. They don't know how to raise kids obviously,
you know, because well Child Protected Service needs to be
lining up sweeping that doing a big sweep down in
the countries of the country land of Georgia and Louisiana.
So I'm from Louisiana, my parents from Streetport, so I
(04:38):
can attest that goes down with regularity, okay, And I
was one of the fortunate ones who didn't have to
experience any liquor in my life until I was up
aged to be able to make the decision on my own.
But that's not a bad thing. Because you two young
ladies met in Houston, Texas and with all friends, with
(04:58):
your kids just attending their academy, the dance academy. How
did their relationship start to get into the whole idea
of being business partners? So with you defne.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yeah, So Taya and I'll let her share the story
about their move all fast forward in the story. Our
children were at the same dance studios, became close friends,
and we're started starting to spend a ton of time together.
And anyone has an experience as a dance mom, you're
together with other dance moms and your children four days
(05:32):
a week during the weekdays and almost every weekend all day,
sometimes two day weekends at dance competition. So we spent
a lot of time together. So Taya and I grew
close after spending so much time together as a dance moms,
and that friendship turned into bringing our friendship circle in
so we would hang out every other weekend, sharing life
(05:53):
together as a friends circle, and we would always have
two good things, good food and good drinks. And so
I was in charge of the drinking you since it
was always at my home, which is how we started
to make cocktails together, which then morphed into this business.
But I'm gonna let Tyre share the first part of
the story of how we even came to be together
(06:14):
in Missouri City, Texas, which is out right outside of Houston's.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I like to believe liquor had to have something to
do with this conversation, somewhere a happy hour or something,
because I can't see y'all just at dance Academy and
then y'all just go. How about some liquor. Let's get
in business. How did that conversation? I'm a something. See Daphne,
sheif gave that great story. She really got bored. She
got bored. Tya, please help me with this story.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Because you want the real deal.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yes, ma'am, yes ma'am, Yes ma'am, yes ma'am.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
We had to check these girls in right on a
good day, seven o'clock in the morning, right right, and
we would leave these competitions after awards. Let's say, ten
thirty eleven o'clock at night, and we were there all
day in the stands, and we would hear the same
(07:06):
song at least one hundred times. And at one point
we were like, we gotta find a way to make
it through this. And guess what the cure was, Nicka.
We found the perfect nothing for the perfect cocktail, A
cup of joy okay, a couple of joy okay okay,
and we drank responsibly.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
We were responsible, right, right right.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
We needed a little something to get us through those
long twelve hour days where we were supporting our little
loved ones.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Absolutely. You know, I'm gonna read the something. I did
some research about black female entrepreneurs. They said this state
said that. Harvard Business Review released a new report sharing
that in the US, seventeen percent of black women are
in the process of starting or running new businesses, compared
to just ten percent of white women and fifteen percent
(07:57):
of white men. However, there's a cat those black female
entrepreneurs take the lead early lead on only three percent
continued to run the business through maturity, which means they
start the business but it doesn't either collapses or they
decided to go in a different direction or go back
to work in a forty hour week job. The reasons
for the drop our point to obstacles in assessing capital
(08:20):
and the types of businesses launch tend to be in
a crowded marketplace with lower margins. Let's talk about your marketplace,
because you know very ambitious, I would not. I don't
have a clue as to how I would even venture
into the liquor business. What started made what created this
(08:40):
as being a real possibility? Deafney.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
Yeah, So we went on a trip to the French
Revie with a group of folks and then traveled over
Sta Mafi caause I had already loved Li Mionchelle for
quite some time. So I was evaluating or judging everyone's lemonchello,
and my husband said you should start your own limonchello,
and which I laughed at. My husband's a serial entrepreneur.
He will start a business overnight if you give him
(09:05):
the reins. And so I want to tell you. When
she got to dinner later on that night, after a
few you know, rounds of drinks, so I said, hey,
do you want to do this together? Because we have
been looking to do something together for quite some time.
So I said, hey, if you want to do this
lemon Cello thing together. And so both of us, having
had several drinks, and us said yes, not really knowing
what we were signing up for. And so my husband
(09:27):
and Stephen and then a zine. When they got back
to the States, they did not consult us immediately. They
just started the business this is you know, we're going
to start this business. Let's figure it out. And so
I think about a week after we returned to the States,
my husband said, okay, you and tal you, here's your
you know, business plan. What is your business plan? You
all need to get it together. We're going to give
(09:48):
you all the capital that you need to launch this thing.
So I called tyos like ty you, we're in business.
So we started to do our research and realized that
it was a male dominated industry, particularly white male dominated industry,
which Chataia and I, who believe in overcoming obstacles and challenges,
we thought, yeah, game on, we're going to break through
(10:10):
this industry and we're going to do this. And so
I think a part of it was just the lore
of knowing that there were not many of us in
the industry, and we started to just really widen our
circle of influence talking to different people with humility saying, hey,
we don't know a lot, can you teach us? And
everyone opened up their hearts and minds that we're counted
(10:32):
along the way and really taught us the business in
addition to our own research, but just really taught us
the business. And then my husband, who is once again
entrepreneurial businessman, his acumen and business acumen is out of
this world, really laid the foundation because he owned successful
businesses and so he's really coached and consulted us. And
(10:53):
a Ziem has also been a coaching consultant around marketing
and branding. And what does that mean? So I say
to folks, just whine you're circle, get free labor. If
you have husbands or spouses or significant others, use them
as free labor. But really, more importantly, don't take obstacles
and challenges as an obstacle or challenge, but as an
(11:13):
opportunity for you to overcome.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, there's an amazing thing is that I'm talking to
Taya and Daphne. They've created one of the kind original
beverage that is VAKA based and infused with the finest
natural ingredients. The key right there natural ingredients. I'm assuming
that is a selling card or a calling card that
differentiates you guys from the rest of the industry.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
TYA, Yes, it absolutely is, and I think that along
this journey we were determined to stay true to that.
And for a number of reasons that was challenged, right
because it's definitely more cost effective to use something from
(11:57):
concentrate are to add food coloring, our preservatives, even for
like coloring or look and we were we said, listen,
we want something of quality that we can stand proud
of and that we would actually want to consume ourselves.
So even when that was questioned, we never faltered on
changing at recipe.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Now it's interesting because I said something about a crowded marketplace.
I would assume that you guys are entering into a
crowded marketplace. And then margins and margins is important because
that tells you how much you're gonna make. And also
if you you know, if your margin safe. For instance,
if you're buying it for eight dollars and you're selling
(12:39):
it for nine dollars, then that's you really got a
bad business model. So the margin comes into play here.
So now I want to really drill down just a
little bit. Tell you, if you don't mind about how
did you guys start setting up the budget or the model,
the business model of reality. This is what it's gonna call.
(13:00):
Did you do a ninety day plan, a six month plan,
a five year plan? How did that work? You know what?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
It was a combination of all of that. But I
think we have to start at that recipe we came
up with, right, because we also knew that making that
quality of our product was going to be expensive. Right,
if you're using fresh lemon juice, cane sugar and you're
not using anything unnatural, you pay more for that product.
(13:28):
So we knew that because we were starting with a
premium recipe, that we may have to look somewhere else
to maybe cut the cost. And so just figuring out
what that right combination was right. So while we wanted
to get bottles and packaging for our product, maybe stateside,
(13:50):
it may not have been economical for us because of
what we decided to do with this product itself. So
I think the short term was one figuring out that piece, right,
how do we afford these quality products and the bottle
and packaging that it's going into. And then to your point,
knowing where we wanted to sit in the marketplace, right,
So we went and we did our research, and we
(14:12):
went to look at other lemon cellos. What were they
made of, what was their alcohol mix, where did they
sit on the shelves, Because again, we wanted to set
ourselves as a premium, but we also didn't want to
price ourselves out of the market, especially as a new brand.
So it was a delicate balance of figuring out what
(14:32):
that right price point is. If that makes sense, stay
with us.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
More money Making Conversation master Class coming up next. Welcome
back to money Making Conversation master Class, hosted by me
Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversation master Class continues online at
Moneymaking Conversations dot com and follow money Making Conversation master
(14:58):
Class on Facebook, X and Instagram. Definitely, what did you
do or what are you currently doing as you build
out this business there's in the liquor area.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah, so prior to doing this, I was an executive
for a charter school network and a state superintendent. I
retired and so the Kashim Beverage is like my other job.
But you know, I have a bachelor's, master's, a couple
of advanced degrees in chemistry, have one and minor in
mathematics also. So grew up in Augusta, Georgia, but definitely
(15:33):
parents were set on all of our all of my
siblings and I going for college, and so did the
whole college thing. Came to Texas to find a husband,
get a couple of advanced degrees. I was going to
move back to Georgia. My husband said, absolutely not. But
a batting average of two out of three or point
seventy five is really good. Point sixty six is really good.
So I thought, well, I'm still winning with this batting
(15:54):
average of advanced degrees and a husband, but not moving
back to Georgia. So been in Houston for twenty plus years.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Well, I'm not mad. I was born and raised in Houston.
So you're not gonna hear anything negative from me about
I won't turn this into a Houston story. But where
you live up gred where you shop, where you eat,
We're not gonna do that. You're not gonna do that now,
since I've gotta call our name, excuse me, Daphney Taya,
what is your academic training? Did you work at a
Fortune five hundred company prior to taking on the responsibility
(16:24):
of starting Kashet.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Well I did for a while. So I don't have
as many degrees as Daphne, but I.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Did after get one hundred degrees. Daphne, I'm gonna tell
you something. Daphne is the worst. You know, she had
the great liquor story, moonshine story. Did she throw down?
It wasn't enough to say she had a chemistry degree,
but she gonna make me feel bad. And I got
something to do with math too. I got a little
math thing happening in my life right, Like.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Your degree was cute, and I know I.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Struggled with that math degree, but she got chemistry and math.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Well, first of all, let me just say this, I'm
actually still on the call m M. So as if
two of you are beating up on me, I'm still
on the call. And insign your others to know that
even if you work harder on your degrees and you're like, oh,
I work so hard, I can't change careers. Yes you can.
You can do whatever you want to do. Your degrees
only give you the soft skills of transformational skills. You
(17:21):
can you can pivot and do whatever. So it was
actually to inspire others to say it's actually okay to
pivot right.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Right, and you pivoted from what what what corporate job?
When you're involved in what is.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Your degree in tire or Daphne Tia?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Could you because I can't talk anymore to Daphne about
academic training. If she just put down my little math degree, Okay,
I'm gonna slide over it that I need uplift in
my life right now, Taya, I need.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
A right So let me tell you what makes it
even worse?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Right?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Since she has all these advanced like maths degrees, and
then she's also like a wizard with words, like she
will make you, she will belittle you with words in
a minute, and you won't even know what happened, right
right right right you should. She leaves people like standing
in their dust the time when it's amazing to watch.
(18:12):
But that's a whole nother that's a whole other company.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
But yeah, So I had a degree in chemical engineering.
I actually went to work for Freedo a Wow and
started out in their manufacturing area, and then I went
into S and D. When I moved to New York
and Maritizine. I moved to New Jersey and meritazine okay,
and so I did that for about ten years and
then you know him in the music industry, and then
(18:37):
we decided to have like a gazillion kids, and so
I then became a stay at home mom.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Wow, Kazlian, I won't even ask that number because that
seems to like a lot gazilion later. That's it's not
a commercial for Wi Fi. You gazillionaire. You're a gazillionaire
with kids. Okay, we have a phone call. We have
a phone call right here, Miss Sears, Yes, how are
(19:02):
you doing? And she's welcome to the money making Companies
math class of with Taya and Daphne. You have a
question for them of myself.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Hello, ladies, and it's wonderful to hear what you're doing.
And I just.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
Wanted to say to you that my daughter has bartender.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
For the past ten fifteen years and she absolutely loves it.
And so my question to you is have you always
had your family to support you in this in this field,
because I really at first didn't support my daughter. And
(19:40):
now after listening to you guys and how well you're
doing and how intelligent you sound, I'm you know, I'm
even more eager now to support my daughter and what
she's doing great Dafty Talia and my daughter has had
her recipes in Ebony magazine.
Speaker 6 (19:59):
She has worked the four seasons. She's just a natural
chemist and she loves We're from the low country, South Carolina,
always been around, you know, good foods and flavors and
that kind of thing. And she's good at what she does.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
But because this has.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
Not always been a female you know kind of position.
I mean, my family members and people have have looked
down on her.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Well they shouldn't. I will tell you they shouldn't. I
come from a family of six sisters. I have two brothers,
and so I'm always a pro female because of my
four of my sisters older than me. When I look
at Talian, because we talked about it at the very
beginning of the interview, you are in a very male
dominated industry and you put liquor in place with men
(20:59):
as all, is that chauvinistic approach of a domeanion approach
how they look at women because liquor and an environment
does that. But but for Daphne and Tyer, when you
hear missus Sears talk about how motivating this has been,
hearing YouTube talk, hearing you overcome the challenges. How do
you react, Tire or Daphnie? Either one you can respond.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
Well, I would this is Daphne. I'll say this.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
I tell you this.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Where are you gonna go?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
No? No, I was going to go ahead.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
I say that link. I think this is really important
for her and for you to understand that we can
remove the archaic definitions of what a career or job
is by simply doing the thing that you do well
and making the name for yourself and being successful. And
so sometimes we think, oh, if they're not a doctor
(21:53):
or if they're not an executive, then we don't want
to uplift that passion. But oh, passion should be uplifted.
And the support that she needs is to be able
to make a name for herself in the industry as
a bartender, as a mixologist, as someone who is an
influencer and has a voice in the industry, and there's
room for her. And whenever she feels like, whether as
(22:16):
a female or someone new to the industry or someone
who's breaking into a different industry, if she thinks there's
not room at the table for her, then just tell
her to make room, bring a folding chair and make
your own space at the table. But as a family member,
what we can do is pour into someone and ensure
that we support them and being the best in their industry.
(22:36):
So do the research, who's the top person in her industry?
Where does she want to go? And then learn from
them so that she can then either sit next to
them or take their place. But we've got to remove
this like if you're not an X, Y or Z,
then you're not successful, and instead say, in this day
and time, whatever you do, be the best sat it
(22:57):
be at the top of your game. Because the best
way to show people approve people wrong, it's to prove
the possible way they created the impossible.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Cool, uh, tire. As we go here, Tire, I want
to make sure people understand, you know, that's hard work,
and the hard work hasn't finished. And I understand Miss
Sears being motivated and being uplifted by this, But you know,
y'all work hard. Y'all still got to be parents to
your kids. You still have to be you know, wives
to the husband. You still have to go out there
(23:26):
and be professional about this dream. And this dream every
day inches forward, sometimes inches. Sometimes it doesn't even inch
the next day, and that's the frustrating part. And when
you talk about success and starting to be motivated by
this tire, please explain to us what keeps you afloat,
what keeps you moving forward?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
You know, thank you for saying that, because and that's
a great point you bring up, right, because we are
really doing something we love and we're sieving a lot
of accolades for it, right, And it is hard work
and we are making a lot of sacrifices financially, time, energy,
(24:08):
bandwidth like all of that. But I think, and I
thought about this when she was talking about her daughter,
like the passion and drive come out of doing something
that you love, right, you have something bigger leading you
and pushing you through that, And so I think, you know,
(24:29):
we're winning and she's winning because we're able to do
something every day that is so easy to do even
with all the struggles and hardships, because we believe in
it and we love it.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
This has been another addition of Money Making Conversations Masterclass
hosted by me Rashaan McDonald. Thank you to our guests
on the show today and thank you our listening audience.
Now if you want to listen to any episode, I
want to register to be a guest on my show.
Visit money Making Conversations dot com. Our social media handle
(25:03):
is money Making Conversations. Join us next week and remember
to always leave with your gifts. Keep winning.
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