February 3, 2026 • 45 mins
In episode 54 of The Adaptive Mindset, Brett Gallant interviews John Mleziva, the founder of State Line Distillery, who shares his unique journey from a biology student to a fermentation scientist, and ultimately to a distiller committed to the grain-to-glass philosophy.
Tune in for valuable insights into the intersection of science and craft in distilling.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:01:47] Fermentation science and craft spirits.
[00:05:16] Artistic process of distillation.
[00:12:50] Grain to glass philosophy.
[00:17:07] Coffee liqueur creation journey.
[00:20:24] Entrepreneurial pivots and opportunities.
[00:24:10] Community partnerships and networking.
[00:30:30] Business ownership and delegation.
[00:33:31] Success as an entrepreneur.
[00:41:00] Finding balance as an entrepreneur.
[00:44:04] Baritone singing vs. distilling.
QUOTES
- "We're trying to be the different colored boat in an ocean full of the same." John Mleziva
- "Build your community and have people you can trust and lean on in terms of bouncing ideas off of." -John Mleziva
- "If you don't have something to look at and guide your decisions, when the times are tough, you can run into trouble, you become rudderless." -John Mleziva
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Brett Gallant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brett_gallant/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brett.gallant.9
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-gallant-97805726/
John Mleziva
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmleziva/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/statelinedistillery/
WEBSITE
Adaptive Office Solutions: https://www.adaptiveoffice.ca/
State Line Distillery: https://www.statelinedistillery.com/our-team/john-mleziva
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thoughtleader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we
don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, andmindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and
We'll be diving into the world of brain-to-glass craft spirits with John Mleziva ,founder of the State Line Distillery in Madison, Wisconsin. John
(00:29):
isn't your typical distiller. He's a fermentation scientist trainedat Harriet Watt University in Scotland, a former EMT,
a baritone singer, and the creator of oneof the most celebrated coffee liquors on the planet. built
entirely from local Wisconsin grains and artisans' partnerships.
State line spirits prove that authenticity, sustainability,and world-class quality can coexist without shortcuts. In
(00:57):
this conversation, we explore what grain-to-glass really means,how science elevates craft, why local partnerships matter,
and where cocktail culture is headed next. Whether you'rea spirits enthusiast, a builder, or simply curious
about the story behind what's in your glass, this episode isfor you. Let's dive in. So welcome
(01:19):
to the show, John. It's really great to have you here. ThankYeah, so I
want to dive in here and just really geta little bit more of your origin story. Could you tell our audience a
little bit more about you and what excites you and whatinspired you to start Stateline Distillery and
(01:47):
Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, I guess the journeyreally started back when I was an undergraduate at
the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I was studying biologyand my grandfather introduced
me to homebrewing, we'll call it, around 21-ish. AndI quickly kind of fell in love with fermentation
(02:12):
science, really the management of yeast to make interesting beers.
That was kind of where I liked to spend a lot of time when Iwas sort of researching, making beers. And
so I ended up graduating with a degree in biology. Andfrom there, you know, like many people, my path was actually kind
of winding. I spent some time after graduation asan EMT working in the Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(02:42):
And at that time, everything Iwas doing on fermentation was hobbyish, right? I was just kind
of a hobby level. And so I spent some timeworking in that hospital and then my
path shifted and I ended up working at the University ofMinnesota and got a higher education degree
(03:04):
in educational policy administration. And that's what ledme to Madison. I moved in Madison in 2008 and
was working at Edgewood College. of homebrewing onthe side and kind of one toe into that world. But
most of my time was really spent in higher education atthat point. And then through a chance encounter with
(03:27):
an owner of a local brewery, I started spendingsome weekends over the summer kind of working at
this commercial level brewery and just sort of fell in love withthis idea of making locally
grown grains to produce something that peoplecould enjoy. And so this kind
(03:51):
of was my launching off point into this sort of career paththat I'm on now, which is I found this program at
Harriet Watt University over in Scotland, and I leftmy position at Edgewood, moved abroad, fully
intending that I would open a brewery. Butas they say, when you spend a year you know, working at the Scotch Whiskey
(04:13):
Institute and living in an area where whiskeyis the sort of prevailing passion, my
focus shifted. So it was really over there kindof when the idea of opening a grain-to-glass distillery
sort of came into focus for me. And so whenI graduated, That's when I started kind
(04:37):
of thinking about how do I take all this knowledge aroundtraditional distillation techniques and the science behind that
and move it to having abrand that celebrates the rich agricultural history
(05:02):
What does it really mean to you? Like what, what, like, like,like what, what, what really juiced
Like the, like the, why the mindset shiftedTo get into distillation specifically? I, for
me, I think distillation is thecontinuation of a really artistic process. So
(05:27):
the idea of making a beer, right, is this, We'retaking grain, we're mashing, we're fermenting, and we've got this product
that people can enjoy. The turnaroundis fairly quick. For me, the idea of
adding distillation is another layer of artistry thatwe can bring into the to
(05:49):
the process. And there's this really interesting blend ofboth sort of short-term techniques
where we can share a gin, a vodka with people. Butthen there's the long game, kind of the arc of whiskey making,
which is this romantic side of distillation, right?
(06:10):
That you can start a process thatliterally takes 10 plus years to finish. And
to me, the balance of thingsthat we can share with the world, share with
consumers in a shorter time frame,but layered in this sort of long game maturation with
(06:32):
barrels is really what gets me excited and where IHave you, like, tell us about just the journey, like, have there been
any challenges where you just like, like, what the heck amOf course. I mean, I think every, every entrepreneur, every business owner
(06:57):
would say, if they don't say that there were those moments, I'mYeah. It's you know, Of
course, the biggest challenge for us, butI won't dwell on this. I can talk about others, but
of course, like COVID, right? I mean, we opened in2017 and then effectively we're closed. for 18 months
(07:22):
in terms of our production for anything on premise, youknow, bars and restaurants, all of that is a period overnight.
And, and, you know, we're fairly new at that pointin terms of, of where we were in our business cycle. And so navigating
that, finding a way to survive andcome out of it on the other hand, I And
(07:48):
thankfully, I was able to partner with the state of Wisconsin toproduce hand sanitizer for hospitals and
different various organizations. So it was certainlyNo, but we do what we have to do sometimes, don't we? Yeah, that's right.
And I think comingout of COVID, we kind of saw what would be
(08:13):
considered sort of a boom time in termsof certainly in the spirits world.
And now the kind of the challenge we're navigating currently,I think as an industry is sort of a natural contraction, right?
This pulling back people Andwhat does that mean for us? I mean, the bourbon industry in particular is
(08:41):
really getting hit hard for their amount of supply versus demand.
And so for us, the waywe kind of solve this for ourselves is leaning into
this quality over quantity,which has always been a driving factor of us for being a
grain of glass. And it's messaging that helps kindof brunt the force So
(09:10):
it's messaging, it's tightening your belt in areas and just lookingat kind of general costs around the entire business to
Yeah, you touched on a fewthings there that are really core to any
business. Quality, and watchingthe pennies. Learned that a
(09:33):
lot from, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Jim Rohn. Yeah,Jim shared that quite a bit. Watch the pennies. Yeah,
A penny here, a penny there, and suddenly you're talking aboutYeah, it adds up like little, like, you
don't even see it, but it all adds up. Andyou just have to be disciplined and have that mindset to
(10:02):
look at all facets of your business. Right. And especiallyin times we're living in now. So like,
you know, where there's so many different challenges in the economyand, but I'm a person though, that
also believes that there's so many opportunities. I'mcurious, and I'm going off script here for a bit. What
(10:32):
Well, I think there's always opportunity. I agree with you onthat. For
instance, even though the spirits ingeneral, alcohol in general, but spirits
as a category is contracting. If you look at thesubcategories, the ready-to-drink cocktail
(10:55):
movement, those are areas where there's still growth. youknow, I always use the phrase that was told to
me, that I that's a long time ago is, you know,be the be the red boat in the blue sea, right? I mean, the
idea is you can't, you're not at my scale, andour size and our marketing budget, all these things, there
(11:17):
are a lot of things stacked against you trying to go up against kind ofa world class industry, right
of suppliers, the big, big guys. And so ifyou aren't consistently looking at ways to
solve problems that either don't exist yetor come into the market from an
(11:39):
angle that you can be more nimble orbetter traction in
terms of kind of your approach, you're introuble. So when I look at the market, you
can't just keep trying to come at it the same youknow, we created a product and it sold really well, like the
(12:02):
coffee of the poor, which you mentioned earlier. It's like, okay, so we have that.
So now what can I do with that product thatsatisfies a growth model, looking
at something like RTDs or something like that, that we haven'treally tapped into. So it's, you know, you're effectively
trying to gain market share in an area that youI wanted to ask you this,
(12:40):
What does grained glass truly mean to you? Andwhy was it a non-negotiable when you were building State Line? Let's
Yeah, that's a really great question. Ifyou look at a map of Wisconsin and
you kind of find where Madison is, and then thinkThis idea is, sorry, it's
(13:18):
Let me start that over again. Just gonna ask you tojump right in. I mean, so if
you look at kind of where we sit in the state of Wisconsin, you'llnotice we aren't anywhere near a state line, truly. And so
the name state line, uh, was born outof this idea of, of sourcing things as locally as
(13:39):
possible whenever possible. And so for me, there,there are kind of two main things that,
you know, being grain to glass truly embodiesfor us. as a company. One, it's community
partnerships. So we work directly with farmers. We'vegot about six different farmers that we
(14:04):
work with that are within 25 milesof the distillery. And so these are family owned
farms. These are small organic farms thatthey are very focused on regenerative agricultural practices. that
they use. And for us, it's an opportunity to supportthem in that endeavor, because I believe very strongly in
(14:29):
being stewards of the land and trying to be responsibleAnd so that community partnership
is very, very important to me as a pillar of who we are asa company. And then the second piece of it is that I
(14:52):
also believe that gives us a competitive advantage.
So the grain that we're sourcing comes from an areain the state called the driftless region, which is a really unique
area where the glacial sort of drift didnot happen. And so it sort of looks like a, like,
like like a sea on the country inthe Midwest here where this happened. And you
(15:17):
get some of the most interesting soil structures thatyou can find. And the crops that grow in
those areas, you know, theseare legacy crops, right, that
had to adapt to those conditions. And so the flavoris different as it comes through in the process. And so
(15:38):
for us being grain-to-glass, How do I take this reallyunique grain grown in a very, very particular
area, geographically speaking, partner withthese amazing farmers who are bringing these regenerative
agricultural organic practices and pull thatthrough so that we can highlight those flavors in
(16:02):
the bottle of spirit? So vodka, for instance,most vodkas macro brand vodkas is how much flavor
and odor can you pull out? This idea of being odorlessand flavor neutral. And for us, our approach is
the opposite. How much can we keep in? Yeah, I need it to stillact like a vodka. I still need it to mix with soda
(16:23):
water and be this beautiful vodka soda,right? But I also want it to have enough flavor that you would
consider just bit,John? Well, I, you know, I, we try to be, I
(16:43):
mean, that's, that's, that's the whole, you know, that's, that's agreat word. We, we, it sort of ties into, we're
trying to be the, the, the different colored boat inAbsolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. So,
(17:07):
Walk us through that journey of creating that winningcoffee liqueur. What were the biggest experiments in
the risks along the way? Yeah. The old crap momentsWell, I mean, I chuckle because the coffee liqueur
was a productthat was born out of the idea of wanting to have a party at
(17:34):
the cocktail lounge. So if your listeners are familiarwith the movie The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges in
that movie drinks white Russians the whole way through. Andso in Wisconsin, at
the time, this is actually no longer the case, but at the time, toserve a product in our cocktail lounge
(17:56):
or tasting room area. It had to have been produced by us.
So you couldn't buy anything, you just had to make it. And so Iwanted to have this party, and we had our vodka,
we had gins and the rest of it, but we didn't have a coffee liqueur.
So I kind of Onan off comment, I was talking to a guy that I know
(18:20):
that owns a coffee shop, Kin Kin Coffee, andthat led to an eight-month collaboration
of R&D going down the rabbit hole of how do wecreate a coffee liqueur that is better
than what's on the market currently, all tobe able to have this party. It
(18:43):
was interesting when you say like the, oh crap or aha moments.
I mean, it was such a, you know, theold adage, fail cheaply and fail quickly. I
mean, had I not been able to create this, itwasn't an expensive lift for me to do that as a company. This was
started as a fun side project for a one night event.
(19:05):
And so the riskwas very low for us to get into this. Then
we spent all the time and created this beautiful product that wasnever built, never meant for distribution, and
had the party. The response to it was phenomenal.
(19:26):
That's when the risk came. To really makethis a product that was commercially viable, we
needed to invest in some tanks and some equipment becauseall by hand, soaking the grounds and separating it out with chinois.
It was a mess, right? So for this to actually scale upand be anything different than that, we had to kind of
(19:53):
jump off the cliff, so to speak, and get some investmentin equipment. And, you know, it's
an amazing product for us. It started back inthe day, less than one, when
I went to distribution, less than 1% of ourtotal sales to now it represents about 56% of our
(20:20):
So it's- And you didn't even see that coming. You didn'tNot at all. And I think about
business in general is for me is onebeing willing to pivot in the- Yes. and then
to seeing opportunities when they present themselves, right? Imean, if you see the opportunity and then pivot into
(20:44):
it, I mean, coffee liqueur was not in my business plan. Imean, we wanted to be really, really focused on
whiskey and still do, but whiskey is very, very expensive. Andso you can only grow your whiskey program so quickly. And
when this opportunity presented itself, we thought, well,let's approach it the way we approach everything else that we do is make
(21:06):
the best possible version of this thing, talkabout why it is the way it is
and why we think it's a really good product andIsn't that interesting? I just think that's so amazing. So
many times entrepreneurs, weget stuck in that moment of this is the
(21:32):
way it's always been. Yeah. And someday,like Brian Tracy says, someday
I'll take that chance. But you had the opportunity rightin front of you. You saw it. You
weren't scared away from it. You saw it. You went after it. AndOh, absolutely. I mean, it helped us grow
(22:05):
you know, it led me to this winning doublegold, which just means, you know, at the
San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a group of42 or 50 judges, I believe, gave
it a gold medal on a blind taste testing and that happening threeyears in a row to become platinum status, then that led me to meeting Drew
(22:27):
Brees, who helps, who is a part ofthis company as a part of the coffee liqueur story, which
then helped open up distribution in California. Sothere's these things that all kind of came from the
coffee liqueur being what it is. And,you know, definitely a learning curve in terms of trying to
(22:48):
take a product, up until thecoffee, our sort of trajectory was pretty Wisconsin
focused. Like we are in Wisconsin, we weren'treally looking outside of our walls for distribution and that has
So how far, now that you've embracedWell, hopefully at some point, you know, nationwide, right?
(23:20):
We've got distribution partners lined up inCalifornia, Tennessee, like
Nashville area and Texas, Austin. So samecompany in California statewide
there, although they have statewide distribution opportunities,but we're focused on San Diego. So we're really, we're kind of
(23:42):
like within each of these markets, We're not tryingto be everywhere all at once. We're being pretty strategic about
Well, it's interesting you said that, andI think it goes back to what you said earlier. If
you do that, you can actually pivot and make the direction orSo earlier we were talking a little bit, you talked about local partnerships,
(24:14):
you know, the farmers and Kin-Kin.
What have you learned the most from that? And why is it importantfor people to really look in their own backyard, like in
your mind, like what, and what should people be thinkingYou know, probably the biggest
(24:44):
benefit for me isthat I've found myself
within a community of people passionate aboutwhat they do and they
bring expertise to the processin their specific areas. And they also, as
(25:08):
we kind of build those relationships within the community,the networking opportunity, you know, there's some ancillary
benefit that I hadn't really even thought about, but it's, youknow, people who are passionate about what they're
doing also know other people who are passionate about theirown industries, and suddenly you're getting introduced, you're being
(25:30):
networked, and things presentthemselves I think more often,
right? I mean, it gets us from onlybeing inwardly focused on who we are as a company,
but also we are now thinking about growthin a different way in terms of our community partnerships. And it also
(25:57):
just provides me another sounding board forproblems that I'm trying to solve when I'm talking to
people that are that have moved from beinga simple commodities
broker to someone who I'm friends, I've known foryears, I'm friends with, they're business owners. So if
(26:18):
I'm running into problems, there's someone I can bounce an idea offof, they're trusted friends, even though they're not running
It sounds like what I have with the gentleman I meet withevery Friday, accountability partner and your own version of
(26:40):
peer group. I can't sayhow important that is to have another person
or persons to network with totalk about, Hey, I got this challenge. And then they have another
lens on that, that. that theycan see that you may not have been aware of, but they can see
(27:02):
your blind spots. So that'sYeah. And frankly, coming
from a background in higher education, I mean, there'sso many committees in community building that I
was involved in there. I didn't expect tohave as much as I do. outside of that world. So
(27:27):
that was really refreshing. It's like, oh yeah, I'm finding other peoplewho love what they do, are passionate about
what they do, and are also just good businesspeople. So some of them have been in business a heck of a
lot longer than I have. So just getting little nuggetsSo right now, what would you say to a business owner
(27:51):
right now? What are two or three of the biggest things you've learnedright now that shaped your mindset and
what you believe is possible and what you know you need tobuild your community and have people you can trust and lean
(28:15):
on in terms of bouncing ideas off of, right? I mean,they don't operate in a silo.
You're gonna drown. You're gonna have areally hard time of it. So I think finding people
you trust, and they don't necessarily have to be business ownersor owners in your business. They can
(28:37):
just be people that you sit down with and really openwhat the challenges are and where you're trying to go. In
my world, it's capital, capital, capital.
It's capital intensive, right? So whenyou're kind of starting a business, I think it is easy
(29:00):
to make spreadsheets. It's easy to look at numbers. It's easy tothink about growth in a way that is
a bit rose-colored glasses. Sotry to take those off. Catastrophize, I guess, is
the right way. Think about what you're gonna do in business and divide it inhalf, at least, for the first year. And if you can
(29:24):
Otherwise, try to adjust. And thenthe third, for me, is more
So when you are, you know, if you're one person shop,that's where you start, right? That's where a lot of people start with you.
Yeah. But I think, I think lettinggo of ego and hire people that
(29:51):
are better at doing the things that you're not verygood at doing. better than what you could ever do. And then
get out of your own way and let them do their job. Your, your jobas a, as a business owner and founder at some point becomes
setting the mission, building community within your staff andproviding kind of that, that culture arm,
(30:14):
right. Is to make sure that everyone's moving in the same direction andhas buy-in. And there comes
a point where. If you can't let go and get outof the way as a business owner of people that are going to help grow
That resonates with me, but I knowwhat I learned from scouting and I seen this and it's in
(30:37):
one of the, oneof the troops that I associate with. They
have a saying, which I've adopted now in my own business, train them,That's right. So much, I should start saying
I loved it when I, I just captured that. And whenI finally started to embrace that, everything changed my life.
(31:05):
Yeah. You know, and you know that because it has fortimes I've talked with some other business owners,
when I'm, you know, I'm going on a two week vacation to,to my cabin or my parents cabin, I should say up in
the North woods over winter break. And I hear like, I don't know how,how could you possibly step away? And I, you know,
(31:32):
for that long of a time, and, and of course, I'm not completely offthe clock, right? I'm there's emails I'm checking, but from is
the business running 100%? Like I, likeI know exactly what you mean, John. I used to
(31:55):
say I had a business that runs me, now I have a business that I run. Yeah.
Yes. Right. Yeah. You get it, don't you? Ido. Yeah. And we're all on
this different path on our entrepreneurial journey, but you've figuredit out. And it's great that you're sharing this
because some people of what you said that some peoplewill listen to what you said and maybe do a little self-reflection because
(32:20):
a lot of times entrepreneurs are on an island. Yeah. Andwe were isolated. Sometimes we don't reach out and build those peer
groups and and like what you've developed withyour partnership, which is pretty incredible. It's
nice. You know, you're very fortunate to have that.
I am. Absolutely. I do not take itfor granted. I guess the other thing you could say to
(32:44):
that is at some point then you're at peace. Ifthings are outside of your control and the business doesn't
go the way you want, at least you tried it, youdid it your way, and you tried to be successful in
all the ways that you can to make a businessmove. Yeah, you showed up and you did the work. Yes. You
(33:08):
did the work and you tried to do it in a way that was the rightway to you. And that's all
So that leads me to the next question to you. John,how do you personally define success as an entrepreneur and as
a maker? WhatMuch of what we've already talked about, right, in terms of being
(33:36):
true to our ideals, in terms of howcoming at an industry committed
to being grain to glass is not the easy way to be a distillery. Imean, if your listeners don't know you
know, the vast majority of distilleries in theUnited States, at least, purchase Spirit from,
(34:01):
you know, maybe one or two producers in the country, andthen they do something as simple as add water to
it. Once you proof that spirit downto bottle proof, that is now yours and sell it. And
so you skip out the farming, the mashing, the fermentation, thedistillation, started distillery with just tanks, which
(34:24):
is totally fine. But forme, one of the defining pieces
of our success has been staying true tothis idea of wanting to have a green glass distillery to
be able to have a pathway through the kindof jungle of distilled spirits
(34:47):
that represents the best of agricultural practices inWisconsin. So that's one area of
success in terms of the integrity of how we make the product. Anothermetric of success, a pillar, so to speak, would
be that the community thatI'm building within the walls of this business are
(35:13):
as strong as any of the partnerships outside of the wall sothat I've got my key people in place to do the
job, to move the needle. Forme, I see success
when the vision I have is permeated throughthe entire organizational structure.
(35:35):
people are talking about who we are as a company and where we're trying to go, I canhear it from everybody. They might say it a little differently, you
know, when it comes to crafting the cocktails inthe cocktail house, using syrups that they make in-house and
fresh juice, like, that's my ideals, right? And allthe kind of ways. And then, of course, the third is that we can Kind
(35:58):
of grow in a way to hold on to those ideals andstill be profitable as a business, which is the art.
But it is hard. Um, but like, itsounds like to me, like you've set, you've set the
standards, you know, um, you know, standardsof personal and professional. Do
(36:21):
you want to share a little bit, go ina little bit more, what personal professional standards that you won't count
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, I think this, productsthat we're making. And that
(36:41):
is our North Star, right? I mean, if you don't havesomething to look at and
guide your decisions, when the times are tough, youcan run into trouble, you become rudderless. So for me, this
idea of, you know, who are we asa company? true
(37:05):
to the kind of ideals that we set forth. Thatto me is the number one thing guiding
decisions. And frankly, once you've identified thatsort of, you know, North Star
truth statement about who we are, then anydecisions become easier. You know, it doesn't make them, easy
(37:34):
to implement, don't hear that, butit becomes easier to make the decision, right? There's a
little gray area. There's not as much ambiguity tosay, well, if we did it this way, a lot faster
and quicker and cheaper, it's like, well, no, that's not who we are. And itstarts to erode. It's
(37:56):
an interesting thing for me, because if you start to do that, notonly are you putting in jeopardy your
what, I guess, how you're seeing as a company andbusiness out in the community, but you're also eroding the
community within your building, right? Like if I'm, I've set the standardfor eight years, suddenly I'm changing that. Now
(38:20):
the foundation of who we are starts to come under question forYeah. Yeah. No, I've heard that said so
many times in different ways and you, you set it up quite nicely.
Um, um, whereWell, ideally that we will have grown, grown
(38:48):
from a company that's selling and, you know,the majority of our sales are in Wisconsin still, and we're seeing kind
of our next biggest progress in California, but we, wemoved from a company that is
now kind of known at the national level fromour products. And it doesn't necessarily have to be just the coffee liqueur, but that's
(39:09):
kind of the tip of the spear for us. And so I, in the next fiveyears, would like to see us at a national, as a
national brand, still doing things theYeah, I think you can see that coming. So,
John, what's the best way for people to reach outMe, personally, they can certainly send
(39:36):
an email. It's just my nameat jm, I should say, at statelinedistillery.com. That's,
They can find you on LinkedIn. Okay. And then do you do Instagram asYes. So, right. You can reach, you can follow us, state line distillery.
(40:04):
I highly recommend our audience to follow the journey. Everyone follow,get to know John and reach out and ask questions.
We're goingto make sure we have show notes, but I wanted to thank you, John,
for being here today. Everybody has a story. Andwe're all put on this earth to help and share people. And your story
(40:28):
can help our listeners. And it has. And I want to thankyou. Oh, and I never... One thing we forgot. We
I even did it a little bit. Yes, you did. First ofall, thank you for having me. This has been a lovely conversation. And
(40:49):
you know this as an entrepreneur. It's easyto get caught up in the 10,000 things in front of
you at all times. And in any moments wecan have to stop and slow down, I guess that's, that would be one
parting piece of advice is find space toslow down and zoom out and get
(41:11):
out of the rat race. That is the the million thingsBecause then you'll get perspective and enjoy life because
That's right. Part of that is singing in theHow long have you been doing that
Gosh, 10 years at this point. Isang my whole life. I've been a singer and now I'm
(41:37):
blessed enough to have two young, andjust because they love it. But I sang at the University of
Wisconsin in the concert choir and the Singing Statesman, whichwas an all men's choir. And then I moved to Madison and
I kind of thought my time singing ininformal groups was over. And then
(41:58):
this professional choir called the Madison ChoralProject started and I tried out and got in and
I've been singing with them ever since. So actually I'm I have rehearsal tonight.
I have a request. I want to see some social mediaSure, I will. If you go back far enough,
(42:24):
there was a post once of me givinga tour wearing a tux, and that was my tux that I
Love it, love it, John. Before we go, I want to ask youa couple, I love doing this with our guests, we'll do some rapid fire
questions. Just first thing comes to your mind or your heart, okay? Allright. Ready? Yeah. Grain or glass, what
(42:50):
matters most? Grain. Okay.
Gin Gimlet. Okay. Onethat it's not a lot of cleaning. Coffee
(43:13):
or cocktail? First drink of the day? Oh,coffee. Scotland or
Wisconsin. It's a close second though. Scotland's rightMost underrated spirit category? Best
(43:39):
music to distill to? We all want toWell, it goes
back. So I'll say we listen to publicradio out of Seattle because my production manager is from there. So
it's a wide range. It could be anything from Dolly PartonBaritone singing or distilling? What's the harder discipline? Baritone
(44:10):
singing. There you go. Oneword you hope people feel when they taste your spirits?
John, I want to thank you very much for being here with us today. Andeveryone listening, please reach out to
John and the links in the stateline. Share the journey and let's
(44:37):
continue to lift each other up. Appreciate you beingThanks for tuning in to The Adaptive Mindset. If you found value in
today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave areview, and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age.
Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thoughtleader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we
don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, andmindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and
We'll be diving into the world of brain-to-glass craft spirits with John Mleziva ,founder of the State Line Distillery in Madison, Wisconsin. John
(00:29):
isn't your typical distiller. He's a fermentation scientist trainedat Harriet Watt University in Scotland, a former EMT,
a baritone singer, and the creator of oneof the most celebrated coffee liquors on the planet. built
entirely from local Wisconsin grains and artisans' partnerships.
State line spirits prove that authenticity, sustainability,and world-class quality can coexist without shortcuts. In
(00:57):
this conversation, we explore what grain-to-glass really means,how science elevates craft, why local partnerships matter,
and where cocktail culture is headed next. Whether you'rea spirits enthusiast, a builder, or simply curious
about the story behind what's in your glass, this episode isfor you. Let's dive in. So welcome
(01:19):
to the show, John. It's really great to have you here. ThankYeah, so I
want to dive in here and just really geta little bit more of your origin story. Could you tell our audience a
little bit more about you and what excites you and whatinspired you to start Stateline Distillery and
(01:47):
Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, I guess the journeyreally started back when I was an undergraduate at
the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I was studying biologyand my grandfather introduced
me to homebrewing, we'll call it, around 21-ish. AndI quickly kind of fell in love with fermentation
(02:12):
science, really the management of yeast to make interesting beers.
That was kind of where I liked to spend a lot of time when Iwas sort of researching, making beers. And
so I ended up graduating with a degree in biology. Andfrom there, you know, like many people, my path was actually kind
of winding. I spent some time after graduation asan EMT working in the Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(02:42):
And at that time, everything Iwas doing on fermentation was hobbyish, right? I was just kind
of a hobby level. And so I spent some timeworking in that hospital and then my
path shifted and I ended up working at the University ofMinnesota and got a higher education degree
(03:04):
in educational policy administration. And that's what ledme to Madison. I moved in Madison in 2008 and
was working at Edgewood College. of homebrewing onthe side and kind of one toe into that world. But
most of my time was really spent in higher education atthat point. And then through a chance encounter with
(03:27):
an owner of a local brewery, I started spendingsome weekends over the summer kind of working at
this commercial level brewery and just sort of fell in love withthis idea of making locally
grown grains to produce something that peoplecould enjoy. And so this kind
(03:51):
of was my launching off point into this sort of career paththat I'm on now, which is I found this program at
Harriet Watt University over in Scotland, and I leftmy position at Edgewood, moved abroad, fully
intending that I would open a brewery. Butas they say, when you spend a year you know, working at the Scotch Whiskey
(04:13):
Institute and living in an area where whiskeyis the sort of prevailing passion, my
focus shifted. So it was really over there kindof when the idea of opening a grain-to-glass distillery
sort of came into focus for me. And so whenI graduated, That's when I started kind
(04:37):
of thinking about how do I take all this knowledge aroundtraditional distillation techniques and the science behind that
and move it to having abrand that celebrates the rich agricultural history
(05:02):
What does it really mean to you? Like what, what, like, like,like what, what, what really juiced
Like the, like the, why the mindset shiftedTo get into distillation specifically? I, for
me, I think distillation is thecontinuation of a really artistic process. So
(05:27):
the idea of making a beer, right, is this, We'retaking grain, we're mashing, we're fermenting, and we've got this product
that people can enjoy. The turnaroundis fairly quick. For me, the idea of
adding distillation is another layer of artistry thatwe can bring into the to
(05:49):
the process. And there's this really interesting blend ofboth sort of short-term techniques
where we can share a gin, a vodka with people. Butthen there's the long game, kind of the arc of whiskey making,
which is this romantic side of distillation, right?
(06:10):
That you can start a process thatliterally takes 10 plus years to finish. And
to me, the balance of thingsthat we can share with the world, share with
consumers in a shorter time frame,but layered in this sort of long game maturation with
(06:32):
barrels is really what gets me excited and where IHave you, like, tell us about just the journey, like, have there been
any challenges where you just like, like, what the heck amOf course. I mean, I think every, every entrepreneur, every business owner
(06:57):
would say, if they don't say that there were those moments, I'mYeah. It's you know, Of
course, the biggest challenge for us, butI won't dwell on this. I can talk about others, but
of course, like COVID, right? I mean, we opened in2017 and then effectively we're closed. for 18 months
(07:22):
in terms of our production for anything on premise, youknow, bars and restaurants, all of that is a period overnight.
And, and, you know, we're fairly new at that pointin terms of, of where we were in our business cycle. And so navigating
that, finding a way to survive andcome out of it on the other hand, I And
(07:48):
thankfully, I was able to partner with the state of Wisconsin toproduce hand sanitizer for hospitals and
different various organizations. So it was certainlyNo, but we do what we have to do sometimes, don't we? Yeah, that's right.
And I think comingout of COVID, we kind of saw what would be
(08:13):
considered sort of a boom time in termsof certainly in the spirits world.
And now the kind of the challenge we're navigating currently,I think as an industry is sort of a natural contraction, right?
This pulling back people Andwhat does that mean for us? I mean, the bourbon industry in particular is
(08:41):
really getting hit hard for their amount of supply versus demand.
And so for us, the waywe kind of solve this for ourselves is leaning into
this quality over quantity,which has always been a driving factor of us for being a
grain of glass. And it's messaging that helps kindof brunt the force So
(09:10):
it's messaging, it's tightening your belt in areas and just lookingat kind of general costs around the entire business to
Yeah, you touched on a fewthings there that are really core to any
business. Quality, and watchingthe pennies. Learned that a
(09:33):
lot from, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Jim Rohn. Yeah,Jim shared that quite a bit. Watch the pennies. Yeah,
A penny here, a penny there, and suddenly you're talking aboutYeah, it adds up like little, like, you
don't even see it, but it all adds up. Andyou just have to be disciplined and have that mindset to
(10:02):
look at all facets of your business. Right. And especiallyin times we're living in now. So like,
you know, where there's so many different challenges in the economyand, but I'm a person though, that
also believes that there's so many opportunities. I'mcurious, and I'm going off script here for a bit. What
(10:32):
Well, I think there's always opportunity. I agree with you onthat. For
instance, even though the spirits ingeneral, alcohol in general, but spirits
as a category is contracting. If you look at thesubcategories, the ready-to-drink cocktail
(10:55):
movement, those are areas where there's still growth. youknow, I always use the phrase that was told to
me, that I that's a long time ago is, you know,be the be the red boat in the blue sea, right? I mean, the
idea is you can't, you're not at my scale, andour size and our marketing budget, all these things, there
(11:17):
are a lot of things stacked against you trying to go up against kind ofa world class industry, right
of suppliers, the big, big guys. And so ifyou aren't consistently looking at ways to
solve problems that either don't exist yetor come into the market from an
(11:39):
angle that you can be more nimble orbetter traction in
terms of kind of your approach, you're introuble. So when I look at the market, you
can't just keep trying to come at it the same youknow, we created a product and it sold really well, like the
(12:02):
coffee of the poor, which you mentioned earlier. It's like, okay, so we have that.
So now what can I do with that product thatsatisfies a growth model, looking
at something like RTDs or something like that, that we haven'treally tapped into. So it's, you know, you're effectively
trying to gain market share in an area that youI wanted to ask you this,
(12:40):
What does grained glass truly mean to you? Andwhy was it a non-negotiable when you were building State Line? Let's
Yeah, that's a really great question. Ifyou look at a map of Wisconsin and
you kind of find where Madison is, and then thinkThis idea is, sorry, it's
(13:18):
Let me start that over again. Just gonna ask you tojump right in. I mean, so if
you look at kind of where we sit in the state of Wisconsin, you'llnotice we aren't anywhere near a state line, truly. And so
the name state line, uh, was born outof this idea of, of sourcing things as locally as
(13:39):
possible whenever possible. And so for me, there,there are kind of two main things that,
you know, being grain to glass truly embodiesfor us. as a company. One, it's community
partnerships. So we work directly with farmers. We'vegot about six different farmers that we
(14:04):
work with that are within 25 milesof the distillery. And so these are family owned
farms. These are small organic farms thatthey are very focused on regenerative agricultural practices. that
they use. And for us, it's an opportunity to supportthem in that endeavor, because I believe very strongly in
(14:29):
being stewards of the land and trying to be responsibleAnd so that community partnership
is very, very important to me as a pillar of who we are asa company. And then the second piece of it is that I
(14:52):
also believe that gives us a competitive advantage.
So the grain that we're sourcing comes from an areain the state called the driftless region, which is a really unique
area where the glacial sort of drift didnot happen. And so it sort of looks like a, like,
like like a sea on the country inthe Midwest here where this happened. And you
(15:17):
get some of the most interesting soil structures thatyou can find. And the crops that grow in
those areas, you know, theseare legacy crops, right, that
had to adapt to those conditions. And so the flavoris different as it comes through in the process. And so
(15:38):
for us being grain-to-glass, How do I take this reallyunique grain grown in a very, very particular
area, geographically speaking, partner withthese amazing farmers who are bringing these regenerative
agricultural organic practices and pull thatthrough so that we can highlight those flavors in
(16:02):
the bottle of spirit? So vodka, for instance,most vodkas macro brand vodkas is how much flavor
and odor can you pull out? This idea of being odorlessand flavor neutral. And for us, our approach is
the opposite. How much can we keep in? Yeah, I need it to stillact like a vodka. I still need it to mix with soda
(16:23):
water and be this beautiful vodka soda,right? But I also want it to have enough flavor that you would
consider just bit,John? Well, I, you know, I, we try to be, I
(16:43):
mean, that's, that's, that's the whole, you know, that's, that's agreat word. We, we, it sort of ties into, we're
trying to be the, the, the different colored boat inAbsolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. So,
(17:07):
Walk us through that journey of creating that winningcoffee liqueur. What were the biggest experiments in
the risks along the way? Yeah. The old crap momentsWell, I mean, I chuckle because the coffee liqueur
was a productthat was born out of the idea of wanting to have a party at
(17:34):
the cocktail lounge. So if your listeners are familiarwith the movie The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges in
that movie drinks white Russians the whole way through. Andso in Wisconsin, at
the time, this is actually no longer the case, but at the time, toserve a product in our cocktail lounge
(17:56):
or tasting room area. It had to have been produced by us.
So you couldn't buy anything, you just had to make it. And so Iwanted to have this party, and we had our vodka,
we had gins and the rest of it, but we didn't have a coffee liqueur.
So I kind of Onan off comment, I was talking to a guy that I know
(18:20):
that owns a coffee shop, Kin Kin Coffee, andthat led to an eight-month collaboration
of R&D going down the rabbit hole of how do wecreate a coffee liqueur that is better
than what's on the market currently, all tobe able to have this party. It
(18:43):
was interesting when you say like the, oh crap or aha moments.
I mean, it was such a, you know, theold adage, fail cheaply and fail quickly. I
mean, had I not been able to create this, itwasn't an expensive lift for me to do that as a company. This was
started as a fun side project for a one night event.
(19:05):
And so the riskwas very low for us to get into this. Then
we spent all the time and created this beautiful product that wasnever built, never meant for distribution, and
had the party. The response to it was phenomenal.
(19:26):
That's when the risk came. To really makethis a product that was commercially viable, we
needed to invest in some tanks and some equipment becauseall by hand, soaking the grounds and separating it out with chinois.
It was a mess, right? So for this to actually scale upand be anything different than that, we had to kind of
(19:53):
jump off the cliff, so to speak, and get some investmentin equipment. And, you know, it's
an amazing product for us. It started back inthe day, less than one, when
I went to distribution, less than 1% of ourtotal sales to now it represents about 56% of our
(20:20):
So it's- And you didn't even see that coming. You didn'tNot at all. And I think about
business in general is for me is onebeing willing to pivot in the- Yes. and then
to seeing opportunities when they present themselves, right? Imean, if you see the opportunity and then pivot into
(20:44):
it, I mean, coffee liqueur was not in my business plan. Imean, we wanted to be really, really focused on
whiskey and still do, but whiskey is very, very expensive. Andso you can only grow your whiskey program so quickly. And
when this opportunity presented itself, we thought, well,let's approach it the way we approach everything else that we do is make
(21:06):
the best possible version of this thing, talkabout why it is the way it is
and why we think it's a really good product andIsn't that interesting? I just think that's so amazing. So
many times entrepreneurs, weget stuck in that moment of this is the
(21:32):
way it's always been. Yeah. And someday,like Brian Tracy says, someday
I'll take that chance. But you had the opportunity rightin front of you. You saw it. You
weren't scared away from it. You saw it. You went after it. AndOh, absolutely. I mean, it helped us grow
(22:05):
you know, it led me to this winning doublegold, which just means, you know, at the
San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a group of42 or 50 judges, I believe, gave
it a gold medal on a blind taste testing and that happening threeyears in a row to become platinum status, then that led me to meeting Drew
(22:27):
Brees, who helps, who is a part ofthis company as a part of the coffee liqueur story, which
then helped open up distribution in California. Sothere's these things that all kind of came from the
coffee liqueur being what it is. And,you know, definitely a learning curve in terms of trying to
(22:48):
take a product, up until thecoffee, our sort of trajectory was pretty Wisconsin
focused. Like we are in Wisconsin, we weren'treally looking outside of our walls for distribution and that has
So how far, now that you've embracedWell, hopefully at some point, you know, nationwide, right?
(23:20):
We've got distribution partners lined up inCalifornia, Tennessee, like
Nashville area and Texas, Austin. So samecompany in California statewide
there, although they have statewide distribution opportunities,but we're focused on San Diego. So we're really, we're kind of
(23:42):
like within each of these markets, We're not tryingto be everywhere all at once. We're being pretty strategic about
Well, it's interesting you said that, andI think it goes back to what you said earlier. If
you do that, you can actually pivot and make the direction orSo earlier we were talking a little bit, you talked about local partnerships,
(24:14):
you know, the farmers and Kin-Kin.
What have you learned the most from that? And why is it importantfor people to really look in their own backyard, like in
your mind, like what, and what should people be thinkingYou know, probably the biggest
(24:44):
benefit for me isthat I've found myself
within a community of people passionate aboutwhat they do and they
bring expertise to the processin their specific areas. And they also, as
(25:08):
we kind of build those relationships within the community,the networking opportunity, you know, there's some ancillary
benefit that I hadn't really even thought about, but it's, youknow, people who are passionate about what they're
doing also know other people who are passionate about theirown industries, and suddenly you're getting introduced, you're being
(25:30):
networked, and things presentthemselves I think more often,
right? I mean, it gets us from onlybeing inwardly focused on who we are as a company,
but also we are now thinking about growthin a different way in terms of our community partnerships. And it also
(25:57):
just provides me another sounding board forproblems that I'm trying to solve when I'm talking to
people that are that have moved from beinga simple commodities
broker to someone who I'm friends, I've known foryears, I'm friends with, they're business owners. So if
(26:18):
I'm running into problems, there's someone I can bounce an idea offof, they're trusted friends, even though they're not running
It sounds like what I have with the gentleman I meet withevery Friday, accountability partner and your own version of
(26:40):
peer group. I can't sayhow important that is to have another person
or persons to network with totalk about, Hey, I got this challenge. And then they have another
lens on that, that. that theycan see that you may not have been aware of, but they can see
(27:02):
your blind spots. So that'sYeah. And frankly, coming
from a background in higher education, I mean, there'sso many committees in community building that I
was involved in there. I didn't expect tohave as much as I do. outside of that world. So
(27:27):
that was really refreshing. It's like, oh yeah, I'm finding other peoplewho love what they do, are passionate about
what they do, and are also just good businesspeople. So some of them have been in business a heck of a
lot longer than I have. So just getting little nuggetsSo right now, what would you say to a business owner
(27:51):
right now? What are two or three of the biggest things you've learnedright now that shaped your mindset and
what you believe is possible and what you know you need tobuild your community and have people you can trust and lean
(28:15):
on in terms of bouncing ideas off of, right? I mean,they don't operate in a silo.
You're gonna drown. You're gonna have areally hard time of it. So I think finding people
you trust, and they don't necessarily have to be business ownersor owners in your business. They can
(28:37):
just be people that you sit down with and really openwhat the challenges are and where you're trying to go. In
my world, it's capital, capital, capital.
It's capital intensive, right? So whenyou're kind of starting a business, I think it is easy
(29:00):
to make spreadsheets. It's easy to look at numbers. It's easy tothink about growth in a way that is
a bit rose-colored glasses. Sotry to take those off. Catastrophize, I guess, is
the right way. Think about what you're gonna do in business and divide it inhalf, at least, for the first year. And if you can
(29:24):
Otherwise, try to adjust. And thenthe third, for me, is more
So when you are, you know, if you're one person shop,that's where you start, right? That's where a lot of people start with you.
Yeah. But I think, I think lettinggo of ego and hire people that
(29:51):
are better at doing the things that you're not verygood at doing. better than what you could ever do. And then
get out of your own way and let them do their job. Your, your jobas a, as a business owner and founder at some point becomes
setting the mission, building community within your staff andproviding kind of that, that culture arm,
(30:14):
right. Is to make sure that everyone's moving in the same direction andhas buy-in. And there comes
a point where. If you can't let go and get outof the way as a business owner of people that are going to help grow
That resonates with me, but I knowwhat I learned from scouting and I seen this and it's in
(30:37):
one of the, oneof the troops that I associate with. They
have a saying, which I've adopted now in my own business, train them,That's right. So much, I should start saying
I loved it when I, I just captured that. And whenI finally started to embrace that, everything changed my life.
(31:05):
Yeah. You know, and you know that because it has fortimes I've talked with some other business owners,
when I'm, you know, I'm going on a two week vacation to,to my cabin or my parents cabin, I should say up in
the North woods over winter break. And I hear like, I don't know how,how could you possibly step away? And I, you know,
(31:32):
for that long of a time, and, and of course, I'm not completely offthe clock, right? I'm there's emails I'm checking, but from is
the business running 100%? Like I, likeI know exactly what you mean, John. I used to
(31:55):
say I had a business that runs me, now I have a business that I run. Yeah.
Yes. Right. Yeah. You get it, don't you? Ido. Yeah. And we're all on
this different path on our entrepreneurial journey, but you've figuredit out. And it's great that you're sharing this
because some people of what you said that some peoplewill listen to what you said and maybe do a little self-reflection because
(32:20):
a lot of times entrepreneurs are on an island. Yeah. Andwe were isolated. Sometimes we don't reach out and build those peer
groups and and like what you've developed withyour partnership, which is pretty incredible. It's
nice. You know, you're very fortunate to have that.
I am. Absolutely. I do not take itfor granted. I guess the other thing you could say to
(32:44):
that is at some point then you're at peace. Ifthings are outside of your control and the business doesn't
go the way you want, at least you tried it, youdid it your way, and you tried to be successful in
all the ways that you can to make a businessmove. Yeah, you showed up and you did the work. Yes. You
(33:08):
did the work and you tried to do it in a way that was the rightway to you. And that's all
So that leads me to the next question to you. John,how do you personally define success as an entrepreneur and as
a maker? WhatMuch of what we've already talked about, right, in terms of being
(33:36):
true to our ideals, in terms of howcoming at an industry committed
to being grain to glass is not the easy way to be a distillery. Imean, if your listeners don't know you
know, the vast majority of distilleries in theUnited States, at least, purchase Spirit from,
(34:01):
you know, maybe one or two producers in the country, andthen they do something as simple as add water to
it. Once you proof that spirit downto bottle proof, that is now yours and sell it. And
so you skip out the farming, the mashing, the fermentation, thedistillation, started distillery with just tanks, which
(34:24):
is totally fine. But forme, one of the defining pieces
of our success has been staying true tothis idea of wanting to have a green glass distillery to
be able to have a pathway through the kindof jungle of distilled spirits
(34:47):
that represents the best of agricultural practices inWisconsin. So that's one area of
success in terms of the integrity of how we make the product. Anothermetric of success, a pillar, so to speak, would
be that the community thatI'm building within the walls of this business are
(35:13):
as strong as any of the partnerships outside of the wall sothat I've got my key people in place to do the
job, to move the needle. Forme, I see success
when the vision I have is permeated throughthe entire organizational structure.
(35:35):
people are talking about who we are as a company and where we're trying to go, I canhear it from everybody. They might say it a little differently, you
know, when it comes to crafting the cocktails inthe cocktail house, using syrups that they make in-house and
fresh juice, like, that's my ideals, right? And allthe kind of ways. And then, of course, the third is that we can Kind
(35:58):
of grow in a way to hold on to those ideals andstill be profitable as a business, which is the art.
But it is hard. Um, but like, itsounds like to me, like you've set, you've set the
standards, you know, um, you know, standardsof personal and professional. Do
(36:21):
you want to share a little bit, go ina little bit more, what personal professional standards that you won't count
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, I think this, productsthat we're making. And that
(36:41):
is our North Star, right? I mean, if you don't havesomething to look at and
guide your decisions, when the times are tough, youcan run into trouble, you become rudderless. So for me, this
idea of, you know, who are we asa company? true
(37:05):
to the kind of ideals that we set forth. Thatto me is the number one thing guiding
decisions. And frankly, once you've identified thatsort of, you know, North Star
truth statement about who we are, then anydecisions become easier. You know, it doesn't make them, easy
(37:34):
to implement, don't hear that, butit becomes easier to make the decision, right? There's a
little gray area. There's not as much ambiguity tosay, well, if we did it this way, a lot faster
and quicker and cheaper, it's like, well, no, that's not who we are. And itstarts to erode. It's
(37:56):
an interesting thing for me, because if you start to do that, notonly are you putting in jeopardy your
what, I guess, how you're seeing as a company andbusiness out in the community, but you're also eroding the
community within your building, right? Like if I'm, I've set the standardfor eight years, suddenly I'm changing that. Now
(38:20):
the foundation of who we are starts to come under question forYeah. Yeah. No, I've heard that said so
many times in different ways and you, you set it up quite nicely.
Um, um, whereWell, ideally that we will have grown, grown
(38:48):
from a company that's selling and, you know,the majority of our sales are in Wisconsin still, and we're seeing kind
of our next biggest progress in California, but we, wemoved from a company that is
now kind of known at the national level fromour products. And it doesn't necessarily have to be just the coffee liqueur, but that's
(39:09):
kind of the tip of the spear for us. And so I, in the next fiveyears, would like to see us at a national, as a
national brand, still doing things theYeah, I think you can see that coming. So,
John, what's the best way for people to reach outMe, personally, they can certainly send
(39:36):
an email. It's just my nameat jm, I should say, at statelinedistillery.com. That's,
They can find you on LinkedIn. Okay. And then do you do Instagram asYes. So, right. You can reach, you can follow us, state line distillery.
(40:04):
I highly recommend our audience to follow the journey. Everyone follow,get to know John and reach out and ask questions.
We're goingto make sure we have show notes, but I wanted to thank you, John,
for being here today. Everybody has a story. Andwe're all put on this earth to help and share people. And your story
(40:28):
can help our listeners. And it has. And I want to thankyou. Oh, and I never... One thing we forgot. We
I even did it a little bit. Yes, you did. First ofall, thank you for having me. This has been a lovely conversation. And
(40:49):
you know this as an entrepreneur. It's easyto get caught up in the 10,000 things in front of
you at all times. And in any moments wecan have to stop and slow down, I guess that's, that would be one
parting piece of advice is find space toslow down and zoom out and get
(41:11):
out of the rat race. That is the the million thingsBecause then you'll get perspective and enjoy life because
That's right. Part of that is singing in theHow long have you been doing that
Gosh, 10 years at this point. Isang my whole life. I've been a singer and now I'm
(41:37):
blessed enough to have two young, andjust because they love it. But I sang at the University of
Wisconsin in the concert choir and the Singing Statesman, whichwas an all men's choir. And then I moved to Madison and
I kind of thought my time singing ininformal groups was over. And then
(41:58):
this professional choir called the Madison ChoralProject started and I tried out and got in and
I've been singing with them ever since. So actually I'm I have rehearsal tonight.
I have a request. I want to see some social mediaSure, I will. If you go back far enough,
(42:24):
there was a post once of me givinga tour wearing a tux, and that was my tux that I
Love it, love it, John. Before we go, I want to ask youa couple, I love doing this with our guests, we'll do some rapid fire
questions. Just first thing comes to your mind or your heart, okay? Allright. Ready? Yeah. Grain or glass, what
(42:50):
matters most? Grain. Okay.
Gin Gimlet. Okay. Onethat it's not a lot of cleaning. Coffee
(43:13):
or cocktail? First drink of the day? Oh,coffee. Scotland or
Wisconsin. It's a close second though. Scotland's rightMost underrated spirit category? Best
(43:39):
music to distill to? We all want toWell, it goes
back. So I'll say we listen to publicradio out of Seattle because my production manager is from there. So
it's a wide range. It could be anything from Dolly PartonBaritone singing or distilling? What's the harder discipline? Baritone
(44:10):
singing. There you go. Oneword you hope people feel when they taste your spirits?
John, I want to thank you very much for being here with us today. Andeveryone listening, please reach out to
John and the links in the stateline. Share the journey and let's
(44:37):
continue to lift each other up. Appreciate you beingThanks for tuning in to The Adaptive Mindset. If you found value in
today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave areview, and share it with someone who's ready to thrive in the digital age.
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