May 7, 2025 • 45 mins
Nayana Ferguson shares her experience facing both pancreatic cancer and breast cancer and rewriting her Next Chapter. After earning a successful corporate career and recovering from her health challenges, Nayana and her husband, Don, followed a dream. They launched Anteel Tequila in 2018 and have been racking up awards ever since. Nayana joins a small but growing of fearless black women launching successful spirits brands.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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(00:21):
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
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Speaker 2 (00:44):
Welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host, Melanie Young.
I enjoy talking to dynamic women who inspire me and
hopefully inspire you. That submission of the show to inspire
women around the world by featuring inspiring women around the
world to choose life on their terms, make great decisions
about how they take care of themselves, to enjoy life
(01:06):
to the fullest because you only live once, and to
share the experiences with those you care about. Today, we've
got a great aspiring story. I love sharing stories of
women who have faced challenges and have overcome them or
lived through them and found new missions. And my guest
(01:29):
is a perfect example. Of that. Her name is Nanna Ferguson.
She is the co founder and chief operating officer of
the award winning tequila brand Antel Tequila, and she's the
first black woman to co own and lead a tequila
brandt She is also a twelve year breast cancer survivor
(01:51):
I'm going on i think sixteen years and a nineteen
year pancreatic cancer survivor, which really twinged me because my
grandmother had pancreatic cancer and I'm in a surveillance program
because i have the Braka two genetic mutation, so I'm
diligent about monitoring that, and I'm just so amazed and
(02:14):
happy that she has survived. I've interviewed pancreatic cancer survivors
who are doing really well because i want everyone to
know that a cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence.
It is a life sentence to do better about taking
care of yourself. Beyond her groundbreaking achievements in the spirits
industry and more importantly as a survivor, Nyana is an
(02:36):
inspirational speaker and mentor and advocate for the Pancreatic Cancer
Action Network, which is a terrific organization. I want to
welcome you to Fearless Fabulous. You to share your fearless
fabulous story. Nyana Ferguson, Oh, thank you for having me. Well,
I was really impressed. I did taste her tequilas, and
(02:56):
I love them. I don't drink a lot of spirits
anymore because I've developed the sensitivity. I'm a wine writer first,
but I can tell you that these had a wonderful
flavor to them, and they appealed to me for that reason,
because I'm very picky about my tequilas, and yours were
just lovely, just lovely. So tell me about your story.
(03:18):
I know you were born and raised in Detroit, but
it was not an easy childhood. To talk to me.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah, I mean I was born and raised in Detroit.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
I don't talk a lot about it just because a
lot of people that or interviews that I have are
usually about leadership, entrepreneurship, you know, mindset. But I did
grow up in a home where there was physical abuse.
So I am also a child of of physical abuse
in the home. So it is a lot that I
(03:50):
have overcome. Yeah, I started in Detroit. I went to
Detroit public schools. A lot of people know the high
school I went to which was cast Technical School. As
we've had a lot of celebrities and things like that
who've come out of Detroit who attended. I went on
to get an MBA in business and I got right
(04:11):
into the corporate world. I became a financial analyst in
the automotive industry just because I am from Detroit, so
automotive is very big in that area. And you know,
working in that, working up the latter as they like
to say, And you know, I became the first of.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
My first management position.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
I was actually twenty five, so I started very early
being in management and then you know, I worked my
way up to executive leadership.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
But you know, it is just a lot to do
when you're you know, doing corporate work and all of that.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
And I do have to say that probably some of
maybe the reasons I got PI created cancer is because
of all of the stress, you know, and that I've
had in my life, even from when I was younger.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
My doctor told me.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Well, no, we don't know, and I was like, you
don't know what stress and trauma can do to the
human body. So you know, for me to get pan
gradic cancer at the age of thirty two, which most
people are not getting pancredic cancer to at least their fifties,
and you know, there are certain factors that a lot
of people get it as well.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
But I was training for.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
A marathon, I was eating well, all of these things,
and there was no reason I should have had pand
credit cancer. However, like I said, my history with trauma
and you know, dysfunctionality of my family and home life
is probably what exacerbated some things in my body and
(05:48):
made me have a tumor on my pancreas. So you know,
when I was diagnosed, it was like what you know.
I was like, where are you talking about. I'm like
thirty two years old. I'm you know, climb in a
corporate letter, like I don't have time for this. But
you know, I went on to have a whipple proced.
A lot of people who are more aware of paying
(06:10):
credit cancer now, but there's still so much work to
be done, and any new doctor that I meet, they're like,
you got a whiffle. Oh my goodness, that is a
major operation, and it is. It took my body about
three years to fully recover. But then you know, several
years later I got breast cancer as well, and so
(06:32):
I had a little ecto meat and went through that
whole process radiation. With all that, I've only had one
at least one session of radiation, thankfully, which was six weeks.
But the thing that I always point out for all
(06:52):
of these challenges in my life, for some reason, I
have a great mindset.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
You know, I have a very positive mindset.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I don't When I was diagnosed with pancretic cancer, I
was like, oh my god, what was me?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I was like, okay, so I will get past this.
What's next? You know?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
I told my doctors at the time, I'm gonna get
out of a hospital in two weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
And they were like, oh, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
We'll see And I was like, I'm getting out if
you're in two weeks. And I was out of here
in two weeks. I can't walk, but I was out
of the hospital. So, you know, all of the things
and challenges that I've encountered in my life, I feel
that my mindset is what has got me through a
lot of it, just because I do keep my cust
of mindset. I do keep that I have faith in
(07:38):
myself and what I can do. And those are some
basic factors of how I've lived my life. And how
I do the things that I do.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Nana. You know, it's an amazing story. And I do
agree that trauma and stress can take a toll. They
are toxic, and I think that's what happened to me.
I later do have the Bracket two genetic mutation, but
I think my cancer was really brought on by an
incredible period of stress. I was had my own company
(08:10):
and was under a lot of pressure to get clients,
save clients, get paid by the clients, you know, the
corporate world. I've interviewed a lot of women that have
gone through the corporate world. It's amazing because you had
a management position. You're a young black woman with an MBA,
probably facing a lot of crap oland the industry, and
you worked your way in and then this happened. I
do have to ask yes, I two important questions about
(08:35):
did you have any family history?
Speaker 4 (08:37):
No?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Okay, so that was yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
I've been through trying to get through the genetic testing
for my daughters because I do have two daughters, but
my mother, grandmother, none of them had had cancers like that.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Wow. So I have to ask you this because again
and do this for my listeners. Early detection with any illness,
major illness is critical. So breast cancer, let's start with
that one because it is easier to detect because you
did you do, like I found my lump through self examination?
You were how were you? How old were you when
(09:18):
you were diagnosed with breast cancer?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Oh? Shoot, that was so I was thirty two with
so I was like thirty nine.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So you were too young for a mammogram. You were
too young for a mammogram, right, yeah, but I.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Was.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I was, but I was still doing self examination and
I found a look. And you know, as we've been
certain times in the month, you have hormones that are
raging and sometimes you still loves. But I felt one
and it just kept growing. And over three months period,
I continued to watch it and it was getting soer
and it was getting bigger, and then I was like, okay,
(09:54):
I probably need to go see someone. So I did
wait like three months just to see me. And then
when I went to get the mammogram, and then they're like, okay,
so we're gonna have to do a biopsy. And they
did a biopsy with like eight needles and everything they
hurt too. Yes, okay, so you're gonna have to have search. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
The thing is they don't they can't say in that
moment in time, even with the breast cancer and pank
credit cancer, they can't say, oh, you have cancer. In
that moment, they just are like, you know when I
have a pint credit cancer and they're like, well, you
have a mask on your pancres. So and then with
the breast cancer, they're like, so this lump has to
(10:40):
be taken out right, And then you're like, oh, I'm
in this process.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Oh, what I have to do? Radiation?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Okay, so six weeks is a normal radiation and I
want that to me. And then you're probably under surveillance
because you're young and and and you're young, and you're
black women. And I think this is so critical for
every black woman listening, be check your breast because there
is a higher incident of recurr. I don't want to
(11:10):
say that too, but there is a higher incident of
aggressive cancers and recurring cancers when it's diagnosed youngers to
the more vigilant you are sooner, and black women do
tend to get more aggressive cancer, which is usually triple negative,
which you don't have. But I can't underscore this enough
that the simple monthly ritual of examining your breast is critical.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Yeah, just feel your booze because it's important. Yes, ever
since then I am I am always a cancer pagent.
But ever since then, of course I have to get
year lead mammograms and I write every other year IDENTI
biopsy because they find something else different and they need
to find out what it is. So you know, I
mean my breast Sergeron. Even at that time she told
(11:56):
me there is a sixty five percent chance of my
tumor returney And I told her at that time, I said,
if I have to come back in here, we're going.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
To just put them off and we're just going to.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Do It's always an option. It's always an option. And
a lot of my friends have opted for that and
had reconstruction or chosen not to. The great thing is,
as I always say, you don't choose to have cancer.
It chooses you. But you have choices once you received
the diagnosis. You have more choices than you realize. Listen
(12:31):
to your doctors, do your research, don't google people, do
your and listen to your gut in your heart. Now,
pancreatic cancer is a lot harder to diagnose's, and unfortunately,
for that reason, it is usually diagnosed at a later stage,
which is not great. You want early detection. So what
because I got to tell you, I think about it
(12:51):
all the time. For me, because I do have a
family history. What was it? What was your body saying
to you in your thirties that made you think that
there was something that needed to be checked out? Because
you're an active woman, You're eating well, you are doing well.
What was it that made you say, I think I
need to talk to a doctor.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Well, the main thing that made me go to the
doctors I was driving to work and I started my
tea started chattering and I was shivering and I couldn't get.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
It to stop.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
And it was actually Halloween that year. It was October
thirty first, It was a Monday, and I had left,
you know, after dropping my oldest daughter off to school
and you know, priming to her. You know, after you
get home, we'll go out trick or treating, blah blah blah.
But yeah, by the time I got to work, I
was like, something is wrong, and I had a security
(13:45):
I called the ambulance and so when the paramedics came,
they took my temperature. I was freezing, but my body
was one hundred and six, so I had one hundred
and six temperature body temperature and they're like, yeah, you're
in seizure territory. We have to take you to the hospital.
It was like, so that is what made me go
(14:08):
to the hospital. But thinking back on it, a week prior,
I was literally feeling a pain in my side and
I thought it was from me running because I was
training for a marathon at the time, and I thought
it was like a running stitch, you know, you get
a cramp and stuff like that, and that's kind of
what it felt like, even though I wasn't running. I
was literally at the movies actually, and I felt a
(14:31):
pain in my side. I found out way later that
that was an indicator as well. But the one hundred
and six fevers what sent me to the hospital. Then
they started doing all these tests because of course they
were trying to figure out what was wrong.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
My body was reacting to something.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And you know, after all these tests, they did a
CT skin and found the mask on my pancs. So
that's what basically sent me to the hospital. I had
no other symptoms, A lot of symptoms with credit cancers, John,
this maybe a protrusion in your abdomen, you know, things
like that, but I had none of those.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
What kind of treatment did you do for the pancreatic cancer?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So for a pancratic cancer for me, since it was early, thankfully,
because it's true, usually when you are diagnosed with it
and a certain point is too late because there is
no cure for a pan credic cancer at this point
moment in time, and if you present symptoms, then it's
usually a little too late because it will past a
(15:36):
size very aggressively at that point. But thankfully I was
in an early detection. However, because pancreatic cancer moves so swiftly,
my surgery was scheduled like.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
A week later. They moved to get that surgery done.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
So I had a whipple and what that intails is
it was eight hour surgery.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
I had had my cancer take it.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Out the bob letter, my duadom duck, which is the
beginning of your small intestine, and twenty five percent of
my stomach.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
So they had to.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Do that, rearrange everything, and so I had a lot
of scar tissue and things like that.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
But thankfully I did not have to do any radiation
or chemo.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
And actually I was a get to doing chemo at
that moment in time, just with everything that I read.
And they monitored me for a while because if there
was any indication of some other either areas that were
in danger, then I would I had.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
To go through radiation.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
But thankfully being monitored very closely as I was, and
they didn't see any indications. I did not have to
do that for pancreatic cancer.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
So are you now in doing surveillance and scans on
a regular basis.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yeah, I do several things.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
One of my unfortunately, one of my child lees with
having pancredic cancers, I developed nutropenia. So nutropenia is something
that's where my bone marrow does not always make red
blood cells or human globin as. And so the last
time I was in the hospital with nutropenia, they I
(17:18):
say threatened me because that's what I felt like with
a bone miraal biopsy.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
But they were like, we.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Will take a piece of your hip bone and also
we'll get some of your bone marrow out of your
hip and I was like, no, we're not doing that
because bone doesn't grow back. I was like, you're not
taking a piece of my hip bone, like I just
I refused at that moment in time, because I really.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Didn't want to lean into that.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I have research mutropenia and in some cases it is
a precursor to leukemia, but I won't, I won't, I
won't claim that. So but I was diagnosed with mutropenia
back into twenty eleven, and I went into the hospital
about three times with that situation. And what is doing
(18:07):
now is actually, in the last couple of years, I
have been someverely anemic, so even to the point that
I had to get a blood transfusion in twenty twenty
three because my hemoglobe and levels were dangerously low. So
most women were supposed to be at about a twelve.
I was at like a five. Wow, And that means
(18:29):
my heart was not getting enough blood or red blood
cells to function, to.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Get to my organs and all of those things.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
So I ended up getting a blood transfusion, and then
that kicked off a year of me getting iron transfusions
to help my body to make red blood cells because
iron supplements don't work for me. I needed iron directly
in my veins. So for over a year I did
(18:57):
that as well. So thankfully this past November we kind
of figured out some things. Another thing that we as
women when we get older, and especially black women in particular,
we get vibrates, and I ended up getting six vibrates.
They were enlarging my uterus. They were causing me to
lead heavily, which a painful and painful and a person
(19:22):
like me who has mutropenia where my body already doesn't
make real blood cells as it should, that was not
helping my situation. So, you know, being open and honest,
I ended up getting in HYS direct me in November
because I was slowly going through a cycle of being
fatally almost fatally blood loss, you know, very serious blood loss,
(19:47):
serious anemia, and then getting iron and then going in
a whole circle again. So, you know, speaking with all
my doctors, my hemetologists, because I am still a cancerpation
no no matter what my obg Y N my primary care,
you know, we all went through several things and questions
(20:07):
about if this was the right choice for me, and
it ended up being the right toice for me.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
So far.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
You know, since November, I love blood levels have gone upfully,
so we are hoping that that was, you know, the
fix to that situation. I will never my body will
never make blood red blood cells as you know, maybe
when I was younger, but I seem to be a
(20:32):
little stable now.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
How are you feeling about this emotionally? Well, that's a lot.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
I mean emostly, it was tough, especially for the last
year or so, because it's tough going like every month
for or every other month for three four weeks and
getting poked and and being in you know, the hospital
and being there for three hours to get a transfusion.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
That that could be tough, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Mentally, I just you know, I approach things as this
is what I need to do to make me feel
better or to make me.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Get whatever done. And I've always been that way.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
So emotionally, it's not that it was difficult per se,
but it was something that I was like, I can't
keep doing this. We need to figure out something else.
We need to figure out what the issue is, you know,
the underline, and you know, to try to gains gave
(21:34):
up even in November getting that surgery. It literally had
to put IV in my wrist because my arms were
my veins were no longer working because of all of
the you know poking that I had to get for
the infusions over the last year.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
So this is a lot, and I'm just trying to
put this into context about everything else going on in
your life, because what at what point during this cancer
journaly were you still working in the corporate world and
at what point did you step out of it?
Speaker 4 (22:07):
So I've been working in a corporate world since thence
I started working. I did not get out of the
corporate world until actually twenty twenty one. We started our
tequila Brandon twenty seventeen, but we didn't launch until twenty
eighteen and took eleven months to get it, you know,
(22:27):
the first bottle in hand.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I was still working full time.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And doing cancer treatment and.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
I wasn't doing any cancer treatment at that time. Now, okay,
because that was way after that. Yeah, you know, I
had I had payperded cancer in two thousand and five.
I was fully recovered from that, like two thousand and eight.
I have breast cancer in twenty twelve. I was pretty
okay after that. But mutropenia can show itself right every
(22:55):
now and then. But yes, I'm still getting you know,
mammograms every year, still doing all of that, all of
those things and getting my blood work done every year
and transfusions.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, because I have Well that's.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
What threw me, because the transfusions took some time. So
you know, I know, when I was going through cancer,
I was running a company and I had to fit
it all in and it was not easy. And I
did create a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome down
the road, and I hopped out of the company because
I just said I'm done. I mean, I just I was.
(23:28):
My job made me sick. My business made me sick.
So you're still doing this and you're working and and
at what point were you were? I think you said
you were You've been married to your husband, Don for Dawn,
not Dawn Dawn for eight years.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
You said we've been married eight years. We've been together eleven.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So was he did you meet him? How did you
meet him? And where were you in your cancer journey
when you met him?
Speaker 3 (23:57):
So we met on match Actually we've been a match
match cool.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Yeah, it's a funny story. I was I did something.
They had some promotional thing going on for like three months.
You got a discount on doing it, so you know,
to pay for it. And I was a corporate person
so I felt like, you know, if somebody was really serious,
they would pay for you know, the platform and not
do the three stuff. And I literally had two weeks
(24:22):
left in my three month plan that I had gotten.
He had gotten the same plan, but he was in
his first two weeks when we mixed.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So he still tells me to this day.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I owe him for those two months because he totally
got off the platform after he met me. But we
met on mash dot com in twenty fourteen, so I
was already past my cancer journey at that moment in time.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
But I did tell him about it.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
On our first date, you know, our first date because
with the neutropenia now, that can show up at any time,
and so I just wanted him to be aware of
my past but also what or could happen. And since
we were, you know, forty, it's not like we were
twenty where you're trying to present you.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Know, just your children best stuff, right, you know, Look.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
I'm forty, but this is what's happened, This may be
something in the future. Just letting you know so you
can make that decision, you know, if you want to
be with me, and knowing that there may be something
down the road.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
There may not, there may be. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
So I was very open and honess on our first date,
that was twenty fourteen. In twenty sixteen, I took them
a surprise birthday trip to the Dominican Republic, be up
the surprise by proposing so and truly, that was one
of the first times of us talking about getting a
(25:49):
business together. We were celebrating that weekend. We were actually
drinking tequila at the resort and realized wouldn't be funny
we own sen tequila or you know, own the tequila
brand or whatever. And you know, we were just kind
of joking and talking. And I was twenty sixteen, but
twenty seventeen came along and he was a.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
VP of operations at Quick and Loans or Rocket Mortgage.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
At the time, I was a financial analyst and my
job was being outsourced to Mexico, so the whole financial department.
And we were talking and we were like, you know what,
we're a little too smart for this. We're both executive leaders.
We got a little money. You know, what do we
want to do with our lives? Do we want to
(26:33):
continue to be in corporate or do we want to
make our own, you know, choices, options and legacies. And
I asked my husband, I said, if you couldn't do anything,
what would you do? And he was like, I would,
I would own a queue company. But we can't do that,
and I was.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Like why not? So, you know, I went to prove
him wrong.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
A couple of days later, I actually found the distillery
that we do work with still to this day, and
he was still skeptical. I got some ample sent to
us in about a month or so, we had a
tasty party with friends.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
My husband was.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Still like, Oh, these aren't going to be good, and
then when we tried it, he's like, oh, these are
actually good. So, you know, he said, do you think
we can actually do this? And I said absolutely. I'll
come up with a budget and we'll do a small badge,
you know, to prove the concept.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
And we did that. So we started in twenty seventeen.
It took eleven months for.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
All the processes because it's a lot that goes on
with creating a tequila brand that I did not want
at the time. But I'm good at asking questions and
me and my husband have both had businesses in the past,
so it's not like I didn't have a business foundation.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
It's just, you know, the liquor industry is a little
bit different, you know.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
And then tequila is different even in the liquor industry,
so you.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Know, asking a lot of questions and all of that.
We got the.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
First bottle in hand in August of twenty eighteen in Michigan.
So we watched Michigan at that time. And then you know,
COVID happened. Not till our first year of full year
on the market was twenty nineteen, and soil in twenty twenty,
we had these plans. We were like, we're gonna you know,
(28:14):
expand beyond Michigan. You know, we had a great foothold
in Michigan over that year. We were making a plans
to travel to California and all of that, and then
COVID happened and we had to pivot to social media marketing.
On my ordering, we were doing you know, tastings online
virtually things like that. Our business did kind of triple
(28:36):
during that time, just because they think a lot of
people were drinking because they didn't know what was going
on really, and then you know, I guess we're out
of COVID or whatever. We're doing right now with that.
But you know now we are in fifteen states. Yeah,
and we do have online ordering as well. If I'm
(28:57):
not in your state directly at a store.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
We're legal and we're illegal, right.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Yes, and legal.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I gotta we gotta emphasize that because I know the
business really well. It's not easy. I gotta tell you,
it's not easy to do this, so I want everybody listening.
It's inspiring, but there's a lot of work you gotta do.
So I have three questions. Three questions. One, did you
work with a consultant, a spirits consultant or a distiller,
a master distiller who specialized in tequila because it is
(29:24):
a very specific spirit.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
So we work with a distillery in Mexico because you
have to to create a tequila bre we have to
work with one of the distilleries in Mexico and Jalisco
in the City of Tequila. So yes, we work with
a distillery in Mexico and they do have a master distiller.
We started working with our master distiller on some of
(29:48):
the recipies that we've created out of your basically based tequila.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
So yes, So.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
How long did it take you to find that distill
I mean, there are a lot of Jalisco is the
sound of tequila, and there are a lot of tequila.
Let's just say there at least go. There's a lot
of distilleries. B there are a lot of tequila brands
in the United States. It is a big market. I've
worked with some tequila brands. I work for Free to
(30:15):
call out tequila as a consultant launching in the United States,
it is hard to get distribution set up. That is
one of the biggest challenges in the market because as
you know, there's some big conglomerate guys and little guys,
so those are big things to navigate in the industry.
What what were your challenges and what did you learn
(30:37):
from that experience, because those big those are big three
things right there, they absolutely are.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
And truly what we launched, tequila was popular, but it
wasn't as popular as it has been in the last.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Couple of years.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
You know, we've seen a lot of celebrities into the industry.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
We've seen you know, all of those things since we've launched.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
As with anything, you know, there's a room for everyone,
but there's also you know, challenges and every aspect. We
don't have those millions, like you know, you know, to start,
you know not and I started with our own money.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
We actually self funded for the first couple of years.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Well I was funny about that.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
Yeah, yeah, we we self funded the first couple of
years and then we open it up to friends and
family in our third year.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
So our third and fourth year.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Was was done by friends and family and also the
money that we were bringing in for the business, you know, just.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Putting it right back into it.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
But yes, it's always challenging to get a distributor, you know,
but as a sprong small brand where we can't do
all fifty states right now, you know, you have to
have millions to be able to do that. But we've
been strategic in the states that we have been in,
and because we've won one hundred and twenty five rewards
since twenty nineteen, which was our first a year on
(32:00):
the market, we are one of the most word of
tequila brands out there, and so we got a lot
of attentions because of those awards, but also because of
our our innovative flavors and also the story of me
being the first black woman to have ownership and lead
a tequila brand.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
My pancratic cancer story. So all of those things led to.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
A lot of visibility and a lot of organic traffic
and you know, me getting interviews and things like that.
So that helped propel us in the markets in different markets.
So some distributors came to us, you know, looking at
us like, hey, you know, I've seen this brand, or
you know, I researched and I was looking for tequila
(32:43):
blah blah blah, and they would come to us.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
But you know, we've gotten some.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
Referrals or recommendations from other partners that we work with,
like for our logistics or something like that, and we've
been able to cultivate several relationships with distributors. We are
not bigger distributors just because they and they have come
at us before, but we already knew that we would
(33:09):
get lost, as we like to say, lost in the
sauce because they concentrate on the very big brands, you know,
the ones that have millions and millions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
So a lot of.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
The smaller brands get lost in those type of arrangements.
So we've always been looking for distributors who are not
to say small, but you know, who show that they
have a foothold in their markets and are actively working
with their brands to help them, you know, infiltrate their
(33:41):
markets as well. But yeah, it's always still challenging, but
it's something that we continue to move forward and we've
been very very strategic about it.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
But we've done very well having that NBA helps. I mean,
I get asked all the time by wine winery, can
you get me an importer? Can you help me? That
is the distribution were particularly now with tariffs and decreased consumption,
and we could go into all the it's tough one
hundred and twenty five awards. I'm sitting here thinking I
didn't think there were that many spirits competitions out there.
(34:13):
Those are expensive to enter, you know, our.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
But we had to go. We had to go to
get a hundred.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
When we started seeing, you know, in twenty nineteen, when
we started answering them, we were like, oh, we actually
got some awards, and people were like, actually, like our
birthd you know. And it's because we now have five expressions.
You know, where we came out, we only had two.
So we had the world's only coconut line, Blanco Tequila,
and our Repicaddle was the first two expressions that we
(34:42):
launched with then excuse me then, because a lot of
restaurants were asking it for a blanco, So then we
launched our blanco expression in twenty nineteen, and then in
twenty twenty one we launched the first taracco blood orange,
and more so because you know, with the coconut lime,
it's not what people think. It has no added sweeteners
(35:04):
or sugars, because then I wouldn't be able to drink
it because I am pre diabetic because of the predit cancer.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
But it's become, you know, a favorite.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
But we do have people who are actually allergic to coconut,
so we don't have them try our articula because it
is infused with natural extracts from the meat of the
coconut and the meat of the lime, so you could
actually feel a little bit in the mouth feel of
that coconut. So we don't have anybody who's allergic to
coconut to try it just because of that.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
We don't want them to have a reaction.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
But we've never heard of anybody saying that they're allergic
or they don't.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Like blood orange, and so.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Blood orange became the second infusion that is also natural extract.
But it's the natural extract from Sicilian grown blood oranges,
and a lot of people don't realize that blood oranges
aren't actually sweet sweet, they're a little tart. But it
makes an a tequila a favor. So that is something
(36:03):
that we have. And then our in Yehal came out
actually in twenty twenty three, and we did work with
our master distiller to make that. We actually went to
the distillery, you know, met with them and we're there,
you know, creating our in Yeho as well, because we
wanted to make sure that that in Yehell came out
(36:24):
and it fits into our portfolio. So since we've had
five expressions and entering competitions, you know, our coconut line
itself has thirty eight of his own awards just by itself.
It is an innovative product, it is a consumer choice product.
Is one double boats, platinums, all of the everything is
(36:45):
out there is one.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
I'm looking at it. Yeah, yeah, So you know it's interesting, Nyana,
because I tasted a lot of tequilas and as I mentioned,
I launched free to call it tequila, and I says
it was an exceptional tequila. So I'm very particular I liked,
you know, for me, I like them. I liked the
flavor ones quite a bit, the infused ones, the orange
(37:07):
blanco as was beautiful, and I love the fact that
these are Sicilian blood oranges from truck I go to sicilin,
not a leaf or Sicily. And I like the coconut lime.
They were less. David is more of a not flavored guy,
and he's more a blanco and repisado. I'm very particky
about repisados, which is when I do drink my tequila neat,
(37:28):
which is about only when I do it. I like
a good repisodo. What I liked. You know, David felt
they were feminine tasting because he's a masculine guy. I
thought they were perfect for that reason. And I'm going
to tell you why they appealed to me personally. And
I said this before we were on air. I don't
drink a lot of spirits anymore because I've developed some
(37:50):
issues and sensitivities. So I think a lot of it's
when it's mixed in a cocktail. Often it's mixed with sugar,
sugary products and juices, and that is combustible for me
because I have a sensitivity to sugar re things. This
is a tequila that you don't need to. You can
mix it in with is a cocktail, but you don't
(38:13):
need to because those infusions are natural tasting and add
the flavor that you want without adding all sorts of
other stuff in it, which makes it more palatable for
me and also tolerable for me. And that's important because
I tend to only drink my spirits. When I do
drink spirits, I tend to drink dark and or flavor it.
(38:36):
If it's a white spirit, I can drink it on
the rocks without having to do anything else. And I
think that's important if you have sensitivity. I mean, listen,
it's still alcohol, but if you have a sensitivity to
certain types of cocktails because there's so much sugar when
they add in everything, this is a nice alternative and
it's and you can sip it versus just guzzle it down.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
Right absolutely, I mean all of our expressions are that way.
And the sweet any sweetness maybe that David tried is
because because our repicidle is aged and charred whiskey barrels,
so that char brings out a lot of those properties
and flavors from that whiskey barrel, which can't be vanilla
(39:21):
vanilla caramel chocolate. It depends on your palette of what
you get. Arian diejo is made in those same barrels,
but it is made in a toasted and charred barrel
and it's age for fifteen and seventeen months. The repicitles
age eight months, so it has a little more depth
of flavor with both of them. But I can get
(39:42):
because people have always told me they've they've gotten a
vanilla caramel chocolate hayes on something. Somebody's telling me marshmallow
or something before with the repicidle, and I was like.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
I've never heard, but that very distinct.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
It's very distinct, you know for people who are nervous
about tequila because there's a bite to with the blancos.
These don't have the bite because I've you know, listen,
there are a lot of tequilas out there.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
My first tequila, my first tequila that I had at
the wrong age. It was a biting tequila and I
got a badass drunk, and I was scared of tequila
for many years for that reason. But then I had
really well produced better tequilas and the aging and the repisoda,
and it made you know quality matters, quality matters in spirits.
(40:28):
I can't emphasize that enough, particularly if you were sensitive
to spirits. So I think that's really really important. I
do want to talk about you. The branding is beautiful.
The hummingbird is the image, and I like hummingbird is
a popular image in a lot of brands for many reasons.
(40:48):
And why did you choose the hummingbird and the name itself?
What does it signify? Antila?
Speaker 4 (40:55):
So the humming bird for us was different in the
tequila space because most you know tequilas have.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
The skulls or the horses and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
So at the time that we came out with it,
there was not any honeybirds on a tequila brand. But
while we came up with that for our logo is
a personal story truly. My husband has had many past
situations dealing with hommybirds.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
But when we were talking at in twenty sixteen about.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
Our future and what we were going to do, and
the first time we kind of joked about having a
tequila company, when we looked up we saw hummingbirds, and
so that kind of stayed in our mind.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
About it. So when we started researching you know, bottles
and logos and.
Speaker 4 (41:39):
All of those things that we wanted to come out with,
we found out that a species of hummybird, and the
Dominican is called the Antillian crusted hummingbird. So that is
actually where the name comes from. We just shortened it
to Entiel, but it is because it's a personal story
with my husband and I and our journey and it's
(42:00):
just something that resonates with how we want to, you know,
portray our brand to the world. So one of our
taglines was create your Legacy, and right now our tagline
is significantly and all of those tie into, you know,
the freedom that honeybirds have. You know, you never see
a honeybird cage or anything like that, and they have
(42:22):
a certain freedom out there in the world, and you know,
we want to portray that with our brand.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
Well, Congratulations, I'm looking at one of your views and
it's Meredith may So David works for He's a columnist,
a tasting panel and you've got a feature in there,
and uh, you've got an investment from Diagio to Congratulations.
That's big money. That helps you land, Yeah, that helps
you land considerable amount of press. So congratulations on that
(42:50):
because it is a process very exciting for you. You know,
more importantly, you're you're healthy, you're you're doing okay, and
you and on or pursuing a dream. So congratulations on that.
Where can our listeners learn more about Until Tequila? Well,
I have it right here. It's Antil A N T
(43:11):
E E L Tequila dot com right and uh there's
a store locator and a lot of detail on there.
So it's it's congratulations on building success, surviving cancer twice
and building success. I wish you only the best in
good health and success moving forward. Nyana Ferguson, thank you
(43:33):
so much.
Speaker 4 (43:34):
Yeah, you can always look on Antieltequila dot com or
any social media platforms we're under Antel Tequila's and follow
us and see our journey and we have so many
things coming out. We have a rebrand with our label
as well, that's going on right now.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
So yeah, just just follow us in on along the journey.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Yeah, it's a great journey and a wonderful story of
coming back and pursuing a dream and really, you know,
that's what this show is about. So thank you for
your time. You've been listening to Fearless Fabulous Shoe with
me Melanie Young and my guest Nana Ferguson, who with
her husband Don created a tequila brand called Antele Tequila.
(44:17):
Great story of survivorship, renewal, starting over, launching a new
chapter and anything can be possible if you act on
that dream. So always stay fearless and fabulous and remember
my messages that you have many choices in life. I
always say, choose the best ones to help you stay healthy,
(44:38):
live life to the fullest, and always choose fearless and fabulous.
Follow me at Melanie Fabulous and tune in again. You
can listen to this show on over sixty five podcast
channels around the world. Thank you again, Take care, Ethnic
(45:00):
King the issue a Court
The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are
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We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability,
explicit or implied shall be extended to W four WN
Radio It's employees or affiliates. Any questions or comment should
(00:21):
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
W four WN Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host, Melanie Young.
I enjoy talking to dynamic women who inspire me and
hopefully inspire you. That submission of the show to inspire
women around the world by featuring inspiring women around the
world to choose life on their terms, make great decisions
about how they take care of themselves, to enjoy life
(01:06):
to the fullest because you only live once, and to
share the experiences with those you care about. Today, we've
got a great aspiring story. I love sharing stories of
women who have faced challenges and have overcome them or
lived through them and found new missions. And my guest
(01:29):
is a perfect example. Of that. Her name is Nanna Ferguson.
She is the co founder and chief operating officer of
the award winning tequila brand Antel Tequila, and she's the
first black woman to co own and lead a tequila
brandt She is also a twelve year breast cancer survivor
(01:51):
I'm going on i think sixteen years and a nineteen
year pancreatic cancer survivor, which really twinged me because my
grandmother had pancreatic cancer and I'm in a surveillance program
because i have the Braka two genetic mutation, so I'm
diligent about monitoring that, and I'm just so amazed and
(02:14):
happy that she has survived. I've interviewed pancreatic cancer survivors
who are doing really well because i want everyone to
know that a cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence.
It is a life sentence to do better about taking
care of yourself. Beyond her groundbreaking achievements in the spirits
industry and more importantly as a survivor, Nyana is an
(02:36):
inspirational speaker and mentor and advocate for the Pancreatic Cancer
Action Network, which is a terrific organization. I want to
welcome you to Fearless Fabulous. You to share your fearless
fabulous story. Nyana Ferguson, Oh, thank you for having me. Well,
I was really impressed. I did taste her tequilas, and
(02:56):
I love them. I don't drink a lot of spirits
anymore because I've developed the sensitivity. I'm a wine writer first,
but I can tell you that these had a wonderful
flavor to them, and they appealed to me for that reason,
because I'm very picky about my tequilas, and yours were
just lovely, just lovely. So tell me about your story.
(03:18):
I know you were born and raised in Detroit, but
it was not an easy childhood. To talk to me.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah, I mean I was born and raised in Detroit.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
I don't talk a lot about it just because a
lot of people that or interviews that I have are
usually about leadership, entrepreneurship, you know, mindset. But I did
grow up in a home where there was physical abuse.
So I am also a child of of physical abuse
in the home. So it is a lot that I
(03:50):
have overcome. Yeah, I started in Detroit. I went to
Detroit public schools. A lot of people know the high
school I went to which was cast Technical School. As
we've had a lot of celebrities and things like that
who've come out of Detroit who attended. I went on
to get an MBA in business and I got right
(04:11):
into the corporate world. I became a financial analyst in
the automotive industry just because I am from Detroit, so
automotive is very big in that area. And you know,
working in that, working up the latter as they like
to say, And you know, I became the first of.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
My first management position.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
I was actually twenty five, so I started very early
being in management and then you know, I worked my
way up to executive leadership.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
But you know, it is just a lot to do
when you're you know, doing corporate work and all of that.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
And I do have to say that probably some of
maybe the reasons I got PI created cancer is because
of all of the stress, you know, and that I've
had in my life, even from when I was younger.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
My doctor told me.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Well, no, we don't know, and I was like, you
don't know what stress and trauma can do to the
human body. So you know, for me to get pan
gradic cancer at the age of thirty two, which most
people are not getting pancredic cancer to at least their fifties,
and you know, there are certain factors that a lot
of people get it as well.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
But I was training for.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
A marathon, I was eating well, all of these things,
and there was no reason I should have had pand
credit cancer. However, like I said, my history with trauma
and you know, dysfunctionality of my family and home life
is probably what exacerbated some things in my body and
(05:48):
made me have a tumor on my pancreas. So you know,
when I was diagnosed, it was like what you know.
I was like, where are you talking about. I'm like
thirty two years old. I'm you know, climb in a
corporate letter, like I don't have time for this. But
you know, I went on to have a whipple proced.
A lot of people who are more aware of paying
(06:10):
credit cancer now, but there's still so much work to
be done, and any new doctor that I meet, they're like,
you got a whiffle. Oh my goodness, that is a
major operation, and it is. It took my body about
three years to fully recover. But then you know, several
years later I got breast cancer as well, and so
(06:32):
I had a little ecto meat and went through that
whole process radiation. With all that, I've only had one
at least one session of radiation, thankfully, which was six weeks.
But the thing that I always point out for all
(06:52):
of these challenges in my life, for some reason, I
have a great mindset.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
You know, I have a very positive mindset.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I don't When I was diagnosed with pancretic cancer, I
was like, oh my god, what was me?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I was like, okay, so I will get past this.
What's next? You know?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
I told my doctors at the time, I'm gonna get
out of a hospital in two weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
And they were like, oh, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
We'll see And I was like, I'm getting out if
you're in two weeks. And I was out of here
in two weeks. I can't walk, but I was out
of the hospital. So, you know, all of the things
and challenges that I've encountered in my life, I feel
that my mindset is what has got me through a
lot of it, just because I do keep my cust
of mindset. I do keep that I have faith in
(07:38):
myself and what I can do. And those are some
basic factors of how I've lived my life. And how
I do the things that I do.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Nana. You know, it's an amazing story. And I do
agree that trauma and stress can take a toll. They
are toxic, and I think that's what happened to me.
I later do have the Bracket two genetic mutation, but
I think my cancer was really brought on by an
incredible period of stress. I was had my own company
(08:10):
and was under a lot of pressure to get clients,
save clients, get paid by the clients, you know, the
corporate world. I've interviewed a lot of women that have
gone through the corporate world. It's amazing because you had
a management position. You're a young black woman with an MBA,
probably facing a lot of crap oland the industry, and
you worked your way in and then this happened. I
do have to ask yes, I two important questions about
(08:35):
did you have any family history?
Speaker 4 (08:37):
No?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Okay, so that was yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
I've been through trying to get through the genetic testing
for my daughters because I do have two daughters, but
my mother, grandmother, none of them had had cancers like that.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Wow. So I have to ask you this because again
and do this for my listeners. Early detection with any illness,
major illness is critical. So breast cancer, let's start with
that one because it is easier to detect because you
did you do, like I found my lump through self examination?
You were how were you? How old were you when
(09:18):
you were diagnosed with breast cancer?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Oh? Shoot, that was so I was thirty two with
so I was like thirty nine.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So you were too young for a mammogram. You were
too young for a mammogram, right, yeah, but I.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Was.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
I was, but I was still doing self examination and
I found a look. And you know, as we've been
certain times in the month, you have hormones that are
raging and sometimes you still loves. But I felt one
and it just kept growing. And over three months period,
I continued to watch it and it was getting soer
and it was getting bigger, and then I was like, okay,
(09:54):
I probably need to go see someone. So I did
wait like three months just to see me. And then
when I went to get the mammogram, and then they're like, okay,
so we're gonna have to do a biopsy. And they
did a biopsy with like eight needles and everything they
hurt too. Yes, okay, so you're gonna have to have search. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
The thing is they don't they can't say in that
moment in time, even with the breast cancer and pank
credit cancer, they can't say, oh, you have cancer. In
that moment, they just are like, you know when I
have a pint credit cancer and they're like, well, you
have a mask on your pancres. So and then with
the breast cancer, they're like, so this lump has to
(10:40):
be taken out right, And then you're like, oh, I'm
in this process.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Oh, what I have to do? Radiation?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Okay, so six weeks is a normal radiation and I
want that to me. And then you're probably under surveillance
because you're young and and and you're young, and you're
black women. And I think this is so critical for
every black woman listening, be check your breast because there
is a higher incident of recurr. I don't want to
(11:10):
say that too, but there is a higher incident of
aggressive cancers and recurring cancers when it's diagnosed youngers to
the more vigilant you are sooner, and black women do
tend to get more aggressive cancer, which is usually triple negative,
which you don't have. But I can't underscore this enough
that the simple monthly ritual of examining your breast is critical.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Yeah, just feel your booze because it's important. Yes, ever
since then I am I am always a cancer pagent.
But ever since then, of course I have to get
year lead mammograms and I write every other year IDENTI
biopsy because they find something else different and they need
to find out what it is. So you know, I
mean my breast Sergeron. Even at that time she told
(11:56):
me there is a sixty five percent chance of my
tumor returney And I told her at that time, I said,
if I have to come back in here, we're going.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
To just put them off and we're just going to.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Do It's always an option. It's always an option. And
a lot of my friends have opted for that and
had reconstruction or chosen not to. The great thing is,
as I always say, you don't choose to have cancer.
It chooses you. But you have choices once you received
the diagnosis. You have more choices than you realize. Listen
(12:31):
to your doctors, do your research, don't google people, do
your and listen to your gut in your heart. Now,
pancreatic cancer is a lot harder to diagnose's, and unfortunately,
for that reason, it is usually diagnosed at a later stage,
which is not great. You want early detection. So what
because I got to tell you, I think about it
(12:51):
all the time. For me, because I do have a
family history. What was it? What was your body saying
to you in your thirties that made you think that
there was something that needed to be checked out? Because
you're an active woman, You're eating well, you are doing well.
What was it that made you say, I think I
need to talk to a doctor.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Well, the main thing that made me go to the
doctors I was driving to work and I started my
tea started chattering and I was shivering and I couldn't get.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
It to stop.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
And it was actually Halloween that year. It was October
thirty first, It was a Monday, and I had left,
you know, after dropping my oldest daughter off to school
and you know, priming to her. You know, after you
get home, we'll go out trick or treating, blah blah blah.
But yeah, by the time I got to work, I
was like, something is wrong, and I had a security
(13:45):
I called the ambulance and so when the paramedics came,
they took my temperature. I was freezing, but my body
was one hundred and six, so I had one hundred
and six temperature body temperature and they're like, yeah, you're
in seizure territory. We have to take you to the hospital.
It was like, so that is what made me go
(14:08):
to the hospital. But thinking back on it, a week prior,
I was literally feeling a pain in my side and
I thought it was from me running because I was
training for a marathon at the time, and I thought
it was like a running stitch, you know, you get
a cramp and stuff like that, and that's kind of
what it felt like, even though I wasn't running. I
was literally at the movies actually, and I felt a
(14:31):
pain in my side. I found out way later that
that was an indicator as well. But the one hundred
and six fevers what sent me to the hospital. Then
they started doing all these tests because of course they
were trying to figure out what was wrong.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
My body was reacting to something.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And you know, after all these tests, they did a
CT skin and found the mask on my pancs. So
that's what basically sent me to the hospital. I had
no other symptoms, A lot of symptoms with credit cancers, John,
this maybe a protrusion in your abdomen, you know, things
like that, but I had none of those.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
What kind of treatment did you do for the pancreatic cancer?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So for a pancratic cancer for me, since it was early, thankfully,
because it's true, usually when you are diagnosed with it
and a certain point is too late because there is
no cure for a pan credic cancer at this point
moment in time, and if you present symptoms, then it's
usually a little too late because it will past a
(15:36):
size very aggressively at that point. But thankfully I was
in an early detection. However, because pancreatic cancer moves so swiftly,
my surgery was scheduled like.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
A week later. They moved to get that surgery done.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
So I had a whipple and what that intails is
it was eight hour surgery.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
I had had my cancer take it.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Out the bob letter, my duadom duck, which is the
beginning of your small intestine, and twenty five percent of
my stomach.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
So they had to.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Do that, rearrange everything, and so I had a lot
of scar tissue and things like that.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
But thankfully I did not have to do any radiation
or chemo.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
And actually I was a get to doing chemo at
that moment in time, just with everything that I read.
And they monitored me for a while because if there
was any indication of some other either areas that were
in danger, then I would I had.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
To go through radiation.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
But thankfully being monitored very closely as I was, and
they didn't see any indications. I did not have to
do that for pancreatic cancer.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
So are you now in doing surveillance and scans on
a regular basis.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Yeah, I do several things.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
One of my unfortunately, one of my child lees with
having pancredic cancers, I developed nutropenia. So nutropenia is something
that's where my bone marrow does not always make red
blood cells or human globin as. And so the last
time I was in the hospital with nutropenia, they I
(17:18):
say threatened me because that's what I felt like with
a bone miraal biopsy.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
But they were like, we.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Will take a piece of your hip bone and also
we'll get some of your bone marrow out of your
hip and I was like, no, we're not doing that
because bone doesn't grow back. I was like, you're not
taking a piece of my hip bone, like I just
I refused at that moment in time, because I really.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Didn't want to lean into that.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I have research mutropenia and in some cases it is
a precursor to leukemia, but I won't, I won't, I
won't claim that. So but I was diagnosed with mutropenia
back into twenty eleven, and I went into the hospital
about three times with that situation. And what is doing
(18:07):
now is actually, in the last couple of years, I
have been someverely anemic, so even to the point that
I had to get a blood transfusion in twenty twenty
three because my hemoglobe and levels were dangerously low. So
most women were supposed to be at about a twelve.
I was at like a five. Wow, And that means
(18:29):
my heart was not getting enough blood or red blood
cells to function, to.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Get to my organs and all of those things.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
So I ended up getting a blood transfusion, and then
that kicked off a year of me getting iron transfusions
to help my body to make red blood cells because
iron supplements don't work for me. I needed iron directly
in my veins. So for over a year I did
(18:57):
that as well. So thankfully this past November we kind
of figured out some things. Another thing that we as
women when we get older, and especially black women in particular,
we get vibrates, and I ended up getting six vibrates.
They were enlarging my uterus. They were causing me to
lead heavily, which a painful and painful and a person
(19:22):
like me who has mutropenia where my body already doesn't
make real blood cells as it should, that was not
helping my situation. So, you know, being open and honest,
I ended up getting in HYS direct me in November
because I was slowly going through a cycle of being
fatally almost fatally blood loss, you know, very serious blood loss,
(19:47):
serious anemia, and then getting iron and then going in
a whole circle again. So, you know, speaking with all
my doctors, my hemetologists, because I am still a cancerpation
no no matter what my obg Y N my primary care,
you know, we all went through several things and questions
(20:07):
about if this was the right choice for me, and
it ended up being the right toice for me.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
So far.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
You know, since November, I love blood levels have gone upfully,
so we are hoping that that was, you know, the
fix to that situation. I will never my body will
never make blood red blood cells as you know, maybe
when I was younger, but I seem to be a
(20:32):
little stable now.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
How are you feeling about this emotionally? Well, that's a lot.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
I mean emostly, it was tough, especially for the last
year or so, because it's tough going like every month
for or every other month for three four weeks and
getting poked and and being in you know, the hospital
and being there for three hours to get a transfusion.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
That that could be tough, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Mentally, I just you know, I approach things as this
is what I need to do to make me feel
better or to make me.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Get whatever done. And I've always been that way.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
So emotionally, it's not that it was difficult per se,
but it was something that I was like, I can't
keep doing this. We need to figure out something else.
We need to figure out what the issue is, you know,
the underline, and you know, to try to gains gave
(21:34):
up even in November getting that surgery. It literally had
to put IV in my wrist because my arms were
my veins were no longer working because of all of
the you know poking that I had to get for
the infusions over the last year.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
So this is a lot, and I'm just trying to
put this into context about everything else going on in
your life, because what at what point during this cancer
journaly were you still working in the corporate world and
at what point did you step out of it?
Speaker 4 (22:07):
So I've been working in a corporate world since thence
I started working. I did not get out of the
corporate world until actually twenty twenty one. We started our
tequila Brandon twenty seventeen, but we didn't launch until twenty
eighteen and took eleven months to get it, you know,
(22:27):
the first bottle in hand.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I was still working full time.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And doing cancer treatment and.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
I wasn't doing any cancer treatment at that time. Now, okay,
because that was way after that. Yeah, you know, I
had I had payperded cancer in two thousand and five.
I was fully recovered from that, like two thousand and eight.
I have breast cancer in twenty twelve. I was pretty
okay after that. But mutropenia can show itself right every
(22:55):
now and then. But yes, I'm still getting you know,
mammograms every year, still doing all of that, all of
those things and getting my blood work done every year
and transfusions.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, because I have Well that's.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
What threw me, because the transfusions took some time. So
you know, I know, when I was going through cancer,
I was running a company and I had to fit
it all in and it was not easy. And I
did create a lot of post traumatic stress syndrome down
the road, and I hopped out of the company because
I just said I'm done. I mean, I just I was.
(23:28):
My job made me sick. My business made me sick.
So you're still doing this and you're working and and
at what point were you were? I think you said
you were You've been married to your husband, Don for Dawn,
not Dawn Dawn for eight years.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
You said we've been married eight years. We've been together eleven.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So was he did you meet him? How did you
meet him? And where were you in your cancer journey
when you met him?
Speaker 3 (23:57):
So we met on match Actually we've been a match
match cool.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Yeah, it's a funny story. I was I did something.
They had some promotional thing going on for like three months.
You got a discount on doing it, so you know,
to pay for it. And I was a corporate person
so I felt like, you know, if somebody was really serious,
they would pay for you know, the platform and not
do the three stuff. And I literally had two weeks
(24:22):
left in my three month plan that I had gotten.
He had gotten the same plan, but he was in
his first two weeks when we mixed.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So he still tells me to this day.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I owe him for those two months because he totally
got off the platform after he met me. But we
met on mash dot com in twenty fourteen, so I
was already past my cancer journey at that moment in time.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
But I did tell him about it.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
On our first date, you know, our first date because
with the neutropenia now, that can show up at any time,
and so I just wanted him to be aware of
my past but also what or could happen. And since
we were, you know, forty, it's not like we were
twenty where you're trying to present you.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Know, just your children best stuff, right, you know, Look.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
I'm forty, but this is what's happened, This may be
something in the future. Just letting you know so you
can make that decision, you know, if you want to
be with me, and knowing that there may be something
down the road.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
There may not, there may be. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
So I was very open and honess on our first date,
that was twenty fourteen. In twenty sixteen, I took them
a surprise birthday trip to the Dominican Republic, be up
the surprise by proposing so and truly, that was one
of the first times of us talking about getting a
(25:49):
business together. We were celebrating that weekend. We were actually
drinking tequila at the resort and realized wouldn't be funny
we own sen tequila or you know, own the tequila
brand or whatever. And you know, we were just kind
of joking and talking. And I was twenty sixteen, but
twenty seventeen came along and he was a.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
VP of operations at Quick and Loans or Rocket Mortgage.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
At the time, I was a financial analyst and my
job was being outsourced to Mexico, so the whole financial department.
And we were talking and we were like, you know what,
we're a little too smart for this. We're both executive leaders.
We got a little money. You know, what do we
want to do with our lives? Do we want to
(26:33):
continue to be in corporate or do we want to
make our own, you know, choices, options and legacies. And
I asked my husband, I said, if you couldn't do anything,
what would you do? And he was like, I would,
I would own a queue company. But we can't do that,
and I was.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Like why not? So, you know, I went to prove
him wrong.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
A couple of days later, I actually found the distillery
that we do work with still to this day, and
he was still skeptical. I got some ample sent to
us in about a month or so, we had a
tasty party with friends.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
My husband was.
Speaker 4 (27:04):
Still like, Oh, these aren't going to be good, and
then when we tried it, he's like, oh, these are
actually good. So, you know, he said, do you think
we can actually do this? And I said absolutely. I'll
come up with a budget and we'll do a small badge,
you know, to prove the concept.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
And we did that. So we started in twenty seventeen.
It took eleven months for.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
All the processes because it's a lot that goes on
with creating a tequila brand that I did not want
at the time. But I'm good at asking questions and
me and my husband have both had businesses in the past,
so it's not like I didn't have a business foundation.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
It's just, you know, the liquor industry is a little
bit different, you know.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
And then tequila is different even in the liquor industry,
so you.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Know, asking a lot of questions and all of that.
We got the.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
First bottle in hand in August of twenty eighteen in Michigan.
So we watched Michigan at that time. And then you know,
COVID happened. Not till our first year of full year
on the market was twenty nineteen, and soil in twenty twenty,
we had these plans. We were like, we're gonna you know,
(28:14):
expand beyond Michigan. You know, we had a great foothold
in Michigan over that year. We were making a plans
to travel to California and all of that, and then
COVID happened and we had to pivot to social media marketing.
On my ordering, we were doing you know, tastings online
virtually things like that. Our business did kind of triple
(28:36):
during that time, just because they think a lot of
people were drinking because they didn't know what was going
on really, and then you know, I guess we're out
of COVID or whatever. We're doing right now with that.
But you know now we are in fifteen states. Yeah,
and we do have online ordering as well. If I'm
(28:57):
not in your state directly at a store.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
We're legal and we're illegal, right.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Yes, and legal.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I gotta we gotta emphasize that because I know the
business really well. It's not easy. I gotta tell you,
it's not easy to do this, so I want everybody listening.
It's inspiring, but there's a lot of work you gotta do.
So I have three questions. Three questions. One, did you
work with a consultant, a spirits consultant or a distiller,
a master distiller who specialized in tequila because it is
(29:24):
a very specific spirit.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
So we work with a distillery in Mexico because you
have to to create a tequila bre we have to
work with one of the distilleries in Mexico and Jalisco
in the City of Tequila. So yes, we work with
a distillery in Mexico and they do have a master distiller.
We started working with our master distiller on some of
(29:48):
the recipies that we've created out of your basically based tequila.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
So yes, So.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
How long did it take you to find that distill
I mean, there are a lot of Jalisco is the
sound of tequila, and there are a lot of tequila.
Let's just say there at least go. There's a lot
of distilleries. B there are a lot of tequila brands
in the United States. It is a big market. I've
worked with some tequila brands. I work for Free to
(30:15):
call out tequila as a consultant launching in the United States,
it is hard to get distribution set up. That is
one of the biggest challenges in the market because as
you know, there's some big conglomerate guys and little guys,
so those are big things to navigate in the industry.
What what were your challenges and what did you learn
(30:37):
from that experience, because those big those are big three
things right there, they absolutely are.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
And truly what we launched, tequila was popular, but it
wasn't as popular as it has been in the last.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Couple of years.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
You know, we've seen a lot of celebrities into the industry.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
We've seen you know, all of those things since we've launched.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
As with anything, you know, there's a room for everyone,
but there's also you know, challenges and every aspect. We
don't have those millions, like you know, you know, to start,
you know not and I started with our own money.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
We actually self funded for the first couple of years.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Well I was funny about that.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
Yeah, yeah, we we self funded the first couple of
years and then we open it up to friends and
family in our third year.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
So our third and fourth year.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
Was was done by friends and family and also the
money that we were bringing in for the business, you know, just.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Putting it right back into it.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
But yes, it's always challenging to get a distributor, you know,
but as a sprong small brand where we can't do
all fifty states right now, you know, you have to
have millions to be able to do that. But we've
been strategic in the states that we have been in,
and because we've won one hundred and twenty five rewards
since twenty nineteen, which was our first a year on
(32:00):
the market, we are one of the most word of
tequila brands out there, and so we got a lot
of attentions because of those awards, but also because of
our our innovative flavors and also the story of me
being the first black woman to have ownership and lead
a tequila brand.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
My pancratic cancer story. So all of those things led to.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
A lot of visibility and a lot of organic traffic
and you know, me getting interviews and things like that.
So that helped propel us in the markets in different markets.
So some distributors came to us, you know, looking at
us like, hey, you know, I've seen this brand, or
you know, I researched and I was looking for tequila
(32:43):
blah blah blah, and they would come to us.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
But you know, we've gotten some.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
Referrals or recommendations from other partners that we work with,
like for our logistics or something like that, and we've
been able to cultivate several relationships with distributors. We are
not bigger distributors just because they and they have come
at us before, but we already knew that we would
(33:09):
get lost, as we like to say, lost in the
sauce because they concentrate on the very big brands, you know,
the ones that have millions and millions of dollars.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
So a lot of.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
The smaller brands get lost in those type of arrangements.
So we've always been looking for distributors who are not
to say small, but you know, who show that they
have a foothold in their markets and are actively working
with their brands to help them, you know, infiltrate their
(33:41):
markets as well. But yeah, it's always still challenging, but
it's something that we continue to move forward and we've
been very very strategic about it.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
But we've done very well having that NBA helps. I mean,
I get asked all the time by wine winery, can
you get me an importer? Can you help me? That
is the distribution were particularly now with tariffs and decreased consumption,
and we could go into all the it's tough one
hundred and twenty five awards. I'm sitting here thinking I
didn't think there were that many spirits competitions out there.
(34:13):
Those are expensive to enter, you know, our.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
But we had to go. We had to go to
get a hundred.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
When we started seeing, you know, in twenty nineteen, when
we started answering them, we were like, oh, we actually
got some awards, and people were like, actually, like our
birthd you know. And it's because we now have five expressions.
You know, where we came out, we only had two.
So we had the world's only coconut line, Blanco Tequila,
and our Repicaddle was the first two expressions that we
(34:42):
launched with then excuse me then, because a lot of
restaurants were asking it for a blanco, So then we
launched our blanco expression in twenty nineteen, and then in
twenty twenty one we launched the first taracco blood orange,
and more so because you know, with the coconut lime,
it's not what people think. It has no added sweeteners
(35:04):
or sugars, because then I wouldn't be able to drink
it because I am pre diabetic because of the predit cancer.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
But it's become, you know, a favorite.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
But we do have people who are actually allergic to coconut,
so we don't have them try our articula because it
is infused with natural extracts from the meat of the
coconut and the meat of the lime, so you could
actually feel a little bit in the mouth feel of
that coconut. So we don't have anybody who's allergic to
coconut to try it just because of that.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
We don't want them to have a reaction.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
But we've never heard of anybody saying that they're allergic
or they don't.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Like blood orange, and so.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Blood orange became the second infusion that is also natural extract.
But it's the natural extract from Sicilian grown blood oranges,
and a lot of people don't realize that blood oranges
aren't actually sweet sweet, they're a little tart. But it
makes an a tequila a favor. So that is something
(36:03):
that we have. And then our in Yehal came out
actually in twenty twenty three, and we did work with
our master distiller to make that. We actually went to
the distillery, you know, met with them and we're there,
you know, creating our in Yeho as well, because we
wanted to make sure that that in Yehell came out
(36:24):
and it fits into our portfolio. So since we've had
five expressions and entering competitions, you know, our coconut line
itself has thirty eight of his own awards just by itself.
It is an innovative product, it is a consumer choice product.
Is one double boats, platinums, all of the everything is
(36:45):
out there is one.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
I'm looking at it. Yeah, yeah, So you know it's interesting, Nyana,
because I tasted a lot of tequilas and as I mentioned,
I launched free to call it tequila, and I says
it was an exceptional tequila. So I'm very particular I liked,
you know, for me, I like them. I liked the
flavor ones quite a bit, the infused ones, the orange
(37:07):
blanco as was beautiful, and I love the fact that
these are Sicilian blood oranges from truck I go to sicilin,
not a leaf or Sicily. And I like the coconut lime.
They were less. David is more of a not flavored guy,
and he's more a blanco and repisado. I'm very particky
about repisados, which is when I do drink my tequila neat,
(37:28):
which is about only when I do it. I like
a good repisodo. What I liked. You know, David felt
they were feminine tasting because he's a masculine guy. I
thought they were perfect for that reason. And I'm going
to tell you why they appealed to me personally. And
I said this before we were on air. I don't
drink a lot of spirits anymore because I've developed some
(37:50):
issues and sensitivities. So I think a lot of it's
when it's mixed in a cocktail. Often it's mixed with sugar,
sugary products and juices, and that is combustible for me
because I have a sensitivity to sugar re things. This
is a tequila that you don't need to. You can
mix it in with is a cocktail, but you don't
(38:13):
need to because those infusions are natural tasting and add
the flavor that you want without adding all sorts of
other stuff in it, which makes it more palatable for
me and also tolerable for me. And that's important because
I tend to only drink my spirits. When I do
drink spirits, I tend to drink dark and or flavor it.
(38:36):
If it's a white spirit, I can drink it on
the rocks without having to do anything else. And I
think that's important if you have sensitivity. I mean, listen,
it's still alcohol, but if you have a sensitivity to
certain types of cocktails because there's so much sugar when
they add in everything, this is a nice alternative and
it's and you can sip it versus just guzzle it down.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
Right absolutely, I mean all of our expressions are that way.
And the sweet any sweetness maybe that David tried is
because because our repicidle is aged and charred whiskey barrels,
so that char brings out a lot of those properties
and flavors from that whiskey barrel, which can't be vanilla
(39:21):
vanilla caramel chocolate. It depends on your palette of what
you get. Arian diejo is made in those same barrels,
but it is made in a toasted and charred barrel
and it's age for fifteen and seventeen months. The repicitles
age eight months, so it has a little more depth
of flavor with both of them. But I can get
(39:42):
because people have always told me they've they've gotten a
vanilla caramel chocolate hayes on something. Somebody's telling me marshmallow
or something before with the repicidle, and I was like.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
I've never heard, but that very distinct.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
It's very distinct, you know for people who are nervous
about tequila because there's a bite to with the blancos.
These don't have the bite because I've you know, listen,
there are a lot of tequilas out there.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
You know.
Speaker 2 (40:06):
My first tequila, my first tequila that I had at
the wrong age. It was a biting tequila and I
got a badass drunk, and I was scared of tequila
for many years for that reason. But then I had
really well produced better tequilas and the aging and the repisoda,
and it made you know quality matters, quality matters in spirits.
(40:28):
I can't emphasize that enough, particularly if you were sensitive
to spirits. So I think that's really really important. I
do want to talk about you. The branding is beautiful.
The hummingbird is the image, and I like hummingbird is
a popular image in a lot of brands for many reasons.
(40:48):
And why did you choose the hummingbird and the name itself?
What does it signify? Antila?
Speaker 4 (40:55):
So the humming bird for us was different in the
tequila space because most you know tequilas have.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
The skulls or the horses and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
So at the time that we came out with it,
there was not any honeybirds on a tequila brand. But
while we came up with that for our logo is
a personal story truly. My husband has had many past
situations dealing with hommybirds.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
But when we were talking at in twenty sixteen about.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
Our future and what we were going to do, and
the first time we kind of joked about having a
tequila company, when we looked up we saw hummingbirds, and
so that kind of stayed in our mind.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
About it. So when we started researching you know, bottles
and logos and.
Speaker 4 (41:39):
All of those things that we wanted to come out with,
we found out that a species of hummybird, and the
Dominican is called the Antillian crusted hummingbird. So that is
actually where the name comes from. We just shortened it
to Entiel, but it is because it's a personal story
with my husband and I and our journey and it's
(42:00):
just something that resonates with how we want to, you know,
portray our brand to the world. So one of our
taglines was create your Legacy, and right now our tagline
is significantly and all of those tie into, you know,
the freedom that honeybirds have. You know, you never see
a honeybird cage or anything like that, and they have
(42:22):
a certain freedom out there in the world, and you know,
we want to portray that with our brand.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
Well, Congratulations, I'm looking at one of your views and
it's Meredith may So David works for He's a columnist,
a tasting panel and you've got a feature in there,
and uh, you've got an investment from Diagio to Congratulations.
That's big money. That helps you land, Yeah, that helps
you land considerable amount of press. So congratulations on that
(42:50):
because it is a process very exciting for you. You know,
more importantly, you're you're healthy, you're you're doing okay, and
you and on or pursuing a dream. So congratulations on that.
Where can our listeners learn more about Until Tequila? Well,
I have it right here. It's Antil A N T
(43:11):
E E L Tequila dot com right and uh there's
a store locator and a lot of detail on there.
So it's it's congratulations on building success, surviving cancer twice
and building success. I wish you only the best in
good health and success moving forward. Nyana Ferguson, thank you
(43:33):
so much.
Speaker 4 (43:34):
Yeah, you can always look on Antieltequila dot com or
any social media platforms we're under Antel Tequila's and follow
us and see our journey and we have so many
things coming out. We have a rebrand with our label
as well, that's going on right now.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
So yeah, just just follow us in on along the journey.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
Yeah, it's a great journey and a wonderful story of
coming back and pursuing a dream and really, you know,
that's what this show is about. So thank you for
your time. You've been listening to Fearless Fabulous Shoe with
me Melanie Young and my guest Nana Ferguson, who with
her husband Don created a tequila brand called Antele Tequila.
(44:17):
Great story of survivorship, renewal, starting over, launching a new
chapter and anything can be possible if you act on
that dream. So always stay fearless and fabulous and remember
my messages that you have many choices in life. I
always say, choose the best ones to help you stay healthy,
(44:38):
live life to the fullest, and always choose fearless and fabulous.
Follow me at Melanie Fabulous and tune in again. You
can listen to this show on over sixty five podcast
channels around the world. Thank you again, Take care, Ethnic
(45:00):
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