#105 Ryan Thompson - Founder of 10th Mountain Whiskey

Ryan is a serial entrepreneur and life long learner that enjoys the pursuit of business while being a positive influence in his community and using his business platforms to help support causes he’s passionate about.  He started 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Company 10 years ago and is in the trenches running the daily operations with the goal of becoming a national, household brand.  He has also owned a restaurant for the past 22 years and has owned a motel for 8 years…both of which are still in operation.  He is passionate about using his business acumen to help support fellow entrepreneurs and is always keeping his eyes open for the next opportunity.

Connect with Ryan Thompson: 

-Website: https://10thwhiskey.com/ 

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whiskeyryan/ 

-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/10thmtnwhiskey 

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/10thmtnwhiskey 

-TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@10thmtnwhiskey 

-X: https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2F10thmtnwhiskey 

🫡 My Why: I’ve seen the cost of poor leadership — how it can destroy morale, break trust, and in the worst cases, lead to lives lost, including through suicide. That’s why I’ve committed my life to helping others lead with purpose. Through Tales of Leadership, I share real stories and actionable insights on how to overcome adversity and become the kind of leader people remember for the right reasons.

👉🏽Leadership Resources: https://linktr.ee/talesofleadership

✅ SHARE THIS PODCAST
✅ GIVE A 5-STAR REVIEW
✅ SUPPORT

Together, we will impact 1 MILLION lives!!!

Every day is a gift, don't waste yours!
- Joshua K. McMillion

Send us a text

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I didn't serve in the military, but I've always
been a proud patriot and I'vealways been a big supporter of
the military.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I come from a military family and I've always
had a lot of friends in themilitary.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
I had a desire to build businesses and to try to
give back to the US and giveback to America by providing
jobs.
That's always been kind of therole I've seen myself take.
But when an opportunity cameand I was watching what the
craft distillery movement wasdoing I homebrewrew quite a bit
and had been in the restaurantbusiness for a number of years
at that point and I was watchingwhat the craft distillery

(00:31):
movement was doing and I waslike, well, someone in this town
is going to make whiskey sooneror later.
I had been here for a number ofyears at that point and
understood the influence thatthe original 10th Mountain
soldiers had on our area.
They trained just a few milessouth here at Camp Hale in the
1940s.
I was like, well, without theseguys I certainly wouldn't be
here living a free life inAmerica and skiing a great
mountain.
And I'm like, well, hell, let'sstart a distillery and use it

(00:54):
as a platform to supportdifferent military nonprofits
and let's name it an honor tothe 10th Mountain.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
You're listening to the Tells a Leadership podcast.
This podcast is for leaders atany phase on their leadership
journey to become a morepurposeful and accountable
leader what I like to call a pal.
Join me on our journey togethertowards transformational
leadership.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
All right team.
Welcome back to the Tells theLeadership podcast.
I am your host, josh McMillian,and I'm on a mission.
It's twofold One to become thebest leader that I possibly can
for myself, for my family andfor this country, and then
number two in toxic leadership,and I plan to do that by
promoting transformationalstories and skills, ultimately
to build a better leader, what Icall a POW, a purposeful,

(01:40):
accountable leader and ontoday's episode we're going to
be going through Ryan Thompson'sstory.
He is a phenomenal leader.
Ryan is a serial entrepreneurand a lifelong learner that
enjoys the pursuit of businessesand building a positive climate
and a platform and a culture.
He started the 10th MountainWhiskey and Spirit Company in

(02:01):
2013.
And it's been runningsuccessfully since then.
And I love this episode becausewe have so many different types
of similarities between mybackground and what Ryan has
done, because I've served in the10th, I've commanded in the
10th two different companies andthis has been, honestly, one of

(02:22):
my favorite podcast episodesthat I had a chance to film.
I'll also point you toMcMillianLeadershipCoachingcom
If you're listening to thispodcast episode.
There is a blog and you canjust read the key points and
distill down Ryan's leadershipwisdom in one simple page and

(02:51):
you can go there anytime it's100% free and check out the
other resources, because I wantto arm you with the most
knowledge possible, to be thebest leader possible and always
stay to the very end, and I'llprovide you the three key
takeaways that I've had fromthis episode.
Let's bring on Ryan.
Ryan, welcome to the Tales ofLeadership podcast, brother, how

(03:13):
are you doing, man?

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Hey, I'm doing great bud.
Thanks for having me, man.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, so, being a service member commanding the
10th Mountain Infantry Division,I've seen your company pop up
like all the time on socialmedia.
So I was like you know what?
I'm going to reach out onInstagram and just see if I can
actually find the person whocreated it.
And you reached out, humbled tohave you on the show and I'm
really looking forward to kindof digging into your story.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well, it's always great to connect with 10th
Mountain soldiers, so I get alot of great opportunities to do
so.
I always love chatting withsoldiers that have either been
at Drum or down in Louisiana oreven out here in Colorado
Springs when they were here.
So, man, happy to be here withyou.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, dude, I was stationed at 3rd Brigade, 10th
Mountain, so I did all my timeat fort fort lewis I can't
remember the new name now, orit's not lewis, fort polk, I
can't think of.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
The army's changed the names yeah, they've changed
a lot of names out there, so wejust got a.
A lot of people still refer toit as uh fort polk and uh as um,
as brag and and everything else, right, so yeah, it's.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
For me it's always going to be Fort Polk, because I
spent four years of my lifethere, so it's never going to
change.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Totally right, that's great man.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Absolutely.
So let's start off just realquick with a quick background of
who you are.
If anyone's listening to this,who is Ryan?

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, sure, right, absolutely Well.
You covered the uh.
What a lot of people know mefor is being the founder CEO of
10th mountain whiskey and spiritcompany, a philanthropic craft
distillery here in Colorado, inthe Vail area, uh, where there's
a lot of 10th mountain history,uh, but uh, before then, uh,
born and raised in Texas.
Uh, went to school in Dallasand moved up here to Colorado to

(05:05):
play in the mountains.
But a lifelong entrepreneurstarted a restaurant 22 years
ago which is still around today,so I have my thumb on that.
It's the Westside Cafe in Vail.
It's currently owned anemployee housing complex as well
.
We refer to that.
We reference it as a motel, butit's a month-to-month housing.
I have bought and sold a coupleof other businesses in the last

(05:28):
20 years or so, but my passioncertainly lies with growing the
distillery and using it as aplatform to support different
military nonprofits that are outthere.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
That's really incredible and we'll get into
that of how you create a careerfrom just being an entrepreneur.
I've been institutionalized.
If you think of it like I'vebeen in the military, that's the
only job I've ever had for thepast, going on 16, 17 years now,
and it gives me so much anxietyto think about one day I'm
going to have to leave themilitary and find like an actual

(06:03):
civilian job.
But now flip that on its head.
You've always just donewhatever you wanted to do of a
restaurant, so you still havethat restaurant actively right
now that you opened yeah, yeah,sure dude, 22 years and going
now.
So that's a huge achievementitself and I know this from just
a standpoint of how hard it isto maintain like a running and

(06:27):
functional restaurant and I hadrobert irvine on and just
hearing his story and getting achance to talk to him and
actually like connecting reallyoffline and how cutthroat you
know the culture is within thattype of niche.
But being able to maintain afunctional restaurant, like just
having the right people becauseit's a service-based industry

(06:47):
and then changing your food tomake sure that it's always
relevant and on the forefront.
So I want to start there.
How have you been successfulfor so long?

Speaker 1 (06:58):
I think a big key part of the pump, but a big key
ingredient for us at therestaurant is that we hire
hospitality and then can teachthe rest.
But as long as we hear and weduring the interview process
that certainly in the front ofthe house that if they have a
hospitality bone, if they careabout other people, if they want

(07:18):
to make people happy and enjoydoing that, then the rest we can
teach and everything else willfall in place.
But a really big key ingredientfor us is making sure that box
is checked, that hospitality box.
Of course they got to be niceand personable and all that
other stuff too, right, butthat's a key component.
Back of the house you have tostill be a team player.
A lot of the back of the houseand the kitchens operate

(07:40):
separate from the front of thehouse and that's always a
challenge to make both sides ofthe house of a restaurant work
together.
So we make sure that our backof the house team as well are
very team oriented, can getalong with even the front of the
house and still want to pleasethe guests.
Although they don't getFaceTime with them necessarily,
they still are passionate andare proud of what they're

(08:01):
putting on a plate because theyknow they're going to go make or
break potentially could go makeor break someone's day, and so
everyone's part of the team,this hospitality team.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
And so that's certainly something that we look
for when we bring on newemployees is that you have your
front team who's basicallydealing with people and you want
to hire to make sure that theirstrength is focused on service
and adding value to people andmaking sure that they feel at
home or like part of the family.
But in the back end it's reallytask driven, like, hey, these
dishes need to be done at thistime, and the linkage there, the

(08:41):
connective tissue, is that theyhave to work together as a team
.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
I've never thought of it like that.
It's incredibly important and Ithink that certainly not only
us, but any restaurant that hashad any type of longevity that
has a good reputation out there,I think probably emphasizes
that key aspect of the overallbusiness making sure the front
of the house and the back of thehouse work well together.
So certainly if I was goinginto another restaurant or if I

(09:06):
was and I don't have any plansto do so at this point, well,
you never know that would besomething, a key aspect, I would
look for.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
You got a B&B, a bourbon and barbecue.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, well, oddly that you say that concept.
We've actually chatted aboutthat a little bit.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
That's one of the concepts that might entice me to
get do another restaurant, butwe'll see.
Yeah, if I ever get a chance togo to Colorado which is a high
possibility with my current job,I'll go there.
It'll be awesome to really justthe start of your story.
What I love doing on thispodcast is really just digging
into your background and yourleadership journey, because we

(09:50):
all have unique ones and I thinkthat is the true wisdom or the
experience that we can sharewith other people who, when they
find this episode, and with you, I.
Where did your leadershipjourney start?
I guess really tailored onwanting to be an entrepreneur.
What drove you down that path?

Speaker 1 (10:09):
The entrepreneurship part has always been inside me,
I think, and a lot of people askis it learned?
Is it in your DNA?
Both my parents wereentrepreneurs.
My dad had a long career as anattorney, but it was his own
firm that he had started, andthen he dabbled in a couple
other businesses.
My mom had done a number ofdifferent things in different

(10:31):
industries herself and theynever forced it on myself or my
brother or sister, but all threeof us inherently.
I don't know if it was in ourDNA to begin with it must have
been but we all three areentrepreneurs and have branched
out on and done our own thingsin different industries.
But the leadership aspect Ithink back to.
I played soccer all the waythrough college and then coached

(10:54):
up here for 20 years at a localhigh school and I remember back
in the day I was probably 11years old or something and 12
years old and I was like, hey,we need a goalkeeper to step
into the game, right, can?
Like no one else was raisingtheir hand.
I'm like, screw it, I'll do it,guys might as well, whatever.
And I ended up being good at itand that became my position in
soccer, competitively, for anumber of years thereafter.

(11:16):
But so I always think back tothat question of I don't know
why it was in me, but no oneelse wanted to do it.
I'm like I'll put it on myshoulders and I'll figure this
out.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
And so I think the entrepreneurship has always been
in me, but I think thatleadership aspect probably
kicked into high gear aroundthat time when I was 11 or 12
years old so what were some ofthe bigger challenges when you
started really like digging intothis, of where it wasn't
necessarily a game anymore butit was like real life, like I

(11:45):
have to learn to be successfulat this, because I have to have
a salary and take care of notjust myself but other people.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
Yeah, sure, right.
Yeah, you know that therecertainly comes with a lot of
responsibility on your shoulderswhen you employ others.
It's their livelihood, it'stheir family, it's that you're
responsible for as well, and soI certainly take that into
consideration.
I started the restaurant when Iwas 25 years old, with two
other business partners as well,and all three of us are still

(12:12):
partners at the restauranttogether a number of years later
.
That's incredible yeah thanks,and that partnership works
because we're three legs to astool and if two of us get in an
argument or disagreement,there's a third that'll take one
side or the other and balanceit out pretty darn quickly, and
so that might happen once a yearthese days.

(12:33):
But we all seem to get alongpretty well doing our own
responsibilities and managingour own lives and stuff.
But back to the originalquestion and that part I never I
recognize the responsibilityand having employees and having
their livelihood depend on thebusinesses that I'm starting.
But it's always been in me likewell, I've got this, that's

(12:56):
fine, that's fine with me.
I don't question myself.
I don't know where thatconfidence necessarily comes
from, probably from being inbusiness since I was, since I
can remember when I was seven,eight years old I started
selling stuff to my friends andlocal students I went to school
with.
But it's always been in me justto try to figure something out
and try to sell something andadd value to whatever I've got

(13:17):
going on.
Like as a kid it was candy atthe elementary school, right, or
where it was baseball cards, orit was a lemonade stand, or
then in high school or juniorhigh school I was riding my bike
and going to pick out golfballs from the local golf course
, lake and ponds and polish themup and sell them to the golfers
that afternoon In high school Iwas holding different

(13:38):
volleyball tournaments andwhatnot and just organizing
different events, and so it'salways been in me.
So at 25, when I quote startedI guess you could say a real
business.
I recognized the responsibilitybut it never really bugged me.
I was like we'll figure thisout.
I got this so I love that.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
It's like an internal confidence and I don't know
about you but like I'm a man offaith and I don't shy away from
it.
But everyone has their ownbelief systems, but it always
kind of goes back to what youjust said, like Matthew 23, 11,
the greatest amongst you will beyour servant.
So I think what that means isthat those in my mind who
actually go out and inspire anddo great things at the center of

(14:21):
it is being a servant, ofadding value to other people and
adding value to team members.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, yeah, I think you nailed it.
I think with that it's sinceday one of starting the
restaurant.
I've never considered myself aboss that oversees people.
I'm always like I'm working foryou, guys, how can I bring
value to you and how can I helpmake your job easier?
Today and I've carried thatthrough my whole career over the
last 25 years or whatever it'sbeen so, I've always recognized

(14:48):
that fact and have been honoredthat someone wants to come work
for something I started, but inthe end I don't see myself as a
boss.
It's the opposite.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
They're my boss and they can tell me what they need,
brother.
I love that, and it correlateswithin the military too, is that
?
One thing that makes themilitary great, specifically
like the US versus other nationsand I've kind of had the
ability to see that now is thatwe have the ability to delegate
power and push it down to thelowest level and we call it

(15:18):
mission command and all thatessentially means is that we
give our teams the tools andauthority and the power and the
bandwidth to actually run withhigher level tasks and we're
there to support them, tofacilitate them, and it's a
paradigm shift and I love that.
That that's still true withinyour career field of being a

(15:39):
successful whiskey man you haveto excuse me, because I'm
drinking bourbon now.
Yeah, that's all right.
Successful a whiskey man?
uh, you have to excuse me,because I'm drinking bourbon now
that hardly another thing thatI kind of heard within that too,
like that internal confidenceis.
I call it a burning desire.
But where did that mindset comefrom that?
Hey, I'm not going to fail, I'mjust going to keep moving

(16:01):
forward.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
Because I've always been independent.
I've always wanted to do my ownthing.
I was raised with good moralsand a right path, and so I trust
myself to do the right thingand I'm not.
I'm not going to go out and andand screw up, or, you know, if I
, if I get in a fender bender,I'm going to leave a note on the
person's car right as a as asmall example, but and so I I

(16:24):
trust myself to do the rightthing, and, and I don't know
where that, if that's that wherethat confidence comes from, but
it and, and sometimes it's afalse confidence, but sometimes
that's what you need as well,isn't it so?

Speaker 3 (16:39):
Has there been anyone ?
I know you said your mom andyour dad were entrepreneurs, but
there were any role models thatyou had, maybe outside of them,
that really like inspired youat a younger age.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, I've.
I've always had mentors outthere and I always look up to
people if if it's.
If it's not with a personalrelationship, it's through
somebody's podcast Not justsaying that, since we're on one
now here, but I certainly listento a number of different
podcasts and watch what othersare doing.
Through having the distilleryin the namesake 10th Mountain.
I've met and become somefriends with some of the

(17:16):
soldiers through that andadmired and looked up to how
they operate and what they'redoing, and both while they were
in and a couple that have cometo mind certainly, while a
couple of them retired recentlyafter long successful careers
and so growing up, and no onecertainly in particular comes to
mind besides both my mom anddad.

(17:37):
I certainly had a greatrelationship with them and they
steered me correctly and ledcorrectly and I give credit to
both of them.
But no one in particular Idon't think comes to mind in my
adult life that necessarilyguide me or look up to, besides
some business folks that maybemy path will come across on
occasion, or certainly somesoldiers that have had long

(18:00):
successful careers in themilitary.
But I'm always looking out andseeing what other people are
doing and watching what's goingon.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
So you naturally you're from Texas.
You went to Vail Colorado,which I don't blame you If I had
more money when I retire oneday.
That's on one of my lists.
My wife and I have identifiedareas that we want to go live
and retire, and that isdefinitely one of them, because
it is just a stunning place.
What inspired you, when didthat passion come from, to

(18:31):
create Tenth Mountain Whiskiesand Spirits?

Speaker 1 (18:34):
So I didn't serve in the military, but I've always
been a proud patriot and I'vealways been a big supporter of
the military.
I come from a military family.
My my dad was both Army andNavy.
My granddad was Army, mybrother-in-law was a ranger and
now he's he's a Texas Ranger aswell.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
now that's funny.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
So and I've always had a lot of friends in the
military and I've always had alot of friends in the military I
had a desire to buildbusinesses and to try to get
back to the US and get back toAmerica by providing jobs.
That's always been kind of therole I've seen myself take.
But when an opportunity cameand I was watching what the
craft distillery movement wasdoing I homebrew quite a bit and

(19:13):
had been in the restaurantbusiness for a number of years
at that point and distillationis the next step after making
beer and I was watching what thecraft distillery movement was
doing and I was like well,someone in this town is going to
make whiskey sooner or later.
I had been here for a number ofyears at that point and
understood the influence thatthe 10th Mountain the original
10th Mountain soldiers had onour area.

(19:33):
They trained just a few milessouth here at Camp Ale in the
1940s and they our area.
They trained just a few milessouth here at camp ale in the
1940s and they in essencestarted the modern day ski
industry.
As we know, they started over62 different ski resorts across
the country, had a big influencein and the gear that we all use
today, uh, and some of themedia that, uh, we read and
climbing, and, hell, nike wasfounded by a 10th mountain vet,
uh, so phil knight's businesspartner is bill bowerman, and so

(19:56):
I I was like, well, withoutthese guys I certainly wouldn't
be here living a free life inAmerica and skiing a great
mountain.
And I'm like, well, hell, let'sstart a distillery and use it
as a platform to supportdifferent military nonprofits
and let's name it an honor tothe 10th Mountain.
And so I started looking intoit and I started looking at how
to trademark things.
And we're not 10th MountainArmy Division whiskey, you can't

(20:17):
do that, and I recognized thatquickly.
But our Silhouette Soldier wasnot trademarked at the time.
Obviously it is now.
But with 10th Mountain Whiskeyand Spirit Company and our
soldier and our location, it'spretty obvious where we're going
with our namesake.
And so the inspiration was justthat.
It sounded like a cool businessto get into, to make whiskey in

(20:38):
the Rocky Mountains and supportdifferent military nonprofits,
and so that was the goal we setout to do early on.
And here we are, about tocelebrate our 10th year
anniversary.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
So there's so many things there that I definitely
want to unpack and so it's alittle bit one.
You said you never served inthe military, but there's so
many different and now I seethis with some of my best
friends who've transitioned andwhat they're doing.
A lot of industry that thisnation has is led by and ran by
veterans that continue to go dogreat things, but also patriots

(21:13):
that have never worn a uniform,and I don't separate the two.
In my mind it's easy to do whatI did to wear a uniform and I
don't separate the two.
In my mind it's easy to do whatI did to wear a uniform jump
out of planes, go to war, thosetypes of things is that
infantrymen seek with anddestroy the enemy by fire
maneuver and if you're a soundperson you're like that sounds
crazy.
But what you're doing, I think,is just equally as important,

(21:37):
and I talk about success versussignificance.
I think what you're doing isreally chasing significance and
that legacy, and so much so thatyou and I share a commonality
we're both recipients of theOrder of the St Maurice and I
have never heard I honestly havenever heard of a civilian
winning that award.
So kudos to you.
That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
Well, thanks, you've done your research, bud Nice.
Yeah, I usually don't bring thatup, but I was recognized with
that honor about four years agoI guess now, and it was due to
all the support that we giveback to military nonprofits.
So that was certainlyunexpected.
I had no idea that was coming.
One of the guys on our team waskind of behind the scenes with

(22:21):
just answering some questionsfrom the colonel that gave me
that honor at that point, and sohe knew it was coming, because
this guy, tom, that works withus, he would ask me about my
past and what's going on.
I'm like Tom, what the hell areyou doing?
You know all this stuff aboutme, know all this stuff about me
.
He's like I'm just doublechecking, man, I'm just double
checking.
And then, like two weeks later,the colonel gives me that award

(22:43):
.
And then Tom was like yeah,dude, that's why I was checking
on you and making sure I had myfacts straight.
So yeah, that happened.
That was a pretty specialrecognition to get, for sure.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
And for anyone who's kind of listening, each branch
of the army like aviation, theyall basically have orders that
you have to be nominated to.
So what's significant aboutthis is that members who are
already recipients of the Orderof St Maurice have to basically
weigh or judge the contributionsthat you made essentially, ryan

(23:12):
, to the infantry corps.
So the Order of St Maurice, Ithink this was mine when I was a
captain.
I got it after my first riflecompany command.
To that point there was a hugeachievement that I was able to
get and I remember the day stillhad tears in my eyes because
that was my second companycommand, leaving 3rd Brigade,

(23:33):
10th Mountain, to go off and getmy master's degree.
And to me it's a legacy.
Standpoint is that, yeah, I'mpart of a brotherhood of many
other people who've went beforeme and done great things, but at
the end of the day, it'scarrying on that torch and
legacy and I love how it'sbridged outside of.
Not necessarily just those whowear the uniform are an

(23:56):
infantryman.
It is people who are continuingto bring that kind of impact to
the larger community.
The second thing that I sharewith you is the Pano Commando.
So two things you're going tolove this, and this was when I
was a company commander.
That's why I knew I had to haveyou on my podcast.
So this was my yeah that I hadwhen General Pyatt the old 10th

(24:23):
Mountain.
So he came up there and thiswas when the army and the Navy
was doing the big rivalry game.
I think this was like 2018.
Yeah, 2016.
And I had no idea what the PandoCommando was until he started
showing it and I was like I lovethis so much so that I want to
go take it to my tattoo artistand I want to get a tattoo of it

(24:45):
on my arm.
And the story behind that is socool and you hit the nail on the
head is that a bunch of steelyeyed killers back during World
War II had to learn how to skiso they could go fight Nazis in
the Alps and then after WorldWar II they basically came back,
founded modern day ski industrythat we know now, and in Bell

(25:09):
Colorado, which is just supercool, and you're continuing that
legacy with the 10th MountedInfantry.
I love that.
I think that is awesome.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, thanks, and it's a lot of fun for us.
We have a taste room right atthe base of Vail Ski Mountain,
so a pretty popular pedestrianvillage, and we'll get 10th
Mountain soldiers walking by andlook up and be like wait, 10th
Mountain whiskey, come on out.
And they'll walk in and a lotof times they don't know the
history of the 10th Mountainhere in the area and so they'll

(25:40):
sit down and have a glass ofwhiskey and we'll swap stories
and then we have a chance toeducate not only soldiers and
veterans but also just everydaycivilians that come through as
well about the importance andthe history of 10th Mountain,
not only here in Onvale Mountainbut with the ski industry and
then countrywide as well.
So it's a fun again.

(26:02):
It's a fun platform to be ableto allow us to get in front of
people for 30 minutes at a time,an hour at a time, whatever it
is, and educate them on thehistoric military division.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
So yeah, I think a key output with that is if you
can get people convinced to getthe tattoo.
That would be awesome.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
We have, we've got.
I know of two of two peoplethat have our logo tattooed on
them.
One is a extremely passionateTenth Mountain soldier who now
works with us in California andhe's a tattoo artist and he did
it himself on his own thigh.
And then there's another guyhere, whose granddad was in the
10th, that ended up taking ourlogo and getting it tattooed on

(26:43):
him as well.
So there's at least two of themout there, I know.
If there's any more, please letus know.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
So well, I have one other my first sergeant when I
was a company commander.
We went and got.
This may sound a little weird,but at the same time we had a
bro date and we got the sametattoos.
Like, hey, if I'm going to doit, you're going to do it.
So we were all in.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
Nice Right, that tomato is super cool man, I love
it.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Yeah, going through this kind of Tunkman model, if
you will like, storming, norming, forming this concept of 10th
Mountain Whiskies, this conceptof the 10th Mountain Whiskies.
How did you go through thebrand structure in a competitive
market and figure out how youwere going to set the business
model?
Because I'm always curious onthat.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Like the branding itself, or like, and how did we
find some white space in awhiskey market or a spirits
market?

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah, so white space within the spirits market.
And then also, too, where didyou start with some of the
spirits Like, which drinks didyou focus on?
Because I know that whiskey,for example, like takes two
years to actually distill beforeyou can sell it.
So kind of thinking throughfrom like a business standpoint,
how did you work through that?

Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah, you're close a little bit there.
You can make an unaged whiskeyin about four to six days or so,
roughly depending on how longyou ferment the actual
fermentation.
So we actually we ferment forsix days, we cook for a day,
ferment for six and then distillbasically for a day, and then
you have a new make whiskey.
It's unaged, it's clear aswater, but if you have the right

(28:20):
base recipe, the base mash bill, it can technically is a
whiskey.
And then we age it in ourAmerican oak barrels.
And that is when you'rereferring to that two-year
process.
For it to be a bourbon it hasto age for some amount of time.
It could be one minute or itcould be a hundred years.
Certainly there's a sweet spotin there somewhere, but a lot of

(28:43):
people think that in order tomake a bourbon or a rye whiskey
it has to be at least a minimumof two years.
That's not necessarily the case, but it does need to be aged
for some amount of time.
And so when we first got going,we made a new make whiskey,
which is our Colorado ClearMountain Moonshine.
We make a potato vodka, we makea cordial as well.
So although we hang our hat onour whiskey expressions.
We do make a couple otherspirits as well, and then our

(29:06):
bourbon and our rye and oursingle malt are our age whiskeys
at this point.
When we first started 10 yearsago, it was a young whiskey.
We were aging in smallerbarrels, which are not as
economical necessarily, butthere's more oak to the whiskey
ratio and so that helps maturethe whiskey a little bit quicker
, although you get some more,some different notes coming
through when you age it insmaller barrels.

(29:27):
We're proud of it.
At that time it was a six monthproduct but we were proud of
and ready to go, and so thatcertainly helped get us out of
the gate a little quicker.
Now, at this point, we have allof our age spirits are two
years and older.
There's three and four year inthere too.
If you come to our taste roomsthen you're likely to have a
four or six year as well.
But just to answer thatquestion about getting going,

(29:48):
there's certainly different waysto get started in the business
with unaged spirits, withyounger age spirits, if you will
, aged in smaller casks, etcetera.
So the white space in themarket it's certainly we.
We pulled on the history of the10th Mountain in our area which

(30:12):
we covered briefly.
We recognize that it was one ofthe most historic military
divisions and one of the mostdeployed divisions.
Now, over the last 30 years andwe're starting it was the last
20 years, right, and veryfamiliar and supportive military
nonprofits anyways, before weeven got going.
But we saw a great opportunityhere and I was surprised that
the Silhouette Soldier wasn'ttrademarked.
So I looked into that and goteducated on trademark research

(30:34):
and all that and then ended updesigning the, the soldier that
you see on most of our main logoand, uh, we design our bottles.
We worked with, we had an idea.
We worked with a local graphdesign company.
We would take a coupledifferent labels and we went to
the liquor stores, put them upon the shelf and then stood back
10 feet.
We're like, hey, does that,does that stand out well enough
on the liquor shelf?
Uh, we like this aspect, I likethat aspect, the colors.

(30:56):
The color's a little darker, alittle light, whatever.
Go back to the drawing board.
We probably did five or sixdifferent iterations of that and
that's how we kind of foundthat white space wiggle ourself
into a white space maybe andthen certainly are proud to use
it as a platform to support themilitary, so that's how it all
came together.

Speaker 3 (31:16):
Team.
Let's take a quick break fromthis episode and I want to share
an additional leadershipresource with you, and that is
one-on-one leadership coachingthrough McMillian Leadership
Coaching.
So what do I do?
I help leaders discover theirpurpose, create a long-term
growth plan and take inspiredaction.
I believe everything rises andfalls on leadership and,

(31:38):
regardless of where you are inlife, one fact is true you are a
leader of others, you are aleader of your family and, most
importantly, you are a leader ofyourself.
To lead others well, thatstarts by leading yourself well.
If you wanna learn more, youcan go to
mcmillianleadershipcoachingcomand schedule a free call today.

(31:59):
Back to the episode, and Ithink that's important.
That's one of the reasons Ikind of wanted you to kind of
walk through that, because 2013is when you created this company
and then 2021, you won theCraft Distillery Award, which it
doesn't happen overnight, Ithink time to build specifically

(32:24):
with like whiskeys, becauseit's not something I think that
you can just make and then own alarge market share, especially
as niched as it is.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
So when you won that award the 2021 Craft Distillery
Award, which one was that- itwas through a company called
Rackhouse Whiskey Club and theywork with a number of whiskey
distilleries around the countryand had a.
They're coming back now.
They've kind of laid quiet thelast couple of months or maybe

(32:54):
last year or so, but it wasthrough them and they had worked
with a number of distilleriesand then ended up gathering
together I forget how manydistilleries at the time that
they narrowed it down to, butthey had a background in working
with different whiskeydistilleries across the country,
telling their stories and thensharing their whiskeys with
their audience, and so it wasthrough them that we had won
that award and it's just.

(33:15):
It was a great recognition, agreat recognition for our entire
team.
Again, I might direct people,but we have 16 full-time
employees that work with us nowand a couple of part-timers as
well and a couple of brandambassadors out there.
So I can maybe take a smallpart of that credit, but the
majority of the credit goes tothe whole team.
So it was through them, but thewhole company feels like a

(33:38):
startup.
It feels like day one wasyesterday.
Although we're 10, 11 yearsinto it, man, I still wake up
with a fire under my belly,ready to go and get after it.
And we were working on it forabout a year before we had said
it and said a peep about it toanybody outside of a few small
confidants in our circle.

(33:59):
And so, yeah, we incorporatedin 2013 to get through the
licensing process on a federal,incorporated in 2013 to get
through the licensing process ona federal state, a local level,
and get all the equipment, etcetera.
At that point it took about ayear roughly, maybe even a
couple, maybe 15 months, and sowe don't say we are our
anniversary September 5th of2014.

(34:20):
So that's why our 10 yearscoming up now.
But we were working on it for asolid year, year and a half
before any anybody knew what wasgoing on with it.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
So I love, I love that man, so it's not cheap.
I'm assuming, to create anactual distillery.
I'm, I'm venturing.
It's a couple million dollars,three, $4 million, just to even
start.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
When you first started did you have the capital
to kind of cover that cost?
Or did you have to get creative?
Hell, no, did not.
I always say we begged,borrowed and stole as much money
as we could put together andthen we asked the government for
more money after that.
So I had a small chunk from aprevious business.
I had sold just a very smallchunk in the whole scheme of

(35:04):
things Started.
Then I got a local businessloan from a local bank.
That got us off the ground alittle bit At least.
It enabled us to get distilling, get some equipment not the
size of the equipment that we'recurrently using, but got us out
of the gate, developed thebrand, got a tasting room in
Vail Village before we even hada tasting room at the distillery

(35:25):
, because that was a moreimportant, much more highly
trafficked area than where ourdistillery is.
We thought that was important.
We had some cash flow coming inA couple years down the line,
once we had some cash flow, weleveraged that into a bigger SBA
loan which helped us get somebigger equipment and increase
our production.
And so I had a small condo intown.

(35:49):
I had a small condo for nineyears.
I ended up moving in 2007, fiveyears later starting the
distillery, six years laterstarting the distillery, I ended
up either I was going to haveto sell off equity to raise some
more capital for the distillerybusiness or sell a condo.
And I chose to sell a condo andhold onto the equity.
And so a lot of people werelike you're dumb.

(36:11):
And I'm like I'm only dumb ifthis thing doesn't go the
direction I want it to go.
So time will tell.
But and I've, I've my, thehouse I live in is leveraged
with the SBA loans.
So yeah, I mean I I mean meanwe're all, I'm all in on this.
It's my whole life and but yeah, it does cost quite a bit to
get going.
There's different ways to do it.

(36:33):
Happy to speak offline toanybody that's interested in
doing it, or any other businessand I've got experience with the
SBA and going through thatprocess now, which can be
challenging and time consumingand frustrating.
In the end, it's great becausethey allowed us to retain all of
our equity and so differentways to raise capital, different
depending on what your businessmodel is and what you're going

(36:57):
after.
But I ended up I was in went toMoonshine University in 2013,
which is like a week long courseand teach you the business of
distillation and running adistillery and all the legal
stuff and all the marketing andcertainly all the operating, the
actual still and fermentationand whatnot.
And at that point they weresaying that it would cost.

(37:18):
It costs about $2 million tostart a distillery.
That was close, yeah, exactlyright.
And I was like, ah, they don'tknow what they're talking about.
That's.
No, we can do it for cheaper.
They were pretty much exactlyright and I was like, ah, they
don't know what they're talkingabout, that's now, we can do it
for cheaper.
Uh, they were pretty muchexactly right.
And I just talked to himactually about uh, two weeks ago
and, uh, we were laughing aboutthat conversation and uh, now

(37:39):
and now, obviously that's amounthas increased quite a bit just
given the economy whatever.
But yeah, it's, it's.
There's some, there's somepretty high barriers to entry
again in the business, which Ienjoy a good challenge and
certainly the business ischallenging on all kinds of
levels and that's just one ofthem.
Just the barriers to entry iscan be quite difficult.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
So as you've kind of went through this process, how
has your leadership necessarilyevolved, like running a
successful and when I sayleadership I guess your
leadership philosophy running asuccessful restaurant.
Being an entrepreneur for avery long time, some of those
common traits at least for me,just hearing you that burning

(38:20):
desire has always been there,that humble confidence has
always been there.
But has your leadership stylematured over the years?

Speaker 1 (38:31):
Yeah, it definitely has.
And I was thinking about thisearlier today.
I didn't know what questions wewere going to chat about here
on the conversation.
But one thing I was and thisjust happened earlier today I
had a conversation with one ofmy guys and he was having a
migraine and wasn't in the bestof moods.
And I'm like dude, we don'tneed to have this conversation
right now.

(38:51):
Go lie down and relax.
We can chat tomorrow.
Man, this is nothing pressing.
And then I had another.
Then I got on right on anotherphone call with another one of
my guys.
I was just starting his day atthe tasting room.
He's in a great mood and hewanted to chat about X, y and Z.
He had no idea that I had justgotten off the phone with one of
our other guys.
That was kind of frustrated andnot feeling well, and so I

(39:13):
think it's just you have to gointo each conversation knowing
that who you're talking to next,they don't necessarily care
that you just got off maybe apassionate phone call or a
heated phone call with somebodyelse.
They're living their life andin order for that guy to have a
good day on his shift at thetasting room, man, it's up to me
to be like dude, how are youdoing today?
What's going on?

(39:33):
Everything good in your world.
Let's chat a little business.
Can I get you anything today?
I know everything's great, andhe didn't know the previous
conversations I had that day.
And so I think it's important toalways, and I think about that
when I walk into the restaurant.
If I'm having a bad day overhere, the minute I walk into
that restaurant those employeesare going to look at me and say
you know, hi, ryan, goodafternoon, good morning,

(39:54):
whatever it is, and it's notfair for me to bring in any kind
of negative attitude from theprevious hour, two hours or
whatever.
And so I'm I'm very consciousof that.
I do well with it 97% of thetime, and so there's still.
There's certainly room toimprove, but I'm pretty, pretty

(40:15):
aware of that fact.
And when I'm walking into thetasting room and certainly if
there's guests there a lot oftimes I want to say hi and chat
a little bit and they don't care, they're from hell half the
time in Vail village and chat alittle bit, and they don't care,
they're from hell half the timein Vail Village, they're on
vacation and enjoying themselvesout at the time of their life
and so they don't care.
I'm dealing with XYZ amount ofstresses and what's going on.

(40:36):
So certainly have to checkwhatever kind of if there's any
negative feelings going onbefore I, before I have a
conversation with one of theemployees or walk into the
tasting room and possibly getpulled into a conversation that
I wasn't expecting.
So that's certainly one waythat I am always trying to be
aware of.

Speaker 3 (40:52):
Did that resonate with me?
Because I think that's one ofthe weaknesses that I had,
especially when I started offactually leading the sons and
daughters of this nation.
I would always get to a pointof where I had a negative
attitude if something didn'tnecessarily go the right way,
because I was fighting the planversus fighting the environment,
if that makes sense.

(41:12):
And as I've matured over theyears, I've really reflected on
some of the hardships that I'vehad to go through and lead
through and I've learned thatit's really not that bad the
current situation that we findourselves in.
You have to really go back andreflect on what were some of the
worst experiences in your lifeand what you're going through

(41:33):
right now.
How does that compare?
And I always use my I have likea strength statement that I use
in my life when I get to thosekind of down times and it's
every day is a gift.
I'm not going to waste minebecause that re-centers me and
it's every day is a gift.
I'm not going to waste minebecause that recenters me and it
helps me show up authentically.
And I love how you lead thatsame way with really just being

(41:53):
authentic and being positive,because a negative attitude is a
cancer and if you share that,that culture within your
organization will just erode andit will crumble.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah, exactly, and, and especially with our tasting
rooms that are that are publicfacing man, if I, if someone's
in there is having a good dayand I go in there with a
negative attitude, then all of asudden they're like, well shit,
ryan's having a bad day, I canhave a bad day.
And then that equates to someof our guests coming in that are
again, they're on vacation halfthe time and they're just

(42:25):
having fun, and so, and ifthey're, they see the guy behind
the counter having a bad day,then they're probably not going
to sit around and hang out withus, right?
And so I think it all allequates to back to your good
leadership, right?
And and this too shall pass- Ilove that man.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
You said it a couple of times of giving back.
Could you walk me through someof the ways or nonprofits that
you've supported, specificallybecause I know they're better
than nonprofits.
Give them a shout out deal thathelps service members
transition from the militaryinto manufacturer engineering,

(43:11):
because that's a weakness Ithink that our country needs to
build upon, and what better wayof doing it?
And Bill, the founder of this.
He started it because hisbrother transitioned out of the
Marine Corps and ended upcommitting suicide, so he had
this burning desire to create anonprofit.
So that's always been close tomy heart and I love how you said
that you you give back to thosetypes of communities and
support them.
Could you walk me through that?

Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, sure, absolutely.
Before I touch on that, and we,before we get to off of the
previous topic, it's somethingthat I share with our whole team
is, and at this point we haveabout half veterans and half
civilians on our team, a coupleof mountain vets in particular
as well.
We have a Marine on board, wehave an Air Force guy on board

(43:53):
and.
But I was and we've certainlymet thousands of soldiers and a
lot of combat vets.
At this point too, and and Itell my whole team, I'm like,
hey, if we're having a bad day,it doesn't equate to some of the
bad days that some of ourfriends have had overseas in
combat.
I mean some of them.
We we've heard all the stories,uh, and recognize and, and so
I'm like, if we're having a badday, guys just check yourself
and think back to x, y I mean Ican start naming names here and

(44:15):
a lot of guys you probablyrecognize but, um, that we've
become friends with.
But they just check yourselfright and you know your day's
not as bad as probably what youthink, what you're feeling right
now, and just recognize thatthe soldiers that are out there,
a lot of them, have had a hellof a lot worse days than we're
ever going to have, so make sureyou keep that in the back of
your mind.

(44:35):
So some of the nonprofits thatwe like to support, I always
like to start with ones here inour backyard.
The Vail Veteran Program takeswounded vets from around the
country, reintroduces them to anactive outdoor lifestyle, give
them whatever kind of physicalchallenges they have sustained
in the war.
They do a lot of trainingmentally as well, do a lot of
work with their significantothers and caregivers and their

(44:57):
families.
So the Vail Veterans Program welove to support.
One, it's in our backyard, it'scertainly easy for us to
support them.
But two they are their gamechanger.
In the wintertime it's skiingand snowboarding, in the
summertime it's hiking, it'smountain biking, it's fly
fishing, it's golfing, and sothey bring in about 20 vets at a
time for their programs and doa handful of different programs

(45:19):
throughout the year.
And they also recognize theimpact that a soldier's injury
has on their immediate familyand their circle, and so they
bring in their families as welland try to help and support them
too, which I think is veryhonorable of them to do so and
recognize that One of our guys,our director of distribution is
a retired Marine combat injured.

(45:40):
He sits on the board of acompany called Base Camp or
nonprofit called Base Camp 40,just about two hours west of us.
That's how he and I originallymet, because we supported Base
Camp 40, which is a huntingfishing organization and take
veterans hunting and fishingaround the world and so, yeah,
absolutely Obviously, a lot ofgood hunting here and a lot of
their programs are here inColorado, but they've also

(46:02):
they've gone to Africa andthey've gone safaris and all
over the US.
So that's a fun organizationand something that's obviously
close to us because Brian sitson the board of that and works
works directly with us as well.
So that's a great shout out.
Do a lot of work with theColorado Veterans Project and
the Colorado Veterans Project ona statewide level Holds
different events throughout theyear and then and raises money

(46:25):
that way, and then we'll spreadthat money around those finances
around a different militarynon-profits that they have
vetted and they know are doing agood job and doing it the right
way, and so that's kind of anumbrella organization here in
the state but then throughsupporting them they're able to
support a number of differentorganizations.
Give a shout out and we don'tjust stay specifically to Army

(46:48):
although obviously we're namedin honor of an Army division but
we work.
So I'd like to give a shout outwith the C4 Foundation out of
San Diego.
They work specifically withNavy SEALs.
They have a 560 acre ranch justto the east of San Diego for a
retreat for the SEALs Again, tobring their families together,
let the SEALs decompress afterdeployment, and then also have a

(47:10):
number of programs that work onthe mental aspect of things too
.
So Ultimate SacrificeFoundation up in the northeast
certainly the 10th Foundation,the 10th Descendants Program, is
near and dear to our hearts,and so, man, I'm certainly
leaving out a lot that we'veworked with.
Heroes and Horses up in Montanatakes veterans and wild

(47:32):
Mustangs and in essence breakeach other over a 42-day period.
And I've had some friends gothrough that program on both the
instructor side and theparticipant side, and both said
it's game-changers for them,which is a pretty cool deal.
Let's see the Medal of.
Honor Library, although out inArlington they did a big remodel

(47:52):
last year and we did a barrelpick with them and raised 10
grand to help support theirefforts to remodel the Medal of
Honor Library at the Army NavyCountry Club.
The Shepherds Men Foundationout of Atlanta, georgia, ptsd
TBI organization.
Also the SHARE Initiative theywork hand in hand there out of
Atlanta and we've done I thinkit's three barrel picks with the

(48:15):
Shepherds Men so far and just agreat organization.
Some 10th Mountain Vets havegone through that program.
So the Hogan Foundation out ofNebraska, which is more of a
cowboy type organization, but hehad lost his son in the war as
well and so it was a father thatstarted that, a Marine that
started that.

(48:35):
So just a couple of names offthe top of my head.
I'm sure we'll get off thiscall and be pissed at myself for
not naming a couple of others.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
You're a mommy of a buddy of mine, david Varnum.
He supports nonprofits and Ihad him on the show and he just
started spouting off all thesecompanies that he helped support
.
To me that's inspiring.
People like you that just wantto give back, and not from a
selfish but a selfless position,and you said just a couple.

(49:05):
That was about five minutes ofgoing through organizations.
That's awesome, man.
I wish I had more time to giveback.
I just don't with the currentjob that I have and I know I
will one day.
But people like you, that'sinspiring man.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
Well, thanks, I appreciate that, and that's a
big reason we want to grow aswell.
The bigger we grow, the more wecan support these organizations
, and there's so manyorganizations that and they're
all doing some amazing things,right, man, I wish we had a
million bucks for everyorganization out there that is
supporting our vets, because Ithink a lot of people recognize
the vets don't get the amount ofsupport that they should once
they retire out of the military,and so there's a lot of

(49:46):
organizations that recognizethis need and are filling this
niche, and, man, I wish we had amillion bucks for each one of
them.
That would fill my heart alittle bit more so.

Speaker 3 (49:59):
Yeah, and one of the reasons this is so important to
me because I always go back tothis simple math equation.
This is a SWAG.
You've probably been aroundenough military people that
you've heard that acronym beforeSWAG.
So during the height of theIraq and Afghanistan war, in
total 6,000 to 8,000 casualtiesin that conflict.

(50:20):
But if you take that same timeperiod and you just look at the
number of soldiers thatcommitted suicide just take the
variable of 22, which isprobably not accurate because
those are the ones that wereactually identified and there's
always more that's over 160,000people.
That is insane to me, that 1%of this population who chooses

(50:45):
to serve that.
The number is so high.
I think active military forcesis between four to 500,000
soldiers at any given time.
I mean it's public, it'sunclassified, that's absolutely
mind blowing to me.
Is that people and I think whatit is is that when people
transition out of the military,they lose that sense of purpose

(51:05):
and passion that they havebecause you're around people who
are amazing, individuals whoget up, who want to be part of a
team, who are there for youwhen you need to be I call them
like accountability trees or,you know, a ranger buddy and
when you go into the civilianworld you kind of miss that
feeling, but you also are onyour own for the first time.
And that's why these nonprofitorganizations are so critical,

(51:29):
because even if you can save onelife, that's one life that
you've saved and that oneindividual may be inspired to go
make a difference.
Like Bill with Unturning Steel.
He's an army veteran, activemilitary, but unfortunately his
brother made that transition andhe committed suicide.
But now he's on the mission andthe number of lives he'll
impact, that's what we need.

(51:50):
We need that Moore's principleof other people like you making
that impact.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Yeah, well, and thank you, and it's certainly
important to myself as well, andbeing in a unique position with
the distillery and with thetasting room, the base of the
resort, we have a tasting roomin at our distillery as well.
Our distillery is 30 minuteswest of Vail proper, but just
Memorial Day is right around thecorner and we'll do a missing
man table Memorial Day and a lotof civilians will walk in be

(52:17):
like what's, what's going onwith that table?
Why do you have that there?
And we have the sign out thatexplains all the symbolism
that's going on there.
And then then a lot of peopleget choked up and like wow, okay
, and it hits them in adifferent way.
Certainly the civilians do.
They don't recognize, they mayhave never paused and stopped
and thought about it, but thenthey walk in and see what's

(52:38):
going on there, especially onsuch a significant day, and it
really makes them think twiceand kind of reconsider the life,
the free life that they'reliving.

Speaker 3 (52:46):
Yeah, it really makes them think twice and kind of
reconsider the life, the freelife that they're living.
So yeah, memorial Day is alwaysa somber day for me because you
know we've all lost people.
I've been in military longenough now but I always remember
.
One of my first experiences isa really a leader.
I was getting ready to takeover my platoon in Afghanistan
and I met my platoon at one ofmy soldiers' memorials in

(53:09):
Afghanistan.
That moment just sticks with mebecause I always say that I
used to be selfish before thattime and then just a light
switch changed inside of me.
Is that service and thefreedoms that we have?
As arrogant as some Americansare about that, it's not free,
it really isn't.
There are so many men and womenactively right now, great

(53:31):
patriots, that are sacrificingtime away from their families,
putting themselves in harm's way, and it never stops, because
there's always wolves andthere's always sheep,
unfortunately, because that'shuman nature.

Speaker 1 (53:44):
Right, yeah, exactly.
And so we'll get a lot ofcivilians that come through the
tasting rooms and we'll sit downand maybe haven't even heard of
the 10th Mountain or what'sgoing on, and start looking
around and start seeing some ofthe military memorabilia that we
have in our tasting rooms ondisplay and then really start
thinking about what's going onand you can see when it clicks

(54:05):
for them that this is, this isimportant, and I should probably
think about this a little bitmore than I do, actually, uh,
with what's going on with ourmilitary.
So it's uh, we're in afortunate position to be able to
share the importance of thataspect.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
So Well, let's kind of go to where you want to go,
like the future aspirations ofTenth Mountain Whiskey and
Spirit Company.
Where do you want to take this?
I know you're trying to grow.
What's the five to 10 yearvision?

Speaker 1 (54:32):
Yeah, I want to be.
A household name is where I'mgoing, and I want to grow it in
order to again support thesegreat organizations that are out
there.
The majority of them, most ofthe time, need a little bit more
money to get to where they wantto go.
Most of the time, need a littlebit more money to get to where
they want to go, and so I see Iwould like to be a household

(54:52):
name on the spirit shelf, wantto grow the knowledge that
civilians have about the 10thMountain and the importance of
supporting our military, muchlike we just talked about, and
so I'm having a good time doingit.
Again, it challenges me on allkinds of different levels, and
so we're just going to see howbig we can take this thing and
see where it goes, and hopefullypeople enjoy drinking our

(55:13):
spirits and then recognize theimportance of supporting the
military too.

Speaker 3 (55:18):
So towards the end of this episode, really, one more
question that I want to ask you.
I have now made it successfullythrough my entire old fashioned
.
I'm feeling good.
What is your best advice thatyou could give someone who's
just getting ready to start outon their leadership journey?

Speaker 1 (55:37):
You know, I would say follow your gut, but maybe not
everybody's gut is the rightfeeling necessarily, but follow
your passion, follow where yourheart takes you and have
patience doing it.
It's most overnight successstories started years before,
and so I think, being passionateabout where you're going, but

(56:00):
having the patience to get thereand doesn't mean don't work
hard.
You can't just sit on yourcouch and play video games and
be like I'm being patient.
You still have to get up andwork your ass off, but still
have patience because you'll getthere.
But not every day is going tobe sunshines and roses.
Most, a lot of leadership andcertainly a lot of
entrepreneurship is taking thepunches and then on occasion,

(56:23):
you'll walk by a rose and you'llbe able to stop and smell it.
Like us, you know we do a lotof events and people see us out
and enjoying a whiskey andchatting with different people.
Like hell, that's all you guysdo, right, and sit around and
drink your whiskey.
I'm like this is like maybeless than 5% of it, man, maybe
like 1% of the time we're doingthis.
They don't see the behind thescenes.

(56:44):
So just know that it's going totake a lot.
Be patient with where you wantto go.
And again, if you're going to bea leader, try to recognize that
.
If you just went through alittle heated moment or
passionate moment that you'regoing to talk to somebody else
and just check yourself and tryfor the next interaction to be a
little bit better.
And so I'm a lifelong learner.

(57:07):
I'm always trying to learn.
I've got a stack of books I'mstill trying to get to.
I still try to read every dayand listen to podcasts and watch
different documentaries andstuff.
So I'm a lifelong learner.
Anyways, that's always been inme and I think that's incredibly
important if it's on the topicof leadership or
entrepreneurship or marketing orwhatever you're interested in,
you're passionate about.

(57:27):
So I think those are a coupleof tidbits, certainly, that I
try to stay conscious of.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
I love that brother.
So the last question how canour listeners find you and how
can they add value to yourmission?

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Yeah, sure, absolutely.
So you can find us across allsocials at 10th MTN Whiskey,
that's 1-0-T-H-M-T-N, thenwhiskey with an E, and our
website is 10thwhiskeycom.
And follow us on socials, sharewhat we're doing.
A lot of people are like, hey,man, I don't drink, but I love
what you guys have going on,which is great support.
Anyways, we recognize the factthat our product is not for

(58:01):
everybody, but hopefully what westand for and what we support
certainly resonates with most.
And certainly if you probablyhave a friend that you're buying
a gift for on occasion thatenjoys a glass of whiskey, keep
us in mind when that comes andcertainly if you're ever in our
area, stop by and say hello.
We just enjoy people coming inand having a conversation.
If they want to sit down with acocktail, great, or buy a

(58:22):
bottle, great.
But stop in and say hello andshow a little appreciation for
our military and see what kindof conversations you can get
into.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
Ryan, this has been an amazing experience.
Thank you so much for takingtime and being a guest on Tell's
Leadership and just sharingyour experience and your wisdom.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me, man.
It's been awesome, and I lovewhat you guys have going on too,
so appreciate you.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
Have a great night.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
All right, team.
It's time for our after actionreview.
Great episode.
So what are the top threetakeaways that I pulled from
Ryan?
Number one is just an internalconfidence.
He has been a lifelongentrepreneur and running and
filming over a hundred episodes.
Now I've learned thatentrepreneurs really share one
common thread and that is aburning desire.

(59:10):
So let's kind of quickly definewhat that is.
Burning desire is really whenyou refuse to fail and think of
it from this standpoint.
So I'm in the military, so I'mgoing to put a military spin on
it.
An air assault is a perfectdefinition, or jumping out of an
airplane is a perfectdefinition of a burning desire,

(59:31):
because there is literally noretreat.
When the aircraft lifts off oryou jump out of it, there is
only one way that's forward.
You cannot retreat.
If you do retreat, that meansdeath.
Essentially, you have to be allin.
You have to be able to gothrough at whatever obstacles
that you're going to encounterand ultimately achieve the

(59:54):
objective, whatever that lookslike.
Number two I pulled from is justa level of integrity.
To be a successful businessowner, specifically owning a
restaurant and then being anentrepreneur within the Whiskey
and the Spirits company, youmake a lot of connections with
other people, and I think one ofthe deepest level of

(01:00:15):
connections that you can buildis really through trust.
And where does trust come from?
To me, trust is all aboutintegrity, and I define
integrity a very simple way isdon't lie, don't cheat and don't
steal.
It's a red line for me.
Integrity is one of my corevalues that I possess, and I

(01:00:36):
call it RID respect, integrityand discipline.
Respect is really the bedrock.
It's the foundation of who I amas an individual.
And the final one is negativeattitudes.
Ryan kind of talks about thisand he is such a positive guy I
can just get that through theinteractions that I had with him
.
But as a leader, you cannothave a negative attitude,

(01:00:57):
because if you have a negativeattitude, then that will go
through the culture of yourorganization Team.
If you've gotten any value fromtoday's episode, do me a favor
share this podcast with everyone, because everyone is a leader.
Number two make sure you ratethis podcast.
Write a review If you can.

(01:01:17):
You can find it on any majorpodcast platform that you can
listen to podcast episodes andthen go to
mcmillianleadershipcoachingcompodcast episodes and then go to
mcmillianleadershipcoachingcom.
We have tons of additionalleadership resources that are a
hundred percent free to you and,as always, I'm your host, josh
McMillian, saying every day is agift.
Don't waste yours.
I'll see you next time.