November 26, 2024 • 35 mins
It's Thanksgiving week here in the US, and this week we're thankful to have Senior Director of Client Strategy at ForceBrands Rachel Doueck stop by the show to talk talent acquisition and retention.
Host Jimmy Moreland and special guest cohost Michelle Street Beaudette dive deep into what brands get right and wrong about attracting talent, how that puzzle piece fits in with a brand's overall strategy, and broader industry trends. Bonus low/no-alc chat at the end of the show - who else is getting an early start on dry January?
As mentioned in the show, here's the 2025 bev industry salary report.
More about ForceBrands: Website
More info about MHW at https://www.mhwltd.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to the MHW Mark podcast, where we take deep
dives into various aspects ofthe alcohol industry.
My name is Jimmy Moreland.
Mhw is a US and EU beveragealcohol importer, distributor
and service provider.
Co-hosting with me today is areturning favorite, mhw's
Michelle Street-Bodette.
Hey, michelle, how have youbeen?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, jimmy, I'm so excited to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're back and it's a little warm.
It's unseasonably warm.
We're recording this podcast alittle bit ahead of schedule.
We're in early November rightnow and it's feeling a little
warm.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's been very warm, it's been very nice, but at the
same time it's like it's verystrange, Like crazy, that
Halloween felt like almost likea very warm spring day.
I mean great for everyone incostumes, but just very, very
weird this time of year.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now again, we're recording this in early November
People will be hearing itThanksgiving week, but as we're
recording this, you just cameback from Bar Convent Berlin
Trip report.
How was it?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It was fantastic.
So this year MHW did have itsown booth, because the last few
years we had just attended andwe had hosted a brand pitch
competition.
But this year we decided tohave our booth and so our
marketing team both Bridget andCassidy worked really, really
hard to not just coordinate ourbooth but make sure that they
(01:27):
filled up our meeting schedulesfor the few salespeople,
including myself, that attended.
So it was just really great.
We got to meet with a ton ofnew brands, meet existing
clients and meet existingpartners that we work with in
the industry.
So overall, we left feelingreally really good and just very
happy with the results of theshow.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Well, that's great to hear.
I'm jealous and maybe next yearwe'll get myself out there.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Let's get to work here.
Let's get down to business andintroduce our guest.
Our guest today is the SeniorDirector of Client Strategy at
Force Brands and we're delightedto have her here.
Welcome, Rachel Dueck.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Thank you, jimmy.
Good to meet you, michelle,great to see you.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Of course.
No, it's so great to have youon the podcast today, Rachel.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Now, rachel, if you could, I guess, help us out.
I read out your title theSenior Director of Client
Strategy at Force Brands.
Can you give us a little bit ofcontext for what that title
means and just a little bitabout your background and your
current role there at ForceBrands, just for the listeners
to have some context here?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yes, of course, of course.
Yeah, I'll start with a littlebit of background, going back
probably about 15 years ago.
I started my career inphysician recruitment so
completely different industryand who would have thought
physicians actually neededrecruitment?
But they did, at the time atleast.
(02:50):
So I was in my full time rolein physician recruitment.
I was always mixologist on theside.
Long story short, I met ourfounder this was over 14 years
ago Josh Wand, and he had juststarted, probably like two years
into starting the one of itslike, first of its kind
(03:13):
recruitment from that focusspecifically in beverage alcohol
.
So we joined forces.
I was probably like his fifthemployee and, yeah, like I said,
we were focusing in beveragespecifically.
I started at the company as anexecutive recruiter.
I've probably held maybe fiveor six different roles within
(03:34):
the organization, from internaltalent acquisition, training,
like I said, executiverecruitment, business operations
, sales operations, and thenabout five years ago I
transitioned to our clientstrategy team.
Our company as a whole focuseson the entire consumer economy.
(03:55):
So three years into you knowBelforce, we expanded into food
and cannabis and beauty, healthand wellness and pet food.
Now, so we're across the board.
Five years ago, when I movedinto my new role, I was heading
up the beverage alcohol division, which I now like to call the
adult beverage division becausethere's just so many facets to
(04:17):
beverage alcohol or the adultbeverage industry as a whole.
So I currently oversee ourclient partnership.
So I work across all of ourclients specifically,
specifically in beverage alcoholand adult beverage and I
support them in organizationaldesign, search, strategy, hiring
and I'm basically a go-to forany of their needs when it comes
(04:39):
to talent acquisition, talentacquisition.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That's great, rachel, too, and I'm so happy to have
you as a partner, too, for MHW.
I was very familiar withBevForce for a number of years,
but I think it was in 2019 thatyou and I first met at WSWA and
since then it's just been sogreat to have you as one of our
key contacts at BevForce for theentire business development
(05:02):
team at MHW, just because,obviously, talent and
recruitment is something sovaluable for our clients.
And you know, as we're havinglike calls with potential
clients too, you know whenthey're asking for tips and you
know how do they best, you know,navigate through the US
beverage, alcohol or adultbeverage industry.
The key aspect is, you know,hiring.
(05:22):
You know who's going to be theperson out there selling the
product.
A lot of the startups we workwith in the very beginning they
might not be able to affordhiring a full-time person in the
beginning, so they might bedoing a lot of it on their own,
but as they're starting toexpand, it has to be something
that they're thinking aboutreally from day one so that they
understand the investmentbehind it.
So thank you for all thesupport that.
(05:43):
You know both our clients andpotential clients, who need this
guidance, like we reallyappreciate the partnership that
we have with you.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yes, thank you no, and it has been a great
partnership.
I do remember the first time wemet at the trade show and we
bump into each other at prettymuch every single trade show, at
least that I attend.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, no, it's great, I always see him, like Rachel.
Yeah, I always know you'regoing to be there, so it's
always so great that we can, youknow, reconnect and just talk
about what's going on.
What's new like, what newbrands are we seeing?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know it's a great relationship and it's all about
the trends, my friend, allabout the trends.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So, moving on, like, obviously we've been in a period
of rapid change, especially ina post COVID world, and now
we're going to see in apost-election world.
It will be very, veryinteresting to see, like, what
changes we see with hiring.
What's the most surprisingshift in how companies attract
and retain top talent in thebeverage industry?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I guess the first thing I would say is that it's
certainly a lot easier with theeconomy being how it's been the
entire year.
It's certainly a lot easier toretain talent now as a company
than it has been in previousyears.
When I started back in 2010,.
(06:54):
We were just coming off of arecession, michelle, I don't
know, I don't remember if youwere in the industry quite yet
at that time, but it wasinteresting.
It was interesting.
It was like we had the mostamazing talent you know, out
there on the market and you knowour clients, our partners, they
were just like swarmed aplethora of candidates were
(07:16):
coming to them and they justdidn't know how to select the
best one because there were somany of them.
And now retaining is a loteasier because candidates,
talent leaders, managers,c-suite, they don't want to take
the risk.
You know they're concernedabout their future.
I think, as you know everyonemight be right now there's been
a lot of changes, you know,during COVID, since COVID.
(07:39):
So again, it's definitely beeneasier.
But I mean, I would say, when Ido see candidates looking, it
really, you know, I think itreally boils down and the
transparency and the vision andvalues within that organization,
(08:07):
whether they're, you know, astartup or they're an importer
trying to, you know, have growthin the US market or the larger
you know suppliers ordistributors.
Candidates want to feel.
They want to feel that valuearound mission, transparency,
vision and values.
I think that's probablytransparency, vision and values.
I think that's probably one ofthe most important things in the
(08:28):
market right now and proving tobe a major draw when retaining
talent.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's great that you say that too, because it's not
just compensation that a lot ofthe generations are caring about
.
You're entirely right, and Ithink we're seeing that with a
lot of the younger generationsmillennials, gen Zs like it's
really the mission and like youknow how are they doing to
contribute to their company andthe industry that they're in.
That makes a lot of sense, thatyou know.
That's what you're seeing aswell, like out there in the job
(08:56):
pool.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, and listen, you know to your point about
compensation, and we justreleased a salary report I don't
know if you saw it, but it'sour 2025 salary report and we
did like a whole survey on, youknow, on talent, and you know
what they're looking for, whatwould cause them to make a move
from their organization, and Ithink a lot of what I just
(09:18):
mentioned has to do with it.
Compensation is also somethingthat's there as well, right, of
course, at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's why we're all working.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Exactly, Exactly.
And it's so competitive rightnow too, You're seeing
candidates get multiple offersand really I've seen
compensation and rangesskyrocket in a sense.
On average, I think maybe 40%of most executives are getting,
(09:47):
you know, a 5% increase.
So that's a part of you knowretaining as well.
So if they're not seeing that,that's also causing them to
maybe not feel like the loyaltyis there.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
For our listeners who are interested in that market
report.
We will drop a link to that inthe show notes.
It's on the forcebrandscomwebsite, but we'll put a direct
link just for ease of navigationfor you there.
So thanks for making thatavailable to us, rachel.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Awesome, of course.
Great Thanks, jimmy, and thanksRachel for that.
I think that'll be reallyhelpful as a resource for a lot
of our clients to have on hand.
That's great, given your uniqueperspective.
What's one thing leaders getwrong about?
Company culture.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, that's a good question.
You know, and it kind of goeshand in hand with what I was
saying earlier.
You know, a lot of times Ithink leaders to attract talent,
you know they tend to focusspecifically on you know
benefits and perks and you knowall of these amazing things and
(10:49):
you know work from home and ahybrid schedule.
And I'm not saying those thingsaren't important, but I think
company culture means much morethan you know these things and
you know you're paying youremployees.
You know 100% of benefits, likethat's great, that's amazing
and people want that becausethey feel you know like they
(11:10):
really are a part of theorganization.
The organization cares.
You know.
But company culture and feelyou know like they really are a
part of the organization.
The organization cares.
You know but company culture andcreating you know that shared
vision and meaningfulexperiences.
You know a lot of us areworking, you know remotely and
so it's important to you knowhave that.
You know cross-functionalcommunication and understanding
(11:32):
and alignment with.
You know personal andprofessional values and goals as
well.
You know I think a lot getslost when you're sitting, you
know, kind of behind.
You know behind your computerat home.
You know on a daily basis andso just providing, like I said,
the transparency and just thevaluable experiences, whether
(11:55):
it's like being out in the fieldwith your mentor or going to a
you know leadership exchange ora national sales meeting.
I think all of those things arereally important and leaders,
you know, tend to not alwaysfocus on those things.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more there,
rachel, and it's, you know, veryinteresting, you know,
especially having been at MHWFor me it's almost been, I
believe it's nine years comingup on January.
So, pre-covid, you know we were,you know, in office five days a
week, you know eight hours aday, and you know we had such a
(12:30):
strong company culture.
Our HR director was always, youknow, arranging different.
You know get togethers andin-office events and all of that
and like how to navigate thatwhen we then went to like a
fully remote company, especiallyin the beginning with COVID,
was very difficult and you know,since then, you know we found
ways to navigate around that.
But I also found it veryinteresting, you know, at that
(12:51):
time, you know, I would say likearound 2021 or so, as the
manager of the businessdevelopment team at the time, I
had started interviewing and Ifound, with a lot of the
candidates it was usually likethe final question they like
asked at the end, but it wassomething that every single
candidate asked and you couldjust tell how important it was.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
You know they were like?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
what does the company culture look like at MHW?
Because, like you know,everyone and a lot of the
candidates nowadays are reallythinking about that work-life
balance, and it's not just about, like you know, compensation,
salary or even you know how arethey contributing to the mission
.
They still want to know, like,how do I fit in this company and
like, what does my future looklike, like within the culture of
(13:34):
this company?
So yeah, I couldn't agree withyou more there.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Yeah, and you know, I think it's a question we also
get as we're interviewing andscreening and vetting talent.
You know, a lot of the you knowa lot of the questioning is
around company culture and I'llgo into a little bit more later
about leadership being a part ofthat.
But I think that culture isoftentimes hard to explain.
You know, when we first startedour company, you know we kind
(14:00):
of we said we're like a workhard, play hard culture.
But like, what is that?
You know, what does that really, what does that entail?
And you know, I think creatingsort of like that value mapping
system where candidates,employees, come into an
organization and they know, okay, listen, you know, these are
our values, these are our hopes,these are our dreams, this is
(14:21):
like our mission to get there.
So 20, you know, 2024, this iswhat it looks like, our goals
for 2025.
So they like feel as thoughthey're really a part of like
and they know, like, what is thebusiness doing?
Am I launching it?
You know, am I?
Are we launching a new brand in2025?
You know are, are.
Are we, you know, acquiring orare we, you know, trying to exit
(14:42):
the business?
And a lot of times I feel likethere's that unknown that brings
that uncertainty to.
You know a lot, of, a lot oftalent in the market and that's
when you know the retentionbecomes an issue.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I just I laughed when you talked about that that work
hard.
Play hard as a way to describethe culture, because there's all
the jokes out there aboutcertain buzzwords, they might
seem like they're a good idea toput on Indeed or your, whatever
the job posting is, but whenyou see like we're like a family
, or you see fast paced, youknow, seeks a rock star, we're
looking for a rock star Likethose actually might end up
(15:20):
driving talent away becausethey've been in tough employment
situations where those keywordsturned out to be like really
really bad signals.
Have we learned lessons?
Is there data about how tocommunicate honestly but also
favorably about what a company'sculture might be?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
organization and create a job description.
But like I think inherently,especially if you're a new brand
or like a new business, thoselike you know, those those
fluffy words come to mind andthey do tend to make now make
candidates nervous.
You know, talking about youknow we're looking for a rock
star.
You know there has to be somereally like defined way to like
(16:15):
what is a rock star to you.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
To me that means lots of unpaid overtime.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Right, unpaid overtime?
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
But I guess maybe a good way to sort of frame this
question is just sort of generallike are there, are there
general best practices?
Maybe that's too broad of aquestion, but do you have
examples of how brands have madethemselves really stand out as
a great brand to work for onpaper and on the web, and maybe
even once you get to aface-to-face situation?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, I mean, I think when you're posting a job
description or you're coming upwith a job description that
maybe you're talking throughwith a candidate, you have to,
you have to gear it towards thegeneral population.
So I think at times there are,you know, we have to think about
equity and inclusion and whenyou say certain things in a job
(17:05):
description, candidates don'tfeel like it's an inclusive
culture, right, like young,hungry.
You know, work hard was in jobdescriptions a long, long time
ago.
So I think, just from a genlike, from a general outlook
perspective, just you know,taking out the words that might
make someone that might not beattractive to anyone and
(17:28):
everyone, so just kind of likeyou know, and it depends on the,
on the company and all of thosethings, but highlighting the
mission and the values and youknow all of those things, I
think talking about you know thebrand and what's next for you
know the company, if you can addthat into a job description.
Or, yeah, I mean really justyou know keeping it relatively,
relatively broad.
(17:49):
I mean we use job descriptionsright when we're when we're
talking to candidates broad.
I mean we use job descriptionsright when we're talking to
candidates, we share them withcandidates.
But a lot of times, you know,we convey our message a little
bit differently because we'retalking about the nuances of all
of those things that might notcome out of the job description.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
If I'm say, I've got a beverage brand and I'm just
getting started and maybe I'mmoving into a new market or
maybe I'm moving into the USfrom an overseas market, how
early or when or how do I goabout contracting or working
with someone like Force Brandsor just starting that
relationship?
Is it just an email?
Is it a call?
Do I go to a convention?
(18:28):
How do I sort of start to laythe groundwork to start building
an on-the-ground team in agiven market?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yeah, I say, you know , have conversations early and
often, and so I've, you knowI've talked to brands before.
They've even, you know,developed, you know their
product.
I'll use an example, you know,because I love this brand
Rosaluna Mezcal.
You know I was speaking withthe founders when they didn't
even have product in an actualbottle, right, but they were
(18:55):
thinking early on like, ok, wehave, you know, we have this
product that we're launching.
What's the launch strategygoing to be?
But, like, with that launchstrategy, who do we need?
What executive leaders, whatleaders in general sales,
marketing finance operations dowe need in order to make this
brand successful?
Marketing finance operations dowe need in order to make this
(19:17):
brand successful?
So I'd say, you know, wheneveryou have a like, yeah, if you
have a concept, that's great.
You have to have some of thepieces in play.
Mhw, obviously, you know youguys can help them pull, you
know everything together fromthat perspective.
But I'm always open toconversations just to help sort
of structure.
You know, whether it's nextyear or five years from now.
Like, what key hire do you needto make?
And I always say to everyone,like, this is not a one size
(19:40):
fits all.
You know, I have.
I have companies that come tome all the time and brands that
have really had a lot of successand early on I tell them you
know, you can't, you can'tlaunch a brand, you can't go to
market the same way, you know,xyz Tequila went to market right
.
When we think about you know, Imean Casamigos is always the
(20:01):
one brand example that everyonecomes to me about and says, hey,
how did you build out that team?
You know, and it all depends,right, like you have to look at
the executive team and thefounders and does this person,
you know?
Do they have a marketingbackground?
Are they more businessoperations?
And then kind of fit, you know,fit the pieces in place from
there.
And sometimes you, you know,are you launching in, you know,
(20:22):
24 markets?
Are you launching in like threecore markets?
So it's always a differentapproach.
And again, going back to liketalent and how attract talent,
knowing what that plan and whatthat structure looks like and
having a leader that has hadsuccess is also critically
(20:43):
important to building out theright team.
At any point when we'repitching a job, who are the
leaders within the organization?
How do I trust that they havethe wherewithal to build a
successful brand, especially,you know, in a time of, like,
saturation.
(21:03):
I mean, we've had a saturatedmarket in terms of brands for
years and years and years.
Going back to, you know, 2010,.
When I started, it was like, oh, hey, I have a job, great, I'm
interested.
It's not like that anymore, youknow, 2010,.
When I started, it was like, oh, hey, I have a job, great, I'm
interested.
It's not like that anymore.
You know, I just worked with acompany recently who, you know,
they just needed a change inleadership.
But that leader, you know,having had that experience and
(21:25):
building out teams and you know,had had many people working for
him that would follow him toany organization.
Like, those are really theimportant you know pieces and
and so when you know companiescome to me and they're like, hey
, we need to hire, you know 20,you know 20 sales reps I don't
always encourage them to do thatLike, have, have the leader in
place that's going to managethose people, and that leader
(21:47):
might have a group of 20 salesreps that you know, that have
worked with them before.
Yeah, but again to to your, youknow, to your question um, I
love to have those early onconversations and just get to
know people, because it's ahuman business Like it we are.
We are human beings, it is ourlivelihood, it is our career,
like we're all passionate.
I think right, michelle, youcould say like in this industry,
(22:09):
like we're super passionateabout the brands and what we do,
but it's you have to know thepeople behind the business.
You know, and the and thetalented people that are out
there.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
You know, there's many cases where we don't know
what we don't know and say thatI'm a brewer in Maine, for
example, and my brand has caughtfire up here and it's just,
it's really growing and I'm abrewer, I'm not.
I don't know how to run a biggrowing brand that's growing
perhaps faster than I, than Ithought it would, or know how to
manage.
So is this something that like,maybe MHW can help bridge that
(22:43):
gap of?
Hey, if you're wanting to growinto, say, the New York market,
here are all the hires youshould make and now Rachel is
going to help you out, or isthere?
I guess, where does thathandoff happen?
Because I know that MHWobviously offers a lot of you
know all of the licensing andcompliance and all those things
that could help you get into anew market.
But I guess is there a lot ofoverlap in some of that more
(23:04):
strategic decision-making as faras who to hire for what
positions and how, and then howto actually go about acquiring
the talent for those positionsthat you've decided on.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Yes.
So, jimmy, when we're havingthese conversations with clients
, you know a big value of MHW isthat we're offering all of the
compliance, operational andaccounting support.
So usually the hiring comesinto play for the sales and
marketing side of the business,because that's the part that,
like, mhw doesn't directlyhandle and that's why, like a
lot of like clients work with usbecause they want to be able to
(23:38):
control their destiny, theywant to be able to make all of
those important sales andmarketing decisions and, you
know, handle, you know, howeverthey see fit.
So that's why, you know, I loveto provide Rachel as a referral
from the very beginning, asdoes the rest of our business
development team, because eventhough for some, especially
startup brands, it might be alittle too early for them to be
able to afford, you know, hiringsomeone, but they have to be
(24:05):
thinking about these types ofthings because that's really the
only way that you're going tobe successful in this industry.
As Rachel said, it is acompletely saturated market,
like what makes you differentthan you know another brand, and
the only way you're going to,you know, stick out is having
people in the market.
That's going to, you know, givesamples.
You know, liquid to lipsobviously is key.
So you know, like you said inyour example, jimmy, you know,
if I and MHW were speaking withyou and you know you're a
(24:27):
brewery in Maine and you'relooking to expand into New York,
I can cover all the things wecan provide to you in New York
as far as our distributionservices are concerned.
But one of the first questionsI'm asking you is like, what is
your strategy?
Like, do you have a salespersonin the market?
Like who is coming into themarket and telling people about
the brand?
And if you don't have that planin place, like I would say, you
(24:49):
know, maybe let's hold on thedistribution right now.
Like you should, you know,figure what you're doing with
this other aspect of thebusiness first, like now's a
great time, you know, for a callwith Rachel, like you know, so
that you can, you know, talkthrough your options there.
Or you know, you know,sometimes some clients have
already maybe some existingcontacts that you know can help
them in the very beginning,before they are at a point that
(25:09):
they're ready to fully hire, youknow, an in-state sales manager
or whatever it is.
But that's typically how we'reable to, you know, bridge the
gap between kind of more of theback office side of the business
, which is what we handle, andthen the front end side of the
business for the hiring, eventhough I know, like Rachel, your
company does also hiring forall other aspects of the
business too, for companies whoare managing in-house operations
(25:31):
, compliance, whatever it mightbe as well.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Yeah, for sure.
But to your point, some of theimporters that we work with here
in the US, you know they havetheir commercial sales, you know
, general manager, but theydon't need to have, you know, on
the ground floor, a CFO or a VPof finance or a VP of
operations here, so they workwith an MHW, you know, in order
(25:57):
to, you know, do basically thejob of a million people in-house
at MHW, and then we would workwith them, you know more.
So, on, like the commercial, youknow, sales and marketing side,
you know, and Michelle, likewhen you and I go to trade shows
, like there's a lot of clientsthat you know we've done this
before, right, we'll walk thetrade show and you know we know
all the same people, and so oneof her clients, you know, might
(26:19):
be looking to make aconfidential move on, you know,
on the marketing side, you know,maybe that leader in place
isn't working and you know theyneed to make a shift, and so we
always kind of collaborate fromthat aspect as well and I mean,
I think we have very similarnetworks when it comes to the
industry.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, absolutely Rachel.
Would you be able to go throughmaybe just some of the options
that Forest Brand offers as faras, like I know, the specialty
is executive recruitment andthat's a lot of what we were
talking about today, but also Iknow there's the job board
option especially.
I know that comes into play formaybe some of the smaller
brands in the beginning.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah, absolutely so.
We, you know, as a company,when, like I said, when we first
started always going back tothat, you know we wanted to have
like a one-stop shop for anyonein the industry that was
looking to make a hire and so westarted a job board that was
specific to beverage, alcohol.
Now we service all of theconsumer economy.
But if you're a company, abrand, and you're looking to
(27:18):
hire maybe you're Southern andyou need to hire you know 100
sales reps post on the job board.
I think if you ask most peoplein the industry where do they go
when they're looking for a job,it's if you're, you know, entry
level, mid-level, you're goingto the force brand's job board
where you're applying foropportunities.
You know companies directlyreach out and they manage that
(27:39):
process.
So it's kind of like it's likea LinkedIn, but specific to the
industry.
And, like I said, that's moreentry-level, mid level.
If you need to make aprofessional hire, which is, you
know, manager, senior manager,director, our professional
recruitment services is anoption that you know you might
want to consider and within that, like I said, we work on sales,
(28:02):
marketing, operations, hr, youname it and then we have our
executive recruitment services,which is, you know, similar in
terms of service but a littlebit different.
You're dealing with higherlevel executives and we have
different teams for that as well.
But yeah, I mean any talentneed, even if you just need
(28:25):
compensation information, a jobdescription, advice on how to
hire, we have these services.
But come to us for anythingtalent related.
Or if you just want to talkabout trends in the industry,
I'm here for it want to talkabout trends in the industry.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I'm here for it All right.
Now for the fun question thatwe always end with Rachel what
is your favorite beverage thesedays?
However, you want to definebeverage, Interesting question
and Michelle knows this.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
but I'm coming off of a little sober, curious moment.
I'm no longer there.
A little sober, curious moment,I'm no longer there.
But if you were to ask me abouttwo weeks ago, I would say
cocktail.
I love the Three Spirit LiveInner Cocktail which is it's
like an elixir.
So what I did was I'd pour itover ice and then add a little
(29:25):
hint of the Wink THC seltzer.
I know it's strange, but thatwas my thing not too long ago.
But now I love tequila paperplanes.
Have you guys ever tried them?
I?
Speaker 2 (29:32):
think I had a paper plane once.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I've had a straight paper plane, but not a tequila
one.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Wait, rachel, remind me what's in that cocktail.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Well, if you have it with tequila, you know you can
use whatever type of tequila youwant.
Really, Blanco, I think, pairsa little bit better, Aperol,
Amaro, and then you can useeither lime or lemon, but it's
really good.
I can't drink a million of them, which I shouldn't be anyway.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Oh, I mean it's a very strong drink.
I think I've had a traditionalpaper plane.
It's normally with whiskey.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
It's actually normally with gin, if you yeah
that's what you're right.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I think I actually had it at a previous WSWA, I
think, when WSA was at theGaylord Palms um in Florida and
so, uh, one of their fancyrestaurants there um made it.
I remember they served it likein a martini glass with like a
little paper plane.
It was very cute.
So I think that was like theone and only time I tried it so
good.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
So good.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Michelle, it's been a while since we've asked you the
question.
Has your answer changed?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yes, I would say so.
I am also doing a very sober,curious period in my life right
now.
So I've been getting creativeat home with non-alcoholic
cocktails.
So, as Rachel had mentioned,three Spirits Livener is a
fantastic elixir which, if youremember, jimmy, I had made a
mocktail on one of the priorpodcasts.
(30:54):
I had called it the FreeSpirited Lavender Haze and so it
had the Three spirits livener,lavender, simple syrup and fresh
squeezed lemons and that wasamazing.
So that's a great mocktail.
I have not made that in a while, I would probably say.
Right now I've been gettingvery creative with tonics and
different like mixed drinks Ican make with that.
(31:16):
So you know I love like freshcucumber adding.
You know that with like lime.
There's a lot of great likenon-alcoholic beers that I've
been trying, like you know,athletic, I know they're one of
the um the key beers out thereand I just got a chance to try
their, their pumpkin version for.
October.
So that was really cool.
I have to say, it is amazing tosee how much the non-alcoholic
(31:38):
category is emerging.
And, um, you know, rachel, Iknow you're seeing this at all
the trade shows we had seen eachother at Barcom in Brooklyn and
I was just at Barcom in Berlinand there are so many
non-alcoholic brands out there.
So it's just really cool andit's really for everyone.
Like I feel like a lot of peoplehad like different perspectives
on this category prior,including myself.
(31:59):
Like I feel like a lot of timesI was kind of like, eh, like
you know, like almost likethinking like, as a consumer,
why would I spend like the sameamount of money for a
non-alcoholic spirit compared to, like you know, an alcoholic
spirit?
But it's just a differentmindset of, like you know, you
know, whether you're, you know,having a sober period or you're
just deciding, you know, thatparticular day, or maybe, like
(32:19):
you've had a drink.
You know you had an alcoholicdrink.
You would like to havesomething you know fun, that's
not just water or seltzer orwhatever, but you don't want it
to have alcohol.
It's just a great alternative.
And you know, I think consumersare starting to realize like
there is, like you know a valueto that too.
And like you know, um, you know, spending money for a good
quality non-alcoholic spirit isstill, like you know, good money
(32:42):
spent Like it's not just allabout like does it have alcohol
or not.
So I feel like being in thissober period in my life, I like
now just have like a completelydifferent perspective and I am
so excited, like when I go torestaurants and they have, you
know, non-alcoholic cocktails onthere and they're calling it
all different names.
You know mocktails, freespirited cocktails I know that's
(33:02):
usually like my favorite termand sometimes, like you know, if
you go to restaurants thatdon't have that yet because like
it's not everywhere yet, it'sstill like a very like emerging
type category and a lot of likeyou know the um, the cities or
Metro areas you'll find this.
But even where I'm based in NewYork, on Long Island, you won't
find it everywhere that theyhave like a you know a custom
(33:24):
non-alcoholic cocktail menu.
So I almost love looking at thecocktail menu and being
creative and then asking youknow the waiter, waitress or
bartender like hey, can I getthis?
But like non-alcoholic version.
So it's just been kind of likea new, exciting era to kind of
see this part of the beverageindustry.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Yeah, I agree, and I actually heard a new term for it
recently, um, so I'm notcoining this term, but have you
heard zebra striping?
Have you heard that?
Like when, when you drink likenon-alcoholic beverages, but are
also still having cocktails?
Maybe it's a separate occasion,but people are kind of
(34:03):
incorporating, like the, the thetwo together just in their
lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I love that I have not heard of that term, but that
makes so much sense.
So it's like, yeah, with thestripes choosing like you know
when and what occasions youchoose to drink alcohol versus,
like, non-alcoholic alternatives.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's cool, but, like I
said, I am not coining that.
That is for the person thatsaid it.
Um, but yeah, no, that'sawesome.
Good for you.
Good for you Getting creativewith the non-alcoholic cocktails
.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Definitely, this is now the MHW no elk podcast.
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Beverage alcohol is still very much like popular,
though, because obviously we'reall in this business and you
know in it for that category butyou know support the whole
beverage industry in general,the whole adult beverage
industry, all right?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Well, huge thanks to our guest today, rachel Dueck,
for stopping by Listeners.
You can check out what's goingon at forcebrandscom, or
there'll be links to that andsome more cool stuff in the show
notes.
So, rachel, thank you so muchfor stopping by.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Thanks for having me.
It's been so fun.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
And thank you listeners for joining us on the
MHW Mark podcast and thanksagain to Michelle Street-Bodette
for joining me in hosting.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Thank you so much, jimmy, and thank you, rachel,
for joining us.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
This podcast is produced by me, Jimmy Moreland,
with booking and planningsupport by Cassidy Poe and
Bridget McCabe.
It's presented by MHW.
Find out more at mhwltdcom orconnect with MHW on LinkedIn.
Lend us a hand by subscribing,rating and reviewing this
podcast wherever you listen.
We'll be back in your feed intwo weeks.
We'll see you then, Cheers.
Welcome to the MHW Mark podcast, where we take deep
dives into various aspects ofthe alcohol industry.
My name is Jimmy Moreland.
Mhw is a US and EU beveragealcohol importer, distributor
and service provider.
Co-hosting with me today is areturning favorite, mhw's
Michelle Street-Bodette.
Hey, michelle, how have youbeen?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hey, jimmy, I'm so excited to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're back and it's a little warm.
It's unseasonably warm.
We're recording this podcast alittle bit ahead of schedule.
We're in early November rightnow and it's feeling a little
warm.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's been very warm, it's been very nice, but at the
same time it's like it's verystrange, Like crazy, that
Halloween felt like almost likea very warm spring day.
I mean great for everyone incostumes, but just very, very
weird this time of year.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now again, we're recording this in early November
People will be hearing itThanksgiving week, but as we're
recording this, you just cameback from Bar Convent Berlin
Trip report.
How was it?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
It was fantastic.
So this year MHW did have itsown booth, because the last few
years we had just attended andwe had hosted a brand pitch
competition.
But this year we decided tohave our booth and so our
marketing team both Bridget andCassidy worked really, really
hard to not just coordinate ourbooth but make sure that they
(01:27):
filled up our meeting schedulesfor the few salespeople,
including myself, that attended.
So it was just really great.
We got to meet with a ton ofnew brands, meet existing
clients and meet existingpartners that we work with in
the industry.
So overall, we left feelingreally really good and just very
happy with the results of theshow.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Well, that's great to hear.
I'm jealous and maybe next yearwe'll get myself out there.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Let's get to work here.
Let's get down to business andintroduce our guest.
Our guest today is the SeniorDirector of Client Strategy at
Force Brands and we're delightedto have her here.
Welcome, Rachel Dueck.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Thank you, jimmy.
Good to meet you, michelle,great to see you.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Of course.
No, it's so great to have youon the podcast today, Rachel.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Now, rachel, if you could, I guess, help us out.
I read out your title theSenior Director of Client
Strategy at Force Brands.
Can you give us a little bit ofcontext for what that title
means and just a little bitabout your background and your
current role there at ForceBrands, just for the listeners
to have some context here?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yes, of course, of course.
Yeah, I'll start with a littlebit of background, going back
probably about 15 years ago.
I started my career inphysician recruitment so
completely different industryand who would have thought
physicians actually neededrecruitment?
But they did, at the time atleast.
(02:50):
So I was in my full time rolein physician recruitment.
I was always mixologist on theside.
Long story short, I met ourfounder this was over 14 years
ago Josh Wand, and he had juststarted, probably like two years
into starting the one of itslike, first of its kind
(03:13):
recruitment from that focusspecifically in beverage alcohol
.
So we joined forces.
I was probably like his fifthemployee and, yeah, like I said,
we were focusing in beveragespecifically.
I started at the company as anexecutive recruiter.
I've probably held maybe fiveor six different roles within
(03:34):
the organization, from internaltalent acquisition, training,
like I said, executiverecruitment, business operations
, sales operations, and thenabout five years ago I
transitioned to our clientstrategy team.
Our company as a whole focuseson the entire consumer economy.
(03:55):
So three years into you knowBelforce, we expanded into food
and cannabis and beauty, healthand wellness and pet food.
Now, so we're across the board.
Five years ago, when I movedinto my new role, I was heading
up the beverage alcohol division, which I now like to call the
adult beverage division becausethere's just so many facets to
(04:17):
beverage alcohol or the adultbeverage industry as a whole.
So I currently oversee ourclient partnership.
So I work across all of ourclients specifically,
specifically in beverage alcoholand adult beverage and I
support them in organizationaldesign, search, strategy, hiring
and I'm basically a go-to forany of their needs when it comes
(04:39):
to talent acquisition, talentacquisition.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
That's great, rachel, too, and I'm so happy to have
you as a partner, too, for MHW.
I was very familiar withBevForce for a number of years,
but I think it was in 2019 thatyou and I first met at WSWA and
since then it's just been sogreat to have you as one of our
key contacts at BevForce for theentire business development
(05:02):
team at MHW, just because,obviously, talent and
recruitment is something sovaluable for our clients.
And you know, as we're havinglike calls with potential
clients too, you know whenthey're asking for tips and you
know how do they best, you know,navigate through the US
beverage, alcohol or adultbeverage industry.
The key aspect is, you know,hiring.
(05:22):
You know who's going to be theperson out there selling the
product.
A lot of the startups we workwith in the very beginning they
might not be able to affordhiring a full-time person in the
beginning, so they might bedoing a lot of it on their own,
but as they're starting toexpand, it has to be something
that they're thinking aboutreally from day one so that they
understand the investmentbehind it.
So thank you for all thesupport that.
(05:43):
You know both our clients andpotential clients, who need this
guidance, like we reallyappreciate the partnership that
we have with you.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yes, thank you no, and it has been a great
partnership.
I do remember the first time wemet at the trade show and we
bump into each other at prettymuch every single trade show, at
least that I attend.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yeah, no, it's great, I always see him, like Rachel.
Yeah, I always know you'regoing to be there, so it's
always so great that we can, youknow, reconnect and just talk
about what's going on.
What's new like, what newbrands are we seeing?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know it's a great relationship and it's all about
the trends, my friend, allabout the trends.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So, moving on, like, obviously we've been in a period
of rapid change, especially ina post COVID world, and now
we're going to see in apost-election world.
It will be very, veryinteresting to see, like, what
changes we see with hiring.
What's the most surprisingshift in how companies attract
and retain top talent in thebeverage industry?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I guess the first thing I would say is that it's
certainly a lot easier with theeconomy being how it's been the
entire year.
It's certainly a lot easier toretain talent now as a company
than it has been in previousyears.
When I started back in 2010,.
(06:54):
We were just coming off of arecession, michelle, I don't
know, I don't remember if youwere in the industry quite yet
at that time, but it wasinteresting.
It was interesting.
It was like we had the mostamazing talent you know, out
there on the market and you knowour clients, our partners, they
were just like swarmed aplethora of candidates were
(07:16):
coming to them and they justdidn't know how to select the
best one because there were somany of them.
And now retaining is a loteasier because candidates,
talent leaders, managers,c-suite, they don't want to take
the risk.
You know they're concernedabout their future.
I think, as you know everyonemight be right now there's been
a lot of changes, you know,during COVID, since COVID.
(07:39):
So again, it's definitely beeneasier.
But I mean, I would say, when Ido see candidates looking, it
really, you know, I think itreally boils down and the
transparency and the vision andvalues within that organization,
(08:07):
whether they're, you know, astartup or they're an importer
trying to, you know, have growthin the US market or the larger
you know suppliers ordistributors.
Candidates want to feel.
They want to feel that valuearound mission, transparency,
vision and values.
I think that's probablytransparency, vision and values.
I think that's probably one ofthe most important things in the
(08:28):
market right now and proving tobe a major draw when retaining
talent.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's great that you say that too, because it's not
just compensation that a lot ofthe generations are caring about
.
You're entirely right, and Ithink we're seeing that with a
lot of the younger generationsmillennials, gen Zs like it's
really the mission and like youknow how are they doing to
contribute to their company andthe industry that they're in.
That makes a lot of sense, thatyou know.
That's what you're seeing aswell, like out there in the job
(08:56):
pool.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Yeah, and listen, you know to your point about
compensation, and we justreleased a salary report I don't
know if you saw it, but it'sour 2025 salary report and we
did like a whole survey on, youknow, on talent, and you know
what they're looking for, whatwould cause them to make a move
from their organization, and Ithink a lot of what I just
(09:18):
mentioned has to do with it.
Compensation is also somethingthat's there as well, right, of
course, at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's why we're all working.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Exactly, Exactly.
And it's so competitive rightnow too, You're seeing
candidates get multiple offersand really I've seen
compensation and rangesskyrocket in a sense.
On average, I think maybe 40%of most executives are getting,
(09:47):
you know, a 5% increase.
So that's a part of you knowretaining as well.
So if they're not seeing that,that's also causing them to
maybe not feel like the loyaltyis there.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
For our listeners who are interested in that market
report.
We will drop a link to that inthe show notes.
It's on the forcebrandscomwebsite, but we'll put a direct
link just for ease of navigationfor you there.
So thanks for making thatavailable to us, rachel.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Awesome, of course.
Great Thanks, jimmy, and thanksRachel for that.
I think that'll be reallyhelpful as a resource for a lot
of our clients to have on hand.
That's great, given your uniqueperspective.
What's one thing leaders getwrong about?
Company culture.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, that's a good question.
You know, and it kind of goeshand in hand with what I was
saying earlier.
You know, a lot of times Ithink leaders to attract talent,
you know they tend to focusspecifically on you know
benefits and perks and you knowall of these amazing things and
(10:49):
you know work from home and ahybrid schedule.
And I'm not saying those thingsaren't important, but I think
company culture means much morethan you know these things and
you know you're paying youremployees.
You know 100% of benefits, likethat's great, that's amazing
and people want that becausethey feel you know like they
(11:10):
really are a part of theorganization.
The organization cares.
You know.
But company culture and feelyou know like they really are a
part of the organization.
The organization cares.
You know but company culture andcreating you know that shared
vision and meaningfulexperiences.
You know a lot of us areworking, you know remotely and
so it's important to you knowhave that.
You know cross-functionalcommunication and understanding
(11:32):
and alignment with.
You know personal andprofessional values and goals as
well.
You know I think a lot getslost when you're sitting, you
know, kind of behind.
You know behind your computerat home.
You know on a daily basis andso just providing, like I said,
the transparency and just thevaluable experiences, whether
(11:55):
it's like being out in the fieldwith your mentor or going to a
you know leadership exchange ora national sales meeting.
I think all of those things arereally important and leaders,
you know, tend to not alwaysfocus on those things.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more there,
rachel, and it's, you know, veryinteresting, you know,
especially having been at MHWFor me it's almost been, I
believe it's nine years comingup on January.
So, pre-covid, you know we were,you know, in office five days a
week, you know eight hours aday, and you know we had such a
(12:30):
strong company culture.
Our HR director was always, youknow, arranging different.
You know get togethers andin-office events and all of that
and like how to navigate thatwhen we then went to like a
fully remote company, especiallyin the beginning with COVID,
was very difficult and you know,since then, you know we found
ways to navigate around that.
But I also found it veryinteresting, you know, at that
(12:51):
time, you know, I would say likearound 2021 or so, as the
manager of the businessdevelopment team at the time, I
had started interviewing and Ifound, with a lot of the
candidates it was usually likethe final question they like
asked at the end, but it wassomething that every single
candidate asked and you couldjust tell how important it was.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
You know they were like?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
what does the company culture look like at MHW?
Because, like you know,everyone and a lot of the
candidates nowadays are reallythinking about that work-life
balance, and it's not just about, like you know, compensation,
salary or even you know how arethey contributing to the mission
.
They still want to know, like,how do I fit in this company and
like, what does my future looklike, like within the culture of
(13:34):
this company?
So yeah, I couldn't agree withyou more there.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Yeah, and you know, I think it's a question we also
get as we're interviewing andscreening and vetting talent.
You know, a lot of the you knowa lot of the questioning is
around company culture and I'llgo into a little bit more later
about leadership being a part ofthat.
But I think that culture isoftentimes hard to explain.
You know, when we first startedour company, you know we kind
(14:00):
of we said we're like a workhard, play hard culture.
But like, what is that?
You know, what does that really, what does that entail?
And you know, I think creatingsort of like that value mapping
system where candidates,employees, come into an
organization and they know, okay, listen, you know, these are
our values, these are our hopes,these are our dreams, this is
(14:21):
like our mission to get there.
So 20, you know, 2024, this iswhat it looks like, our goals
for 2025.
So they like feel as thoughthey're really a part of like
and they know, like, what is thebusiness doing?
Am I launching it?
You know, am I?
Are we launching a new brand in2025?
You know are, are.
Are we, you know, acquiring orare we, you know, trying to exit
(14:42):
the business?
And a lot of times I feel likethere's that unknown that brings
that uncertainty to.
You know a lot, of, a lot oftalent in the market and that's
when you know the retentionbecomes an issue.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I just I laughed when you talked about that that work
hard.
Play hard as a way to describethe culture, because there's all
the jokes out there aboutcertain buzzwords, they might
seem like they're a good idea toput on Indeed or your, whatever
the job posting is, but whenyou see like we're like a family
, or you see fast paced, youknow, seeks a rock star, we're
looking for a rock star Likethose actually might end up
(15:20):
driving talent away becausethey've been in tough employment
situations where those keywordsturned out to be like really
really bad signals.
Have we learned lessons?
Is there data about how tocommunicate honestly but also
favorably about what a company'sculture might be?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
organization and create a job description.
But like I think inherently,especially if you're a new brand
or like a new business, thoselike you know, those those
fluffy words come to mind andthey do tend to make now make
candidates nervous.
You know, talking about youknow we're looking for a rock
star.
You know there has to be somereally like defined way to like
(16:15):
what is a rock star to you.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
To me that means lots of unpaid overtime.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Right, unpaid overtime?
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
But I guess maybe a good way to sort of frame this
question is just sort of generallike are there, are there
general best practices?
Maybe that's too broad of aquestion, but do you have
examples of how brands have madethemselves really stand out as
a great brand to work for onpaper and on the web, and maybe
even once you get to aface-to-face situation?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah, I mean, I think when you're posting a job
description or you're coming upwith a job description that
maybe you're talking throughwith a candidate, you have to,
you have to gear it towards thegeneral population.
So I think at times there are,you know, we have to think about
equity and inclusion and whenyou say certain things in a job
(17:05):
description, candidates don'tfeel like it's an inclusive
culture, right, like young,hungry.
You know, work hard was in jobdescriptions a long, long time
ago.
So I think, just from a genlike, from a general outlook
perspective, just you know,taking out the words that might
make someone that might not beattractive to anyone and
(17:28):
everyone, so just kind of likeyou know, and it depends on the,
on the company and all of thosethings, but highlighting the
mission and the values and youknow all of those things, I
think talking about you know thebrand and what's next for you
know the company, if you can addthat into a job description.
Or, yeah, I mean really justyou know keeping it relatively,
relatively broad.
(17:49):
I mean we use job descriptionsright when we're when we're
talking to candidates broad.
I mean we use job descriptionsright when we're talking to
candidates, we share them withcandidates.
But a lot of times, you know,we convey our message a little
bit differently because we'retalking about the nuances of all
of those things that might notcome out of the job description.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
If I'm say, I've got a beverage brand and I'm just
getting started and maybe I'mmoving into a new market or
maybe I'm moving into the USfrom an overseas market, how
early or when or how do I goabout contracting or working
with someone like Force Brandsor just starting that
relationship?
Is it just an email?
Is it a call?
Do I go to a convention?
(18:28):
How do I sort of start to laythe groundwork to start building
an on-the-ground team in agiven market?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Yeah, I say, you know , have conversations early and
often, and so I've, you knowI've talked to brands before.
They've even, you know,developed, you know their
product.
I'll use an example, you know,because I love this brand
Rosaluna Mezcal.
You know I was speaking withthe founders when they didn't
even have product in an actualbottle, right, but they were
(18:55):
thinking early on like, ok, wehave, you know, we have this
product that we're launching.
What's the launch strategygoing to be?
But, like, with that launchstrategy, who do we need?
What executive leaders, whatleaders in general sales,
marketing finance operations dowe need in order to make this
brand successful?
Marketing finance operations dowe need in order to make this
(19:17):
brand successful?
So I'd say, you know, wheneveryou have a like, yeah, if you
have a concept, that's great.
You have to have some of thepieces in play.
Mhw, obviously, you know youguys can help them pull, you
know everything together fromthat perspective.
But I'm always open toconversations just to help sort
of structure.
You know, whether it's nextyear or five years from now.
Like, what key hire do you needto make?
And I always say to everyone,like, this is not a one size
(19:40):
fits all.
You know, I have.
I have companies that come tome all the time and brands that
have really had a lot of successand early on I tell them you
know, you can't, you can'tlaunch a brand, you can't go to
market the same way, you know,xyz Tequila went to market right
.
When we think about you know, Imean Casamigos is always the
(20:01):
one brand example that everyonecomes to me about and says, hey,
how did you build out that team?
You know, and it all depends,right, like you have to look at
the executive team and thefounders and does this person,
you know?
Do they have a marketingbackground?
Are they more businessoperations?
And then kind of fit, you know,fit the pieces in place from
there.
And sometimes you, you know,are you launching in, you know,
(20:22):
24 markets?
Are you launching in like threecore markets?
So it's always a differentapproach.
And again, going back to liketalent and how attract talent,
knowing what that plan and whatthat structure looks like and
having a leader that has hadsuccess is also critically
(20:43):
important to building out theright team.
At any point when we'repitching a job, who are the
leaders within the organization?
How do I trust that they havethe wherewithal to build a
successful brand, especially,you know, in a time of, like,
saturation.
(21:03):
I mean, we've had a saturatedmarket in terms of brands for
years and years and years.
Going back to, you know, 2010,.
When I started, it was like, oh, hey, I have a job, great, I'm
interested.
It's not like that anymore, youknow, 2010,.
When I started, it was like, oh, hey, I have a job, great, I'm
interested.
It's not like that anymore.
You know, I just worked with acompany recently who, you know,
they just needed a change inleadership.
But that leader, you know,having had that experience and
(21:25):
building out teams and you know,had had many people working for
him that would follow him toany organization.
Like, those are really theimportant you know pieces and
and so when you know companiescome to me and they're like, hey
, we need to hire, you know 20,you know 20 sales reps I don't
always encourage them to do thatLike, have, have the leader in
place that's going to managethose people, and that leader
(21:47):
might have a group of 20 salesreps that you know, that have
worked with them before.
Yeah, but again to to your, youknow, to your question um, I
love to have those early onconversations and just get to
know people, because it's ahuman business Like it we are.
We are human beings, it is ourlivelihood, it is our career,
like we're all passionate.
I think right, michelle, youcould say like in this industry,
(22:09):
like we're super passionateabout the brands and what we do,
but it's you have to know thepeople behind the business.
You know, and the and thetalented people that are out
there.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
You know, there's many cases where we don't know
what we don't know and say thatI'm a brewer in Maine, for
example, and my brand has caughtfire up here and it's just,
it's really growing and I'm abrewer, I'm not.
I don't know how to run a biggrowing brand that's growing
perhaps faster than I, than Ithought it would, or know how to
manage.
So is this something that like,maybe MHW can help bridge that
(22:43):
gap of?
Hey, if you're wanting to growinto, say, the New York market,
here are all the hires youshould make and now Rachel is
going to help you out, or isthere?
I guess, where does thathandoff happen?
Because I know that MHWobviously offers a lot of you
know all of the licensing andcompliance and all those things
that could help you get into anew market.
But I guess is there a lot ofoverlap in some of that more
(23:04):
strategic decision-making as faras who to hire for what
positions and how, and then howto actually go about acquiring
the talent for those positionsthat you've decided on.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Yes.
So, jimmy, when we're havingthese conversations with clients
, you know a big value of MHW isthat we're offering all of the
compliance, operational andaccounting support.
So usually the hiring comesinto play for the sales and
marketing side of the business,because that's the part that,
like, mhw doesn't directlyhandle and that's why, like a
lot of like clients work with usbecause they want to be able to
(23:38):
control their destiny, theywant to be able to make all of
those important sales andmarketing decisions and, you
know, handle, you know, howeverthey see fit.
So that's why, you know, I loveto provide Rachel as a referral
from the very beginning, asdoes the rest of our business
development team, because eventhough for some, especially
startup brands, it might be alittle too early for them to be
able to afford, you know, hiringsomeone, but they have to be
(24:05):
thinking about these types ofthings because that's really the
only way that you're going tobe successful in this industry.
As Rachel said, it is acompletely saturated market,
like what makes you differentthan you know another brand, and
the only way you're going to,you know, stick out is having
people in the market.
That's going to, you know, givesamples.
You know, liquid to lipsobviously is key.
So you know, like you said inyour example, jimmy, you know,
if I and MHW were speaking withyou and you know you're a
(24:27):
brewery in Maine and you'relooking to expand into New York,
I can cover all the things wecan provide to you in New York
as far as our distributionservices are concerned.
But one of the first questionsI'm asking you is like, what is
your strategy?
Like, do you have a salespersonin the market?
Like who is coming into themarket and telling people about
the brand?
And if you don't have that planin place, like I would say, you
(24:49):
know, maybe let's hold on thedistribution right now.
Like you should, you know,figure what you're doing with
this other aspect of thebusiness first, like now's a
great time, you know, for a callwith Rachel, like you know, so
that you can, you know, talkthrough your options there.
Or you know, you know,sometimes some clients have
already maybe some existingcontacts that you know can help
them in the very beginning,before they are at a point that
(25:09):
they're ready to fully hire, youknow, an in-state sales manager
or whatever it is.
But that's typically how we'reable to, you know, bridge the
gap between kind of more of theback office side of the business
, which is what we handle, andthen the front end side of the
business for the hiring, eventhough I know, like Rachel, your
company does also hiring forall other aspects of the
business too, for companies whoare managing in-house operations
(25:31):
, compliance, whatever it mightbe as well.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Yeah, for sure.
But to your point, some of theimporters that we work with here
in the US, you know they havetheir commercial sales, you know
, general manager, but theydon't need to have, you know, on
the ground floor, a CFO or a VPof finance or a VP of
operations here, so they workwith an MHW, you know, in order
(25:57):
to, you know, do basically thejob of a million people in-house
at MHW, and then we would workwith them, you know more.
So, on, like the commercial, youknow, sales and marketing side,
you know, and Michelle, likewhen you and I go to trade shows
, like there's a lot of clientsthat you know we've done this
before, right, we'll walk thetrade show and you know we know
all the same people, and so oneof her clients, you know, might
(26:19):
be looking to make aconfidential move on, you know,
on the marketing side, you know,maybe that leader in place
isn't working and you know theyneed to make a shift, and so we
always kind of collaborate fromthat aspect as well and I mean,
I think we have very similarnetworks when it comes to the
industry.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, absolutely Rachel.
Would you be able to go throughmaybe just some of the options
that Forest Brand offers as faras, like I know, the specialty
is executive recruitment andthat's a lot of what we were
talking about today, but also Iknow there's the job board
option especially.
I know that comes into play formaybe some of the smaller
brands in the beginning.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah, absolutely so.
We, you know, as a company,when, like I said, when we first
started always going back tothat, you know we wanted to have
like a one-stop shop for anyonein the industry that was
looking to make a hire and so westarted a job board that was
specific to beverage, alcohol.
Now we service all of theconsumer economy.
But if you're a company, abrand, and you're looking to
(27:18):
hire maybe you're Southern andyou need to hire you know 100
sales reps post on the job board.
I think if you ask most peoplein the industry where do they go
when they're looking for a job,it's if you're, you know, entry
level, mid-level, you're goingto the force brand's job board
where you're applying foropportunities.
You know companies directlyreach out and they manage that
(27:39):
process.
So it's kind of like it's likea LinkedIn, but specific to the
industry.
And, like I said, that's moreentry-level, mid level.
If you need to make aprofessional hire, which is, you
know, manager, senior manager,director, our professional
recruitment services is anoption that you know you might
want to consider and within that, like I said, we work on sales,
(28:02):
marketing, operations, hr, youname it and then we have our
executive recruitment services,which is, you know, similar in
terms of service but a littlebit different.
You're dealing with higherlevel executives and we have
different teams for that as well.
But yeah, I mean any talentneed, even if you just need
(28:25):
compensation information, a jobdescription, advice on how to
hire, we have these services.
But come to us for anythingtalent related.
Or if you just want to talkabout trends in the industry,
I'm here for it want to talkabout trends in the industry.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I'm here for it All right.
Now for the fun question thatwe always end with Rachel what
is your favorite beverage thesedays?
However, you want to definebeverage, Interesting question
and Michelle knows this.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
but I'm coming off of a little sober, curious moment.
I'm no longer there.
A little sober, curious moment,I'm no longer there.
But if you were to ask me abouttwo weeks ago, I would say
cocktail.
I love the Three Spirit LiveInner Cocktail which is it's
like an elixir.
So what I did was I'd pour itover ice and then add a little
(29:25):
hint of the Wink THC seltzer.
I know it's strange, but thatwas my thing not too long ago.
But now I love tequila paperplanes.
Have you guys ever tried them?
I?
Speaker 2 (29:32):
think I had a paper plane once.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I've had a straight paper plane, but not a tequila
one.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Wait, rachel, remind me what's in that cocktail.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Well, if you have it with tequila, you know you can
use whatever type of tequila youwant.
Really, Blanco, I think, pairsa little bit better, Aperol,
Amaro, and then you can useeither lime or lemon, but it's
really good.
I can't drink a million of them, which I shouldn't be anyway.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Oh, I mean it's a very strong drink.
I think I've had a traditionalpaper plane.
It's normally with whiskey.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
It's actually normally with gin, if you yeah
that's what you're right.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I think I actually had it at a previous WSWA, I
think, when WSA was at theGaylord Palms um in Florida and
so, uh, one of their fancyrestaurants there um made it.
I remember they served it likein a martini glass with like a
little paper plane.
It was very cute.
So I think that was like theone and only time I tried it so
good.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
So good.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Michelle, it's been a while since we've asked you the
question.
Has your answer changed?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yes, I would say so.
I am also doing a very sober,curious period in my life right
now.
So I've been getting creativeat home with non-alcoholic
cocktails.
So, as Rachel had mentioned,three Spirits Livener is a
fantastic elixir which, if youremember, jimmy, I had made a
mocktail on one of the priorpodcasts.
(30:54):
I had called it the FreeSpirited Lavender Haze and so it
had the Three spirits livener,lavender, simple syrup and fresh
squeezed lemons and that wasamazing.
So that's a great mocktail.
I have not made that in a while, I would probably say.
Right now I've been gettingvery creative with tonics and
different like mixed drinks Ican make with that.
(31:16):
So you know I love like freshcucumber adding.
You know that with like lime.
There's a lot of great likenon-alcoholic beers that I've
been trying, like you know,athletic, I know they're one of
the um the key beers out thereand I just got a chance to try
their, their pumpkin version for.
October.
So that was really cool.
I have to say, it is amazing tosee how much the non-alcoholic
(31:38):
category is emerging.
And, um, you know, rachel, Iknow you're seeing this at all
the trade shows we had seen eachother at Barcom in Brooklyn and
I was just at Barcom in Berlinand there are so many
non-alcoholic brands out there.
So it's just really cool andit's really for everyone.
Like I feel like a lot of peoplehad like different perspectives
on this category prior,including myself.
(31:59):
Like I feel like a lot of timesI was kind of like, eh, like
you know, like almost likethinking like, as a consumer,
why would I spend like the sameamount of money for a
non-alcoholic spirit compared to, like you know, an alcoholic
spirit?
But it's just a differentmindset of, like you know, you
know, whether you're, you know,having a sober period or you're
just deciding, you know, thatparticular day, or maybe, like
(32:19):
you've had a drink.
You know you had an alcoholicdrink.
You would like to havesomething you know fun, that's
not just water or seltzer orwhatever, but you don't want it
to have alcohol.
It's just a great alternative.
And you know, I think consumersare starting to realize like
there is, like you know a valueto that too.
And like you know, um, you know, spending money for a good
quality non-alcoholic spirit isstill, like you know, good money
(32:42):
spent Like it's not just allabout like does it have alcohol
or not.
So I feel like being in thissober period in my life, I like
now just have like a completelydifferent perspective and I am
so excited, like when I go torestaurants and they have, you
know, non-alcoholic cocktails onthere and they're calling it
all different names.
You know mocktails, freespirited cocktails I know that's
(33:02):
usually like my favorite termand sometimes, like you know, if
you go to restaurants thatdon't have that yet because like
it's not everywhere yet, it'sstill like a very like emerging
type category and a lot of likeyou know the um, the cities or
Metro areas you'll find this.
But even where I'm based in NewYork, on Long Island, you won't
find it everywhere that theyhave like a you know a custom
(33:24):
non-alcoholic cocktail menu.
So I almost love looking at thecocktail menu and being
creative and then asking youknow the waiter, waitress or
bartender like hey, can I getthis?
But like non-alcoholic version.
So it's just been kind of likea new, exciting era to kind of
see this part of the beverageindustry.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Yeah, I agree, and I actually heard a new term for it
recently, um, so I'm notcoining this term, but have you
heard zebra striping?
Have you heard that?
Like when, when you drink likenon-alcoholic beverages, but are
also still having cocktails?
Maybe it's a separate occasion,but people are kind of
(34:03):
incorporating, like the, the thetwo together just in their
lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I love that I have not heard of that term, but that
makes so much sense.
So it's like, yeah, with thestripes choosing like you know
when and what occasions youchoose to drink alcohol versus,
like, non-alcoholic alternatives.
I love that.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's cool, but, like I
said, I am not coining that.
That is for the person thatsaid it.
Um, but yeah, no, that'sawesome.
Good for you.
Good for you Getting creativewith the non-alcoholic cocktails
.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Definitely, this is now the MHW no elk podcast.
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Beverage alcohol is still very much like popular,
though, because obviously we'reall in this business and you
know in it for that category butyou know support the whole
beverage industry in general,the whole adult beverage
industry, all right?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Well, huge thanks to our guest today, rachel Dueck,
for stopping by Listeners.
You can check out what's goingon at forcebrandscom, or
there'll be links to that andsome more cool stuff in the show
notes.
So, rachel, thank you so muchfor stopping by.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Thanks for having me.
It's been so fun.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
And thank you listeners for joining us on the
MHW Mark podcast and thanksagain to Michelle Street-Bodette
for joining me in hosting.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Thank you so much, jimmy, and thank you, rachel,
for joining us.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
This podcast is produced by me, Jimmy Moreland,
with booking and planningsupport by Cassidy Poe and
Bridget McCabe.
It's presented by MHW.
Find out more at mhwltdcom orconnect with MHW on LinkedIn.
Lend us a hand by subscribing,rating and reviewing this
podcast wherever you listen.
We'll be back in your feed intwo weeks.
We'll see you then, Cheers.
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