September 9, 2025 • 43 mins
Let’s talk networking. Whether it’s online or in person; informal or with a professional trade networking group. Host Jimmy Moreland and MHW's Brigid McCabe chat with The Industry Collective Founder Taylor Foxman to get her thoughts on developing and leveraging connections in bev alc and other businesses, and much more.
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Episode Transcript
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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.
Joining me once again it seemslike this is a regular thing now
Bridget McCabe, welcome,welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you so much, happy to be back.
Are we just co-hosts now?
It feels like you're not aregular thing now.
Bridget McCabe, welcome,welcome.
Thank you so much, happy to beback.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Are we just co-hosts?
Now it feels like you're not aguest host anymore.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I think you, me and Cassidy might be co-hosts.
The beautiful trio.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, we're going to keep the seat warm for you.
Well, it's good to have you onhere.
We've got some cool thingsgoing on.
We've got some cool thingscoming up on the calendar, some
big events you want to talkabout that.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Absolutely so.
We are approaching Bar ConventBerlin.
That begins October 6th andthis is the largest
international trade show forspirit brands, bartenders really
a lot of the on-premise tradethat you're looking to touch.
If you are seeking export intothe EU or vice versa, if you're
(01:06):
available in the EU and lookingto join the US, this is a really
great time to get together.
So I would recommend anylisteners get in touch with MHW
at marketing at mhwltdcom and wecan get something on the books
for us.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Now we've had a bunch of good episodes that sort of
touch on some of the topics thatwe talk about today with our us
.
Now we've had a bunch of goodepisodes that sort of touch on
some of the topics that we talkabout today with our guest.
Specifically, we talk a littlebit about the different kinds of
communications that can go out,and we've had guests in the
past who specifically focused ontrade marketing, for example.
If you go back to our episodewith Sid Patel, for example, and
(01:43):
more recently we had fromFlaviar, we had Josh Jacobs on
the podcast just a few episodesago, and so we've sort of had
this nice budding conversationthat sort of bleeds the line
between communications thatmight go out to your consumers
versus trade, versus investors,and we really dive deep into
that conversation today.
(02:03):
Do you want to give us a littlemini preview of our guests'
background and your relationshipwith them?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Taylor Foxman is one of the most well-connected,
impressive.
I don't even want to call her amarketing professional because
she has expanded beyond that inso many ways.
I mean, she's a true reflectionof the innovation that is
happening right now in thebeverage alcohol space and she's
what I call a connector.
So you know you'll hear about ita little bit later in the
(02:31):
episode but really making thosegenuine, authentic connections
with not only your consumers butalso others in the space, so
that we can lift each other upand find opportunities to
whether it's a retailer orwhether it's logistics support,
it might be investment counsel,whatever that area that a brand
(02:51):
is looking for within hercollective and her client base.
There is no doubt another brandthat has experienced something,
that has expertise in that area, that would love to glean that
expertise from the brand that'sinquiring on their areas.
So it's really, I think, a truelook into how we can't do any
(03:11):
of this in a silo.
We need to truly be connectedwith everyone around us and
understand not just what theindustry is doing and where it's
headed, but also how can we puta positive thumbprint on it,
how can we give a helping handto people around us, and I think
Taylor is really embodiment ofthat.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
And I feel like this episode is a really good.
You know we talk about in anybusiness context.
You talk about ROI a lot, yourreturn on investment and I think
this episode has a good ROA, agood return on attention if
that's a cheesy enough way tobring it around because just the
value of the conversation withTaylor here really is excellent.
(03:51):
So without further ado, let'sgo ahead and jump into it and
get to work here.
Our guest today has spent thelast decade and more in
communications and PR in thebeverage alcohol industry.
She is the founder of theIndustry Collective and was
recently awarded 40 Under 40 forher industry and brand
innovator of the year's 40 Under40.
Welcome to the show, taylorFoxman.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Thank you, guys for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
It's very good to have you here.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about yourself, about the
journey that you took to arriveat founding the Industry
Collective and, I guess, whatbrought you to our podcast today
?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
The lovely Bridget brought me the podcast and I've
been listening to it for a while.
So thank you for theopportunity in advance, big fan
of what you guys are doing, sovery excited to be here.
So yeah, my background is quiteinteresting.
I still, I guess, day-to-day doa lot of comms for these CEOs,
but that is my background.
I started my career workingdoing PR in college for Stoli.
(04:55):
I always say in interviews thatI got paid in vodka, but I did
and postponed a master's atUniversity of Southern
California to start working inNew York a little over 15 years
ago.
And humble beginnings here.
I was an assistant accountexecutive at a PR agency packing
boxes of whiskey to send towriters.
(05:16):
I was not allowed to write tothe writers, just pack the
whiskey.
And I've been really fortunate.
No-transcript CEOs inparticular, and the founders.
(05:47):
Every company needs a talkinghead, is what we call it.
And so I started working forthe likes of Jim Cook of Boston
Beer CEO and President PatronJägermeister Campari Beyond Meat
Post Cereal, positioning thesepeople as the top thought
leaders in what they do.
So you know, helping write anop-ed for the New York Times for
(06:09):
Jim Cook on the state of thebeer industry.
I remember Clay Risen, whowrites for Fortune and New York
Times, did this huge featurestory about the future of
bourbon right, and there was abottle of bourbon that was
overflowing on the cover of themagazine and I wrote him and
said next year it'll be tequilaand I'll fly you out and you'll
meet Patron, you'll meetCosmigos, any of these brands
(06:31):
and last year after was atrending tequila and that
feature came out.
And so that was what I did insome for over a decade.
But when I got to work for theseincredible executives I was
able to learn.
I raised my hand.
I'm like I want to learn abouttalent and distribution and
sales, and so I did.
(06:52):
And I wouldn't say that I'mstill, to date, great at any of
those things, but I learnedenough to be pretty deadly.
And when you work for people atthat level, you then meet
people at that level.
At that level you then meetpeople at that level.
So I liaised with very highprofile people from day one and
my whole life kind of went intooverdrive.
About six years ago when Patrongot bought by Bacardi.
(07:14):
The executive team at Patronpulled me into cannabis.
I started working for BoWrigley of Wrigley Gum and
became the first vice presidentof the, at the time, largest
privately owned cannabis companyin the US called Parallel, and
when I was working for Parallel,this business fell in my lap.
So I got approached by venturecapital firms and banks and
(07:37):
family offices that invested inor got hit up by founders in
mainly at that time, beverageand cannabis, and they said,
look, you know, can you helpthese people out?
And I started advising fivefounders and CEOs about five and
a half, almost six years ago,and I'm still with all of them.
A few have already beenacquired by Constellation and AB
(07:58):
, another bigger e-com platform,and I'm still with them.
And then the other two areBeatbox Beverage, and we're now
at 300 million in revenue thisyear, and Shaquille O'Neal is
one of our biggest investors andformulators.
And Grazi, which is a businessI've been with from day one, and
we were at $10,000 a monthdirect to consumer five years
(08:19):
ago.
We are now at 30 million inrevenue, which is just
absolutely crazy and above.
So that was my background andthen about two and a half years
ago, I decided to make this fulltime and just through referral
and inbound, the business wentfrom me advising five founders
to 85 all over the world precede, through post IPO food Bev
(08:40):
cannabis, a little bit ofbroader CPG.
So how it works is on the leftside, you have almost 100
founders, most of which arediverse, led or underrepresented
.
So women owned, black owned,veteran owned businesses across
food of cannabis early stagethrough Poland Spring.
And then you have me in themiddle as a global sheep herder
(09:00):
of this group.
I'm not a firm, I'm not avendor, I'm just fell into
something pretty incredible.
And then on the right side, youhave everyone who's built me a
very, very big business.
You have talent agencies andbanks and debt providers and
journalists and people like youall that connect me to
incredible founders and all daylong I'm connecting the dots
(09:22):
between these two massiveecosystems.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
That's incredible.
I find you to be veryinspirational, taylor.
You're someone that I certainlylook to for you know, counsel
and to see what you're doing inthe industry.
Thank you very much.
You call yourself a sheepherder, but I think what I call you is
a true connector.
You make really strategicreferrals and bring people
together in a way that enablesefficiencies on both sides,
enables the true work to happen.
(09:49):
How do you account for thatintangible word of mouth factor
that's hard to measure inmarketing but that we all know
really is what drives the impactin our industry at the end of
the day?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Well, my whole business has been, just as a
side note, word of mouth.
I've never announced thecompany.
I just developed a deckrecently for one of the bigger
retailers, so I think a lot ofI'll just speak about what I'm
doing for a minute and then I'llthink about kind of how that
pertains to brands.
But everyone has beengraciously introduced to me.
I don't ask for intros, whichis crazy to think about.
(10:23):
I work actively for almost 100people, but that speaks to the
power of word of mouth right, Ibelieve, to your point.
A big strength of mine is myability to, like you said, put
the pieces together and connectthe right people.
But I also think that there'ssomething to be said for just
doing good work and putting yourhead down.
And I think word of mouth as itpertains to brands is really
(10:44):
important because, at the end ofthe day, I think consumers
right now are really looking fortransparency and I don't think
in most of the companies that Iadvise aren't at the point where
they can really spend a lot ofmoney on out of home marketing
or traditional marketing effortsper se.
So a lot of it really comesdown to developing a very loyal
base of brand followers that youknow believe in what you're
(11:07):
doing and can get out there andbe beacons for your brand.
I mean, that is like there isnothing better than to have the
brand, through word of mouth,find success, but have that be
through people that arepurchasing and repurchasing your
product.
I can't think of anyone betterto create that word of mouth
morality.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And when you think about your approach to not just
marketing, but it could beanything investor relations, it
could be, you know, sort of thatearly stage pitch preparation.
What is your approach toconsulting with and assisting
brands?
How do you get started withthem?
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I mean, most of the business now has an element
where I help them with capitalraise stuff right or being
introduced to strategiccorporate M&A contacts to be
bought, to be partially bought.
So, given that I'm not aninvestment banker, I am involved
.
I sit on the board or I'm aboard member of seven venture
capital firms that touch ourspace.
(12:03):
So beverage, cpg, food andbeverage, all that I have pretty
good understanding generally oflike what they're looking for
right.
I don't have that typicalbackground.
I think, at the end of the day,like, the reason my business
has been able to become assuccessful organically as it has
is I don't have an MO.
I've never had an MO withanything, with doing a podcast
(12:23):
right now, with getting on aphone call with you know an
early stage founder, any of thisstuff, and I think that really
resonates.
And I think, when it comes topeople that are looking for
capital, my biggest, you know,suggestion is to start talking
to people before you need money.
There are so many people I'msure you guys liaise every day
with.
Probably over half of thebrands that you work with are
(12:45):
raising money right now.
You may not know it, and so youhave a limited pool of funds
and an unlimited pool of peoplethat need those funds, and so,
as a result of that, I alwayssay, like, don't spend as much
time on your deck.
I wrote a story for RollingStone about stop working on your
deck and get on LinkedIn andtell your story.
I think really understandingwhat the other side wants is
(13:08):
really important as it pertainsto anything but with fundraising
, and so I prep these peopleless on.
You know, I hired somebodynamed Alex, who's fantastic, who
actually comes from venture.
He came from a family officeand middle market stuff.
He's the specialist in whatshould be in a deck.
But really, where I come in isthinking about who's on the
other side.
So you're talking to someonethat has a limited pool of funds
(13:30):
that they need to allocate outto a certain amount of brands,
like what is different.
I say, like what's your?
So what?
And did you prep?
Like, did you look into thesepeople?
Did you look into the funds?
You know what is unique aboutwhat we're doing.
How does it fit into whatthey've invested in?
And so really my role is toposition these people to just
(13:50):
look really smart and thinkabout it from the perspective of
the investor.
But also, how did they fit intoa broader thesis that they may
have to really just not focus onthem?
Everyone starts everything me,me, me, me, me and it's like let
them talk and you could createa much more strategic approach
as to how you could get somemoney from them, how they could
(14:11):
provide some capital, if youjust listen and have no MO.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
You brought it up.
It makes me want to ask howearly is too early for a brand
to consider approaching you oryour firm or someone who
provides similar services.
Is there a point where it'slike, hey, you need to have X
amount of monthly revenue orcases shipped.
Or where's the bar?
There's no bar.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I mean, I have an open inbox with everyone in the
industry.
I think, as most people know,you can email me at any time.
I will email you back as openinbox with everyone in the
industry.
I think, as most people know,you can email me at any time.
I will email you back as soonas I can Try to get on the phone
with you.
In terms of where the businessesneed to be, it's not as much me
, if I can be honest.
That's a great question.
It's are you too early for thepeople on the right Right?
(14:55):
Are you too early for thatequation?
The people on the right side ofthat ecosystem that we shared
are investors and they'rewriters and they're talent
agencies and they'redistributors and they're people
that you need in your business.
But are you at the point as towhich you're there or area of
expertise, and you're not at thepoint where you're going to
start those conversations?
But the minute that you haveliquid, the minute that you have
(15:24):
some money you don't have tohave money, by the way, to work
with us, but I just mean youhave some does that make sense?
Like some element of it?
Like you have distribution, youhave product, you have, yeah,
you have a vision and I thinkhonestly, the earlier the
business, the more they needhelp, because there are so many,
as you guys know, in differentcapacities there's so many
pitfalls.
There are so many pitfallswhether it's, you know, bringing
(15:45):
in the wrong executive team,whether it's bring on the wrong
distributor, whether it's takingmoney from someone who you
think sucks but you just needmoney.
So it's a double-edged sword,right Like I work off a monthly
retainer.
That's been my model from dayone.
I don't have differentstructures with different people
, so you do have to have alittle bit of money, not a lot.
I don't charge as much as I'mtold I should, but you didn't
(16:07):
have some money to work with me,so that's also like a
prerequisite.
It's just that's how thebusiness works.
But I think, even me aside, Ithink anyone who you could bring
on right Like it doesn't matter, it doesn't have to be me, it
could be a venture studio or anincubation lab or something, or
a different group that does someof this.
(16:27):
You have to be at the pointwhere you can leverage what
they're doing.
It doesn't make sense to bringon the best shared sales service
If you don't have product yetthat you can give them and put
in their hands.
It doesn't make sense to bringme on, if you're looking to
raise money, if you don't haveyou know any, even liquid, that
these people can try.
You know you have to havesomething.
So I think, whether it's me oranyone else that provides an
(16:48):
expertise, I think you need tobe at the point of the business
where you can use those unlocks.
Otherwise I think it's a littlebit of a waste.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
We've had on this podcast some writers and some
people involved in, for example,trade marketing specifically,
and you've mentioned the kind oflike investor relations and
things like that.
And so all the different kindsof communications that can
happen in this space,communications aimed at
investors, at consumers, attrade.
(17:17):
How do all of those pieces fittogether?
And does what you do, does itever blur the lines?
Is there a way that you cansort of scattershot and have one
piece of communication sort ofdo the job for all three?
Or do you need tailoredapproaches for every single?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
tailored you do need it.
That was good on a Monday.
I like that.
You need some.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Fox men tailored.
Yes, that was good on a Monday.
I like that.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
You need some Fox men .
Yeah, I love the question.
So I do this exercise witheveryone, even like people, like
we've done it for discus andlike some of the associations as
well.
I call it the so what?
Workshop.
So everyone has their brand.
Here's lemon Perfect.
I don't work with Yanni, butlove Yanni and actually
absolutely love the brand.
So I'm looking at Lemon Perfect.
(18:00):
Right, so Lemon Perfect can say, all right, I'm trying to
target this is a great questionLike I'm trying to target a
trade writer like Bethnet orsomeone that writes about what
they're doing.
I'm trying to target aninvestor.
I'm trying to target adistributor who can put me on
their truck, right In their bag.
The biggest issue is that mostbrands, regardless of the size,
(18:20):
they just literally do to yourpoint one communication or one
pitch for all of them, it's thesame.
I have the best water becauseit's original, organic, zero
sugar, no artificial flavor.
I'm just reading the half asqueeze organic.
Okay, great, that makes sensefor maybe the writer right,
right, but like, where is thebusiness Like?
(18:41):
Is it growing month after month?
Is it growing year after year?
How are you doing revenue?
Wise?
That's what an investor needsto see.
Distributor needs to know why.
By selling your product, areyou going to be making money?
They're going to be makingmoney.
So the point of the matter is,is that I do this workshop with
everyone, which really just likevery much to your point
indicates that you need to haveslightly nuanced messaging.
And so what verbiage for eachof those audiences?
(19:03):
It doesn't have to be totallydifferent and, from a consumer
perspective, you should have onesolid ass, one liner.
But I do think, at the end ofthe day, that you definitely do
need slightly nuanced messagingfor these different people.
So everyone that needs helpwith fundraising, for example,
with raising money.
Years ago, I got feedback frominvestors that they're not
(19:24):
reading decks as much as theyused to.
So I said, well, look, I'm avery visual thinker and failed
out of math and a lot of othersubjects that are more specific
to the left brain.
So I love what, if I like,created, like you know, for all
these people that are raisingmoney, like these kind of like
one pagers, like infographics,where you know they'll put in
there how much they're raising,what they want to do with the
(19:45):
money, who's on the teammilestones to date.
You can look at the email, seeif you like the opportunity and
either say, yeah, you want totalk to them or not, and they
love that, and I'm not the firstperson ever created a one pager
, but for what we're doing itkind of became a little bit of
like a best practice and I knowa lot of people that have used
this that are not part of thegroup and I get forward at it
(20:05):
and I think it's great.
So so we just create thesethings.
But to point again, like wecreate slightly nuanced versions
now for all differentstakeholders.
So it started as something thatwe did just for investors and
then, as more founders came onboard almost 100 of them they
needed help with reaching out todistributors and talent
agencies and writers and allthis stuff.
I said, well, you can't put theinformation that you have in
(20:28):
here for investors as you wouldfor a talent agency or for a
journalist.
So we took that idea and noweveryone in the group that works
with all these differentstakeholders, we have these
one-pagers that are now verymuch specific to each of the
different audiences.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
I love that.
That's such sophisticatedfeedback and I think you know,
as we're seeing the landscapeshift where, you know, maybe 10,
15 years ago it was a handfulof investors, now we're seeing
more and more investmentcompanies really get involved in
the space and some might havecome over from CPG or might be
completely new.
I've seen even our ownership atMHW.
(21:04):
A lot of what they specializein is like environmentalism,
sustainability, chemicalengineering, so we're a unique
fit in their portfolio.
So I think that makes a lot ofsense because you need to be
able to get them right away.
Yeah, so one thing I wanted toask you was so how many clients
you're up to now?
You said you're up to 85 plus.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
It's all been inbound and I've never announced the
business to date.
I don't know how you I thankyou for that.
I just said, like look at theend of the day, I try really to
be as helpful as I can toeveryone.
So once you're in this, it'sit's really hard to like
understand if you're not like init as a founder or brand or
whatever.
But like, once you're in thisecosystem, it's, it's so much.
It's become a lot bigger thanme, if I could be honest,
(21:44):
because I thought that thepeople on the left side I work
with like you know multiplepeople that have you know female
led canned wine brand, like youcan imagine how many hydration
drinks and cannabis companiesLike I thought that not
necessarily that they would becompetitive with each other but
that they wouldn't help eachother out Right, like hey, you
do your thing, I do my thing, wekind of all agree we're in this
together in this group.
But but what I've been mostimpressed by Bridget is like
(22:07):
less about me and 85 clients and, by the way, I've never called
them clients Like I say welcometo the family and they are part
of my, they're part of somethingmuch bigger, so they're a
partner of the business thatthey've never been a client.
So anyway, it's just to go backfor a minute.
What I found to be mostimpressive is not the amount of
people, or I mean that's cooland that's amazing.
(22:28):
I'd love to take on more if Ican but is what they've been
able to do together.
So if you think about thiswhole ecosystem as like a David
and Goliath right, like two ofthese brands, like Mary's
Moonshine, like is Mary alonegoing to be able to rock the
entire alcohol industry?
Or Bob's hydration drink rightWith Pepsi, no, no.
But I think what they'verealized is like they're in it
(22:51):
together now and Iunintentionally created a
vehicle for that.
So when people need, I'll giveyou an example.
So if someone is trying to getinto Kroger, I may know someone
at Kroger had a beverage, butagain, I'm not in the trenches,
guys, you know what I mean LikeI'm not stacking cans on shelf.
So what I do is I automaticallythink of, okay, who in the
(23:13):
group, regardless if they're incannabis, if they're a beverage
company, if they're even foodbrands we work with beauty
brands now it doesn't matter whoowns Kroger, like who's the
best practice in this group thatcan get on the phone and say
this is what you need to do, andI will tell you, for six years
there's not one person in thisgroup.
(23:34):
Whether it's a $300 millionbusiness or a $30,000 business a
year, it doesn't matter.
They drop what they're doing andthey help each other out, and I
think that is something thatI'm most proud of, because, at
the end of the day, I'm not itLike I have the proud of,
because, at the end of the day,I'm not it Like I have the
expertise, I have the network,but I don't know everyone and I
don't have every answer and Idon't know everything.
(23:55):
So the fact that these peopleare helping each other make the
right decisions, createdistribution networks together,
invest in each other's companies, create products together, like
that, to me, is so much coolerthan anything else, because now
they realize the power of acollective unit to move the
industry forward, and that in ofitself, I think, is pretty cool
(24:17):
.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
That's wonderful and that ties into the collective.
When you think of, you knowwhat is the name behind it.
I mean, it really is acollective of brands.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Well, that was accidental.
I'll tell you that that wastotally accidental.
When I originally got reachedout to by Speakeasy, which is
now part of Flaviar, and Istarted talking to Beatbox and
everyone Justin, brad and Amyand all of them I thought that
these people are to roost.
I thought that they would wantbartenders and sommeliers and
(24:46):
people like you two, and so Icommissioned 50 people to be
part of the collective and thecollective were experts.
So the Pam Wisnitzers of theworld and I mean just like
everyone, I mean we had every.
We had all the top JeffreyLindenbooth and Southern Teague
from Memorial Margo, and we hadAaron Goldfarb and writers and
(25:06):
all these people, and they allwere willing to sign on the
dotted line, just be involved inthis to help these brands.
And what ended up happening wasjust that the brands needed more
immediate help raising money,getting distribution, you know,
things that were a little bitmore mission critical.
I'm not saying that what theydo isn't mission critical, but
you know what I mean.
Like, in order to work with thelikes of these people, they
(25:28):
really needed very basic,fundamental help, and I guess I
knew enough to be helpful tothem to do that.
So we didn't really end upusing the experts the way that I
thought, but then thecollective took on to your point
and totally different meaning.
It now is this aggregate ofthousands of diverse led brands
(25:49):
all over the world that you knoware evolving and helping to
kind of create the next gen ofbrands in the space.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I have to ask because I think you very much are an
operator as well, which I thinkis rare to see a marketing and
sort of operations mind cometogether.
Have you ever had any interestin starting your own brand?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Not one day.
I could never.
I hear all the guys and galsand they're always like oh my
God, sorry, I'm a few minuteslate.
I was actually hauling a bigtruck up a mountain and then
someone else was like I can'tfind the pallets.
Where are the pallets?
I'm in Mexico and I'm just likeevery day I think to myself how
(26:31):
much I am not equipped tolaunch a brand, but I also don't
think like I think you have tobe at this point.
I give just a general bit offeedback about starting a brand.
Everyone always says I'mrelentless.
Like you have to beunwaveringly relentless and in
love with this.
You cannot be in, let's juststick to beverage.
(26:52):
For right now you cannot be inbeverage or beverage alcohol, to
be even more specific, and notbe 100,000% in, because you are
all of a sudden you go fromwhatever it is you were doing.
You are a consultant, you arean accountant, you are an
advisor, you work in the medicalfield, you were a bartender,
(27:13):
you're in.
I mean, you're a hundredpercent in, because there's no
middle anymore.
There's no like.
You watch Shark Tank and I watchShark Tank every day and we
have a lot of people in thegroup, but you know, like they
all say like, oh, do you haveanother job?
And they're always like oh,that you know, write them off if
they have two jobs usually.
But at the end of the day,every facet of starting a CPG
(27:34):
brand at this point isunbelievably hard.
It's not just beverage, it'snot just alcohol, it's not just
food.
It's now I'm realizing it's allacross the space.
Now I'm realizing it's allacross this space.
And so if you're not going tobe the brand that stays up one
extra hour, that does one extrathing, that posts one more thing
(27:55):
on LinkedIn, that finds onemore person who can invest in
the business, there's someoneelse who's going to do it
Completely.
There's someone else.
So it's just, the stakes aretoo high, we're like, unless you
have just the strongestconviction for what you're doing
and can throw yourself fullyinto the space, Like to me, I
just I wouldn't, I wouldn'trecommend it Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
And it's a long game, you know you're.
You're not going to beprofitable for at least the
first five years, typicallyRight.
So it's like you know you haveto, you have to love it.
It has to be your baby.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Yeah, I think it's one of those things where you
can imagine what I hear and whatgets put in front of me, and I
think the biggest thing, though,is that knowing when to stop.
Not that many people are good atthat, if at all, and I think
there is a beauty in honestlyrealizing to your point, bridget
, like this is at the end of theday, we're not, as an industry,
(28:48):
curing cancer, and so I thinkit's really important to I'll be
very honest, like I've seensome really dire things over the
years and this isn't likebeverage related, this is like
human, like you know what I meanLike these are just like people
that have done things to keepbusinesses afloat, and I think I
just would love to see morepeople ultimately throw in the
(29:08):
towel at times, because it isbrutal and you don't see the
returns right away very often,and I understand that you think
you have the best vodka that'sever been created or the best
beverage in the world, but, butyou know, it is not only
business, it's your livelihood,and I think sometimes I think
that I've seen people just pushit too far.
One maybe they should have justmaybe ended it a little bit
(29:31):
sooner than they did.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So listeners, you heard it here.
Taylor Foxman says not startinga brand does sound a little bit
like when you ask a politicianif they're running for president
.
So in a couple of years, whenyou are starting a brand, we'll
have you back on the podcast topromote that.
How about that?
Speaker 3 (29:46):
All right, in a couple of years when you are
starting a brand, we'll have youback on the podcast to promote
that.
How about that?
All right, Hold me to that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Okay, that's fine, I get it.
I do want to talk a little bitmore broadly, sort of
industry-wise.
You did mention sort of havinga little bit of foresight're
going to see in the next coupleof years here.
So I think, in terms of thealcohol industry, I think I talk
about it a lot.
I don't think it's an all ornothing game.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
I know I'm not going to sit here and say you're just
going to be drinking mocktailsand water, moving forward, right
, I think there will always bethings that stress people out
and moments in times that arecelebratory and, as a result of
that, the space is here to stayRight.
So, first and foremost, likethat doom and gloom, I just I
want to just put it out there,just from my own perspective, to
say at this point I think thatis clickbait.
But what's not clickbait arethe numbers and the stats right,
(30:49):
if people drinking less anddrinking better.
So I think you take the betterfor you beverage phrasing out of
it cause it just needs to die,like the word pivot.
But I think, at the end of theday, I do think a trend that we
will continue to see is, youknow, premiumizing what's out
there and continuing to focus onbetter products.
Right, less crap.
(31:10):
But then, on the better for youside of things, I think that
people are drinking less butthey're drinking better.
So it could be what does thatmean?
That could mean consolidationof portfolios where you don't
have as many products but theones that you have are better, I
think, whether it's low calorie, whether it's low ABV.
I think, whether it's NA,whether it's just better
(31:31):
products, I think that's wherewe're going right, Like I think
we were at this point whereeverything was like either you
drink or you don't drink, andit's like or you're a health
person or you're not a healthyperson.
It's like I don't feel likethat's realistic and I don't see
that happening at all and yousee it in the numbers.
So I think some trends aredefinitely the NA space is here.
(31:51):
I don't think that everyone isgoing to be drinking fake
tequila, but I think that again,there's going to be those
subcategories, Like if you likean athletic for beer, maybe
liars for spirits we're figuringout on the wine side and then
functional beverages.
So I think that's here to stay,but not all of the brands.
I love the low ABV space,whether it's just that you have
a spirit and you dilute it, youknow.
Or a spritz which is just likea naturally lower ABV product,
(32:14):
leaning into vermouth, leaninginto low ABV products, like I
work for a company calledquarter proof.
We literally have quarter ofthe proof of the alcohol and
then, in terms of likecategories within spirits and
stuff, that that part's gonna bereally hard to figure out right
like, because you knowconsumption is down overall but
people are still drinking.
So I think it will be aninteresting kind of quarter or
(32:36):
two to see.
Is it the same?
You know subcategories thatkeep continuing to do well right
, like brown spirits and agave,I don't know.
But the one spirit trend that Ihave seen is high ABV.
I know that's kind ofcontradictory to what I'm saying
, but people, if they'redrinking and they're drinking
better and they're drinking itseems like higher ABV.
(32:57):
So I love that kind of leaninginto high ABV, full flavor,
full-ish ABV, because I thinkthat kind of relates to what's
happening on the traditionalbeverage side with, like, using
cane sugar and what is it?
Coca-cola and stuff like that.
So I have seen that trend andthen I've seen the better free
trend.
And then, lastly, is cannabis.
It's my favorite topic to talkabout.
(33:18):
You know there, every hour ofevery day in cannabis is a
challenge and a new set ofunknowns.
So I'll say that.
But if you talk about anindustry, forget Ozempic.
If you talk about a beverageindustry that is directly
competing with alcohol, it'sneck and neck to me is cannabis.
(33:39):
Right now.
You know you have brands thatare pacing way faster than any
emerging brand in alcohol andyou can sell direct to consumer,
to their door.
You don't need to have an ID.
They're now selling it to TotalWine.
They have interesting productformats like sachets which you
can stick into a drink, bottlesthat look like Patron cans
(34:01):
gummies.
I see them being just a verystrong competitor to the alcohol
space right now.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Absolutely.
And that that segues me kind ofinto my next question, which is
do you feel like there's largegenerational gaps between, say,
like boomer drinkers, Gen Zdrinkers?
So kind of setting the baselineis there or isn't there?
Cause I've I've heard it alittle bit both ways.
So I'm interested to hear yourthoughts.
And then, if you do think thereis a gap there, how do you
(34:31):
propose that brands bridge thosegenerational gaps?
Because we're seeing brandscan't really afford anymore to
be so hyper specific andtargeted in who their
demographic is.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's hard to your point to
reach everyone, but then it'salso really like, like you said,
it's also not the best ideanecessarily to just target one
demo.
I do think, though, that youneed to look into who's actually
buying your product.
I think a lot of times, brandsmarket because they think they
need to market to everyone.
It's not necessary, right?
So, like, obviously, mostbrands don't have the budget to
(35:04):
market that much.
In general, to be honest, even$100 million businesses I work
for, plus, they're verycognizant of spend.
So how I like to look at thisis like is there a gap?
I think so, just to go back toyour question, around that I do
think that the youngergeneration is and the research
is there they're notablydrinking less.
Whether they have less moneywhich is part of the discussion
(35:25):
to spend on this likediscretionary income.
Whether they have less moneywhich is part of the discussion
to spend on this likediscretionary income, whether
they just don't want to drink asmuch anymore.
Whatever, it is like there is agap, right, but in every age
demo people are still drinking.
So I think that that, just toanswer the question, there's a
gap, a notable gap, but in everyage demo.
People are still going to bars,they are still drinking, they
are still purchasing.
There's not a demographic ofpeople that have fully stopped
(35:54):
drinking at all.
But I think, in terms of likewhere to spend the money and the
time, like I think a lot ofpeople, a lot of brands like
first decide markets based onjust like what looks sexy.
They're like I want to be inDenver.
Like I want to be in Philly.
You're like where did that comefrom?
And they're like, oh, I don'tknow, I just think it could be
(36:14):
cool to be in.
And you're just like no way,like no way.
So I think that is kind ofsimilar to how people also
market, right, they're likelet's just try to blanket it out
.
In reality.
It's not that you really I'm notsaying you shouldn't target a
broader demo than you may havenow, but start with what's in
your backyard, like you do withmost people with CRMs.
They have data and insightsinto who's buying their product.
Start there.
Like why reinvent the wheel?
Like, if you see that you havean audience of like 50 year old
(36:38):
women who love your low CalChardonnay.
Like, why are you targetingpeople on TikTok that are like
25?
Like, not that again.
As you grow the business and youhave the funds to target more
demographics, go for it.
By all means, throw shitagainst the wall.
But in the meantime you most ofthese companies don't have
those resources.
So to me it's wasted money andresources when you should be
(37:00):
looking at who is drinking yourproduct now and then maybe, if
you want to branch out intomaybe an older demo or a younger
demo, do it through strategicpartnerships that already touch
that demographic.
You're never going to have themoney to spend on all the
different marketing efforts, atleast again initially.
So maybe there's a brand that'sout there that, like all their
(37:21):
demo is, is like women over 60.
Why not just start there?
Like, do social campaigns,create a product with them and
then, as you have more money,you can build in more efforts to
market more formally to abroader demographic of drinkers.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
That's smart, that's very smart.
Who do you think in theemerging brands is doing this
really well?
And I know it's kind of likeasking you to pick amongst your
children.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
So I think there's a small think.
There's an emerging brandcalled Casa Lu, out of Miami
Latinx founders, and I thinkthey've just really leaned into
culture and they're the first, Ithink, latina RTD rum in a can,
I believe.
So they've leaned into verycool cultural partnerships and
(38:06):
also knowing who their audienceis and then also baking out
partnerships and, honestly, aretail strategy based on who
they have drinking their product, and they're one of the brands
that has been hyper specific onwanting to stay in a market like
florida, for example, which isa big market for flor New York.
I am a huge advocate of not,you know, getting the cart
(38:29):
before the horse, like figureout, like not only who your
demographic is, but also likewhat works in a market or two
and then you can have you candouble it from there and other
markets that are comparable.
So I think Costolo is a reallycool brand.
I've been following them for along time.
We work together now.
I love their, their story.
I love their leaning into beinga Latinx brand and finding
(38:49):
synergistic partners that makesense for the business but also
that will excite theirdemographic of drinkers, which
they know through the researchthat they've done, but also by
staying in their backyard of NewYork and Florida for the first
few years to really understandthat demo even further.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
For our final fun question that we like to ask
everybody what is your favorite?
We'll call it adult beverage.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Oh, I don't drink as much as I want anymore, but
there's nothing better than amezcal with some club soda and,
as tacky as it sounds, crystalLight, however, or light,
however, or lemonade, whatever.
Um, but I love everything smoky, so I, I love Lafroig, I love
our bag, I love smoky mezcal.
Anything that smells like apipe or a furnace to me.
(39:41):
What about you guys?
I'm going to flip it back.
What are your favorite drinks?
Speaker 2 (39:53):
I love Lafroig and Ardbeck too.
You're hitting me on here.
Yes, I love, and I'm also avodka drinker.
So I love like a Lafroig rinsewith a just a water and vodka,
martini and dirty blue cheesestuffed olives.
So I think you and I have havesome Wow.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
I think you know exactly.
You're a woman who knows whatshe wants.
Wow, that is.
I've never even heard of thatconcoction before.
That sounds delicious.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
We'll have to get together.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
You have to name it.
Yeah, first, yes, and you haveto name it.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Our Christmas episodes tend to be an episode
where we sort of live mix somedrinks and we'll have Bridget
come on and mix that for us live.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
Oh, that sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
I love that For me.
I'm on the opposite end, atleast on whiskeys.
I prefer a strong alcohol burn.
I want to taste what I'mdrinking and my desert island
brand is, and has been for thelast decade, Tamdew.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
What is?
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Tamdew.
Tamdew, yeah, I don't think Iknow that either.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
It's not as hard to find nowadays as it used to be,
but it has quadrupled in pricesince I started drinking it.
It's a Speyside, that's.
It's overproofed.
To your point earlier, taylor,yeah, that is a cask strength.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Cask strength.
I was going to say right.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
It's just, that's my forever drink.
Wow, we've got to try it,otherwise I'm probably picking
an Irish.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
I mean we have to have that team on.
Then, If you're a diehard fan,we'll go ahead and go out and
get the team on.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I went to Scotland a couple of years ago and drove by
the distillery, but it has nopublic facing operations.
There's no gift shop.
So I took a.
I just got a photo by the signjust because I was that big of a
fan.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
That's all you need to then be able to buy it moving
forward.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
So that's my brand, but very good answers I love
that my brand, but very goodanswers I love that I'm on
Google AI who imports Pam dude.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
I know my life has become ChatGPT because I bought
premium and I ask ChatGPTsomething pretty much like once
every 10 minutes of my life.
I just hope no one looks at myhistory.
No one will ever talk to meagain the questions that I ask
ChatGPT.
But I'm like where can I buythis whiskey?
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Okay, they're with Impax Beverages, so they're in
good hands with Sam Filmes.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
We're finally getting to the real reason why this
podcast came together at all.
It was my desire to get abackdoor into a Tamdew supply.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
I love it Right, if nothing more than we succeeded.
If you get it.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Well, we want to give a huge, huge thanks tolor foxen
for stopping by and sharingsome of your expertise.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
Yes, thank you so much, thank you, guys, for
having me.
This was great for listeners.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
If you want to find out more, the website is the
industry collectiveorg.
We will put a link to that intothe show notes if you want to
find out more.
Tay Taylor says the inbox isopen, so make her regret those
words and send her a hello fromthe podcast.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Taylor at theindustrycollectiveorg.
Yeah, thank you guys for havingme.
This was great.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
And thank you listeners for joining us on the
MHW Mark podcast and thanksagain to Bridget McCabe for
joining me and hosting.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Thank you, good to see you.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
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.
Joining me once again it seemslike this is a regular thing now
Bridget McCabe, welcome,welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you so much, happy to be back.
Are we just co-hosts now?
It feels like you're not aregular thing now.
Bridget McCabe, welcome,welcome.
Thank you so much, happy to beback.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Are we just co-hosts?
Now it feels like you're not aguest host anymore.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I think you, me and Cassidy might be co-hosts.
The beautiful trio.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, we're going to keep the seat warm for you.
Well, it's good to have you onhere.
We've got some cool thingsgoing on.
We've got some cool thingscoming up on the calendar, some
big events you want to talkabout that.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Absolutely so.
We are approaching Bar ConventBerlin.
That begins October 6th andthis is the largest
international trade show forspirit brands, bartenders really
a lot of the on-premise tradethat you're looking to touch.
If you are seeking export intothe EU or vice versa, if you're
(01:06):
available in the EU and lookingto join the US, this is a really
great time to get together.
So I would recommend anylisteners get in touch with MHW
at marketing at mhwltdcom and wecan get something on the books
for us.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Now we've had a bunch of good episodes that sort of
touch on some of the topics thatwe talk about today with our us
.
Now we've had a bunch of goodepisodes that sort of touch on
some of the topics that we talkabout today with our guest.
Specifically, we talk a littlebit about the different kinds of
communications that can go out,and we've had guests in the
past who specifically focused ontrade marketing, for example.
If you go back to our episodewith Sid Patel, for example, and
(01:43):
more recently we had fromFlaviar, we had Josh Jacobs on
the podcast just a few episodesago, and so we've sort of had
this nice budding conversationthat sort of bleeds the line
between communications thatmight go out to your consumers
versus trade, versus investors,and we really dive deep into
that conversation today.
(02:03):
Do you want to give us a littlemini preview of our guests'
background and your relationshipwith them?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Taylor Foxman is one of the most well-connected,
impressive.
I don't even want to call her amarketing professional because
she has expanded beyond that inso many ways.
I mean, she's a true reflectionof the innovation that is
happening right now in thebeverage alcohol space and she's
what I call a connector.
So you know you'll hear about ita little bit later in the
(02:31):
episode but really making thosegenuine, authentic connections
with not only your consumers butalso others in the space, so
that we can lift each other upand find opportunities to
whether it's a retailer orwhether it's logistics support,
it might be investment counsel,whatever that area that a brand
(02:51):
is looking for within hercollective and her client base.
There is no doubt another brandthat has experienced something,
that has expertise in that area, that would love to glean that
expertise from the brand that'sinquiring on their areas.
So it's really, I think, a truelook into how we can't do any
(03:11):
of this in a silo.
We need to truly be connectedwith everyone around us and
understand not just what theindustry is doing and where it's
headed, but also how can we puta positive thumbprint on it,
how can we give a helping handto people around us, and I think
Taylor is really embodiment ofthat.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
And I feel like this episode is a really good.
You know we talk about in anybusiness context.
You talk about ROI a lot, yourreturn on investment and I think
this episode has a good ROA, agood return on attention if
that's a cheesy enough way tobring it around because just the
value of the conversation withTaylor here really is excellent.
(03:51):
So without further ado, let'sgo ahead and jump into it and
get to work here.
Our guest today has spent thelast decade and more in
communications and PR in thebeverage alcohol industry.
She is the founder of theIndustry Collective and was
recently awarded 40 Under 40 forher industry and brand
innovator of the year's 40 Under40.
Welcome to the show, taylorFoxman.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Thank you, guys for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
It's very good to have you here.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about yourself, about the
journey that you took to arriveat founding the Industry
Collective and, I guess, whatbrought you to our podcast today
?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
The lovely Bridget brought me the podcast and I've
been listening to it for a while.
So thank you for theopportunity in advance, big fan
of what you guys are doing, sovery excited to be here.
So yeah, my background is quiteinteresting.
I still, I guess, day-to-day doa lot of comms for these CEOs,
but that is my background.
I started my career workingdoing PR in college for Stoli.
(04:55):
I always say in interviews thatI got paid in vodka, but I did
and postponed a master's atUniversity of Southern
California to start working inNew York a little over 15 years
ago.
And humble beginnings here.
I was an assistant accountexecutive at a PR agency packing
boxes of whiskey to send towriters.
(05:16):
I was not allowed to write tothe writers, just pack the
whiskey.
And I've been really fortunate.
No-transcript CEOs inparticular, and the founders.
(05:47):
Every company needs a talkinghead, is what we call it.
And so I started working forthe likes of Jim Cook of Boston
Beer CEO and President PatronJägermeister Campari Beyond Meat
Post Cereal, positioning thesepeople as the top thought
leaders in what they do.
So you know, helping write anop-ed for the New York Times for
(06:09):
Jim Cook on the state of thebeer industry.
I remember Clay Risen, whowrites for Fortune and New York
Times, did this huge featurestory about the future of
bourbon right, and there was abottle of bourbon that was
overflowing on the cover of themagazine and I wrote him and
said next year it'll be tequilaand I'll fly you out and you'll
meet Patron, you'll meetCosmigos, any of these brands
(06:31):
and last year after was atrending tequila and that
feature came out.
And so that was what I did insome for over a decade.
But when I got to work for theseincredible executives I was
able to learn.
I raised my hand.
I'm like I want to learn abouttalent and distribution and
sales, and so I did.
(06:52):
And I wouldn't say that I'mstill, to date, great at any of
those things, but I learnedenough to be pretty deadly.
And when you work for people atthat level, you then meet
people at that level.
At that level you then meetpeople at that level.
So I liaised with very highprofile people from day one and
my whole life kind of went intooverdrive.
About six years ago when Patrongot bought by Bacardi.
(07:14):
The executive team at Patronpulled me into cannabis.
I started working for BoWrigley of Wrigley Gum and
became the first vice presidentof the, at the time, largest
privately owned cannabis companyin the US called Parallel, and
when I was working for Parallel,this business fell in my lap.
So I got approached by venturecapital firms and banks and
(07:37):
family offices that invested inor got hit up by founders in
mainly at that time, beverageand cannabis, and they said,
look, you know, can you helpthese people out?
And I started advising fivefounders and CEOs about five and
a half, almost six years ago,and I'm still with all of them.
A few have already beenacquired by Constellation and AB
(07:58):
, another bigger e-com platform,and I'm still with them.
And then the other two areBeatbox Beverage, and we're now
at 300 million in revenue thisyear, and Shaquille O'Neal is
one of our biggest investors andformulators.
And Grazi, which is a businessI've been with from day one, and
we were at $10,000 a monthdirect to consumer five years
(08:19):
ago.
We are now at 30 million inrevenue, which is just
absolutely crazy and above.
So that was my background andthen about two and a half years
ago, I decided to make this fulltime and just through referral
and inbound, the business wentfrom me advising five founders
to 85 all over the world precede, through post IPO food Bev
(08:40):
cannabis, a little bit ofbroader CPG.
So how it works is on the leftside, you have almost 100
founders, most of which arediverse, led or underrepresented
.
So women owned, black owned,veteran owned businesses across
food of cannabis early stagethrough Poland Spring.
And then you have me in themiddle as a global sheep herder
(09:00):
of this group.
I'm not a firm, I'm not avendor, I'm just fell into
something pretty incredible.
And then on the right side, youhave everyone who's built me a
very, very big business.
You have talent agencies andbanks and debt providers and
journalists and people like youall that connect me to
incredible founders and all daylong I'm connecting the dots
(09:22):
between these two massiveecosystems.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
That's incredible.
I find you to be veryinspirational, taylor.
You're someone that I certainlylook to for you know, counsel
and to see what you're doing inthe industry.
Thank you very much.
You call yourself a sheepherder, but I think what I call you is
a true connector.
You make really strategicreferrals and bring people
together in a way that enablesefficiencies on both sides,
enables the true work to happen.
(09:49):
How do you account for thatintangible word of mouth factor
that's hard to measure inmarketing but that we all know
really is what drives the impactin our industry at the end of
the day?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Well, my whole business has been, just as a
side note, word of mouth.
I've never announced thecompany.
I just developed a deckrecently for one of the bigger
retailers, so I think a lot ofI'll just speak about what I'm
doing for a minute and then I'llthink about kind of how that
pertains to brands.
But everyone has beengraciously introduced to me.
I don't ask for intros, whichis crazy to think about.
(10:23):
I work actively for almost 100people, but that speaks to the
power of word of mouth right, Ibelieve, to your point.
A big strength of mine is myability to, like you said, put
the pieces together and connectthe right people.
But I also think that there'ssomething to be said for just
doing good work and putting yourhead down.
And I think word of mouth as itpertains to brands is really
(10:44):
important because, at the end ofthe day, I think consumers
right now are really looking fortransparency and I don't think
in most of the companies that Iadvise aren't at the point where
they can really spend a lot ofmoney on out of home marketing
or traditional marketing effortsper se.
So a lot of it really comesdown to developing a very loyal
base of brand followers that youknow believe in what you're
(11:07):
doing and can get out there andbe beacons for your brand.
I mean, that is like there isnothing better than to have the
brand, through word of mouth,find success, but have that be
through people that arepurchasing and repurchasing your
product.
I can't think of anyone betterto create that word of mouth
morality.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And when you think about your approach to not just
marketing, but it could beanything investor relations, it
could be, you know, sort of thatearly stage pitch preparation.
What is your approach toconsulting with and assisting
brands?
How do you get started withthem?
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I mean, most of the business now has an element
where I help them with capitalraise stuff right or being
introduced to strategiccorporate M&A contacts to be
bought, to be partially bought.
So, given that I'm not aninvestment banker, I am involved
.
I sit on the board or I'm aboard member of seven venture
capital firms that touch ourspace.
(12:03):
So beverage, cpg, food andbeverage, all that I have pretty
good understanding generally oflike what they're looking for
right.
I don't have that typicalbackground.
I think, at the end of the day,like, the reason my business
has been able to become assuccessful organically as it has
is I don't have an MO.
I've never had an MO withanything, with doing a podcast
(12:23):
right now, with getting on aphone call with you know an
early stage founder, any of thisstuff, and I think that really
resonates.
And I think, when it comes topeople that are looking for
capital, my biggest, you know,suggestion is to start talking
to people before you need money.
There are so many people I'msure you guys liaise every day
with.
Probably over half of thebrands that you work with are
(12:45):
raising money right now.
You may not know it, and so youhave a limited pool of funds
and an unlimited pool of peoplethat need those funds, and so,
as a result of that, I alwayssay, like, don't spend as much
time on your deck.
I wrote a story for RollingStone about stop working on your
deck and get on LinkedIn andtell your story.
I think really understandingwhat the other side wants is
(13:08):
really important as it pertainsto anything but with fundraising
, and so I prep these peopleless on.
You know, I hired somebodynamed Alex, who's fantastic, who
actually comes from venture.
He came from a family officeand middle market stuff.
He's the specialist in whatshould be in a deck.
But really, where I come in isthinking about who's on the
other side.
So you're talking to someonethat has a limited pool of funds
(13:30):
that they need to allocate outto a certain amount of brands,
like what is different.
I say, like what's your?
So what?
And did you prep?
Like, did you look into thesepeople?
Did you look into the funds?
You know what is unique aboutwhat we're doing.
How does it fit into whatthey've invested in?
And so really my role is toposition these people to just
(13:50):
look really smart and thinkabout it from the perspective of
the investor.
But also, how did they fit intoa broader thesis that they may
have to really just not focus onthem?
Everyone starts everything me,me, me, me, me and it's like let
them talk and you could createa much more strategic approach
as to how you could get somemoney from them, how they could
(14:11):
provide some capital, if youjust listen and have no MO.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
You brought it up.
It makes me want to ask howearly is too early for a brand
to consider approaching you oryour firm or someone who
provides similar services.
Is there a point where it'slike, hey, you need to have X
amount of monthly revenue orcases shipped.
Or where's the bar?
There's no bar.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I mean, I have an open inbox with everyone in the
industry.
I think, as most people know,you can email me at any time.
I will email you back as openinbox with everyone in the
industry.
I think, as most people know,you can email me at any time.
I will email you back as soonas I can Try to get on the phone
with you.
In terms of where the businessesneed to be, it's not as much me
, if I can be honest.
That's a great question.
It's are you too early for thepeople on the right Right?
(14:55):
Are you too early for thatequation?
The people on the right side ofthat ecosystem that we shared
are investors and they'rewriters and they're talent
agencies and they'redistributors and they're people
that you need in your business.
But are you at the point as towhich you're there or area of
expertise, and you're not at thepoint where you're going to
start those conversations?
But the minute that you haveliquid, the minute that you have
(15:24):
some money you don't have tohave money, by the way, to work
with us, but I just mean youhave some does that make sense?
Like some element of it?
Like you have distribution, youhave product, you have, yeah,
you have a vision and I thinkhonestly, the earlier the
business, the more they needhelp, because there are so many,
as you guys know, in differentcapacities there's so many
pitfalls.
There are so many pitfallswhether it's, you know, bringing
(15:45):
in the wrong executive team,whether it's bring on the wrong
distributor, whether it's takingmoney from someone who you
think sucks but you just needmoney.
So it's a double-edged sword,right Like I work off a monthly
retainer.
That's been my model from dayone.
I don't have differentstructures with different people
, so you do have to have alittle bit of money, not a lot.
I don't charge as much as I'mtold I should, but you didn't
(16:07):
have some money to work with me,so that's also like a
prerequisite.
It's just that's how thebusiness works.
But I think, even me aside, Ithink anyone who you could bring
on right Like it doesn't matter, it doesn't have to be me, it
could be a venture studio or anincubation lab or something, or
a different group that does someof this.
(16:27):
You have to be at the pointwhere you can leverage what
they're doing.
It doesn't make sense to bringon the best shared sales service
If you don't have product yetthat you can give them and put
in their hands.
It doesn't make sense to bringme on, if you're looking to
raise money, if you don't haveyou know any, even liquid, that
these people can try.
You know you have to havesomething.
So I think, whether it's me oranyone else that provides an
(16:48):
expertise, I think you need tobe at the point of the business
where you can use those unlocks.
Otherwise I think it's a littlebit of a waste.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
We've had on this podcast some writers and some
people involved in, for example,trade marketing specifically,
and you've mentioned the kind oflike investor relations and
things like that.
And so all the different kindsof communications that can
happen in this space,communications aimed at
investors, at consumers, attrade.
(17:17):
How do all of those pieces fittogether?
And does what you do, does itever blur the lines?
Is there a way that you cansort of scattershot and have one
piece of communication sort ofdo the job for all three?
Or do you need tailoredapproaches for every single?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
tailored you do need it.
That was good on a Monday.
I like that.
You need some.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Fox men tailored.
Yes, that was good on a Monday.
I like that.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
You need some Fox men .
Yeah, I love the question.
So I do this exercise witheveryone, even like people, like
we've done it for discus andlike some of the associations as
well.
I call it the so what?
Workshop.
So everyone has their brand.
Here's lemon Perfect.
I don't work with Yanni, butlove Yanni and actually
absolutely love the brand.
So I'm looking at Lemon Perfect.
(18:00):
Right, so Lemon Perfect can say, all right, I'm trying to
target this is a great questionLike I'm trying to target a
trade writer like Bethnet orsomeone that writes about what
they're doing.
I'm trying to target aninvestor.
I'm trying to target adistributor who can put me on
their truck, right In their bag.
The biggest issue is that mostbrands, regardless of the size,
(18:20):
they just literally do to yourpoint one communication or one
pitch for all of them, it's thesame.
I have the best water becauseit's original, organic, zero
sugar, no artificial flavor.
I'm just reading the half asqueeze organic.
Okay, great, that makes sensefor maybe the writer right,
right, but like, where is thebusiness Like?
(18:41):
Is it growing month after month?
Is it growing year after year?
How are you doing revenue?
Wise?
That's what an investor needsto see.
Distributor needs to know why.
By selling your product, areyou going to be making money?
They're going to be makingmoney.
So the point of the matter is,is that I do this workshop with
everyone, which really just likevery much to your point
indicates that you need to haveslightly nuanced messaging.
And so what verbiage for eachof those audiences?
(19:03):
It doesn't have to be totallydifferent and, from a consumer
perspective, you should have onesolid ass, one liner.
But I do think, at the end ofthe day, that you definitely do
need slightly nuanced messagingfor these different people.
So everyone that needs helpwith fundraising, for example,
with raising money.
Years ago, I got feedback frominvestors that they're not
(19:24):
reading decks as much as theyused to.
So I said, well, look, I'm avery visual thinker and failed
out of math and a lot of othersubjects that are more specific
to the left brain.
So I love what, if I like,created, like you know, for all
these people that are raisingmoney, like these kind of like
one pagers, like infographics,where you know they'll put in
there how much they're raising,what they want to do with the
(19:45):
money, who's on the teammilestones to date.
You can look at the email, seeif you like the opportunity and
either say, yeah, you want totalk to them or not, and they
love that, and I'm not the firstperson ever created a one pager
, but for what we're doing itkind of became a little bit of
like a best practice and I knowa lot of people that have used
this that are not part of thegroup and I get forward at it
(20:05):
and I think it's great.
So so we just create thesethings.
But to point again, like wecreate slightly nuanced versions
now for all differentstakeholders.
So it started as something thatwe did just for investors and
then, as more founders came onboard almost 100 of them they
needed help with reaching out todistributors and talent
agencies and writers and allthis stuff.
I said, well, you can't put theinformation that you have in
(20:28):
here for investors as you wouldfor a talent agency or for a
journalist.
So we took that idea and noweveryone in the group that works
with all these differentstakeholders, we have these
one-pagers that are now verymuch specific to each of the
different audiences.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
I love that.
That's such sophisticatedfeedback and I think you know,
as we're seeing the landscapeshift where, you know, maybe 10,
15 years ago it was a handfulof investors, now we're seeing
more and more investmentcompanies really get involved in
the space and some might havecome over from CPG or might be
completely new.
I've seen even our ownership atMHW.
(21:04):
A lot of what they specializein is like environmentalism,
sustainability, chemicalengineering, so we're a unique
fit in their portfolio.
So I think that makes a lot ofsense because you need to be
able to get them right away.
Yeah, so one thing I wanted toask you was so how many clients
you're up to now?
You said you're up to 85 plus.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
It's all been inbound and I've never announced the
business to date.
I don't know how you I thankyou for that.
I just said, like look at theend of the day, I try really to
be as helpful as I can toeveryone.
So once you're in this, it'sit's really hard to like
understand if you're not like init as a founder or brand or
whatever.
But like, once you're in thisecosystem, it's, it's so much.
It's become a lot bigger thanme, if I could be honest,
(21:44):
because I thought that thepeople on the left side I work
with like you know multiplepeople that have you know female
led canned wine brand, like youcan imagine how many hydration
drinks and cannabis companiesLike I thought that not
necessarily that they would becompetitive with each other but
that they wouldn't help eachother out Right, like hey, you
do your thing, I do my thing, wekind of all agree we're in this
together in this group.
But but what I've been mostimpressed by Bridget is like
(22:07):
less about me and 85 clients and, by the way, I've never called
them clients Like I say welcometo the family and they are part
of my, they're part of somethingmuch bigger, so they're a
partner of the business thatthey've never been a client.
So anyway, it's just to go backfor a minute.
What I found to be mostimpressive is not the amount of
people, or I mean that's cooland that's amazing.
(22:28):
I'd love to take on more if Ican but is what they've been
able to do together.
So if you think about thiswhole ecosystem as like a David
and Goliath right, like two ofthese brands, like Mary's
Moonshine, like is Mary alonegoing to be able to rock the
entire alcohol industry?
Or Bob's hydration drink rightWith Pepsi, no, no.
But I think what they'verealized is like they're in it
(22:51):
together now and Iunintentionally created a
vehicle for that.
So when people need, I'll giveyou an example.
So if someone is trying to getinto Kroger, I may know someone
at Kroger had a beverage, butagain, I'm not in the trenches,
guys, you know what I mean LikeI'm not stacking cans on shelf.
So what I do is I automaticallythink of, okay, who in the
(23:13):
group, regardless if they're incannabis, if they're a beverage
company, if they're even foodbrands we work with beauty
brands now it doesn't matter whoowns Kroger, like who's the
best practice in this group thatcan get on the phone and say
this is what you need to do, andI will tell you, for six years
there's not one person in thisgroup.
(23:34):
Whether it's a $300 millionbusiness or a $30,000 business a
year, it doesn't matter.
They drop what they're doing andthey help each other out, and I
think that is something thatI'm most proud of, because, at
the end of the day, I'm not itLike I have the proud of,
because, at the end of the day,I'm not it Like I have the
expertise, I have the network,but I don't know everyone and I
don't have every answer and Idon't know everything.
(23:55):
So the fact that these peopleare helping each other make the
right decisions, createdistribution networks together,
invest in each other's companies, create products together, like
that, to me, is so much coolerthan anything else, because now
they realize the power of acollective unit to move the
industry forward, and that in ofitself, I think, is pretty cool
(24:17):
.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
That's wonderful and that ties into the collective.
When you think of, you knowwhat is the name behind it.
I mean, it really is acollective of brands.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Well, that was accidental.
I'll tell you that that wastotally accidental.
When I originally got reachedout to by Speakeasy, which is
now part of Flaviar, and Istarted talking to Beatbox and
everyone Justin, brad and Amyand all of them I thought that
these people are to roost.
I thought that they would wantbartenders and sommeliers and
(24:46):
people like you two, and so Icommissioned 50 people to be
part of the collective and thecollective were experts.
So the Pam Wisnitzers of theworld and I mean just like
everyone, I mean we had every.
We had all the top JeffreyLindenbooth and Southern Teague
from Memorial Margo, and we hadAaron Goldfarb and writers and
(25:06):
all these people, and they allwere willing to sign on the
dotted line, just be involved inthis to help these brands.
And what ended up happening wasjust that the brands needed more
immediate help raising money,getting distribution, you know,
things that were a little bitmore mission critical.
I'm not saying that what theydo isn't mission critical, but
you know what I mean.
Like, in order to work with thelikes of these people, they
(25:28):
really needed very basic,fundamental help, and I guess I
knew enough to be helpful tothem to do that.
So we didn't really end upusing the experts the way that I
thought, but then thecollective took on to your point
and totally different meaning.
It now is this aggregate ofthousands of diverse led brands
(25:49):
all over the world that you knoware evolving and helping to
kind of create the next gen ofbrands in the space.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I have to ask because I think you very much are an
operator as well, which I thinkis rare to see a marketing and
sort of operations mind cometogether.
Have you ever had any interestin starting your own brand?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Not one day.
I could never.
I hear all the guys and galsand they're always like oh my
God, sorry, I'm a few minuteslate.
I was actually hauling a bigtruck up a mountain and then
someone else was like I can'tfind the pallets.
Where are the pallets?
I'm in Mexico and I'm just likeevery day I think to myself how
(26:31):
much I am not equipped tolaunch a brand, but I also don't
think like I think you have tobe at this point.
I give just a general bit offeedback about starting a brand.
Everyone always says I'mrelentless.
Like you have to beunwaveringly relentless and in
love with this.
You cannot be in, let's juststick to beverage.
(26:52):
For right now you cannot be inbeverage or beverage alcohol, to
be even more specific, and notbe 100,000% in, because you are
all of a sudden you go fromwhatever it is you were doing.
You are a consultant, you arean accountant, you are an
advisor, you work in the medicalfield, you were a bartender,
(27:13):
you're in.
I mean, you're a hundredpercent in, because there's no
middle anymore.
There's no like.
You watch Shark Tank and I watchShark Tank every day and we
have a lot of people in thegroup, but you know, like they
all say like, oh, do you haveanother job?
And they're always like oh,that you know, write them off if
they have two jobs usually.
But at the end of the day,every facet of starting a CPG
(27:34):
brand at this point isunbelievably hard.
It's not just beverage, it'snot just alcohol, it's not just
food.
It's now I'm realizing it's allacross the space.
Now I'm realizing it's allacross this space.
And so if you're not going tobe the brand that stays up one
extra hour, that does one extrathing, that posts one more thing
(27:55):
on LinkedIn, that finds onemore person who can invest in
the business, there's someoneelse who's going to do it
Completely.
There's someone else.
So it's just, the stakes aretoo high, we're like, unless you
have just the strongestconviction for what you're doing
and can throw yourself fullyinto the space, Like to me, I
just I wouldn't, I wouldn'trecommend it Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
And it's a long game, you know you're.
You're not going to beprofitable for at least the
first five years, typicallyRight.
So it's like you know you haveto, you have to love it.
It has to be your baby.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Yeah, I think it's one of those things where you
can imagine what I hear and whatgets put in front of me, and I
think the biggest thing, though,is that knowing when to stop.
Not that many people are good atthat, if at all, and I think
there is a beauty in honestlyrealizing to your point, bridget
, like this is at the end of theday, we're not, as an industry,
(28:48):
curing cancer, and so I thinkit's really important to I'll be
very honest, like I've seensome really dire things over the
years and this isn't likebeverage related, this is like
human, like you know what I meanLike these are just like people
that have done things to keepbusinesses afloat, and I think I
just would love to see morepeople ultimately throw in the
(29:08):
towel at times, because it isbrutal and you don't see the
returns right away very often,and I understand that you think
you have the best vodka that'sever been created or the best
beverage in the world, but, butyou know, it is not only
business, it's your livelihood,and I think sometimes I think
that I've seen people just pushit too far.
One maybe they should have justmaybe ended it a little bit
(29:31):
sooner than they did.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So listeners, you heard it here.
Taylor Foxman says not startinga brand does sound a little bit
like when you ask a politicianif they're running for president
.
So in a couple of years, whenyou are starting a brand, we'll
have you back on the podcast topromote that.
How about that?
Speaker 3 (29:46):
All right, in a couple of years when you are
starting a brand, we'll have youback on the podcast to promote
that.
How about that?
All right, Hold me to that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Okay, that's fine, I get it.
I do want to talk a little bitmore broadly, sort of
industry-wise.
You did mention sort of havinga little bit of foresight're
going to see in the next coupleof years here.
So I think, in terms of thealcohol industry, I think I talk
about it a lot.
I don't think it's an all ornothing game.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
I know I'm not going to sit here and say you're just
going to be drinking mocktailsand water, moving forward, right
, I think there will always bethings that stress people out
and moments in times that arecelebratory and, as a result of
that, the space is here to stayRight.
So, first and foremost, likethat doom and gloom, I just I
want to just put it out there,just from my own perspective, to
say at this point I think thatis clickbait.
But what's not clickbait arethe numbers and the stats right,
(30:49):
if people drinking less anddrinking better.
So I think you take the betterfor you beverage phrasing out of
it cause it just needs to die,like the word pivot.
But I think, at the end of theday, I do think a trend that we
will continue to see is, youknow, premiumizing what's out
there and continuing to focus onbetter products.
Right, less crap.
(31:10):
But then, on the better for youside of things, I think that
people are drinking less butthey're drinking better.
So it could be what does thatmean?
That could mean consolidationof portfolios where you don't
have as many products but theones that you have are better, I
think, whether it's low calorie, whether it's low ABV.
I think, whether it's NA,whether it's just better
(31:31):
products, I think that's wherewe're going right, Like I think
we were at this point whereeverything was like either you
drink or you don't drink, andit's like or you're a health
person or you're not a healthyperson.
It's like I don't feel likethat's realistic and I don't see
that happening at all and yousee it in the numbers.
So I think some trends aredefinitely the NA space is here.
(31:51):
I don't think that everyone isgoing to be drinking fake
tequila, but I think that again,there's going to be those
subcategories, Like if you likean athletic for beer, maybe
liars for spirits we're figuringout on the wine side and then
functional beverages.
So I think that's here to stay,but not all of the brands.
I love the low ABV space,whether it's just that you have
a spirit and you dilute it, youknow.
Or a spritz which is just likea naturally lower ABV product,
(32:14):
leaning into vermouth, leaninginto low ABV products, like I
work for a company calledquarter proof.
We literally have quarter ofthe proof of the alcohol and
then, in terms of likecategories within spirits and
stuff, that that part's gonna bereally hard to figure out right
like, because you knowconsumption is down overall but
people are still drinking.
So I think it will be aninteresting kind of quarter or
(32:36):
two to see.
Is it the same?
You know subcategories thatkeep continuing to do well right
, like brown spirits and agave,I don't know.
But the one spirit trend that Ihave seen is high ABV.
I know that's kind ofcontradictory to what I'm saying
, but people, if they'redrinking and they're drinking
better and they're drinking itseems like higher ABV.
(32:57):
So I love that kind of leaninginto high ABV, full flavor,
full-ish ABV, because I thinkthat kind of relates to what's
happening on the traditionalbeverage side with, like, using
cane sugar and what is it?
Coca-cola and stuff like that.
So I have seen that trend andthen I've seen the better free
trend.
And then, lastly, is cannabis.
It's my favorite topic to talkabout.
(33:18):
You know there, every hour ofevery day in cannabis is a
challenge and a new set ofunknowns.
So I'll say that.
But if you talk about anindustry, forget Ozempic.
If you talk about a beverageindustry that is directly
competing with alcohol, it'sneck and neck to me is cannabis.
(33:39):
Right now.
You know you have brands thatare pacing way faster than any
emerging brand in alcohol andyou can sell direct to consumer,
to their door.
You don't need to have an ID.
They're now selling it to TotalWine.
They have interesting productformats like sachets which you
can stick into a drink, bottlesthat look like Patron cans
(34:01):
gummies.
I see them being just a verystrong competitor to the alcohol
space right now.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Absolutely.
And that that segues me kind ofinto my next question, which is
do you feel like there's largegenerational gaps between, say,
like boomer drinkers, Gen Zdrinkers?
So kind of setting the baselineis there or isn't there?
Cause I've I've heard it alittle bit both ways.
So I'm interested to hear yourthoughts.
And then, if you do think thereis a gap there, how do you
(34:31):
propose that brands bridge thosegenerational gaps?
Because we're seeing brandscan't really afford anymore to
be so hyper specific andtargeted in who their
demographic is.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's hard to your point to
reach everyone, but then it'salso really like, like you said,
it's also not the best ideanecessarily to just target one
demo.
I do think, though, that youneed to look into who's actually
buying your product.
I think a lot of times, brandsmarket because they think they
need to market to everyone.
It's not necessary, right?
So, like, obviously, mostbrands don't have the budget to
(35:04):
market that much.
In general, to be honest, even$100 million businesses I work
for, plus, they're verycognizant of spend.
So how I like to look at thisis like is there a gap?
I think so, just to go back toyour question, around that I do
think that the youngergeneration is and the research
is there they're notablydrinking less.
Whether they have less moneywhich is part of the discussion
(35:25):
to spend on this likediscretionary income.
Whether they have less moneywhich is part of the discussion
to spend on this likediscretionary income, whether
they just don't want to drink asmuch anymore.
Whatever, it is like there is agap, right, but in every age
demo people are still drinking.
So I think that that, just toanswer the question, there's a
gap, a notable gap, but in everyage demo.
People are still going to bars,they are still drinking, they
are still purchasing.
There's not a demographic ofpeople that have fully stopped
(35:54):
drinking at all.
But I think, in terms of likewhere to spend the money and the
time, like I think a lot ofpeople, a lot of brands like
first decide markets based onjust like what looks sexy.
They're like I want to be inDenver.
Like I want to be in Philly.
You're like where did that comefrom?
And they're like, oh, I don'tknow, I just think it could be
(36:14):
cool to be in.
And you're just like no way,like no way.
So I think that is kind ofsimilar to how people also
market, right, they're likelet's just try to blanket it out
.
In reality.
It's not that you really I'm notsaying you shouldn't target a
broader demo than you may havenow, but start with what's in
your backyard, like you do withmost people with CRMs.
They have data and insightsinto who's buying their product.
Start there.
Like why reinvent the wheel?
Like, if you see that you havean audience of like 50 year old
(36:38):
women who love your low CalChardonnay.
Like, why are you targetingpeople on TikTok that are like
25?
Like, not that again.
As you grow the business and youhave the funds to target more
demographics, go for it.
By all means, throw shitagainst the wall.
But in the meantime you most ofthese companies don't have
those resources.
So to me it's wasted money andresources when you should be
(37:00):
looking at who is drinking yourproduct now and then maybe, if
you want to branch out intomaybe an older demo or a younger
demo, do it through strategicpartnerships that already touch
that demographic.
You're never going to have themoney to spend on all the
different marketing efforts, atleast again initially.
So maybe there's a brand that'sout there that, like all their
(37:21):
demo is, is like women over 60.
Why not just start there?
Like, do social campaigns,create a product with them and
then, as you have more money,you can build in more efforts to
market more formally to abroader demographic of drinkers.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
That's smart, that's very smart.
Who do you think in theemerging brands is doing this
really well?
And I know it's kind of likeasking you to pick amongst your
children.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
So I think there's a small think.
There's an emerging brandcalled Casa Lu, out of Miami
Latinx founders, and I thinkthey've just really leaned into
culture and they're the first, Ithink, latina RTD rum in a can,
I believe.
So they've leaned into verycool cultural partnerships and
(38:06):
also knowing who their audienceis and then also baking out
partnerships and, honestly, aretail strategy based on who
they have drinking their product, and they're one of the brands
that has been hyper specific onwanting to stay in a market like
florida, for example, which isa big market for flor New York.
I am a huge advocate of not,you know, getting the cart
(38:29):
before the horse, like figureout, like not only who your
demographic is, but also likewhat works in a market or two
and then you can have you candouble it from there and other
markets that are comparable.
So I think Costolo is a reallycool brand.
I've been following them for along time.
We work together now.
I love their, their story.
I love their leaning into beinga Latinx brand and finding
(38:49):
synergistic partners that makesense for the business but also
that will excite theirdemographic of drinkers, which
they know through the researchthat they've done, but also by
staying in their backyard of NewYork and Florida for the first
few years to really understandthat demo even further.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
For our final fun question that we like to ask
everybody what is your favorite?
We'll call it adult beverage.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Oh, I don't drink as much as I want anymore, but
there's nothing better than amezcal with some club soda and,
as tacky as it sounds, crystalLight, however, or light,
however, or lemonade, whatever.
Um, but I love everything smoky, so I, I love Lafroig, I love
our bag, I love smoky mezcal.
Anything that smells like apipe or a furnace to me.
(39:41):
What about you guys?
I'm going to flip it back.
What are your favorite drinks?
Speaker 2 (39:53):
I love Lafroig and Ardbeck too.
You're hitting me on here.
Yes, I love, and I'm also avodka drinker.
So I love like a Lafroig rinsewith a just a water and vodka,
martini and dirty blue cheesestuffed olives.
So I think you and I have havesome Wow.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
I think you know exactly.
You're a woman who knows whatshe wants.
Wow, that is.
I've never even heard of thatconcoction before.
That sounds delicious.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
We'll have to get together.
Speaker 3 (40:11):
You have to name it.
Yeah, first, yes, and you haveto name it.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Our Christmas episodes tend to be an episode
where we sort of live mix somedrinks and we'll have Bridget
come on and mix that for us live.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
Oh, that sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
I love that For me.
I'm on the opposite end, atleast on whiskeys.
I prefer a strong alcohol burn.
I want to taste what I'mdrinking and my desert island
brand is, and has been for thelast decade, Tamdew.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
What is?
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Tamdew.
Tamdew, yeah, I don't think Iknow that either.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
It's not as hard to find nowadays as it used to be,
but it has quadrupled in pricesince I started drinking it.
It's a Speyside, that's.
It's overproofed.
To your point earlier, taylor,yeah, that is a cask strength.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Cask strength.
I was going to say right.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
It's just, that's my forever drink.
Wow, we've got to try it,otherwise I'm probably picking
an Irish.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
I mean we have to have that team on.
Then, If you're a diehard fan,we'll go ahead and go out and
get the team on.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I went to Scotland a couple of years ago and drove by
the distillery, but it has nopublic facing operations.
There's no gift shop.
So I took a.
I just got a photo by the signjust because I was that big of a
fan.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
That's all you need to then be able to buy it moving
forward.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
So that's my brand, but very good answers I love
that my brand, but very goodanswers I love that I'm on
Google AI who imports Pam dude.
Speaker 3 (41:29):
I know my life has become ChatGPT because I bought
premium and I ask ChatGPTsomething pretty much like once
every 10 minutes of my life.
I just hope no one looks at myhistory.
No one will ever talk to meagain the questions that I ask
ChatGPT.
But I'm like where can I buythis whiskey?
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Okay, they're with Impax Beverages, so they're in
good hands with Sam Filmes.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
We're finally getting to the real reason why this
podcast came together at all.
It was my desire to get abackdoor into a Tamdew supply.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
I love it Right, if nothing more than we succeeded.
If you get it.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Well, we want to give a huge, huge thanks tolor foxen
for stopping by and sharingsome of your expertise.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
Yes, thank you so much, thank you, guys, for
having me.
This was great for listeners.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
If you want to find out more, the website is the
industry collectiveorg.
We will put a link to that intothe show notes if you want to
find out more.
Tay Taylor says the inbox isopen, so make her regret those
words and send her a hello fromthe podcast.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Taylor at theindustrycollectiveorg.
Yeah, thank you guys for havingme.
This was great.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
And thank you listeners for joining us on the
MHW Mark podcast and thanksagain to Bridget McCabe for
joining me and hosting.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Thank you, good to see you.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
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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