WEBVTT - INTERVIEW: Russell Fletcher Talks Mishka Premium Vodka, Making Wine From Scratch, No Celebrity Endorsements 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.480 Wake that answer up in the morning. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:04.000 Breakfast Club Morning. 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:07.600 Everybody is DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy. We 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:09.479 are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:13.000 the building. We got the brother Russell Fletcher. Welcome, Brother, Welcome. 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:17.000 I appreciate you guys actually invite me to the show 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:18.640 and giving me the opportunity to come in. 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:21.920 It's a pleasure this morning. 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:23.720 Founder of Mishka Premium Vodka. 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:25.560 Yes, I just found a master. 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:30.160 Yeah, I am the Master's Stiller, Master Stiller of Mishka 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:35.040 Premium Vodka. The company's name is This Life Forever. Something 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.400 that I've held on to for a very long time. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.040 It's been kind of kind of my thing as far 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.400 as just the way of life and also just being 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:45.159 able to make sure that I could just promote. 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:50.120 Good values, community based. We are alcohol driven, but we 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:51.040 make award. 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:52.519 Winning spirits and we try to figure out the best 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:54.160 ways to be able to give back to the community 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:55.880 and work in the community. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.840 Now you're distill a reason in Pennsylvania, Allentown. That was 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.560 the day this weekend. Yeah, yeah, got like what fifteen 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:02.880 fourteen inches of snow. 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.680 DJ yep, it was it was pretty nastics to the brothers. 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:07.959 So let me ask you how you got How did 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:12.199 you get into liqum? Most people start off ether buying 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.200 or selling marketing, but you actually learned how to make it. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.880 So I started off in amateur wine making, and I 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:19.800 learned how to make. 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:21.119 While I was in Stat nine. 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.440 Living in Stat nine, I learned how to make wine 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:24.360 in the garage from. 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:28.600 Italians moonshine call it you was making that. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:31.800 It definitely wasn't legal at the time. 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.959 But at the end of the day, I did, you know, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.120 kind of homing on my craft. I was finishing up 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.080 my nursing degree and I just want to switch. And 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:42.800 I say, hey, you know what, like I want to 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:43.520 make a little. 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:44.160 Bit more of an impact. 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.280 And the only way to make impact is what financially 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.240 impact things in order to be able to change things. 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.960 So with alcohol being a multi you know, trillion dollar market, 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.720 it's it was kind of the obvious. Seven years in 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:03.360 wine making amateur, won some awards, got my license, so 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:08.280 it wasn't actually illegal anymore. Right, I was no longer 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.040 selling selling product my sparkling one out of the back 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:16.480 of my Mercedes, and my mom helped me actually just 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:18.920 legitimize everything and get my license together. 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:20.440 How difficult was it to get your license? 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:21.280 Very difficult. 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.960 Again, you know, my mom just having just a bunch 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:28.840 of like city work experience, and she was diligent on 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.960 the paperwork. I was diligent on the marketing, and then 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:34.800 you know, obviously now I learned all the paperwork and 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.320 then so but difficult process. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:38.960 They ask a lot. 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.760 You know, your partner is either the state and the 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.760 federal government, but always the federal government first. And you 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.520 guys kind of know how the federal government is. You know, 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.720 it could be a difficult process. And we didn't use 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:52.800 any lawyers, so we didn't use a lawyer to be 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.040 able to put the paperwork through for us. Normally you're gonna, 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.280 you know, pay a lawyer roughly about fifty to one 0:02:58.320 --> 0:02:59.960 hundred thousand dollars just to be able to put a 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.800 paperwork through in order to be able to manufacture alcohol, 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.320 because there's a difference obviously and making a brand, owning 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.480 a brand and then actually manufacturing the alcohol and being 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:11.160 able to make sure that you have all the regulatory 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:12.079 things that are in place. 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:13.800 So when you used to make your own wine, you 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.000 had your grapes and what was in the tub with. 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:20.120 Right in the barrels, plastic barrels. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.519 From went from crushing the grapes, then realizing that I 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:28.600 could actually buy the juice already crushed, and then we 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.280 started to scale. We were doing everything from NFL events, 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.080 a bunch of different events. But you know, it's an industry, 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.400 and it's not a lot of us in the industry. 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.520 So the larger that I got, you know, the way 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.240 my supplies were squeezing my you know, my margins just 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:46.760 a little bit. Because in Pennsylvania, you don't you know, 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.880 you normally don't have a vineyard. It's a cold state, 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.160 so you know, you would either get your grapes or 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.280 you get your juice from somewhere else, and then you 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.080 fermert the wine and then you would actually bring it 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:00.240 to bottle and from my bottling side of it to 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.360 my grapes. And then suddenly started to squeeze me out, 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.960 and uh, my finishing up my last year, just before 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.440 I went to my nursing, like my nurse, my nursing 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:10.240 like pre clinicals and my clinicals. 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.240 I decided that I had enough, and I thought that 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:13.600 I had. 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.880 A good foothold just within the wine industry and I 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:18.800 kind of had a little bit of brand awareness and 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.080 had some you know, industry experience, knowing that you know 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:24.960 behind music, fashion, but also at the same time. 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.400 Alcohol, that's what's gonna drive the party at the end 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:27.800 of the day. 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:29.640 So I wanted to make sure that I kind of 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.680 got into that and me surviving and having a license 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.239 in UH in the state in the Commonwealth UH based 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:41.080 on wine. They weren't even doing dual distillery license. So 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:43.680 I had one of the first three dual distillery license 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:47.440 dual winery and distillery license in the Commonwealth UH. And 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.560 then I started doing vodka. I met my wife, my 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.760 now wife. I was Ukrainian and I learned how to 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:54.800 make up. I learn how to make. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.280 Vodka in the garage from Ukrainians. 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.960 So battalions with the wine, Ukrainians with the with the vodka, 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:02.719 and I'm here. 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.839 Well, congrats on They said, you're the most awarded black 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.920 owned spirits brand in the country. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:08.679 That is a fact. 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:10.960 Break that down what those awards look like. 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:15.080 So so the oldest Wana spirits competition in the world 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:20.760 is the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. We're the only 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.080 black owned spirit with a double goal double gold this 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:29.520 one gold, this one, multiple silvers with these, so you know, 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:31.280 and we just just continue to get better. 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:33.560 So you know, you take. 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:37.200 A brand like something that's more famous, you know, like 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:38.919 an uncle Nearest, Our uncle nearest. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.599 They've won multiple awards. 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.280 They are one of the top, you know, awarded Whiskies. 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:46.560 But at the same time, we've been getting. 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:50.520 Awards since twenty sixteen when I first actually dropped Mesha Honey. 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.520 The awards in the liquor business mean anything. And the 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:55.480 reason I asked that is, you know, I had all 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.400 the time that this one gets an award, this one 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.160 gets an award, But it always seems like regardless of 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.599 the awards, it's brand recognition is what people buy, right, 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.200 especially when you're dealing with, you know, people in the industry, 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.880 they just want what's the dopest thing, which is sad 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.920 sometimes because they could be drinking shit. But the ones 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.120 with the awards, nobody's necessarily nobody knows cater. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:18.080 Right until you get a platform like this, which again, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.920 you know, I'm thankful in a way because it kind 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.560 of sheds light because I chose not to go with 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:26.160 celebrity endorsements. 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:29.719 We are just a real story. This is my life. 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:31.839 I've been in this business for fifteen years. 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.080 We might not make you know what someone else makes, 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:40.839 but it's similar to remaining independent. I own my manufacturing, 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.920 I own ninety four percent of the company something like that. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.640 And from an award standpoint of it, So the San 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.560 Francisco World Spirits competition is a blind tasting, so you're 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.400 not buying that. So getting a double goal is like 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.040 getting a Grammy in the industry as far as for us. 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:01.120 So when someone says that, whether it be Somalier or 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.360 whether it be somebody at the top of the food chain, 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.680 who's a major buyer, they want to know. And then 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:07.080 the first thing they ask is can I see that 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.880 print it? And obviously we have those things printed. So 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:14.360 it works for who we're feeding, which is the buyer, 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.160 but you know, it works a little bit different obviously 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.760 when it comes down to the recognition amongst the quote 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:21.680 unquote common. 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.640 People, why not do any celebrity in dodorship because we've 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:25.200 seen so many other people do it, you know, of course, 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:29.880 so Rock with Diddy or Casta Migos with George Clooney, Like, 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:30.800 why did you say, you know what? 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.320 I don't want to go that route because you know, 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.240 when you take when you take both of those situations right, 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.400 one it worked very very well. Billions were made, right, 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.920 that's well cast some ego's on that side. But also 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:44.920 as far as with I mean pufflicly, you know, I 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:48.240 mean he took it to billions of dollars. But also 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:50.520 at the same time, look at the parallels of what, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:52.280 you know, what the situation ended up. 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.040 One thing could be a car crash. 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.040 The other thing could be you know, it could be 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:57.400 success and get out of the game. 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.120 Uh So for us, it's. 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:01.960 It's kind of like a blended of a Tito's route. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.840 You got to think about it, right, Tito's owns, you know, 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:05.880 I mean, he owns. 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:06.680 The Voka market. 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:10.640 Right, twenty five years that they've been in business, it's 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:11.760 Tito's period. 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:13.120 I feel like they came out of nowhere too. 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.440 But they didn't though they but they did right in 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.040 general public. But in the industry we knew exactly what 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.040 it was. So I started to kind of just track 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:24.520 what we were doing and kind of just keep those 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.120 parallels there because at the end of the day, this 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.960 is generational wealth. I'm not looking for a quick sell 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.480 in the company. What I actually did was I end 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.640 up taking the company public on start Engine just to 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:36.600 be able to give it to people that were like 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.480 me who don't understand the industry. I mean, Tito's did 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.160 one point four billion dollars from twenty two to twenty three. 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.520 They paid roughly about four hundred and sixty. 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:50.160 Eight million dollars in operational fees and operational. 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:51.920 Costs with no celebrity endorsements, nothing. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:55.360 Just quality of product and going to a domestic aspect 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.160 of it. Now, one thing that does set you know, 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.640 companies apart, is what. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:01.880 What are your what's your relationship value? 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:02.320 Right? 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.959 So our relationship value is based on people who can 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.080 connect us with, you know, folks like you guys, but 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.640 also at the same time who can place us with 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:16.319 corporations uh, such as the Arramarks, such as the Marriotte, 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:17.760 such as the Hilton. 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:18.120 Uh. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.120 These are corporate placements that we have. Will be in 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.360 Disney properties, come in may. 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:25.320 You very much. I appreciate it. 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:25.600 Now. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:27.480 Even though that you get in these properties, and you 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:29.800 get in these restaurants, and you get into these establishments, 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.000 it's also people have to actually want the product or 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.080 not only that the businesses have to push the product. Now, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:37.000 how do you fight through that? 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.880 So that goes back to the quality of the product 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.800 and the reason why I made the product. Used to 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.880 be a big fan of graand Maier, right, so loved 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.080 the Grand Mane for a good portion of my life, 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:52.160 and I wanted to be able to create something that 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.520 kind of kind of top Grand Magne, Right, So I 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.199 started working on a honey vodka. Now, when you take 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.480 the base of our products, the products are all natural, 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:04.200 the products are gluten free, there's no added sugars, there's 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.480 no added coloring into it. It's a quality product, and 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.160 it's a flavor product that ends off at eighty proof. Right, 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.000 normal flavor products they normally finish up roughly about seventy proof. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.160 So what we've done is we've made almost a cocktail 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:21.559 in the bottle. So instead of doing five parts in 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.320 the cocktail, which is what dehydrates you, gives you that 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.560 sugar rush gives you that that taste in the back 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.079 of your mouth in the morning, gives you the headache, 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:31.800 we've kind of taken that. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:33.600 Go ahead. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:41.240 Man, I'm just like. 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:46.439 You're looking at your eyes and was like that taste 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:48.000 in the of your mouth and the. 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:56.400 Meaning that again, So what we what we did was 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.719 we completed it by making sure that you can only 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:01.640 add you do only need two parts as. 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:02.319 Far as in the contail. 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:07.160 So that's advantageous to a lot of these restaurants, these 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.760 corporate partners, because now they're saving on the cocktail juice, right, 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.719 they're saving on that mixture, the simple syrup. Uh. We 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:16.760 just try to just kind of just dumb it down, 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:19.040 but also be able to make it, you know, to 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:20.080 where there's value in it. 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:22.079 Also, well, what is it about the honey flavor? I 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:23.560 you've heard about the honey fleet? Was that the one 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.360 in the middle, the honey flavor? What about this one 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:27.240 that makes it stand up? 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.920 There's no honey flavored. 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:36.840 Vodka on the market that has the test of time. 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.840 But that right there is the product that I created. 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:39.120 First. 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.440 I didn't want to just go all the way on 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.200 the Tito's model, so I went with something that was 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.480 exclusive to me first and UH and that's that's been 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.439 the hit, that's our flagship. UH. 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:50.280 And then we bought out. 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.439 Then we then then I went to the to the unflavored, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.319 which is also gluten free and kosher UH. And then 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.680 I went to UH to cranberry and now in the 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.120 spring of the summer. We'll be really he's seeing Mango 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:01.640 and Passion. 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:03.880 And yeah, you hooked up with the NBA too, right 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:04.679 in the seventy. 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.800 Six Yes, seventy six is. I've done multiple spots with 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.720 the seventy six is. It looks like via Ara Mark 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.880 will be programming in Wells Fargust Center coming for the 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:19.199 next season. That'll be coming, which would be pretty cool. Again, relationships, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.000 you know, doing good in the community. We do a 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.600 bunch of just a bunch of stuff. As you mentioned 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:28.080 you were in Allentown. You know, I sit on every 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:32.240 single board, diversity board. I just try to just do 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:33.920 the best thing that I could possibly do it from 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:34.840 the community standpoint. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.319 Ever, now, is it profitable? 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.400 Oh yeah, Like I said, you know, it's just like 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:45.719 owning your masters and being an independent you know, so 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.960 instead of my margins getting chopped out, our own distribution 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.760 and as a company, we owned distribution not only in Pennsylvania, 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:56.800 but we also own distribution in New Jersey. 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:01.960 So question, so, why was it so difficult for Diddy? 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.320 Didn't when he had his own tequil it and it 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.040 seems like he couldn't get distribution, He couldn't do it himself. 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.040 He was We've seen videos of him going liquor store 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.880 to liquor store, and it seemed like stores really didn't 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:14.400 want the product, right, because it was no distribution connected 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:16.319 to it. Why is it so difficult for people to 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.240 get their foot in the door, especially with him, because 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:19.839 you figured, like with him, it wouldn't be a problem 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.800 because he's Diddy. And this was before the as you said, 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:23.319 car crash. 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:29.320 Right, So we're legitimately less than one percent of the market, right, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:33.280 just being minorities, right, We're legitimately less than one percent 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.280 in the market. So again, it's the difference between what 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:43.920 baggage you're carrying, right, versus Okay, here's the story of quality, right, 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:49.199 here's what our lineage is, Here's who our star face is, 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.600 and that's got to be the way people get connected. 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.400 I'm not saying you know obviously you know that that 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.960 people didn't want to be connected to Diddy, But there's 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.520 the Diddy angle and then there's the product. 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:02.760 It's you and you got to be able to have 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:03.400 that separate. 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.040 I always believe that if you're gonna take the product 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:08.760 just because of the fact that I've got a celebrity, 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:09.680 how many times, are. 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.760 You gonna buy that after the fact, you know, proposed quality. 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.960 It's always about the the you know, the value proposition. 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.880 Got you and you're uh, you're you're connected with like 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:19.680 music Fest. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:23.160 Two music Fest, so we we are now so music 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.600 Fest is uh, we need you to come out there 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.800 and should come into Allantown. So we connected with music 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.520 Fest roughly about about two three years ago. Became a 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.760 small sponsor, blew it out of the water. The next 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.640 year we removed another vodka sponsor that was there, got 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:40.200 them out of there. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:42.320 Then it was us and Jack Dan's for the main stage, 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:43.040 and then this. 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.480 Year will will be with the with the partner the 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.600 I don't think that we can say exclusive legally, but 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.200 we are the partner that's programming all of the vodka 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.640 for North and South Side. Music Fest does one point 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.640 three million people a year, which is which is an 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.920 excellent opportunity obviously to get liquids and lips. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:01.000 How did that help the brand? 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:06.000 Was that your question? 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.600 No, that was just crazy, A great way to get 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:11.680 liquid to lips. 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:12.840 We trademarked that. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:22.680 The reason right, but we trademarked that because that's been 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.040 our model. We want to be able to get liquid 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.320 to lips in order to be able for people we 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.640 feel like we can win after hands. 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.040 Down all the way around by doing that. 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:32.920 How did that help the brand? Is it just eyeballs? 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.160 So not only that, but we have tasting opportunities, which 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:39.040 is great, which allows people, you know, music Fest draws 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:44.240 people from the twenty thirty countries, you know, and naturally 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.320 and being able to get those sampling opportunities, being able 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:49.960 to get people to actually, you know, not only just 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:51.960 the brand side of it, but also at the same 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:54.560 time understand exactly who we are, be able to get 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:57.040 a little bit of a little knowledge that actually pushes 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.600 it forward, but also again you know, appropriate really getting 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:01.440 liquid to lips. 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.239 You know what's interesting, I feel like there's so many 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.880 people getting it right, so many black people getting it 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:09.640 right in the in. 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.320 The spirit business. But it's usually the people who aren't 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:17.120 relying on celebrity. It's think about up nerds when I 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.280 look at what y'all doing, you know what I mean? 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:23.000 But y'all, it's real work. And that's where you that 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:25.240 question that you asked, why is this so hard? 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:25.840 Right? 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.120 Because on the back end with a minority, right, with. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.720 The super minority so the people who are the majority, 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:35.040 they're controlling this, and they've been controlling this for a 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:35.920 very long time. 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.479 So if someone's gonna let you in. 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.440 To their exclusive club, they kind of want to know 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:41.920 that you're going to do the work that's going to 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:46.240 back that up. So to your point, you know, saying 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.320 that the people who are finding success are the people 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.760 who are actually not taking a celebrity route black people 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:53.000 who are finding success. 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:54.400 That's the primary difference. 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.000 The primary difference is we're getting in front of these 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.800 distributors and saying, hey, look, you know, I want you 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:02.880 to take my product, and here's my capacity. It was 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.919 difficult for anybody to even give me a meeting, you know, 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.840 I would say before the pandemic, Before the pandemic, we 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:10.840 were trying to get into different places. We were obviously 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.919 owning our distribution in the state of Pennsylvania, but at 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:16.800 the same time, nobody wanted to hear us. You know, 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:18.960 right after the pandemic we won our first double goal. 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.800 You know, during the pandemic or right before the pandemic, 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:25.199 we won our first goal. Then we became the largest 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:30.400 craft distillery to produce hand sanitizer. I mean, we made 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:32.919 you know, We made a bunk of money just doing that. 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.840 I dumped all the money back into the company, but 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:39.439 we fed everything from frontline workers with meals. We we 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.360 donated tons of hand sanitizer to our local hospitals. We 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.760 sold a bunch of hand sanitizers to FedEx ups, the 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:51.119 post office, Comcast, and like again, that started getting us 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:55.360 media attention. With that media attention, you know, I took 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.159 it and we ran with it, and you know, and 0:17:58.200 --> 0:17:59.720 now we're here at this point. 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.320 So and I feel like it's something like the products 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.000 to sell itself, right, Like I think, you know, with Sarak, 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.000 it was something that people liked. 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:08.479 The culture gravitator towards it. 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.959 True, they didn't necessarily gravitate towards their leon, right Castle Migos. 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:15.879 People likeds like like you can just a lot of 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:17.359 these things you can just see organically. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.960 Like I didn't know who was behind Tetos. I'm just like, it's. 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.880 Teetos everywhere everywhere, so clearly people just like it. Right, 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:24.920 So it's like it no't matter what celebrity you are. 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:26.359