WEBVTT - How 21 Seeds Went from Idea to Global Brand 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:07.120 Hello Sunshine. Are you dreaming of starting your own business? 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:07.800 Today? 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:10.920 On the bright side, we've got the inspiration you need. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.680 Cat Hauntis, co founder of the infused tequila brand twenty 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:16.880 one Seeds, is here to share how she and her 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.840 business partners built a multi million dollar brand from the 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.080 ground up. I'm telling you it was from her kitchen sink. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.120 It's Tuesday, March fourth. I'm Danielle Robe and this is 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:33.080 the bright side from Hello Sunshine. Okay, I'm pretty in 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:36.880 awe of today's guests, and I don't say that a lot. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.479 In fact, I really love Cat Hauntas and her partners 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.479 at twenty one seeds so much that I've actually had 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:46.760 the opportunity to partner with them and create a card 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.480 game called Shot Callers fifty two questions for girls who 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.960 call the shots. And it's really a celebration of women 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.600 who call the shots in their own lives. And it's 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.600 my first card game collaboration, so you guys know, I 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.320 have my our game question everything. This is the first 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.840 collab and it was a really big deal. I just 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.679 want to share the seed of how it happened. I 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.120 was invited to a women's dinner and I got sat 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:17.360 across from Cat and we hit it off, and later 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.280 this collaboration happened. But the lesson that I take out 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:24.480 of it is that so many opportunities for women happened 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.360 just by being in the room. And I so remember 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.160 not being invited into any rooms. I felt like I 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:34.080 had to claw and fight my way into them. And 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:38.200 it just takes one person and one conversation to change 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:40.279 the game. And I think a lot of times starting 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:43.119 a business can feel really overwhelming, and so today we're 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:47.160 stripping all of that away. We are here to empower 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.080 you to go after your entrepreneurial dreams. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:51.880 Because it is so possible. 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.520 And we also have a bit of a special treat 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.280 because Simona's traveling and unable to make it. So instead 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.520 of talking to Kat just by myself, I thought it 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.600 would be really fun to have everybody's favorite show runner 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:09.080 and my bright Side bestie here, Tim Palazzola, Tim, welcome 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:09.960 back to the bright Side. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:11.120 Thank you, thank you, thank you. 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.839 I'm so grateful that you said that you would join 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.920 us today because aside from being everybody's favorite show runner, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:21.080 you also do consulting on the. 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.800 Side, and you work with a lot of female entrepreneur, 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:24.120 I do. 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.240 I do, so you kind of have. 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:30.520 An understanding of what people's pain points are. Yeah, what 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.240 do you hear from women that you work with? 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:34.160 Yeah, first of all, thank you so much for having me. 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.800 I am flattered to be here with you today. This 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:38.360 is so fucking cool. 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.240 You're so fun. I'm just gonna say. 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:44.600 That it's really fucking cool. But yeah, I actually a 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.799 guest who was on our show, Susie Moore, don't talk 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.440 to us about networking. I've actually worked with her in 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:53.760 the past to help mentor and consult on a lot 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.120 of the people that she works with. And I think 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.120 the biggest thing that I noticed when people are starting 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:01.679 a business is that you need to have a very 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:06.040 clear idea of who and what you are first and foremost. 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.680 I think people get lost in the clutter of it all. 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.280 I think the other big thing is you need to 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:15.959 really understand who who your business is for. What need 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.400 are you filling for someone? And it doesn't have to 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:22.960 be this like I'm reinventing the wheel. There's a great 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:24.959 thing that I say to people where I say, steal 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:25.960 like an artist. 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:27.040 You know. 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.160 I love that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.280 The playbook is already out there for you, So pick 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.000 and choose the things you like of what people are 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.280 doing out there and incorporate them into your own. But 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:43.000 you see how people appeal to their audiences and building 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.280 on that. The other important thing is, at the end 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:46.720 of the day, you're selling a feeling. 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:49.760 I really feel like if you have something on your 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.760 heart and you've been thinking about it in the shower, 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.920 you just have this kernel of an idea. Today's episode 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.920 will hopefully be really inspiring because Kat Haunts just had 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.440 this idea in her kitchen and created a multimillion dollar 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:04.680 brand out of it. Yeah. 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:07.640 If a self proclaimed stay at home mom can turn 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:11.360 a kitchen sync idea into a million dollar idea, multimillion 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:12.320 dollar idea. 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:12.920 Yeah you can too. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:14.040 Anyone listening can. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.200 Absolutely. I feel like we just need to bring her. Yeah, 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:16.800 let's do it. 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.280 Okay, Kat Haunts, Welcome to the bright Side. 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:21.400 It is so good to be. 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:22.440 Here with both of you. Guys. 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.440 Welcome, welcome. All right, now, before we talk all things business, 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:26.880 I know that the two of you know each other. 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:27.960 Will you tell us how you met? 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.279 You? Go? I go? Okay, So we were at a 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:34.320 women's dinner It was a female founder's dinner, and I 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.080 was lucky enough to be sat right across from Kat, 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.680 who I'd never met before, and she lives in San 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.000 Francisco and is very tech savvy, and started talking about 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.400 AI and I was hanging on her every word. I 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.080 was asking a million questions and she was talking to 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.200 me about how chat GPT could be useful for what 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.920 I do. And this was before anybody was talking about 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.160 This is over two years ago, two years ago, almost three, right, 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:00.720 it still the. 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:06.040 Idea from us. We would like to fall agreement. I 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:06.400 love it. 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.760 And Cat is the life of the party. 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.040 Clearly you'll understand why she created a tequila company. 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:13.000 She is so much fun. 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.080 And so I had the best I got the best 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:17.440 seat in the house, and I would say we really 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:19.000 hit it off and we stayed in touch. 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:20.480 Yes, yes, and. 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:25.360 This idea, I mean was truly born. Shortly thereafter, Yeah, 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.520 we hopped on a Zoom and one of the one 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.960 of Kat's pillars is travel and adventure and it's one 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:33.719 of the pillars of the brand too, And so we 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:37.920 were talking about how connection can cross borders and what 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:39.960 was a product that we could create that would really 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.640 facilitate that, and we thought of a card game called 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.240 shot Callers fifty two questions for girls who call the shots. 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.920 I love it, I love it, I love it, smarts showers. 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:50.640 So we did it. 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.560 You know that that's a really great point because so 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:56.080 many people talk about ideas and never actually get to do. 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.679 It totally, totally, and I'm always like, listen, tell everyone 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.799 about idea because people are busy, people have day jobs. 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.240 No one's going to steal your idea. And the more 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.520 you talk about it, right, like everything's interesting. 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:10.120 You often hear don't tell people about what you're working on. 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:12.320 I love this. Put it out there into the universe, 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:14.120 and the more you talk about the more accountable. 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.800 That's right, Yeah, that's right, And it just sort of 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.640 naturally starts to flesh itself out, and then you know 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.599 you can pivot and really try to make it happen. 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.760 I mean, I'm all, I totally believe that the best 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:27.640 way to make something happen is to start talking about 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.800 it immediately and then start actioning it. 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.000 Who's the first person you talk about things with? Is 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:38.320 your husband sort of your creative jumping board. He's not okay, 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:40.400 a lot of things. He's a lot of things. That's 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:44.120 why we've been married for twenty going on twenty one years. Yeah, 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:45.000 not my husband. 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.839 I would say, it's either my sister Nicole, who I 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.760 started twenty one seats with, or one of my best 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:57.120 friends Danny, who's very, very funny, and we'll call you 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:57.760 out on stuff. 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.360 I was gonna say, are these people trusted soundboards when 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:02.919 they say, oh, Cat, that's a great idea. If they 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:04.719 think it's a bad idea, or they go, no, Cat's 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:05.960 a terrible idea, move one. 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:07.960 Hundred percent, they will tell me it's a bad idea. 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.720 Nicole will often be like, I'll pitch something to Nicole 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:12.360 and she was like, we can't do that. I'm like, 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.240 can we have an open mindset for five more minutes 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.320 before we close, you know, close that book? Like, can 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:19.480 we just be open mindset for a sec I love that. 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.520 Yeah, I want to open the book on your origin story? 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.200 How did you even get interested in tequila? 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.760 So you know, I didn't grow up thinking I was 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.560 going to start a tequila brand. It really started because 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.480 I was drinking wine. That was what I would go 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.120 to sort of at the end of my night. I'd 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.720 have a couple glasses of wine and after I don't know, 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.280 once I turned thirty, it kind of just stopped agreeing 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.400 with me, and I started sort of doing some research 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.360 on it and sort of realized, Okay, there's a lot 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.520 of organic living material in fermented spirits that doesn't exist 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:58.600 in distilled and so switched over to tequila. Didn't love 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.880 the way tequila tasted on its own, and found that 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.120 regular tequila to get it to taste as easy to 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:07.280 drink as a glass of wine would was requiring a 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:10.200 lot of work and math and you know, stuff that 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.560 I didn't want to do. Was it just a lot 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.880 of mixers and stuff at your Yeah, because wine is 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.160 so easy to drink and tequila tends to be harsh. 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.480 And so I thought, you know, I got to do 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.200 something to this tequila to make it more drinkable and 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.560 an easier to use. And so I love to cook. 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.400 I start infusing it, and twenty month Seeds was born 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:33.520 in my kitchen. Basically, I would literally infuse you know, 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:37.880 regular tequila blanco tequila, and it completely changed it. It 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.679 would it smells so good when it's infused, especially you 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:45.280 know when you're really really using great ingredients, easy to mix, 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:47.880 you can drink it as a sprits. Super simple. If 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.120 that's what you want, you can mix it into any cocktail. 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:52.000 It's going to taste better. 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:56.040 Well. So as you're in like you become your own alchemist, 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.400 and as you're infusing these tequilas in your kitchen, what's 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:00.760 the trial and air process? 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:04.720 Like I'd put the tequila in a Brita, put in 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:06.760 the fruits and vegetables. I wanted to visit it, and 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:09.439 then I would stick my finger in and taste it. 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:10.559 And I was like, what do you. 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.560 Mean you were like pouring it through a brit brit 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:14.319 of picture. 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.959 Now, No, so I just used a Brita because of 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:23.720 the quantity. I wanted to make a big batch so 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:25.320 that it would last for a long time. 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.000 Sorry, I thought you were like filtering it through a Britta. 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:30.640 I was like, oh, that's another level. 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:36.240 Okay, I know, not that mechanically engineered. But anyways, so 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.280 it wasn't. It was, you know, very much trial and error. 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.440 It's it's a lot of it is my my taste profile, 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:46.840 you know. So but you know, if you want to 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:52.160 make a a our tequila, is you know a big 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.719 consumer of ours or women? Right? Eighty percent? I think 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:58.120 eighty percent of our consumers are women. And you know, 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:00.480 if you want to create a product that w are 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.040 going to enjoy, it's probably a good idea to have 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.040 a woman create that product, especially it's something you're eating 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.840 or drinking. You know, we want something that's smooth, and 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:12.440 that's what twenty one seeds is. It's incredibly smooth. It's 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.480 a hint of flavor, that's it. And it's not sweet. 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.920 So you can add sweet if you want to add 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.320 to sweet, but you don't have to. And you know, 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.640 just having the confidence to say this is what I like. 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:24.920 You know, it's not like I was a bartender. It's 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.000 not like I was a mixologist. I didn't come from 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:27.840 the spirits. 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.400 Industry training, nothing like that. So you're playing around with 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.760 this and you're making it, I assume for yourself. Yes, 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.400 at what point, like at that time, were you even 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:38.440 thinking this was going to be a business. 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.600 No, No, no, because I had, you know, my whole 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.480 career had been in the movie industry, so I needed 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.360 something else to drink other than wine, and I wanted 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:48.439 it to not have a lot of stuff in it, 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:52.079 and and sort of less is more. I once I 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.640 realized that by infusing tequila. It really changed it and 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.839 smoothed it out and made it more easy to drink. 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.160 That's what I would make at my house. So if 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:02.880 you came to my house and I did that for 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:03.880 nine years. 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.559 Nine years, okay, So I was gonna ask like, at 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:06.400 what point did you? 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:07.080 Yeah? 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:07.680 Nine years? 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:09.760 Sorry, friend, And I assume at some point you're like 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:12.120 giving it out as gifts or yeah, having parties and 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.880 everyone like, oh my god, I need to taste Cats tequila. 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:16.440 And that's what they would call it. They would just 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.240 say Cats tequila. And my sister, you know, if anyone 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.000 who sort of knew me, my immediate people, they just 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:24.480 I'll just bring Cats tequila. You know. It really became 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.160 a thing within our friend group. Yeah, and again what 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:29.760 I would do is now we call it a seed 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.079 and soda bar, right, But what I would do is 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.480 I'd take a bunch of infused tequilas that I'd made, 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:36.880 I'd put them out and then a bunch of different 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.920 club sodas, some with flavor, some without flavor. And then 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.559 I like to do like a charcouterie board of garnishes 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:44.959 and just put that out and then different glassware and 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:46.880 people could just make their own drinks, and that's what 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:48.680 you would have at my house if you came to 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.600 my house for dinner or dinner party. I love it. 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:53.839 I've seen like make your own bloody marrion bars, but 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:55.160 I when everything to do that with like a tequila 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:56.360 that's really smart. 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:57.800 Like it's a tequila soda. So we do that now 0:11:57.800 --> 0:11:58.920 it's like our seed and soda bar. 0:11:59.040 --> 0:11:59.240 Yeah. 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.120 So what so nine years of doing this just sort 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:04.320 of in your friend group, you know, what was that 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.120 moment for you when you thought this is more than 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.400 just my friend group, this this could be a business. Like, 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:10.319 what was that moment? 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:10.680 Yeah? 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.840 So what I noticed, and this was sort of just 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:16.680 a frame a time wise. It was after you know, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.320 Cosamigos had sold to Diagio, so tequila was really on 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.000 the rise. And what I noticed I started just realized, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.040 like when I'd be out and this was before COVID. 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.559 We this was all like twenty eighteen, early twenty eighteen. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.480 We launched the brand in twenty nineteen, So early twenty eighteen, 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.480 you know, I'd be out in a bar or a 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:41.400 restaurant and I would notice that especially women were ordering, Hey, 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.880 can I have a tequila soda? Three lines. Can I 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.520 have a tequila soda, splash of juice of some kind, 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.880 or tequila sota, slice of orange? And that was that 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.480 was the order. And I thought, huh. At the time, 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:57.280 there was either like shots or really high end, you know, 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.480 sipping tequila. Those were the two ways people were sort 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.560 of marketing tequila. And I thought, Wow, there's this other 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.480 way that people are drinking tequila, which is in the sprits, 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:10.560 right like our seed in soda. That's the sprits. And 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.720 and I'm making this infused tequila, and man, that would 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:18.400 taste better. Infuse tequila plus soda sounds better than you know, 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.400 just tequila soda. It's much smoother, it's got a hint 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.240 of flavor. And I thought, well, why isn't anyone really 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:25.080 talking about this. 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:29.319 Because infused vodka's was quite a thing. Totally see it 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:32.760 in tequila. So you were saying that women women ordering 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:34.040 I should do this? 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.319 Well no, Then I thought, maybe let me go see 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.560 what's going on in the tequila aisle, because you know, 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:41.760 I hadn't I hadn't really like paid attention to it 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.480 from that lens. So I went into the tequila and 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.880 I thought, oh my god, there's first of all, it's 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.600 all it's all all the new tequilas that had come 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:52.319 on the market were again these sort of higher end 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.200 you know, marketed like scotches and whiskeys being pushed to men, 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:00.240 right like, like instead of drinking whiskey and sipping on ski, 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.040 sip on a tequila. And I thought, there's no color 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.840 in the aisle, there's no fun. There's everything so serious, 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.679 you know, and where's the fun and where's the sprits? 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.400 The sprits is fun, you know, and something you could 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.920 enjoy in that wine occasion, easy entertaining. So it was 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.120 either like shots woo woo on the table tequila, right 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.680 or it was sipping tequila which was very serious. And 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:23.880 I was like, where's the fun tequila, you know, just 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.600 the drinking tequila that's just you know, an easy sprits 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.000 that you can have, you know, when you're with dinner 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:33.080 or entertaining at home or in that wine occasion. And 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.160 there just was nothing in the aisle that was that 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.880 was literally speaking to that occasion. And then there was 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:41.600 certainly nothing in the aisle talking to women. And I 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:42.960 was like, wow, the women are the ones who are 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.200 driving the growth in this category and no one's talking 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.080 them in tequila asle And then it was at that 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:49.640 point that I was like, Okay, maybe there's something here. 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.000 And then I went and talked to my sister. 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:59.000 Nic You're best a call or open mind? 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:00.440 Did you have to have that open mind? 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:01.800 Keep it up in mind with her? 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.520 Initially so she. 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:09.760 You know, at the time, Nicole was the CFO of Angelist. Okay, 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.200 so she had a big job, right, And I said 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:14.720 to her, I was like, sister, you know that tequila 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.560 that I've been making at home and everyone loves And 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.920 she's like, of course, everybody loves it. You're tequila, of course, 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.120 and she loved it, and she said, I said, I'm 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.480 thinking that I want to turn that into a company. 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:27.600 Do you want to do it with me? I thought 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:32.160 for sure, because she's oftentimes closed mindset, and I thought 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.360 first sure she'd be like, no, I have a day job. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.760 I'm a big, powerful CFO of a big company. I 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:38.920 don't have time. And she goes one hundred percent les done, 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.440 yeah first time, Like our mom is Greek, and she 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:45.920 leads with no, like you ask her question, can I 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.160 do No, she just does it just so that she 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.680 has her footing, I think before and so I think 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.880 Nicole inherited that from my mom, and in this case, 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:55.760 she just immediately was like, yes, I think it's a 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.840 great idea. People love your tequila. It's you know, I 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.280 think it's a good idea. She felt it in our bone, 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.440 she felt it in her bones. And then how did 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:06.400 you cause you have there's three co found right, And 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.800 then we needed a person who knew something about making 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.640 a product, which we did not, so that was Sarca. 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.600 And Saraca is awesome, super smart, you know, Stanford engineer 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:21.080 and had been doing work in the food space for 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.960 a while, taking ideas from kitchen shell, you know, from 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.760 kitchen counter to shelf and in food, but she hadn't 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.560 done it yet in spirits. But we were using real ingredients, 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:34.560 so I thought, you know, we're using real food, so 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.840 let's I'm sure she could help us figure this out. 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.720 And she had had my tequila at events and parties 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.240 at my house and so we then approached Saraga and 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:45.320 we're like, hey, do you want to start tequila company? 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.240 And she's like yeah, And I think in the beginning 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.560 they sort of I think they thought, Okay, this is 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:52.400 this is cool. It's like everyone kind of had a 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.720 side hustle in this. You know, in the in the 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.920 twenty eighteens, everyone felt like at a side hustle, and 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.960 so I think in the beginning, maybe you know, they 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.120 thought okay, cause Sarco was still working at a company 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.639 and I was a stay at home mom at that time. Yeah, 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.960 But then very quickly it started to become very real. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.240 We need to take a quick break, but don't go anywhere. 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:28.040 We'll be right back with Cat Hauntis. And we're back 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:29.040 with cat Hauntis. 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.240 It's also interesting to me because taking a step back 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:36.399 without all of this insight, it's like, okay, tequila the 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.679 spirits is a really saturated marketplace, and you think about 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.280 things like Cosamigos where you have George Clooney on a motorcycle, 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:46.840 and you think, wow, it's such a crowded space, how 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.000 do I even break into it? But to really be 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.679 able to identify your niche in your target market, right, 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.160 I think that's a huge lesson that anyone who's thinking 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.000 about starting a business can really like. 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.120 Think about, like how to differentiate yourself. 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:03.920 No, totally, we really focused on a particular consumer. Her. 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:07.159 We were focused on her and even more so focused 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:11.240 initially on moms because you know mom's moms are super 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.800 powerful consumers, right, because they are first of and foremost 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.399 the original influencer in all our lives. Right, Like, whether 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.159 we like it or not, our moms still try to 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.679 influence their themselves, influence us and what we do, how 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.879 we raise our kids, like our life in general. So 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:29.080 they kind of give everyone in the household permission to 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:33.520 consume or you know where whatever whatever they bring into 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:35.880 the house. So she was doing a lot of heavy 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.760 lifting boars, but we were very focused on the female 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.520 consumer and really trying to solve all her pain points. 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.159 So that's how we built the business. And that's not 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:46.080 the typical playbooks. 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:48.160 I think it's really I think it's really smart too, 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:52.560 because you know, if you think about meeting your audience 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:55.000