S2E12 - Women in whiskey

On this episode, we talk to Lori Carcich, Founder and CEO of Country Smooth Spirits. She’s America’s first female founder of a whisky company. She proudly serves as a Member of the Board of Advisors for CW.COM, LLC and The UCSB PaCE Extension, Women in Leadership Executive Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lori has been engaged as a keynote speaker to multiple audiences. She has been honored at multiple whiskey festivals as an influential woman within the industry. We discuss backpacking, planning, and the four “p’s.”

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Coming up on points of failure.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

And you're never going to win them over. But I think that there are those types of people in any industry, right? So that I'm always going to face that, but I'm a competitive person and I don't really let one or two or 100 people who may think whatever they want about me get me down or slow me down. In fact, it fires me up.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Welcome to the Point of Failure podcast. On point of failure, we discuss all kinds of failure. We have conversations with that each other knowledge. We've got back in the planning in the Philippines. Hope you enjoyed this episode. We are here today with Lori Karsich, CEO and founder of Country Smooth Spirits. So, uh Lori, why don't you uh just give us a quick rundown of your background and where you are today?

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Thank you, Steve, for having me today. It's always great to see you and speak with you. I'm Lori Karsich, America's first female founder, CEO, and owner of American Whiskey Company. I founded Country Smooth in 2015 because I wanted to be able to enjoy whiskey meet. I was not a whiskey drinker, but I wanted to be. I wanted to create a smooth-tasting whiskey while celebrating America and empowering women to be entrepreneurs and follow their dreams. Today, speaking with you, I've been fortunate to have met you in person in Arkansas, thankfully. And we've remained friends and I respect what you're doing. And thank you again for having me on your show.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Absolutely. I appreciate you being here. Yeah, it hasn't been that long, has it? It's like what 21, 2021, I think when we start, or when I started. So let's go back to the beginning, if you will, the beginning of your career. Where did where did that start?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

So I graduated from Cal State Fullerton in Southern California in 2002. I graduated with a business degree and assistant accounting. My father was a successful CFO out of USC. And he's always been my mentor since I was very young. I wanted to be just like my father. And um he instilled in me the importance of understanding numbers and not just numbers on a sheet of paper or on a computer screen, but having numbers all work together intimately. Balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, how important it was to understand ratios and metrics. So one day, if and when I started my own business, um I could be very aware of how that all works together or not, and how to best analyze and make decisions to ensure success. So I originally wanted to major in marketing and sales. I was, I have always had a creative mind. I've always been developing things in my mind and in actuality since I was young. And so for me, it was a natural fit to major in marketing. But again, my dad convinced me why I should focus on accounting and finance. And he was definitely right. So it's always a joke whenever I see him, not every time, but oftentimes, I told you so. Um, so I majored in accounting. I went to work for a large CPA from meta college, which was a phenomenal experience. I focused on audit, the audit side of the house, which meant I would audit large businesses from every aspect, obviously financially, and fraud risk assessment, board of directors, in addition to the actual number crunching and auditing. And it was a phenomenal experience and really laid the groundwork of the rest of my career. Um, I had my first of three children, um, 16 and a half years about. And so I took that experience and the connections and the network and started my own consulting practice. Raising my three kids, um, I'm a firm believer in it's great for children to see their parents work, because both parents work to some level and some degree. And it's still that work ethic in our children, I think, is important, especially more now than ever, with our in and within our society. So I started my outsource controllers, CFO, and business development consulting practice after I had my first child and grew that company and started working a bit more and more as the kids grew. Did the Habback Consulting Company for 10 years and developed it to 14 clients? And it was it was just another really important part of my journey professionally to help others, not just from an outsource controller and CFO capacity, but also from a business development, which is really truly became my passion. So taking the numbers and the ideas and understanding how numbers work really intimately and going back to my roots as a young child at development and idea creation, creating things and how to tie everything in together really is what I started doing towards the end of that practice. And um, all of that experience and training and relationships I had built and success, I had been able to achieve for clients gave me the confidence and know-how to start my own bourbon company. So I had my light bulb moment in November of 2014. And then I began all that I needed to do to research. Um research, put together all the thoughts, the suppliers, starting an alcohol company is was incredibly time and money um rich, if you will, in terms of it's took a lot of both and a lot of everything. So in November 14th, I had November 2014, I had the idea. In February 2015, we became an LLC. And in January 2016, we launched with our American whiskey in Southern California. So relatively short period of time for starting a company, especially in alcohol, where you have to have so much regulatory challenges overcome and licensing and colas, etc. Um, and like as I said earlier, we are in 2022, and I'm really proud of our small team and all of our distributors and partners in the company, and supporters, and consumers, and store owners, and buyers, so many people to be thankful for. We are now distributed in 22 states and sold in just under 2,000 accounts, and including bars and stores within the US.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Not bad in eight years there.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

I would say, yeah, no, it's so it's been really almost six and a half years of selling and um seven years, almost seven years in January. Lots of learning, Dave. Lots of learning, lots of challenges. I live by the four Ps. So um I've become a pretty addicted backpacker climbing some of the tallest mountains of North America, which is my my hobby and passion outside of the business and my family and my children. Um, but I really have seen the parallels of climbing those mountains because you're not just start peaking, but you have your peaks and values in between every day. And it's not much different in business. And I think in every business, there really truly isn't just unintended smooth sailing every single day. The entrepreneurial life is a hustle, it's a grind, and it's just it's a matter of consistently figuring out how to win, and in some cases, amongst all odds. Um, so the four P's I live by every day, business and personal, are passion, partnership, perseverance, and product. Um, I I've actually been a keynote speaker on a couple of occasions and I have a third one coming up, talking about just that, how those four Ps in my life have allowed me to and this company to be where we are today.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah, it's uh it's a pretty impressive growth in a relatively short period of time, you think about it. Under 10 years, you guys have really expanded in a whole way across the country. You said that the reason that you started the whiskey company was because you wanted to be able to drink whiskey neat. You said you had an aha moment in 2014. Were those two things related, or was that just sort of uh two separate things?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Absolutely. I'm a firm believer that the light bulb moment that we all have in different different instances, whether it's personal, professional, relationship-wise, that aha moment for me is obviously a culmination of events, of thoughts, of factors in my life. And so the up the light bulb moment was sitting at a country concert um in LA with my husband and our friends. And um, they were all drinking, they were drinking bourbon whiskey and beer. And I really have always enjoyed a nice glass of Chardonnay. And I would go back and forth to the bar getting their drinks, and I really don't like to waste my calories or experience with alcohol or anything. So I could not find a rhombar Chardonnay or a lacrema or a certain Chardonnay that I really enjoyed, and I wasn't drinking what they were drinking. I wasn't a beer drinker, still not. I was not a whiskey drinker at the time or bourbon drinker, and I didn't want to mix it just to mix it. So I was a bar mule going back and forth, bringing them drinks, thinking, why can I not find something reasonably priced at this venue? And I'm listening to um the artist sing about bourbon and whiskey and beer, and he's drinking tequila on stage, which is fun. And um I thought, you know, I want to be able to come to another beautiful country concert like the one I was at, and be able to go to the bar and ask for a certain smooth-tasting whiskey that I can drink me at a country concert or a tailgang event or at home and have it be affordably priced, made in America, which celebrates America. And so that was really my lightning bolt moment. Um, and it sounded so crazy, Steve, because I had zero experience in alcohol um outside of consuming, right? Occasionally, it wasn't even that often, wine particularly. I had zero experience. Um, but all of the reasons why I did it, I I told my husband the next day what I planned on doing. And he said, You're absolutely crazy. Well, of course. Um I and I told him I would complete my research as if I would have for any other client that engaged me to start to create a business for them. Um, so I started my due diligence researching the domestic international opportunities in alcohol, how many craft brands there were, how they were, how were they getting their start, um, the money you needed to start a company, a non-distillery. We don't own a distillery. And hundreds of hours and asked and and and interviewed quite a few people. I wanted to make sure that our suppliers were all made in America. That was very important for me, which is extremely challenging today more than ever. Extremely challenging. It was important for me that we celebrated America, not just in packaging and design in the brand, but really in our lifestyle. This truly was created and designed to be a lifestyle. Are you country smooth? Yes. Um, and I believe we've been able to create that and stay true to the vision and to our goal. We do, we do support military and veteran nonprofits still to this day, which I'm very proud of. So going back to um the beginning, starting my research, and um I didn't even really understand how relevant and how unique it was to be America's first female founder, CEO owner of an American whiskey. There were distillers, which is female distillers, and um there were investors and more and more women coming into the into the industry and have been for many years in distilling, which is phenomenal, um, but not a singular founder and CEO and owner. That's unique, right? That was different. And I didn't realize that at the time, that really wasn't even on my forefront. It was just how do we create a company that could transcend and be very successful long term? Um, I knew that we wouldn't have the most money. I knew that this was going to be a passion project, and I knew that if I stayed very focused on the goal on the goal from day one and not get discouraged or distracted by all of the noise and all of the large competition, and there's so much of it. And in every week there's another bourbon brand and whiskey brand today coming out. I knew I didn't know how much competition there was going to be, and I didn't know how just how dirty the industry can be in terms of things that I experienced in terms of displays being kicked out, et cetera, et cetera, in terms of the challenges, but I knew it was something that I had to do. So once the research was completed, we I asked my husband to financially support me initially. I knew that this would have to be um funded, you know, internally first and get to a certain point where we can then grab some family and friends financial support and then another and different rounds of investment, which is what we've been able to do. And here we are. So we started in 2016, and distribution was extremely challenging to get in California. California is one of the top markets for alcohol distribution. I would say California, Texas, Florida, New York. Those are the five major, major markets. And as you can imagine why, number one, the population is so substantial, right? So so the population is substantial, um, demographic, you name it. So a lot of the large, large alcohol conglomerates and companies will spend significant amount of money marketing in those states. And obviously other states like Georgia and Colorado are top two, and and and clearly every state's important, but the the main, main markets of California, those five markets, and obviously I live in California. So I underestimated just how two things, which I think is very common in startup companies. Um, and I consult with other brands and make sure they understand this and then their financials they can account for this with startup budget. Underestimate number one, the time it takes to really achieve your financial forecast and budget, your goals. They're always it always takes longer to get there. And I would say 95% of the cases, you have your 5% outliers, which fantastic. They get there quicker, but it's not common. And number two, it takes far more money. And um alcohol is no different at all. Um, that it takes more time and money really to achieve the goals. And some people get so discouraged they quit, right? Two years, the the drop-off rate. Um, in most businesses is what 40%, 40 to 50 percent of failure. And you probably know this, especially with what your your podcast, right? Points of failure. Um, so the amount of money and time it would take is was substantial. And I knew that with my background in accounting and finance, but also my marketing and and creative side and the relationships I had developed in business, in finance, in the professional athlete world, which I have fortunately have many of, I knew that that would I would have to wear all the hats for a said period of time because we didn't have the major budgets. We didn't have the million-dollar marketing budget that many companies have, two to three to five million. I knew that we would have to focus on the brand and focus on who we are to the poor and be very successful in small markets, gain some really good organic pull-through, and then expand into other markets and do the same thing. So we launched with our American whiskey. Um, and we were able to do that. We were self-distributed in Southern California for quite some time, actually, and then launched into other markets in the Southeast and had some pretty good organic success for sure. But I would say for any startup companies, or even do not underestimate the length of time and the amount of money that it takes to be successful. Um, those are two I think incredibly invaluable um pieces of advice that I give to every new startup that I advise or friends of mine who are starting companies. And don't get discouraged when you don't reach your goals. Just understand that goals and budgets are meant to be analyzed often, quarterly, not just yearly, but analyzed and updated. And if we're not hitting our revenue goals, how are we and we have a finite amount of money in the bank currently, then we need to make some adjustments from an expense side. So I think it's really important for all businesses to have that capability to make to analyze and make adjustments um regularly, not maybe every three to six to 12 months, but on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

So then you feel like probably the the fundamental areas where would-be entrepreneurs fail then is is not really having a solid understanding of the amount of time and money that goes in. And then potentially the like what you said there at the end to be able to analyze and adjust that I think maybe enough for myself, I can think in the past I've tried to start something and I didn't take that time to stop and go, okay, wait a minute. This isn't going how I thought, why, you know. So those those three things seem pretty key time, money, and and analysis and adjustment. So would you say those are the three or four most important things, or are there other things you'd add in there?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yeah, so I think those are very important from like a top-level perspective, right? Um, but I go back to when I get more granular in my analysis, I I like to run businesses based and return on investment. Um, and I think that from my experience running my own company, I look at this more when I'm really truly bootstrapped. Return on investment to me is not just dollar return on investment in terms of what your cash you're spending, even time. Like we as entrepreneurs and some entrepreneurs run a very small one singular person company or serve, whether it's a service company or a product company to a large, large, full-blown enterprise. But I think that leaders, not just entrepreneurs, need to understand the ROI concept. Whether it's a dollar, a hundred thousand or a million dollars, is this investment going to provide? What is this investment going to provide in terms of ROI? It's really important to analyze that. And if we if we keep that in mind, then we as leaders make better decisions. And historically, when you have some data, not only within the company, but also from other like businesses, and we can analyze these spends and what the investment or what the return should yield, we can make much better decisions as business leaders. And even from a time perspective, when I started this business, Steve, you can imagine I had everybody come at me with what they can do for CS, how they can help the company, and not having a ton of experience in alcohol, I didn't quite understand as much as I do now. And not that those people and their ideas are not valid or important or relevant, but I would say 65% of those ideas that that were were entirely distracting to what I needed to focus on as an entrepreneur and as a leader in my company, especially not one of 12, but one of a couple, right? So the return on ROI-based thinking also relates to time, right? Meeting with you, that's a I mean, you're my friend, but I respect you tremendously. This is a good ROI. When I look at from a business perspective, right? Because we as leaders have to make good businesses, business decisions, as well as personal, but business is somewhat separate from personal. This is a great ROI. Yeah, I can help you, you can help me, I respect you. It's great. So I think as leaders, the ROI perspective is is extremely important to keep in mind. And you know, when I'm able to run this business with a business perspective, not a personal, it's tremendously helpful as well. And it really curtails some of the some of the um the decisions that would not yield in a strong return on an ROI. Also, the principles of efficiency and effectiveness. What's the most efficient and effective way to get to the finish line? That finish line isn't just the overall business finish line, whether it's an exit or whether it's, hey, we're consistently selling X amount or profit at X amount, that's great. I'm talking about every day finish line, every quarter finish line, every end of the year finish line. Are we making efficient and effective decisions for the business? I think all of these, it becomes a thought process, right? Throughout the day. Obviously, sales becomes for profits, but we sell more, we're more profitable, and we'll able, we're able to make decisions that yield to the overall business enterprise valuation increase, which at the end of the day is extremely important as a leader to do.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Yeah, I mean, uh definitely uh profit is a big deal, right? If you're in business, you've got to make money to keep it rolling. So, you know, you mentioned some barriers to entry in terms of, you know, having to self-finance it and those kinds of things. And you mentioned um, I think it's really great that you know, you're the the first female CEO and founder of a company, of a whiskey company in the US, although part of me kind of cringes a little bit at having to say first females. I mean, because you know, you think about the first guy that started a company, nobody said he was the first male CEO, you know. So do you feel like being a a woman in in this business was another barrier to entry?

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Absolutely. It was the largest for sure. I mean, studies say that as of 2019, 90% of all business funding goes to male-led companies. Wow. My industry is extremely male dominated, which is fantastic. Um, I love it. But in the early days when people didn't know who I was in the industry, right? Because I was new to the industry, they're thinking, is she the promo girl? Or what does she know about? I've even had some major, major alcohol decision makers for distributors say to friends who I know, well, who is she and what does she know about anything? And I think that um that was the challenge I faced all day, every day, every single day. Um, and didn't matter where what I wore, it was just the sigma of women, number one, cannot raise money. And it it's true. I mean, most women are not able to raise money because they're female. And the statistics show that. Um, number one, number two, in the alcohol industry, it it is getting much better, thank God. I mean, there are there are organizations that promote women in alcohol from every perspective, whether you're the founder, CEO, investor, you work for you're a female sales ambassador in every capacity, which is fantastic. There are two really strong associations that we are members of, which have helped over time, but it doesn't become an overnight change, right? It doesn't, it it definitely takes time to change how women are viewed in business, in the liquor industry, in leadership positions. But fortunately, um, that's where the partnership that that peak comes into play. There have been enough men in the industry and relationships I have worked on for many years with what whether it's within the alcohol industry or within my entire tenure business or even friendship, where they've gotten behind this company in a pretty big way, whether it's investor, investors plural or distributors, and they have empowered and supported countries smooth and me to get us over the humps that we and over the challenges. But it has truly been quite a challenge. And some companies will say they have that they support female-owned brands, um, and some do, but many of them they say that because they have to for the token, right? Um and they haven't quite caught up to that. But in general, there have been so many pretty significant assistance to support the efforts. So, as far as becoming the face of Country Smooth, as I told you, being America's first female founder, CEO, and owner of American whiskey company, Steve, wasn't even part of my thought process. It really wasn't. I just wanted to really create this beautiful company, lifestyle company, work really, really hard and developing a beautiful tasting product that was that was truly country smooth, that celebrated America, all the things. And I did not think about how I played into the base of the brand. So I put different athletes behind in front of the brand, friends of mine, awesome, awesome people. And that was great. They're respectable people in their career have done some incredible things. And it was one of my potential distributors that said to me, and this is really what changed um everything in terms of me becoming the face of the brand. And he said, Lori, I receive a hundred plus new bourbon and whiskey packages every single month to consider for distribution in my estate. And there are so many, okay? And I have yet to see one that is from a female founder, singular founder of American Whiskey. And you are the differentiation part of your company. And the only way that I will consider distributing you in our markets is if you become the face of the brand. No one knows you, no one knows the company like you do. You are the differentiating part, which is incredibly important when you're on a shelf with how many other whiskeys and bourbons when you walk down those aisles are hundreds. That's a differentiating part. And the only way that we're gonna get behind this is if you're okay with that. So we need to become the face and obviously or the mouthpiece and the driver. And it was really hard for me to get used to that, to being in the posters, the shelf talkers, all of that, bottleneckers. To me, it was very uncomfortable for quite some time. But when I sat back and thought about it from a business perspective and not a personal perspective, it made a lot of sense. Differentiation is how companies stand out, that's how they win. And differentiation point usually has to be compelling enough for a consumer to pick up one product versus a product that they have been buying for many, many years. So that was the turning point for me to become the face of a brand, which was in 2018. Um, and since then, I have been, and obviously not just because of that, but I have been a part of different bourbon festivals honoring women in bourbon and top influencer influencers. So um it's been an interesting evolution, but I definitely believe it's it's one of the most important differentiating parts of who we are. And it's better to make your mistakes in the small, refine, and grow in that direction.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Absolutely. It's no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

You know, you you meet different business owners and founders and you listen and hear um how they did it from a variety of perspectives, whether it's from an equity ownership perspective, do they grow really slowly, like in my industry, alcohol. I've met all of the different types. I've met people who wanted to retain 100% of their company. They never had a million dollars or half a million dollars, they just had enough to get started. They knew that they were gonna have to do everything on their own and grow very, very, very slowly. And I know people in the industry, the alcohol industry that have this goal of exiting in five years, so and how to find that money themselves. So they got a bunch of people together and in several different rounds raised many, many millions. And the founder equity is maybe 5%, you know. So there are so many different ways to do it. And and I go back to what is the goal of the founder? And in your case, is your goal, and and you know, fortunately, you don't have to spend a lot of money on products and have this cash flow challenge, right? Of uh outshell of money versus when you get paid from your customers. So fortunately you're not in that position, but it's always the perspective of what is the goal of the founder? It's the goal to grow the company and have an X amount of business enterprise valuation by X period of time, or is it to really develop a company and become profitable and grow that company slowly and have a hundred percent ownership? And there's a lot in between. When I can understand when I'm consulting and counseling friends, even as friends in friendship, that's the number one most important question that any entrepreneur, leader, or founder has to ask and answer themselves. And the and everyone, you know, largely has a different perspective. Everyone's perspective for what they are, but I'm a firm believer in growing slowly, you make your mistakes small and you learn quit and you become more efficient.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

And you don't uh if you fail smaller, you don't have major things to overcome and try to, you know, compensate for. So that's always good because that you know, people take off and like, oh my gosh, they become millionaires in in 30 days, and next thing you know, the next 30 day they're broke. And it happens all the time.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

It happens far too often.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Yeah. Oh yeah. And people just don't realize. Okay. So areas to entry we discussed. What do you think fundamental areas where would-be entrepreneurs fail? Like where do they, because we we talked a little bit about already the time and money and being able to analyze and adjust, but somebody that's, you know, I want to be an entrepreneur and I'm gonna start ex-business making widgets, whatever, what do you think those fundamental areas where those people really fail? What where they don't become the entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_01 31:53

I think a few things. I think um, as we discussed earlier, it's I think in any new business venture, if you don't really have the experience in that industry, it is incredibly important to gain, to grab an advisor, whether it's official or unofficial advisor, paid or unpaid, um, to counsel you, grab that expert. You know, if I want to start a tech business, which I could not imagine doing, there's no way I would even consider it unless I retained an expert in that industry, a really a founder expert who understood the industry intimately that could help grow efficiently and effectively the business I wanted to start. So I think the entrepreneurs and founders, if they have to be brutally honest themselves in and assess their knowledge and their experience and even their relationships within that industry. Um, and the more you know, the far more successful you will likely become. So that expert's incredibly important. And the expert doesn't necessarily have to cost a lot of cash. Experts can be friends, family, um, who really want to help you succeed, or they can be equity. They can have a small stake in your business, which means that you don't have to create in cash up front, but let's say in X period of time, you're able to start distributing profits, they can they can have a portion of that, or a business sale in an X period of time, they can have a percentage of the proceeds. So the equity partner is a really, really great way to gain that advisor or that expert. And then obviously cash. But most entrepreneurs don't have a ton of cash up front in the beginning, right? So it's, I would say, lean more towards family and friend experts or an equity advisor in the early stages. I think that's very important. And for entrepreneurs and founders who have the knowledge and the expertise, which many of them do, then just go for it. But again, it comes down to money and time. Make sure that you don't come into major cash surprises um in the first two years, I would say. So make sure you that you expect that things will take far longer and more money to get where you need to get in a set period of time. So you're not in a major crisis cash flow-wise in at any point in time.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Uh so do you feel that with the level of your growth in your company as quickly as it's been, do you feel like you've been able to somewhat overcome some of that? I don't know if disrespect is the right word, but not being taken seriously as a woman. Do you feel like now that you're actually garnering that respect and people are starting to say, oh, okay, all right, I kind of misjudged her?

SPEAKER_01 34:33

I definitely do. I think that in some cases, in many cases, yes. I think it's like that first sale, uh first case, or that first distributor that said yes, right? Then you start, you know, success-free success. I'm a firm believer in. And so it took that first case sale, right? And that first distributor outside of California to say yes. And then obviously the execution to become successful, then that distributor then yields another distributor to say yes, because they all do the research on every product or or company they bring in to sell. So I think success breeds success. And so with that, we've been able to prove that we are here to stay and we're very serious about being successful in each market. Um, and with that, obviously, some of the preconceived notions about me being a female knowing nothing have been overcome. But I think there's always gonna be the outliers and the people that no matter what you do and no matter what you say, they're always gonna have their thoughts and their opinions on women, especially women as founders and CEOs and in the alcohol business. And you're never gonna win them over. But I think that there are those types of people in any industry, right? So that I'm always gonna face that, but I'm a competitive person and I don't really let one or two or 100 people who may think whatever they want about me get me down or slow me down. In fact, it fires me up and it makes me work harder and stronger and make those ROI-based decisions and those effective and efficient decisions that I think is really important as a business owner. And focus on the wonderful distributors and the wonderful partners and you as a friend and supporter and consumers that have supported us and have supported me and investors. So the saying that you can't win them all will always be true, especially for me in this industry. But as long as you're winning more than you're losing, that to me is success. So I think that that's helped. And I also think that the more and more women who stand strong in any industry, especially in alcohol, because that's the industry I'm principally involved in, the better it is for all of us. Anytime I can mentor other women and empower them to stay strong and stay committed and keep fundraising until you get that money in the bank, the stronger we are as a group.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

And you know, all the naysayers can keep naysaying while you're heading to the bank to cash your checks.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Yes, yes. Well, we are definitely there's room, definite room for growth. But I look at year over year success. Again, it's that it's that course. I think that so every company has their own path and their own journey to success or failure, right? And Country Smooth's journey has not been to raise five million dollars in year one or two or three. Our journey has been to raise enough money to be successful and to help support our organic growth with support from our distributor partners and our key buyers and our chains and our partnerships and our consumers, most important are the consumers. That's been our journey to success. And um, everyone has it. And I think that the expectations for any business leader has to be the you have to consider it the journey and be really realistic as to what the expectations are quarterly, annually, you know, every two years, three years, five years based on that journey.

SPEAKER_00 37:57

Is there anything else on the horizon for Country Smooth? Are we is it is is Country Smooth, so it's spirits, because it's not the company is Country Spirits, right? So are there other types of alcohol coming out of uh Country Smooth? Are you gonna focus mostly on on bourbon?

SPEAKER_01 38:12

So we are we are focused on bourbon. In 2023, we are looking at launching two new products, bourbon products. And we are launching a concert, a country smooth concert, highlighting three local bands and at a ranch. That's gonna be first quarter, what we're doing in addition to our bourbon products. Um small concert, but really truly embodying the Country Smooth lifestyle. So that's we're we're in the final stages of planning that. Um, and there's some other things that we're talking about doing in 2023, but those are pretty much the confirmed projects, new products in our first Country Smooth concert.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

Very cool. So uh what other endeavors are out there for the uh Lori Carsage Empire? What's what's next?

SPEAKER_01 39:02

So outside of Country Smooth, which is obviously my baby, my focus professionally, I've been honored to be asked to be a keynote speaker in three different events. These are all women audiences. So um I'm very honored to do that. They're between an hour and an hour and a half keynote. And the um the topic is just like an openness, and it's whether climbing mountains figuratively or physically, I live by the four P's, which are passion, partnership, perseverance, and product. And so that has been my keynote speaking topic. And I'm doing more and more of that in 2023, which is exciting. And my goal with that is to empower men and women to stay strong and we really can overcome challenges and obstacles physically, mentally, business, personal, and I'm moving proof of that. In addition to the keynote speaking, I have been appointed on two different boards of advisors, which is which is an incredible honor. And I'm also doing some consulting for small business, small to medium-sized businesses.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Very cool. Well, um, I have a few closing questions I like to throw out there to my guests just to have a little bit of fun in the end. We will start with what was your first job ever?

SPEAKER_01 40:24

My first job. My first job ever was I was a swim instructor. I swam in high school. I love swimming. Um, I've competed in sprint charathlons. That's that was my way of getting back into shape after having each of my three children reading for sprint charathlons with friends, of course. It was always social. And the swimming part was my favorite over running, and I hate side fun. I hate side running.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

I hate running.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Um so I started teaching swim lessons in college and I loved it. It was fantastic. And then I from there I um started my own swim, swim lesson business. I had homes in people's people's backyards in the area, and I would uh worked every summer in college and 30 hours a week in the summers, which is fantastic. And from there, I started coaching the club swim team at the high school, where my daughters now swim the full circle.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

Very cool. All right. What is your uh what's your favorite place that you've ever visited anywhere in the world that matter?

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Favorite place, you know, that's a really, really tough question. But I'm gonna have to say I was awestruck with Alaska. Awestruck. So my parents had taken and my my grandparents had taken my sister and I on many cruises growing up. We're very fortunate, mostly in the Bahamas, the Caribbean, etc. And my parents said back in 2004, we want to go on an Alaskan cruise. We're gonna take you guys on an Alaskan cruise, my husband and my sister and I. And I said, I don't want to go in Alaska. I want to go where it's 85 degrees and we can be in our swimsuits and go snorkeling and jet skiing and being on the beaches and drink, you know, um my ties and et cetera. And I love Hawaii as well. And they said, just trust us. I think you'll enjoy Alaska. And I love the mountains. I mean, I I would prefer to either be in the mountains or in the beaches. So they were taking us. So I said, I can't, I can't challenge this any longer, right? They're they're they're they're taking all of us. So when I got off the airplane in Alaska and it was the drive to the port where we first got on the ship, I was in complete awe. Absolutely stunning. And the entire cruise was like that too. Gorgeous, gorgeous. So I would say the Alaska, um, state of Alaska, and really like coastal Alaska, which is where we were on a cruise, um, ended in Vancouver, Canada, which is stunning as well. That whole area was my favorite place. I've been to Europe, I've seen most of the United States of America. I have a favorite family vacation spot, which is like Tahoe, California. But the most beautiful by far, I would say, was Alaska.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Wow, I've not yet been there, so that's on my list to check it out.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

I believe you'll love it.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

I think so. Uh, if you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 43:14

Well, I don't know if I want to bring it, but you know, you those crazy bangs, you know, that maybe I want to bring them back. That's the fashion trend that I like cringe the most of when I see pictures of myself with those crazy bangs.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

Big waterfall bangs that go with the Yes.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Like, mom, what re why did you let me out of the house in those wearing those bangs? Um, as far as bringing them back, I don't know. I I really, you know, I wouldn't bring back the bangs. Actually, that's the opposite of what I'd bring back. You know, I cannot I I I'd have to think about that. You used to have a rarely times to you. I I have to think about that.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

No worries. All right. So what is your uh what's your go to karaoke song?

SPEAKER_01 43:57

Living on a prayer.

SPEAKER_00 43:59

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

An Toby. But you know, I like to sing out loud in my car um often for sure. And when that song comes on, it's very loud. In a bar, it's by far the most fun. What about yours?

SPEAKER_00 44:14

Well, I don't do karaoke because I don't like to punish people for no reason. Um, but and when I'm in my car, uh, well, you know, it's hard to say. There's a there's a few songs that really get me shouting in my car. Lately I've been on a bit of a Sturgeon Simpson kick, so that's that's a big one for me.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Awesome. What's your favorite song?

SPEAKER_00 44:31

Ooh, by him. Um, I like the ones that he recorded for. There's like a I don't know if he did the movie himself. It's on Netflix. It's called Sound and Fury. I don't know if it's his movie, but he did the music for it. Um, and one of them on there is called Sing Along, and I really like it a lot. I also like Remember to Breathe. It's it's kind of a dirty song, but I just kind of like how it goes. It's pretty cool. So uh, so what's your favorite time of day?

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Oh God. Well, um, it used to be in the evening, sunset. I love sunsets. I think sunsets are just some of the most beautiful around the world, really. Like you can sit, whether it's at home at the beach. I live about 20 minutes from Newport Beach or in the mountains and the sunset or just driving in the car. Sunset time of the day is is, I think, the most gorgeous, beautiful, beautiful. And in my backpacking venture ventures, we always try to get into our next camp because you're backpacking or usually always every day is a different camp. So every morning you tear down camp and by we try to get to the next camp spot, about usually 10 to 15 miles from the previous day, um, before sunset. So we can set up camp and we can eat dinner and watch the sunset from wherever we are and be asleep by like 8 o'clock 8:30. So I would say sunset really truly to me is the most inspiring, the most beautiful time. I'm not a really I'm not an early morning person. I know sunrises are fandom and gorgeous too, but sunset to me is the most beautiful part of the day.

SPEAKER_00 45:59

I I also like sunsets, actually. It's uh I like them better than sunrises. Um sunrises are nice, but yeah, I like just the way that the the sunset has the the lighting, the color, everything. It's much better than sunrise to me. What cartoon character would you like to hang out with?

SPEAKER_01 46:15

Oh, cartoon character. Well, that's a great question. What what is your who is yours?

SPEAKER_00 46:22

Oh man, for cartoons, you know, I I actually I love it wouldn't be the character so much as the writers, but uh I actually love SpongeBob. I think it's brilliant writing. At least it used to be. I don't know who's doing it now. I haven't seen it in years since my kids have grown up. But if SpongeBob is in fact what the writers make him out to be, outside of his laugh, his laugh's irritating, but you know, I could hang out with him probably.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

SpongeBob, you and my son would be bad buddies. Um, you know, I tune characters. I don't know. That's a that's a you've got some really good, good questions. I would say the incredibles. I would say the mom of the incredibles.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

Yeah, she was pretty cool. I liked her. So, what is the best piece of advice that you've ever been given?

SPEAKER_01 47:11

Well, I think from a business perspective, and I put it on my Instagram last night, this is Entrepreneur's Day. Um, and it wasn't quite said specifically this way, but essentially if you want as long as you have that fire in your soul, don't ever give up and don't let anybody get in the way of what you're trying to do. And I think that that translates to personal and professional. Um, being a tenacious person, I am, it really does help me through, you know, again, I go back to backpacking some of those major challenges the first survivor did. I I at first survivor backpacking um all of my equipment, most of my equipment was not effective at all. It was the road, it wasn't the high end, wasn't the lowest end, but it was definitely not where I'm at now. And I had in two days, I had seven blisters. See coming down the mountain, I had seven blisters. So I I it was awful, you know, and it was like I kept hearing that there's that fire in your soul, don't ever stop, you know, and it was frustrating, it was hard, and I didn't know how to deal with blisters because I never had blisters prior to this first backpacking trip. It's the weight, it's the at that time like 39, 40 pounds, which I would not advise people to do, and the elevation and the altitude, all that. Um, and I quickly, after that trip, figured out how to not get blisters again, right? So I didn't go through that again. Um, but that was very challenging. And some people would stop and say, okay, well, I'm not gonna go through that again. I'm not gonna backpack. And but that to me was not an option. Or some of the storms I had been through, or some of the my main backpacking trip I did, two of my friends were injured, so they could not carry, they could not continue on. And I did on my own, which was, you know, again, I had that fire in my soul, and I wasn't gonna stop unless I physically could no longer hit one step in front of the other. So I would say that piece of advice has been my has been the most, most helpful. Again, I look at personal and professional advice.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Absolutely. That's good advice. So any closing comments? Anything you want to throw out there?

SPEAKER_01 49:13

No, I just thank you for your time and I encourage every single um entrepreneur and leader and and leader, leaders do not have to be entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs, that life is not for everybody, which is great because we all need to be uniquely different. And um, but my advice for everybody, really again, personal and professional, is to listen to that fire in your soul. And for me, living by the four Ps every day has helped me reach success. And in my mind, success does not necessarily mean how much money you have in your bank account, right? Some people measure success on money. And I think that that's that's part of it. Um, but I think success to me is measured in happiness. It's measured in the people we keep around us. Are they empowering? Are they supportive even when times get really hard? And are we making progress? Success to me is are we making progress in our everyday life, whether it's in business, whether it's in our relationships, are we learning from our mistakes and making changes so that we don't incur those mistakes on the regular? I think for me, those four P's have helped me to become successful daily. Um, I think it's important we all encourage each other throughout our journeys, continue to empower each other to greatness.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

Well, good deal. Well, thank you very much, Laurie. I appreciate your time.

SPEAKER_01 50:35

Okay, thank you, Steve.

SPEAKER_00 50:41

I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please share it with anyone you think might also enjoy it. And if you like the show, please consider supporting it. It's the support of listeners like you that keeps us going. If you'd like to help, there's a link in the show notes. I'd like to thank all our guests who've taken the time to have these conversations and share their insights on failures, both personal and professional. If you want to follow the show, the website is www.points of failure.budzbrow.com. And you can find us on Facebook and Instagram at failurepointbug and on Twitter at failurepoint. Please like and share, and remember to rate and review the show on whichever podcast platform you use. The ratings and reviews really help us and keep us going. Again, thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time on Points of Failure.