Chris Hunter

And long story short, I bugged him, literally email and call every day until he gave me a job. And that's what got me into beverages. Wow. So you have this kind of persistence. Yeah. To give you how aggressive or desperate, interchange whatever word you want, I was at that time. There was this other startup vodka company that was very popular in Chicago. It was called FN Vodka.

And long story short, I bugged him, literally email and call every day until he gave me a job. And that's what got me into beverages. Wow. So you have this kind of persistence. Yeah. To give you how aggressive or desperate, interchange whatever word you want, I was at that time. There was this other startup vodka company that was very popular in Chicago. It was called FN Vodka.

They ended up becoming a pretty big brand. And I liked that brand and I wanted to work for them. And I did the same thing with them. So much so that I said, if I don't hear back from you, I will assume an interview on Tuesday at 10 o'clock And I showed up at their, I never heard back from them. And I showed up at their office and no one was there. I left my resume on the desk and walked out.

They ended up becoming a pretty big brand. And I liked that brand and I wanted to work for them. And I did the same thing with them. So much so that I said, if I don't hear back from you, I will assume an interview on Tuesday at 10 o'clock And I showed up at their, I never heard back from them. And I showed up at their office and no one was there. I left my resume on the desk and walked out.

But like, that's how aggressive I was because I got to eat, man.

But like, that's how aggressive I was because I got to eat, man.

No. So I started selling vodka for this company and they put me in quite possibly the most difficult situation that you can have, which is on premise, which is bars and nightclubs and restaurants in Chicago. And the reason it's the most difficult situation is because every brand is spending their money there. They have big budgets, right? Yeah.

No. So I started selling vodka for this company and they put me in quite possibly the most difficult situation that you can have, which is on premise, which is bars and nightclubs and restaurants in Chicago. And the reason it's the most difficult situation is because every brand is spending their money there. They have big budgets, right? Yeah.

And so I was going to these places with no budgets and no experience, just asking them to believe my story or to believe in me and put the product in their stores. I did that for a couple months. Then he started expanding my responsibilities. So I managed off-premise, which is stores, grocery stores, liquor stores, whatever it may be.

And so I was going to these places with no budgets and no experience, just asking them to believe my story or to believe in me and put the product in their stores. I did that for a couple months. Then he started expanding my responsibilities. So I managed off-premise, which is stores, grocery stores, liquor stores, whatever it may be.

in in illinois and then they expanded me to five states at that point i realized that i understood at least enough the the distribution game you know in alcohol it's a three-tier system so you have the supplier which is the creator of the product you have the distributor which takes the product to the bars of the store and then you have this the retail location and so i understood that i met enough people and um i was selling a lot of the vodka uh that was being mixed in with red bull

in in illinois and then they expanded me to five states at that point i realized that i understood at least enough the the distribution game you know in alcohol it's a three-tier system so you have the supplier which is the creator of the product you have the distributor which takes the product to the bars of the store and then you have this the retail location and so i understood that i met enough people and um i was selling a lot of the vodka uh that was being mixed in with red bull

I was 25. I was out also drinking a lot of vodka mixed in Red Bull. And so I said, you know, maybe we should try to do this as a combination ready to drink product. And so I called my old college buddy. He's the guy that I had tried to start Wild Havens with. And I said, hey, I'm thinking of starting this thing. And he's like, yeah, I'm in. He was part time in it.

I was 25. I was out also drinking a lot of vodka mixed in Red Bull. And so I said, you know, maybe we should try to do this as a combination ready to drink product. And so I called my old college buddy. He's the guy that I had tried to start Wild Havens with. And I said, hey, I'm thinking of starting this thing. And he's like, yeah, I'm in. He was part time in it.

A couple months in, we realized neither of us really wanted to do the financial modeling and decks. And I had a buddy who worked for ABN Amro. I called him and I said, hey, what do you think? Yeah, I'm in. And that's how we got started. Wow. Yeah. Our investors were friends and family.

A couple months in, we realized neither of us really wanted to do the financial modeling and decks. And I had a buddy who worked for ABN Amro. I called him and I said, hey, what do you think? Yeah, I'm in. And that's how we got started. Wow. Yeah. Our investors were friends and family.

Where I started, being that I'm from Youngstown, blue collar, lower middle class, there was no money from friends and family for me. Fortunately, my partners both went to their families and they put in small amounts of money in retrospect for the size of the company became, but that was our investment. We didn't have the experience or the connections to really go raise traditional funding.

Where I started, being that I'm from Youngstown, blue collar, lower middle class, there was no money from friends and family for me. Fortunately, my partners both went to their families and they put in small amounts of money in retrospect for the size of the company became, but that was our investment. We didn't have the experience or the connections to really go raise traditional funding.

And so we bootstrapped it. And that Looking back, luckily we did because I think that had we had more money in the early days, we would have just spent more money on all the wrong things.

And so we bootstrapped it. And that Looking back, luckily we did because I think that had we had more money in the early days, we would have just spent more money on all the wrong things.