Episode Transcript
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Couple of Newks. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, but this is no ordinary episode. I have been super excited for this event, the Frontline Tastings event in Tampa, Florida. The guy who put this all together, Mike Waskiewicz, he was on the podcast, and he and I talked about some stuff, and I, I really fell in love with his heart for, you know, creating a space that supports veteran-owned beverages, adult beverages from sports drinks and teas to alcohol, you know. And his thing was, "It's not about what you're drinking, it's about the camaraderie and community." So, so love him. Shout out to him. And he has put this together in person all day, back to back to back podcasting. It is a rare occasion. Most of us, you know, do our things online with a little Zoom call, and this is much nicer. There's some difficulties that come with in-person podcasting, but, uh, you know, we're super glad to power through it and set this all up. So today we're gonna be getting into one of the veteran brand owners, you know, um, and we're gonna be talking about just a whole bunch of stuff. So, so great to have you here, Ms. Chrystal Corbin. Uh, we met a little bit last night- I did ... very briefly- Yep ... uh, you know, at a networking event. Mm-hmm. It was really loud. I only got- Oh, okay ... every fifth word you said. So, uh, I basically don't know who you are, but we're gonna get into it. So, so great to have you here. And, and I guess tell us a little bit about what brings you to this event in particular. Right. So I'm Chrystal Corbin. I am the founder of Perspective Spirits. We are actually a veteran allied brand. Uh, we got here through Mike as well. We had him on the podcast. Uh, actually Barbook, his other venture, is one- Yep ... of our sponsors for our podcast. Um, and so it's been great to be here, to be at Frontline Tastings, and seeing everyone come together, uh, all these brands. And to be accepted as a veteran allied brand has, has been amazing. We're all here for the same reason. We want people to try our, our amazing products and help each other get deeper into the industry. Mm. Mike never offered to sponsor my podcast, so- So now I got another interview after this with him. Uh, yeah, but that's great. You know, one of the things here is a lot of us know someone else here because the community's very connected. We've got people from Military Creator Con, Military Influencer Con, MCon, uh, all these different podcasting events, so it's really awesome to see the interconnection, too. And I'm sure maybe you've bumped into other people you've met in past events and stuff- Yeah or former guests. And th- that's always cool, to meet a former guest in person. Um, we did that last night. We got to, uh, interview again Brandon, uh, from Old Raleigh. Mm. Oh, yeah. So it was great to meet in person. Yeah, I got to try his stuff last night, actually, and, uh, we had a little bit of a beef. His jacket said Whiskey Artist, my thing said Mr. Whiskey, and it's like, "Hold on, there can't be two of us now," you know? But at this kind of event, we're, we're all Mr. And Mrs. Whiskeys, you know? Or, or wine or whatever your adult beverage is. But yeah, we're- Or as we say, we're all connoisseurs. Right, right, right. And it, it's been great. I got to try a couple things, uh, last night, and then Thursday night will be the big taste in. Looking forward to trying your products, of course. And today is about getting to know you and your heart behind the craft, right? Yeah. Because a lot of people don't go into the, the alcohol business for money, they go into it because of the love of the craft- Yeah ... the community. Um, I was talking to a guy last night, and he's like, "My wife said no more barrels." And I said, "Why not?" He goes, "'Cause she said $15,000 on some wooden barrels and a drink and..." You know? Yeah. So it, it costs money. It adds up, for sure, you know? So what got you into this line of work? That is a, a fun story. So growing up, um, alcohol was bad It was, you know, there's alcoholics in my family. My grandmother, uh, was a recovering alcoholic by the time I was born into the family. And so it was just like, "Oh, if you were around, you wouldn't wanna drink, you wouldn't wanna do this." Mm. And I'm like, "Okay." And then I went to college. And I was like, "Oh, this is fun." Um, but understanding that it can be, you know- Right ... something serious that you can overindulge in. Um, met my husband. Uh, well, actually, I didn't meet him. Started dating my husband. We got married and, um, his family is, I like to say, alcohol positive, whereas- Mm ... I feel like mine is alcohol negative. Right. And so in his family, they would drink for like 14 hours, everybody's doing good. Mm. Everyone's still normal, no one's fighting. I was like, "Oh, so alcohol can be good." Mm. And so from interactions with his family, it's just been around more of, "Okay, well, let me research this. Let me find out more." Right. And h- hearing the history behind some of these brands, the, you know, the stories, it was fascinating, you know. And, um, ended up doing a, when I did my MBA, a group project in marketing, and I was like, "I wanna do a vodka." Mm. So I convinced my group to do a vodka, said, "We're gonna call it Vitae, and it's gonna be an, an enhancement water, or vodka." And they agreed, and we got an A. Vodka is enhanced water. You know what I mean? You're pretty accurate to that. And so it was like, I think I wanna do this. Like, it was so much fun putting it together. Mm. And just all the research we've done in alcohol, I was like, "I want to brand." And so it took us 14 years. Wow. We went from, "Okay, we're gonna do a vodka. Oh wait, no, we're gonna do whiskey." And then we ended up getting with our distiller and deciding to do a vodka and a gin. Mm. What you said resonates with me. I grew up in a home of addiction and abuse, and my father, uh, a- as addicted as he was, as abusive as he was, he said, "Son, I would never want this... whether you call it a disease, a curse, a whatever it is, this hardship for anyone." He goes, "And I may be a maniac, but I love my children enough to say, 'Never drink. Never be like me.'" He goes, "This is agony." And, you know, because of that, he dramatized some of the aspects of drinking, right? And so just seeing snippets of... You know, my high school, there was girls that were showing videos around the school of getting black out and punching each other and- Yeah ... and throwing up and hooking up, and then my dad, you know, basically was this villainous monster. And so I came to this conclusion that if you drink alcohol at all, you had no memories from the previous night. Mm-hmm. You weren't in control at all. You became this different person. And for a long time, I was committed to no alcohol in my life. And then one day, a guy in the military I served with at bootcamp, he confronted me. He said, "Mr. Whiskey, you're not choosing to drink or not. You just live in fear of what you think you'll become." And I said, "Exactly. That's the whole point. I'm being cautious. I'm trying to save the world from Mr. Whiskey being Mr. Mr. Whiskey," you know? But, um, he said, "If you try alcohol, and then you choose not to drink because of that, that's your choice or because you don't like whatever." He said, "Then you have chosen." So I told him, I said, "Listen, I want you to write down on a document this was your idea, so at my casket and funeral, you know, they will say it was his fault. He made him do this." But, um, I tried alcohol for the first time, and I didn't instantly become this different person. Mm-hmm. I didn't black out, and I was like, "Oh, you know, alcohol is, is kind of a... You know, I would say like how we call AI and guns all that stuff. It's how you use it- Right ... it's, it... or abuse it. Right. And so I... You know, my journey has developed, but because I work in addiction, you know, have interviewed hundreds of people on addiction- I have rules I follow. You talk about- Yeah ... alcohol positivity. I only drink if I'm in a good mood. Yep. I don't drink to numb, to escape. Yeah. I, if a good time becomes a bad time, stop drinking. Yeah. Right? And unfortunately, there's our culture, especially music-wise, you know, we have country music. I love them, shout out, but there's a lot of, you know, wife is leaving, I crash my pickup truck, I'm gonna drink beer. Or actually, you know what? It's a whiskey night, you know? Yeah. And then on the other side of music, especially rap side, we're drinking to turn up and it's a party. Oh, yeah. You look at movies, you know, there's not a lot of people just socially enjoying a, a, a drink or doing a drinking event like we're doing. Yeah. It's like instant party mode, and so there's a lot of villainization around this. It is. But now you've gotten the chance to work in the industry, see the behind the scenes, see, as people would say, the sweat, blood, and tears that go- Yeah ... into this craft, to see an artistic side of it. Mm-hmm. So how has that journey been, especially deciding ingredients, label creation, all these things that, you know, we just look at it in the store and we're like, "Oh, that's cool." But for you, maybe you spent, you've talked about over a decade of- Yeah ... dedication and work. Yeah. So in that decade, we knew how expensive it was to start a brand, so we started a podcast. So we have the To fund- ... the creation of- I started something that's very expensive to maintain and makes little money to make something that is expensive to maintain. But it was our excuse to be able to try other products and do market research- Right. Mm ... so we knew what we wanted in our products. To get close to the enemy, the competition. But you know what? Um- Get the secret recipe. Honestly, this industry is very open. Yeah. There are a lot of people who have helped us along our way. Um, I haven't found anyone that's gatekeeping of us, like, "How can we help?" Same. And so that's been, been great. And in part of that research, we learned it's the story- Mm ... and it's, it's the passion that, that people gravitate to with a brand. And so- Right ... for us, you know, hearing, you know, having... My family also lives in fear, too. I call them the crew to never not be afraid, um, as far as when it comes to alcohol, and it's just like, okay, we need to teach people how to drink. So on our podcast, not only do we do spirit reviews, but we do spirit education. Mm. And we talk about... Our, our tagline is, "Drink to remember, not to forget." I love that. Because a lot of people do it to escape- Mm ... or to be different. It's like, no, you can still be yourself, have a good time, and enjoy moderation. I mean, you can abuse anything, um, so alcohol takes the biggest fall for it, but- Right ... you know, if you can remember to be mindful, alcohol is something to be celebrated, to be in the moment with, and that's what Perspection does. Mm. We want people to be intentional in what, what they're drinking. Uh, we want people to be mindful. We also want people to be curious. So when you look at our bottles, we've got the little P with an I for Perspection, and we've got a wolf swan as our, our logo for our mascot, you know, that, that curious and seriousness a- around that. And just we want people to see spirits differently. Mm. Um, so we call Perspection really a drink to remember. It's, uh, 30 ABV. We have a strawberry coconut vodka as well as an apple crisp gin. Um, and so with that, we, we put different designs on the label, so we're, we're slowing down that process to make people more mindful. Like, "Oh, let me have a drink. Oh, let me look at this label." We also just came out with a game called Perspection Connection. We've lost a lot of connection in the world. Mm. So we have this game on our website- Right ... where it, it's a deck, and it asks you different questions. And so it'll be like, "What made you smile today?" So again, you're sipping and you're taking that time to... You know, you're not just shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. You're- Mm ... intentionally in the moment, being present with those around you. And I think one of the, the last questions it asks is, "Everybody take a photo together," so you can commemorate that moment. That's beautiful. And then we just added a digital frame, uh, with Perspection, uh, on our website where you can actually take that picture, put it in the frame, and you can send it to everybody. Oh, that's awesome. That is totally awesome. And so- Perspection, that comes from like a, a play on words with perspective and, and changing. And so with the crafting of the name, how long did that take? You know, was that like, "We've got the name. We don't know what it's gonna be," you know, what liquid or whatnot, "but we've got the name," or did that come much later on? Uh, name came... Several name changes. Name came later. I really originally wanted Perception 'cause one, you know, how you perceive alcohol. Right. And my friend was like, "What about Perspection, where you take perception and perspective- Hmm ... and put those together?" Right. And so that's where Perspection came from, and I was like, "I like that." Because really it's what do you see and how do, what do you take away from others when, when you speak to them? So, uh, again, this is a brand about connection and hearing each other- Mm ... uh, and being present. Right now, in this industry, we've talked about it's a lot of collaboration, not competition. Like you said, no one has ever hid any ingredients from me. Everyone is very passionate about sharing. In fact, they wanna share. They're like, "You know, I spent years making this." Have there been any hardships, though, whether it was dealing with other people, whether it was financial crisis, whether it was, I don't know, issues with distribution, whatever it may be. Right. I'm sure there's been a lot of hardships. Yeah. And so can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah. So in the beginning it was just like 14 years ago, where do we start? Like- Right ... how do we even get, get a brand? Just in the backyard. Yeah. And then it was like, okay, well, we gotta find a distiller, somebody. And we talked to a few people here and there as we went through. Do we do vodka? Do we do whiskey? And some of them were cool, and some of them were just kind of like, "Ah, this just feels like they're just gonna give me something, and they don't care about it." Hmm. Um, and so when we met our distiller, Vanessa Braxton, she's actually the first African American woman distiller. Wow. Uh, she's actually been doing this for as long as we've been dreaming about it for 14 years. Um, we could see her passion, and she was like, "Okay, you can't come to me with something simple or plain." Hmm. Which is how we have strawberry coconut vodka and apple crisp gin. Um, the other thing is distribution, like you were saying. That is the mystery box in all this. How... You get a distributor, but how do you get them to work for you? Or do you bu- do you pay for a sales team- Mm-hmm ... to work with the distribution team? You know, there, there's different avenues. So we're in New York. We're starting to get into Florida, and soon in our home state of Oklahoma, but it's like who's really going to support us? And so in the industry- Right ... yes, there's a lot of support, but distribution is still that box of I gotta find the right person. And- Right ... right now we're looking at smaller distribution avenues- Mm-hmm ... with people that are hungry to get, get into stores, and salespeople that are hungry to, to get that commission. Do you feel like it's hard to get into stores because there's so many big name established brands kind of basically taking up all the shelf space? Yeah. There's only so much shelf space, and if everybody's doing the same thing, how are you gonna stand out? Hmm. So that's one of the things that our bottle does is it, it, if you get it in the right lighting, it shines. If you look at it, it's got different designs, different pictures you can find out of it. It's almost like a Highlights, you know, back in that magazine where you used to be like, "Find the cat. Find the..." Right. Um, but also it's how can we be different in our flavoring and in our f- our offering? And so when you look at the strawberry coconut or the apple crisp, those are natural ingredients. Hmm. Going out to the orchard, getting the apples. The strawberries are real, the coconut is real. They're, uh, our distillery uses extracts for that. Mm. So being that real fresh ingredient- Mm ... uh, brand, that's one of the things that helps us stand out, um, with, with getting this out. I'm trying to think of any other hurdles we've had. Marketing. I mean, being a small brand, you know, you gotta get out there on social. You gotta put yourself out there. Right. Uh, we've got some founder videos that are coming out. Right. I'm like, "This is weird. I'm used to just interviewing people telling me about their brand." Right, right. So now I've gotta tell people about our brand, and I'm like, "Oh, this is... I gotta go do some media training." Absolutely. I mean, I do have a background in journalism, but I always wanted to write, not be in front of the camera. So this is definitely, uh, something that, yes, there are hurdles. Finances are a big one. That's why it took 14 years. Mm. We finally got the money to be able to, to put this together. Um, and so yeah, we've just... It's, it's a ride. It's a ride worth having if you have that passion, knowing that it can take several years to make a profit. Mm. And hopefully- So you need that passion- Yeah. ... to carry you through, because it's like podcasting. So many people who join podcasting to make money- Mm-hmm have been on my show and already quit, you know- Yeah ... because they're chasing that. Yep. And there's nothing to carry them through when they don't get that. Now, when it comes to, like you said, and same with me as a podcaster, now I'm a email guy, and I'm a social media guy. Yeah. And I do all this stuff. I wear a lot of hats. Mm-hmm. And, um, that I didn't know I'd have to do- Yeah ... a- as a solopreneur, and I'm not at the point where I've expanded yet. You know, same with a lot of these people, these veteran-owned brands, you know, they're... it's just them. Yeah. And then they maybe expand out in the future, but that's money and time- Right and a lot of work. When it comes to pitching to be distributed in the stores, I gotta ask, what were some reasons for rejection that you received? Because I'd love for people who are thinking about getting into this to keep this in mind. Was it, "Hey, we just don't have shelf space," or was it, "I don't think your brand is unique enough," or, "I think the flavor profile is too com-"? Like, what are kind of reasons for rejection? The thing I didn't understand going to this, this industry is that it's seasonal. Mm. And so you don't wanna start in January, 'cause you know, that's Dry January. Summer, spring and summer are good. What I've learned recently is in the fall it's hard to get in because everybody's going for OND, October, November, December. That's where your gifts come in, everybody's looking to buy more because it's fourth quarter, the holidays. Mm. So we started, uh, here in Florida with a salesperson. She's been going around for, for the last few weeks, and they're like, "Oh, well, we just gotta wait till October." And it's like, that's just two weeks from now, but okay. Mm. And so she's gonna have to go back and, and vi- revisit those stores in October, 'cause they'll be like, "Oh, we love your gin," or, "We love your vodka-" Mm "but we just can't do any new brands right now." So that seasonal sensitivity is, is, uh, pretty drastic then. Yeah. And you talked about, you know, it took all this time to get the money, get everything right. How did you go about funding this? Was this, "Hey, we're both working three jobs"? Or are there avenues for, especially as a vet- or a veteran ally or veteran-owned, to get certain types of funding or grants, or how does that work? Or is it like, "Hey, we gotta work three jobs-" Mm ... "and we gotta put everything we have into this"? Yeah. So fortunately, I got a new job that came with a substantial increase that allowed us to, to be able to support a brand. Um, now to start the brand, we actually used credit cards. Do not recommend if you cannot pay them off. Right. Uh, we did it 'cause we knew we could pay it off, so we got like a deferred 12-month interest loan. We paid everything off in like six months. Okay. Um, because we knew we, we had... We didn't have the lump sum, but we knew over time, over six to 12 months, we could, we could pay it off. Mm. And so that's what we did. Um, and that, that's been what's funded us for this first run. Now we're trying to get in stores to sell so we can afford the second run. Okay. And so this is... So you said it took 14 years, so when did you launch again? We launched November of 2025. Okay. So that is- Yeah ... very brand new. In fact, you'll be reaching one year coming up here. Yes. So how have you found it? That first year is probably one of the trickiest ones to navigate, and so do you feel like going into this next year you are much more prepared for everything? Yes. This next year I feel like we'll be in a better place, especially as we're in- we'll be in our hometown, so, or our home state of Oklahoma. So anybody in New York, Florida, Oklahoma, just start asking for Perspection. Talk to your local liquor store owner- Mm-hmm ... so we can get in there. Um, that's really what it is, is, is building those relationships. It's that word of mouth- Right ... um, that'll help propel the brand and get us going. So that's what we're looking forward to. Oklahoma, know a lot of people out there, so I'm hoping to go reach out to our contacts and get their support. Right. Um, because a lot of people that known us, they know this is what we've been wanting to do. Right. And so I have to ask, I know you're pretty new getting these ready, but is there another recipe on the way, or it's like y'all got those ideas, you're like, "We gotta hold off"? We, we- It's hard to make it simmer, right? Right. We, we do have ideas for the next one. Uh, I will say the l- the label will, will be a different color. Okay. Um, and it'll be a different genre. So- Mm ... each expression we wanna do a different spirit type. Mm. So yeah, Janenbach it now, and then stay tuned to see what's, what's next. Right. So that's, that's very interesting. And I, I love all this, you know. It's, it's challenging. The, the passion is clearly there. And I, I gotta ask, so this is a business that you and your husband run, correct? Correct. So how has that been in, in terms of marital strain or, or maybe this has built you closer together. You've have to navigate business and your marriage at the same time. Would recommend, not recommend? What, how has the journey been? Uh, the journey for us has been great. We've been married now for 18 years. Um, you have to have a strong foundation if you're gonna go into business together. Uh, you have to learn to agree or learn to align even if you don't agree, depending on what it is. And so that's what we've, we've done. We've, we've always played to our strengths, and so that's what's helped us in, in propelling us with this brand. Also our podcast. We've had that for three years. And so we just make sure we're on the same page, or if we don't, then we're just like, "Okay, well, let's try it- Mm and see what happens." And so that's, that's what we've done, and it's been great. Um, we don't argue over any of this stuff really. I mean, my husband is cheap, so he doesn't like spending all this money. I'm like, "We gotta do this and do that." And then I have to say, "It's a write-off." Mm. You know, because it's a business. Right. Um, but yeah, other than that, I think it's been great because for our marriage, we believe in, um, coming together and not apart. So we wanna make sure that, "Okay, you like cigars. Okay, let me try that out. Let- let's, let's see how we can also support each other's hobbies" and different things like that, so. Do you have any, or would he have any cigars he recommends to partner with your drinks? Or do like- Oh ... you're, you're kind of out of the cigar loop. You kind of just, if he gives you one, you know, it's there or? I am fairly new, and actually I just recently switched to pipe tobacco because I find it a lot easier- Mm-hmm and a lot, 'cause cigar- And- ... is, is so thick, uh, whereas pipe tobacco is, is not as strong or, you know, it doesn't stick with you like a cigar does. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, but we are playing in that realm of, of what would a cigar pairing be for us. We haven't decided- Mm ... what that is yet. We've also thought about, ooh, what would a perfume do? Because everything has notes, so could we take the notes from Perfection and put those into a perfume or a cologne. It's so funny because yesterday there was a gentleman here who has Yoo Gin, and it was a beautiful gin, and I was smelling it and I was like, "Man, you gotta sell this as cologne." I said, "I'm gonna just keep open bottles of your product in my house to like, be like candles," you know, 'cause it smelled so good. And of course you had those. Uh, and, and with your flavors, have you found it to be, obviously, I'm gonna assume, a much more expensive and hard and difficult route to pursue having all fresh ingredients compared to just copping out for extracts or artificial flavoring? How has that journey and commitment been? Yeah. So when you're looking at pricing, that's where that, that starts to come in. So our Sugar Ray Coconut Vodka, we recommend it. It's MSRP at $34.99, and that's because it has those two flavors. Mm. Um, a lot of other brands are just one flavor, so we, we stepped it up having two. Right. And two that are made with fresh ingredients. Um- And so that's where that price point comes in. Otherwise, this could be a 20, $25 vodka- Mm ... if we didn't. Uh, so you're paying for that quality. Mm. And then with the Apple Crisp Gin, it's 49.99 MSRP, and that's in line with a lot of your other gins like Hendrick's and Blue Whale, I believe, um, because we have that apple flavor in there. And that, that's what makes it stand out. So you're gonna get that honey crisp apple flavor when you- Mm ... drink that gin. It's not gonna be overpowering. It blends well with the botanicals that we use. Right. And I truly appreciate what you do. I think it's interesting. We have a conscious consumerism market when it comes to food. What am I eating? Organic, organic, organic. Right. When it comes to the alcohol industry, it seems like a lot of people are just like, "I don't care. Whatever," you know? And we need to be conscious about everything we're consuming. Right. You know, and people will be like, even sodas, they're like, "Oh, this is full of chemicals," but this, this, you know, cheap alcohol that I got, "Oh, I don't care what's in it." So I, I really appreciate what you do, 'cause I know it is a more difficult route. But it's a better product and better for us. Yes. And with all of this, you mentioned earlier on, we talked about starting a podcast to fund this endeavor. Oh, right. Which was, uh, turned into its own passion project it seems. And so how has that journey gone from, "Hey, we wanna try some stuff, podcast," to now, "Hey, we're podca-," I know y'all are doing some podcasts here- ... filming content. So it's like this is still a thing that you're doing now. You've got sponsors. Talk about the evolution of that because podcasting- Oh ... we've got podcasters here, it's a journey. It is. It is. Uh, it, it grows into this big thing you didn't even imagine. I think we're on our third or fourth setup just for podcasting right now. We started with, like, a mirrorless camera. Right, right. And then we went into- I don't know, we had two mirrorless cameras maybe. Then we went to, now we just use our laptop with a 4K web- Right cam. Um, and then we also have a DJI Osmo that we added to our arsenal this year. So we got all the toys and gadgets. Right. Um, we, we first worked on sound. Getting sound right is the thing 'cause people don't wanna hear, you know, things in the background or low tone. So we, we worked hard to get the sound right. Right. Then we worked on lighting. So when we're in our, what we call our liquor library, that's our studio, uh, we've got over 300 bottles of alcohol, all different types in, in our library. And so we had to work on lighting, so we've got three soft boxes that help- Mm ... with our lighting. Um, we also, for editing, while we may shoot in Riverside, we edit in Descript. Mm. And that's come a long way 'cause we also had Opus Clips. We, we've done- Right ... so many different things as tools come out, try them, what do we like. And then there's the, the uploading to social media. Mm. So we have Metricool right now to do that, where Opus Clips used to do that. And so we just, we just keep evolving as technology changes. AI's helping- Mm ... a lot with that editing process and cutting things down- Right ... for us because this is a true passion, and it takes time to craft an episode every week. So right now we haven't had an episode in almost two weeks, but typically we run about once a week. Mm. And five to seven clips per episode. I understand. No, I totally understand. You know, I started off, when I first started, a random episode every few weeks. Now my show is every other day, and part of that is because of the tools. When I first started, I was using Audacity to record. There's no transcript, right? This is back when it was just audio. Yep. You were, you're look- you're reading a sound wave and you're like, "Is that a cough?" You're trying to play back. You're trying to get it so you're clipping this up. Now with Descript, the w- that's one of the tools where you get the transcript, you highlight the word. Yep. It removes the video, the audio, and- Right you can go undo, redo. It's so beautiful- Oh my goodness ... how it's come a long way. Yep. Going from manually cutting, re-watching the whole episode, you're editing, you're trying to cut social media clips, to now we have social media clip generators. Yep. Do I still have to manually edit a lot of them? Yes. Yes. Have I seen podcasters who don't? And I'm like, "Ugh." Have I seen podcasters who didn't edit it and now, like, half my face is on the screen and it's like, ugh. Yep. That's the worst, when it's a clip of you. You know? But, um, I've seen it, and it really speaks to who's dedicated or not, you know? Because I understand that I don't have time to make social media clips- Then if you don't h- have time, don't just haphazardly throw stuff out there. Right. Right? It's either you're, you're full committed or not, you know? And so... Oh, and then there's the descriptions you gotta add in there. Right. Descriptions, titles, links, all this. I had to build and create and maintain a website, you know? Yeah. And I, I do that myself, and I know y'all got... You have now one for the podcast, one for the square- Yeah this and that. And so it, it's a journey. You talk about adding a digital frame, right? That's something that you gotta learn along the way. It took a couple of days and some ChatGPT. Yeah. And I, I... Speaking of creation, so we've got your bottles here- Yeah ... for anyone who's watching. I love the cover art. Yeah. So what is this... How does this go? Do you hire an artist or you hand drew these yourself? Or- Oh, I... So I am the idea person. I am not the artist. So I always have these- Yeah ... creative ideas, and I'm like, "I need someone to bring them to life." So we have people that, thank God for their lives- Oh, yeah ... they can do that. And so we had a... We hired a designer who actually happens to be our, uh, distiller's daughter. So Alyssa Braxton- Hmm ... put this together for us. She hand drew this label. And- Yeah, that's beautiful ... I just gave her... I had been working with ChatGPT, like, "Okay, what do I want?" And putting it together. I gave her like- Yeah an eight-page Google Doc. Like- ... "Here, here's our brand, here's what we're thinking. Duality. Uh, our moment in duality. We want illusion. Uh, we, we just want something really cool." And so we had one meeting, gave her the document, and she came back with, with, uh, this label. And I can sh- send you the video. We have a time lapse video of her actually drawing that. Oh, wow. That's awesome. And so you'll see... And she's even pointing out stuff we didn't know. So there... She's like, "There's a face in there." I was like, "What?" I was just like, "I see the eye, I see the fox one, I see the-" The more you drink, the more faces you see. Maybe. So, so yeah. It, it's been real cool, and it's kind of got some topography in there. And so we've been to- Yeah ... a couple of places where it's like, "Oh, that kind of reminds us of our bottle." And so we'll, like, take a photo. Right. And so it's, it's been really neat. So again, it's one of those things where as you're drinking Perspective, check out the bottle Right. I love that. You know, I, I love to admire the artwork, 'cause I know people sometimes browse the shelves and stuff, but it's... I know how much time goes into this. Being part of now Whiskey Bourbon Society, I actually read the whole stuff on the back. Yeah. I, I certainly didn't used to. I, you know, uh, I didn't even know what alcohol was made of. Now people are like telling, telling about barley and corn and this and that. Yeah. And I'm, I'm tracking now, you know. There is such a passion and craft for it. Yeah. And with this whole concept of, I love the, the drink to remember, not to forget, perspection, what would you advise parents to teach their children and the people they mentor about alcohol, especially when they're younger, to have the right perspection? Yeah. I would tell parents, 'cause I'm gonna have to go through this myself, I've got a 12-year-old daughter, Mm-hmm it, that alcohol isn't, isn't bad. Don't be afraid of it. Just use it in moderation. Mm. And so one of the things that we've done with our daughter, she's been to about four or five distilleries to where she's probably like, "I'm never drinking. I'm tired of this stuff." Uh, we're like, "No, you need to see the science behind it and the fermentation." Like, we're trying to teach her the different elements to understand- Right ... what it is. You know, we want her to understand, like, you know, drinking is a positive thing that you can do. And so we'll, we try to model that, you know, for her. Like, we're, we're not getting sloppy drunk on the weekends. We're just having a, a drink, just a simple drink- Right or two. Or we'll, you know, sit out on the patio, have a drink, have conversation. Like, we're trying to teach her how these things should work, what she should look out for, like making sure she understands that, you know, no matter what you consume, food or alcohol, know what it is. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Know where it came from. And so those are things that we're instilling, you know, as she gets older. Right. Uh, we're not letting her drink, but we might be like, "Okay, smell this. What, what are you getting from this?" So we're developing her palate so she knows- Mm ... like, oh, okay, I understand, uh, what, what this note is. Wow. And, you know, with the bottles we have here, the strawberry coconut vodka, and then the apple gin, you know, they sound like they're, they're good enough to just drink on their own straight, to be honest, especially the, the strawberry coconut vodka. But do you have a favorite recipe that you've kind of experimented with in terms of cocktails or- Yeah ... something like that? So these are great on their own. We, we prefer to drink neat, bottle to glass. Um, but we have actually on our website right now, we have 12 cocktails. We have six for each expression. Oh, wow. Um, um, E- Eden's Temptation has been a favorite. Um- And you gotta make the names and everything for all of these? Yes. E- That's so awesome. Yeah. Now, Eden's Temptation came from a bartender, uh, shout out to Abby Elliot. Uh, she came up with that one. And, um, I'm trying to think of what all is in it. It's, it's with the apple gin. Um, it's got caramel. It's got foaming bitters. It's delicious. So, um, that's a good one. And then the strawberry coconut, you can keep that simple. Add some Topo Chico Just make it refreshing. Yeah. I, I'm really anxious to try the strawberry coconut because I'm a flavor guy, and I know sometimes certain people in the alcohol industry will get a bit snobbish about, "Oh, if you drink flavored stuff, you're not a real man." There's some crazy mindsets around that. But for us, it's about, you know, drink what you enjoy. Yes. You know, whatever it is. And for me, I... Look, I love to have a drink and feel like I'm on the beach, even if I'm not on the beach, you know? And so that strawberry coconut vodka, I feel like takes me there, and- Yeah you know, I'm thinking of all the great, uh, tropical stuff. Y'all should try to get that on a cruise ship if you can. Oh, right. You know, 'cause, 'cause that, that sounds great. That would be awesome. Yeah. So we'll, we'll make some content together Thursday night- Yeah ... and we'll, we'll do that. But, uh, it was so great to meet you. I know I gotta meet you and your husband, and we'll, we'll be in contact. And super excited for whenever the next line drops, you know? We'll have you back on to share- Yeah ... about that. And I think that you've shared a lot of good advice because, you know, uh, it is a difficult industry, but it's something like you said, if you're passion, you know, and consistent and committed, and I think you've really shared on how to really work and navigate that. And I, I really love the drink to remember not to forget, because I've done, you know, hundreds of interviews now about addiction, and so many of them have covered wanting to forget, to numb- Yeah ... to escape or, you know, or to become a different person. Yeah. To forget who you are. Right. And to forget that person who maybe wasn't as funny as when they were drinking or as social and stuff. And, uh, it's so sad. And I think especially in the military, we have generational, um, influences and pressures in college and high school. So I hope more people are teaching a different perspection for everyone, and I'm really glad that you're guesting today so we can help share that. And I'm also glad to be a part of that because I think it's so important, and I think if we have enough of this spread and impact, it'll go from intervention and recovery to just prevention. Yeah. You know? And, and that's what this is about. So thank you so much for guesting today. Of course, we're gonna have your website description below- Right ... for people to check out those cocktail recipes, to get their digital frame if they want, you know, to do all that stuff, to- the game. I really love how you're going into it, right? Most people who make an alcohol, they don't make a game. They don't encourage photography. They'll encourage photography of the product for promotion- Right ... not for connection and perspection. So- Yeah ... I really love the heart behind what you do. And, and I just want to say, the game is not a drinking game. Yeah, yeah. I want to make that distinction because people are, "Oh, there's a, a game for the drink?" No, it's not a drinking game. It's a game to really connect and get to know one another. There's, there's no- Right ... I don't even think there's a point system. There's no challenges. It's just simple questions. Put down the phone. Yeah. Make eye contact. Yeah. You know, all this stuff. No, no shot time. Right. And I think that's beautiful. So thank you so much for guesting today and for your time and for helping us have a new perspection. Oh, thank you.
