In The Mix

A CONVERSATION WITH REDD ROSE VODKA CEO TAYLOR A. JACKSON

Taylor A. Jackson is an entrepreneur, legal services professional, and Founder of the highly sought after spirits company, Redd Rose Vodka. Jackson’s inspiration for joining the spirits industry has been an adventure filled with joyful surprises and lessons learned to reach her level of success. She’s one of a few African American owned spirit companies who seek to increase visibility of ownership in this field. I had the opportunity to chat with Jackson about how she started her pathway to owning her own spirit brand and what we can expect next from Redd Rose Vodka.

KK: Tell us about how you started your business, Redd Rose Vodka.

TJ: I have been a bartender for eight years and bartending actually got me through law school. I read an article about Diddy, Sean Combs, and I didn’t know he did not own Cîroc. I also read an article about Titos and how he got started. In 2014, I thought these are regular people who started some of these brands. I started to look behind the bars to see who owned the brands. Then, I just did my research. My law degree helped me figure out what I needed to do to own my own brand. When I first got started, I wanted to do a tequila but after learning the laws about that, it wasn’t in my best interest to do tequila right now. So, I went into vodka, because it’s the best next thing in regards to tequila.

KK: Wow, that’s so interesting and you said you went with vodka instead of tequila. When it comes to you, as a business woman, what made you make that decision?

TJ: When I started the brand, I was taking away from my savings. You have to import tequila into the United States, because they don’t make tequila in the United States. You have to go to Mexico to get the tequila and I wasn’t in a place to do so. That’s not where I am. So, I just did the research to figure out what’s the next best thing to tequila and of course, it’s vodka. That’s kind of how I went into the vodka avenue. Once I opened up the avenue to vodka, I was like, I can have any flavor. I can have anything that I want with vodka because it’s made so many different ways. So just depending on the base, you can flavor it with anything, add anything to it, and it can still be a really good cocktail.

KK: When did you decide, I think I want to make this a business and monetize with it?

TJ: My initial thoughts were I just wanted to do something simple. I didn’t want to make it a whole brand. When I first got started, I was like, it’s just vodka. Then “life” started happening. My grandmother passed away and it kind of all just started to make sense. It just started coming to me that this is what I should do. That’s how I got the name. That’s how I transitioned into the vodka. Then I wanted the flavor to have a story. I wanted the bottle to have a story and the name to have a story.

KK: So what is something that you wish you would have known before you got into this business?

TJ: I didn’t know that there’s so many levels to the alcohol industry. I didn’t know that each state has different laws for importing and exporting outside of the country. You have to go through the government and you have to get permits. They have to do a background check on you because it’s liquor. It’s a lot and I can’t just sell it online. I can’t just say “Hey, let me sell you a bottle or I can’t just post the website”. It doesn’t come from me. I can’t have it in my house. I can’t just throw it in my garage and say “Hey, come buy bottles from me”. It’s a very regulated industry and I did not know that.

KK: What information can you share with our readers about monetizing with your brand?

TJ: If you are interested in this industry, it’s not a quick flip. It’s not something that you put, $100,000 dollars into and you’re going to make $500,000 right away. It’s not that easy. I can say today I’m $140,000 in the hole. It’s probably going to be a year or two before I can make that back. I was spending time with different distributors trying to figure out what they charge, where they are, and who they can ship to. You have to have a distributor in each state, so make sure you know those policies and add them into whatever you’re trying to do.

Read the full interview with Taylor at wearesubstantial.com