We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ivey Childers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ivey below.

Hi Ivey, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I have lived in Nashville since 1999. I am a recipe developer, and in my first career, I created 40 different cake flavor combinations which led me to opening up a bakery in Nashville almost 17 years ago, IveyCake. During those years of running a busy bakery, as a relaxing and creative outlet, I would come home from those long work days and create cocktail recipes, always with tequila.
I was experimenting with a new tequila brand almost every week, and I discovered that each bottle had a different profile. I analyzed how those different profiles affected the outcome of each cocktail. I also took note of how each bottle left me feeling the next morning. To sum it up, I never found one tequila brand that I was excited about that checked all the boxes for what I was looking for.
After I sold my bakery to new ownership in 2019, I started a tequila journey that led me Southbound to Tequila, Jalisco Mexico, to find a distillery that would create that unique profile for premium mixing and for stand-alone sipping, and that’s how Southbound tequila was created.
I also noticed, as an avid tequila shopper, that there wasn’t a brand of tequila that was marketing directly to me. Southbound is proud to be a female-founded brand that also partnered with a female-founded distillery in Mexico with deep family roots in authentic, high-quality tequila production. With less than 5% of the spirits industry led by women and 70% of tequila consumers led by females, I know there is plenty of room to offer a tequila brand with a female POV.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Southbound offers three distinct expressions. Blanco, Reposado and Añejo. Our distillery partner is committed to using only fully mature agaves at harvest, a well respected slow cooking method, a slow fermentation process, and high quality cuts in distillation. Absolutely no corners cut in any of the Southbound Tequila making process.
After many iterations, ultimately Southbound Tequila was the perfect chosen profile, It was important for me to bring it home for a great length of time before bringing it to market. After all, with other tequila brands in my past research, I always found a reason to move on. I really wanted to be sure that this one was the one my pallet wanted for the long haul and how it made me feel truly matched its quality. For me, it was tried and true perfection in my one year personal trial before opening it up in the market.

Getting into the weeds, Southbound has a very unique profile of Lowlands blue agave with a touch of the highlands blue agave region. This creates her meticulous profile. It took quite some time to hit this perfect balance. The lowlands region gives it an earthy, herbaceous, complex pepper notes with just the right balance of highlands blue agaves for the juicy citrus finish. Not only will this perfect profile is an incredible player with other flavors which is why its balance elevates any cocktail. However, the best quality is that Southbound is an incredible sipping tequila all on its own. I always say, you should judge a brand by its Blanco expression. That is the purest truest form where all of the high quality decisions in production show off. Our Reposado and Anejo can only be as good as its starting point. Our Reposado and Anejo are aged in TN Whiskey barrels to create further complexity with an incredible elegance and well thought out oak maturation. I wanted the Blue agave to remain as the true shining star in each expression. I am so thrilled that a piece of my roots in TN plays a part in the making of Southbound Tequila.

Southbound is a brand that supports the home entertainer and consumer with approachable cocktail recipes. I was learning that many of my friends were intimidated to make their own cocktails at home. I realized that cocktails are a lot like baking. It requires being exact. It doesn’t have to be complicated but it does need to be exact.

With my recipe developer background, the Southbound brand comes with endless cocktail recipes to support the home entertainer. Southbound is authentic, elegant, approachable and premium.
We make sure the consumer knows what to do with this tequila by providing recipes, recipe cards, and QR codes. We want to empower the home entertainer and mixologist with the perfect tequila profile, brand education and recipe innovation. We are also quickly becoming the bar tenders best friend. We recently received medals for all three expressions at the 2024 Bartender Spirits Awards bar tenders awards.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What helped me build my reputation was having a genuine curiosity and a creative drive in the world of recipe development. I wasn’t trying to make something that was already out there. I was trying to solve a problem. I wanted to create the perfect flavor and texture of a cake because, at the time, I couldn’t find one that hit all the marks.
Baking really aligns with my personality. It is about intentionality and exactness—understanding the science behind what makes things work. That same curiosity carried over into cocktail development. It is the same idea of balance and precision, just with a lot less mess.
When I started sharing my cocktails with friends, I realized most people had no idea which tequila to choose, let alone how to mix a cocktail that felt elevated and effortless. And every time I shared one of my creations, there was this consistent moment of surprise. They would say, “Wait, you made this?” That response showed me there was space for something better.
Nashville is full of incredible people and endless opportunities. When you are matching that energy with something high-quality, thoughtful, and approachable, it opens doors. That is what helped me build trust and momentum. Showing up with something real, something different, and doing it with intention.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the biggest pivots in my journey happened when I decided to step away from the traditional path I had built in recipe development and my brick-and-mortar business. For a few years, I knew I had taken IveyCake as far as I wanted to go. I felt something pulling me in a new direction, and surprisingly, that led me to tequila.
I was not planning to start a spirits company. What led me there was a gap I kept noticing—something I could not stop thinking about. I realized most tequilas were either created for cocktails or for sipping, but rarely both. On top of that, there were so many options on the shelf, and still, my friends had no idea what to pick. It felt overwhelming and disconnected. I kept thinking, what if there was a tequila that could do both? One that sipped beautifully and elevated a cocktail without overpowering it?
That question launched what I now call my Southbound journey. I went to Mexico, spent time with distillers, and immersed myself in understanding the process. I learned how tequila is often made with shortcuts, and I committed to doing everything with integrity and high quality. The way a tequila is made directly affects how it makes you feel, and I knew I wanted to create something clean, intentional, and elevated.
I raised capital for the first time. I built a team. I lived with the product for a year before bringing it to market. It was a massive pivot, but it felt like a natural extension of my creative process and my values—things like intentionality, balance, and bringing people together.
What I have learned is that sometimes a pivot is not a detour. It is the next right step.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drinksouthbound.com
• Instagram: IveyChilders or Drinksouthbound
• Linkedin: IveyChilders or SouthboundTequila
• Youtube: Drinksouthbound