Today we’d like to introduce you to Tobias Hogan.

Hi Tobias, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I’ve come to the distilling industry through a long and circuitous route. Initially out of college I thought the best place for me was on Wall St, or as close as I could get, so I set off to work in the equity trading markets in Boston MA. That lasted a for about 9 years until I learned through introspection and circumstance that it was not for me. From there my path wound into and out of design and art school to a coffee barista and onto bartending where I lived for many years behind the bar and in the kitchen and finally to owning and operating my own restaurant and bar where I thrived for just over a decade before again determining that I could no longer abide. I started passively pursuing the distilling industry in 2004 and finally made a real effort in 2015 to get into distilling in a professional way through a few educational programs. We all remember what happened in March 2020 and that delayed my formal entrance into the distilling world by another four years until finally January 2024 I was able to procure a pace of my own to initiate my distillation dreams. I’m now fully committed to making a go at the Gin business and have released my first commercial product, Gin Through The Sages. All of this took a great deal of determination, tenacity, luck and creativity to accomplish.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

What road is smooth I would say, what path is without adversity, without trial there is no triumph. Every endeavor considered has different but absolute challenges. I’ve had to struggle through massive financial swings of boom and bust, thriving businesses that fizzle, rich work environments with acerbic partnerships. I always keep my eye on the prize, as they say, It’s important to understand that nothing worth going after is easy and if it’s easy it’s probably not very interesting..
I recall laying out well thought business plans and then immediately having to change direction because things were not unfolding as predicted, or having the tossed back for revision by bankers who just want to see profits. I’ve seen many challenges like dealing with jealous acquaintances undermining efforts to bureaucratic quagmires that cause delays and denials, financial institutions that are more than willing to take your money in fees and interest but in no way willing to financially back a solid business. There are and have been so many challenges met, some won and some lost but the long game is the best to play, keep moving forward. I could write a book on the events of the past twenty years.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I’ve always considered myself a team player that doesn’t like to be on a team. I’m more like the coach than the quarterback, the team doesn’t always like me but I’m always moving them toward victory. My perspective has always been that I won’t ask anyone on my team to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. I lead, sometimes to a fault, by example and I have found that sometimes people will take advantage of this methodology but in the long run it builds a more cohesive respectful work environment. Businesses are organism where every part is integral to the success of the organization and realizing this truth, treating all elements of the organization with respect and admiration will go a long way to achieving the success of the company. Nobody with legitimacy starts at the top and those who remember where they’ve come from will always make a better leader than those who forget.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?

Creativity, tenacity, empathy and inertia (how to deal with elements in motion and those that stay set)

Pricing:

• All of your products should be priced at the highest price that you can sell them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.AgrodolceCo.com
• Instagram: @CanBar_PDX

Image Credits

All photo credits go to Tobias Hogan