We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emmanuel Waters. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emmanuel below.
Emmanuel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
What’s interesting about our story is that although I am CEO, the company didn’t start with me. The idea was created my Co-Founder Jesse Carpenter, who had a dream in the middle of the night to start a bourbon company. Jesse calls his best friend from middle school Brian Burton, Brian picks up the phone and calls his elementary school partner Courtney Tucker. Courtney who happens to be my cousin then calls me and the team is set. What do we all have in common we have various skillsets and we all are originally from North Carolina.
Social media has given us this false perception of everything happens overnight. We started the company in June 2020, We didn’t have our first bottle on the shelf and sold until September 2021. For 18+ months we met every night to discuss the concept of our company and what we wanted it to be before we even had a bottle. By fall 2021 we had broken a state record for the fastest selling brand in the state with over 400 bottles sold in less than 50 minutes. How did we do it? The answer is simple we worked.
Before executing we had to figure out what the team make out was.
Naturally I wasn’t a bourbon drinker so to say I was intimidated was an understatement, ( I know what you’re thinking why join someting you don’t even consume lol). When we had our first call with the team and I learned of the story of the African-American Jockeys and the story we were going to tell, It was a no brainer, I knew we had a great concept. We each figured out what we did on our day jobs and how our skillsets could be implemented to the business.
18 months were spent meeting twice a week for 3-4 hours at a time, we went into stores looked at other bourbon bottles, what did we want our bottle to look like? What taste did we want? What were our favorite colors? What was too expensive? What was cheap? Most importantly what was going to be our messaging? What was our brand about? How can we stand out when the alcohol specifically whiskey is already crowded. We contacted every single brand that was in our reach and asked questions. Some brands were happy to help others slammed the doors in our face.
Before you can execute you will get a lot of No’s and you will have a lot of disappointment but if you stick to it , eventually it will happen.
Emmanuel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started my career working for the Department of Defense and have over 14 years of experience in both commercial and government contracts. Upon leaving the federal service, I opened my own LLC and got to advise universities such as Stanford, University of California, Berkeley, and several tech companies.
One thing people do not know about me is I am a son of a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and spent my high school years living in Japan and Germany. I have visited over 32 foreign countries and visit a new one every year. I enjoy traveling the world with his wife and daughters.
I have M.B.A. from Texas A&M University-Commerce.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I am currently going through that process now. and it is painful, scary and rewarding all at the same time. When we started the company I was a soon to be father fast forward 3 years I am a father of two and and am now soon to leaving corporate america to do the business full time. Scary is an understatement. I am having to pivot and it it requires a shift in ideology.
I now wake up to a mandatory presentation from my investors in my inbox before 6am and then I have to do school pick up & drop off, gym time, and also finding time to be a husband and spending quality time with my wife who has become a CEO’s wife which last time I checked wasn’t in any of our wedding vows lol. Everybody and everything including my dog wants my time NOW!
How do I juggle all these things above? I’ve learned that I have to give myself grace, somedays I will fail as a father, as a husband, as a CEO, but thats theres no harm in failing, rather than see failure I see opportunities for growth. How can I be better tomorrow? There is a firestorm every single day, every hour but don’t stress about things that our out of your realm of control. No day will be the same ,every hour is different and that’s make its fun. Everyday I go to bed knowing that I gave 110% and that I applied a spirit of excellence to everything I set to do that day.
Any advice for managing a team?
My advice to managing a team is understanding the importance of making every team member feel valued. If you have team members that feel valued they will go to the utter bounds of the earth to support your vision.
Contact Info:
- Website: oldhillsidebourboncompany.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-waters-4740989a/
Image Credits
Lensual Creative Agency