We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natasha McCrea`. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natasha below.
Natasha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?
When my time on this planet comes to an end, I hope to be remembered as someone who lived with authenticity and loved fiercely.
I believe that I have already lived multiple lives, and I have many more left to live. Love, disruption, and joy are at the core of my being, and I strive to embody these values in everything that I do.
I am fortunate to have two companies, Love CEO Institute and Jackson McCrea Whiskey, that allow me to live boldly. Through coaching, I guide my clients to discover their passions, create clear visions for their lives, and design a life full of self-care and purpose. In turn, this reminds me to do the same for myself.
If I had not taken my own advice, I would have been too afraid to start Jackson McCrea Whiskey. As an actor, director, and life coach, I launched my whiskey brand at the age of 50.
In the past, I worried that my multiple passions may have made me seem unfocused or indecisive. However, I now embrace my love for life and desire to experience it all. I hope to inspire other women to do the same and live a fulfilling life without being consumed by work.
Ultimately, I want my legacy to be that of an example for others to fully embrace their passions and desires and live a life filled with joy and purpose.
Natasha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am the Founder of Love CEO Institute, a personal development company for women. And, Co-founder of Jackson McCrea Whiskey. I have a degree in Psychology from Grand Canyon University.
As a recovered love addict, I have seen and experienced a self-doubting,
negative mindset, and an overall imbalance in work and life that
keeps women from reaching their greatest potential. Through
the development of my one-woman show, “Evolution of a Love
Addict,” several years of counseling, and serial entrepreneurship
I turned my life around and elevated myself from love
addict to Love CEO.
During a successful national tour of my one-woman show, which included
audience talkback sessions, I was able to encourage audiences to face
their fears and step into their life’s purpose by designing the life
they want. This is why I started coaching and founded Love CEO Institute.
Through coaching and master classes my clients who are experiencing dissatisfaction in their life, feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and needing a pivot; find clarity, freedom, and an overall improvement in their life satisfaction.
This is how I live my life and it feels good when all the pieces to the puzzle start to fall into place. Like starting Jackson McCrea Whiskey and getting invited to the Techstars LA business accelerator. Being able to launch a premium whisky made by women for women is a big deal for me.
My entertainment Industry experience spans over 20 years including acting in national commercials, tv appearances, and award-winning production of several short films. I’ve directed a one-woman show, commercial, and documentary. I also won a best-writer award for my one-woman show.
What sets me apart from most is that I am willing to take risks and go after what my heart desires.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
In October 2020 I did a theatre series performing my one-woman show. It was in the middle of the pandemic so there were only four people in the theatre, me, the stage manager, and the lighting tech. The performance was televised across the world and when it was over there was no standing ovation or audience cheers, but I knew in my soul there was still cause for celebration. So I decided to stop at a restaurant that had outdoor seating and a fabulous menu.
I called my friend Sheila, who lived around the corner, and invited her over to celebrate with me. I ordered an old-fashioned and waited for her arrival. When she arrived she spotted the old-fashioned and said “I didn’t know you liked whiskey?!” And that is where it all started. Four years earlier we met at a Sundance film festival event and in those 4 years, we never talked about whiskey. We had gone to vintage wine bars and had wine-tasting events at my house, but never talked about whiskey.
At dinner, that night, we talked about the culture of whiskey and how so many women love whiskey but we are never included in the conversation. We talked about how whiskey sales were on the rise and how we had both thought about starting a whiskey brand. In that moment we decided we should be the women who disrupt an entire industry.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
When I started Love CEO Institute in 2015 I bootstrapped my start-up costs. As a personal development company, I started with private coaching. That would be the quickest way to bring in cash to my business. There was very low overhead at the time. With each new client, my business became sustainable and then over time profitable.
Early on I would use income from my day job to pay for apps and online services or the business. I relied on organic marketing: speaking at events, FB lives and blog posts to bring in new clients. The majority of my clients came from referral at that time as well. I had a referral program that gave people a finders fee whenever they referred someone.
If I knew what I know now I would have done this business alot differently, like with Jackson McCrea.
When we started Jackson McCrea we started with a founders infusion of cash to get us started and then did a crowdfunding campaign that brought in additional funds to get us started. Getting into the Techstars accelerator changed the entire trajectory of how we do business. Techstars became our first investor. And that gave us the ability to move the needle forward quicker.
During the accelerator, we developed long-term goals and a marketing and sales plan. We created our financial projections so we know exactly how much money we need to run our business over the 2-4 years. This has led us to raise capital from VCs and Angel Investors.
Starting a spirits brand is very cash intensive. So bootstrapping is out of the question for us, since our mission is to be an international brand it’s going to take a lot of capital for us to hit maximum growth, quickly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.natashamccrea.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashamccrea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealNatashaMcCrea
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashamccrea/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NatashaMcCrea
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJHJvbwibXCYdZ22PjSGpg
Image Credits
Benmio McCrea