There are many things that go into a product launch and ongoing brand development, including plenty of planning, executing, and tracking. The goal of getting to market, sustaining and succeeding is a road that comes with many highs and lows. For marginalized people, contending with bias can be one of them.
Although the spirits industry is focused on hospitality, it unfortunately proves no exception. In fact, it’s something Jackie Summers, founder of Sorel Liqueur and a renowned speaker on the subject, experienced firsthand during his brand journey. We spoke with him for insights on handling bias, tips for marginalized people looking to launch their own brand, and the importance of mentorship.
On Handling Bias
“The first thing you have to do is recognize that there’s a tendency—because of how things have been structured—to attribute flaws to the individual and not the system holding them back,” explains Summers. “One of the most important parts in all of this is to have an unfailing, unyielding, audacious belief in yourself.” People need to educate themselves to understand the sort of factors they’re fighting against, he adds, so that no matter how many times they fail and how many times they come up against what seems like insurmountable barriers, they understand that it’s the barrier and not them. “The second thing I’d say that needs to happen is you need to—to the extent possible—align yourself with people who have faced similar barriers,” he says. “What’s interesting is if your approach is intersectional, you will find that while we don’t share the same exact problems, all marginalized people have overlap in the barriers they face.”
For Those Looking to Launch
For marginalized people looking to start their own brands, there are three major points Summers suggests considering. “The first thing is the ideas for your products are in your heritage—that’s where you look,” he says. “The second thing is really, truly do your homework. It’s not enough to say, ‘I have an idea for a brand.’ No one’s funding ideas.” You have to have marketing, distribution, T&L sheets, three-year projections, and everything you actually need to prove you can run a brand and not just start a brand for people to take you seriously. As for the third thing? Summers says the industry is just getting to a point where marginalized people can find investors who are similarly marginalized like themselves, so he advises to look for those people because they’re looking for you. Sorel is prime example of this through its partnership with Fawn Weaver, CEO and Founder of Uncle Nearest, who helped reintroduce his brand in 2020 (after a five-year hiatus) with an investment from the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund.
“One lovely part about our partnership with Uncle Nearest is it means that they’ve actually laid out a pathway for us to follow. We will be expanding our distribution across the United States (as well as several countries) over the next few years with the idea that we’ll be in all 50 states within four years,” says Summers, “and the nation of Barbados actually reached out to me and asked if I would build the distillery there. They love the idea that a grandchild of theirs has taken this thing that came from their home and brought it to the world.”
At some point there will be a distillery in Barbados that will supply the Caribbean, West Africa, and South America. Summers is quick to remind that the beverage which became Sorel sat in the Caribbean for 500 years before he put it in the bottle. “There are lots of other things like this which have great cultural significance to a marginalized group who have not had the opportunity to show a flavor that’s close to their hearts to the world,” he adds. One of his goals, therefore, will be to find other flavors and figure out how to successfully make them authentic, self-stable, and find individuals who can represent the brands in a way that doesn’t appropriate. “I want to find these cultures, find people that can accurately represent them, and make sure that they’re out in front of these things and bringing these flavors to the world,” says Summers. “The response to Sorel is universally welcoming, and I think there are other things out there like this that the world will welcome once they know these things are delicious. And if you welcome the product, then you can start to welcome the people, right?”
The Importance of Mentorship
But it’s not just Sorel that is universally welcoming—Summers is that way himself as an advocate of paying it forward through mentorship. “One of the interesting things about mentorship is that we used to have a system where people apprenticed with a master for years before they went on their own, and you could only become a master when you took on apprentices of your own,” he explains. “We lost that system to public education, which prepares people for sameness. It doesn’t prepare them to be leaders as it prepares them to fit into a machine. I am a big believer in mentorship because I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic mentor in Arthur Shapiro, and because the way that you stay relevant in the world we live in is by finding people who are learning, and learning from them. It’s not nearly enough to have a seat at the table. It’s continually figuring out how, once you’ve established a platform of your own, to platform other people. Find people who are differently marginalized than yourself. Legitimately go and see: how can I make a space for this person? How can I give this person a microphone? How can I give them a bigger, better voice?”
As for the future of the spirits industry, Summers thinks it’s starting to embrace inclusion—albeit unwillingly. For many years there was a belief that women couldn’t successfully run and own their own liquor brands, he explains. “Fawn Weaver has an all-woman management team,” he says. “They destroyed that theory.” And while he wouldn’t describe himself as having hope as he moves forward in this next chapter, he does have plenty of resolve.
“Hope is a luxury. When my parents marched for civil rights, there was no precedent that they were ever going to get it. When my grandparents came to this country as marginalized people, there was no precedent for them to believe life was going to be better than it was, so I am perfectly fine moving forward with the idea that no precedent exists,” notes Summers.
“I have resolve. I don’t have hope. My resolve is strengthened every day by seeing people like Fawn Weaver, who’s out there crushing it. My resolve is strengthened every day by seeing people who are on their way, like Amanda Victoria from Siponey, Effie [Panagopoulos] with KLEOS, and Allison Parc with Brenne Whisky. There’s no precedent for them, and they’re making it happen—absolutely forging a path that didn’t exist before. My resolve comes from the fact that I get the opportunity to tell a story of my ancestors that cements their legacy in history. I don’t see this as a problem. It’s an obstacle, but it’s one that was clearly meant for me to overcome.”
Jackie Summers will be speaking at the 2022 Bar & Restaurant Expo. Our three-day conference and expo brings top thought leaders together to discuss everything from marketing to virtual kitchens and beyond.
Bar & Restaurant Expo (formerly Nightclub & Bar Show) is a live, in-person event held March 21-23, 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Click here get your tickets now!
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