Background

Michael launched his career in Journalism and TV news as a founding producer at CNN + CN2 before transitioning into a consultant role in local news management where he trained and mentored professionals across the nation.

Driven by a passion for cocktail culture and an entrepreneurial spirit, Michael created a cocktail service for news stations, and later an ice catering business, that marked his first experiences building ventures from the ground up.

Creative Word & Image + Victory Spirits Development

Before CWI Ventures was born, Michael started a digital marketing agency called Creative Word and Image, where he specialized in social media marketing and management of franchises and multi-locations. Then, he realized he wanted to focus more on creative strategies. This inspired Victory Spirits Development, a wholesale marketplace acting as a supply chain where distilleries and brands can source whiskey, bourbon, and rye.

He went on to establish The Bourbon Bond, a series of funds that open and close as opportunities arise, where creditor investors can invest in financing the distillation of American whiskeys that are “laid down to age”  and sold to wholesale buyers and brands to blend or bottle.

Navigating Challenges

The business endured a lot of pandemic related challenges, mainly due to shortages for bourbon barrells. Naturally, this put a wrench in their operations, but the supply chain has finally caught up! Michael says,

“To a degree, anyone in any business needs to plan for things, but who saw the pandemic coming? You can’t over-plan, but you always need to anticipate. I think that’s a fundamental part of business. We must embrace the future, not fear it.”

Though it brought challenges, the pandemic did inspire Michael to form The Drinks Professionals Network! It is a group of diverse, national and international distillery owners, wine sale execs, agencies, sampling groups, etc. that meet on Zoom on the first Friday of every month! Click here to learn more.

Collaboration

When Michael first joined Industrious, the energy of collaboration and the sharing of resources is what he loved most stating,

“People office differently now, but as we, as an Industrious community, share more of who we are, what we do, and what our objectives are, I hope [people] read this and reach out to me for collaborations.”

He is open to mentorship of his fellow members and strongly encourages those in financial planning or investment groups to make use of the aforementioned Bourbon Bond.

He even thought of using Industrious tech industry members for a current project: A stock trade with a [confidential] client who will have 100s of thousands of barrels of whiskey and spirits aging, which they plan to use for the online marketplace empowered by AI that estimates the values and authenticates the digital inventory of products. How cool is that? He explains, “It’s a long process with a lot of moving parts, but I am guiding and advising the client through the process and i’m responsible for the concept, the ultimate execution, and introducing it to the marketplace.”

Entrepreneurial Highlights

Michael’s favorite part of entrepreneurship is the sense of freedom it gives and seeing a concept come to life that other people can appreciate and get value from. He shared,

“I think the most important part of entrepreneurship is to have a passion for the idea because, without that passion, it's not gonna happen on its own. You must be optimistic and mindful of risks and rewards. It’s about getting other people to get excited and love it as much as you do.”