Article by Prideindex.com
Photos Courtesy of VASCANO Tequila Updated August 6
VASCANO is a Black, LGBTQ, and Women-owned spirits brand co-founded by three friends from the Washington, DC area, in 2020. Vernon Leftwich, Samantha Johnson, and Adanna Mbanugo were friends for over 20 years. In 2017, they had a nationwide bar crawl called Cultural Crawl. This full-out experience allowed people of color to explore black-owned businesses and street art in different states throughout the US. In 2020, when the pandemic hit their business like so many, the team needed to figure out what to do next. They decided to enter the spirits business.
PrideIndex recently enjoyed an enlightening conversation with the VASCANO Tequila co-founders. The team shared their experiences of launching a minority-owned brand, the importance of community building, and the potential collaborations and marketing strategies for their LGBTQ-owned businesses. Their journey is a testament to the power of determination and the value of seeking guidance in the face of adversity.
PrideIndex (PI): Today, I am speaking with the founders of the newly launched brand, Vascano Tequila. Hello, everyone. Thank you for agreeing to have this conversation with me. Let’s start the conversation with introductions.
Vernon Leftwich (VL): Hello. I am Vernon Leftwich, co-founder and Business Manager of Vascano Tequila. My pronouns are He/Him/His. I am a native of Washington, DC, a McKinley Tech High School and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University graduate, and the father of two five-year-old twins. I am deeply passionate about this venture, which I am working on with my two best friends, Samantha and Adanna. Our shared passion for tequila and our commitment to our community drive us every day, inspiring us to create a brand that reflects our values and experiences.
Samantha Johnson (SJ): Thank you for having us. I am Samantha Johnson, co-founder and in charge of Marketing and Creative of Vascano Tequila. My pronouns are She/Her/Hers. I was born and raised in Washington, DC, and graduated from McKinley Tech High School. I am licensed and certified in Event Direction and Meeting Management. I am also the Associate Director of Events and Entertainment for New York City Pride.
Adanna Mbanugo (AM): Hello, I am Adanna Mbanugo. I am the co-founder and am responsible for Content and Events for Vascano Tequila. My pronouns are She/Her/Hers. I am a native Washingtonian and a graduate of Elizabeth Seton High School and Virginia Commonwealth University. I am also the mother of a soon-to-be-two-year-old child.
PI.: Can you give us a little background on why you chose tequila as your product brand to start your company over any other spirit?
SJ: That’s a good question. Well, we have all been best friends at this point for more than 20 years. In 2017, we had a nationwide bar crawl called Cultural Crawl, a full-out experience allowing people of color to explore black-owned businesses, street art, etc., in different states throughout the US. This experience brought us closer as friends and opened our eyes to the vibrant and diverse world of spirits. When the pandemic hit in 2020, many bars and restaurants were impacted. That also meant that our bar crawl business was affected as well. During the pandemic, we were all living at Vernon’s house and figuring out what to do next. We definitely wanted to enter the spirits realm, and we knew there was much to choose from. But tequila was always at the forefront. Whenever we went to or hosted a party, tequila was the spirit we were always interested in. It is also one of the hardest spirits to get into. It was a challenge, and we do like a challenge. But tequila was always our focal point, so we decided to do a tequila.
PI.: Speaking of challenges, what barriers did you encounter when attempting to get your product onto store shelves? Tell us about some of those challenges and how you overcame them.
VL: The first challenge, for starters, was that we were and are complete novices to the spirit industry. Going in, we needed guidance or a mentor. Fortunately enough, Distill Ventures, a spirits industry accelerator, found interest in our brand through an online search and reached out to us. Working with their pre-accelerator program really assisted us in setting a rock-solid foundation. Their program was a great and valuable tool for getting things right from the beginning. It forced us to restart or retool some of the things that we had previously worked on, but then it allowed us to come into the space with new knowledge that we didn’t have before. We were determined to overcome these challenges, and our resilience in the face of adversity is a testament to our commitment to our brand and community.
That was a learning curve when it came to touching bases with retailers. Most people may believe that we, as brand creators, can simply go and sell directly to a liquor store or restaurant. We can’t actually do that. We had to find a distributor who wanted to purchase the product from us to build those relationships for us. There were a lot of barriers. First with knowledge, then with getting this baby brand that no one knew about in front of people interested in our story. Outside of connecting to Distill Ventures, we did lots of training and research and found the best way to present our brand to store owners on and off the premises. As previously mentioned, we all are native to Washington, DC. We used and allowed our community connections, built over years of living and working in the area, to push us toward the stores and places our people would be interested in and naturally go to. We’re still using those connections to build those relationships.
We’re very authentic. We currently need brand ambassadors. We are our own sales reps and own brand ambassadors. That gives us an edge in which we can share our story personally and authentically. We get to meet the owners of these bars or restaurants and tell them who we are and where we come from. That helps us get our foot in the door and convinces them to support people and a brand from their community. As a Black LGBTQ minority-owned brand, many people want to help a brand like ours. Our shared experiences and commitment to our community are vital to our brand, and we want our audience to feel connected and engaged with us.
PI: I understand your product is available locally in the DMV area. I recall seeing three or four stores in DC and Maryland. Do you plan to begin shipping nationally outside of the DMV area? What are your plans for national expansion?
AM: We do have plans to expand. Our plan from the jump was always to expand on who we are. Being from DC, we were very intentional about selecting the DMV market. We are currently shipping online. We have four stores in the DMV area, and people can purchase online from other states. We want to pull from and use that data to decide where to go next and what makes the most sense. So we’re shipping across the country except for twelve states we cannot legally ship to.
PI: Would any of those twelve states you cannot legally ship to be Illinois or Georgia?
AM: No, they are not on the list. The list includes the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah.
PI: Perfect. That means I can have your product shipped to me in Atlanta and Chicago, where I’m based.
AM: Absolutely. We’ve actually seen some orders come in from Atlanta and Chicago.
PI: What unique experience does each person have that you bring to the venture?
SJ: One of our significant advantages is that we ran a business before kicking off Vascano Tequila. With the bar crawl, we had already learned a lot of lessons in business as well as in our friendship. We also learned how to handle business with external partners, and we have and still do have a lot of connections with bars and restaurants that would work with us. Within Cultural Crawl, we had some integrations with other spirits brands that would come into the bar crawls and activate in our spaces. We have an advantage as a group because we had a previous business. We all have individual experiences with work and life experiences that bring unique perspectives to the brand. Our brand identity is very reflective of us. Beyond being Black, LGBTQ, and women-owned, we have a lot of experiences among ourselves that we bring to the table. I want to speak for only some, but Adanna ‘s experience as a bartender gives us a unique advantage in creating cocktails. Vernon’s business acumen and expertise really have an impact on the way that we utilize and save money within our business. Speaking from my experiences working with sponsors and other brands, that creative aspect also gives us an advantage. Using the skills and innovative tools we’ve learned throughout life brings us together as a group.
PI: Are there any plans to expand into other spirits offerings or other varieties of tequila?
VL: Yes, we do have plans to expand the expressions. Right now, we only have the Tequila Blanco on the market. In the future, we will move to a Reposado and Añejo. One thing that we are intentional about is not overwhelming our new community with information and products. Also, from a business perspective, going into a restaurant or even a liquor store and asking for space for the Blanco alone from a new brand is very different from going in and trying to sell them a case of Blanco coupled with a case of Reposado or and a case of Añejo. That’s a lot of shelf space for a brand you’re unaware of. It’s also different from selling a six-bottle case compared to twenty-four bottles. Strategically, we will be expanding, but we want to take our time to introduce the brand to the world first. We want to build this new community and allow people to discover our Blanco and then build into our Reposado and Añejo, each needing to be aged two to three years longer. We expect people to fall in love with the Blanco and the brand. This will make it easier to introduce the new members of the Vascano family.
PI: What advice would you offer others who want to get into the spirits business but are afraid to?
AM: My advice is to not be afraid to start anything because of any obstacles you put on yourself. That could be due to things you’ve seen happen to others or in general. For example, we are a Black, LGBTQ, and women-owned brand, which created some obstacles for us, whether in the financial world or in general. Don’t let those things stop you from trying to do something you’re passionate about. Utilize your own network. There are people in your sphere who have a lot of information. Be bold and talk to people with the expertise you seek. Stay the course, and don’t get distracted by many little things. Find your passion and focus on that.
PI: How did you come up with the name for your brand or the design of your bottle and label?
VL: Vascano, interestingly enough, is just us. V for Vernon, A for Adanna, and S for Samantha. The C is for the community. Adanna is Nigerian American, and we pulled from that with “anọ,” four in Igbo, leading us to our logo on the front of the bottle. The logo is four linked hearts inspired by the West African symbol Akoma Ntoso. It represents our three hearts connected by the heart of the community, and there is also a center point. For us, it’s centered around this tequila. We are delighted to continue growing in this community and sharing this love with those around us.
PI: That is a beautiful and powerful message. What else would you all like to share about your product or plans for the future?
SJ: Our whole brand aims to build upon the C in our name for the community. A community of Vascano drinkers, of course. We want to share the process of getting into the spirits industry when we know it has less than 5% of black ownership. We want to share our knowledge on how to get into the business while providing the steps we should have been afforded in the beginning when doing our research. We want to be in more stores, bars, restaurants, etc., here in DC. We also want to continue community building with prominent individuals in the city. Whether we’re doing a few tastings and events at HQ, The Gathering Spot, or any other events we’ve done so far, we want to build and increase our community presence within the city and nationwide soon.
PI: Where do you see the product in the future?
VL: We plan to continue strategically sharing our story and growing our brand through word of mouth with those around us. We’ll continue using the data we’re gaining from our online auditors to assist us in driving forward. We love supporting Black-owned businesses, as well as other minority-owned businesses. We’ll continue to be in those spaces, such as our distributor, Harbor Wines, a minority woman-owned company based out of Maryland distributing to DC, Maryland, Virginia, and several other states; we’ll continue to build this community and not just for sales purposes, but to show strength and unity among the community as a whole. We want Vascano to be at the core and show up in public and private spaces (homes and significant venue events). We want to be a national and even an international brand that continues to grow. The other thing that we’d like to focus on is continuing to support the entire population of Black and minority-owned brands. There are a lot of other black-owned tequila brands as well. Whereas most might see those brands as competition for the shelf space we spoke of earlier, there’s room for us all.
I’d also like to ask everyone to please follow, like, and share Vascano Tequila on social media: Instagram @vascanotequila Facebook, @vascanotequila, and Twitter @vascanotequila and our website vascanospirits.com and definitely request us at all your local retailers and restaurants. Thank you for joining our community.