Mara Smith – Founder of Inspiro Tequila

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be, I want to just make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked down knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control control control. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show, though, join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi, everyone, it’s Kara Goldin from the Kara Goldin show. And I’m so thrilled to have Mara Smith here, who is the founder and CEO of insphero, tequila, and she has an amazing backstory, and Spiro just recently launched, and you’re gonna hear all about her early journey and and all the things you go through when you’re just starting a company. So we’re really, really excited to have her share a little bit more about that. And after years of being an attorney, and corporate strategist, Mara made the entrepreneurial leap and created in spirit tequila, she was not only looking for one that tasted awesome, but didn’t have all the extra stuff in it. I’m thrilled to hear more from Mara and the story of insphero. And I have to say the stuff is pretty great, as I mentioned to to Mara, that my college kids were home. And I have to say they got into the insphero tequila and thought it was quite nice. And so thank you, and they thank you as well. But thank you so much. Mara, welcome.

Mara Smith 1:53
Thank you. It’s so great to be here.

Kara Goldin 1:54
So I want to go back to the beginning. You went, you went not super far back, but you went to law school, and were an attorney. What kind of law were you practicing?

Mara Smith 2:05
Doing transactional? So I was actually practicing commercial real estate at at the time, it was the largest law firm in Chicago.

Kara Goldin 2:12
Wow, awesome. And then you went into corporate strategy after that, not at the law firm. Right? You were

Mara Smith 2:19
right. So I guess I decided that one, I thought I was going to try and start a family soon. And given my insane amount of hours I was billing, I didn’t think that was going to be practical to do even though the law firm experience was extraordinary. And I just learned so much so quickly. But I thought okay, let me try and use my business side, I have an undergrad business degree, and I was going to move to the corporate side. So I joined the corporate strategy and business development team at McDonald’s.

Kara Goldin 2:51
Awesome, very, very cool. So I bet that was really pretty fun and interesting to be at McDonald’s. I mean, what was like the thing that you learned the most when you were there,

Mara Smith 3:01
I actually think McDonald’s kind of sparked my entrepreneurial spirit. To be honest, I was on this like really straight path like this very conservative path. And linear trajectory, right. So I studied accounting. And then after that, you go to last Street to law school, after street, going to law school, I made sure to get a job at a big firm, so I could pay off my law school loans. And all of a sudden, I was in a totally new environment. And I was part of an incubator project that they were doing at McDonald’s, where we were studying trends and customer insights, and ideating. And coming up with like, new concepts, I was just fascinated by the whole, the whole process and feel like that all of a sudden, kind of took my blinders off maybe a little bit, and to see that there are all these other kind of like opportunities and areas that you can go into,

Kara Goldin 3:56
that you just had no idea even existed. So really, really interesting, a great. Another great example, we’ve had many people talking about that where they’re, they’re inside of an advertising agency, or, you know, they get to work inside of a large company never really thinking that they’ll be working on innovation necessarily, but when they do they get the bug right to go out and, and go and start their own thing. So definitely a familiar dialogue that we’ve that we’ve heard before. So you were I guess you were pretty inspired by you know, kind of what you saw there. Did you think about any entrepreneurs growing up that were super inspirational to you? Maybe you didn’t think like, Oh, I’m gonna go down their path because you were gonna go to law school or initially you’re gonna go into accounting or finance it sounds like but what like when you think back I mean, who was it? That was kind of super inspiring to you?

Mara Smith 4:59
You Well, you know, actually it’s a my grandparents. So my, my grandparents immigrated to the United States and actually brought my mother here. After the war, they were both Holocaust survivors. And they came here with really very little education, formal education because they were both very young when they went into camps. So I saw them. And they, my grandfather, especially had a really an entrepreneurial spirit. I mean, I think he he opened like the first Burton’s chocolate store that was in Chicago. I just saw him going to lots of different ventures and eventually actually opening a family run dry cleaning business. And that’s the business that I grew up with my family running. And so I really, I saw that I saw someone who just with Drive and and passion and without a lot of maybe education, but had like an incredible business acumen. So I think that was really inspirational for me, I did choose a way more stable route when I was deciding what I was going to do. You think that was the inspiration. I mean, as a little girl, my dream, which probably is not what a lot of little girls think of is, was to become a Supreme Court justice. So that was, that’s what led me on my path to law school. But they were both very inspirational.

Kara Goldin 6:27
Well, Supreme Court Justice is, is pretty cool. Roll as well, you never know. Right? You could still get there at some point. So tequila, so tell us a little bit about how you got the idea for inspirit tequila

Mara Smith 6:46
after leaving the corporate world. And it actually was a pretty abrupt departure. I became pregnant with twins when I was at McDonald’s, and was put on emergency bed rest. So after, you know having preemie twins, I made the decision, which was probably the biggest pivot and in my life experience was to stay home and focus on my family and stay home and raise them. And, you know, they needed my attention. And I think it’s something I’d never even considered that that would be my path. And I don’t think anyone who knew me and kind of how driven and focused I was thought that would be the path I took either. But I did. But I always knew I want to start my own company. So I was always coming up with ideas and things were in the back of my head of what I would do, and that I wanted to eventually, you know, reenter the workforce. So as I was thinking about a lot of different ideas, I knew I wanted to be something that I actually really liked and enjoyed the product. I became a tequila drinker. Years ago, I was looking for a clean spirit that fit my kind of active healthier lifestyle. I’ve been gluten free for over 10 years. And I love wine, but I wake up feeling badly the next day, or I drink back and for some reason, I would wake up in the middle of the night. So I started really drinking good quality tequila. Not not the bad stuff that you know, used to get you sick in college. And you know, it doesn’t have sugar, it’s a it’s a cleaner spirit option, and it became a drink of choice. And I started converting a lot of girlfriends to become tequila drinkers. So I was discovering all these women were choosing tequila, but I didn’t feel any of the brands are really focused on them as a primary consumer. The marketing off often involves like scantily clad women or dark club scenes and just things that didn’t personally resonate with me. I also began to do a lot of research on the category and discovered that over half of tequila drinkers are female. So it’s just curious why this consumer is overlooked by so many spirits brands. And I was also surprised to learn that many tequila brands use additives to enhance their flavor and color. So here I was choosing to drink tequila because I thought it was like a cleaner option drink option. And I thought well I don’t want to add it is like glycerin and flavoring and coloring added then. So I just started searching for a brand that I thought had like a look a taste and aroma that appealed to me. But they didn’t have any additives. I guess I didn’t I didn’t find one. So I had this crazy idea that I would just start my own. So my goal was just really to create something for a thoughtful consumer like me. And so I started out I conducted focus groups of you know, female drinkers and followed up with a survey I I wanted to create something really that was consumer focused. So getting the feedback and seeing the brands they like and what they were looking for, and women being you know, the main entertainer in the home and having a battle that they could proudly display. So basically, I want to About and you know, wanted to create the sleek and sophisticated looking bottle that stood out on the shelves. And I wanted to recreate the taste profiles that they were telling us that they gravitate towards, but without using additives. So, you know, it also did not take much due diligence to figure out that there are that women are generally underrepresented in the spirit industry, in so many industries. So I thought there was an opportunity to bring to bring a female perspective and to have women involved in every part of our process from creating the taste profiles to you know, getting it on on the shelves. So that started it. Well,

Kara Goldin 10:41
you touched on this a little bit. This was one of my later questions, but I’ll I’ll just go back to it. So it’s created and led by women. In fact, you have one of the few female tequila master distillers, I noticed in the world helping you so how did you first of all, how did you go about finding this person? And also, like, why was it so important to you?

Mara Smith 11:06
So once I knew that I was interested in wanting to start this, I am a researcher. So I just dove right in and I started researching everything that I could find from listening to webinars and reading industry journals, everything so I actually read a ton of books. One of those books was the women in tequila, and it is a very small book. But the women in tequila, I found Anna Maria Romero mania, and it is one of the you know, legendary master distillers, I read about her process she developed, she’s the first person who developed like the aroma wheel and tequila. And I actually thought, wow, aroma is really important, especially for my consumer, I thought this would be very significant. So I decided, okay, I want her, I had consultants down in Mexico, and I basically just found a way to, you know, have them track her down and take a Zoom meeting with me, because it was in the midst of COVID, there was no way for me to get to Mexico at that point, right. And she loved the idea. And she’d never worked for a woman on brand before. It was important to me. Because if I was gonna say, I’m bringing this unique perspective and outsider and another female perspective, perspective, and giving women like another voice in the industry, I just thought I couldn’t do that unless I really had women involved in every part of the process and creating the taste profiles, and being able to kind of bring the vision to life was really essential. And having her do that.

Kara Goldin 12:37
How difficult was it to create a product? I mean, you’re doing it in the middle of COVID over zoom? I mean, in another country? How difficult was it to? Like, what what was the toughest part of creating the product?

Mara Smith 12:52
Well, many things and dealing with a you know, you’re dealing with operations in foreign country, and I’m generally someone who likes to be in control of a lot of things. Yeah. And this requires giving up a lot, a lot of control. Which was not easy. I have to rely on other people. I couldn’t be there. I couldn’t be there for the first run. And I think, you know, making sure I had people on the ground there and consultants who can oversee operations for me was really important. But it’s it’s not it’s not easy, right? I’m dealing with getting raw materials from one country, getting it to another country. And trying to do this all when the distilleries having, you know, shut down during COVID. So, you know, but I think you have to no matter what, you just have to find people who can actually who are local and who can help manage things. I would like to know what’s going on every day all the time. But that’s just not that’s just not practical.

Kara Goldin 13:53
Yeah, no. This episode of the Kara Goldin show is sponsored by fun jet vacations. You know, one of my favorite feelings in the world is being on vacation and forgetting what day it is. That’s when I know I truly unplugged. And I know that I made the right decision. Okay, we’re all working hard. Most of us from home. Still, we all need to take time to make some memories with family, friends, or maybe even with some new people we meet along the way. It’s easy to keep going at it all day, day in and day out putting our vacations and breaktime on hold. But here’s the hard truth. Work will be there. Now is the time to take care of yourself by taking some time away. This is where fun jet vacations comes in. It’s your one stop shop for all your vacation needs, including flights, hotels, transfers and those fun excursions along the way. It’s a fast and easy way to book your next vacation. You can pick from hundreds of destinations like the Caribbean, Mexico, y las vegas, or Florida for over 45 yours they’ve delivered friendly, reliable service so you can focus on the fun. For a limited time my listeners can use promo code FJ 50 for $50 off your next FunJet vacation, get more moments that are fun expected. Surprise yourself with where you could go at Fun jet.com or call your local Travel Advisor. Again, get $50 off your next fun jet vacation when you use the promo code FJ 50 restrictions apply. Did you know that every 28 seconds an entrepreneur makes their first sale on Shopify? It’s true and every time a sale is made through a Shopify enabled store, you’ll hear that sound. Shopify is the all in one commerce platform to start, run and grow your business. But don’t you take my word for it over 1.7 million businesses use Shopify, Shopify is more than a store. It’s an end to end solution to connect with customers drive sales and manage the day to day. It’s the number one choice when it comes to getting your store successful. These days. Everyone I know who has a successful store is using Shopify. And with Shopify, you can reach customers online across every major social network, including Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and more. The best part is the data Shopify provides to gain insights as you grow with detailed reporting of conversion rates, profit margins and beyond. Go to shopify.com/kara for a free 14 day trial and get full access to Shopify entire suite of features that shopify.com/kara grow your business with Shopify today.

Go to shopify.com/kara right now, when you’re hiring someone new, you don’t want to spend hours sifting through applications trying to find the right fit. To quickly and easily find your perfect candidate use this episode sponsor LinkedIn jobs. When you use LinkedIn jobs, you can create a free job posts in minutes your entire network sees the post along with LinkedIn entire professional network of over 770 million people. As applications roll in, you can use the simple tools on LinkedIn jobs to quickly filter and prioritize when you want to interview and then eventually hire. You can focus on candidates with the right skills and experience while using screening questions to get your role in front of only the most qualified. That’s why small businesses rate LinkedIn jobs number one and delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Did you know every week nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn. Post your job for free at linkedin.com/kara Goldin that’s linkedin.com/kara Goldin to post your job for free Terms and Conditions apply. This episode is sponsored by hashtag paid. As a founder, author and podcast host I am always on the lookout for unique ways to market my work and share my story. But finding the programs that actually do that is challenging. That’s until I came upon hashtag paid. Hashtag paid is a very cool marketing program that allows you and your brand to collaborate with creators. Those creators build content that helps you market smarter to the audiences you want to reach how first they match you with creators ideal for your campaign. Then those creators pitch their campaign concepts to you for review. Hashtag paid has been rated a number one Creator marketing platform, they make it easy for you to choose your objectives from the creators you choose in a quick process that helps you get results. Their promise to you is that you’ll never have to spend hours searching for creators. The price is set up front so you know what you’re paying for. And you’ll get the data you need to see how the campaign performed. Here’s how you can give hashtag paid a try. Go to go dot hashtag paid.com/kara Goldin that’s go dot hashtag paid.com/kara Goldin with a K golden sign up there for your trial offer. Again, that’s go dot hashtag paid.com/kara Goldin How long did it take from the moment that you decided okay, I’m going to go do this from the beginning research to actually having a product that you could sell.

Mara Smith 19:49
It ended up taking much longer than I had always done, which is always I knew it was going to take longer, but one of the reasons was so Because I couldn’t be there. A major obstacle that that occurred during this, you know, process was the first run was done. I wasn’t there, I couldn’t be there for the tasting. Annamaria was managing the, you know, entire process. And I trust her implicitly. But I was anxiously waiting for my samples to come. And by the time they got through customs, I finally got them. And I was all excited. And then I was really devastated because I didn’t like it. And Anna Maria wasn’t happy with it either. It just wasn’t the taste profile I was looking for. I knew that it wasn’t something that I, I could put out there. Sure. You know, here, I had created this gorgeous bottle that took a long time to perfect. And I really wanted, you know, to have sync quality inside with the liquid. So you know that that really delayed me. So what people have proposed is maybe we combine this production run with the next production run those getting started. And it just didn’t sit well with me, I thought, okay, I don’t really want like a mediocre taking something bad or something good and mixing it, I just want to get rid of the whole thing. So clearly, that was a huge setback financially, as well as on our timeline. So my goal was to launch you know, Cinco Demayo, of 2021. And we ended up launching into September of 2020. So it ended up taking about 18 to 19 months, which I know isn’t that long. But when you’re in it, it feels like a lot.

Kara Goldin 21:40
Orderly well, it always does. Greg Renfrew from Beautycounter. I had her on, and we were laughing because it’s always when you hear plans, like, you know, we’re gonna get, we’re gonna do this on the state. And, and this is, especially for new entrepreneurs. And then, and then, you know, we’re gonna sell it in two years, and we’re gonna do this. We’re like, I mean, it’s just, it just won’t happen. I mean, it just never does. So it always takes so much longer. But so I totally relate. So one of the questions that I always ask is, tell me a story and building your company, where, you know, there was either triumph loss or adversity and tell me what you learned from that experience?

Mara Smith 22:27
Well, I really think there are two big, big things that I think for me were major challenges. And one being kind of an internal challenge, and one an external one. And I think the internal one was, you know, I was coming back in entering into totally new industry and re entering the workforce after being home for many years. And I think, honestly, the hardest thing for me to overcome was my own mindset. I think many women probably feel this way, if they have a gap in the resume, they kind of don’t remember their value. When I you know, when I was on the partnership track at a large law firm, or, you know, climbing the corporate ladder at McDonald’s, it really never questioned my skills and abilities. And all of a sudden, after being home, I did, and I kept doubting myself, you know, am I can I really do this? Am I qualified to do this? And so, to earn credibility, so one, I started off doing everything really secretively, without telling anyone? Yeah, yeah. And in order to earn credibility, I really put myself to task and to start researching, like, everything I could. So I went into researching the industry and talk about, you know, webinars and, and reading and, and trying to get information from like industry experts. I also took a course by the CRT, which is the governing body for tequila and Mexico to become certified in the history and production of tequila making. And it took this approach with like, every aspect of the business, so I knew nothing about social media. So I signed up for tutorials and master classes, I, you know, I studied all the compliance issues and regulations around alcohol. It’s such a highly regulated industry, and, you know, the laws have been around since post prohibition 1933. So, doing all this due diligence, actually reminded me that I actually honed incredible research skills, you know, in law school, and I still was using research skills even when I was home if it was researching, you know, camps or non toxic cleaning products, right. But I think I did this with a lot of women doing, you know, I didn’t tell anybody until I had this like extensive knowledge and I felt like I could answer any question. It wasn’t ready to like announce my idea or bring you know, put it out there. A world I just thought I had to do so much legwork to be taking taken seriously and feel credible. I’m not sure the men feeling maybe they have to do as much of the legwork and research to kind of put like an idea out there. But, you know, I did and, and I just think, I hope that my story can actually, you know, resonate with, with other women that it’s not too late. And maybe it’s not, you know, starting a new company, maybe it’s that there’s a profession that you always dreamed of entering, or you wanted to work in an art gallery, or, you know, there are resources out there, you can, you can’t get around doing the hard work, and you have to do the due diligence and get up to speed with our resources to do that quickly. But I think it’s also recognizing all the skills you had up into the point where maybe you shifted to being home, you still have, and you acquired new skills at home. I mean, I had premi twins, I can multitask like nobody’s Yeah, is this, you know, I learned efficiency, flexibility, as you know, with kids, like no day ever goes according, according as planned. And same with the business. So there are actually skills that are very applicable, that I learned that apply to starting a new business, but I didn’t get myself that the credit for that. And really, you know, acknowledge that, and I think so I think that was the first huge hurdle for me to get started was kind of getting over my own, you know, mindset and, and, really, the second external one was the story told you about, you know, the first production run, it did not go, right. And it was, it was a really big disappointment for me. And here, I was so excited, and I didn’t want to put the product out and I knew it was gonna take more time, and, and money. And there’s this urge, like, I just wanted to finally have it, you know, have it out. But I, I had to make a really tough decision to not use it because, and I think the learning there for me was, you know, no matter what quality above all else, like I have to feel proud of it. I have to, you know, I have to love it. I have, you can’t turn around, I can’t stand find somebody that I don’t personally love. And

that and I think learning, you know, a lot of flexibility. Because obviously, that was one hurdle, there been many more sense and there will be many more to come. But, you know, just problem solving. Okay, what’s Plan B, Plan B didn’t work. What’s Plan C? I’m like, okay, Cinco de Mayo. That’s a great holiday. Well, you know, what another great holiday is? Like how about, you know, I just kept pushing back the holidays. So, but I think those are important learning for me that, you know, I’ve up until that point, I like to be like a very planned, organized person. And like nothing goes according to plan. And I am glad it maybe took me a little later in life to learn this kind of flexibility. But I am now

Kara Goldin 28:12
yeah, no, I love it. Well, I think it’s just a lot of what you’re describing, too, is just being vulnerable and being okay with being vulnerable. And when you’re in, you know, control. And you’re, I mean, this is a whole new mindset. And I was sharing actually having conversation with my husband about this earlier today that it’s just, you know, going from that zero mark to actually something is it takes a whole new section of your brain. I mean, you can go to school forever, right? You can go and work at, you know, the best companies and get all kinds of experience. But there’s this scrappiness, there’s this, you know, what the heck, I’m going to give it a try and that you have to be able to fall down, right, you have to be able to know that. It may or may not work. And I think when you’re used to perfection, when you’re used to organization, when you’re used to timelines and strategies, it’s a really, really tough thing. And it’s, you know, why the failure rate of so many companies I guess it just it really, you know, you don’t have to go to business school in order to start a company, you don’t have to graduate from college or, you know, to really have the skills you have to have this vision and tenacity and, and it’s not to say that if you don’t have the education and skills, you can’t do it, but it really shift. You gotta shift your brain in order to go and get it done. And also eventually as you scale and hire the right people that can kind of help you along the way to to Be able to scale? I think,

Mara Smith 30:01
Yeah, I’m definitely aware that there are plenty of areas that I am not going to be the best at. And, you know, being self aware of what I’m really good at and what I’m not. And that there are people who probably can do many, many of those things better than I can. But

Kara Goldin 30:16
absolutely, one of the things that you and I were talking about that I love this organization, we bank, and we actually I don’t think we’ve actually talked about we bank at all, on any of my podcasts, and I’m very familiar with it. We Bank is a women’s certification program for women. Is it it’s not women? Oh, is it women owned company owned it is women owned companies. So definitely, if you’ve already raised money from firms that are primarily male owned, then it is really difficult, if not impossible, to get the funding. So it’s something that that Mara and I were chatting about, it’s definitely something that you want to do early. There’s lots of amazing connections you can make through getting the WeBank certification. So do you want to share a little bit more about that? Ah,

Mara Smith 31:11
not just, you know, but also programming, I mean, talk about that I had to learn so much about so many different aspects of starting business. And, you know, once you’re weeding certified, there’s all this amazing programming that you can do for free, you know, I’m, I’m in my second, I mean, like an entire class on digital marketing, that’s grand, it’s like, it’s something I knew nothing about marketing, right? So I came from like, I’ve like accounting, and legal strategy, marketing was this whole big, like, black hole for me. And here, I’m on my, you know, second, full class of learning every aspect from SEO. I mean, you know, I’m not going to be the expert. But I want to know, enough enough to understand the terminology enough to understand, you know, to make decisions, there are definitely many people who can handle those things better than me. But I think it’s a great way to really educate yourself and so many areas, and definitely have great programming and a really great community.

Kara Goldin 32:21
Well, you nailed it on the community aspect, because I think like one of the hardest things that I hear from entrepreneurs, and I certainly felt this as well is that it’s really lonely, right? You’re just starting out, you’re, you’re trying, especially if you’re trying to figure out a new industry or a new category, as we were doing as well, it’s, you know, it’s just, it’s really challenging. And I think that the beauty of we bank is it’s many different industries. And so it’s kind of, you know, Misery his company, some days, but also the people that have been through what you’ve been through and are able to support you. So definitely, I found, you know, a whole group of people there. And I think like, that’s the big thing is finding your communities, whether it’s we bank, or as I mentioned before, when when you’re when you get a little bit bigger, EY has an amazing program called Winning women. That is so good. And again, it’s like filled with women who are scaling their businesses and kind of hitting, I think the minimum is I think it’s 8 million and and like, eight, two, there’s some that are even bigger than 20 million, but it’s like, it’s really interesting, because there are different issues that come up along the way. And how do you hire? How do you get rid of the people that you know, are not actually like helping you to, to sort of do what you need to be doing in order to scale and figuring out different people for different size companies, and all those kinds of things. I think, finding these communities and people who have done it are just really, really important. So I, I love I loved hearing a little bit more about that. So tell me last thing on the insphero Purple bicycle project, you’re a part of.

Mara Smith 34:12
Yes. So this kind of actually relates to you talking about community. So one of the first things I also did is reach out and find communities of amazing female founders and leaders, and the collaboration in these groups. I mean, I do think it is a lonely journey. I’m a solo entrepreneur, but finding these women to connect to it’s been amazing. And, and honestly, one of the most, you know, exciting parts of the entire journey is like I’ve connected with these like incredible women who are there to offer guidance and feedback and you put an ask out there and someone will answer it. So I think and because of that, and because I feel like I’ve get such a warm reception and people have been just gone above and beyond to kind of help me out. When I think about the inspiration Bicycle project for me setting out on on this, you know, journey and starting a new venture and re entering the workforce, they just was important to me that I could also there be a social impact piece and that I would give back. So I think about everybody who’s been so supportive and helpful, and I want to do the same thing. So it’s a big part of this is, you know, my ability to inspire and support other female founders, and support them in their, you know, startups. And if it’s offering, you know, grants through certain organizations and mentoring, I love meeting with people. And, you know, I’m not that far along my journey, but I still feel like I’ve learned enough to give advice, and maybe I’ve, maybe I’ve, you know, interviewed 20 agencies in this area, and I can like, save you a little bit of time. Because I’ve done a lot of legwork. Definitely.

Kara Goldin 35:52
Well, that is that is so great that you’re doing that. And I think it is really finding these communities and people that can help you because they are out there, for sure. So and so many tidbits, I think, come through this podcast too, just by interviewing people and sort of the stuff that they’ve learned as well. So even if it’s not a physical world, or a virtual world connection, I think actually learning and listening to how people went through their journey and and how they got through the the challenging times and what they learned and, to some extent, shortcuts along the way is just really, really critical. So I love this interview so much and Mara. So where can people find you? Where can people purchase insphero Tequila as well and give it a try?

Mara Smith 36:44
Thank you. Well, right now we’re available for sale on our website, which is in Spiro tequila.com I MSPI arrow tequila.com And you can follow me and my very novice journey on Instagram, at be inspired by Mara, and insphero Tequila so at insphero Tequila, but you can see that it’s it’s me trying to figure out my way around the social media

Kara Goldin 37:15
world of it now. It’s it’s definitely great. Well, Mara, thank you so much for speaking with me and sharing your story and sharing the insphero story. And I wish you the best of luck. I’m very, very excited to be trying it very, very soon again in side retail stores and restaurants and and definitely go online to purchase in Spiro. And thanks, everybody, for listening to this episode. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Kara Goldin show. And definitely go in if you would, and give ratings and reviews, they’re very, very important to show up on algorithms where podcasts are found. So I hope you guys will all do that. And definitely give that five star rating to this episode too for Mara, and get the latest from me daily on all social media channels at Kara Goldin that’s with an eye and shameless plug. If you haven’t had a chance to purchase my book, either on Audible or at your favorite bookstore or on Amazon, it’s called undaunted, overcoming doubts and doubters and you can hear and read more about my story through that book, just by just by reading or listening to it. So hopefully you’ll get a chance to go ahead and purchase that and last but not least grab a case of hint at stores you can even add it within Spiro if you like. No gluten, no. None of that bad stuff. So definitely you won’t be sorry. So thanks, everybody, and goodbye for now. Before we sign off, I want to talk to you about fear. People like to talk about fearless leaders. But achieving big goals isn’t about fearlessness. Successful leaders recognize their fears and decide to deal with them head on in order to move forward. This is where my new book undaunted comes in. This book is designed for anyone who wants to succeed in the face of fear, overcome doubts and live a little undaunted. Order your copy today at undaunted, the book.com and learn how to look your doubts and doubters in the eye and achieve your dreams. For a limited time. You’ll also receive a free case of hint water. Do you have a question for me or want to nominate an innovator to spotlight send me a tweet at Kara Goldin and let me know and if you like what you heard, please leave me a review on Apple podcasts. You can also follow along with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Like Danna Kara Goldin thanks for listening