511: Monica Cornitcher’s Journey From Personal Loss to Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Success

And I think that is where I'm seeing success. Sticking to that plan. Sticking to the plan. Yeah. It's helping me see the success that I'm looking for. You're listening to Side Hustle Pro, the podcast that teaches you to build and grow your side hustle from passion project to profitable business. And I'm your host, Nikaela Matthews-Okome. So let's get started. Hey friends. Hey, welcome. Welcome back to the show. It's Nikaela here. And today's guest is Monica Corniture. co-founder and CEO of Madassi Cocktails. Monica is a seasoned entrepreneur who previously ran her own consulting firm, but Madassi didn't start in a boardroom. It started during long Zoom calls in the pandemic with her best friend and co-founder, Inga Dyer, as Inga battled breast cancer. Neither of them drank alcohol, but they still wanted something that felt celebratory, something that tasted like a real cocktail and matched their flavor preferences. When they couldn't find it, they decided to create it themselves. Together, they built Madassi, a zero-proof cocktail brand designed to deliver the flavor and experience of traditional drinks without the alcohol. But before the business could fully take off, Inga passed away. And in this episode, Monica shares how she kept going, how they built a business rooted in intention and strategy, and what it looks like to carry a vision forward, even through grief. Let's get into it. So, Monica, Monica, welcome to the guest chair of Side Hustle Pro. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Listen, I was introduced to Madassi Cocktails the other day when I went to a Peloton times BT Sisters event and I was like, oh, what's this? And as someone who interviews Black women entrepreneurs, I can't believe that it was my first time being introduced. And I went down a rabbit hole, of course, had to reach out to you. so here we are i cannot wait to dive into your story thank you so much and i love the ooze and the wows and all of those things when it comes to my brand so thank you yes because i've just found that more and more i'm not really i love the taste of a cocktail but i'm not really interested in feeling hungover or woozy afterwards so i'm sure this space is growing for that very reason right absolutely absolutely let's take it back for a little bit um because like many others this our first time getting to know you. And for those of you who haven't come across Madassi, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and when you were bitten by this entrepreneur bug? That can go back a while, but I'll kind of go back and kind of summarize it really quickly. So Monica Cornisher, I am CEO and co-founder of Madassi Cocktails, but I've always had the entrepreneurial bug for a very long time. I started my first company when I was 28. What company was that? So I was doing consulting for large corporations in the areas of training and development, change management, and mergers and acquisitions. And I did that for years and loved it, right? That was my passion. I went to Temple University for my graduate degree, and it's in organizational development and strategy. But, you know, I will say I will always be Howard all the way. Right? Yes. Bison are proud or proud people. We're proud. And so I ran that company for years. And then, you know, people make decisions based on the information they have. And I had some information and decided to go into corporate. And I actually went to work for one of my clients and I worked there for about three and a half years. And then COVID hit. And I was like, huh, I'm in Atlanta by myself. My entire family's in California. My daughter graduated from University of Michigan and decided to move to Philadelphia for her first job. And I was like, I'm not going to be here by myself. I'm going to go to California with my family. And my line sister, Inga Dyer, was actually in California. Inga and I went to college together. We pledged together and you are aka so I was a four she was a six right yes yes numbers for us and you know we just started to reconnect at a different level at that time and at the time she was battling breast cancer and I thought I was going to just stay with my corporate company and then you know that time period you know connecting with her and battling some of the issues that she was going through it seemed like every time we were connecting and together it was over zoom or face-to-face we had something in our hand. We had water, right? We had a smoothie, you know, we had tea, we had coffee, whatever it was. Always drinking something. Yeah. Always drinking something when you're connected with your friends. And we just started to reminisce like you was just saying is, you know, I want a cocktail, but she could not drink, right? You want the flavor and the taste of it. And that was when it just bit both of us to say, why don't we do this ourselves, right? Yes. Then why don't we build a non-alcoholic brand that tastes like an authentic cocktail? And in this space, we tried everything and there was nothing out there. There was a lot of great drinks. I will say that when it comes to non-alcoholic, but they were more sparkling with flavors in it. Right. Not what we wanted. We wanted a real cocktail taste and you tasted our drinks. So our own taste smells, tastes just like an old fashioned. And people always say, are you sure there's no alcohol in here? And I'm like, that was happening at the event. People were like, are these mocktails? It was positive clarification. And that's exactly what happened. And we started with two cocktails. And I call them cocktails because people don't know. But, you know, we've got to explain they're non-alcoholic, zero proof. We started with the margarita and mascamuel. home and we were ready to go. So in March of 2023, we were ready to go. Wait, now, okay. Monica, now you're going to tell the whole story. We got to break this down. We got to break this into pieces. Okay. You went from a Zoom call to launch. Okay. But I love it because it also shows a bias for action, which I love. Like you and Inga were speaking, you know, God bless her soul. And, and, and you were connecting right over zoom and tell us how you went from just talking with your friends and say, you know what we should do? Cause so many of us have that conversation. You know what we should do? You know what somebody needs to make, right? We tried every non-alcoholic and I tell you, we would try it and be like, this is not what we were talking about. We were trying another one. This is not what we were talking about. And we were just trying, you know, everything in each time we were saying, this is not what we're talking about. And, you know, I was an entrepreneur. Inga was a lawyer by trade, right? I mean, that's what she went to school for. And we were like, we could do this. And we did it. I feel like we did it the right way. So, and that right. How did you get started? Yeah. What was that right way? That right way for us was we did not jump in it right away. We said, let's take our time. Let's look at the industry. Let's do a full analysis of who's out there. Let's do a comparison what they offer, you know, what kind of things are in their drink and make sure there was a true gap in the market. And most people decide, let me whip something up in the kitchen. We were like, we're not whipping nothing up in the kitchen. Thank you. We're not doing that. No, we we found a food scientist. She was a black female in L.A. and she worked with us around a table and we tasted flavors. and juices to come up with the right cocktail to make the flavors we have today. So we will all love that. I love that you found someone and you said, we're going to do this because we want a certain flavor profile, but there ain't enough tinkering in the kitchen to make you just come up with Jamaican rum punch if you don't understand food science, you know? So you started on Zoom. So at what point did you move around a table? So you were starting in 2022 with the ideation. When did you meet with the food scientists? Yeah. In 2022, you know, we had our small pod of people who you can hang out with and who you couldn't hang out with, right? Everybody was in small groups. So we probably started that process at the end of 2022, right? Working with the food scientists. And it was kind of the tail end. People were kind of coming out a little bit, but we still had our small pod of people. Inga had her and her kids. I had me. So we were like, we can get together, right? And it was safe. And we started having conversations on the phone first, right? And we were shipping things to the food scientists around what we liked and what we didn't like. We were going real cocktails, working with things that were on the market. We also worked with a lot of mixologists and bartenders. And we said, make us this. And we would send that to that person and say, we like this. So we want to replicate this. And people don't know, like, if you make a little cocktail, it tastes different if you make a whole gallon of cocktail. And I was like, see, this is why we can't be in the kitchen doing this thing. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That just brought me back to a funny story. I was in Barbados and the bartender was making rum punch. And, you know, we're watching him make this rum punch, literally bags and bags of sugar. He's like, don't worry, don't worry. The lime cut the sugar. So when you actually see what goes into a big batch, you're right. Completely different how you have to approach it. Yes, exactly. So we took our time and we approached it the right way. And then we did our first production run preparing for a March launch of 2023. So we were really excited. We were really excited. That was like that moment. We were like, yay, we did it. Yes, yes. And you also worked on a five-year business plan during that time as well. Talk us through that process. So that's the thing. You know, our background was in business and corporate. Right. I was working with companies building strategy for them. Inga was a lawyer. You know, nothing passed Inga when it came to that legal document. Right. But we said, let's make sure that we have a plan in place and know the steps that we're going to take, because this business is not a cheap business to go into. Right This is a can beverage So that can beverage is going to cost a pretty penny to make for one can You know the empty can probably cost more than 30 cent right Yes Make sure that we had a plan in place and a strategy in place to move from making a small batch and producing it and getting it out in the market early right to wanting to make truckloads and truckloads and truckloads right We need to make sure we had the right flavor. So we did a whole survey of 100 people. Then we extended it to maybe another hundred people to say, what do people buy at the bar? Right. When you go to the bar, I'm going to just be there. You do not say, give me that carbonated drink with the sparkling strawberry in it and with some, you know, adaptogen stuff in it. That's not what you order. So that's not what we wanted to do. Right. I love those drinks. That's a market for that. But we wanted people to order exactly what they drink. I order a lemon drop. I order Jamaican from French. I order old fish and I order Moscow Mule. And we kept it simple. That's what people order. That's what we're going to give them. That was just lots of fun. And that strategy makes sure we told that story, right? The why behind the brand, the why we're selecting this flavors, the data behind why we're selecting this flavors, who we kind of went out and surveyed, how we're going to invest the money up front. We decided to put a certain amount of money up front to do this production run. What is that money going to be used for? So there's no question if something popped up, it's not on the list. We can't do that yet, right? But we had some contingencies in there, right? But we knew to build this brand in the time period we wanted to build the brand, we needed some money, right? And that was the key thing. So that strategy probably took us more time than us whipping up the drinks. It really did. We want to see what's our marketing strategy, where we're going to go, who we're going to market to, which is our social life. What is the look and feel of our social media account? Right. What do we want it to say when people see it? Right. We want it to be inclusive. We want it to take away the stigma of you can be cool. You can have celebration without the alcohol. That's what we wanted to do. So we needed images that kind of portrayed that. So all of that is in our strategy document. And I still use that today, right? Sometimes I have to deviate best on where we are, but I usually try to stick to that plan, right? And that was the key for us, sticking to that plan. And I think that is where I'm seeing success. Sticking to that plan. Sticking to the plan. Yeah. It's helping me see the success that I'm looking for. I like to say, make the plan and work the plan, okay? You know what I love about your story? You did both at the same time. Yes, you were working on a plan, but then you still got to work figuring out the actual product. So I love that example of what you're doing. And those are some great questions, too, that you shared with us of what we can ask ourselves as we're building out our next thing. What do we want this to feel like? What do we want this to look like? All those things will inform how we move in our business. Exactly. It's how we move in our business, who we, you know, our consumers, so we can know our consumer story, how old they are, you know. You know, I love it. Yes. We needed to make sure we knew who our consumers were because we couldn't beat everything to everybody, right? Because we had to target our consumer to be able to get that quick win that we were looking for. And we knew who they were and that's who we went after. And then we said, well, let's start opening the doors a little bit to some additional consumers that would enjoy our drinks. Right. And I definitely fall into that target because one of the things that stood out to me, I'm used to when first of all, when people used to say mocktails right before I discovered Madassi, I'm like, right, you're thinking fruity, bubbly. I was like, go ahead and just give me the liquor for all that for the sugar. Just go ahead and give it to me. okay. But when I, you know, first of all, the names caught my eyes, the flavors, because I love a Moscow Mule and I love, of course, a Jamaican Rum Punch. I'm Jamaican, right? So that stood out to me. I'm like, wait, what? They have a Matel with flavors like this? So I am definitely that target consumer. And then I also love the fact that the whole vibe of the name, we'll talk about the name in a second, but the name, the colors, it gives like, it's a vibe. It gives like, this is what you're going to host your next event for, you know, movers and shakers, black women. Like it gives, this is what you need to have on the menu. So kudos to you for creating that because I already know if I have an event, like I want Midassey cocktails there. You know what I mean? I mean, No, like facts. So tell us more about the name. What inspired you to name the brand Madassi? Yes, I wanted to say one thing. So you are my target consumer and you said it. So when you saw that Jamaican rum punch and you tasted that Jamaican rum punch, you was like, this is a real Jamaican rum punch, right? It smells like it, all of those things. And that was important, important for us. So those, all of the flavors, if you are a mojito drinker, it's like, this is a mojito. This is what I normally drink. And that's what I wanted. So when people bring us to events, right? And look, next time you have an event, we would love to be there for you. The base of our drinks can create any drink. So we can do a full bar service, which is why people love us, right? You're not getting sparkling water here. The name, Madasi. So Inga and I, our word for each other was thank you. It was just thank you for listening. Thank you for not judging me. Thank you for understanding why I'm not doing this or not doing this or anything. It was always thank you. Thank you for being here, Linesister, all of those things. And so when we wanted to name the brand, it had to mean thank you. And Madasi means thank you. We searched high and low for a word that just meant thank you. And when we heard Madassi, that was like, that's it. That's the word we want to use to describe our brand, because this is a brand full of gratitude and friendship and thanks. Right. And we was like, Madassi is our brand, a brand name for this drink. That is so beautiful. I mean, the way you held space for each other and the way you just made each other feel seen unapologetically, everyone needs a true friend like that. So, you know, it's just so beautiful. You can see it in every aspect of the brand. Thank you. Thank you so much. And those colors pop. That's why I say when you walk down the shelf or if you see us, it's like, okay, let me turn around. Let me see what's going on over here. Right, right, right. And like, I'm not trying to keep hyping you, but this is something I would decorate my house with just to look cute. Like I like interior design. I would just put it, you know, some open shelving. Like I'm telling y'all, go check it out. Okay. We're going to have the links to the website. So I understand that you and Inga personally funded the business in the early days. Tell us about that journey. What did it take to actually bring this concept to life financially? I mean, and to be very honest, this was linked very, you know, to the strategy, right? One, we knew how much we had in our bank accounts, right? And then we made sure that we understood how much it would cost to do a production run, right? We were into a small production run because we wanted to at least get two products on the market. And so we made sure we followed our strategy. And because we knew that going over that would not allow us to do social media and marketing and so forth. And so we knew that we wanted to take a chance, right? We wanted to take a chance on ourselves. We wanted to take a chance on this brand. We wanted to take a chance on the brand story, right? And we were, you know, entrepreneurs. So taking a chance was okay. That wasn't going to financially, you know, impact us or throw us in a whirlwind of debt, right? That's the other thing. We wanted to make sure that was not going to happen. And, you know, once we did it and it was a dream that we had these two products out in the market, you know, and we stay true to our strategy from a pricing and so forth. But, you know, it's hard when you're using your own money at first. It's like, oh, my God, I got to pay my bills. What's going to go on? But we still had our full time jobs. We had not left our full time jobs when we first started this idea. So we had some income coming in. So it wasn't too scary for us. But as we started to look at the growth, it was like, wait a second now. And I'll wait to tell that story. Wait, okay. So Ballpark, what did it cost to just initially like pay for all of those elements of the food scientists, the packaging, just, you know, getting the first product run? So we were probably around $100,000, $125,000 to get started. Again, to do a production run of, say, just the two products we had, it was upwards of about, you know, $60,000. And the reason is, people don't understand you got to buy the can, you got to buy the wrap, which is the image that goes around the can, right? Then you have to work with a manufacturer to produce the product. And for us, we did not go cheap on this product. We could have went to like, you know, pineapple flavor and then just flavor the drink. No, we actually use lime juice, lemon juice. So we were bringing in barrels and barrels of real organic juice into this drink. So that cost more money because we wanted to make sure it was a clean drink. So to do that, you just can't use a little flavor. And it wasn't going to give us a taste profile we were looking for. We wanted that taste profile of the margarita and the Moscow Mule. So that means we had to use real ginger juice to get that flavor, not ginger flavor, right? It was real juice. So that cost us a little bit more money, but it was worth it, right? Because we got the taste profile. You can taste it. You can taste the difference. You can taste the difference that everybody loves. And then we also had to consider once we produce the product, we got to get that product on a truck in some warehouse for us to have that product somewhere. Right. And then we have to think about shipping, shipping boxes, you know, tape, you know, everything that we need to get it to the consumer. where we had to set up a Shopify store, website, you know, all the things to get out of the market. So we were pretty high. That was a pretty high startup cost. It was not like I call, you know, like something that costs 30 cents to produce. Yeah, it wasn't the leanest you could have done, but you had a vision. We had a vision and we were like, let's just keep going. Let's keep going. So that's how we started. I mean it was pretty pricey but it was a great investment So how did you know this was the idea right Like, did you ever doubt or feel like, ooh, are we doing the right thing? Like looking at your bank account? Of course we did. So one, we were excited about the brand. It was a lot of excitement and passion. and we felt it, right? But yes, we were like, oh my goodness, this nail has to sell and people need to buy it. And we were selling our cans at the time for $28 for a four pack, right? Which is a little pricey, but we were a premium product, right? It was in comparison to an alcoholic drink per se. But it was like, oh my goodness, that bank account, that bank account, which was fine because we said, okay, we know this is not the end, right? This is not the end, which is why in March of 2023 was when we went to Expo West. Expo West is probably the largest beverage expo in the world. And there you will find buyers for retail stores, venture capital people walking the floors looking for brands that they can buy into. And we had one goal. And I said, let's not go in there with all kinds of goals, right? We're not ready for retail stores. We had one goal, looking for a venture capital person to walk those floors and see us and say, wow, that that, yes, I see the vision. And that's exactly what happened. In 2023, we had tons of venture capital people coming over to our booth and we were bringing them. When I say we spent a pretty penny, I think to get in there was like $15,000. And I was like. To get into the expo was $15,000. That's why most small brands who are, you know, beverage or food brand can't afford it. You can't afford $15,000 just to get into Expo. So, which is why, and you know, most, you know, black and brown people are not there. It's not there. You know, there's organizations that help you get there and they, you know, get you a reduction in price. But at that time, we didn't know about those organizations. So we was like, we got to bite the bullet. We got to find that VC person that's going to help us move this company to the next level. And so we was like, let's take a chance. And when we showed up, we showed up just like you were wild with the flavors. We want that booth out. Like we had, we had a bar. We had a back. I believe it. Yes. We had our friends. They were like, who are we going to wear? I was like, you're going to wear dresses. You're going to act like you're going to an event. And so we wowed the crowd. It was a great moment. And we met with a lot of people because our goal was that one goal, find a VC company that's going to fund this business to help us move along. And we did. We probably met, I want to say, 50. 50 people kind of approached us. We probably was on the phone with about half of those people after the expo. And we found the one VC company that was like, great. And at the time, it was early conversations. It was like, you know, tell me more about the business. Prove this out to me. Right. All of those things. But in 2024, Inga passed away. And it was like, wait a second, we got to pause a little bit. Yeah, I figured this one out. And because that was hard. And it was a pulse for me because I was also thinking like, should I keep going? Should I do this? Should I stop? You know, and it took me a couple of months to kind of figure that one out, let's say. But then I, you know, got up, brushed myself off, you know, went through some therapy sessions and so forth to kind of get it together. And that same VC person was still around and kind of proved things out. and had some early, early, you know, planning. You know, we still had a couple, you know, a couple of dollars left. We did another production run in 2025. So June of 2025 was when I first really launched Mendocsi with all six flavors. That was the thing. And what was the response during these launches? What was the feedback and the revenue like? The first two flavors, literally, we were selling like cupcakes. It was just, which was great, right? In June of 2025, when we had all six flavors, same thing. It was so in my hotcakes. We were on Amazon. I think when we first went on Amazon in June of 2025, we were like number 3,000 something. We're like in the teens now. We got people buying flavors every single week. And when you say teens, do you mean the teens in your mocktail category? In our category. So for instance, you know, we were like 12 with one of our drinks in the category. So, you know, Amazon links you, which is how you get your kind of Amazon tags and everything like that. And so you say the category again, non-alcoholic cocktails. Okay. Non-alcoholic cocktails. Got it. Right. That is impressive. People are going on Amazon and searching for non-alcoholic cocktails or mocktails. And we're popping up on the first page, right? We're not on page 15. We're on page one now, which is really helpful to the brand, which is why it's growing in that direct-to-consumer market really fast, which is, you know, why we're now here with a VC company who sees the vision in supporting Nadasi and helping us take this to the next phase, right? And we're ready. We're ready now to go into retail stores. So we went back to Expo West this March. Okay. Paid the other $15,000 that they charge people. Oh, my God. Like, you don't get a recurring discount. Like, come on, guys. But, you know, this time we had the second goal. The second goal is find retailers, find buyers. OK. So that we can be in the Whole Foods and the Sprouts and the Airwines, all those big stores, the Publix. So we're looking for placement now and retail stores. That's what we're looking for now. so when you initially started you were focused on direct to consumer meaning you were selling on your website and then on amazon were you selling anywhere else so when we started i'll come back a little bit so when we started in 2023 we were only selling on our website and we were hitting friends and family and we you know stuck our social media pages and we were selling there after inga passed away i went back to the plan when we relaunched again in 2025 of direct to consumer. We were not going to be looking to pay the retail shelving fees and all that other stuff. And this time we stood up Amazon and our TikTok shop. And it was just, I want to say it was popping. Like people were like, I always tell people when you taste it, you love it, you buy it. It's those three things. So we have, we've been at so many events. That was what we've done to get to direct to consumer. We've been at Martha's Vineyard Film Festival. We were at the Peloton event. We were at the Grammys. We did the NBA All-Star because when people taste it, they love it, they buy it. And that's exactly what's happening. People buy us because they tasted Madassi out in this world. Now, because you're a taster, you got to now tell 10 other people to go buy it now. Exactly. Or make sure you have it at your event because this is a vibe. Like you need this. Exactly. Because people are going to go buy it. Yeah. What do you mean by the retail fees? Now, not all of us are well-versed in this, right? So you knew that going into retail would be expensive. What does that mean? So say I produce my product and I sell it to retail stores at a certain amount, right? At a dollar figure per can. Well, there's a couple of things and people in between, right? Well, I cannot ship it directly to the retail store. I have to get a distributor who has to pick it up for me and then take it to the store. I got to pay them. And then I've got to have a broker who has to now broker the deal between me and the retail store. And then I got to pay them. And then some stores, if you shove it on their shelf, it costs you per SKU a fee, right? And if it doesn't sell, then they're going to charge you some back fees. So there's a lot of fees associated. So for me, I didn't rush to those retail stores because I needed the direct-to-consumer market to know Madasi. And when they walk in those stores, they say, I know Madasi, I am going to buy Madasi. So now, are you in retail, physical stores? If not, when do you plan to be in retail? So yeah, retail is very expensive. You know, when you think about going into retail, you don't consider all the costs associated with getting there. You know, you got to pay You know, pay the broker. You got to pay, you know, distributor. You've got to pay fees to get on the shelf. All of those things. Right. So retail was not my first option. Direct to consumer was my first option to build. Consumers are people who just love Badassi. So when we went back to Expo West in March of this year, our number one focus was fine buyers, fine retailers, right? So we're not in any major stores yet. We're just starting to have those initial conversations. It was definitely worth going to the event because we did meet people from, you know, Air One and Whole Foods and Sprouts. And we are hoping that these conversations turns into final deals. So that's what we're looking for. So I would say, give me about two, three months and hopefully I'll be shelved in a national store. And then, you know, I keep saying then we're hitting the road. Like, I feel like once we're in a national store, you'll see Madasi pop up in every city in the United States where we're located. Just to have some kind of activation and tell people to come, taste it, love it and go in that store and buy it. So, you know, a lot of people lose money in the first few years of their business. What has been your experience, you know, especially given the investment up front? And how do you think about the finances based on your experience so far? Yeah, so the great thing is when we first started the business, we did not lose money because we were real strategic. But that does not mean I didn't make a mistake. I keep telling people producing something from one location to another location when you're working with a co-packer or manufacturing your product, sometimes they don't get things right. They don't measure right. They don't mix it right. And it gives a different flavor profile So I did produce some product that doesn have what I believe the Madassi flavor profile So there was some loss there for me It was very upsetting It cost a pretty penny. I already told you how it cost before, but I refused to put that on the marketplace. So I had to make sure that I decided, you know, let me just take that loss. Try to let me have a party on the side and mix it up with some other stuff. But I couldn't put it on the market. So, you know, I lost, you know, because I couldn't put it on the market. But, you know, it didn't stop us. You know, we planned for mistakes. Right. And that was unfortunate, but it was a planned mistake that we expected to maybe have other planned mistakes throughout the year. You know, either maybe somebody created a social content that we didn't like and we had to pay them anyway. Or, you know, just planned mistakes are always in your budget. It takes away from doing more, but it's OK. I'll never do it again. That's the learning thing. You know, you got to learn from your mistake. If I make a mistake, I won't make that mistake again. Exactly, exactly. So the space of non-alcoholic beverages, it has exploded. You know, do you think that you already knew that before you got in or now that you're in the space, you're like, oh, wow, this opportunity is getting even bigger? You know what? It was not exploding like this in 2003. We had the idea. but there's been a lot of people coming into this market. But I would say for me, there's a couple of things. One, I don't believe anybody has an authentic taste like mine. I don't believe it. I haven't found it. You've drank it out, alcoholic. You said it multiple times in this interview. There's no one in this market with a taste like our taste, right? And call themselves a mocktail, right? So I'm going to keep pushing for it because of that reason. I have a great brand story, right? My brand story has a purpose behind why we built this brand and people love a brand story. That's secondly. And then thirdly, I think it's the skill sets, the backgrounds of myself and the people who work with me that's going to allow us to move forward. You know, are we getting knocked on a little bit? Yes, because you know what? Doors don't open. They don't swing open as fast for black and brown people. I'm going to be very honest. So that door doesn't swing open for me like it's going to swing open for another brand. They're going to be able to meet somebody, walk through the door, and they're going to sign. I've got to get out here and hustle and meet and talk and try to sit in those circles that they're in to be able to make it happen for myself. Nobody's going to be searching for me on the website. So it's just life. It's what's happening in the world today. And I'm okay with it because you know what? I don't mind knocking down the door, swinging it open and walking through it to try to find me a space in that space. You know, the thing is I don't want to be everything to everybody. I want to be everything to the people who love to me. Right. There's a space for us and we shouldn't have to conform. Exactly. But I do have to beat down the door to get in the door to get my product on that shelf, Right. That's that's that's where that's where I'm at right now. And it's like, you know, they're not searching for Madassi cocktails on the Internet. You know, they are looking at other brands, which is why I did Expo West. You know, I would say, you know, on that entire floor, you know, you walk the floor and there's not that many black or brown founders who have a booth right on the floor that I was on. And it's OK, but I'm going to be in those spaces. And I tell people right now, if you're a retail buyer or you've got retail store, I'm knocking on your door no matter what. I'm going to keep pushing and knocking on the door until I win. I love it. So we're going to jump into the lightning round now. So you just answer the first thing that comes to mind. You got it? Okay. What's a resource that has really helped you with building Madasi that you can share with the SideHustle Pro audience? I would say Airtable. So Airtable is a database that allows you to track inventory, your client profiles, your social media calendar. If you don't have it, buy it. Airtable. And what's been the best business book or podcast episode that you've consumed that has really helped you on this journey? Let's see. I would say book. That's a hard question because it hasn't been a book. it's just been people. Oh, okay. Share a person then. I have admired a couple people in this journey, but one person in particular, and she is a Black woman brand owner, has been Brianna. And for me, inclusivity is important for me, right? I want my product to be inclusive for the people looking for me. And she did that with Fenty and people don't have the stigma of what they wear. I don't want people to have the stigma of I don't drink, right? I want them to feel that way, you know, when they drink. So that's just been a lot of inspiration for me. And then the other person I want to say, you know, the unlikely character is my daughter. She's 28. And when I say she's my rah-rah cheerleader, I feel like she has her cheerleading outfit. Rah-rah to her mom, you know, calling what happened today, what didn't go right today. You just need a rah-rah person and she's my rah-rah person. Love that. So number four. Now, who is a non-celebrity Black woman entrepreneur who you would trade places with for a day just to soak up their knowledge? I would say Michelle Obama. I'm sorry. I got to say it. She is in so many great spaces and her poise and her personality draws people to her. And I want that secret recipe. Like, give me that secret recipe so that when I walk in a room, everybody's looking like, who's that person over there? Yeah, if I could trade places with her, I would trade places with her for one day. In a heartbeat, in a heartbeat. And then final question, what is your parting advice for fellow Black women side hustlers who are building something on the side but scared about losing a steady paycheck? I would say make sure that when you are ready to jump out there without the paycheck, you're ready. Don't do it before, right? There are things that you can do to get prepared and it's okay to move the business. I say, go slow before you go fast, right? That will allow you to kind of maintain your paycheck, you know, do still do things for the business so that when you're ready to jump out there completely, you're ready financially and you're ready emotionally, you're ready spiritually. All of those things have to be in line for you to get out there because once you're out there, it's nonstop. Especially in this economy, what's happening in the world, you've got to be ready in all of those facets. It's not just about money. It's about are your emotions in check, right? Is your spirit ready for all this stuff, right? All of those things become important. It all has to be ready. You know, there was a point where, like I said, when Inga passed away, my spirit wasn't ready. My emotions wasn't ready. All of those things were, you know, just all over the place, right? And I had to make sure I was working for that. Right. Because, you know, you guys were partners and it's like you lost a partner, you lost your old dog and you had to give yourself that time to start your grieving process, right? Because I know grief is never over, you know? But you had to start and honor some space for that grieving process. How do you move forward now with, you know, having co-founded a business together? having been in such a deep friendship and business relationship and missing your other half? Yeah, you know what? That's a great question. I always say fuck cancer, if I can say that online, because I lost both my parents to leukemia. At the time where Inga had passed away, I also lost my brother to prostate cancer. Prostate cancer was horrible because he was fine one day and then a week later he passed away. It was ridiculous. So for me, what keeps me going, even with losing my business partner, is the memories, right? The memories that I have with all of those people or with Inga to kind of keep me motivated and moving forward. It's all the memories. So take the time and build memories and moments. And that's why on our website, we have this thing called Madassi Moments. Build those moments in your life that's going to last a lifetime past if you're here and not here. Absolutely. And, you know, with that, I would just love if you could share with people where they can connect with you and Madassi cocktails after this episode. Sure. So you can purchase Madassi on Amazon by just typing in Madassi Cocktails. And you can also find us on social media, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook at Madassi Cocktails with an S. So that's M-E-D-A-S-E-C-O-C-K-T-A-I-L-S. and then also we also have an email account called support at madassicocktails.com and I reply to all those emails every day so right now I'm not you know I'm still making sure I touch on my consumer so if you want to connect with me there you can connect with me absolutely love it love it well Monica thank you so much for being in the guest chair I appreciate And I'm so glad we were able to connect to everybody. Go out, get some Madassi cocktails and do a toast for Monica, for Inga and for today's episode. Talk to you next week. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to Side Hustle Pro. If you like the show, be sure to subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. It helps other side hustlers just like you to find the show. And if you want to hear more from me, you can follow me on Instagram at Side Hustle Pro. Plus sign up for my six foot Saturday newsletter at side hustle pro dot co slash newsletter. When you sign up, you will receive weekly nuggets from me, including what I'm up to personal lessons and my business tip of the week. Again, that's side hustle pro dot co slash newsletter to sign up. Talk to you soon.