How does someone with an MBA and a busy corporate career balance being a leading voice on the tequila scene? Marissa Paragano, aka the brains behind Tequila Encyclopedia and Host of The TequiLadies Instagram Live show, spills the secret formula for how she turned her hobby into a thriving side business on The Spirit Guides.

MBA to Tequila Guru

Host Tequila Jay Baer sits down with Marissa to hear her unexpected journey from the corporate world to becoming a respected voice in the tequila community. Trips to Mexico and a family love for tequila ignited Marissa’s passion for the spirit, prompting her to start a separate Instagram account to find other tequila enthusiasts. While she may have started the account on a whim, Marissa’s content now reaches thousands of tequila lovers worldwide and her live show, TequiLadies, has reached almost 150 episodes and counting.

Marissa dives into the challenges of balancing a demanding corporate job with her growing tequila influencer career and what it’s like getting recognized in public. She talks about how sometimes it’s the unplanned content that goes viral, the ways she continually tops up her tequila knowledge, and how she maintains authenticity in her content. We also hear how her content has opened doors to work with other spirit guides and tequila distillers, helping her learn and grow within the community.

In This Episode:

· Marissa’s original plans for Tequila Encyclopedia and how her brand has evolved since

· What Marissa has learned through hosting almost 150 episodes of TequiLadies

· When Marissa realized her passion for tequila had become something more

· What Marissa learned about going viral and the culture of competitiveness on social media

· How she balances Tequila Encyclopedia with her day job

· Getting recognized in public and using your online persona in the wild

· How Marissa helps people pick their next bottle

Resources:

· Follow Marissa on Instagram via @tequilaencyclopedia

· Tune in to the @tequiladies Live Show Every Tuesday 9PM ET

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

With a background spanning fitness, marketing, and bartending, Sam Pence had a variety of routes he could take. But after finding his passion in cocktail making, he was inspired to start his venture into content creation.

In this episode of The Spirit Guides, we chat with Sam Pence, better known as @servedbysammy, who rapidly gained a following of over half a million across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

How @servedbysammy Serves Up Fresh Batches of Cocktail Content

Sam shares the unexpected journey that led him from bartending in Boise, Idaho, to becoming a go-to source for online cocktail recipes for a growing online fanbase.

Sam reveals behind-the-scenes insights into his creative process and how he initially set out to make one video a day for a year to see how things panned out before seeing his follower count skyrocket.

He explains that by listening to his audience, he learned that most people were looking for straightforward recipes like your standard margarita and batch cocktails rather than complex concoctions.

He reflects on how he collaborates with brands to create fun recipe videos that his audience can’t get enough of and how he decides which brands to say yes to. We also hear how he balances his day job with his growing online fanbase and what his family, friends, and colleagues think about his online persona.

In This Episode:
· What Sam learned about his audience and how that influences his content
· Behind-the-scenes insights into Sam’s creative process
· The first question he has for brands before agreeing to work with them
· Why Sam doesn’t just rely on social media marketing
· His first step into monetization with cocktail books
· How he decides what brands to work with
· Who he’d love to sip a cocktail with
· Plans for the future – cocktail books and collabs

Resources:
· Follow Sam on Instagram
· Follow Sam on TikTok
· Follow Sam on YouTube
· Follow Wayne on X
· Served By Sammy

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

The music business, training as a chef, competing on a cooking show, opening a coffee roasting business and balancing that with being a spirit guide… Wayne Cafariella’s career has been an impressive cocktail of experiences! The man behind @drinkwithwayne first began creating content for his coffee business but later became a fully-fledged spirit guide after some words of encouragement from his wife. Now, his social media presence of spirited opinions has racked up well over 100k fans and counting.

@drinkwithwayne’s Journey from Rockstar to Chef, to Coffee Roaster and Spirit Guide

In this episode of The Spirit Guides, Tequila Jay Baer sits down with Wayne to hear about his journey into the world of content creation. Wayne talks us through his days as a chef and even appeared on the show Chopped before pivoting into coffee roasting.

When Wayne started his coffee business, that naturally led him to start creating content all about coffee with the help of his Twitch streamer friends/business partners. Later, he found his passion for creating different types of content about cocktails, bourbon, and tequila.

Wayne shares some stories about his first big hit on TikTok and the moment he accidentally posted a video too early and saw it blow up. Staying true to his passion project, Wayne gives his take on the monetization of content, the dreaded editing process, and what keeps him going even during moments of impostor syndrome.

Grab the Kings Coast Coffee Company promo code: DRINKWITHWAYNE

In This Episode:

· Wayne shares his stories of being in a punk band

· How Wayne pivoted from rockstar to becoming a chef

· Wayne’s experience on the show Chopped

· Why he started Kings Coast Coffee Company

· His first experiences with online content with his Twitch-streaming friends

· How he got used to being on camera with his coffee content

· Why he began making content about cocktails

· How monetizing spirit content changed his process

· What keeps Wayne going despite occasional impostor syndrome

· Wayne tells us about his first big viral moment

· What annoys him most about creating content

· How accidentally posting a video too early became a huge success

· Wayne’s advice for creating content

Resources:

· Follow Wayne on Instagram

· Follow Wayne on TikTok

· Follow Wayne on YouTube

· Follow Wayne on X

· Kings Coast Coffee Company

· Follow Kings Coast Coffee Company on X

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

From musical theatre to the world of wine, Amanda McCrossin took a major pivot in her career after finding her calling in the wine industry. Eager to learn as much about wine as possible, she trained as a sommelier before embarking on her content creation journey.

Making Wine Content Relatable and Educational

In this episode of The Spirit Guides, host Tequila Jay Baer sits down with Amanda McCrossin, the Sommvivant, to hear about her unconventional path, starting as a musical theater major and even standing in for Reese Witherspoon, before finding her passion for wine.

Amanda takes us through her roles in New York as a sommelier to teaching herself a crash course in Napa Valley wines when she moved to California. Taking after top YouTubers, she decided to start vlogging her experience of visiting different wineries for 30 days straight to learn more and document her journey. This challenge not only expanded her wine knowledge but also honed her video production skills, laying the foundation for her future as a content creator.

Amanda explains some of the challenges and rewards of distilling complex wine information into bite-sized, relatable content for her nearly half-million followers. We also hear about her work with brands, both wine-related and non-wine brands like Papa John’s, and how each collaboration has been different.

In This Episode:

· Amanda’s background in musical theater

· How an early mentorship helped Amanda learn about wine

· The challenges and rewards of explaining wine knowledge through short-form content

· The advice Amanda got when she started making content

· Why Amanda became a content creator

· Why quitting her job right before the pandemic kickstarted her career

· How Amanda measures “good”

· How Amanda describes her career to her parents

· The differences when working with non-wine brands like Papa John’s

· Upcoming collaborations and projects

· Amanda’s thoughts on using wine barrels for spirits

· Amanda’s ultimate food and drink recommendation

· Someone Amanda would love to sip wine with

Resources:

· Follow Amanda on Instagram

· Follow Amanda on TikTok

· Amanda's Website

· Sommvivant Website

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

How did a photojournalist make waves in the tequila world? What started as a simple love for tequila has become a highly influential business that has probably changed the tequila world forever.

Find Your Perfect Tequila Match with Tequila Matchmaker

In this episode of The Spirit Guides, host Tequila Jay Baer sits down with Grover Sanschagrin, the mastermind behind the Tequila Matchmaker app and a true tequila aficionado. Grover takes us through his journey from photojournalist to tequila guru, and how a mutual love for agave spirits with his wife Scarlet led to the creation of an app that's revolutionizing the tequila industry.

What started as a simple blog to document their tequila adventures soon snowballed into a fully-fledged app with over 360,000 users! The Tequila Matchmaker app not only helps tequila lovers find their perfect match but also dives into production methods and flavor profiles.

But it's not all smooth sipping in the tequila world. Grover dishes on the controversial topic of additives in tequila and how their fact-checking efforts have stirred up some tension in the industry. From lab testing to legal hassles, Grover and Scarlet have become unexpected champions for small, traditional tequila producers, while the big tequila giants are feeling the heat as consumers become more savvy about what's really in their glass.

In This Episode:

· How Grover began his tequila journey

· Why Grover became a photojournalist

· The early days of the Taste Tequila blog

· Why Grover launched the Tequila Matchmaker app

· Learning from the tequila community

· When Grover realized his tequila blog and app were a real business

· Experimenting with shorter videos

· Why Grover began focusing on additive-free tequila

· How Tequila Matchmaker has helped smaller, traditional brands stand out

· Legal troubles in the tequila industry

· Grover’s predictions for the future of spirit influencers

· Who Grover would love to sip tequila with

Resources:

· Follow Grover and Tequila Matchmaker on Instagram

· Follow Grover and Tequila Matchmaker on TikTok

· Subscribe to TasteTequila on YouTube

· TasteTequila.com

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

Chris Chapanar, aka Whiskey Noobs, is an engineer by day but a busy spirit guide by night. He launched his side hustle early on in his career after developing a love for whiskey and a desire to learn as much about it as possible.

He poured that knowledge into a podcast, Whiskey Noobs, before branching out into short-form video content across Instagram and TikTok. Here’s his story...

Balancing the Spirit Guide Life with an Engineering Career
How does a busy engineer make time for a spirit guide side hustle? It’s safe to say that the man behind Whiskey Noobs, Chris Chapanar, is a busy guy.

He began his spirit guide life with a podcast to put his research into an easily digestible format for people who want to learn all there is to know about whiskey.

But seeing short-form content on TikTok take off, he spotted an opportunity to reach more people. A couple of hundred thousand followers later, Chris has cracked the code with his whiskey content and has since begun working on a new podcast, Perfect Pairings, which combines his love of cigars and whiskey.

In this episode, we hear how he got started, why he moved into video content, the impact on his personal life, and how he manages to balance it all.

Chris also talks about the responsibility he feels when giving reviews and his method for keeping them balanced and positive.

In This Episode:
· Why Chris decided to start a whiskey podcast
· Why Chris found his niche with “noob” content
· The challenges of being a whiskey guide in Ohio
· Why Chris chose the podcast format
· What made Chris move into short-form video content
· The most popular (and impossible) question Chris gets asked
· Why Chris feels a responsibility when it comes to reviews
· The challenges of giving negative reviews
· Most rewarding moments
· What made Chris think he could crack the code
· The impact on personal life
· How Chris balances his day job with content creation as a side hustle
· Why Chris hit pause on his podcast
· What it’s like working with smaller brands
· Chris’ new podcast ‘Perfect Pairings’
· Finding a process for shooting videos
· The one person Chris would like to sip whiskey with

Resources:
· Follow Chris on Instagram
· Follow Perfect Pairings on Instagram
· Follow Whiskey Noobs on TikTok

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

Sippers, we step away from the world of spirits in this episode to speak with Lucia Palm, creator of the lucialoveswine brand across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

We hear how Lucia moved from culinary school to a career in the restaurant business as a trained sommelier, to create content for fellow wine lovers.

From Certified Wine Pro to Content Creator

With a love of cooking and the perfect wine combos, Lucia found her niche during the pandemic with social media. She started posting images, moved to videos, and quickly became the face of a wine education brand that helps people learn about, appreciate and pick the best wine.

While she may be a trained sommelier, Lucia focuses largely on inexpensive wine and shares how to find the best bottles at your local Trader Joe’s or Costco.

In this episode, we hear how it all began, what the past three years have been like working on her brand, and her approach to creating brilliant wine content that her fans love. Lucia also takes us through the biggest challenges, the most rewarding parts of the job, fan interactions, and her work with brands.

In This Episode:
· How Lucia’s love of cooking and wine began
· Lucia’s early career in restaurants and how she pivoted to content
· What Lucia’s early content consisted of
· How she realized the wine niche was a real business
· Why Lucia focuses on inexpensive wine
· Why Lucia favors longer captions with social posts
· The challenges of public content creation
· The most rewarding part of being a wine guide
· Common questions and comments she gets
· Interacting with fans
· How her content and brand deals have changed over the past three years
· Family opinions of her career
· How Lucia manages different platforms and her plans for YouTube
· The biggest challenge of her career
· Who Lucia would love to sip wine with

Resources:
· Follow Lucia on Instagram
· Follow Lucia on TikTok
· Follow her YouTube channel
· Ruth Reichl’s books

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

Whiskey connoisseurs, this one’s for you! Whiskey enthusiasts were the original pioneers of the spirit guide industry, and the community is still thriving and learning from content creators and educators like Ryan Mills, aka ThatOneDudeRyan. He joins The Spirit Guides for a deep dive into his passion-turned-business in whiskey content creation.

Finding Success from a Passion Project

Tequila Jay sits down with ThatOneDudeRyan to find out how his short-form content is making waves in the whiskey community. The father of two has made all the right moves in the whiskey world and now has a merch line, brand sponsors, single barrel programs, and an e-commerce store for spirits. Despite all this, Ryan is not ready to quit his day job as a sales manager and has no plans to anytime soon.

In this episode, we talk about how Ryan stumbled upon this business niche, starting with content on Instagram before moving to TikTok to create short-form content for today’s waning attention spans. As more and more people came to him with questions about whiskey, he realized this was more than just a hobby.

With his background in sales and educating people, Ryan found his sweet spot in the industry and continues to make engaging and educational content for fellow whiskey enthusiasts. He shares his thoughts on operating in a competitive niche, the most rewarding aspects of being a spirit guide, and working with brands (both the good and the bad). We also hear about his approach to content consistency and why his Melin cap and cheeky T-shirts are now a brand signature.

In This Episode:

· How Ryan became interested in creating whiskey content

· When Ryan realized that this could be more than just a hobby

· Why Ryan isn’t ready to quit his day job

· How Ryan approached working in a competitive niche

· How Ryan found his signature style

· The most rewarding parts of being a spirit guide

· Ryan’s approach to working with brands

Follow Ryan:

· Follow Ryan on X

· Follow Ryan on Instagram

· Follow Ryan on TikTok

· Subscribe to ThatOneDudeRyan on YouTube

· ThatOneDudeRyan.com

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.