Meet Lamar Romero

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lamar Romero. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lamar, so great to have you sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our readers and so let’s jump right into one of our favorite topics – empathy. We think a lack of empathy is at the heart of so many issues the world is struggling with and so our hope is to contribute to an environment that fosters the development of empathy. Along those lines, we’d love to hear your thoughts around where your empathy comes from?

Honestly, it came from a mix of adversity, observation, and necessity. I didn’t start Hire Dragons from a boardroom… I started it from the ground level, doing tastings myself, driving Uber, and finding every possible way to keep the dream alive. When you build a company with your own sweat, side hustles, and belief, you learn quickly how important it is to see people—really see them.

Empathy became essential. Not just for building a team, but for building the right team. The Dragons we bring in aren’t models reading a script—they’re real people with stories, ambition, and potential. To lead them well, I had to understand their world—what motivates them, what holds them back, and what lights them up. That only comes from listening without an agenda.

Over time, empathy evolved from a survival tool into my core leadership trait. It’s how I earn loyalty, how I coach, and how I create a culture where people feel seen, not just scheduled. And when we show up to pour liquid and tell stories, that same empathy is what connects consumers to brands. It’s the engine behind every bottle that goes home in someone’s hand, heart, and memory.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Sure thing. I’m the CEO and co-founder of Hire Dragons—a company that was built from scratch to shake up the way tastings and brand ambassador work get done in the beer, wine, spirits, and now THC beverage world.

My wife Laura and I started this company back in 2013 after spending a year turning an unknown tequila into a local sensation here in Austin. What we realized was this: most tastings in stores were boring. No story, no energy, no connection. So we decided to change that. We built a company around storytelling—real people, real conversations, real impact.

What makes us different is our Dragons. We don’t hire pretty faces who can’t explain what’s in the glass—we hire passionate, educated brand ambassadors who actually care about the products they’re sharing. We built our own software platform—the Dragon Engagement Network™—to power it all. It lets brands track tastings, see reports, and favorite their top Dragons for future events. It’s brand ambassading… with soul and data.

What excites me most? Seeing regular people—folks who’ve never had a shot in this industry—become some of the most effective storytellers and sales drivers in the field. We’re not just moving product… we’re building community, one sip at a time.

We’re also expanding. Hire Dragons is now supporting tastings and demo programs across Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and a few more states. We’re doing more work with THC-infused beverages, which is a fast-moving space where education and trust matter more than ever.

So if you’ve got a product that needs to get in consumers’ hands—and into their hearts—we’re the crew to make that happen.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Grit.
Not the fake kind. I’m talking about the kind of grit that keeps you working when your bank account’s low, your confidence is lower, and no one’s responding to your emails. Hire Dragons wasn’t funded by VCs or family money. It was built off side gigs, late nights, and sheer belief. If you’re early in your journey, get real comfortable with the idea that things won’t go as planned. Push through anyway.

2. Listening.
This might sound basic, but most people don’t really listen—they wait for their turn to talk. I built this company by listening: to customers, to store staff, to Dragons, to my wife. Every piece of feedback shaped the business. If you can listen with humility and curiosity, you’ll learn faster than your competition and avoid a lot of expensive mistakes.

3. Strategic Storytelling.
Whether you’re raising capital, landing clients, or training your team—you have to be able to tell your story in a way that resonates. That’s the secret sauce behind our tastings too. People don’t just buy what’s in the bottle… they buy the why behind it. If you’re just starting out, start crafting your story now. Make it honest, make it tight, and make sure it connects with real people.

Advice?
Be obsessed with the experience you’re giving people. Whether you’re selling a product, a service, or yourself—how someone feels walking away from an interaction with you is everything. And whatever you do, don’t try to skip the hard parts. That’s where the good stuff grows.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Absolutely. We’re always open to collaboration, especially with folks who are passionate about creating unforgettable consumer experiences.

We love partnering with:

Emerging and established beverage brands—whether you’re in spirits, wine, beer, non-alc, or THC-infused drinks, if you’ve got a story worth telling, we’ve got Dragons ready to tell it.

Retailers or distributors who want to drive sell-through and lift with smarter, data-backed demo programs.

Agencies and marketing firms looking to expand into live tastings and experiential activations without having to build the infrastructure themselves.

Tech folks who see potential in how we can keep growing the Dragon Engagement Network™ into an even more powerful platform for field marketing and storytelling.

If you’re reading this and thinking “we should talk,” we probably should. You can connect with me directly through our site at www.hiredragons.com .

Let’s see if we can do something bold together!

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