Meet Niko Loyatho

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Niko Loyatho. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Niko below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Niko with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I was raised by a dad with an unbelievable work ethic. When I was young, I loved unconventional sports like skateboarding and snowboarding. He loved cycling and running. I hated those because they were monotonous work–infinite, unending cardio. I thought I had a bad work ethic because I was too capricious to put in time doing those things he loved. It wasn’t until later that I realized I was putting in just as many heartbeats running back and forth between skateboard or snowboard jumps. I realized my father and I weren’t different, we had just been after different rewards. The magic is in the fixation. He was fixated on what he would be with each additional mile. My fixation was on needing to land that trick. It allowed me to suffer through so much work and pain without even knowing it. The key is identifying what you desire and keeping that right in the center of your focus. The best athletes hate to lose. They need to win. Kobe Bryant famously wouldn’t let himself leave the gym until he’d made a thousand baskets. There are stories of players arriving in the morning to still find him there. That fixation gave him a superhuman work ethic. In snowboarding they say you have to stoke the stoke. Feed that fixation and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

In strictest terms, my job is sales. I’m responsible for Nosotros Tequila and Mezcal growing. There’s organic growth through word of mouth and education, and then there’s sales growth: that’s me working with my network of restaurant managers and spirits buyers to use Nosotros in cocktails or on backbars or sell it in stores. Where I’ve gotten creative is leveraging my expertise as a consumer. The nature of my work has me in bars and restaurants everyday and as such I’m pretty informed on the coolest places to eat and drink across Orange County. I started doing social media posts to shout out cool partners and show followers cool spots. The interesting challenge has been understanding why or what I think makes a spot cool and then succeeding at showcasing that visually in a reel. An organic byproduct of this is talking about what makes Nosotros unique and valuable. We make a premium product which means we focus on a consumer who appreciates quality over quantity. Discussing a great restaurant that uses our product is an effective way to educate potential consumers without them feeling like they’re being sold to.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I have no idea. Desire, maybe. I never know what’s a valuable skill or attribute until I want something and have to figure out how to get it. I’ve said all the wrong things in interviews. I’ve pitched product by listing all the wrong facts. Trial and error has been my process through all of life. I guess, to that context, here are three important skills:

– Get experience. Strive for knowledge, not status.

– Keep trying. Unfortunately, thick skin is the result of scar tissue but persistence and resilience are invaluable.

– Remove your ego. Expect to fail for a while and don’t be embarrassed. People do this, humans do this, you can do this.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I’m trying to break into another industry: I’m writing a novel. From the outside looking in, the publishing industry feels like an elite club from which I’m barred, But I’m inspired by something Bryan Cranston said: I stopped going to auditions trying to get a job and instead started offering to do a job. I spent a lot of time trying to write a book I thought was “good”. Now, from the perspective of selling a product to a consumer, I’m working to understand what publishers make.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nosotrostequila.com
• Instagram: @nikoloya @nosotros

Image Credits

Niko Loyatho