We recently connected with Ramon Perez and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ramon , thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
Throughout my life I’ve seen a lot of people going through good, bad, worse, and great situations. What I noticed about these situations is that they are all alike on one single aspect: attitude. You will see that successful individuals are often positive, problem solvers, half-full glass type point of view. We as people feel and sense this attitude and often drift closer to people with good and authentic energy. That is not to say that less successful people are not optimistic, but instead there is blame, obstacles, half-empty glass point of view. How we see things happening around us is what frees or trap us in our current situation. Being optimistic during bad times allows you to expand your mind and venture into other possibilities. When this happens, we start seeing more solutions, different changes, and a wide range of outcomes you could not see before. Therefore, I have learned to see the world around me with a positive set of eyes, in which a bad situation can have something good. Whether is learning, or a long-after consequence in our favor, there is always something good to take from any situation.
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 the simplest term, I make amazing vodka! But vodka is not the only thing we make. We also make rums, and liqueurs that derive from our vodka. What is special about our products is that we do not use any grains, chemicals, or artificial ingredients in anything we make. Our vodka is made directly from cane sugar and this tends to make it sweeter than most brands. At Preez Distillery we take advantage of this sweetness to make new products. The liqueurs are just one example of how we use our vodka. Because we already have sweet alcohol, we can reduce the sweetness in our other formulas and cocktails. We want our products to be two things: 1. excellent in taste; 2. money saver for the consumer. When it comes to the taste, we take a really long development time to perfect the spirit. During development we try multiple approaches, with multiple ingredients, and various times. We don’t just think it and bottle it, we put our efforts and knowledge through the test. How does our products save you money? We make our product price-accessible so that anyone above the age of 21 can afford it. Our products contain so much flavor that our consumers use less quantities and ingredients per cocktail than with the competition. This helps in ensuring the bottle last longer so you can enjoy it more times.
We are proud and excited to announce that we recently entered a partnership with Blackdog music partners to be the only liquor sponsor for The INEX event in St. Petersburg, September 21st. During this event, all drinks will be made with Preez Distillery products and we will also be providing free samples of our products throughout the duration of the same.
On September 22-23, we will joining our brothers and sisters in the alcohol industry in Santa Rosa Beach at Distillery 98 for our 3rd annual Sunshine festival. This event brings all distilleries in the state of Florida under one gigantic tent in which you can get your hands on products not available near you. Just imagine finding the best craft whiskey, rum, vodka, gin, liqueurs, etc., while meeting the owners and makers, and learning more about each product all under the same tent. You’ll never go to a store again.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First and foremost persistence and tenacity. Without any of these, you are bound to fail at anything you do. Second, curiosity/passion. These will give you the drive to explore, learn, and develop within your field. These are the “I want to know more”, “I want to be better”, “How can I make it better” statements that will get you above the rest.
Third, humility. As human beings we have the desire to want more, to push boundaries, to be competitive, but we often forget that someone helped us get to where we are now and we forget to pay it forward. Before I commit to any decision, I look back to where I came from and how I got here. Only then, is when I commit to a decision so that it doesn’t change who I was, who I am, and who I will be.
My advise in development is this, question everything, ask about everything, and do not hold back on anything. If you take what he/she said as hard truth, you just made it a commandment; if you never ask about anything, you will never learn anything others don’t want you to know; and if you hold back on things, you will never break through any boundaries.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Put yourself on timeout. When I’m overwhelmed my mind wants to solve everything at once and I cannot focus on any single task. My brain becomes this piece of bubblegum been pulled in every direction and the thinner it gets the easier it breaks. When this happens, I drop everything and take a day off. I leave problems, calls, meetings, phone, paperwork, everything stays at work, and it becomes just me. Then I go home and either work on the garden or ride my motorcycle up and down the beautiful beaches of clearwater all the way down to St. Petersburg. The next day, once I’m centered, I go back to work and prioritize. This brings focus and efficiency into every task.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.preezdistillery.com
- Instagram: preez distillery and tasting room
- Facebook: preez distillery
- Yelp: preez distillery
