Meet Sam Madani

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sam Madani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I grew up in an immigrant household. Both of my parents fled Iran. I’m proud of my heritage, and I recognize the gift that it is to be able to live, work, and build in the US. My parents’ journey to make it to the US was far from smooth – they had to leave their homeland as teenagers and move halfway across the world. They had to learn the language, find a place to live, pursue education, and work odd jobs to make ends meet. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank them for their sacrifices and for their hard work.

Perhaps the greatest gift my parents gave me is proof that anything is possible. Knowing their backgrounds and seeing their successes instilled in me a deep-rooted belief that if I set my mind to something, it’s possible. It’s all about working with the right people, paying attention to detail, learning relentlessly, and executing meticulously.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
We make cold brew coffee cocktails. At 5.7% ABV, BOMANI is only 110 calories, 0g sugar, and 0g carbs. Thanks to our near-obsessive pursuit of perfection, BOMANI has won a number of awards for its flavor profile. Customers and bartenders alike love that they can customize their BOMANI, whether it’s drinking it ice cold straight out of the can or using it as the base of the BOMANI-tini. Today, BOMANI is available at select Ralph’s, Whole Foods, and liquor stores as well as nearly 100 premium bars, restaurants, and hotels in LA.

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 is prioritizing the customer. It’s easy, and therefore common, for businesspeople to be preoccupied with a mountain of to-dos to serve the various people across their business. But I can tell you from experience, you’ll never regret focusing on your customer. If you dedicate yourself and your brand to serving your target audience, you can build something truly special.

Second is listening. There’s a stark difference between hearing someone out and truly listening to understand what they’re trying to convey. The kicker is that often, it’s the best move to simply hear the and move on. However, when it comes to people whose opinions you value (e.g., your teammates and your customers), it’s critical to dig deep and confirm that you’re picking up what they’re putting down.

Third is dedication to learning. In corporate America, it’s acceptable to hypothesize about why things are happening or what you should do going forward. From there, a majority of the conversations never turn into actions. In order to learn, you need to test your hypothesis. The steps are: (1) develop a hypothesis, (2) set up an experiment that can test the hypothesis with very clear quantifiable measurements, and (3) set a timeline to review the data and determine if the hypothesis is true. From there, keep refining: shoot for the bullseye, recalibrate, and shoot again to see how much closer you can get.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
The best method to deal with the feeling of being overwhelmed is prevention rather than reaction. Rather than only workout or meditate because you’re stressed, build these things into your schedule so that you can maintain steady mental health. Personally, I workout, meditate, and journal every day. Once a week, I dedicate time to play the piano to get my mind off of everything else. That way, when pressure hits and the feeling of being overwhelmed is approaching, you are prepared to handle the impact.

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