We recently connected with Wydell Bannerman II and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Wydell, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my Mother. She always taught me the importance of having a great work ethic and how important it is to have one. She always reminded me that you have to be willing to work for the lifestyle you want. Regardless of the field you are in having a great work ethic translates everywhere.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hello,
My name is Dell. I am a co-owner of Blackstone Brothers, LLC. We are a Black owned spirit’s brand founded in Baltimore Maryland. Currently we distill and produce Brandy, we decided to establish the brand in 2019 but we have been working on the plan since 2017. We were able to start selling our Brandy on July 3rd, 2022 and we haven’t stopped moving since. The owners consist of two brothers from Baltimore Md and one brother from Washington DC. Our distillery and warehouse is located in Finksburg Md in Caroll County.
IG:@BlackstoneBrothersDistillery
FB: @BlackstoneBrothersDistillery
Email: [email protected]
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Not only for the Spirits Industry but for any business I would say its most important to know the rules and regulations on:
How to Start your business – Decide the entity you want your business to fall under. Starting a distillery with little knowledge on the field was definitely a difficult task but it allowed for a lot of trial and error. We learned a vast amount through research and reaching out to other local distilleries in the DMV area.
How to Operate your business – In my opinion this is the most important, entering the spirits brand we had no idea that there were so many things that needed to be set in place just to start distilling and perfecting your recipe. Huge shoutout to the Maryland Distillers Guild they worked with us and provided all the steps and licensing we needed to get our operations up and running. The MDG also provided us a platform where we can interact with other brands, distilleries, breweries, farmers and any other resource listed on their site.
How to Protect your Business – Protecting your brand is a very critical step with any new up and coming business or idea. Whether its a trademark or patent its essential to discover which option is the most suitable for your situation. The best advice i can give on this topic would be DO NOT try tackle this step by yourself. Please hire an Intellectual Property Attorney or a person or entity that specializes in the protection that you are looking for.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are not necessarily looking for anyone to partner or collaborate with but we are always looking for new accounts to do business with. So any liquor stores, bars, restaurants, lounges or clubs interested in trying and selling our product please reach out @[email protected].
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackstonebrothersdistillery/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Blackstone-Brothers-Distillery-100083282644998/
