Don Short

Disclaimer: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. Filler words were removed, sentence structure improved, and formatting adjusted while preserving the original meaning and conversational tone. Henry Harrison: Welcome to Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance. We’re fortunate to have Don Short on the show today. Don is the founder and co-owner of New Artisan Distillery. The brand name is Roxxor. I visited the distillery—Don is sitting there now in the reception area. There’s a large warehouse behind it, and we got a tour during an Emory University alumni event. Don’s wife went to Emory, and we think we may know some of the same people. Don had a successful global career before starting the distillery, and after retiring from that first career, he built a second career—part passion project, part real business. Don, welcome to the show. Don Short: Henry, thank you. Thanks for having us. It was great to have the Emory alumni. That was your second time over, and it looks like we may make it an annual event. Everybody had a great time. My wife did go to Emory, and she’s passionate about the university. I’ve done some work there too, and I’ve spoken a couple of times at the business school, which ties into my career. After college, I became an entry-level employee at Coca-Cola. My territory was the coast of South Carolina—beautiful area. I moved about seven times in the U.S., and after 14 years I was vice president for a seven- or eight-state area outside Dallas, managing food service. That business is a binary sale. You generally have Coke or Pepsi—you don’t tend to have both machines in the same location. That really hones your sales skills. You fight to keep accounts, fight to gain accounts, fight not to lose accounts. The Cola Wars were very real. In 1992, I was in Dallas and got a call from a friend in Tokyo asking if I would move to Japan for a more senior role. I flew over the next week and agreed to do it. Anne and I got married just before, so we began our life in Japan. In Japan, I was senior VP running all of sales for Coca-Cola Japan, a billion-dollar-plus business that launches 100 new products a year. People in the U.S. think Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite—but in Japan it’s more diverse: about 25% coffee, 25% tea, 25% carbonated soft drinks, and 25% everything else. Highly diversified and profitable. I was there almost five years, then got a call and was asked to move to India to demonstrate our family’s flexibility. Japan to India is about as diverse as you can get, but we said yes. We had two young children. I was president and CEO for Coca-Cola India for three years. It was unique. Some previous CEOs wanted to push Coke as the primary product, but in that market we owned Thumbs Up, a spicy cola, and Limca, and other products. A Wall Street Journal reporter asked why I’d been successful in India. I told him it was almost humorous to me. Having lived in Texas, the concept in my mind was: if you owned Coke and Dr Pepper in the same market, you would virtually own the market. So in India, when I saw Thumbs Up, I thought, “We should be booming.” Most of the advertising money was going to Coke, so I split the budget in half: half to Coke, half to Thumbs Up. They both started growing. I don’t know that I was that smart, but I had background that led me to believe we should embrace a national brand we owned. We lived in Delhi. We were repurchasing franchise bottlers. There were highs and lows, but overall it was a great family experience. After that we moved to London, and I became CEO for Coke Africa and the Middle East. There were only five group presidents in the world. Having Africa and the Middle East was a unique portfolio. When I entered a country, the first stop was often seeing the president of that country. Henry Harrison: Let’s pause there, because you mentioned that when we talked. It shows the scale of Coca-Cola’s impact on the world. I went to Emory partly because Coca-Cola’s founder, Woodruff, donated $100 million. But the magnitude is astounding. You go into a country and the president meets you. Don Short: Let me share a story. I was in Ghana to see President Jerry Rawlings. We went to his estate on the waterfront. It was a bit staged—we knew what he’d say, and I knew what I’d say, and the press was there. He said, “I want you to know that you created 7,000 jobs last year.” I said, “Mr. President, I couldn’t have done it without you.” He had given us 7,000 street corners without formal leases. We got 7,000 card tables, 7,000 Igloo coolers, 7,000 umbrellas, and we bought crates of Coke. In Ghana, about 90% of the business was returnable glass bottles in wooden crates. We gave 7,000 people who didn’t have jobs a crate of Coke and a setup to chill it. They sold the first crate, and that gave them enough to buy the second crate. That created 7,000 jobs. People sometimes think of Coke as just a sugary product, but the portfolio is diverse, and it’s also a lot of goodwill. Coke was the largest employer in Africa. You have to be part of the community and work hard at doing the right thing. Later, Coke was going to do a joint venture with Procter & Gamble around Minute Maid assets—Pringles, Sunny Delight. I was asked to be CEO of the new company, but it fell apart during valuation. Our chairman said, “You’re already in the U.S. now. Why don’t you go to Minute Maid?” That was in Houston. I became CEO there. We hired PhDs to do clinical work. We made products like Minute Maid HeartWise, with plant sterols to help lower cholesterol. One consultant was Robert Del Grande, a James Beard award-winning chef with a PhD in biochemistry. He became one of my best friends. As I approached 54 or 55, I decided to retire after 31 years at Coke. Over lunch, I told Robert, “I don’t think I’m really going to retire. I don’t think I can play that much golf. If you’ll do the science, I’ll do the marketing.” He said yes. We started down this path almost 15 years ago. I was thinking alcohol—beer, wine, or spirits. After discussions, we decided on spirits. I thought craft beer was oversold at that point. Same with wine. Spirits were growing. Also, beer cans and wine bottles tend to be generic; you differentiate with a label. With spirits, you can customize packaging. That intrigued me. At Coke, when the lights go out, you can reach into the fridge and recognize the contour bottle. I wanted that same concept for spirits. Let me show you the bottle. Henry Harrison: Yeah, please. Don Short: Robert and I had an agreement: we wouldn’t call consultants for help. We wanted to see if we could build a brand ourselves. This bottle looks like a building—architecture-inspired, particularly Frank Lloyd Wright. We call it the Skyline Bottle, a toast to the architects who create the skylines of our lives. The name is Roxxor. We say: “On the rocks, shaken or stirred.” It’s a nod to cocktail culture and helps people pronounce it. This is Texas’ first gin. The second product was a unique botanical bourbon. In the tasting room, you see a theme of “green.” The strategy is: how do you use real plants to make better spirits? We choose to use real plants—by design—and we believe it gives a better product. The newest product is Fleur de Vodka—Flowers of Vodka. We distilled a super premium neutral grain spirit with flowers, then add minerals back to the water for texture and mouthfeel. We’ve taste-tested against Grey Goose and Belvedere, and our vodka holds up well. Robert handles the science and distillation. I handle the marketing and packaging. Our skill sets are diverse; we don’t step on each other. We complement each other. Henry Harrison: You’re in a large warehouse building with a nice office in front. How many square feet is the space? Don Short: We’re about 7,500 square feet—about 1,200 up front and about 6,500 in the back. I can grab my computer and show you the back if that’s helpful. Henry Harrison: That would be very helpful. People need to see the equipment. Don Short: Okay. It’s Monday morning, so we’re just getting going. The tasting lounge opens this afternoon. Dallas is hot today—back of the warehouse isn’t air-conditioned. Can you see the still? That’s a 300-gallon combination still. The kettle is on the left, the column in the middle. To the right is a 700-gallon mash tun. That’s where we make bourbon. Today we’re bringing bourbon in from a larger maker. This is also an event space—weddings, funerals, you name it. On this wall are fermenters, which matter in the bourbon-making process when you make it from scratch. We do labeling here. There’s a labeling machine over in the corner, and we do hand bottling. We touch every bottle more than once. Back in the tasting lounge, here’s the merchandise room. Guests can buy up to four bottles. We have everything from barrels to hats, shirts, and decanters. How’s that? Henry Harrison: It’s terrific. That really helps. One of the things I was interested in is how unique the product is—using real plants. The taste of the gin, for me, was the best I’ve had. It wasn’t like anything else, and gin is one of my preferred spirits. Don Short: Let me give a little background. Robert’s wife doesn’t like gin. So one idea was: how do we appeal to someone who had a bad gin experience? That happens a lot in college—people drink their dad’s gin, and it wasn’t very good. We take fresh grapefruit and lime peels from a local juice company, Buddha Juice—literally used hulls from juice production. The flavor is still in the peel. We steep those peels about 14 hours with the other botanicals. It gives the gin a citrus note on the aroma. Most gin smells like juniper—a Christmas tree. If someone had a bad gin experience, that smell can turn them off. The citrus nose changes perception immediately. Then Robert found a way to use 12 plants at 90 proof and keep it remarkably smooth—consumable and flavorful, without the harsh bite some gins have. That’s all by design. Henry Harrison: You also have to run the business—equipment, shipping, accounting, operations. It’s not just making a product. Don Short: That might be why I stayed in beverages. I felt like I understood beverages. That helps. But distribution is different. Distributors are very strong. Coke bottlers are strong too, but there are more checks and balances than with a distributor who has a government license. A lot of control for a small boutique company like ours rests with the distributor. It’s a three-tier system: retailers sell alcohol, distributors handle alcohol, and makers like us create it. You have to keep those separate. But you still have to figure out how to grow. We can sell online to about 40 states, which helps direct-to-consumer. We also sell in retail stores, restaurants, and bars. Henry Harrison: What are some challenges you’ve faced? Don Short: Distribution is probably the largest challenge. We believe we have a unique proposition—Texas’ first gin, and what we call the world’s first botanical bourbon. The bourbon uses small amounts of 20 exotic botanicals that go into the barrel with the bourbon for six months. It adds smoothness and complexity you wouldn’t expect from a young bourbon. But you still have to get retailers to carry it, manage pricing, and create pull-through off the shelf. We do tastings. In Texas, we’ll probably do 100 tastings this year—three-hour tasting events with consumers. We also have a billboard within five miles of the distillery to point people to the exit and bring them here. The tasting lounge is a venue to tell the story. Guests can smell the botanicals, see the equipment, have cocktails, and take bottles home. The government has given small craft spirits companies an excise incentive that helps us invest in the brand. During COVID, glass wasn’t as hard for us because we make our bottles in Mexico City with three artisan brothers who make many tequila bottles. Mexico City is adjacent to Texas, so logistics were easier than sourcing through China. But it’s the typical small company challenge: making it in a category with giants. Not easy. Henry Harrison: Did you anticipate it would be this hard? Don Short: It’s harder than I thought. But maybe it’s more rewarding because our fingerprints are on the package, the recipe—everything. We built a highly differentiated brand, and I’m proud of that. I didn’t want a daily grind job. I wanted to have fun while doing it. One of the most rewarding parts is guests coming in. We’ve owned the distillery three years, and we have only five-star ratings so far. We feel fortunate, and we focus on hospitality. It’s hard work and a lot of fun. Henry Harrison: Did you ever imagine you’d become a top Coca-Cola executive or own a distillery? Don Short: Beyond my wildest dreams. I did want to move out of my small town in North Carolina and make my way. I didn’t want to be pigeonholed. I chose to move around and see where it took me. I feel very fortunate. Henry Harrison: What advice would you give? Don Short: If you get the chance to go abroad and work, unless there’s an unusual circumstance, jump at the chance. Becoming a minority in a marketplace is good for you. It helps you understand yourself better and see the world through another population’s eyes. My kids grew up as children of the world. They didn’t carry prejudices. They saw people as people. That’s usually my first piece of advice to young people—if the opportunity comes to work abroad early in your career, take it. Henry Harrison: Terrific advice. I grew up in the Washington, D.C. area with people from all over the world, and I was fortunate enough to travel too, including to Africa. It changes your perspective. This has been a fascinating career and a fascinating second career. I recommend New Artisan Distillery to anyone in Dallas—it’s easy to get to, great for events, and the product is genuinely different. I’ve never tasted gin like yours. Don Short: Henry, thank you for having me today. Great to talk to you, and great to meet you at the distillery. Let’s stay in touch. Henry Harrison: We will. You can Google New Artisan Distillery online. Don Short, thank you so much. Don Short: Thanks, Henry. Take care.