Inspiro Tequila with Mara Smith feature 29 of Together Talks

KLS
May 30, 2023
6 min read

Updated: Apr 14

"Together Talks" feature 29: Inspiro Tequila presented by KLS, freight company

Some Background on Inspiro Tequila

For this edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview Mara Smith, owner of Inspiro Tequila. Inspiro Tequila is a thoughtfully crafted, 100% agave, additive-free tequila redefining what it means to enjoy tequila. Their Luna Blanco is uniquely rested creating an incredibly smooth, sophisticated, and sippable blanco tequila. Every detail in the process has been meticulously designed with customer in mind. The company is owned, created, and inspired by women, and they champion other female-founded brands and initiatives.

Be Inspired · Live Inspired · Drink Inspired

Reentry into workforce

Mara was previously a lawyer working at a large law firm in Chicago. She then transitioned to work in corporate strategy at a Fortune 500 Company. However, she decided to leave the corporate world when she became pregnant and had premature twins. While raising three children, Mara always envisioned starting her own company. She knew that when she reentered the workforce she would want to both “innovate with a consumer product and do something that would make an impact." She was willing to bet on herself and jump back in, this time as an entrepreneur.

As she went back and forth on possible products she kept coming back to one in particular, tequila. “Tequila is my drink of choice, and I kept hearing so many women tell me that tequila was also their drink of choice. I began to research the category and discovered that almost half of tequila drinkers are female. More significantly women in general make about 80% of all purchasing decisions. So, I couldn’t figure out why this consumer is generally overlooked in the spirits industry.” Mara thought who better to speak to this consumer and understand this consumer than someone who is the consumer.

Upon founding Inspiro Tequila in 2020, Mara knew her objectives. The first goal was to create an additive-free tequila, ultra-premium that was really easy to drink and approachable that not only her primary female consumer would enjoy but that would appeal to all consumers. Additionally, Mara wanted every detail to be thought through from the custom packaging to the unique resting and aging process. The bigger initiative was to provide another female voice to the spirits industry. “Women are underrepresented in the spirits industry as a whole, and I wanted to have women involved in every aspect of the company to provide a different perspective." The creation of Inspiro Tequila wouldn't come without challenges, but Mara knew one thing would always allow them to overcome any obstacles - maintaining high quality standards in everything they do.

Unique

In addition to be a Women-Owned company, Mara sought out an award missing female distiller from Mexico to bring her vision to life. During Mara's research she also discovered that a vast majority of Tequila on the market use additives. Mara wanted to work with a master distiller that could create silky, smooth taste profiles without using additives. Inspiro Tequila is confirmed additive-free.

She wasn't done with the innovation there however. She had an idea to age their reposado in rose wine barrels. She told us, "I like rose wine, but I don’t like how I feel after drinking wine, so I thought it would be interesting to age tequila in former rose wine barrels." Innovation indeed! She told us that it gives the product a gorgeous rose-gold hue which is very eye-appealing. “Not only is the color naturally a pinkish hue but the notes on this profile are incredible. There’s a lot of floral on the nose and it’s really unique on the palate." Mara told us that every component of the business goes through a meticulous process, "no corners are cut."

The aspect of building a team of mostly women was key for Mara. She wants her brand to represent the consumers she is speaking to. She looks for opportunities to engage with this consumer organically and to have them try the product.

Challenges

Designing the product created its own unique challenges. One aspect was the bottles being glass, trying to have the transparent logo perfectly mesh and meet up on the bottle neck required multiple attempts. "It was just learning curve after learning curve, but we knew the look we wanted and we were going to get it just right. The product tasting amazing isn't enough, we needed our brand to look amazing as well." Attention to detail, through and through.

The other aspect that caused an obstacle was her idea to age the tequila in the rose wine barrels, she shared with us that as a newcomer to the beverage alcohol industry, she didn’t know that generally rose wine is a young wine that is not aged. She searched everywhere to find former rose wine barrels. It took persistence but she finally tracked them down in the south of France.

As mentioned, the company has had great growth due to being able to build their brand and exposure. Mara identified organic advertising as the greatest generator including trade shows, social media, and any and all articles, podcasts, and even television shows. We learned from Mara that she wasn’t necessarily expecting that she would be front and center, but she understood the necessity. She told us, "I joke this brand and journey has pulled the extrovert out of an introvert. At first, I was hesitant to promote myself and my company, but along the way someone told me that no one knows your company better than you do. That gave me extreme confidence. Now I relish any and every opportunity I get to share what makes Inspiro Tequila so unique."

Mara also told us how much she craves these special opportunities where she can have her product tried in a more intimate setting. She can watch the consumers try it, see their reaction and share the story behind the brand. The story resonates with many other women, whether reentering the workforce like she did, or transitioning from a legal career, or a fellow entrepreneur, it brings her pride to develop these connections.

The company currently ships to 45 states through e-commerce. They also have presence in Illinois and Michigan. Mara told us the goal for 2023 is to continue driving the retail growth in both of these two markets. They are in the process of opening another five states this year. Each year she wants to add a handful more states to the reach, but scaling at the right speed and strategically is paramount. One big focus is on retailers, as this is where her targeted consumer is shopping and many retailers are looking for some diversity on their shelves.

Commitment

One of the first things she did was connect with every female founder she could find in the spirits industry. She was like a sponge getting any and all information she could as she entered a completely new industry. She is grateful for the help she received and it has never been lost on her as she gives back both as a company and individually.

The company has an initiative called "The Purple Bicycle Project". The goal is to inspire and support other female founders through grants and mentoring. Read the entire story and meaning behind "The Purple Bicycle Project" here. One of their grant initiatives is the Community Connections Grant that Inspiro Tequila just sponsored through the Enthuse Foundation. Mara shared with us that she read 78 applications to narrow it down to 8 grant interviews. The winner will be announced in June.

Mara says the best part of the journey has been “the community of amazing female founders and leaders that I have built.” She relies on her community for support and encouragement and she tries to give back to them as well. She’s a big believer in sharing resources and collaborating with other women-owned brands. The connections she has made have been incredibly rewarding, check out her LinkedIn Profile to see some of the amazing networking events she has been a part of!

We asked Mara if there was a particular moment that has been her favorite in the 4 years so far of Inspiro Tequila. She told us about the connections she has made, the difference and impact the company is creating, but there was a singular moment that hit a little closer to home for her. "Recently I was walking in a grocery store with my 10-year-old son. Walking through the aisles we came up on a display and there was our product. He told me, 'You've done so much in a short amount of time.'" She gathered herself on our video chat and said how special it was to hear that. It wasn't that she was gone all the time building this company from the ground up, or how he misses her, but instead, he was able to recognize the incredible job his Mom has done and continues to do. Kids are the best!

In Closing

KLS wants to thank Mara Smith for allowing us to present this week's "Together Talks" campaign featuring Inspiro Tequila. We enjoyed our conversation so much with Mara. Keep following along on the journey of Inspiro Tequila at their website. You can also find them on the following social media platforms: