ACHP Special Episode with Alex Gonzalez with Besa Cigars

Episode Summary

A Cigar Hustler's Podcast sits down with Alex Gonzalez of Besa Cigars for a candid, no-hype conversation about what it actually takes to build a new boutique cigar brand from scratch. Alex breaks down Besa's growth over the last year — from roughly 15 accounts to about 30 — and explains why he's deliberately choosing slow, sustainable growth over overextending on supply or burning out. He talks about the realities of the three-to-seven-year runway most brands face, why the Orlando/Florida market is his foundation, and how face-to-face relationship building still beats cold-calling shops across the country.

The conversation digs into the marketing side of the modern cigar business: Besa's early TikTok success before platform enforcement tightened, the pitfalls of YouTube and Instagram censorship (including YouTube pulling videos with direct links to tobacco product sales), how shadow banning has pushed the brand toward podcasts, cross-promotion with industry friends, and in-person events. Alex also covers the brand's Albanian roots — Besa is named and banded around Skanderbeg, the 15th-century Albanian leader who fought the Ottoman Empire — and the interest that heritage generates among Eastern European smokers looking for an alternative to cigarettes, plus the challenges of selling into Albania's tiny three-lounge cigar market.

There's a frank business segment on retail strategy: why Besa fits better in small boutique lounges than superstores right now, Alex's 250-account target as the "sweet spot," the risks of working with big discounters like Cigar International and Cigar Bid, and how heavy discounting can devalue a boutique brand. He also outlines the blend roadmap — an Ecuadorian Habano as the medium core, a Mexican San Andrés Maduro, and a planned Connecticut/shade-grown third core line, capping out around ten total blends including limited editions rather than diluting the portfolio.

The episode wraps with practical talk about packaging and a secondary band to help consumers tell the natural from the Maduro in the humidor, Alex's once-a-week podcast production schedule and roughly 30,000 monthly YouTube views, plus details on the March 21st Besa Cigars event with the Cigar Guys, featuring a raffle for a travel humidor and a watch.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Passion and the Grind of a New Brand
   Alex explains why genuine passion — not profit — is what keeps new brand owners in the cigar industry past the first few years.
2. 02
   Account Growth and Slow, Sustainable Scaling
   Besa has doubled from about 15 to 30 accounts in a year, and Alex explains why he's intentionally avoiding overextension on supply and orders.
3. 03
   Are New Brands Sustainable?
   A discussion of the roughly 300 new cigar brands launched each year, celebrity brands, and whether the economy will thin the boutique herd.
4. 04
   Creating New Cigar Smokers
   How Besa converts newer smokers at events and lounges, and why growing the total consumer base is the industry's real challenge.
5. 05
   Skanderbeg, Albania, and Brand Heritage
   The story behind Besa's Albanian identity, the Skanderbeg band, and the emerging cigar market in Albania and Kosovo.
6. 06
   Social Media, Shadow Banning, and Censorship
   TikTok's early leniency versus today's strict takedowns, YouTube link rules for tobacco products, and Instagram's suppressed reach.
7. 07
   Retail Strategy, Discounters, and Brand Value
   Why boutique lounges fit Besa now, the 250-account goal, and the risk of Cigar International and Cigar Bid discounting eroding brand value.
8. 08
   Blend Roadmap and Packaging
   Plans for a Connecticut/shade-grown third core line, capping at around ten blends, and adding a secondary band to distinguish the Maduro.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

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Transcript

Okay, so we're gonna get started here. We have a special interview today with the one and only Alex Gonzalez of Basic Cigars, one of the hardest workers I know in the cigar industry. Say hi, Alex. Thank you for that intro.

How you guys doing? Well, it's true. It's very true, man. You know, I think that that was one of the things that really kind of gravitated us towards you, right, is we saw a lot of your stuff on TikTok, And all these other social media feeds, and you work your ass off, you provide good content, and that takes a lot of time and effort, and you haven't given up yet, so kudos for that, because that is part of this industry, right, people kind of pop in, and they quickly go away, and once they realize how hard it is, and you're still sticking around, right?

We talked about that quite a bit, I mean, our experience and the experience of others, having people come on our show to talk about it, you really have to be passionate about, The cigar industry to have any sort of success, especially in the beginning, I mean, as you guys know, it doesn't pay, this isn't any just easy industry to get into and start making money, right? You definitely have to be passionate about it. And that's really what keeps me going, is the fact that I enjoy it so much. If I didn't enjoy it, then we'd be out of here, finding something else to do.

But it is something that I do enjoy. We've created the brand around a piece of history that I do enjoy as well. So, a lot of the things that we do is fed into my passion for cigars. I'm not passionate about the cigar industry at all.

I can tell. I'm honestly not. Based on our conversations that you've had. I mean, you know, I'm just more transparent about things, you know, I enjoy the struggle, I guess, to some degree, I'm just masochistic for whatever reason, but, you know, the reality is that it's very challenging, right?

And I guess I like that about it, that it's extremely hard, but yeah, so anyways, last time we talked, I think you're, how many accounts do you think you've been in, or have you grown into in the past, I don't know, 18 months, 24 months? I think when we last spoke, it was around 15, and we've doubled since then, still, I see it as a slow growth. They say it takes around three to seven years for a brand to really kick off. We're at around the three-year mark now, so, and from the beginning, we didn't really know what we were getting into entirely, and as we've learned more and more, I've definitely taken into the consideration that this is going to, for sure, be a slow growth, and I have to be okay with that, because I don't want to get too ahead of myself and overextend and end up having issues, whether it's with supply or just with, you know, overworking yourself, because the last thing I want is to have a pause in the business like not being able to fulfill orders or whatever it may be I'd rather it be take on what we can handle and you know provide a great product to our retailers and consumers and keep everyone happy and when there is room for growth take advantage of that growth which right now we're definitely taking advantage of different methods to continue to grow.

Okay, so the majority of, I would assume that the majority of your accounts right now are in the state of Florida? Yes. Because that's where you guys are all. Of course, yeah.

It's much easier to manage your local market, especially in this industry, as you know, it requires a lot of face-to-face. Yeah. Or it's easier that way. You know, it's easier to do that than to call someone across the country and try and build a relationship that way.

It can be done and it has been done on our end, but yeah, I mean, just managing like the Orlando area, not only is it more fun because we get to see people like you And sit down and talk about stuff but it's just a lot easier and then we have expanded outside the state of Florida with success so we're just really continuing what we're doing to make that growth happen okay so within this span of the past 18 months 18 to 24 months like I don't remember when we did our last podcast I think we did it almost a year ago actually okay so a year ago all right so it's been a year have you seen another account Did you have another brand really kind of blow up and you're like, fuck, man, how the hell did they do that? Did anything ever stand out to you where you're like, damn? I'm sure I have. I know, too, a lot of the accounts that I've seen that, or new brands that have blown up, I can find that they had some sort of previous history, previous backing.

I mean, we're not going to include like Celebrity Cigars, for example, because that's a given. It's all, you know, the name of the celebrity, like you're talking about Mike Tyson or, you know, now we have Conor McGregor. I love Conor McGregor as well, but a brand really that kind of came out of nowhere and blew up since then, I haven't, I don't think I've really seen much on that aspect, outside of anything that may have been like, you know, this guy left this company, and he helped build a new company on his own or with other people. But it, I haven't, I don't know if you have.

No, not really. Do you think that's just the general sign of what the economy kind of is or, you know? Yeah, I do think the economy is probably going to, if it hasn't already, have more of an impact on new cigar brands. I think Steve Sako told us last year that there's about 300 new brands every year for cigars.

And because it is a, compared to what most people might think, a lower barrier for entry to start a brand. The big part is really promoting that brand and actually getting that brand out there and having success. But I do think that we're going to see, I think I talked about this with the guys on a previous podcast, we're going to start seeing less new brands and some of the brands that have started kind of die down because there's not enough sustainability for everyone that's in the boutique and very new space of cigars. So how do you build that?

You know, what's really kind of funny to me is, being in this industry for 15 years, the overall growth for cigar consumers is not big. And as you know, with shadow banning and all these other things that happen on social media, which is very entertaining, we can talk about that a little bit. How is it, how, how is it there a way to make more consumers? That way it becomes more sustainable.

It's got to be possible because I can tell you that I can sit down with people that haven't smoked cigars before and have cigars and they're like, this is really awesome, right? So how do you reach a person that isn't a cigar consumer yet, but could potentially be? Okay, so quickly to answer part of your question, the best thing that we have found success in is finding newer cigar smokers. Right.

And get them to try our brand and kind of convert to a base of fan. People that mainly don't know as much or they're getting new into cigars, so they're still looking for new brands to try. So we'll meet them at events and stuff like that or meet them at the lounge that we're hanging out with and say, you know, try our brand, give them the little pitch and all that. And a lot of times they'll end up liking it.

As far as getting more consumers on board and creating new cigar smokers, I do think that social media is the easiest way. It's the easiest, but at the same time, the most challenging because of like you said, the shadow banning and all the rules and regulations with it, but we have seen a lot of people that are interested in cigars come to our channel and say, "Hey, I found you guys here. I'm looking more into cigars. I like what you're putting out.

" So we are seeing that it is working and there are new consumers being made, but as you said, it's a small growth. I mean, the cigar industry overall has had a great amount of growth over the last five years, but nothing crazy to help all the other brands out there. So I think social media for sure is something we need to continue to be active in and try and find ways and loopholes to get around all the regulations and stuff. I think that's the easiest way to reach the masses.

But outside of that, you really have word of mouth. I mean, in the Albanian community specifically, they're moving. They're trying to get off city. Right.

A lot of Eastern Europeans, they love cigarettes, and they're starting to look into alternatives. We're not going to go vaping or, you know, Jules or whatever. We don't do the vape. No, no.

But cigars is seen as a healthier alternative. Right. So a lot of people in the Eastern European market are trying cigars. And especially in Albania, we have an Albanian cigar.

So, Zach and Mark, their family, their friends, and people they know, are especially interested in getting into cigars when they see the Albanian band on here that we have. Now, who's this guy again? So, Skanderbeg was the leader of the Albanians at the time when the Ottoman Empire was taking over a lot of Europe. He helped lead Albanians against the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s.

Similarly to the Polish and Lithuanians, they also have a, they had a small army that was fighting for their freedom against the Ottomans around the same time. So he's kind of like their George Washington for us. Like everyone should know who George Washington is. I heard about him.

Yeah, something like that. He had a good, good following on X. Yeah. So you have statues of Skanderbeg, even in like New York and places over here.

But if you go over to Albania and Kosovo, you know, the They have statues of him up there, they call him the Defender of Christianity over there, so he's kind of like, you know, a big figure in Albanian history. Do you sell to Albania? So we sell directly to Albania via like our website, and there's, we're still working on getting into retailers there because the cigar market over there isn't big, it's still a relatively new thing, so we're trying to work with the people over there to get it actually on the shelves there. But there's, like, three real cigar lounges out there, and there's a little bit of a language barrier because, like, personally, I don't speak Albanian.

You don't speak Albanian? I don't speak Albanian. And I'm not Albanian. I'm the only one in the group that's not Albanian.

It's not Albanian. But, so, we're trying to work on that, but it's still a growing market over there. So, we'd like to get in there and kind of help them be a part of the growth, so to say. Okay.

So, you kind of started on TikTok, right? Yeah, we did. Yes, we did. And that's where things really kind of blew up for you as far as popularity.

And then you started working on YouTube and Instagram afterwards. Yes. What have been some of the pitfalls that you have seen on YouTube and Instagram that you didn't expect? So when we did start with TikTok, it was still a relatively new platform and cigars was very new around three years ago when we started the TikTok.

So there was really not as much regulation, or at least they didn't enforce it as well. So we had a lot of success with TikTok because we could upload a video and it wouldn't get shadow banned or taken down. And then Instagram and YouTube, they've already had all those regulations kind of in place. But the pitfalls that we see is essentially just the flat-out censorship of cigars, Because they do loop it into tobacco, big tobacco and stuff like that.

So if you have, if you're smoking anything, that's a red flag for the social media company. But we've seen other social media, other people be successful while they're smoking cigars. Right. And there's definitely loopholes around it.

I think that YouTube, they, I know for a fact that YouTube will take down your video if you have a link that is directly promoting the sale. of your product, a tobacco product specifically, so we don't have any links that directly go to like our cigar shop, for example, or like any of the brands that we bring on, we can't have a direct link to their product because it's direct promotion, so we would link to their social media, so it's an Instagram link, so it wouldn't flag it as anything like that. You can talk about cigars, you can smoke cigars on YouTube, but we're still working out the theories on if smoking a cigar on YouTube is going to get you flagged, we've kind of figured out that it's not really getting you flagged, but as far as them promoting in the algorithm, there's a little bit of wiggle room there that we're still trying to figure out, TikTok is kind of the same, except I think TikTok's now the most strict, where if they see you smoking a cigar in your video, they'll take it down. So they'll block it, Instagram is mainly the promotion of it so if you post a picture on Instagram or a video it's not going to get promoted as much but the video will stay on there and your followers and stuff can still interact with it so we had great traction initially when promoting our product now it's a little harder but now we're relying more on like friends in the industry working with them like you know doing podcasts with them to sort of share our followings, to promote their products, to promote our products, and we've really been focusing more on the in-person relationships, like you and I, and other retailers in the industry, to help boost our presence.

Alright, so you're at 30, where do you want to be at by the end of 2026? And in 2026, I definitely want to be in the hundreds, end of 2026 for sure. I think that is definitely possible. It's definitely something that we're working towards right now.

We have a few reps that we're working with. What? Do you have reps? We have reps, I'll say that, yeah.

I mean, we're not paying them a salary, I will say that. But we are working with people to... So, commission-based. Commission-based reps that are willing to work with us and push the product.

They like what we're doing. They're also cigar guys, so they're willing to work with us and we're willing to work with them to make something out of it. What regions? So, Southeast mainly.

Trying to look for someone in the Northeast, but we have the Southeast pretty much is going to be covered this year. That's like our next goal. Are there any particular retailers that you want to see your brand in? Like, for me, one of the big ones was, like, I love Cigars on the Ave, you know, I love Don Patel, it's a great, great store, and I wanted to be in there, right?

Are there any retailers for you that you want to be like, hey, I really want to be in the store? Yeah. I'll put it this way. I think starting out, we've seen our brand work really well with smaller boutique kind of lounges, not the superstores that have, you know, hundreds of thousands of cigars.

Right now, it doesn't really work there because of brand recognition and stuff like that. So my goal is to continue to service lounges that are willing to work with us and help us, lounges where the cigar fits more, and once we kind of get more of those and establish more brand presence, I'd like to get to, you know, people like Cigar International or bigger stores, bigger retailers, because you have a lot of, a lot of the cigar lounges are one-offs, one or two, it's easier to work with people like that, so the next step would really be, And I think it's a great opportunity to get someone that's got multiple stores. Are you worried about, if you take on a brand like CI, take on a retail store like CI, are you concerned about them discounting your product and it losing its value? Yes.

So that is something to consider for sure. And I think that's going to be an issue that we will look into when we get there, because I'll admit we're not at that level yet of working with someone like CI. So, if they came to us, I would definitely love to work something out with them, but that is part of the difficulty you have to work with, because, you know, with companies like that, they're trying to move volume, and they have to find ways to move volume for their business. So, that is a little bit of a concern, but I know that we can definitely find a way to resolve that.

Well, it's a unique dynamic, right? Because CI is owned by SDG. SDG makes her own cigars. Retailers, such as myself, carry general products, right, which is SDG.

But it's almost like if you worked with CI, and if I sold my brand to CI, they could cheapen my brand, which would essentially help them with their other products. No? Yeah. So, I mean, I don't know if, like, if CI approached me and said, hey, you know, we're thinking about taking on Pustani, I don't know if I'd take it.

You know, unless it was totally transparent of, look, I don't want to be on CigarBid or whatever the hell they have, I don't, you know, and I don't want a discount of less than 10% across the board. Yeah. Right? When it comes to boxes or something.

No, absolutely. And I think, too, when it comes to having that division between someone like CI and the rest of your, If you have a lot of other brick and mortar locations, I do think that the presence that your brand is able to give to the lounge, like you guys, for example, if we're able to have our presence here every so often and migrate with the consumers here and kind of be known as a brand, that helps keep your customers loyal to you when it comes to purchasing our product. And there's always going to be those people that are looking at Cigar Bid and trying to find the best deals. So those people, in my opinion, they're not necessarily looking for a specific product when they're going to like Cigar Bid or discount stores.

They're just looking for the best deal. So it kind of separates the consumers of who is going to be more loyal to your brand versus who's going to be just kind of looking for good deals, if that makes sense. Sure. S.?

I know it's thousands. You think it's in the thousands? Yeah, for sure. How many do you think are worth the shit as far as carrying boutique cigars?

Probably a quarter. So, you think 250? Probably. Let's say that, yeah.

Okay. So, if you found yourself with 250 accounts, would you think that you're kind of, like, that's the number That's your sweet spot? That's your goal? That would be a great number, for sure.

I think 250 would be a great number for us. And then we could look to, you know, definitely expanding the company after that. So, and what about new blends? So this blend came out last year?

Yes. How many blends do you think that you could see you coming out with? So, I do have a plan for when we want to release new blends. And of course, it's a slower schedule right now.

So, the initial goal was to have the Ecuadorian Habano, which is kind of in the middle, our Mexican San Andreas came out next, so, naturally, we're going to have some sort of variation of a Connecticut or a shade-grown blend as our main three. Once we establish after that point, I would like to dive more into limited editions and maybe different themes. So I would say, I mean, if we hit, let's say 200 stores, I would like to, you know, approach somewhere in like the 10 different blends that we have. You have your core line and then maybe like limited editions that come out.

So something like offer 10 different, different blends. Total. Total. Yeah.

Three core lines. Right. Exactly. Something like that.

And I don't, I don't have a vision of like creating 50 different blends. I think that if you have a brand that is too diversified with all these different blends, it just kind of gets confusing for the consumer and even for the retailers. So I kind of want to focus on a handful of quality blends that our consumers love, as opposed to just always making something new. Gotcha.

Okay. You want to cover some general topics? Yeah, let's do it. All right.

So for starters, do you think that Elon Musk should have commented on his ex being down for 11,000 people? Because Palmer is very upset about that. I think that they will come out at some point and tell us what's going on. When did this happen?

Like was it today? Today or? Yeah. Yeah, so I think it's still relatively a new development.

I don't think that they need to have an answer right away, but I'm sure that they will say something when they meet together and say, They're like, okay, let's tell them this. 11,000 people, I mean, no offense to you guys, but that's not too bad. e. make Trump administration look bad.

So every day is going to be a new article about why Elon is a bad guy and why Trump is a bad guy. So I try not to look too deeply into all the developments that come out, I think it might actually be for the greater good of America, or not, so yeah, that's kind of my opinion on that. Right, okay, you want to talk about, we got an event coming up. Yeah, so March 21st, we're going to be here, Baseless Cigars, the Cigar Guys, and we have a raffle going on, so if you come here between now and the event, Every cigar you purchase gets you a ticket to enter the raffle, and you can either win a watch or a humidor.

You've seen the humidor. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's about this big, they call it like, the purpose of the humidor was kind of to be like an on-the-go, like if you're having a picnic or if you're going somewhere, it has portable ashtrays, it has the cutter, the lighter, and this whole piece that's magnetic that kind of comes off and gives you a lot of options there. It's a really beautiful humidor, but essentially, come here between now and the event, and definitely come on the event March 21st, meet us, and smoke baseless cigars with us, and then you have a chance to win some cool prizes.

You got a lot of accessories on that, too. You got more rings. Yeah, I know, so I got a couple rings here. This is a, like a Christian cross here.

I kind of dress myself for the whole Scanderbeg Defender Christianity thing. Nice. So I've got my Christian like Templar cross here to rep that as well as a traditional Christianity cross. So no kidding.

You got the watch, got the beads. Look at you. You're like maximum. I've been hanging out with Greg.

Is that what's going on? You know, I did. Every time I put this ring on specifically, I think about him because I'm like, he's got all these big rings on here. Every time I shake his hand, it's like just a clunk of metal.

Ridiculous. Yeah. But I want to make a good impression for you guys. I don't even shake his hand.

Well, I'm assuming you don't. It's very admirable of you. Hey, I just, We just do like this. We just do like a poke.

Touch this one finger. So, how many viewers do you have currently on YouTube? Because I heard like the viewership's kind of going away, right? You can have an algorithm where one particular thing pops.

Yeah. So, we monthly, with our long form and shorts, probably get around 30,000 a month average. So, we're focusing on making every long form video that comes out. So we're trying to focus on how is this video going to get traction right away.

Right. Because what we notice with our videos is when you get like hundreds of views that night or the next day, it's more than likely going to go into the thousands. Right. So we did a interview with Miguel Shadel.

Yeah. And with our usual promotion, he didn't promote it initially. I think he ended up promoting it like a few days or a week later. But right away that video got hundreds of views and now it's sitting at I think around 5,000 or 6,000 and I think the thumbnail helped, the title helped, and once they actually got in and started watching that interview, great interview, I mean full of knowledge, great guy, so people watched that whole thing, people started commenting.

So we're focusing on, you know, step one, get people to watch this episode via thumbnail, via title. We try to focus on titles that people are searching for and then through that make sure our content is of high quality so that way they are staying and watching the full thing. So we're seeing that work quite a bit and we're just going to continue to do that every week with each episode or any other videos that we come out with. And the shorts really are just to help get more views to the channel and get more people to subscribe, so that way it's easier to have, you know, hundreds of views that first day or night when you release an episode, and then just, I mean, it's like the cigar industry, it takes time.

We're only officially two years into the podcast, and it's been doing really well, but of course, we'd like to see it take off for sure. so how many how many times a week do you do a podcast once once a week uh we upload once a week so sometimes we'll do two to catch up or you know just have one in the barrel in case like i mean we we travel a lot whether it's personal or business so we like to have at least one in the barrel just in case like hey we can't meet this week for whatever reason right like i went on my honeymoon in november i was gone for three weeks right so we're like we need three episodes like Like, in the barrel. Right. Because, you know, I do all the editing, and...

Which is a pain in the ass. Which is a pain, yeah. So, I like to just make it easier on the rest of the guys so they don't have to rely on doing any of that. Right.

Yeah. And I'm a little bit of a quality control neat freak, too, so it's like, I want to have that... I have that vision in mind. I want to make sure it's being done.

Palmer and I have that same problem. I'm like, no, he calls me Scorsese. Oh, Martin Scorsese's here. Right, Palmer?

Yeah, Palmer's saying yes. He's shaking his head yes. Mike's shaking his head, yes. Thanks so much for that added value.

Yeah, we can still hear you. We can still hear you, faded in the background. Yes. Thanks, Palmer.

Okay, do you have any questions, Boots? I do have a question. Yes! Alright, Alex.

So, I have now smoked two different bases. How, now if I wasn't in the cigar world a little bit, right, and I couldn't tell the difference of the How could I decipher the two different blends? Okay, so the way we have it set up right now is if you're in a retail shop, the boxes have different like covers on here to tell you the different cigars. We're working on a second band currently, so if you have it in the humidor, it's a little easier to decipher.

So if you're retarded, you can, right? Right, some instances, you know, no offense, but some instances we will put a sticker that says either natural or Maduro on there, so if you have them in your human door, it's a little easier to decipher, but we have put into consideration getting a secondary ban for the Maduro specifically, just in case you do run into that issue. Yeah, because I've been in other retail shops, I've seen it, and I'm always like, well, which one is the Maduro? Hopefully they have a sticker on there that, you know, says, says so.

This one is Maduro. Well, you know, the normal consumer that comes in, those guys are so quick in the humidor, and they're not really reading anything, so like a color or a secondary band or something like that to decipher the difference, you know, that's what I was always looking at when I was first coming in. Yeah, at the end of the day, as long as they enjoy either or, then it's okay. Yeah, true.

Okay. Well, I think that that pretty much covers everything. Do you have anything to ask us? Are you guys all going to be there for the event?

Uh, what's the, what's the date? Friday. Yeah, I should be there. Okay, cool.

Yeah, I should be there. No, no, no, no, next Friday. Yeah, it's next Friday. Yeah, I should be there.

Good deal. Yeah, no, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking, I always appreciate seeing you guys and hanging out with you guys, everything you guys do. I mean, you guys starting the podcast and stuff, part of our motivation for doing what we do, you know, especially you guys being local, so I'm just, you know, really appreciative of you guys and everything you do for us.

I thought for sure at this point, and this is like a kudos to you, that you'd be like, I don't want to do this anymore. This is, this whole thing is extremely tough, you know, you're getting your brains beat in. I'm not saying that you are, but like, just kind of figuratively speaking, I know the cigar industry to some degree. And I know, not having a name and kind of establishing and working your ass off, you know, it's like treading water, right?

And it takes a long time before it starts to track. Well, I know too, like initially when we came to you, like from the very beginning, you know, we talked about it and you liked the cigar, but you had that sort of pushback of, well, this is a very new brand, we don't know how well it's going to do. Right. And then a year later, you know, it's like, oh, you're still here.

Okay, let's give it a shot. What the hell? And then, you know, yeah, every time I come in, it's like, okay, this guy's still around. It doesn't sound like, you know, maybe he does kind of somewhat care about what he's doing.

Well, you definitely care about what you're doing. That goes without saying. But, you know, and you provide good content on the interwebs, right? So I think that's super important.

But, you know, like I said, I thought that maybe you would be a little more jaded and you're not at this point. Well, yeah, I mean, because for sure, we've definitely learned a lot through our experience. I mean, again, like I said earlier, starting out, we really didn't know anything. You know, we knew the gist.

I mean, I've been smoking cigars for a while. I've talked to people in the industry to have a general idea of what to do, but we learned so much as we progressed, and I think that the most important thing is knowing that you do know nothing, and willing to learn and expand your knowledge and change things when you, like, you know, putting a secondary ban on it or whatever, you know, taking criticism from other people in the industry that have been in there longer and working towards a goal of just making your products better. Absolutely, man. Okay.

Well, that's it, man. Thank you so much. I appreciate you, and we look forward to seeing you next Friday. All right.

Take care, everyone. All right. Bye.

Show Notes

Alex Gonzalez Internet Sensation with Besa Cigars