Pedro Gomez Factory Spokeperson for Drew Estate Tobacco Company Episode 3.

Episode Summary

Episode 3 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast features Pedro Gomez, factory spokesperson for Drew Estate, in a wide-ranging conversation with hosts Mike Szczepankewicz (Cigar Hustler, Deltona, FL) and Mike Palmer (Florida Cigar Club). Due to a technical issue, the interview is joined already in progress, picking up with Pedro's story of returning to Nicaragua after studying in Iowa and refusing to go back to a $7-a-week job.

Pedro walks through knocking on the door of every cigar factory in Esteli before landing an interview at Drew Estate with Nick Melillo and Manuel Rubio in 2006 — back when the "factory" was spread across eleven rented houses. He started as the guy who fetched coffee, water and lunch and translated for visiting executives, moved up to operations manager assistant, and learned the business from the inside while watching Jonathan Drew give tours to retailers. When Drew Estate bought land and built its Esteli factory with a tourism program attached, Pedro was tapped to become director of Cigar Safari, working behind the scenes while Jonathan Drew, Steve Saka, Nick Melillo and Marvin Samuel led visitor tours. He and Mike first met at the 2009 IPCPR show in New Orleans, where Jonathan Drew introduced them and told Pedro to pitch Cigar Safari.

The conversation also covers the economics of Esteli — roughly 75,000 of the city's 180,000 residents work in tobacco farms, cigar factories and box factories — Pedro's years moonlighting as an English teacher for adults and kids while working days at the factory, and his move into international sales. He describes a two-week sales crash course in Miami, working the Inter-tabac trade show in Dortmund, Germany, and opening roughly ten distributor accounts across Europe, the Netherlands and South Africa before relocating to the United States full time on a work visa in 2013 to run cigar events. He notes Liga Privada being named Cigar of the Year by a European cigar journal as evidence of the brand's international traction, and mentions hiring Henry to run the Cigar Safari tours in his absence.

The episode closes with the show's three standing questions: Pedro would smoke with Michael Jordan; the best advice he ever received came from his uncle Pedro, a polio survivor who built a bookstore business in Esteli's Central Park — "never give up, always do your best, you never know who's watching"; and for favorite cigars he names Undercrown as his Drew Estate pick (he's a medium-body smoker) and pays tribute to the recently passed Jose Orlando Padrón as the man who set the bar for Nicaraguan tobacco.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Returning to Nicaragua and job hunting in Esteli
   After studying in Iowa, Pedro refuses to return to a $7-a-week job and knocks on the door of every cigar factory in Esteli.
2. 02
   Getting hired at Drew Estate in 2006
   An interview with Nick Melillo and Manuel Rubio lands him a role doing whatever was needed — coffee, water, translating — back when Drew Estate operated out of eleven rented houses.
3. 03
   Climbing to operations manager assistant
   Two years of learning the factory's ins and outs, translating for U.S. executives, and shadowing Jonathan Drew on retailer tours.
4. 04
   Building Cigar Safari
   Drew Estate buys land for its Esteli factory and launches its tourism program, with Pedro named director of Cigar Safari.
5. 05
   Esteli, tobacco and the local economy
   Why roughly 75,000 of Esteli's 180,000 people depend on tobacco, and how the industry drives the entire city's economy.
6. 06
   Side hustling as an English teacher
   Two years teaching English at night to adults and kids while working days at the Drew Estate factory.
7. 07
   International sales and Inter-tabac
   A two-week sales training in Miami, three years working the Dortmund trade show, and opening distributor accounts across Europe and South Africa.
8. 08
   The three questions
   Michael Jordan, his uncle Pedro's advice to never give up, and favorite smokes — Undercrown from Drew Estate plus a tribute to Jose Orlando Padrón.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.

Transcript

Welcome to Cigar Hustlers Podcast with your host, Mike Szczepankewicz from Cigar Hustler in Deltona, Florida, and me, I'm Mike Palmer from Florida Cigar Club. Sit back, light up your cigar, everybody get ready, let's get hustlin'. Every day I'm, every day I'm hustling, hustling real hard, hustling, hustling real hard, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, hustling, every day I'm, every day I'm, every day I'm, every day I'm, whole love. We're talking to Pedro Gomez this week from Drew Estate.

There was a slight technical issue as we started the program, so we start the interview already in progress. Thank you and we apologize. -In the end of the day, bro, if somebody made it before, nothing can stop you for you to make it, you know, for yourself, and not just for yourself, for your family as well, because you have to have a motivation for you to go up there and not conquer the world, not even change the world, but inspire somebody to make a change. -Absolutely.

The best thing that you can left as a mark in life is about not being, well, besides being an example, I mean, it would be hard to say, oh, this person is an example because we're humans, we make mistakes, you know? But if you can inspire people to do their best, that's the best thing that you can left behind when all of us are gone. Because we're gonna die, you know? Exactly, yeah.

That's for sure. So, you get out of Iowa, people are trying to convince you to stay, but you decide to go home, now you have more abilities, you have, you know, a different belief system, and, you know, well, the fact of the matter is, now you can speak English, which definitely opened up more opportunities for you, correct? That's right. Yeah, when I went back, you know, I was determined enough not to go back to the start of the shop, because what would be the point?

To go, just came to the United States, got the education opportunity, and then go back. Back to $7 a week. Fuck this, man. I'm going to fucking look for a job anywhere.

I mean, any employer, I'm very happy to work for it. So I went to, I went to every cigar factory in Esteli looking for a job. And unfortunately, you know, good positions in factories, people are not gonna just quit and go look for another one because there is no, I mean, back in those days, there was no, nothing, you know. So I went to every one of them.

They didn't have nothing for me. I went to Drew State, and I kind of figured it out, okay, this is a gringo company, you know, because, you know, the rest, it was Cuban-Americans, you know, and I was like, well, they're gonna, you gotta have something right there, so I went to have an interview with Nick Melillo and Manuel Rubio, who were the managers back in that time, for Drew State, and they said to me, you know, we don't have anything. I don't have anything for you, but we like your resume, and if you want to come and work, come tomorrow. I said, sure.

, so it was pretty much, you know, learning about tobacco is a whole different school. I mean, fuck what you learn in school, that shit is a whole different word, you know. So I started to, you know, kind to learn, trying to learn hidden there, but at the same time I was doing whatever they asked me to do. Hey, we need coffee?

Yeah, call Pedro. Hey, we need a driver? Oh, don't call Pedro, because he doesn't know how to drive yet. But when it comes to getting water, getting lunch, you know, for people, being a translator, bro, you tell me, I do it.

Right. And that's what I was doing. So a year passed by. And then I got the opportunity to be the operation-managed assistant.

So I was doing that for two years. That's when I learned all the ins and outs of the company. Plus... That's a big deal.

That's a big jump from getting coffee to being the operation manager. And then I started to learn how the factory works in the upper levels, because, you know, there were people from the United States that were going down to Nicaragua to have meetings with the CFO. The CFO didn't speak English that well, so they were needing a translator, so I was there, and I was learning and picking and stuff, you know. At the same time, they were giving me a chance to give the tours to the backpackers.

And at that point, you know, what I was learning every day, I was bleeding, I was bleeding these people's ears, bro, I was, you know, training myself, and there was, you know, Jonathan was coming into town, he was giving tours to their retailers, so I was right next to him just learning how, you know, he was giving the tours, and then the opportunity came that the company bought a piece of land, because back in the days, Drew Stee started from a - It was a small house in Esteli where Jonathan Drew was renting out. It was a small house where it was a factory, you know? And basically, you know, he started with the factory early 1999, and he started with seven people trying to make it work. And then, you know, one little house became two, became three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11.

- So, at that point, that was 2006, and that was the year when I entered Drewstein. So, we were out of 11 different houses working as a factory, you know? - Okay. - And then, they bought a piece of land, and they start to build a factory.

Jonathan Drew Smith, I mean, his dream was to build the biggest cigar factory in Nicaragua, but not just the biggest, the most beautiful one. So the idea came to have a tourism program. And that was when they saw me and they say, hey, this kid could be good for this opportunity. So they gave me the opportunity and I was like, yeah, I can take it.

And then they gave me the opportunity to be the director of Cigar Safari, which is the first three, four years I was using the gang working behind the curtains, making sure that everything was running on point. Well, Jonathan, Steve Sakas, Nicholas, and Marvin Samuel were giving tours to our visitors, you know, and consumers and retailers. And then, I remember that I met you. I met you.

Absolutely. In an IPCPR show. Yeah, that was our first time we met. " Sure thing.

And I remember, I think it was in New Orleans, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, I think you're absolutely correct. That was 2009. Yeah.

2009, so that's when we met. Yeah. And then we keep that friendship, you know, and it's great to see that you are doing really well. It's great to see that your company is growing, that you are diversifying, you know, in every aspect of the tobacco industry because there is a lot of opportunities.

And the thing about it is that the cigar industry is a very traditional industry, but when you have young blood like you, don't want to make change hidden there, but for the good, to attract the masses, bro, that's when things start to move in the right direction. And I'm very happy for you, man. So, shout out to Cigar Hustler, to everybody up there. Much appreciated.

Yeah, man, we are doing it. So, you know, I like to call you the mayor of Esteli. I don't know, I don't know if you know that, but if you ever go, back in the day, if you went on the cigar The Cigar Safari with Pedro, I mean, Pedro knew everybody, you know, and everybody loved seeing Pedro because, you know, he brought the gringos with the fat wallets that were buying boots and all types of other shit, so, you know, if you were in circulation for the Cigar Safari, you know, you had to know Pedro and you had to be really nice to Pedro, so they were very excited to see him. No, it's great, man.

To have people around me, to have people in my hometown is the best. Yeah, absolutely. " Well, you go and do your own homework, go to Washington Post, New York Times, and kind of search about Nicaragua. It will tell you everything that Nicaragua is a tourist destination.

War is over. That was over back in 1990. That was the end of the Civil War. And then after that, you know, from the '90s, mid '90s, early 2000s, everything has been about work and progress, and thank God, you know, things are going great, and basically, you know, that was, pretty much everything happens at the right time.

When Drew Estate came out, the Cigar Safari program was about bringing people to Drew Estate, see how we make their cigars that they truly enjoy, and kind of make them understand, you know, How much does it take to make a cigar and the appreciation that they are going to get through the experience by being in a foreign country and seeing how a factory operates, you know, because every factory is different, but it doesn't mean that we don't want to accomplish that goal, which is supply the best cigar that they can find out there. I mean, fortunate enough is that we have nowadays a lot of good cigars that are coming into the United States, are coming from Nicaragua. Well-known, established companies are using the Nicaraguan world as a marketing point to drive end consumers to try their new stuff, which is good, because at the end of the day, everybody wins, you know? The retailer wins because they got something good to sell, the end consumer wins because they can enjoy something that they really appreciate, which is smoking a cigar.

It doesn't, names and brand doesn't matter. The cigar is good, it's going to be good no matter what, you know? We win as a Nicaragua because we got job opportunities, you know. There is no such a thing waking up, you know, Monday morning knowing that you have a workplace to go and make a living.

" Oh, come on, bro, you gotta be grateful that you got a job, you know. You gotta be grateful that you have a sort of income where you can make your dreams come to. That's true. Right.

So, again, to kind of help paint a picture, you said that you started looking around and you started going, when you were looking for a new job. Right. When you came back, you went from, to Cigar Factory, Cigar Factory. Why did you choose the cigar, why did you choose the cigar industry in Esteli?

I choose the cigar industry because the tobacco industry in my hometown is the big engine that moves the economy. Absolutely. You know, you got out of 180,000 people that live in Esteli, 75,000 people work in tobacco farms, cigar factories, boxes, I mean factories that make the boxes, you know, and everything in the middle gravitates around the tobacco industry. So you're talking about almost 50% of your population in Esteli is running from the cigar industry.

It's running by the cigar industry. You could see a lot of, you know, shoe store, banks, restaurants, you know, you name it, but those businesses wouldn't be doing well if there is no money running the streets. There's no tobacco. That's right.

So I said, you know, I have to make a limit. So, this is a true story, too. So when I was working at Drew Estate, you know, the first two years, it was kind of tough, you know, a start-off position is difficult, you know, in any industry, and it doesn't matter what you went to school for, where school you graduate, I mean, money is not there yet. So, I was working as an English teacher.

I was an English teacher for pretty much like two years, you know, going to work during the day through State Factory, and then at night I was, you know, teaching English to adults or kids, you know, and it got to the point that me as a teacher, I was doing well, but I said, You know, being a teacher without due respect, because there is a lot of good professionals nowadays, everywhere in the world, they wouldn't be where they are without having a good teacher, you know, so shout out to everybody that is a teacher, that smokes cigars and truly appreciate what the teaching philosophy is all about. So while you're working in the day, you got to side hustle at night. Right. Yes.

Teaching. That's right. And educating people about speaking English. That's right.

And you know, and I was like, you know, if I can see a future, it's not going to be as a teacher, it's going to be in the tobacco industry. Right. So, well, I was running the tours, everything was going great, and the opportunity came. When Drew Stay was trying to concentrate energies and trying to open markets in other countries, that's when my background in education came to the picture and the company, I mean, in this case, Jonathan Drew, he said, you know what, man, you are going to be, I want you to run the international sales department, so we're going to train you.

I was like, "Oh, really? Well, one thing is giving the tour, another thing is selling a cigar. Oh, don't worry about it. We're going to train you.

You're going to fly to Miami. " Well, the training, you know, to be a sales rep, sometimes might take a few weeks. My sales training was two weeks, you know, and two weeks you got to learn everything, all the ins and outs, and thank God, you know, I passed the test. And it was like the movie "Pursuing the Happiness".

Have you seen the movie with my man, Will Smith? Yes, of course. You know what I mean? You only got one shot in life, bro.

You better not fuck it up. Yeah, absolutely. So, I came here and they, they, they train me, you know, and thank God I got it. And, well, the next challenge will be trying to open accounts.

Right. So, I got the opportunity to travel with this job to Germany. I went to Dortmund. They have a big trade show that is called Inter Tabac, and I start to meet with distributors from many different countries, and I was doing that for three years, and I was opening accounts in different countries, Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, it was like, I got like 10 different distributors, where I was supplying the product, you know, telling them, hey, we got this new product, so, but everything was through email, it was like, Like me going to those countries, I was meeting there once a year, and everything was through email and email and email, and we started to grow, it was running good, to the point in 2012, that's when Jonathan offered me the opportunity to come and work full time for the company, and I was like, yeah, man, I'm ready, tell me when and I'm ready, so they hired a lawyer to go through my legal status, you know, so I came with a working visa, And that was back in 2013, and the goal was to still run in the Cigar Safari Tours, and when the Cigar Safari Tour was over, was coming to the United States and thrown all around the country doing cigar events, which turns out beautiful, because all the people that I have met in the past, at the event, it will create cells at the end of the year, I mean, at the end of the day.

" And then that's when I hired Henry, who is the man down there in Nicaragua that runs the tours. At that point, when the company transferred me to the United States, I couldn't manage the International Sales Department. Because, you know, it was a lot of troubles, and you gotta concentrate energies, you know, in those people. So, they hired somebody else, and he's doing a good job.

I mean, nowadays, real estate is kind of, well, we are in different countries. Cigar Cool Journal Magazine came out with the Cigar of the Year, which was Liga Privada, we got it this year. Very nice, congratulations. So that means that Liga Privada is doing well in Europe, you know.

And so now, you know, I'm living full time here in the United States, I go to Nicaragua maybe three times a year, I'm very excited to go to Nicaragua at the end of this month to see my family and, you know, catch out with friends and stuff like that, but I own so much to this industry, I own a lot to Drew State, and we, I mean, we are, we're grateful to be here, we are grateful to be here with you, man. Absolutely. You know what I mean? We didn't know that we were going to put you on a podcast, but you know, so, alright, well, you know, I guess that's pretty much, we've got the three questions.

Oh yes, what a, oh boy, that is why you are the co-producer, because you help keep things on track. Alright, so we like to ask three questions to all of our interviews. The exact same questions we ask everybody. Both interviews.

All two interviews at this point, but you know, we're going to progress from here. Now that we have these nice fancy Mikes. So, Mike, if you want, go right ahead. Alright, here's the first question.

What one person, living or dead, would you like to have a cigar with? It can be anybody. Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan?

Michael fucking Jordan. Yes. Very good. That's an excellent answer.

He did it right off the top of his head, though. He had that ready. Alright, second question. Best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

It came from my uncle. His name was Pedro. As a matter of fact, I got the name from him. And he got a beautiful story too.

And, well, he was in a wheelchair. He got, when he was five years old, he got the Apolia. No kidding. And he immigrated from the countryside of Nicaragua to the city.

And he started, you know, with a little bookstore in the Central Park in Esteli. So, and the guy was very smart. He was very business-oriented, you know. In the Oriente, you know, he treated everybody nice, and people loved to go to his little bookstore to buy stuff.

So, and then, you know, the guy ended up renting a little house, you know, he had his business, his house there, and then eventually he ended up buying his house, his own house, which was the house I grew up with. So, I grew up with him, and the best advice that I got from him was, never give up, always do your best. You can do your best because you never know who's watching. Good stuff.

Very good. Good stuff right there. Very good. Okay, the final question.

What is your favorite cigar? My favorite cigar. Oh. Damn, you put me in the spot.

Well, I will tell you something. I don't know if I can change the question, but one thing that I can tell you is this. A good cigar is a good cigar. If you are smoking that cigar with a good friend, Or you can be smoking that cigar by yourself, maybe with a good music in the background, maybe watching a good movie, everything depends, the environment, where you are smoking that cigar.

So that is a great tactical, political answer. However, we are not going to let you. Because, you know, I don't want to say Drew Estate, because, you know, everybody got their own preference, you know? Right.

So, I mean, you know, you can say Drew Estate, but after that I'm going to ask you which one isn't Drew Estate that you like. Oh, okay, well, from Drew Estate, you know, believe it or not, well, I'm a medium body smoker, and I like medium body cigars, where I can really taste the flavor, so I would say the Undercrown, with them. Okay. It's a good stick.

And now what? Not Drew Estate. Not Drew Estate, there are plenty, man. But there's gotta be one.

There's gotta be, you know, like, taking the time to really acknowledge this moment and truly highlight this question. A good cigar and a good cigar that really set the bar of Nicaragua to the highest level, and the man just passed away, he was a legend, a true icon, my man Jose Orlando Padrón, rest in peace man, my condolence goes out to his family, but that guy really set the bar super high, and that's a great stick man, a great stick. Absolutely. All right, well, you know, I have a lot of respect for you, obviously, you know, we go a little ways back, so I know you weren't expecting to come in on this podcast, but I kind of put you on the spot, and you know, as usual, you rose to the occasion.

It's an honor to have you come out here and hang out with us, and we truly appreciate it, you know, and… Well, you know, thank you very much, man. On behalf of my people from Nicaragua, thank you very much. So, you guys, I don't know if you guys know this, but you guys are changing the communities back home, not just in Nicaragua and Dominica Republic and Honduras for good. W.

No, trust me what I'm telling you, man. It is good having, you know, having the opportunity to have that commercial trade. Yeah, absolutely. Between Nicaragua and the United States and Nicaragua and the rest of the world, because at the end of the day, everybody needs to eat.

Yeah, absolutely. And that's a good thing. And your hustle is unmatched in the cigar industry, man, coming from nothing and, you know, building yourself up to where you've become. And, you know, I look forward to seeing where you go in the future of this industry and, you know, hope we remain friends for a long time.

Absolutely, man. Yeah. Did you ever find out who that guy was that you saw getting out of the fancy car? Never saw him.

Never saw him again? Never, bro. That'd be kind of cool. Everything in life is possible as long as you believe it.

Absolutely. Very good. Well, that concludes our podcast. You know, if you like the podcast, all that we ask is you give us some feedback on it and tell your friends about it.

And thank you very much for listening. Yes, thank you very much. Absolutely, brother. Thank you, Pedro.

Hope you enjoyed episode 2 of a Cigar Hustlers podcast. That's it. It's over. The world's out there waiting for you.

Get up. Get out there. Start going. And everybody, let's get hustlin'.

Show Notes

Origin Series...Bare with us why we are learning.... Slight technical issue in the beginning and we lost the very start of the show.  Starts already in progress.