In ELLE’s series Office Hours, we ask people in powerful positions to take us through their first jobs, worst jobs, and everything in between. This month, we spoke with Bertha González Nieves, the CEO and co-founder of Casa Dragones, a small-batch tequila company beloved by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. González Nieves’s journey started in college, when she visited Tequila, Jalisco, in Mexico, and promptly fell in love with the spirit. “I felt so excited since day one that I found a subject matter that truly seduced my intellect,” she says. “Every day, [I’ve] wanted to learn more.” After more than a decade of working in the industry, González Nieves launched Casa Dragones in 2009, with the intention of crafting a premium sipping tequila. She’s since become Mexico’s first female maestra tequilera. “We see ourselves as explorers,” she says of her and her team. “We represent the tequila lover, and we go out there and come back with great news of things that have never been done before.” Below, she describes the serendipitous forces behind her business, including how she met her co-founder and why her wife became part of the team. Plus, she shares how, through tequila, she’s able to tell a nuanced story of “an extraordinary country.”
My first job
When I was 10 or 11 years old, my parents got a call from the school saying, “Hey, your daughter is selling products at recess. She can’t do that.” My mom was like, “Well, what’s the problem? She should learn how to sell.” I grew up in a family where my father and my grandfather were in the cosmetics business. I was very enthusiastic about their business, and I was selling their perfumes at school. So that’s how I got started. I wanted to do it. No one convinced me. And I’m glad no one stopped me, because learning how to turn an idea into something—and enjoying that process—is really important.
My worst job
I really don’t [have one]. I worked throughout college, and I remember being part of this firm that was doing some telemarketing. I didn’t find it that exciting—more the subject matter than the job itself. It’s good to do a lot of things you may not enjoy, so you can find the things that you truly enjoy. And the only way of finding that is by putting yourself out there. Those jobs that are not that great could be more insightful than you think.
Why I became obsessed with the tequila industry
When I was studying business administration in Mexico City, I was selected by a program sponsored by the Japanese government to study in Japan and represent Mexico. They sponsored me to travel to different states in Mexico to learn about our key industries. One of the trips was to Tequila, Jalisco. I spent three days visiting different distilleries and agave fields. It was transformational to be able to see the process, the plants, the agricultural side of it, the production. And the finished product just captivated me. After, I called my parents and said, “I know what I want to do. I want to go into the tequila industry.” And my parents were like, Oh god. It’s been more than 30 years that I’ve been in this industry, and I love everything about it.
How tequila can tell the story of Mexico
It is truly part of the social fabric of our culture. When people think of Mexico, [tequila] is one of the top five things people around the world mention. So it’s a way to tell our country’s craftsmanship story and innovate in a category that’s more than 250 years old.
[Working in the tequila industry is an] opportunity to tell this story of Mexico that I have in my heart, that I grew up with—a Mexico not everyone knows about. We’re sometimes pigeonholed into a cliché. And it’s an extraordinary country. We have a very rich and varied culture. [I love] the opportunity to tell that story through this beautiful craft of Mexican spirit.
What the nickname “First Lady of Tequila” means to me
That [title] was from one of the first articles written [about me] in the LA Times. It felt like a big responsibility more than anything else—and a great distinction. I take that very seriously and just want to make sure we are building a great business. And, at the same time, really contributing to our appellation of origin. For example, I was one of the founding professors of the first university courses at Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara designed for people who were already working in a distillery, but who needed to round out their expertise and learn about the entire production process.
On combating gender inequality in the tequila industry
It’s about making sure that we’re leading with excellence and leading by example. It’s about being a cheerleader for women in leadership. But it’s tough. I never wanted to be defined by my gender. I want to be defined by my leadership and by what I contribute. Yes, I’m a woman in the tequila industry. Yes, they gave me the first title as a female maestra tequilera, but to me, it’s more about what you do with that and how you contribute. How do you shed some light [on the fact] that leadership really has no gender? Leadership is about a skill set. Leadership is about preparation. Leadership is about results.
The unexpected way I met my co-founder
I was at this party in Brooklyn, and suddenly, I’m speaking to the founder of MTV [Bob Pittman]. He’s like, “What do you do?” And I give him my background. He’s like, “Really? Well, I’ve always wanted to start a tequila company.” And I’m like, “Really? Well, I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur in the tequila industry.” I didn’t know if it was bar talk or not, but we exchanged cards, and the next day, his secretaries said, “Mr. Pittman can meet with you on this date.” I put my best suit on, and I went to the meeting, and it was not bar talk. We realized early on that we had a very similar vision of where we could go, what the opportunity could be. Bob really believed in me, and I really believed in him.
My best advice for choosing the right business partner
You need to have a very organic connection. It’s going to be important what they’re bringing to the table, but also that it’s someone you can play ball with strategically—someone you can talk shop with for hours on end, who has different skill sets, different perspectives. Hopefully, by the time you choose a [business] partner, you’ve chosen partners before, so you have a bit of experience doing so. It’s really critical. You’re going to be spending, sometimes, more time [with them] than with your family. So you have to look at the right values, the right experience, and more importantly, [consider whether] you can actually do something together. Like [how] musicians jam and create great music; it’s as complex and as natural as that.
How my wife ended up joining the team
When I started [Casa Dragones], she was already running her own agency in New York, and I needed to start writing the story of our brand. She was like, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll hire you a writer.” And I was like, “There’s no budget for that, so you’re going to help me.” She helped put some stuff together, and I presented it to Bob, and Bob was like, “Who did this?” I said, “Mishele.” He was like, “Well, she’s hired.”
I think that life is a project in itself. So you end up working with your partner, whether you’re in the same business or not; you’re working in the business of life together. So, it’s worked for us. You need to know how to draw the line, and sometimes it’s tough to do it. At the end of the day, this is such a big part of our lives that I cannot imagine doing it without her.
Our first jaw-dropping celebrity endorsement
I was on my way to the airport, and suddenly, my phone was burning up. Oprah was with Sheryl Sandberg for the launch of Facebook Live. They were doing a fireside chat and answering questions like “shoes or bag,” “this or that.” So they asked “wine or spirits,” and she’s like, “Tequila.” Then Sheryl’s carrying on, and Oprah’s like, “Don’t you want to know what my favorite tequila is? Well, I just tried this new tequila called Dragones, and it comes in a blue box with a crystal decanter. Dear god.” After that, she put us on Oprah’s Favorite Things [several] times. She really believes in supporting entrepreneurs. That was a big moment for us—and will forever be a big moment for us.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
