Tina Karras is an independent writer, musician, and a long-standing prominent buyer in the alcohol industry. Southern California is the largest market in the USA for alcoholic beverages, and Tina is well-connected in all aspects of the industry. After procuring sponsorships and streamlining the bar program at the legendary Roxy Theatre, she began working with the concessionaire Best Beverage Catering, which services major music festivals like Coachella and Outsidelands, music venues like The Roxy Theatre, Universities like Stanford and UC-Berkeley, and much more.
Her start in the alcohol industry actually came by accident when Tina moved to Los Angeles with literally one guitar and two suitcases to pursue her dream of being a singer-songwriter. Working in restaurants and, eventually, music venues was Tina’s way to pay rent, and now she’s using that experience to run Tina’s Vodka. Tina’s Vodka is made from organic corn, non-GMO, American-made, fantastically smooth, delicious, and at a good price.
This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s:
Growing up working in her family’s restaurant, Tina learned the grind of not having certainty in her life as an entrepreneur at a really early age.
Tina has a mix of different musical inspirations from when she was younger, including classical music like Beethoven, greek music, big bands, and disco!
When creating Tina’s Vodka, there was another company sitting on the trademark for the name Tina in the alcohol space. Tina was able to make changes and work through the legal challenges to use the name.
Tina’s world was turned upside down when after years of creating her debut album and maxing out credit cards to start Tina’s Vodka, the pandemic hit just as she was about to co-launch both.
Considering the circumstances of the pandemic, Tina actually selected more positive songs to help uplift people that were down on their luck.
Check out Tina's Vodka: https://www.tinasvodka.com/
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2:00 - Hospitality/Service Industry experience
4:08 - First Aha Moment in early days
5:59 - Musical side of Tina Karras
6:50 - GenX thing / LA experience
10:48 - Expectation vs Reality
14:10 - Tina's inspiration
16:19 - Approach and Mindset
18:11 - Take Feedback
21:47 - Vodka is Tina's spirit
25:05 - Two cents on Vodka
28:32 - Additives & Liquor
29:39 - Early hard moments
30:50 - Soil is the key to everything
34:07 - Biggest challenge of the brand
37:48 - Latest on the music side
39:39 - Single greatest piece of advice
40:52 - Tina's North Star