Life & Work with Billy Wright

Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Wright.

Hi Billy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Serving 20 years in the US military allowed me to travel and live all over the world, including living in Melbourne, Australia for almost four years. I loved the Australian lifestyle, the “no worries” attitude of its people, and its rich and diverse cultural history. I also loved their Espresso Martinis! In Australia, the Espresso Martini reigns supreme as the nation’s favorite cocktail. The longevity and sheer popularity of the drink in Australia are matched only by their obsession with great coffee. There are very few bars in Australia that can’t or won’t shake up an Espresso Martini, in fact, it’s on draft in many of their finer establishments. The Espresso Martini in Australia is standardized so you get the same rendition of the cocktail no matter where you go.

Upon returning to America in 2020, I realized that the Espresso Martini was made differently here from restaurant to restaurant and bar to bar. The cocktail was also more challenging to make because most establishments in the US do not have an espresso machine, so this caffeinated cocktail did not taste the same here as it did in Australia. I desperately wanted to bring something from Australia back with me to the United States. I thought, how cool would it be to take the original Espresso Martini recipe created by Dick Bradsell and put it in a ready-to-drink bottle, so I married premium vodka, real espresso, and coffee liqueur and replicated the exact cocktail that I fell in love with back in Australia. Our Espresso Martini is the first ready-to-drink martini to be featured under the Martini Mates brand.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Diving into the intricacies and red tape of the alcohol industry has been a never-ending puzzle. Each state has its own requirements, laws, and restrictions. Gaining approvals, licenses, and permits is always met with new reasons for application rejections. Extremely frustrating at the lack of uniformity across all states…

The first production was scheduled for February 2021 and did not take place until December 2021. This was predominantly a procurement and co-packing identification issue that I referred to as “herding cats”. 19 of 20 vendors would be on board and right as we finalize the last, there would be one that would back out. And that process continued for a year that was a never-ending problem-solving concept with zero forward momentum.

Gaining distribution is no easy task for a fresh on the market unproven brand. Retail chains will not speak with you unless you have distribution representation, but distributors won’t speak to you unless you have retail chain interest…. You can see how that has been a struggle, not being able to have one without the other.

And lastly, the new world order of supply chain and logistics cost of doing business has really put a damper on any existing profit margins.

But even with all these roadblocks, we have managed to come out on top, with an amazing and innovative product that is catching the eye of consumers daily!!!

Thanks, so what else should our readers know about your background?
Prior to setting out on this journey of creating Martini Mates, I was US Navy for 20 years:

Billy Wright proudly served his country as part of the United States Navy for 20 years, advancing to the rank of Lieutenant before retiring in 2019. Growing up in a military family, Billy always knew that he wanted to continue the tradition of helping to defend the country and its values. His distinguished military career included five deployments. Three deployments in the Middle East included stints on the amphibious assault ship, the USS Essex, and on two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the USS Roosevelt and the USS Enterprise. The remaining two deployments were on the nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, the USS Louisville in the China and North Korean Seas. Billy served at various levels of command and staff positions throughout his career including Combat Logistics Officer and Director within NATO as well as the United States military liaison to the Australian Defense Force.

Lieutenant Wright managed a complex international supply chain across four continents and directly contributed to the combat readiness of the U.S. Sixth Fleet’s deployed forces providing combat logistics support to carrier strike groups, amphibious ready groups, ballistic missile defense ships, military sealift command ships, and submarines. His multi-faceted logistics leadership role in remote and unique environments enabled large-scale Dynamic Force Employment of naval forces to support U.S., Europe, Africa, and Central Command objectives. Lieutenant Wright received numerous awards and accommodations including a Meritorious Service Medal and two Navy Commendation Medals. His dedication to mission accomplishment ensured that naval forces deployed across three combatant commands strengthened our nation’s strategic partnerships and deterred our adversaries.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I started by finding local entrepreneurial networking groups that meet once a week, once a month, etc. You usually have to give your spiel on your venture, and that spawns others recommending more people to link up with. That will eventually morph into finding business partners, mentors, or peers within the industry.

Every single entity or individual that you do business with, always asks for recommendations on who to speak with to get advice from. Predominantly you will always be directed to someone who can answer your questions. It may be a simple answer, or that may turn into a relationship.

Treat EVERY single person like they may be your next mentor, you never know what someone else knows. And at the same time, never underestimate your gained knowledge that could be helping someone else as well. The old saying “I wish I knew that last year…” is very real.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.martinimates.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/martinimates
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/martinimates