Meet Michael Meinerz of Lovely Rita Spirits in Scottsdale Airpark

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Meinerz.

Michael, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2012 I was part of a group that created AZLatinos.com. At the time there was no real vehicle for the Latino Community. The mission of AZLatinos.com is to provide a great web-navigation experience to its visitors recognizing the latest tendencies and particular interests of the Latino community. The site quickly grew and we wanted to support its success. To do so we then created Latino Fashion Live in 2013.

We would bring up designers from the South of the Border and do a complete fashion show. We held it at Wild Horse Pass Casino, and in 2014 we even had Luis Gonzalez, the famous Diamondback player, as our Master of Ceremonies. Following that, and in searching for another way to support the first two efforts we decided to create a spirits company and develop premium spirits to cater to the upscale beverage crowd, which we felt made up a significant segment of our followers.

We introduced Lovely Rita Silver Tequila at the beginning of 2015 after finding a distillery with the experience and capability to produce a premium tequila and willingness to work with a startup. (NOTE: Tequila can only be produced by a distillery approved by the Mexican Government and given a NOM number, and it can only be made using blue agave from the approved growing regions.). We went down to the distillery and did our best to describe the flavors, the highlights and notes we wanted to be able to smell, taste and feel on our palate. From those meetings/tastings, we were able to create what we feel is one of the best sipping Silver Tequilas in the marketplace.

At this point, we recognized that our new toy – Lovely Rita Tequila – needed more focused attention, management and PASSION if it had any chance of surviving in the very competitive spirits industry. Because of my experience in the restaurant, bar and entertainment industries and my background in creating and growing companies, we decided that it would fall to me to grow or kill. We separated Lovely Rita Spirits from the other endeavors, I found some investors and starting in 2015 with a sales force of one (me), we introduced Lovely Rita Silver Tequila to the Scottsdale market.

It will certainly sound a little easier than it was, but over the next eighteen months, we were able to get Lovely Rita into over 100 restaurants, bars, resorts and golf courses as well as in retail liquor stores. By mid-2016 we were able to attract one of the major liquor distributors to pick us up. Being with a major industry supplier certainly opened some doors that we were not able to get into previously. For the remainder of 2016, we worked hard to maintain the customers we had, find new outlets and just keep afloat.

At the start of 2017, we recognized that it would not be possible to survive with just a silver tequila even though we had just introduced Lovely Rita Vodka, and it too was being greeted favorably by the market. We decided to first, see if our tequila and vodka were as good as we thought it was. And, if so, we would attempt to create a full line of tequilas based on the flavor profile of our Silver Tequila.

In 2017 and 2018 we entered both the tequila and vodka in the major industry tasting competitions. We entered:
– The World Spirits Award Competition (Switzerland)
– The Los Angeles International Spirits Competition
– The New York World Wine & Spirits Competition
– The Ultimate Spirits Challenge
– The Sip Awards Competition (Consumers instead of industry professionals)
– 50 Best Blanco Tequila Competition

In each of these competitions, and with both products, we won Double Gold, Gold or Silver Awards. Satisfied that our products were as good as we believed them to be, we determined to create a complete line of Tequilas (Blanco, Reposado, Anejo and Extra Anejo Cristalino) and expand into what we felt are the other best tequila markets outside of Arizona (Florida, Texas, Colorado and California).

We designed our bottle for the new line of tequilas and are working feverishly to deliver the completed line during the first quarter of 2020. Along the way our investors have helped and supported, our distillery has been like a partner, we have benefited from the advice of successful industry professionals and are trying to put all the pieces in place to promote, market and sell Lovely Rita Tequila (in her new clothes) in 2020. Fingers are crossed!!!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not smooth at all. Time and money have been the biggest hurdles. For the past 30+ years, my wife and I have owned a real estate company. Thankfully, we are successful – which means we work seven days a week and there is no such thing as a short day. It has been very difficult for me to steal enough time from my primary business to also grow Lovely Rita. Nonetheless, I DO have a passion for this product and make the time to do what I need to do to get everything accomplished. It has taken much of our together time away.

Money has been the second obstacle. A company this small has to rely on friends & family for investors and we have had to struggle greatly to keep this alive. Until we demonstrate the viability that we can sell the new tequilas and successfully expand into more markets, no major investor will look at us. If we had more financial backing we could bring on full time sales people, but we cannot afford that at this point. I am hopeful we can somehow bridge the financial gap and accomplish this next growth step.

Tell us more about the business.
I am President of Lovely Rita Spirits. I am also the sales force, marketing department, accounting department, office supply person, fundraiser and janitor. I am anything but a specialist. Throughout my career, I’ve been the one willing to take a chance, try something new or try to make an enterprise that is not doing very well do better. Consequently, I have worn many professional hats.

I have run corporate divisions, been executive director for large professional associations, lobbied in DC, ran fundraising efforts for many startups, run restaurants and even owned a Karate studio and now I sell residential and commercial real estate.

What I am most proud of when it comes to Lovely Rita Spirits is that something is exciting and even passionate if you will about our product. From our investors to our vendors and contractors everyone seems to pick up on the vibe and it brings out their best work and effort. I don’t know that I am much different from the people I know who share the same desire to do something well. If anything I’m simply the archetypical Midwestern. I try not to overstate and people generally know they can take me at my word.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’ve always been one of those who believed that the harder and smarter you work and the more straightforward you are the luckier you will be. Appreciate the bad days as well as the good days and be happy that you HAVE days.

Contact Info:

• Address: Lovely Rita Spirits
  10105 E Via Linda
  Suite 103, PMB 237
  Scottsdale, AZ 85258
• Website: LovelyRitaSpirits.com
• Phone: 602-882-0075
• Email: michael@lovelyritaspirits.com

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