Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Gerson.
Brandon, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Leave the earth better then when you entered it, and enjoy the ride. That is my personal mantra and what I think about in the morning after I kiss my wife, turn on the coffee pot, and get my daughters going.
I started in LA, born and raised. I owe a lot to my mother, a single parent for a while who raised my brother and I.
I have a degree in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State University. To make beer money in college, I got into selling pest control door to door. That is an undesirable job, but it taught me how to sell, build a business, and gave me the courage to do so.
After I graduated, I wanted something different and I landed a position doing sales and marketing for an American company that manufactured medical equipment in Costa Rica. I moved abroad for a few years and those were some wild ones. I often traveled to Nicaragua and fell in love with that country. I invested in a hotel project and am proud to own a piece of Aqua Nicaragua. It is an amazing place and you should go visit. Reach out to me, I will hook it up.
The ‘pura vida’ life was great but I was in love with a woman in NY. So I quit and abruptly moved into Michelle’s studio in Manhattan. She worked in advertising and was getting her masters at NYU. Michelle can do anything, and I wanted to be Don Draper, so I convinced her to start our own ad agency.
In 2010, Mak&Ger was born. We closed a few accounts and worked on our campaigns at night after coming home from our day jobs. After a year of double duty, we upsold a client, enabling us to go full-time Mak&Ger. Those were wild years too. In 2012 we got married and in 2014 we got pregnant and moved back to LA to be near our families.
That was hard on our business, and our business was hard on our marriage. A new pivot was in order, and January 1, 2018, we spun off into independent careers, yielding a happier home and new challenges.
Michelle is still a boss in marketing, doing demand gen in tech. I still hustle, replacing unhealthy refined sugar with a better for you option. We call it Dulcie.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Super smooth. Like a bowling ball gliding down the lane in the Big Lebowski. Just kidding, smooth roads do not exist in business.
Struggles are a part of life and business, especially entrepreneurship. Even when things are going well, you still struggle with those “good problems to have”.
I struggle mostly with being insecure about decisions I’ve made. Not micro ones, but macro ones that take years to play out. My life is mostly an upward trajectory, but each day has ups and downs, and that causes stress and restless nights.
If you have a valuable product or service. And a plan with objectives and a budget. And you are a motivated, hard-working person. And you can organize all of those things. Then you mitigate the things you will struggle with and increase your probability of success.
“Ski with your knees bent” is good business advice here. You are going to hit moguls, so be ready for them. Find harmony in how you balance your work and your life; and equanimity in how you address challenging situations.
Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about your work?
I am the GM of Dulcie Corp. Dulcie is a brand of all-natural cane sugar. It is raw, organic and unrefined. Dulcie goes through a fraction of the processing compared to white, brown and turbinado sugars.
Sugarcane is vigorous grass, packed with vitamins and minerals. It is crazy that this natural plant is converted into an unhealthy byproduct that is so profoundly different from its roots. But Dulcie is different.
Dulcie is the whole sugarcane sap that is pressed out of the cane, cooked in a kettle, and aerated with a paddle to dry. We add nothing too it.
Our crops and facility are in Medellín, Colombia; an amazing city full of artisans that cultivate some of the earths finest agricultural products. We have an established business in Colombia and we are now approaching grocery stores/supermarkets in the USA based on our recent Amazon Prime success.
I regularly get jokes about this being a cover for my cocaine enterprise, and I clap back offering Dulcie key bumps. However, the fact is some of our staff have found refuge making Dulcie, where their previous employment was tied to dangerous drug cartels and narco-trafficking.
I am proud to support these hard-working “Paisas” and help them earn an honest and fair wage in a safe and legal economy.
I am proud to capture market share from other sugar brands who peddle highly processed unhealthy sugar.
I am proud that All Organic Reviews crowned Dulcie as the “Undisputed Champion” in their 2018 Organic Sugar review.
I am proud to work with innovative food & beverage developers who use this ingredient, including one of my favorite beer companies, Lagunitas, and inspirational LA-based Dream Pops.
I am proud that LA residents can get Dulcie at the most amazing natural food market: Erewhon.
I am proud to wake up and do what I do every day and I am grateful for all of those who support me.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My business partners, of course, Carlos, Juan, and Chris. For coming with the vision, know-how, and strategy to get us going.
And my family for being so supportive; especially my wife.
Shout out to my in-laws and George Meyer for letting us sprinkle the nation with sugar via their FedEx account.
Pricing:
- 1lb resealable pouch between $4 in stores and $9 online
- 2lb resealable jar between $8 in stores and $15 online
Contact Info:
- Website: http://dulcie.com/
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Phone: 323 523 5814
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Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/DulcieOrganic/ -
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
DulcieOrganic -
Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/DulcieOrganic/
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