Select Living Magazine Issue I | Page 21

- Q&A - How long did it take you to get going, from the time you first decided to start Tahoe Blue Vodka to the time you received your first pallet? I was staying, and I quickly started working for a local paint supplier, as an outside sales person. MATT: It was a process, with many to a very successful regional brand in a short amount of time. What do you equate that success to? AMBER: meetings, long hours and hard work, but from start to finish was about 15 months. I received my first 2 pallets of 100 cases total, and had sold over half within 2 weeks of delivery. AMBER: That’s impressive, how were you marketing yourself in those early months? MATT: I was hitting the pavement and meeting with all the local retailers I could. It was well received from our local area distributers, but I knew we needed to expand and expand quickly. I asked my good friend, Chris DeMay to help me out. He said he was on board if I were to make him a partner, so I did, and the rest is history. AMBER: Tahoe Blue Vodka has grown MATT: I would have to say quality is number one. People know good vodka when they taste it, and we have always worked to produce the best tasting vodka on the market. With our very unique blending process and fine ingredients, we like to think we are in a different class than most vodkas on the market. AMBER: What is your biggest challenge? MATT: I think the biggest challenge for AMBER: What was your background our company is to grow beyond our region. We want to grow our company beyond our immediate backyard and become a household name in the California & Nevada markets. MATT: I was born and raised in Blue Vodka? prior to Tahoe Blue Vodka? Maryland, and knew that once I graduated I was going to test out the waters somewhere else. My wife and I packed up our camper van, our $3000 in Savings, and hit the highway. We ended up landing in Sacramento, where I started working for a landscaping company just to save enough money to hit the road again. One weekend, my co-workers asked my wife and me to join them for a camping trip to Lake Tahoe. During that trip we knew right away that this is where we wanted to be, and I put a deposit down on a place that day. I told my boss AMBER: How do you drink your Tahoe MATT: Soda water and an orange wedge PICTURED TAHOE BLUE VODKA: CHRIS & KRISTEN DEMAY WITH MATT & MELODY LEVITT SELECT LIVING - 21 - 2015 EDITION - ISSUE 1