A Conversation With Anteel Tequila Co-Founder And COO Nayana Ferguson
As a mom, a two-time cancer survivor and the first Black woman to found an award-winning tequila brand, Anteel Tequila co-founder and COO Nayana Ferguson is rising above obstacles and building a legacy for herself and her family. Since she and her husband, Don, founded Anteel Tequila in 2017, their company has won 115 awards and was inducted into Pronghorn’s portfolio of Black-owned spirit brands. We sat down with Ferguson to discuss her biggest inspirations, her proudest moments and her heartfelt advice for female entrepreneurs.
What inspired you to found Anteel Tequila?
At the time, my husband and I were taking stock of our legacies and what we would leave with the world and our families. When discussing starting a business or a franchise, I asked my husband, “If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?” And he said, “I would own a tequila company, but we can’t do that.” And I was like, “Why not?” So, at that moment, I went to prove him wrong. And we founded our distillery two days later. About three months later, I had our samples, and not even a year later, I had the first bottle in hand. With me being an 18-year pancreatic cancer survivor and an 11-year breast cancer survivor, if I want to imbibe something now and then, I want to make sure that I am drinking something better for me and better for my body to digest.
How has your background helped you to succeed in your career?
I am originally from Detroit, Michigan, and I moved to Georgia two years ago. For over 25 years, I was a financial analyst in many industries, mainly in the automotive field. It gives me an excellent background as far as being the COO of our company and making sure that we are on budget, making a profit and putting what we earn back into our company. I also have a master’s degree in business. Every business has its intricacies and tangents, so I had to learn a lot initially to articulate the brand.
How do you balance your personal and professional life as a mom of two?
I always encourage women, especially entrepreneurs, to make sure that we take that time to ourselves because if we can’t have a moment, we can’t be there for everyone else. As women, we’re multitaskers, and we do a multitude of things: we’re mothers, we work, we’re cooks, we’re wives, we’re all of these things. Sometimes we forget about ourselves in that process. So, I try to make sure that I take a little bit of time each day to reset myself and my mind.
What have been some of your proudest moments since founding Anteel Tequila?
One of the proudest moments was getting the first bottle in hand because we were like, “Oh, my God, we actually made it.” Over the years, we started entering spirit competitions—we’ve won 115 awards and accolades for all of the expressions in our portfolio—and we’re very proud of that. We have the world’s first Coconut Lime Blanco Tequila, the first Tarocco Blood Orange Blanco Tequila, a Blanco Tequila, a Reposado Tequila and an Anejo Tequila. It’s also a proud moment to continue speaking to aspiring entrepreneurs as the first Black woman to own a tequila brand.
How has Pronghorn helped the Anteel Tequila business grow?
We found out that Pronghorn was investing in Black-owned brands and that they were interested in Anteel Tequila. They helped us focus on what we were doing and guided us in moving forward with our company. They’ve helped us work on areas where we needed growth and provided different recommendations and networking opportunities. We are grateful to be part of the Pronghorn family because we now have the advice of people who have been in the industry for years with the knowledge, information and resources we need to continue moving forward and growing our brand.
What advice would you give to aspiring female entrepreneurs?
From creating a tequila company from the ground up to still being in business almost six years later, it shows that anyone can do anything that they put their mind to. I don’t want people to wallow in the fear that sometimes gets all of us. It is all about moving forward—even through that fear. What do you have to lose? I want to make sure that people know you can make any dream and goal happen. Especially as women, we want to gather information and make sure things are perfect, but it’s never going to be perfect. So, you need to work through that fear. You can do anything that you set your mind to.
See also: 10 Women-Led Businesses To Meet All Your Lifestyle Needs: From Coffee To Candles, Lingerie And More
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Photography by: Photography courtesy of Anteel Tequila